Early life

Angier was from Dedham, in Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

, where he was baptised 8 October 1605. At his own desire was brought up to be a preacher. At the age of twelve he was a grave child; but during his stay at Cambridge University as an undergraduate of Emmanuel College

Emmanuel College

Emmanuel College may refer to one of several academic institutions:in Australia* Emmanuel College, University of Queensland, part of the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia...

 'he fell off to vain company and loose practices.' He took his B.A. degree in 1625/6. His father subsequently died while he was from home, and whilst staying at his mother's house he came under the influence of John Rogers

John Rogers (c.1570–1636)

John Rogers , sometimes referred to as "Roaring" John Rogers, for his fiery preaching style, was a well-known English Puritan clergyman and preacher.-Life:...

, of Dedham, one of the most forceful of the puritan preachers.

Angier liveded for some time with Rogers, and afterwards with a Mr. Witham. He is next found boarding, studying, and sometimes preaching, at the house of John Cotton, of Boston, Lincolnshire

Boston, Lincolnshire

Boston is a town and small port in Lincolnshire, on the east coast of England. It is the largest town of the wider Borough of Boston local government district and had a total population of 55,750 at the 2001 census...

, which was frequented by puritan ministers. Here he met Ellen Winstanley, a native of Wigan

Wigan

Wigan is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Douglas, south-west of Bolton, north of Warrington and west-northwest of Manchester. Wigan is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre. The town of Wigan had a total...

, the niece of Mrs. Cotton, and married her at Boston church 16 April 1628. After the birth of his first son he planned with other ministers to go to New England

New England

New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

; but he made a journey into Lancashire to his wife's relations. He preached a sermon at Bolton

Bolton

Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...

, and one of the hearers made him promise to preach at Ringley chapel. In spite of his fainting in the pulpit on this occasion, the Ringley people were determined to have Angier as their pastor, and in September 1630 he accepted their call, and settled with them. Ecclesiastically his case was unusual. By the interest of Cotton he was ordained by Lewis Bayley, bishop of Bangor

Bishop of Bangor

The Bishop of Bangor is the Ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Bangor.The diocese covers the counties of Anglesey, most of Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire and a small part of Montgomeryshire...

, but without subscription; and he remained a nonconformist to the Anglican ceremonies to the end of his days.

Early career

Angier's diocesan was John Bridgeman, bishop of Chester

Bishop of Chester

The Bishop of Chester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chester in the Province of York.The diocese expands across most of the historic county boundaries of Cheshire, including the Wirral Peninsula and has its see in the City of Chester where the seat is located at the Cathedral...

, who dealt with him mildly and was rebuked by William Laud

William Laud

William Laud was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633 to 1645. One of the High Church Caroline divines, he opposed radical forms of Puritanism...

. He was, however, suspended from Ringley after about eighteen months' service. Denton

Denton, Greater Manchester

Denton is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, in Greater Manchester, England. It is five miles to the east of Manchester city centre, and has a population of 26,866....

 chapelry was at this time vacant by the suspension of its puritan minister, and the choice of the people was directed towards Angier, who settled with them in 1632, and remained their pastor, with some interruptions caused by the troubles of the time, for more than forty-five years. He was twice excommunicated, and his congregation often were disturbed by the ruling powers. It was thought that he had some hand in a book reflecting on Laud, which was discovered at Stockport

Stockport

Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on elevated ground southeast of Manchester city centre, at the point where the rivers Goyt and Tame join and create the River Mersey. Stockport is the largest settlement in the metropolitan borough of the same name...

; but in his diary he professed his innocence of it. Angier escaped serious persecution.

When the episcopal constitution of the church was abolished, his former congregation at Ringley tried to recover him. The contest between the two congregations was referred to the judgement of ministers, who decided that Angier should stay in his latest settlement. When the Presbyterian form of church government was established in Lancashire, he often acted as moderator of the classis, and attended the provincial assembly, and had ruling elders in his own congregation. His presbyterianism was moderate, and he incurred some blame for the breadth of his views as to church discipline.

Under the Commonwealth

Angier signed the document known as the 'Harmonious Consent,' issued in 1648, in which the Presbyterian ministers denounced the notion of 'an universal toleration of all the pernicious errors, blasphemous and heretical doctrines broached in these times.'

Angier testified against the execution of Charles I

Charles I of England

Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

, and refused to sign the engagement

Engagement controversy

The Engagement Controversy was a debate in England from 1649-1652 regarding loyalty to the new regime after the execution of Charles I. During this period hundreds of pamphlets were published in England supporting 'engagement' to the new regime or denying the right of English citizens to shift...

 to be true to the commonwealth of England as established without king or house of lords. On this account he was, with other ministers, taken prisoner to Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

; the plague was raging there, and they were moved to Ormskirk

Ormskirk

Ormskirk is a market town in West Lancashire, England. It is situated north of Liverpool city centre, northwest of St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston.-Geography and administration:...

