Ridley Haim Herschell

He was a founder of the British Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Among the Jews (1842) and of the Evangelical Alliance (1845),[1] Herschell was born in the city of Strzelno in the Duchy of Warsaw, a French client state in Poland that had previously been under Prussian control.

[4] He sought help from Roman Catholic clergy, but eventually turned to English evangelical contacts he had discovered in Paris through a mysterious letter of introduction he had been given before his conversion.

[10] They were both ostracised by their families, moved to the poor districts of Woolwich and Camden Town and experienced hard times in spite of their upper class connections.

[11] They had the first of five children, two of whom would die young,[12] Having financial problems caused by a wayward brother who left for America, they planned to go to Hamburg where they could live less expensively in a Jewish community[13] but were invited by Lady Olivia Sparrow,[14] a wealthy landowner, to manage her schools in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex and Brampton, Cambridgeshire,[15] But Ridley was more and more used as a preacher and pastor to the local people,[16] He felt called to be an evangelist, which was supported by reports of amazing conversion experiences as a result of his preaching in the violent fishing village.

[18] From 1846 he was minister of Trinity Chapel, in John Street/Newnham Street,[19] off the Edgware Road in West London, which could accommodate 1,200 people, was built and opened for Herschell by Sir Culling Eardley and other rich supporters.