Micaiah Towgood

Micaiah Towgood (1700–1792) was an English Dissenting minister in Exeter, of Arian views. He is known as a theological controversialist. Life The second son of Michaijah Towgood, M.D. (died 1715), he was born at Axminster, Devonshire, on 17 December 1700. He was at school with Thomas Amory, and with him entered in 1717 the dissenting academy in Taunton run by Stephen James and Henry Grove. On leaving he was called to succeed Angel Spark (died 1721) as minister of the presbyterian congregation at Moreton Hampstead, Devon, where he was ordained on 22 August 1722. He had a substantial congregation, and concentrated on pastoral work. Accepting at Christmas 1736 a call to Crediton, Devon, in succession to Josiah Eveleigh (died 1736), he moved there in January 1737. On the death of James Green (1749), Towgood became colleague (1750) to his first cousin, Stephen Towgood (son of Stephen Towgood, his father's elder brother), as pastor of James's meeting, Exeter. The position was influential, and the duties were light; the Bow meeting had its two pastors, John Lavington and John Walrond; the four preached in rotation at the two places. James's meeting had been purged in 1719 by the exclusion of Joseph Hallett II and James Peirce. Towgood, originally orthodox, was now a high Arian, with views similar to Thomas Emlyn. He had the terms of membership relaxed; and in May 1753 the Exeter assembly quashed its resolution of September 1718 requiring adhesion to a Trinitarian formulary. In 1760 Towgood's congregation left James's meeting for the newly built George's meeting in South Street, Exeter. In the same year he took part in the establishment of the new Exeter academy for university-level teaching. A building for the purpose was given by William Mackworth Praed the younger; the library of the Taunton academy (closed October 1759) was moved to there. Towgood took the department of biblical exegesis. The institution lasted till the death (December 1771) of its divinity tutor, Samuel Merivale.