Ezekiel Blomfield

Ezekiel Blomfield (1778–1818) was a Congregational minister, author and compiler of religious works and works on natural history. His parents were Stephen Blomfield (born c.1740, died 27 November 1809) and Elizabeth Blomfield (née Luiss (Lewis), born c.1750, died 17 March 1799). Ezekiel was the youngest of four children. He was born on 28 October 1778 at North Walsham, Norfolk then moved with his parents to Norwich. He died on 14 July 1818 at Great Glemham, Suffolk and was buried on 21 July 1818 in the grounds of the Meeting House at Wortwell, Norfolk.

Education While his parents were poor Ezekiel showed determination for acquiring knowledge and by the age of 10 he was collecting information for a ‘Table of Chronological Events' and a ‘System of Natural History.’ His interest in the phenomena of nature was influenced by reading Evenings at Home, which was a popular series of books by John Aikin and his sister Anna Laetitia Barbauld, which considered the principles of "botany, zoology, numbers, change of state in chemistry ... the money system, the calendar, geography, meteorology, agriculture, political economy, geology, [and] astronomy".

At the age of 15 Ezekiel developed strong religious convictions. He was placed under the care of the Rev. Samuel Newton, a non-conformist minister at Norwich, (asst. 1757–1768; pastor 1768–1810), who taught Ezekiel Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. In 1796 Ezekiel decided to become to be a minister of the gospel and was accepted at the non-conformist Homerton Academy, where he studied under the supervision of Dr. Daniel Fisher.

Ministry

After four years training at Homerton Academy Ezekiel accepted a congregation at Wymondham in Norfolk where he preached and established Sunday schools and missionary societies. He wrote works commissioned by Charles Brightley, a printer of Bungay, Suffolk. Charles Brightly had established a printing and stereotype foundry in 1795, which in partnership with John Filby Childs, became Brightly & Childs in 1808 and later Messrs. Childs and Son.

His sister Elizabeth Blomfield (1773–1852) was a member of the Wymondham congregation.

In 1809 Ezekiel moved to Wortwell in Norfolk and ministered to the combined Harleston and Wortwell Congregational Churches. He died on 14 July 1818 and was buried on 21 July 1818 in the grounds of the Meeting House at Wortwell. Martha Elizabeth Blomfield married the Rev. George Clarke in England and migrated to New Zealand as CMS missionaries. Deborah Hannah Blomfield married Charles Green Stevens, who was ordained a minister and as a member of the LMS. The Rev. Charles and Deborah Stevens left for Tahiti in 1837 returning to England in 1841 due to ill health.

Published works Ezekiel Blomfield published books on natural history and religious matters including:

'A General View of the World, Geographical, Historical, and Philosophical; on a Plan entirely new', by Ezekiel Blomfield, published in two huge quartos (Bungay, Suffolk: C. Brightly & E. Kinnersly, 1804 & 1807). ‘A New Family Bible containing the Old and New Testaments, with notes, illustrations and practical improvements; selected from the exposition of the Rev. Matthew Henry’, by Rev E Blomfield, 2 vols. Embellished with fifty engravings (Bungay: C. Brightly and T. Kinnersley, 1809). 'The History of the Martyrs; or an Authentic narration of the sufferings of the Church of Christ, in every part of the world, from the age of the Apostles to the present time, etc.', by Ezekiel Blomfield (Bungay: Brightly & Co., 1810) ‘The Life of Jesus Christ with a History of the First Propagation of the Christian Religion, and the Lives of the Most Eminent Persons Mentioned in the New Testament’, by Ezekiel Blomfield (Bungay: C. Brightly and T. Kinnersley, 1809), (Bungay: Brightly and Childs, 1813) and (Bungay: T. Kinnersley, 1813). 'The Impartial Expositor and Family Bible', by Ezekiel Blomfield (Bungay: Brightly & Childs, 1815, 1816). ‘Lectures on the philosophy of history, accompanied with notes and illustrative engravings’, by Ezekiel Blomfield (London: Black, Kingsbury, Parbury & Allen, 1819).