2025 Library Day Lectures – Lecture 1
Speaker: Stuart Piggin
In this opening lecture of the 2025 Library Day Lectures, Stuart Piggin introduces the remarkable story of the Clapham Sect — the network of evangelical reformers whose vision and friendship reshaped 18th- and 19th-century Britain and left a lasting imprint on the church and society of early Australia.
Piggin traces the group’s members — from William Wilberforce and Henry Thornton to John Venn and Charles Grant — showing how their integration of business, church, and state advanced social reform, global mission, and gospel proclamation. He explores the theological convictions that bound them together, the philanthropic movements they birthed, and their enduring influence on Sydney’s evangelical identity.
