Henry Melvill

Rev. Henry Melvill was a British priest of the Church of England, born on 14 September 1798 at Pendennis Castle in Cornwall. He belonged to a family closely tied to public service: his father, Philip Melvill, was an army officer and lieutenant-governor of Pendennis Castle from 1797 to 1811, and several of Henry’s brothers also became notable figures, including Sir James Cosmo Melvill, Philip Melvill, and Sir Peter Melvill. Henry came of age in the first half of the nineteenth century, a period when the pulpit, the university, and imperial institutions could all meet in a single clerical career.

Melvill entered St. John’s College, Cambridge, as a sizar in October 1817, then moved to Peterhouse. His academic record was distinguished: in 1821 he was second wrangler and won the Smith’s Prize. He graduated B.A. in 1821, M.A. in 1824, and B.D. in 1836, and served as a fellow and tutor of Peterhouse from 1822 to 1832. That early Cambridge formation gave him both intellectual discipline and a public platform, and it remained visible in the structure, polish, and argument of his later sermons.

His clerical career began to draw wide attention when he served as incumbent of Camden Chapel, Camberwell, from 1829 to 1843. In 1840 the Duke of Wellington appointed him chaplain to the Tower of London. Melvill then became principal of the East India Company College at Haileybury, serving from 1844 until the college closed in January 1858. He was also Golden lecturer at St. Margaret’s, Lothbury, from 1850 to 1856; one of the chaplains to Queen Victoria from 13 June 1853; canon residentiary of St. Paul’s Cathedral from 21 April 1856; and rector of Barnes, Surrey, from 1863 to 1871.

For many years Melvill had the reputation of being “the most popular preacher in London” and one of the greatest rhetoricians of his time. Crowds came to hear him first at Camden Chapel, then at St. Margaret’s, and later at St. Paul’s. His sermons usually lasted about three-quarters of an hour, but his rapid delivery meant that he spoke as much in that time as an ordinary preacher might in an hour. His voice was clear and flexible, his manner earnest and animated, and his emphatic pronunciation helped convince hearers of his sincerity. His views were evangelical, though his style was not plain: his ornate phrasing, balanced sentences, and vivid analogies were said to appeal more to the literary sense than to the spiritual one.

Melvill’s published work centered on sermons and lectures. His Sermons appeared in two volumes in 1833–1838 and reached a sixth edition in 1870. Other collections included Sermons preached before the University of Cambridge in 1836, Four Sermons preached before the University of Cambridge in 1837 and 1839, Sermons on certain of the less prominent Facts and References in Sacred Story in 1843–1845, and The Golden Lectures for the Years 1850 to 1855 inclusive in six volumes in 1856. Some works appeared after his death, including selections from sermons preached at Barnes and St. Paul’s.

In 1830 Melvill married Margaret Alice Jennings, and they had nine children. He died at the residentiary house, Amen Corner, London, on 9 February 1871, and was buried in St. Paul’s Cathedral on 15 February. His words remain of interest because they preserve the sound of a preacher who filled major London churches, joined evangelical conviction to a highly wrought literary style, and turned the sermon into a demanding public art.