He was a member of the fourth Shropshire classis (constituted by parliament in April 1647), and, as such, was one of the ordainers of Philip Henry on 16 September 1657.
In September 1660 he was presented at Flint assizes for not reading the common prayer; the prosecution fell through, owing to Charles II's declaration in October.
He resigned his living in consequence of the Act of Uniformity 1662, preaching a farewell sermon (17 August), in which he said he was ejected for not subscribing his assent to the new prayer-book, which he had not yet seen.
An entry of an appointment ‘on a carnal account’ was ‘interpreted to be some woman design.’ Philip Henry records ‘a great noise in the country concerning Mr. Steel's almanack.’ The Five Mile Act, coming into force on 25 March 1666, compelled him to leave Hanmer, and he took up his residence in London.
William Urwick the younger conjectures[1] that his was the license granted on 10 June 1672 for presbyterian preaching in ‘the house of Rob.
Though he may have made occasional visits to the north, Philip Henry's diary shows that he was constantly exercising his ministry in London from 1671.