with 1630, and the account book 1751, in which year the total
expenditure for this little parish amounted to £20. 19s. 10d.,
including £12 for the poor. The Whitsun farthings usually amounted to
6d. per annum, which, at a farthing per head per householder, showed
twenty-four subscribers.
The Rev. J. H. Wilding also holds this small rectory; churchwardens,
Mr. F. St. John and Mr. Nicholson. Population in 1851, 286.
St. Martin's.
Here I found a register commencing with 1538, nicely copied in one
uniform hand for a series of years. An hiatus occurs between 1560 and
1573, where the leaves have been torn out. In the 22nd year of Queen
Elizabeth's reign, "John Wilkinson, the parson," caused to be entered
on the register his license to one Thomas Heywood, "he beinge very
sicke in body," to eat flesh in Lent so long as his illness continued,
and no longer. To show the disturbing influence of the Civil Wars, it
will be sufficient to state, that only one wedding is recorded in 1643,
one in 1644, four in 1645, five in 1646, and so on. About the year
1653 the entries of a peculiar sort of marriages commence of which the
following are specimens:
"Mem. John Cartwright of ye parish of Wellan, and Anne
Elvinges, of ye parish of Handbure, were joined together man
and wiffe by John Nash, justis of peas, by consent, beinge
lawfully published 3 severall market dayes in 3 severall
weekes, without anie exception, ye 3d of Januarie. Witnesses,
Richard Harrise, Marie Salloway, and John Robere."
"Memor. That Thomas Baker, of the parish of Daderhill, and Ann
Wallford, of the parish of Sallwarpe, both in the countie of
Worcester, weare married the 26th daye of Maye, 1656, by Mr.
John Nash, on of the justises of the pease of the cittie of
Worcester, being publiclie proclaimed 3 severall market dayes,
in 3 severall weekes, in the market plase of the sayd cittie,
accordinge to the actt of parliment."
John Roberts signs himself the "register of Martin's." The above
description of marriages ceased with the close of Cromwell's
protectorate. In 1772 occurs the following:
"N.B.--Through the omission of Mr. John Giles, curate, no
regular register was kept from this time till Mr. Pearkes,
clerk of the parish, in Oct. 1772, began a private account,
from whose copy the following extracts are taken. The
intermediate time, from Dec., 1769, to October, 1772, is very
imperfectly supplied by a few alterations delivered to the
churchwardens in consequence of notice of the above omissions
having been given publicly in the church, and by advertising in
the _Worcester Journal_."
All the old account books belonging to this parish have been either
destroyed or removed into the custody of private persons who have not
the honesty to restore them. Vestry orders from 1718 and churchwardens'
account books from 1783 are the earliest records, and very little of
any interest is to be gleaned from them. Enough, however, remains to
prove that the parish of St. Martin was no exception to the general
rule observed by men in office of immoderately and shamelessly feasting
at the public charge. In 1732 an order was made that no more public
money should be spent at the perambulations--or "possessionings," as
they were sometimes termed; and the managers of the workhouse were
prohibited from spending more than 2s. at any meeting, and that not
oftener than once a month. The sum of £5 was frequently paid to avoid
serving the office of churchwarden, which in those days drew pretty
largely upon the time and attention of the holder. An instance occurred
in 1739 of a strangely perverted feeling in reference to the equality
of worshippers in the house of God, as an order was made "That the two
next seats to the mayor's seat be locked up, and that the clerk of the
parish do attend the said seats upon every day of divine service, and
not permit any person or persons that do not pay to the poor to seat
themselves therein till after the persons who do pay as aforesaid are
first seated." How does this agree with the spirit of Christianity, as
expounded in the Epistle to James, c. ii, v. 2, "For if there come
unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in a goodly apparel?" &c.
Great disputes subsequently arose in reference to the free use of seats
in the church; and in 1744 an order was made that the seat in the first
aisle, occupied by Captain Richard Hemming and his family, should be
declared void, and to be used by the parishioners, and that Mr. B.
