Steele (Steale, Steel), Richard (1629-05-10 - 1692-11-16)

Richard Steele (also spelled "Steale" or "Steel" [Sermon on Jeremiah 6:16, MS Rawl. E. 108]) was born at Claycroft in Barthomley, Cheshire on 10 May 1629 to Robert Steele, husbandman. He was educated at Northwich grammar school before matriculating as a sizar from St John’s College, Cambridge in 1642; he graduated B.A. in 1650 and proceeded M.A. in 1651. He became chaplain at Corpus Christi College, Oxford and was incorporated M.A. at Oxford in 1656. Sympathetic to the parliamentarians during the civil wars, Steele served as assistant to the parliamentary commission for north Wales in 1654. He was admitted the living of Hanmer in Flintshire that same year, aligning his parish with the fourth Shropshire classical presbytery. During the Restoration he was twice called before the court for not reading the Book of Common Prayer; instead of subscribing, he resigned his living in 1662. He was briefly imprisoned on suspicion of treason in 1663, and was again arrested in Flintshire in 1665. In 1672 he was licensed during the indulgence as a presbyterian at Westmoreland House. While living in London he preached to a gathering at Armourers’ Hall in Coleman Street and to a congregation in Hoxton, moving to a meeting at Bartholomew Close in 1678. He registered as a preacher at Hoxton after the Revolution of 1688. Steele wrote several works of popular piety directed at the lower orders. He died in London on 16 November 1692 and was buried at St Bartholomew-the-Great. He was survived by his wife Frances and their children Richard, John, Abigail, and Hannah.