Parker

JOSEPH PARKER (1830 - 1902)

The celebrated preacher was born in St Mary's Chare, Hexham, the son of a stonemason. In the Hungry Forties, Parker was influenced by the Chartist Thomas Cooper, and associated much with Joseph Cowen in Newcastle. He gained a local reputation as a powerful orator, speaking at Haydon Bridge and Wall, among other places, and on entering the Congregationalist ministry, worked in Banbury and Manchester, where he became a power in English Nonconformity. His first written works date from the 1860s.

Parker was behind the scheme to build the famous City Temple in London, which opened in 1874, and from which his influence spread far and wide. His sermons, couched in everyday language, were vigorous and racy and he became one of the best-known personalities of his time. His writings include City Temple Sermons and The People's Bible in 25 volumes, as well as Tyne Childe: My Life and Teaching (1883).

Myers Literary Guide:	The North-East
JOSEPH PARKER (1830 - 1902) The celebrated preacher was born in St Mary's Chare, Hexham, the son of a stonemason. In the Hungry Forties, Parker was influenced by the Chartist Thomas Cooper, and associated much with Joseph Cowen in Newcastle. He gained a local reputation as a powerful orator, speaking at Haydon Bridge and Wall, among other places, and on entering the Congregationalist ministry, worked in Banbury and Manchester, where he became a power in English Nonconformity. His first written works date from the 1860s. Parker was behind the scheme to build the famous City Temple in London, which opened in 1874, and from which his influence spread far and wide. His sermons, couched in everyday language, were vigorous and racy and he became one of the best-known personalities of his time. His writings include City Temple Sermons and The People's Bible in 25 volumes, as well as Tyne Childe: My Life and Teaching (1883).
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