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Knowles, John

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

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a Congregational minister, was born in Lincolnshire, England, and educated at Magdalen College, Cambridge. In 1625 he was chosen fellow of Katharine Hall, and while employed in his duties as a teacher, upon the invitation of the mayor and aldermen of Colchester, became their lecturer. In consequence of his opposition to archbishop Laud, his license was revoked in 1639, and he immediately removed to New England, and was ordained co-pastor at Watertown, Mass., Dec. 19. In October, 1649, he departed to Virginia, in response to a call for ministerial aid in that destitute region. In a few months, however, he returned to Watertown, whence he returned to England in 1650, where he soon became preacher in the cathedral at Bristol. From this place he was ejected at the Restoration, and in 1662 was prevented from public ministrations by the Act of Uniformity. By permission of king Charles in 1672, he became colleague of the Rev. Thomas Kentish at St. Katharine's. London, where he preached till near the close of his life, April 10, 1685. It is said of him that sometimes, while preaching, his very earnestness and zeal so exhausted him that he fainted and fell. Mr. Knowles is represented as having been " a godly man and a prime scholar."-Sprague, Annals of the American Pulpit.