Russell, the churchwarden, should take off all locks from the seats in
the church, except such as were held under a faculty. It forms no part
of my purpose to expose parochial abuses, or I might fill up a large
section of this book with the details of the shameful mismanagement
and peculation which in former years prevailed in the finances of St.
Martin's. Much however has been rectified by the judicious care and
public spirit of Mr. Clapton, one of the churchwardens, but much yet
remains to be done. Among other matters, it appears that sufficient
property has been at various times bequeathed for the purpose of
repairing the church and providing for the celebration of divine
worship, but this property has been let on long leases for nominal
rents, and thus a source of income which should amount to about £100,
and cover all the necessary expenses of the church, has been allowed
to dwindle away to a bare trifle. It has often been my misfortune to
witness the most unseemly exhibitions of dissention, mob oratory,
and hatred to the church, within the walls of this fabric, on the
occasion of demanding a new rate. How much would have been spared to
the feelings of the incumbent and to the friends of the Establishment
if the then churchwardens had faithfully and conscientiously discharged
their office in the stewardship of the church property!
Present rector of St. Martin's, the Rev. T. L. Wheeler; churchwardens,
Mr. Clapton and Mr. Hyla Holden. Population in 1851, 4718.
All Saints.
In this parish the date of the oldest register is 1560, many of the
earlier years being evidently copied by the same hand. An entry of the
death of Mr. Edward Hurdman, who was the last Bailiff and first Mayor
of this city, occurs in 1621: his effigy and that of his wife, in the
attitude of prayer, still remain in an arched niche to the south of
the chancel. In 1638 is recorded the death of widow Evitt, who buried
her husband and her three children of the plague the year before. The
dreadful year 1637 was memorable for the fact that in this city no less
than 1551 persons died of the plague in ten months, being probably one
third of the inhabitants (See "Worcester in Olden Times," p. 198). On
March 20, 1645, is recorded the burial of a Mr. Richard Chetell, who
is said by a local historian to have been hung before his own door
in those troublous times of Civil War, and to have had a flat stone
placed to his memory near the south aisle of the church, bearing an
inscription to his memory as "the masacred gent." who died March 19,
1645. Comparing the register with the date of death recorded on the
tombstone, so sudden an interment would give an air of probability to
the tradition. The coat of arms at the bottom of the slab evidently
belongs to the family of a Mrs. Rebecca Kyrle, who seems to have been
buried in the same vault in 1693. "Collins's fire," an extraordinary
event which took place in October, 1703, is entered in a red ink
or pencil mark, and the register records that, "James Collins, his
wife Ann, with seven children, Ann, James, Thomas, Mary, Charles,
Catharine, and Samuel, all which nine persons were burnt together in
the fire that burnt their house." This was a singular story. Collins's
maid-servant was the only inhabitant of the house who escaped from
the fire, but she sustained a broken limb. Afterwards she went into
the service of Mrs. Palmer, of Upton Snodsbury, a lady who lived on
her property. Mrs. Palmer had a son who was connected with a gang of
villains, and in order to obtain her money these wretches murdered Mrs.
Palmer and her maid, and burnt the house down. So the poor girl escaped
from one fire only to fall into another. The murderers were hung in
chains, and Palmer's estates were forfeited to the Bishop of Worcester,
who applied one of them to found a school (still existing as Bishop
Lloyd's) at Worcester, and the other to charitable uses.
On inquiring for the churchwarden's account books I was informed that
since the time when John Dench Wensley (some sixteen or seventeen
years ago) so agitated the city and the old city commissioners with
his financial squabbles, these books had been missing, and that up to
a recent period the accounts had been in a state of great confusion.
By the courtesy of the incumbent and churchwardens, I was enabled to
explore the parochial chest, and soon found that its triple locks had
proved no security against invasion, as not a solitary book relating to
the old accounts was left. Only one fragment--consisting of eight or
nine leaves, in a piece of brown paper for a cover, and bearing date
1697--remained, and this, on inspection, proved to contain nothing of
interest. It is highly probable the abstracted books are not destroyed;
and as they are of no use to any one, and the party who has been,
whether rightly or wrongly, implicated, being now dead, I trust this
will meet the eye of the individual who has them in his possession, and
that he will be induced at once to restore them to the church.
