St. Austell-born Samuel Drew (1765 – 1833) was a shoemaker turned Methodist theologian who wrote extensively about the human soul, the nature of God and the deity of Christ as well as histories and biographies.

Illiterate until his apprenticeship ended, Drew became a travelling (journeyman) shoemaker and joined the Methodist Church when he was about twenty and then began to educate himself. Drew continued as a shoemaker until, with a secure reputation as a theologian and preacher, he received funding from a prominent Wesleyan, Dr. Thomas Coke to devote himself entirely to his true vocation. 

In 1799, he published his ‘Remarks on Paine's Age of Reason’, which he reprinted three years later.  In 1800, Drew published ‘Observations (In behalf of the methodists’ on a pamphlet lately published by the Rev. R. Polwhele’ Vicar of Manaccan, Cornwall, ENTITLED,“..Anecdotes of Methodism’ whilst two years later he published the work which brought him nationwide theological fame: ‘Essay on the Immateriality and Immortality of the Soul.’ 

In addition to his theological writing, Drew also edited Fortescue Hitchins’ ‘History of Cornwall’ and published an anthology of John Wesley’s sermons. 

In 1820, he submitted a thesis to a competition which, although he did not win, brought him to the attention of Aberdeen University theologians who arranged for him to receive an honorary MA.

Drew died in Helston and was buried in Helston Churchyard.