Thomas Wilson (of Maidstone)
1601–1653
Vicar of Maidstone; popular Kentish Presbyterian preacher.
Biography
Of Christ's College Cambridge, then vicar of Maidstone in Kent from 1631 until his death — a substantial Kent ministry through the war. Wilson was one of the more popular Kentish Presbyterian preachers and an early voice in the Long Parliament's call for thoroughgoing reformation: his fast sermon Davids Zeale for Zion (preached April 1641) urged Parliament to root-and-branch reform of episcopacy. He attended the Assembly less than the London ministers but represented the active Kent Presbyterian classis at Westminster, contributing to the catechetical committee. He died in office at Maidstone in 1653, several years before the Great Ejection.
Principal works
- Davids Zeale for Zion (1641)
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.