Samuel Chandler

Born in 1693 at Hungerford in Berkshire, he was the son of a minister and was educated at Bridgwater, at Samuel Jones's dissenting academy, and later at Leiden. Early in life he formed notable friendships with fellow students who would go on to become prominent Anglican churchmen, including Joseph Butler and Thomas Secker.

He served first at Peckham and then for many years at Old Jewry in London, where he built a strong reputation as a preacher, theologian, and public controversialist. His writings engaged major religious questions of the day, especially in defense of Christianity and Protestant dissent, and his standing grew so high that later writers called him the "uncrowned patriarch of Dissent" in the later years of George II's reign.

He was also recognized beyond dissenting circles: he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, and he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1754. He died on May 8, 1766.