Author: Knight, Joel Abraham
Biography:
KNIGHT, Joel Abraham (1754-1808: Morison)
Most of the reliable information about Knight comes from an article published in the Evangelical Magazine after his death which included a long autobiographical letter from him and which was reprinted in Morison (1844). He was born in Hull but at the age of nine moved to London to be raised by a childless relative to whom he became apprenticed. The names of his parents, who both died before 1770, are not known, nor that of his adoptive family. He enjoyed reading and the theatre but in 1775, after completing his training, he converted to Methodism and thus alienated his supporters. In 1776 he married Mary Jackson, whom he had met at chapel; at least two sons and a daughter survived their father. A protégé of the chaplain of the Countess of Huntingdon, Thomas Wills, he was one of the six young men ordained at Spa Fields in contravention of the laws of the Established Church on 9 Mar. 1783. He taught in the Spa Fields charity school and preached occasionally, then went as minister to the Pentonville chapel 1788-9, but left the Countess of Huntingdon Connexion and cast in his lot with the Wesleys in 1789. From then until the end of his life he served as minister of the Tabernacle and Tottenham Court chapels. He was one of the founding members of the Missionary Society, later the London Missionary Society, established in 1795. His few other publications include sermons and contributions to the Gospel Magazine. Despite increasing ill health he remained in his post until his death on 22 Apr. 1808. He was buried in the family grave at Tottenham Court. (John Morison, Fathers and Founders of the London Missionary Society [1844] 462-71; findmypast.com 15 Jun. 2021; Aaron Crossley and Hobart Seymour, The Life and Times of Selina, Countess of Huntingdon [1839-41] 2: 443-4)
Other Names:
- J. A. Knight