Pyne , Thomas , 1801-1873 , clergyman

Born in London, 1801; son of a leather merchant; studied at St John's College, Cambridge; BA, 1824; MA, 1832; ordained in the Anglican church; the family emigrated to America, 1833; appointed Rector of St Peter's, New York, and Librarian of the General Theological Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States; was dismissed after preaching a Thanksgiving sermon advocating emancipation of slaves, 1835; returned to London and became curate of Tooting (Surrey); given responsibility for the guardianship of two princes from the Gold Coast, (John) Ossoo Ansah (c1822-1884), son of the reigning king of Ashanti, and his cousin (William) Quanti Massah (Nkwantamisa) (d 1859), 1840; the princes had been sent as hostages under a peace treaty of 1831 between the Ashantis and the British government and it was felt that they would benefit from a trip to England, including her manufacturing towns; Pyne was subsequently perpetual curate of St Paul, Hook, near Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, 1843-1873; married Elizabeth (d 1911), daughter of Thomas Waters, 1860; believed in the power of hypnosis, advocated teetotalism, and opposed capital punishment; died, 1873. Publications included: translation of Pagan Rome (1839); Vital Magnetism: a remedy (1844); Judaea libera; or, the Eligibility of the Jews ... to Parliaments (1850); The Law of Kindness (1850); The Sabbath: its origin and perpetuity vindicated, from the Old and New Testaments [1850?]; A Glance at the Heavens, or, Sketch of Modern Astronomy (1852); A Memoir of the Rev R F Walker [1855]; translation of César Henri Abraham Malan's Traits of Romanism in Switzerland [1859?]. For further information see Maboth Moseley, 'The Ashanti Hostages in Britain', West Africa, 1 Nov 1952, p 1013.