Thomas Coles

Thomas Coles (1779-1840) was born at Rowell, Gloucestershire. At the age of four he moved to Bourton, were he grew up under the ministry of Benjamin Beddome and his assistant, William Wilkins. He became a member of the Baptist church in Bourton in 1795, and immediately left for Bristol Academy. In 1797 he was a Ward’s scholar in Aberdeen. After completing his M.A. in 1800, he accepted a position as assistant at Little Prescot Street, under Abraham Booth. One year later, and after much debate on Cole’s part, he became pastor of the Baptist church at Bourton-on-the-Water, where he remained until his death in 1840.  See Thomas Brooks, Pictures of the Past: The History of the Baptist Church, Bourton-on-the-Water  (London: Judd and Glass, 1861); Henry Coles, ed., Letters from John Foster to Thomas Coles, M.A. (London: H. G. Bohn, 1864).