Spurstowe, William

Spurstowe, William a Nonconformist divine, was educated at St. Katharine Hall, Cambridge, of which he became a fellow. He was minister at Hampden, in Buckinghamshire, when the Rebellion broke out. He joined the rebel army as chaplain, and in 1643 became a member of the so called Assembly of Divines, becoming at the same time pastor of Hackney. He was made master of St. Katharine Hall, but was turned out for refusing the engagement. He was obliged to give place to an orthodox clergyman at Hackney in 1662, and died in 1666. He was the author of a Treatise on the Promises: — The Spiritual Chymist: — The Wiles of Satan: — a Discourse: — and Sermons. He was also engaged in the attack on episcopacy under the name of Smectymnus. See Allibone, Dict. of Brit. and Amer. Authors, s.v.; Hook, Eccles. Biog. s.v.