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Author: Kessell, Andrew

Biography:

KESSELL, Andrew (c.1724-1802: OPC)

Although Kessell's name is unusually absent from public records, he himself provides crucial information on his title-pages and in his prefaces. The preface to The Two Adams acknowledges that he lacked formal education and never learned "the languages" but asserts that English is good enough for his purposes. In a sermon entitled The Living and Almost Dying Experience of Andrew Kessell (Truro 1800), he explains that he is in his 76th year (hence the birthdate of 1724), is retired from preaching, and had suffered a "paralytic stroke" three years earlier; also that he had once been a preacher at the Octagon Tabernacle in Penzance and before and after that had been minister of the Independent Meeting in the village of Mevagissey. His 1787 Hymns are dated from Mevagissey. It is clear that he spent his working life in Cornwall. He may have been born there but no records have been found. In 1753 he married Elizabeth Davy in St. Ive (pronounced Eve) parish, Cornwall. His status as an Independent probably accounts for the shortage of life records, but there is a record for his burial in Mevagissey in 1802. (findmypast.com 25 May 2021; Online Parish Clerks, cornwall-opc-database 25 May 2021)

 

Books written (2):

Falmouth: Printed by E. Elliot, 1787
Truro: printed by W. Harry, 1799