A fine black-letter Bible, date 1603, was found in the chest, and being
in tolerable preservation, I am glad to hear the churchwardens intend
to have it strongly bound with the original wooden covers, which have
been torn off.
Rector, the Rev. W. Elliott; churchwardens, Mr. H. Davis and Mr.
Kendall. Population in 1851, 2205.
St. John's.
Beginning with 1558, the register of this parish goes on regularly to
the present time, with the exception of some omissions in the middle
of the seventeenth century. There are no entries in the year 1637:
this was the year of the great plague in Worcester, when 1551 persons
died here; but as only twenty-six of them were in St. John's it can
scarcely be supposed that the vicar would have abandoned his post, or
neglected the parochial records, on that account. From 1639 to 1677 all
is confusion, entries of various dates being jumbled together as though
from recollection, at various times after the Restoration. The greatest
part of a century of the early part of the register was evidently
copied from an older one. On one of its covers is the following
memorandum::
"John Web's Case.
"1741.
"Aug. 2. John Web, of this parish, was buried, with my consent
first obtained, in his wive's grave, in my freehold, my church.
Some time after, his sister, Mrs. Wood, was resolved to lay a
large stone upon his grave without my leave or consent; for
this purpose she sent a stone into my churchyard and demanded
of my clerk the key of my church. My clerk informing me of her
intention, I went into the churchyard and commanded Taylor,
the stone cutter, to take the stone away; and for the insolence
of pretending to break up the soil of my freehold without
my consent the stone should not be put over Mr. Web's grave
unless Mrs. Wood payd me 40s. After some time, Mrs. Wood being
not able to obtain her end by the help of a proctor, she sent
the proctor, Mr. Greenbank, to offer me a guinea. I refused
the guinea, but told the proctor for peace sake I would take
25s. and not under. This day, Oct. 28, 1741, Mr. John Young,
surveyor of the highways, came to me from Mrs. Wood and paid me
25s. I then bid him tell Mrs. Wood that I was satisfied, and
gave her leave to lay the stone upon her brother's grave.
"ABDIAS TAYLOR, Vicar.
"Mem. The stone was laid upon Web's grave, Nov. 2, 1741."
St. John's poor's book begins with the year 1692, and ends with 1713.
The only entry in it worth recording is that of a parish meeting held
Aug. 23, 1711, when it was "agreed, that a penalty of 40s. shall be
laid upon the overseers that pay any of their said poor that receive
weekly pay, except they have the badg fastened visible on the arm,
which they are to wear daily at home and abroad; and in case true
information be made of any or either of the said poor yt neglect the
wearing of the said badg as aforesaid, they are to have no pay for the
week wherein they were found defective."
The oldest account book is one bearing the date 1678, and is entitled
"a booke ordeined to enter ye churchwardens' accompts of the parryshe
of St. John's in Bedwardine, in the county of Worcester, beginninge in
the year aforesaid." This book (which extends over about fifty years)
divulges the fact that the former inhabitants of this ancient suburb or
township were as famous for their feasting and drinking propensities
as are their descendants of the present day. The churchwardens and
their friends spent large sums of money on every possible occasion--at
perambulations, at the choosing of new wardens on Easter Tuesday,
at visitations, binding apprentices, and so forth. It is curious to
remark, as a proof of the extent to which selfish appetites will
mislead men who have no restraint put upon them, that the charge for
processioning, or "beating the bounds" of this parish, increased
from 3s. in 1678, to £10 in 1818. At first, only one day was spent
in the ceremony, and common ale at a penny per quart, indulged in,
the minister participating; then the task became too heavy for a
single day, and two were accordingly devoted to the purpose; brandy,
tobacco, and pipes, make their appearance; and before the close of the
seventeenth century three days were occupied in the procession; dinners
at "Powick's bridge" and at Broadmore Green, Broadheath, sums given to
the servants and children treated with "heavy wet" on the route, formed
the principal features of these drunken scenes. A small charge was made
for "boatinge over the _newe_ Teame" on these occasions. After inquiry
I cannot ascertain the meaning of this term. Three-pence was also
usually charged "for putting up the Gospel bushes." These were bushes
or boughs carried in the procession and set upright in the ground at
every point where a halt was made to read the Gospel. Both the Bishop
and Dean were treated with wine whenever they preached here, as was
usually the case when any minister preached who did not belong to the
parish; and when the Bishop vouchsafed his presence, cushions were
borrowed from the Cathedral to accommodate his lordship. The sum of 5s.
