Richard Cecil was a leading Evangelical Anglican clergyman of the 18th and 19th centuries.
Background
Cecil was born in London. His father (died 1779) and grandfather were scarlet dyers to the British East India Company. His mother (died 1777) was the sister of Benjamin Grosvenor.
His father was an Anglican while his mother was a Dissenter, whose family had been devout Christians for generations.
Career
He went to The Queen"s College, Oxford in 1773, was ordained deacon in 1776 on the title of Reverend Mr Pugh of Rauceby, Lincolnshire, and was admitted to priest"s orders in 1777. Shortly thereafter he went to serve three Leicestershire churches: Thornton, Bagworth, and Markfield. His evangelical preaching produced many conversions and flourishing congregations here.
He later became minister of two small livings in Lewes, Sussex.
From 1787 he preached the evening lecture at Christ Church, Spitalfields. He alternated with a Mr Foster in these two last lectureships during the period 1784 to 1801, though he had help from Mr Pratt in the last few years there.
In 1788 he became minister of Street John"s Chapel, Bedford Row, which became a major Evangelical Anglican venue continuing into the mid 19th century. He was associated with the Clapham Section(s) whose best known member was William Wilberforce, and was a founding member and leader of the Eclectic Society, an evangelical Anglican society which was started along with John Newton and Henry Foster in the upstairs room of a public in 1783, but later moved to the vestry at Bedford Row in 1784.