Samuel Wainwright

The Reverend Samuel Wainwright (28 January 1824 - 19 December 1899) was a Church of England clergyman and educationist.

Born in Manchester, Wainwright originally trained as a Wesleyan Methodist schoolmaster. He subsequently joined the Anglican Church, training at st Bees College in Cumberland and being ordained as a priest in 1855. His first post was as a curate of Holy Trinity Micklegate, York. He became vicar of the Holy Trinity in 1860.

In 1867 he moved to London where he became a prominent member of the "low church" wing of the Church of England opposed to Anglo-Catholic and ritualist tendencies. He edited a number of magazines, published a number of books and was a well-known lecturer, everywhere promoting his sometimes controversial Protestant views.

From about 1874 he started to use the title "Doctor of Divinity", but it appears that he was never awarded such a degree, and it has been suggested he merely adopted the style unilaterally.

In 1879 he was elected as a "Ratepayer's" candidate to the London School Board, representing the Finsbury Division. He served two three-year terms on the board.

In 1884 Wainwright was appointed priest in charge of the new parish of St Paul, Balham Hill. The parish had been formed when a large part of the congregation of the existing parish of Streatham St Mary (Usually known as St Mary's Balham) had refused to attend the services of the new (High Church) vicar. In 1886 he moved to St Stephen's Clapham Park, bringing much of his congregation with him. He remained there, dying at his home in Clapham, aged 75. He was buried in West Norwood Cemetery.