Meet the People
: People of Williamsburg
: Samuel Henley
- Born 1745 in England
- Ordained a priest in the Church of England
- Recruited to come to Virginia to teach at William & Mary
- Died 1815
British-born professor left England in 1769
Samuel Henley was a British-born professor of moral philosophy at the College
of William & Mary from 1770-1775. He was teaching near Cambridge in 1769
when Dr. Burton, an old friend of Lord Botetourt's who had been commissioned
to "ransack the universities" in search of faculty for William and
Mary, recruited him for the post. Henley was then ordained a priest in the Church
of England, and sent with the bishop of London's blessing to instruct the youth
of Virginia in rhetoric, logic, ethics, and literature. He received 60 pounds
from the Bishop for his traveling expenses.
Befriended influential men of Williamsburg
Once in Williamsburg, Henley won the friendship of men such as George Wythe,
Peyton Randolph, and Thomas Jefferson. He was highly respected and admired by
students St. George Tucker, James Madison, Edmund Randolph, James Monroe, and
Thomas Jefferson's younger brother, Randolph Jefferson.
Outspoken opinions may have cost him the rectorship of Bruton Church
Henley seemed always to have an opinion and rarely an entirely conventional
one. His sermons reveal him to have been a man of liberal and enlightened views,
but they were not universally popular, and Henley developed enemies as well
as friends. Robert Carter Nicholas was among those who had grave doubts about
Henley's orthodoxy. Nicholas was responsible for Henley's failure to become
the rector of Bruton Parish Church, even though he was the most likely candidate.
Returned to England prior to the Revolution
Henley returned to England in May 1775, because of the widening rift between
England and Virginia. Once he returned to England, he served many years as an
instructor at the Harrow School. He also married and raised a family. He died
in 1815 at the age of 70.
For further reading:
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Historic Triangle