was spent upon the Chancellor "when he came up to see the reparacon
of ye church." Muskadell wine was generally chosen for sacramental
purposes, the charge for it during the whole year varying from £1. 3s.
to double that amount. Bell ringing entailed a heavy yearly expenditure
upon St. John's parish. It seems that they rang all day here when the
king was at Worcester in 1687, as a charge of 15s. 11d. was made for
the luxury, and also 3s. for ringing "when the Queen was with child."
This child was afterwards the "elder Pretender," but at the time of the
ringing the nation was looking for the advent of William of Orange.
In 1707 it was agreed that the five bells should be cast into six,
but there was a stout contest before this was decided on, there being
twenty-five votes for six bells, and eighteen votes for casting one.
The churchwardens were empowered to treat with a bell-founder, and 5s.
was spent at the Angel during the deliberation. Subsequently 5s. 6d.
was charged for horse-hire in going to Bromsgrove to look after the
bells; Mr. Richard Sanders, of that town, being the founder selected.
Every stage of progress in the transaction was commemorated by drinking
bouts. In 1709 a levy of sixpence in the pound was made to defray the
charge for casting; and in the following year appears an item of £1.
4s. 11d. for "meat and drink for the gentlemen who gave judgment on
the bells." These gentlemen were probably of the Cathedral choir, or
some other musical men of the city, called in to give an opinion as
to whether the new bells were in tune--as a similar instance, it will
be seen, occurred in another parish. Lastly, the sum of £52. 3s. was
paid to Mr. Sanders, apparently his whole bill for the casting. The
entire expenses of the parish for the year 1680 amounted to £12. 12s.
4d., besides £5 distributed to the poor. A barn at Wick was frequently
mentioned as a place where paupers died. Was this used as a workhouse
by the parish? The amount paid under the head of "Whitsun farthings" is
described as "Pentecostals to the dean and chapter, 2s. 3d." Every year
a regular charge of 1s. was made, as paid to the dean and chapter's
bailiff for what was termed "saddle silver." This was probably an
annual payment for permission to the inhabitants to pass on horseback
over certain lands of the dean and chapter. In many places a right of
passing on horseback is called "a bridle-way."
A bridge on the north side of the churchyard is mentioned in 1683, and
sums paid for bricks and masons' work to mend the same, and for railing
and posting it. What bridge was this? Another curious circumstance
recorded in this book is, that in 1717 "Mrs. Margery Carwardine, late
of this parish, gave £20, the interest of which yearly to be laid out
in Bibles for ever, to be delivered to the poorer sort of young people
every Easter who have best rehearsed the church catechism in the Lent
before; and if there be any overplus it shall be layd out in catechisms
to be given to poor children yt go to the reading school." In the year
1702 it was agreed in vestry meeting "that only one churchwarden should
be elected year by year, and to continue in his office two years,
viz., the first year as under churchwarden and the second year as head
churchwarden." The accounts of these officers were regularly entered in
the book by a professional scribe, who was paid accordingly.
The present vicar of St. John's is the Rev. Canon Wood; churchwardens,
Mr. Philpott and Mr. Lea. Population in 1851, 1845.
St. Clement's.
