| Administrative History | The Matlock Bath Clerical Society was founded in 1816, after Revd Philip Gell, resident curate of Matlock St Giles, sent out an invitation to the clergy of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Cheshire and Staffordshire. The Society aimed to promote "the elucidation of the word of God, ... the promotion of personal holiness, ... establishment in the doctrines and discipline of the Church of England, and mutual assistance in difficult cases of parochial administration". Meetings were held at Saxtons Hotel (later the New Bath Hotel) in Matlock Bath. Each meeting engaged members in biblical exegesis, Old Testament study, Greek Testament study and discussion of one of the Thirty Nine Articles so that they were examined in rotation.
Some of the Society's prominent early members were Archdeacon Thomas Hill, Revd William Jowett of the Church Missionary Society, John Charles Ryle, first bishop of Liverpool and Walter Augustus Shirley (1797-1847), Bishop of Sodor and Man. Shirley's father, Walter Shirley (1725-1786), had been a hymn writer and revivalist preacher in the Church and his son, Walter Waddington Shirley (1828-1866), became a respected ecclesiastical historian.
In 1869, the Society founded an offshoot, the Matlock Bath Clerical Education Society, to offer financial aid for the education of Christian young men. Both societies seem to have petered out in the mid-twentieth century. |
| Custodial History | These items were deposited by Hull University Archives in November 2007 |