Joseph Symonds (d.1652) was for some time the worthy assistant of Mr. Thomas Gataker, at Rotherhithe, near London; but afterwards he became rector of St. Martin’s, Ironmongers lane, in the city. Having espoused the sentiments of the independents, he forsook the church of England, left his benefice, and went to Holland. After his departure, Archbishop Laud, in the year 1639, pronounced against him the sentence of deprivation, by which the good man lost his living, after he had given it up. To escape the storm of persecution, Mr. Symonds settled at Rotterdam, where he was chosen pastor to the English church, in the place of Mr. Sydrach Sympson.
In this situation, his deportment and his doctrine were particularly conciliatory, and his labours eminently useful. Mr. Edwards, to reproach his sentiments and to cloud his memory, says, “that his independent church at Rotterdam was overgrown with anabaptism; and that he wrote to his fnends in England, saying, he was so pestered with anabaptists, that he knew not what to do.” Mr. Robert Park, afterwards one of the ejected nonconformists, was his assistant in the pastoral office. It appears that he was living in the year 1646, and still pastor of the church at Rotterdam. Though he was an independent, Edwards styles him “one of the most moderate and modest of that way.” Several pieces, written by a person of the same name, occur in the Sion and Bodleian catalogues. Though pastor of a church in a foreign land, he was sometimes called to preach before the parliament, as appears from one of his sermons afterwards published with this title, “A Sermon lately preached at Westminster, before sundry of the Honourable House of Commons, 1641: By Joseph Symonds, late minister in Ironmongers’-lane, London, now pastor of the Church at Rotterdam.” [adapted from The Lives of the Puritans by Benjamin Brook; vol.3, pp.39-40]
The Works of Joseph Symonds:
The Case and Cure of a Deserted Soul. (305 pages) [pdf via Digital Puritan]
This title has also been re-published by Digital Puritan Press. More information here.
A Sermon Lately Preached at Westminster Before Sundry of the Honourable House of Commons. (36 pages) {I’m looking for a copy of this.}
Saints Like Christ. (155 pages)
[pdf via Digital Puritan]
A treatise on 1 John 4:17.
Sight and Faith. (407 pages)
[pdf web via Google Books]
Meditations Upon 2 Corinthians 5:7. Thanks to Alex S. for locating this!
Three Treatises. {I’m looking for a copy of this.}