Andrew Reed

Who was Andrew Reed?

Andrew Reed was an English Congregational minister and hymnwriter, who became a prominent philanthropist and social reformer. He was also the father of Sir Charles Reed and grandfather of Talbot Baines Reed. His parents were "humble tradespeople" and he was originally an apprentice.

He entered Hackney Academy in 1807 to study theology under the Reverend George Collison and was ordained minister of New Road Chapel in 1811. About 1830 he built the larger Wycliffe Chapel, where he remained until 1861. He visited America on a deputation to the Congregational Churches in 1834 and received the degree of D.D. from Yale. In addition to an account of his visit to America, he compiled a hymn-book, and published some sermons and books of devotion.

Reed's name is permanently associated with a long list of philanthropic achievements, including the London Orphan Asylum, the Infant Orphan Asylum and the Reedham Orphanage, which he undertook on non-denominational lines because the governors of the other institutions had made the Anglican Catechism compulsory.