Charles Voysey (theist)

Charles Voysey (18 March 1828 – 20 July 1912) was a priest of the Church of England who was condemned by the Privy Council for heterodoxy and went on to found a theist church. He was the father of architect Charles Francis Annesley Voysey.

Born in London on 18 March 1828, Voysey was the youngest son of architect Annesley Voysey, a direct descendant of Susanna Wesley, mother of John and Charles Wesley.

He entered St Edmund Hall, Oxford in 1847 and received his B.A. from the University of Oxford in 1851. The following year he married Frances Maria Edlin and was ordained in the Church of England, becoming the curate of Hessle. Voysey served in that position for seven years, also serving as vice-principal of Kingston College. His eldest son Charles F. A. Voysey was born in Hessle in 1857. Voysey was appointed curate of St Andrew's, Craigton, Jamaica in 1858, where he lived for 18 months.

In 1862, after his return to England, he served as curate of Great Yarmouth for six months before being appointed to the curacy of St Mark's, Whitechapel.

In 1863 Voysey was removed from the curacy of St Mark's, Whitechapel after preaching a sermon denying the doctrine of eternal punishment. He was recommended for the curacy of St Mark's, Victoria Docks. After a brief period as curate of North Woolwich he became curate and eventually Vicar of Healaugh near Tadcaster, in 1864, but soon ran into difficulties there.

...
Wikipedia