For many years, history was often presented as the ‘biographies of great men’. These works tended to focus on the stories of those who had contributed within the wider context of the Church or society. Hence, the stories often fit into neat categories: politics, social activism, Church, etc. The difficulty with this approach is that the stories of many people (men and women) have never been adequately explored because they do not fit any particular category. Such was the life of the subject of this biography, Baptist Wriothesley Noel. Born into an aristocratic family, Noel served as a priest in the Church of England from 1826 to 1848. He was a royal chaplain and became recognised within the Church as a leader among Evangelical Anglicans. In 1848, however, Noel seceded from the Anglican Church and became a Baptist. He then served as a pastor of a Baptist church in London from 1850 until his retirement from local pastoral ministry in 1868. Philip Hill points out that despite taking a leading role in the foundation of the London City Mission and writing over ninety published works, Noel has not received due attention from either Baptists or Anglicans. Hill thus helpfully seeks to offer an account that presents Noel as an Evangelical minister who throughout his life was seeking to work co-operatively with Anglicans and other Christians. While Noel's theological views are well covered by the author, social historians will wish for more information on family life and friendships. Hill includes details about Noel's parents and claims that Noel's wife, Jane, shared her husband's interest in social reform. However, tantalisingly, Hill claims that Noel and his wife, Jane were part of a network of friendships that included Queen Victoria and that ‘Mrs Noel remained in her elevated circles’ and in the Anglican Church even after Noel became a Baptist minister. Perhaps there is still research to be undertaken which will shed further light on Baptist and Anglican relationships in the nineteenth century.
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