Thursday 7 September 2017

Bunhill Fields John, Thomas And Benoni Rowe

Light tells us that near Rosewell's tomb is another.
The original inscriptions were as follows: — 
Here lies the body of John Rowe, some time preacher in the Abbey of Westminster, who died October 12th, in the 52nd year of his age. Anno, 1677. Under this stone is the body of Mr. THOMAS ROWE, the eldest son of Mr. John Rowe; late minister of the Gospel in London. He departed this life the 18th day of August, in the year of our Lord 1705, in the 49th year of his age. Here also lies the body of Mr. Benoni Rowe, minister of the Gospel in London, who departed this life the 30th day of March, in the year of our Lord 1706, in the 49th year of his age. (The present stone was erected by Walter W. Law, Esq., of Briar Cliffe Manor, New York, on the 11th February, 1910.)
John Rowe 1626-1677
Mr. John Rowe was born in the year 1626 at Crediton in Devonshire, and after spending some time at Cambridge he removed to Oxford in 1648. He was appointed to a Fellowship in Corpus Christi College, and became a lecturer at Witney in Oxfordshire, but afterwards was engaged in the work of the ministry at Tiverton. In 1654 Mr. Rowe was appointed to succeed William Strong as minister of the Independent Church, which met in Westminster Abbey during the Commonwealth. His congregation was quite a remarkable one, as numbers of the leading Puritans were constant attendants upon his ministry. On the 14th March, 1659, he was appointed by Act of Parliament one of the Approvers of Ministers, but at the Restoration in 1660 he was ejected from his pastorate at Westminster Abbey. After the Act of Uniformity he preached privately as often as he could, with his old. people gathered round him. He was noted for his great gravity and piety, whilst "his sermons were judicious and well studied, fit for the audiences of men of the best quality in those days." It is interesting to notice, too, the words with which he closed his last sermon: "We should not desire to continue longer in this world than to glorify God, to finish our work, and to be ready to say, 'Farewell, Time; welcome, blessed Eternity; even so, come. Lord Jesus.'" One of his other expressions when preaching this sermon was, "that he knew no other bottom whereon to lay the stress of his salvation, than the incarnation and atonement of the Son of God."
Wikipedia confirms his Crediton birth and says he was at Emmanuel College, Cambridge and Oxford, where he attended New Inn Hall. It mentions his 1653 book Tragi-comoedia. It took an incident in his parish of Witney as a judgement on those attending dramatic productions. The floor of an upper room of The White Hart Inn collapsed during a performance by travelling players of Mucedorus. It notes that in October 1656 he preached to Parliament, then giving thanks for a naval victory in the Caribbean. In 1659 at the State Funeral of John Bradshaw, the President of the Court that had condemned Charles I, he gave the eulogy. Also that he established a church in Holborn, London, where he was assisted by Theophilus Gale.
Thomas Rowe 1657–1705
Mr. Thomas Rowe was chiefly noted for the number of distinguished pupils who attended his Academy, amongst them being Daniel Neal, the author of "The History of the Puritans," Doctor Isaac Watts and Mr. Samuel Say, all of whom are buried in Bunhill. Thomas Rowe was the son of John Rowe, and was born about the year 1657. He had quite a remarkable mind, and having a great desire for knowledge he soon became one of the best instructed men of his times. Soon after his father's death he accepted the oversight of the congregation which was then removed to Girdler's Hall, Basinghall Street. His predecessor as a teacher was none other than Theophilus Gale, whose body is resting so close to his own. Dr. Watts was not only a pupil, but also a member of his church. The Revolution of 1688 naturally made a great difference to Mr. Rowe, and considerable prosperity attended his latter days, but his end was very sudden. He was riding through the City when he was seized with a fit, and falling from his horse near the Monument immediately expired. This took place on the 18th August, 1705, when he was only in his 49th year.
Wikipedia makes clear that he succeeded Gale, both as pastor of the independent church in Holborn and as tutor in the academy at Newington Green adn says it was he who moved his congregation to a meeting-house at Girdlers' Hall, Basinghall Street, and took his academy successively to Clapham and, about 1687, to Little Britain. It is as a tutor, especially in philosophy, that he made his mark as an early adopter of new ideas. He was the first to desert the traditional textbooks, introducing his pupils, about 1680, to what was known as ‘free philosophy.’ Rowe was a Cartesian at a time when the Aristotelian philosophy was still dominant in the older schools of learning; but while in physics he adhered to Descartes against the rising influence of Isaac Newton, he also became one of the earliest exponents of John Locke. Students included John Evans, D.D., Henry Grove, Josiah Hort, John Hughes the poet, Jeremiah Hunt, D.D., Daniel Neal, and Isaac Watts. Rowe was a Calvinist in theology, but few of his pupils adhered to the same system without some modification. In 1699 he became one of the Tuesday lecturers at Pinners' Hall. He died suddenly on 18 August 1705.
Benoni Rowe 1658-1706
Benoni Rowe was also son to John Rowe, and was the younger brother of Thomas Rowe. The date of his birth was about 1668, and the early days of his ministry began when Dissenters were under a dark cloud. Through the reigns of Charles II and James II he was sorely persecuted, and his services were often disturbed. After the Prince of Orange ascended the throne Benoni Rowe moved to Epsom, and stayed there about a year, when he accepted an invitation to become the pastor of the Independent Church in Fetter Lane. Amongst other memorable services in which he took part was that of the ordination of Isaac Watts, at which his brother Thomas preached a sermon from the text, "I will give you pastors according to Mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding" (Jer. iii. 15). He died just about seven months after Thomas, and was buried in the same vault, where their father's body had been placed some years previously.
Wikipedia makes Benoni brother-in-law to Thomas, husband to his sister Sarah. Born in London, and educated for the ministry, his first known settlement was at Epsom, Surrey, about 1689. He succeeded Stephen Lobb in 1699 as pastor of the independent church in Fetter Lane and died on 30 March 1706. He left two sons: Thomas (1687–1715), husband of Elizabeth Rowe; and Theophilus.

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