BY JOHN STOUGHTON, D.D. Formerly Minister of Kensington Chapel . London: HODDER AND STOUGHTON, 27, PATERNOSTER ROW. MDCCCLXXXIII. Butler & Tanner, The Selwood Printing Works, Frome, and London....

THE FOLLOWING HISTORICAL SKETCH, PREPARED AT THEIR REQUEST, Is Gratefully Inscribed TO THE PRESENT MINISTER AND DEACONS OF KENSINGTON CHAPEL....

At the commencement of my History, I wish to convey some idea of what Kensington was at the close of the last century, when the original Nonconformist Church in that place was formed and established. Kensington as a parish must be distinguished from Kensington as a village or suburb.  The boundaries of the parish are still unaltered, yet what it contained ninety years ago was different, indeed, from what it contains now.  It is startling to read in Lyson’s “Environs,” published in 1795, the foll

No account is given of the chapel opening; but in October, 1794, an invitation appears, in the name of “the trustees and subscribers,” addressed to the Rev. John Lake, M.A., [17] requesting him to take “the pastoral charge of the congregation,” to which, in the following month, an answer was returned accepting the charge, and expressing a hope that the people would receive the Word preached with meekness and affection, with freedom from prejudice, and with the simplicity of little children.  “Ca

“ The congregation of Hornton Street Chapel, Kensington, being deprived of the ministerial labours of the Rev. John Lake, by his resignation, and remaining destitute of a stated overseer in the Lord till the month of May, 1801, united in a call soliciting Mr. John Clayton, assistant to the Rev. John Winter, of Newbury, Berks, to undertake the office of their pastor.” [28]   The invitation was in the name of “the trustees, church, and subscribers,” and received about one hundred signatures.  Mr.

“ Before accepting the call to Kensington,” he said, as we learn from the Memoir by his son, “while returning from a visit to that place, I heard at the house of a friend that Rowland Hill had announced me to preach at Surrey Chapel on the following Tuesday evening.”  He went and preached, and was surprised at the risibility of the audience, which was explained when he heard that Mr. Hill had crept up into the gallery behind the pulpit, and in his own comical way expressed assent to one part and

Dr. Leifchild relinquished the pastorate in August, 1824.  Dr. Vaughan received a “call” signed by about eighty members, and this he accepted in February, 1825.  His acceptance is dated from Worcester.  “It is not,” he says, “without being truly thankful for the many blessings which have accompanied my religious connection in this city that I yield to the influence of circumstances, which in my own view and that of the more judicious of my friends, fully warrant the step which I now take in free

The new pastor felt his removal from Windsor very deeply; and on the first Sunday of his regular ministry in Kensington he was anything but himself—certainly by no means at home.  He thought next day the people must have repented of their choice.  Matters, however, mended afterwards, though a good while passed before he could accommodate himself to altered circumstances; but the kindness he everywhere met with gave him increasing encouragement. A recognition service was held on October 31st, 184

No sooner had the vacancy occurred than the Church’s attention was directed to the Rev. G. S. Barrett, of Norwich, who had eminent qualifications for the Kensington pastorate.  He was invited to preach before the end of April, and immediately after he had done so, steps were taken for calling the Church together.  On the 13th of May a meeting followed, when it was resolved to invite Mr. Barrett to succeed Dr. Stoughton.  The invitation was conveyed in the form of unanimous and cordial resolution

The interregnum between Mr. Clayton’s removal and Dr. Leifchild’s arrival extended beyond two years and a half; but breaks in the after history of the pastorate were remarkably short.  Two months only elapsed between Dr. Leifchild’s retirement and the commencement of Dr. Vaughan’s labours.  Dr. Vaughan terminated his Kensington ministry in May, I accepted a call from the Church in July; Dr. Raleigh’s removal to Kensington was about six months after his predecessor left; Dr. Raleigh died in April