The earliest order book for this parish commences with 1670, the
register 1694, and the account book 1695. Older records are supposed
to have been washed away or to have perished through the effects
of floods to which the old parish church (formerly situate on the
Upper Quay) was exposed. Even the existing books seem to have been
thoroughly soaked, or else the ink used on them was so pale as to be
quite illegible in many places. Early in the present century (as the
Rev. John Davies, the incumbent, informs me) during a great flood, he
passed up the aisle of the church in a boat, and for some weeks was
obliged to borrow another church to accommodate his parishioners. An
old tale is told in this parish that on one occasion a clergymen found
a salmon left by the subsidence of the flood in St. Clement's church,
and hence the presentation to the living was supposed to include the
valuable privilege of catching all the fish that can be secured in this
way. Fortunately for the parishioners, there were but about a score of
them living on the side of the river where the old church stood, while
the remainder (about 2000) occupied a delightful bank on the west side,
where the effects of floods and dampness are set at defiance, if we may
judge from the many instances of longevity occurring there. Only a few
months ago a person died there who remembered George III being crowned;
and another, still surviving, regularly walks up to the communion-table
with firm step, although upwards of ninety years of age. Mr. Davies,
who for forty years has been the beloved and faithful pastor, has
during that period buried about 2000 persons, being in fact a whole
generation of the parish. But to return to the records.
Churchwardens here have partaken of the same flesh and blood with their
brethren in other parts of the world, judging from the regular outlays
for eating and drinking apparent on their books. The Bear inn (a house
belonging to the parish) was usually selected for their adjourned
vestry meetings and drinking bouts, and the Apple Tree, the Mug-house,
and the Duke of Cumberland's Head, were sometimes chosen by way of
change. The following is one of their bills for perambulating the
parish. It is dated 1737:
s. d.
"To cakes and ale at ye perambulation 9 4
For a quarter of lamb 2 6
Leg of veal and bacon 4 3
For a pigg 3 6
Thirty-two quarts of ale 8 0
For bread, greens, and dressing dinner 5 0
For cyder 0 3
For carrying the bush 1 0"
In 1700, the sum of 8s is charged as "spent agoing the bounds of the
parish and a boat; at the same time, when we came to Anthony Wall's,
10s 4d". Yet with all these appliances of creature comforts, the then
really onerous office of churchwarden was considered so undesirable
that, as in other parishes, the persons selected to fill it sometimes
"bought themselves off" by a good round sum to the parish, as was the
case in 1776, when Mr John Williams paid five guineas for that purpose
The total disbursements of the parish in 1695 amounted to £86 18s 10d,
out of which £55 15s 8d was paid to the poor; and the churchwardens
seem to have taken good care at most times to keep a balance in hand
Among the items of expenditure are--for mending the church after the
floods, for cloth and brass for the poors' badges (See chapter on St
Swithin's parish), 4d each for hedgehogs, &c The sacramental wine for
the whole year (1700) cost but 7s, and only 9s 10d was received of
the communicants during the twelve months In 1712 it was "agreed and
ordered, that for every corps either parishioner or residing in this
p'ish that shal be buried in this churchyard there shal sixpence be
paid to the churchwardens for ye time being toward ye mayntaining of
ye paling, and for every one brought out of any other p'ish to be paid
one shilling as aforesayd."
The church was "bewtifyed" in 1745, but it may be reasonably supposed
that no "bewtifycation" would long resist the frequent irruption of
Sabrina's waters (from which the building had probably been protected
by the old city wall before the latter was destroyed); and accordingly
in 1820 it was resolved to abandon the old fabric and build a new one
on the west side of the river, which was completed in 1823. I gather
from the records that the Whitsun farthings paid by this parish in 1726
amounted to 7-1/2d.; and as this oblation consisted of a farthing a
head paid by every householder to the mother church, it would seem that
(unless this was a fixed annual payment) only thirty householders then
subscribed in this parish; which is more a proof of the smallness of
the population at that time than of disaffection for the church, as the
latter was scarcely ever permitted in those days to stand in the way
of her legal claims. Yet in 1779 there were 141 houses in the parish.
About eighty years ago, I am informed, St. Clement's and All Saints'
churches were served by the same minister--an arrangement often made
in those days of no discipline and church desecration. It appears,
however, that many centuries ago, in a dispute about the advowson of
this church, which was then said to be dependent on All Saints, the
bishop declared it to be a free chapel, having no connection whatever
with All Saints.
Present rector of St. Clement's, the Rev. J. Davies; churchwardens, Mr.
J. Stallard and Mr. Bozward. Population in 1851, 2174.
Claines.