He married (2 January 1838) Hannah Mary (1816–1872), second daughter of William Rathbone V. In 1823 he was admitted at the Belfast Academical Institution as a student under the care of the Armagh presbytery.
On 10 May 1831 he was nominated as successor to John Hincks as minister of Renshaw Street Chapel, and entered on the pastoral office there on 7 August, having meanwhile preached (17 July) the funeral sermon of William Roscoe, the historian; this was his first publication.
The arrival (1832) of James Martineau in Liverpool gave him a close associate; in 1833 his interest in practical philanthropy was stimulated by the visit of Joseph Tuckerman from Boston, Massachusetts.
From February to May 1839 he contributed four lectures, and a defensive ‘letter,’ to the Liverpool Unitarian controversy, conducted in conjunction with Martineau and Henry Giles, in response to the challenge of thirteen Anglican clergy.
On 25 June 1854 he resigned his charge, and went abroad for travel and study, his place at Renshaw Street being taken by William Henry Channing (1810–1884), nephew of the Boston divine.