Edwards, Thomas (1599-01-01 - 1648-02-07)

Possibly the son of Thomas and Mary Edwards of St Helen, Bishopsgate, London. Born sometime in 1599. Matriculated as pensioner from Queens' College, Cambridge in 1618. BA, 1622; MA,1625. After ordination in January 1626, became university preacher. Became lecturer at St Botolph, Aldgate, London in 1628. Suspended in 1629 by William Laud, then bishop of London, possibly for refusing to wear surplice, but maintained his lectureship after petitioning from parishioners. Curate of All Saints', Hertford in 1636. Married his wife Mary around this time. Wrote several polemical works against independents and toleration in the 1640s including Antapologia (1643) and Gangraena (1646), the latter exciting a flurry of printed responses. Self-imposed exile in Amsterdam in 1647, where he died 2 February 1648.