Samuel Medley
Baptist preacher and hymn writer

      Samuel Medley was a Particular Baptist preacher and hymn writer. He was born June 23, 1738 in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, the grandson of Samuel Medley and the second son of Guy Medley, a teacher in Cheshunt. Guy Medley married the daughter of William Tonge, a well-known schoolmaster at Enfield. Samuel joined the Royal Navy in 1755. He was discharged in 1759, after being wounded at the Battle of Lagos (between British and French fleets).

      In 1760 Medley joined the Particular Baptist Church pastored by Andrew Gifford, and thereafter entered the ministry. He married in 1762. Medley was ordained in 1768, after accepting the call to the Baptist Church in Watford, Hertfordshire. He became the pastor of a church on Byrom Street, Liverpool in 1772, where he served for 27 years, until his death at age 61.

      His son writes at some length on his final days, concluding “...with a smiling countenance, he yielded up his spirit into the hands of his heavenly Father, without a struggle of a groan, about half an hour before 7 o’clock in the evening.” This occurred July 17, 1799.

      The funeral procession and burial were held July 24, 1799. Though his son does not mention specifically where he was buried, it was obviously in Liverpool. (Memoirs of the late Rev. Samuel Medley, Compiled by his Son: to Which are Annexed Two Sermons, and a Variety of Miscellaneous Pieces in Verse, London: J. Johnson, 1800, pp. 121-123)

      One of the best-known hymns by Samuel Medley is “I know that my Redeemer lives,” whose title is based on Job 19:25.

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[From R. L. Vaughn, /baptistsearch.blogspot.com. Scanned and formatted by Jim Duvall.]

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