Sir Culling Eardley, 3rd Baronet

Sir Culling Eardley Eardley, 3rd Baronet (21 April 1805 – 21 May 1863) was a British Christian campaigner for religious freedom and for the Protestant cause, one of the founders of the Evangelical Alliance. Born Culling Eardley Smith, he was known by that name until 1847.

Early life Born in London, his father, Sir Culling Smith, 2nd Baronet (1768–1829), was of Huguenot extraction and his mother, Charlotte Elizabeth (d. 15 Sept 1826) was the daughter of Sampson Eardley, 1st Baron Eardley, and hence the granddaughter of Jewish financier Sampson Gideon. Though the title Baron Eardley had not survived, Charlotte Elizabeth was heiress to much of the Eardley estate. Though he passed his BA examinations, he never graduated, having become a convinced evangelical Christian. He succeeded to his baronetcy on his father's death in 1829 and married Isabella Carr (died 1 May 1860) in 1832. They had one son, Eardley Gideon Culling Eardley (1838–1875), and two daughters. He inherited Bedwell Park, Hertfordshire from his father. From his cousin William Thomas Eardley-Twisleton-Fiennes, 15th Baron Saye and Sele he inherited Belvedere, Erith, Kent and the Eardley estates in 1847 and changed his name from Smith to Eardley by royal licence.

Politics and campaigning An instinctive campaigner with an interest in reform of the poor laws, Eardley was briefly Whig Member of Parliament for Pontefract from 1830 to 1831. Though he stood again, unsuccessfully, in the 1837 general election, he became, one of the founders, and first chairman, of the Evangelical Alliance.

He attempted to return to politics to create a platform for his campaigning zeal, fighting Edinburgh in 1846, against Thomas Babington Macaulay who supported Maynooth, and the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1848. However Eardley and the Evangelical Alliance had become interested in campaigning internationally for freedom of religion. In 1852 he campaigned on behalf of the Tuscan prisoners of conscience Francesco Madiai and Rosa Madiai. They had been imprisoned when they announced that they had become Protestants causing such international interest that Lord Palmerston had offered to pay their legal fees.

However, he was a particularly strong supporter of those who felt themselves excluded from the Church of England by the practices of the Anglo Catholics. From 1850 to 1853, he sponsored, and gave financial support, to the construction of an evangelical church at Furrough Cross, Babbacombe, defying Henry Phillpotts Bishop of Exeter. He also built a church on his Erith estate. In July 1854 Eardley was a founder member and chairman of the Turkish Missions Aid Society, an evangelical charity set up to support missionary work among Armenian Christians in Turkey. The charity is known today as Embrace the Middle East.

Personal life Mostly resident at Bedwell, he lived at Belvedere from 1848 to 1858 and also had a house at Frognel, Torquay in the 1850s. He suffered from poor health in later life and died, aged 58, at Bedwell from an adverse reaction to a smallpox vaccination.