John Conant
1608–1694
Rector of Exeter College Oxford; later conformist; possibly the last surviving Westminster member.
Biography
Of Exeter College Oxford under John Prideaux, then Rector of Exeter College from 1649 (after Mansell's ejection) and Regius Professor of Divinity (1654-60). He was Vice-Chancellor of Oxford 1657-60 — one of the Cromwellian Vice-Chancellors who steered the university through the Protectorate years. Joined the Assembly's later sessions in 1647 after the Confession was finished. Ejected from the Rectorship and Regius Chair in 1660 and from Exeter parish in 1662, but after the Indulgence of 1670 he gradually conformed; consecrated archdeacon of Norwich in 1676 and prebendary of Worcester from 1681. A moderate Calvinist representative of the Restoration's reconciled Reformed mainstream. Died in March 1694, aged eighty-six — quite possibly the last surviving member of the Assembly.
Principal works
- Sermons (posthum. 1693)
English Presbyterian divine
The great majority of the sitting members were English parish ministers of Presbyterian conviction. They formed the drafting core of the Assembly, manning its three standing committees and supplying most of the text of the Confession, the two Catechisms, and the Directory for Public Worship.