Author: Hurn, William
Biography:
HURN, William (1754-1829: Brief Memorials)
He was born on 21 Dec. 1754 at Breckles, Norfolk, the eldest of five children of William Hurn, a farmer, and his wife Mary Bullock, who had married in January that year. Nothing is known of his education. Prior to his ordination on 21 Dec. 1781, he worked as an assistant at the Free Grammar School at Dedham run by Rev. Dr. Thomas Grimwood. He then served in the army during the American War as a lieutenant in the Western Battalion of the West Suffolk Militia. He married Sarah Wharrie on 7 May 1789, at Holy Trinity, Hull. There was no issue and his wife died in 1817. He began his church career as Curate at Beighton, Norfolk, in 1781 and was later appointed Vicar of Debenham, Norfolk, 1790-1823. Thereafter he seceded from the Church of England and became Minister of the Baptist Chapel, Woodbridge, from 1823 until his death. He died on 9 Oct. 1829 and was buried at St. Mary Magdalene, Debenham, where there is also a memorial tablet. In addition to the works listed here, he wrote a number of sermons which are now no longer read. His change in theological position is best charted by comparing the orthodox Fundamental Principles of the Established Church (1790) to his reasons for leaving it, A Farewell Testimony (1823). (ancestry.co.uk 9 Apr. 2022; findmypast.co.uk 9 Apr. 2022; Ipswich Journal 16 May 1789; Esther Cooke and Ellen Rouse, Brief Memorials of William Hurn [1831]; GM Oct. 1829, 371-4) AA
Other Names:
- W. Hurn