Author: Brettell, Jacob
Biography:
BRETTELL, Jacob (1793-1862: ODNB)
He was born on 16 Apr. 1793 at Sutton in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, the son of Rev. Jacob Brettell (1762-1810) and his second wife Ann Sudbury (formerly Cates) (1750-1817), who had married at her parish of Fakenham, Norfolk, in 1792. His father had been appointed Presbyterian/ Independent dissenting minister at Sutton in Ashfield in 1788. He was later baptised on 15 Jan. 1809 at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, where his father was minister from 1796. He attended Manchester College, York (1809-14), and became a Unitarian minister, first at Cockey Moor Chapel, Ainsworth, Lancashire, but congregational conflicts led him to leave in 1816 for Rotherham where he remained until his retirement in 1859. His salary was a modest £46 per annum and he was never well-off. He was liberal, supported anti-corn law agitation, and was sympathetic to Chartism, allowing Chartists to speak in his chapel. He was a friend of Ebenezer Elliott (q.v.), whose poetry he sometimes corrected. He married Martha Morris (1796-1864) on 29 Dec. 1815 at Ainsworth, Lancashire. They had six children. He died on 12 Jan. 1862 at Rotherham. In addition to the works listed here, he wrote many hymns which appeared in various Unitarian hymnals. He also contributed to the Christian Reformer, Sheffield Iris, Wolverhampton Herald, and other newspapers and periodicals on a wide variety of topics. (ODNB 12 Feb. 2023; DNB; ancestry.co.uk 12 Feb. 2023; findmypast.co.uk 12 Feb. 2023; The Christian Reformer Mar. 1862, 191-2; Sheffield Independent 15 Jan. 1862, 11 June 1864; John Guest, Rotherham Writers in Verse [1874], 24-6; Newsam, 148-9; William Blazeby, Rotherham Old Meeting House and its Ministers [1906]; Dissenting Academies online, QMC, UL) AA
Other Names:
- J. Brettell
- the Rev. J. Brettell
- J. Brettel