. The time was passed in a discussion about prayer, and the diversity of opinion led them to select one of their number to treat the matter more fully. In this prison-house talk originated the treatise on prayer of Edward Gee of Eccleston

Edward Gee of Eccleston

Edward Gee of Eccleston was an English presbyterian minister, active against the government in the late 1640s.- Life :He was the son of George Gee, who was minister of Newton in the parish of Manchester, and nephew of Edward Gee, vicar of Tedburn St Mary; he was born at Banbury...

.

Many cases of conscience were propounded to Angier, whose judgment was so greatly relied upon, that the ill-natured styled him the 'idol of Lancashire.' He had also a reputation as a healer of quarrels. He preached twice on Sunday, and often on week days, praying seven times daily, fasting and travelling frequently.

Later life

Angier took no overt part in the Cheshire rising of 1659, and after the Act of Uniformity 1662

Act of Uniformity 1662

The Act of Uniformity was an Act of the Parliament of England, 13&14 Ch.2 c. 4 ,The '16 Charles II c. 2' nomenclature is reference to the statute book of the numbered year of the reign of the named King in the stated chapter...

 he escaped the persecution that fell on most of the nonconformists. Warrants were indeed issued against him; but those who had to execute them acknowledged that they would not see him for a hundred pounds. Something, no doubt, was due to the influence of his brother-in-law, Mosley of Ancoats, whose mother and sister stayed with Angier for many years.

When the Oxford Act came into operation, he moved into Cheshire; but an attack of gout

Gout

Gout is a medical condition usually characterized by recurrent attacks of acute inflammatory arthritis—a red, tender, hot, swollen joint. The metatarsal-phalangeal joint at the base of the big toe is the most commonly affected . However, it may also present as tophi, kidney stones, or urate...

 came on, and saying to Oliver Heywood

Oliver Heywood

Oliver Heywood was an English banker and philanthropist.Born in Manchester, the son of Benjamin Heywood, and educated at Eton College, Heywood joined the family business, Heywood's Bank in the 1840s....

, 'Come, son, let us trust God and go home,' he returned to Denton. The neighbouring justices said, 'He is an old man, and will not live long; let us not trouble him.' John Wilkins

John Wilkins

John Wilkins FRS was an English clergyman, natural philosopher and author, as well as a founder of the Invisible College and one of the founders of the Royal Society, and Bishop of Chester from 1668 until his death....

, the new bishop of Chester, frequently inquired after his health. Angier admitted Heywood to the communion at Denton after his excommunication

Excommunication

Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...

.

John Angier died in prayer, after several days' illness, 1 September 1677, and was buried at Denton, his funeral being attended by a great concourse of people.

Writings

The only work bearing John Angier's name is An Helpe to Better Hearts for Better Times, London, 1647, consisting of sermons preached in 1638. Another work has been attributed to him, and Robert Halley

Robert Halley

Robert Halley was an English Congregationalist minister and abolitionist. He was noted for his association with the politics of Repeal of the Corn Laws, and became Classical Tutor at Highbury College and Principal of New College, St John's Wood, London.-Early life :Robert Halley was born in...

 holds it to be his, a tract. Its content relates to the incidents of the civil war in Lancashire.

Family

His first wife, a pious and sickly woman, died in December 1642, leaving him a son and two daughters. By her deathbed suggestion Angier, a year later, married Margaret Mosley, of Ancoats

Ancoats

Ancoats is an inner city area of Manchester, in North West England, next to the Northern Quarter and the northern part of Manchester's commercial centre....

, whose family were of great local consideration, and held the lordship of the manor of Manchester. They were married in 1643 'very publicly in Manchester church, in the heat of the wars, which was noticed as an act of faith in them both.' She died in 1675.

Angier's own daughter, by his desire, was betrothed to Oliver Heywood, a month before their marriage in Denton chapel in 1655, and after the final ceremony he entertained about a hundred guests at his table, for he said he loved to have a marriage like a marriage.

John Angier's son, also named John, was born at Boston in 1629, and, like his father, went to Emmanuel College, Cambridge. His studies, however, were so unsatisfactory that, when in 1657 he applied for ordination, 'he was approved for parts and ability,' but it was thought fitting that he should make public acknowledgment of the errors of his youth. He was appointed to Ringley Chapel, but moved to Lincolnshire, where he was resident at the time of his father's death. His widow died in 1699.

Samuel Angier

Samuel Angier

Samuel Angier was an English nonconformist minister, one of the first after 1660 to receive presbyterian ordination.-Life:The nephew of John Angier, he was born at Dedham 28 August 1639, and was a pupil of Richard Busby...

, presbyterian minister, was nephew of John Angier the elder.