Samuel Buncombe (abt. 1734 - abt. 1794)

Born about 1734 in Taunton, Somerset, England

Died about 1794 at about age 60 in Ottery St Mary, Devon, England

Biography

Samuel was born about 1734 in Taunton, Somerset.

Samuel Buncombe was born in Taunton, Somerset, England.

Samuel was a nonconformist minister

Samuel was a tutor at Dissenting Academy at Homerton

He trained for the ministry at Western Academy, Ottery St Mary (c.1753-1757) and was awarded CFB exhibition Christmas 1753. he was funded by the Congregational Fund Board.

Married John Lavington's daughter and sister of Samuel Lavington. While McLachlan lists him as a tutor at Bridport, this is not quite accurate. Instead, he received students at Ottery, where he also ran a school, and provided them with a grammar education intended to equip them for further study under James Rooker at Bridport. In 1767 the King's Head Society agreed to provide exhibitions of £10 per year to up to six young men for grammar learning with Buncombe prior to them entering the academy at Bridport. His obituary in the Evangelical Magazine contains the following account:

'The conscientious and holy observation of the Lord's-day was another striking and amiable trait in Mr. Buncombe's character. A friend, upon whose veracity we can depend, and who, in the early part of life, resided three years under his roof, assures us, that he never remembers to have observed the Sabbath kept, in any house, with greater - with equal sanctity.

'All the young gentlemen under his care were expected to remember the text, and the leading ideas of the discourse: And, being furnished with Bibles, were directed to fold down those Scriptures which were adduced in proof of the doctrine, or illustrated in the course of the sermon. In the interval of the morning and afternoon service, they were employed in a perusal of Mr. Henry's Exposition. On their return from the house of God, they were required to read, or repeat from memory, the substance of what they had heard, together with the Scriptures which they had folded down. He would then take occasion, in a very familiar and affectionate manner, to apply to their consciences the truths they had heard, and conclude the exercise with prayer. After family worship, reading the Book of Martyrs, or the lives of eminent persons, and the repetition of an hymn by each of the scholars, terminated the duties of the day equally pleasing and profitable. Copious remarks on the utility of this pious and regular appropriation of the respective parts of the Sabbath to the conveyance of spiritual instruction would here be superflous: But for the encouragement of those who feel inclined to follow an example so laudable, we are happy to observe, that the efforts of Mr. Buncombe were attended with much success; and that many who were his pupils, with pleasure acknowledge, that to his valuable advice, and paternal admonitions, they are indebted for useful and salutary impressions, which the subsequent scenes of active life have never been able to efface.' (EM (1794), 312)

He was a Minister at

• Crediton, Devon, 1760-5;
• Ottery St. Mary (1765-94, also kept a school there).

On the 26th November 1760 Samuel was ordained and Jonathan Wheeler (abt.1710-1770) preached at the ordination service at at Crediton Devon.^[1]

Samuel died in 1794 in Ottery St Mary, Devon.^[2]

Samuel died in 1794 and was buried on 29 March 1794 in Ottery St Mary, Devon, England.^[3]

Samuel was included in the Dissenting Academy at Homerton 'Address to the Members of the Society for educating of young men for the Work of the Ministry', published in 1812, and was shown as Rev. Samuel Buncomb, one of the Society's tutors.

Research Notes

This profile was originally created by the History of Nonconformists in London, England and surrounding counties topic team.

Sources

1. ↑ https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=gzNEAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA168&lpg=RA2-PA168&dq=buncombe+wheeler+axminster&source=bl&ots=AB0x1l0wrw&sig=ACfU3U2IwfACOlCCKUC9lKvClc32gSPGRA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwig58bL0eH1AhWZFMAKHe3EC4QQ6AF6BAgYEAM#v=onepage&q=buncombe%20wheeler%20axminster&f=false
2. ↑ https://dissacad.english.qmul.ac.uk/sample1.php?parameter=personretrieve&alpha=1002
3. ↑ Burial: "England & Wales, Non-Conformist and Non-Parochial Registers, 1567-1936". The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; General Register Office: Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths Surrendered to the Non-Parochial Registers Commissions of 1837 and 1857; Class Number: RG 4; Piece Number: 2100. Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry uk Record 2972 #956145 (accessed 4 March 2022). Rev Samuel Buncombe burial (died in 1794) on 29 Mar 1794 in Ottery St Mary, Devon, England.