William Payne (1650–1696) was an English academic and cleric of theChurch of England, known as a controversialist.
Payne was born atHutton, Essex, was educated atBrentwood free school, and went on toMagdalene College, Cambridge, in May 1665, graduating B.A. in 1669, and M.A. in 1672.[1] He obtained a fellowship there on 6 July 1671, and retained it until 1675, when he married. He was in the same year presented to the livings ofFrinstead andWormshill (where he resided) inKent.[2]
In June 1681, Payne received the rectory ofWhitechapel, and speedily won a reputation among the London clergy as a preacher. On 29 June 1682 he was chosen to preach before the first annual feast instituted at Brentwood school. After the accession ofWilliam III andMary II in 1689, Payne, who in that year took the degree ofD.D. at Cambridge, was appointed to the lectureship of thePoultry Church in the City of London, and received the post of royal chaplainin ordinary.[2]
In 1693, Payne was appointed, by a commission under the great seal, "visitor-royal" over certain London churches sometimes called '"lawless churches", because they were exempt from visitation by the bishop, and were subject solely to the King. The appointment, however, caused resentment atDoctors' Commons, and in 1694 he resigned it. He died, on 20 February 1696.[2]
Payne took an active part in the agitation of the allegedPopish Plot, writing many anti-Catholic tracts. Among those were:[2]
These tracts all went through several editions, and were collected inEdmund Gibson'sPreservative against Popery (1738).[2]
Payne strongly supported the comprehension scheme, brought forward in 1689 for facilitating the inclusion ofEnglish Dissenters in the established church. The proposal was opposed, among others, byThomas Long, in a pamphlet on the subject,Vox Cleri; Payne replied in anAnswer to Vox Cleri (1690). Denounced bynonjurors for hislatitudinarian views, Payne in 1691 publishedAn Answer to a printed Letter to Dr. William Payne, concerning Non-resistance and other Reasons for not taking the Oath.[2]
During the last two years of his life Payne preached a series of sermons on behalf ofWilliam Sherlock, who was then defending thedogma of the Trinity againstRobert South. These sermons were published in 1696 asThe Mystery of the Christian Faith and oft-blessed Trinity vindicated. Payne was also author of:[2]
Payne married Elisabeth, daughter of John Squire, vicar ofSt. Leonard's, Shoreditch, London. Their son Squier Payne, fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge (B.A. 1694, and M.A. 1698), was son-in-law to and biographer ofRichard Cumberland. Madearchdeacon of Stow in 1730, he held the post until 1751.[2]
Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1895). "Payne, William (1650-1696)".Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 44. London:Smith, Elder & Co.
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