Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Settle, Thomas
SETTLE, THOMAS (fl. 1575–1593), divine, born about 1555, matriculated as pensioner at Queens' College, Cambridge, in 1575, but left college without a degree. He was ordained by Bishop Freake of Norwich, and was minister at Boxted in Suffolk. In May 1586 he was cited before Archbishop Whitgift at Lambeth to answer six charges: that he did not observe the order in the Book of Common Prayer, that he did not use the sign of the cross in baptism, that he did not marry with the ring, that he frequented conventicles, that he denied the validity of private baptism, that he denied the descent into hell. Settle acknowledged his contumacy on the last charge, and refused subscription to any rites or ceremonies. After a stormy dispute with Whitgift he was committed to the Gatehouse, where he was kept prisoner till 1592. On his release he joined the Brownists' congregation, which met privately in London, and was arrested again before the end of the year, while attending a meeting at the house of George Johnson in St. Nicholas Lane. On 6 April 1593 he was brought before the high commission and required to take the oath ex officio, but absolutely declined. He admitted that he had separated himself from the established church for about a year, that he had not taken the sacrament in his parish church for three years, and that he had opposed the discipline of the church for seven years; but he declined to say from whom he had imbibed his opinions. He confessed to being present at illegal religious meetings, and refused to attend public service. He was sent back to prison, and nothing further is recorded of him. He may have been the author of ‘Tho. Settle his Catechisme,’ London, 8vo, n.d.; licensed to Henry Carr and Henry Hasselup, 22 May 1587. There is no reason to identify him with the Settle mentioned by R. Bancroft (Daungerous Positions, p. 81).
[Brook's Lives of the Puritans, ii. 46–8; Cooper's Athenæ Cantabr. ii. 402; Dexter's Congregationalism, pp. 256n., 274; Hanbury's Historical Memorials, i. 87 n., 88; Ames's Typogr. Antiq. ed. Herbert, p. 1338; Neal's Puritans, i. 388–9; Strype's Annals, 1824, iv. 134.]