With William Vidler,
(See Below) Richard Wright established The
Unitarian Evangelical Society, in 1804, and The
Unitarian Fund, in 1806, which from 1825 were
amalgamated into The British and Foreign
Unitarian Association (and from 1928, into The
General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian
Churches). Their evangelical fervour helped
transform late-eighteenth-century rational
dissent into the vigorous Unitarian movement of
the 19th century.
William Vidler (May 4, 1758-August 23, 1816), a
British Universalist and Unitarian preacher and
publisher, was a disciple and colleague of
Elhanan Winchester. Together with Unitarian
missionary Richard Wright, Vidler played a
significant role in establishing institutional
features British Unitarians continue to use.
William Vidler
Born at Battle, Sussex, inland from Hastings on
the south coast of England, William was the
youngest of ten children born to John Vidler and
Elizabeth Bowling. He was apprenticed to his
father, a stonemason. As he was asthmatic and of
a studious disposition, he was hardly suited for
the trade. The evangelist George Gilbert came to
Battle in 1776 and preached at revival services.
Afterward, William joined an independent
Calvinist church, quickly organized in response
to the revival services, and the next year
started preaching. In 1780, persuaded of the
correctness of believer's baptism (as opposed to
infant baptism), he was baptised by Thomas
Purdy, a minister in Rye. As a result, the
majority of the Battle church re-organised as a
Particular Baptist Church and called Vidler as
its minister.
The Lodge, Todmorden Unitarian Church, Honey Hole,
Todmorden, Lancashire
