Joseph Bennet

Joseph Bennet (1629–1707) was a nonconformist minister in the southern English country of Sussex. He acquired a reputation as a powerful preacher.

Bennet gained admiration for staying with his parishioners for more than twenty years after being formally sacked from his ministerial post over doctrinal differences, even after his officially appointed successor to the living in Sussex abandoned the community when it was struck by plague in 1665.

Life

Early years Joseph Bennet was baptised in 1629. His father, also called Joseph Bennet, was the rector at nearby Brightling. He attended Tonbridge Grammar School approximately 20 miles (35 km) to the north. In the year of his sixteenth birthday, on 30 June 1645 Bennet became a member of St John's College, Cambridge. His status at Cambridge as a sizar indicates that he received financial support in the form of a bursary or scholarship, probably in return for domestic duties of some sort. Disruptive context for his student career was provided by the English Civil War, an exceptionally bloody conflict which climaxed on a cold January afternoon in 1649 with the execution of the king. Bennet emerged from Cambridge in 1649/50 with a BA degree.

His uncle's ambition for Bennet was that he should become the incumbent minister for the parish of Brightling, a post that was thought to be within the uncle's gift. However, a temporary minister appointed before Bennet was able to take over refused to quit. Bennet moved in as minister for the parish at Brightling only in 1658. By that time he had gained a reputation as a preacher, notably at Hooe and Burwash nearby. Bennet's presence generally went unreported. He appears to have remained active in the town despite the new act, reopening his school to pupils at his home

New reign A new reign brought heightened political tensions. In 1685 he faced accusations of high treason after preaching at a service held (prematurely) to celebrate the success of the Duke of Monmouth's Rebellion against the king. It later became clear that the rebellion had been crushed before the rebels had left Somerset, and Bennet avoided prosecution only through the intercession of "influential friends".

Joseph Bennet, the subject of this entry, died in 1707 leaving a widow.