The Stennetts of EnglandJoseph Stennett II

Family

The oldest son of Joseph II and Rebecca Stennett was Joseph III. He was born in western England in 1717 or 1718. He grew to manhood in Exeter and when he was about nineteen his father moved to London. He became his father's assistant at the Little Wild Street Baptist Church on April 2, 1740, and held the position two and a half years. He traveled out to Coate in Oxfordshire at the end of August or the First of September in 1741 to preach the funeral sermon for the late Rev. Joseph Collett 079 of the town. As long as he had to come about 50 miles, he preached a sermon which ran some sixty pages when it was published the next year! In the sermon there is a paragraph on the validity of the use of the human mind:

It is so far from being the design of true religion to eradicate, or entirely suppress the passions of our minds; that when they are under its influence and regulation, they answer most valuable purposes and are greatly subservient to the honour of valuable purposes, and are greatly subservient to the honour of God, the interest of society, and the welfare of our own souls. 080

Apparently he does some thinking about Christianity for in regard to the future life he says, "If the discoveries of nature and reason were fairly consulted, they would give us very considerable light into this matter." 081 He refers to God in theological categories, "infinite, all-wise and omnipotent Creator of all" and about Providence, his mind has made him recognize its "unequal distributions . . . in this world." 082 The next year, he became Collett's successor at Coat (Coate). In the same year he came to Coate, Joseph III edited for publication a discourse which had once been preached by Collett. In Stennett's preface in order to prevent the undermining of the "absolute sovereignty of God," he argues for the providence as both a rational principle and a revealed Doctrine. 083 During his life-long ministry with the Baptist Church at Coate , he was active in the Western Association of Baptists. After years of poor health he died on May 22, 1767 at the age of fifty-one. His funeral sermon was preached by Daniel Turner, the Baptist pastor of Abingdon in neighboring Berkshire. Turner was a Baptist figure for the whole area. He said of Joseph III that

He was a man of real religion. His heart felt, and his life exemplified, the gracious doctrine he preached In his domestic and social capacity, he was, indeed a most affectionate friend; and of great candor and moderation towards those who differ from him in the disputable points of religion. 084

The more noted son of Joseph II and Rebecca Stennett was Samuel, who was Born in Exeter in 1727. Chapter IV of this thesis is devoted to him. When Joseph II died, it is said several children survived, including the two sons mentioned above. Therefore, there are other children of whom no certain record has been preserved, as far as I have been able to find out. 085

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New information since the Thesis

Joseph Stennett II (1717? - May 22, 1769) ,
son of Joseph Stennett, Jr. (1692-1758)

He was born Nov. 8, 1717 N1 He died "May 22, 1769, in the 52 year of his age." The funeral sermon for him was preached at Coat, Oxfordshire, on June 4, 1769, by Daniel Turner. N2

In the Little Wild Street Baptist Church, London, of which his father was pastor, at the Feb. 28, 1740 business meeting it was agreed that B. Joseph Stennett Jun ^r be called upon to give the church a Trial of his Gift in the pulpit on March the 16 ^th in the Evening in order to consider of his qualifications for publick work." On April 3, 1740, "The Church having had a trial of the Gift of Bro. Joseph Stennett Jun ^r . on the 23 ^d of the last month they unanimously agreed that God had bestowed on him abilities for publick service in the Ministry, & they accordingly sent him forth in the work of preaching the Gospel." At the meeting of Apr. 2, 1741, it was agreed he could assist the Baptist Church of which David Rees was pastor on account of the latter's illness. N3

The Coate, Oxfordshire, Baptist Church record book has a brief account probably in his own words of his coming there:

Joseph Stennett came to Coate, March 12th, 1742. Translated his Communion from the Church of Ct. Meeting in Wild Street to the Church at Coate, Sept. 18th, 1743. Ordained their Pastor Sept. 21st, 1743. The Ministers engaged were Mr. [Dr.] Stennett, Snr., of London, Mr. Foskett ... Mr. Fuller ... Mr. Jones, of Upton-on-Severn, Mr. Marsum [Marsom]... N4

From the denominational connections, Jones of Upton is Philip Jones pastor of the Baptist Church at Upton and of the Seventh Day Baptist Church at Natton near Tewkesbury. He was a Seventh Day Baptist and had his church membership in Natton. N5 The Stennett father, Joseph (1692-1758), was also a "Sabbath-keeper." N6

Joseph (1717-1769) appears to be the "Mr. Stennet, an eminent baptist preacher, at Cote, Oxfordshire" who married a "Miss Robarts of Abingdon, Berks." on March 28, 1745. N7 The marriage record in London is more detailed: "Joseph Stennett of Aston in the Parish of Bampton in the Bush in the County of Oxford, Batchelor, and Martha Robarts of S ^t Helen's, in Abingdon in the County of Berks, Spinster, were married March 28, 1745. N8

His father, Joseph (1692-1758), preached a funeral sermon in 1754 at Abingdon for "Mrs. Mary Robarts" in which he spoke of "my near relation to the deceased." N9

The "last days" of Joseph (d. 1769) were spent at his brother Samuel Stennett's home in Hatton Gardens where he died May 22, 1769. He was buried at Bunhill Fields, London. 10 A sermon was preached in his honor by Daniel Turner. N11

A son of same name succeeded him briefly at Coate. N12 If John Stanley may be trusted, the son, "was buried as 'The Reverend Br. Stennett, of Hackney" a year before his mother in the family vault at Bunhill Fields." The Bunhill Fields records show a burial on Sept. 10, 1783, "The Rev ^d . Mr Joseph Stennett from Hackney in a Grave." His mother would appear to be buried Sept. 9, 1784, "M ^rs Mary Stennett from Mile end in a Grave. N13 However, the wife of his father above, married in 1745, is Martha. Not having a biography of these people from their time, one must be cautious with the Stanley account which is often inaccurate. A successor at Coate, Thomas Dunscombe, was ordained there Aug. 4, 1773 At the ordination the charge was given by Caleb Evans; in it Dunscombe's predecessors are mentioned: "your truly respectable predecessors .... Joseph Collett ... and the Rev. Mr. Joseph Stennett, son of the late Rev. Dr. Joseph Stennett, of London." "Your former pastors [Collett and Stennett] were eminent men of God, and remarkably owned and blessed amongst you"--Hugh Evans in the ordinauion sermon. N14

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