FLAVEL, JOHN: English Presbyterian; b. at Bromsgrove (12 m. s.s.w. of Birmingham), Worcestershire, c. 1630; d. at Exeter, Devonshire, June 26, 1691. He studied at Oxford and in 1650 became curate of Diptford, in Devonshire. In 1656 he removed to Dartmouth. On being deprived of his living in 1662 by the Act of Uniformity, he continued to preach privately until the Five Mile Act (1665) drove him from Dartmouth. He then retired to Slapton, five miles away, where he continued to preach. On the granting of the indulgence of 1671 he resumed his services at Dartmouth. Later the privilege of preaching was withdrawn from him and he was forced to seek safety in London. Afterward he returned to Dartmouth and met his people nightly at his own house, until in 1687, on the relaxation of the penal laws, they built a meeting-house for him. Flavel was a voluminous writer of popular works strongly Evangelical in sentiment, including, Husbandry Spiritualized (London, 1669); Navigation Spiritualized (1671); A Saint Indeed (1671); The Fountain of Life Opened (1672); The Seaman's Companion (1676); and An Exposition of the Assembly's Catechism (1693). There have been several collected editions of his works (new ed., 6 vols., London, 1820), and some of his writings are still reprinted as tracts.