Location: London, England

This page is part of History of Nonconformists in London, England and surrounding counties, an England Team Topic
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Protestant Dissenting Deputies
The Protestant dissenting deputies (also known as the Deputies of the Three Denominations of Dissenters) were a group in the 18th and 19th centuries in England, consisting of two representatives from each congregation of the dissenting denominations within ten miles of London. The 'three denominations' were Presbyterian, Independent and Baptist. The first formal meeting was in 1736 in Salters' Hall when Benjamin Avery was elected chairman[[1]]
The Dissenting Deputies, as a group, were the leading force behind the campaign to repeal the Test and Corporation Acts, which denied civil rights to Protestant nonconformists
Membership
Details of the dissenting deputies, as they are discovered.
Members of the Committees for Repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts 1786-90
Benjamin Boddington (abt.1730-1791) West India merchant; director, South Sea Co., Million Bank; treas. and governor, City of London lying-in hospital, City Road; Dissenting Deputy.
Thomas Boddington (1736-1821) 5th s. of B. Boddington; West India merchant; director, Bank of England 1782-1809, London Dock Co., Royal Exchange; treas., Dissenting Deputies 1793-1805.
Edmund Calamy (1743-1816) related to Rev. Edmund Calamy, Dissenting historian; educated Lincoln's Inn, barrister; Presbyterian Board; Dr Williams's trustee.
Bayes Cotton (1757-1827) secretary, Dissenting Deputies 1788-95; probably succeeded Thomas Cotton as repeal committee secretary 1788.
Thomas Cotton (abt.1710-1797) secretary, Dissenting Deputies 1767-88; probably secretary of repeal committee.
William Fuller (bef.1705-1800) banker, Lombard St; philanthropist; Dissenting Deputy.
Samuel Heywood (1753-1828) educated Warrington Academy and Trinity College, Cambridge, Inner Temple 1772; serjeant-at-law, chief justice Carmarthen circuit; friend of C. J. Fox, early supporter of T. Lindsey's Essex St chapel; rendered legal advice to Dissenting Deputies and repeal committee; author, The Right of Protestant Dissenters to a Compleat Toleration Asserted. DNB.
Henry Keene (abt.1726-1797) philanthropist, supported Particular Baptist ministers; member, Revolution Society, Maze Pond congregation, Southwark.
Thomas Rogers (1735-1793) banker; father of poet Samuel Rogers; Dr Williams's trustee; member, Society for Constitutional Information, Friends of the People; director, Union Fire Office; Dissenting Deputy.
William Smith MP (1756-1835) chairman, repeal committee 1827-8, Dissenting Deputies 1805-32; M.P., Sudbury 1784-90, 1796-1802, Camelford 1791-6, Norwich 1802-30; member, Yorkshire Assn., Society for Constitutional Information, Revolution Society, Friends of the People, Whig Club; supported slave trade abolition; see above, p. xix. DNB.
John Towgood (1757-1837) s. of Matthew Towgood; banker; Dr Williams's trustee; member, Revolution Society, Friends of the People; Dissenting Deputy.
Towgood, Matthew (d. 1791): s. of Dissenting minister Micaiah Towgood, of Exeter; banker, Clement's Lane; Dr Williams's trustee; Presbyterian Board; Dissenting Deputy. [1]
Members of the Committees for Repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts 1827-8
Robert Aspland (1782-1845) educated Bristol Academy; pastor, Gravel Pit congregation, Hackney 1805-45; editor, Monthly Repository, Christian Reformer, Test Act Reporter; secretary, the Southern Unitarian Society, the British and Foreign Unitarian Assn.; Dr Williams's trustee; founder, NonCon Club 1817; member, the Protestant Society; represented General Body of Protestant Dissenting Ministers on United Committee. DNB.
Edward Busk (1765-1838) Busk, Edward (1765-1838): educated Middle Temple, barrister; Dr Williams's trustee; Presbyterian Board; Dissenting Deputy.
Francis Augustus Cox sr. (1783-1853) educated Baptist College, Bristol, Univ of Edinburgh; Baptist minister, Mare St congregation, Hackney; a founder, Univ. of London; member, Protestant Society; secretary, General Body of Protestant Dissenting Ministers.
Samuel Favel (1760-1830) citizen and clothworker; common councilman, Aldgate ward 1810-29; sponsored pre-repeal resolutions in Court of Common Council; Independent; Dissenting Deputy.
William Brodie Gurney (1777-1855) Baptist philanthropist, shorthand writer covering trials and parliamentary debates; member, Sunday School Union, British and Foreign Bible Society, London Baptist Building Fund; treas., Stepney College; anti-slavery spokesman; Dissenting Deputy. DNB.
William (Alers) Hankey (1771-1859) banker, 7 Fenchurch St; founder, Congregational Union; member, Religious Tract Society; treas., British and Foreign Bible Society; Dissenting Deputy.
Samuel Medley (1769-1857) Medley, Samuel (1769-1857): Baptist layman, career in stock exchange; painter, exhibited at Royal Academy; a founder, University College, Univ. of London; Dissenting Deputy. DNB.
Christopher Richmond (1785-1832) Middle Temple, barrister; primary legal adviser to repeal committee and contributor to drafting of repeal bill; member, Non-Con Club, secretary 1827; Unitarian; Dissenting Deputy representing Gravel Pit congregation, Hackney.
John Towill Rutt (1760-1841) educated St Paul's School; merchant; ed. of J. Priestley's works; member, Friends of the People, Society for Constitutional Information, Gravel Pit congregation, Clothworkers' Co.; Dissenting Deputy. DNB.
Dr Williams Library
In 1742 the Committee of Dissenting Deputies established a register of the births of the children of Protestant Dissenters of the three denominations, and of the baptism of such of their children as should be baptised in their infancy. This became known as Dr Williams Library, Cripplegate, Middlesex.
Over 49,000 births were registered up until the national registration of Births, Marriages and Deaths began in 1837.
Records
Records of the Protestant Dissenting Deputies, comprising three series of committee minute books and one secretary's letter book are held at the London Metropolitan Archives [[2]]
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