AINSWORTH, Henry, divine and scholar, was born “about 1560” at Pleasington, near Blackburn, Lancashire, having been second son of Lawrence Ainsworth of Pleasington Hall. Young Henry Ainsworth is believed to have received his education at Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in Blackburn, of which his father was an original founder. According to tradition, he was a Roman Catholic, and a younger brother, John, a Protestant; and the two brothers, entering into a written controversy, mutually converted each other—Henry having embraced Protestantism, and John, Popery. The subsequent earlier history of Ainsworth is still obscure. No record survives; but various authorities concur in stating that he passed from Blackburn to Cambridge. He associated with the Puritan party in the Church of England, and eventually adopted the platform of the Independents as represented by the Brownists. He was driven from his native country by the state proscription of the sectaries before the year 1593. He is found resident in “ablind lane at Amsterdam” about 1595-6. His exile must have reduced him to extreme poverty. He is stated to have been a “porter” to a scholarly bookseller in Amsterdam, who, on discovering his skill in the Hebrew language, made him known to his countrymen. Roger Williams, in one of his fiery tractates, reproaches Ainsworth as “living upon ninepence a week and some boiled roots.” When the Brownists erected a church in Amsterdam, Francis Johnson was chosen for their pastor, and Henry Ainsworth for their doctor or teacher. In 1596 these two divines drew up a confession of their faith (in Latin), which was reprinted in 1598, and dedicated to the various universities of Europe (including St Andrews, Scotland). The separations and controversies which ensued at ...