The Reverend Ashton Oxenden
Oxenden (1808-1892) was a clergyman with the church of England and was a contemporary of J.C. Ryle. Like Ryle, Oxenden was a strong evangelical in the truest sense in that he held to the doctrines of grace. Oxenden was born at Broome park, near Canterbury, England, in 1808. He was the son of Sir Henry Oxenden and Mary Graham and had six brothers and five sisters. At the age of six his mother died. He attended University College, Oxford from 1827 to 1831 (taking six months off to care for his ill sister) and graduated with a BA. In 1833 he was ordained a priest in the Church of England. In 1848 Oxenden became rector of Pluckley, in Kent where he served for 21 years. In addition, between 1852 and 1857 he published 49 of the “Cottage Lectures,” which became known as the “Barham Tracts.” Their popularity inspired him to write another 67 pamphlets, known as the “Pluckley Tracts,” as well as some 25 books, a number of which attained sales of several hundred thousand copies. In 1859 he obtained an MA from Oxford. On June 14, 1864, at the age of 55 he was married to Sarah Bradshaw and together they had one child. In 1864 he was made an honorary canon of Canterbury cathedral. His growing reputation, particularly as a writer, reached Canada, and one morning in the spring of 1869 he was astonished to find on his breakfast table an urgent invitation from the bishop of Quebec, James William Williams, to accept, if elected, the joint posts of bishop of Montreal and metropolitan of the ecclesiastical province of Canada. He served as such until April, 1878 when he resigned and returned to England, and in May, 1879, was appointed vicar of St. Stephen, near Canterbury.
Oxenden was a man of deep commitment and devotion to God. He took his call as a minister seriously and as such he worked hard and faithfully all his years. He had a shepherd’s heart and a strong desire to see his people grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. His writings testify to his desire to help his people learn to walk with God in Christ. His writings were doctrinally sound and very practical and for this reason I want to make his writings known.