Thomas Haweis

Thomas Haweis (surname pronounced to rhyme with "pause"; 1 January 1734 – 11 February 1820) was an English minister. As a Church of England cleric he was one of the leading figures of the 18th century evangelical revival and a key figure in the histories of the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion, the Free Church of England and the London Missionary Society.

Early life and conversion to evangelical Christianity

Haweis was born in Redruth, Cornwall, where he was baptised on 20 February 1734. He was the son of a solicitor, who was able to have him educated at Truro Grammar School, but, after his father's death, his mother was too poor to send him to university and so, after an apprenticeship, he practised for some time as an apothecary and physician. Guided by George Conon, the master of Truro Grammar School, Haweis was introduced to the doctrines of the evangelical revival.

Sponsored by the Reverend Joseph Jane of St Mary Magdalene Parish Church in Oxford, in 1748 he entered Christ's College. There he organised a prayer group often seen as a successor to the Wesleys' "Holy Club". After graduation, he was ordained in the Church of England by the Bishop of Oxford in 1757 to serve as curate to Joseph Jane.

In 1762, he was appointed to the Lock Hospital, London, under the guidance of the chaplain, Martin Madan. At this time he met Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, and preached in many of her chapels. Although offered an incumbency in Philadelphia by George Whitefield, he opted instead to become rector of All Saints’ Church, Aldwincle, Northamptonshire, in 1764, retaining the living until his death in 1820.