William Romaine

William Romaine (1714 at Hartlepool – 1795), evangelical divine of the Church of England, was author of works once highly thought of by the evangelicals, the trilogy The Life, the Walk, and the Triumph of Faith.

Early life Romaine was born at Hartlepool, County Durham, on 25 September 1714 the son of a corn merchant of French Protestant descent. He was educated at Houghton-le-Spring Royal Kepier Grammar School and Christ Church, Oxford.

Ministry Romaine was ordained as a deacon in 1736, and became curate of Loe Trenchard in Devon. He was ordained as a priest in December 1738, following which he became curate of Banstead in Surrey and Horton in Middlesex, holding both posts concurrently.

In 1739 he became engaged in a bitter controversy over the views of William Warburton. In 1748 he became a lecturer at St George Botolph Lane in the City of London, and the next year was appointed, in addition, to two lectureships at St Dunstan-in-the-West in Fleet Street.

It was in about 1748 he underwent an evangelical conversion. He used his positions as lecturer to preach evangelical doctrine to large crowds despite the opposition of the church hierarchy.

From 1756, while retaining his position at St Dunstan's, Romaine was a curate and morning preacher at St Olave's in Southwark. He also acted as a travelling preacher, going as far afield as Yorkshire and the West Country, and served as one of the Countess of Huntingdon's chaplains.

Romaine was a notable Hebrew scholar, and published a four volume revision of Mario di Calasio's Hebrew dictionary and concordance between 1747 and 1749.

He died on 26 July 1795 and was buried in the church of St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe.

Works Treatises Upon the Life, Walk and Triumph of Faith The Self-existence of Jesus Christ Living by Faith in Christ The Gospel The Legal Spirit slain At War and Yet At Peace Thy Walk with God Prayer Walk in Obedience to God Essay on Psalmody (1775)