Francis Cunningham

Francis Cunningham was born on July 27, 1785, and died on August 8, 1863. He was an Anglican clergyman who served for many years in Suffolk, spending about four decades as rector of Pakefield and later also serving as vicar of St Margaret’s, Lowestoft.

He is known as the author of A Dissertation on the Books of Origen against Celsus, a scholarly religious work that examines the early Christian writer Origen and his response to the critic Celsus. Surviving editions and library records show him writing in a serious, learned style aimed at defending Christian belief through historical and theological argument.

Family history records also show that he married Richenda Gurney, an artist and writer from the notable Gurney family. Together they were part of the religious and cultural life of Lowestoft in the first half of the nineteenth century.