The Stennetts of England - Prefix

This thesis deals with an outstanding family of English Dissenter ministers Who lived in the second half of the seventeenth century through until nearly the end of the eighteenth century. 001 The Dissenters by general definition were any church people in England who differed with the Church of England. Thus the term "Dissenters" would include Roman Catholics, Quakers, Unitarians, Presbyterians,Independents (Congregationalists) and Baptists. The Usual definition, however included only the Presbyterians, Independents and Baptists, 002 groups which had some theological similitarity and found it advantageous to stand together. Alto the Dissenters said that much of the elaborate ritual of the Church of England was unnecessary and unscriptural, practically all Dissenter preaching was for positive Christian faith and Christian living.

In particular, the Stennett family, with whom we are concerned in this thesis, provided a series of leading Dissenters ministers in London for over a century (less a gap of twenty four years). These Stennetts were well educated which early in this period was quite unusual among Baptists. The family had in it many ministers many ministers though it was exclusively ministerial. Almost all material about the family, however, has been preserved through church channels, so little is known about those who were not ministers. Thus, as this thesis is written from a religious point of view, the material has all been distinctly pertinent. Yet one could wish more were known about the men who did not become ministers. With resources of leadership, education and consecration, a number of the men did the work of the Christian ministry for their time.

The ministers of the Stennett family served Seventh Day Baptists or "first day" Baptists churches. The leading man in each of four generations was a Seventh Day Baptist or a "Sabbath-Keeping" Baptist. Even though two of these four men had more to do with "first day" Baptists than with Seventh Day Baptists, The latter have always claimed all four.

Seventh Day Baptists recognize no man or group as the founder of their denomination. Never the less, the Stennetts are among the early Seventh Day Baptists and their spirit will tend to permeate Seventh Day Baptist thought as long as history is consulted for the enrichment of the present and future.

Occasionally I will point out ideas that have significance for Seventh Day Baptists today. Indeed, many of the Stennett's ideas have value for the twentieth century. Nevertheless, civilization is fluid It is never static, and history never repeats itself. indeed, Jonathan Allen, a great American Seventh Day Baptist educator of the nineteenth century has said.

"Very little that is written will answer for all time. It is the duty of the scholar to revise the thoughts of the past, adapt them to the present, We make all past knowledge the basis, and not the limit, of research." 003

In brief, the following is a survey of the Stennett family. Edward was an early Seventh Day Baptist who lived in Berkshire county, England. Near the end of his life, he would come into London periodically and preach for the Pinners' Hall Seventh Day Baptist Church. After a few years, this church chose his son Joseph as its minister. Joseph became a well-known minister and hymn-writer in London. As there are four Josephs in the Stennett family, occasionally I will call this man Joseph I. In turn, Joseph I is most important son was Joseph, Jr. or Joseph II. Joseph II was a Baptist minister in western England for about twenty years; then he was the pastor of the Little Wild Street Baptist Church in London for a like period of time. His Sons were Joseph III, 004 and Samuel. Joseph III was a little known minister in Oxfordshire and Samuel was a leading Dissenter minister in London where he served the Little Wild Street Church for nearly a half century. Samuel had a son Joseph, of whom very little is known; we shall call him Joseph IV for differentiation, although he was a nephew of Joseph III.

In developing this thesis, I have tried to do the following things. (1) To the common data on the lives of the Stennetts as found in Seventh Day Baptists in Europe and America 005 I have added data from every possible source I could think of. (2) Into their lives I have tried to reinsert the content of the sermons and books which they published. I have read all of their writings which are available to me, which amounts to about ninety percent of their publications. (This thesis has to proceed with the use of published materials, which are sometimes voluminous and sometimes scanty. 006 undoubtedly their publications indicated some of their chief interests, but likely there are also distortions.

Usually sermons were published, not at the decision of the preacher, but by popular request. An obvious distortions is that a large number of the funeral sermons preached by Joseph II and Samuel were published. In a more significant view of thought, there are likely some theological distortions.) (3) 1 have tried to relate their lives to the events and the theological ideas of their times. It seems to me, for instance, that the political and military history of the times is absolutely essential to the under-standing of Joseph I. 007

In writing this thesis, I have tried to document carefully the route of my research; thus anyone can check the accuracy of my research and writings at any point. Also, when anyone wants more information on a given point in the thesis, he can readily know the exact sources I have used. 008 For technical form, I have used Kate L. Turabian's summary of the University of Chicago Manual of Style. 009

Many libraries and many individuals have helped me in the research for this thesis. The most important libraries are those connected with the following institutions: (1) The Seventh Day Baptist Historical Society, Plainfield, NJ (now Janesville, Wisconsin) Seventh Day Baptist materials (especially in regard to Edward Stennett and for church record books); (2) Colgate-Rochester Divinity School, Rochester, New York, for Baptist materials (particularly for Joseph II and Samuel); (3) Starr King School for Ministry, Berkeley, California, for general Dissenter materials; and (4) University of California and the Pacific School of Religion, both in Berkeley, California, for general resource materials. Personal acknowledgments are especially due to Dr. Wayne Rood for the overall guidance of the thesis, to Miss Evalois St. John for her excellent help in guiding my use of the materials of the Seventh Day Baptist Historical Society, and to my wife for her laborious technical assistance. Besides Dr. Rood, Dean A. J. C. Bond and Dr. Corliss F. Randolph have read portions of the various drafts of this thesis. None of these individuals, however, is to be held responsible for my evaluations or historical judgments.

As the primary editors of this version of the updated thesis, we would like an email address so that we can contact you for updates and corrections. This document has about 1,000 footnotes and files. If any errors occur please tell me where. The file name is at the bottom, of each page

Allen Harrington & Martha Stennett Harrington (died June 10 2010). Our email is bluehare@att.net put Stennett in the subject line.

https://blue-hare.com/stennett/prefix.html to:tpgindex.html#prefixa From: prefix.html shield

1 There was also a fifth generation minister who I believe was the last man of the family and he lived until probably 1824, but little is known of him, so I think he was of lesser caliber than the four generations which proceeded him.
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2     Samuel Stennett, Works (London: 1824), III, 465.
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3     Mrs. Abigail A Allen, Life and Sermons of Jonathan Allen (1894), p. 90.
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4     For "Joseph I," "Joseph II," I am following the designations used by Seventh Day Baptists in Europe and America (Plainfield, N.J.: American Sabbath Tract Society, 1910), I, 96, 99, 101.
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5     Ibb. I, 93-102.
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6     One resource document that would help this thesis a great deal would be the church records of the Little Wild Street Baptist Church, if such are in existence. Consulting resource materials in England, more of the publications of the Stennett's and the Daniel Williams' Dissenter Library in England could improve this thesis to some extent.
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7     I would be glad to receive the ideas of the readers of this thesis as to other insights about the Stennetts and their relationship to their times.
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8     Albert V. House, "The Nature of History," Newsletter from State University of New York, III, no. 9 (May 1952), pp. 4f
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9     A Manual for Writers of Dissertations (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1950). I admit that there are occasional blunders in the form of this thesis. (footnote placement has been altered - ABH)
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