"Perhaps few men of the age in which he lived had
more virtues and fewer failings.."
William Harris, D.D.
Thomas Manton was born in 1620 in Lawrence-Lydiat, Somerset,
England.
His father and both grandfathers were ministers of the gospel. When he was 15
he entered the Wadham College at the University of Oxford. At nineteen he was
ordained by Bishop Joseph Hall of Exeter (later of Norwich). His first
settlement was at Stoke Newington in Middlesex, and his patron was Colonel
Popham. He was there for seven years.
He succeeded Obadiah Sedgwick at Covent Garden in London, and he became well
known and loved. He was appointed chaplain to The Lord Protector, Oliver
Cromwell.
He was instrumental in the restoration of Charles II and became a Royal
Chaplain, but in the Great Ejection he suffered along with other Puritans. He
was imprisoned, but was allowed to preach from prison.
He died October 18th, 1677 and his body was interred in the church at Stoke
Newington.
An Estimate of Manton
by J.C.Ryle was written on the occasion of the publication of the complete
works in 1871.
Some Memoirs of the life and
character of the reverend and learned Thomas Manton, D.D.
by William Harris, D.D.
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