THE CLERKS AND THE PARISH REGISTERS
A study of an old parish register reveals a remarkable variation in the
style and character of the handwriting. We see in the old parchment
pages numerous entries recorded in a careless scribble, and others
evidently written by the hand of a learned and careful scholar. The
rector or vicar ever since the days of Henry VIII, when in 1536
Vicar-General Thomas Cromwell ordered the keeping of registers, was
usually supposed to have recorded the entries in the register. Cromwell
derived the notion of ordering the keeping of the registers from his
observation of the records kept by the Spanish priests in the Low
Countries where he resided in his youth. Archbishop Ximenes of Toledo
instituted a system of registration in Spain in 1497, and this was
carried on by the Spanish priests in the Netherlands, and thus laid the
foundation of that system which Thomas Cromwell introduced to this
country and which has continued ever since.
But not all these entries were made by the incumbents. There is good
evidence that the parish clerks not infrequently kept the registers,
especially in later times, and from the beginning they were responsible
for the facts recorded. The entries do not seem to have been made when
the baptism, marriage, or burial took place. Cromwell's edict required
that the records of each week should be entered in the register on the
following Sunday, in the presence of the churchwardens. It seems to have
been the custom for the clerk or vicar to write down particulars of the
baptism, marriage, or burial in a private memorandum book or on loose
sheets of paper at the time of the ceremony. Afterwards these rough
notes were copied into the register book. Sometimes this was done each
week; but human nature is fallible; the clerk or his master forgot
sometimes to make the required entries in the book. Days and weeks
slipped by; note-books and scraps of paper were mislaid and lost; the
spelling of the clerk was not always his strongest point; hence
mistakes, omissions, inaccuracies were not infrequent. Sometimes the
vicar did not make up his books until a whole year had elapsed. This was
the case with the poor parson of Carshalton, who was terribly distressed
because his clerk would not furnish him with the necessary notes, and
mightily afraid lest he should incur the censure of his parishioners.
Hence we find the following note in his register, dated 10 March, 1651:
"Good reader, tread gently:
"For though these vacant years may seem to make me guilty of
thy censure, neither will I excuse myself from all blemishe;
yet if thou doe but cast thine eye upon the former pages and
see with what care I have kept the Annalls of mine owne time,
and rectifyed sundry errors of former times, thou wilt begin
to think ther is some reason why he that began to build so
well should not be able to make an ende.
"The truth is that besyde the miserys and distractions of
these ptermitted years which it may be God in his owne
wisdom would not suffer to be kept uppon record, the special
ground of that permission ought to be imputed to Richard
Finch, the p'rishe Clarke, whose office it was by long
pscrition to gather the ephemeris or dyary by the dayly
passages, and to exhibit them once a year to be transcribed
into this registry; and though I have often called upon him
agayne and agayne to remember his chadge, and he always told
me that he had the accompts lying by him, yet at last
p'ceaving his excuses, and revolving upon suspicion of his
words to put him home to a full tryall I found to my great
griefe that all his accompts were written in sand, and his
words committed to the empty winds. God is witness to the
truth of this apologie, and that I made it knowne at some
parish meetings before his own face, who could not deny it,
neither do I write it to blemishe him, but to cleere my own
integritie as far as I may, and to give accompt of this
miscarryage to after ages by the subscription of my
hand[62]."
[Footnote 62: _Social Life as told by Parish Registers_, by T.F.
Thiselton-Dyer, p. 57.]
We may hope that all clerks were not so neglectful as poor Richard
Finch, whose name is thus handed down as an "awful example" to all
careless clerks. The same practice of the parish clerks recording the
particulars of weddings, christenings, and burials seems to have
prevailed at St. Stephen's, Coleman Street, London, in 1542, as the
following order shows:
"They shall every week certify to the curate and the
churchwardens all the names and sir-names of them that be
wedded, christened, and buried in the same parish that week
_sub pena_ of a 1 d. to be paid to the churche."
In this case the curate doubtless entered the items in the register as
they were delivered to him.
At St. Margaret's, Lothbury, the clerk seems to have kept the register
himself. Amongst the ordinances made by "the hole consent of the
parrishiners" in 1571, appears the following:
"Item the Clarcke shall kepe the register of cristeninge
weddinge and burynge perfectlye, and shall present the same
everie Sondaie to the churche wardens to be perused by them,
and shall have for his paines in this behaufe yearelye 0. 03.
4."
It is evident that in some cases in the sixteenth century the clerk kept
the register. But in far the larger number of parishes the records were
inserted by the vicar or rector, and in many books the records are made
in Latin. The "clerk's notes" from which the entries were made are still
preserved in some parishes.
In times of laxity and confusion wrought by the Civil War and Puritan
persecution, the clerk would doubtless be the only person capable of
keeping the registers. In my own parish the earliest book begins in the
year 1538, and is kept with great accuracy, the entries being written in
a neat scholarly hand. As time goes on the writing is still very good,
but it does not seem to be that of the rector, who signs his name at the
foot of the page. If it be that of the clerk, he is a very clerkly
clerk. The writing gradually gets worse, especially during the
Commonwealth period; but it is no careless scribble. The clerk evidently
took pains and fashioned his letters after the model of the old
court-hand. An entry appears which tells of the appointment of a Parish
Registrar, or "Register" as he was called. This is the announcement:
"Whereas Robt. Williams of the p ish of Barkham in the County
of Berks was elected and chosen by the Inhabitants of the
same P ish to be their p ish Register, he therefore ye sd Ro:
Wms was approved and sworne this sixteenth day of
Novemb.. 1653
Snd R. Bigg."
Judging from the similarity of the writing immediately above and below
this entry, I imagine that Robert Williams must have been the old clerk
who was so beloved by the inhabitants that in an era of change, when the
rector was banished from his parish, they elected him "Parish Register,"
and thus preserved in some measure the traditions of the place. The
children are now entered as "borne" and not baptised as formerly.
The writing gradually gets more illiterate and careless, until the
Restoration takes place. A little space is left, and then the entries
are recorded in a scholarly handwriting, evidently the work of the new
rector. Subsequently the register appears to have been usually kept by
the rector, though occasionally there are lapses and indifferent writing
appears. Sometimes the clerk has evidently supplied the deficiencies of
his master, recording a burial or a wedding which the rector had
omitted. In later times, when pluralism was general, and this living was
held in conjunction with three or four other parishes, the rector must
have been very dependent upon the clerk for information concerning the
functions to be recorded. Moreover, when a former rector who was a noted
sportsman and one of the best riders and keenest hunters in the county,
sometimes took a wedding on his way to the meet, he would doubtless be
so eager for the chase that he had little leisure to record the exact
details of the names of the "happy pair," and must have trusted much to
the clerk.
Some of the private registers kept by clerks are still preserved. There
is one at Pattishall which contains entries of births, marriages, and
burials, and was probably commenced in 1774, that date being on the
front page together with the inscription: "John Clark's Register Book."
The writing is of a good round-hand character, and far superior to the
caligraphy of many present-day clerks. The book is bound in vellum[63].
The following entry, taken from the end of the volume, is worth
recording:
"London, March 31th
"Yesterday the Rev'd Mr Hetherington ... transferred. 20,000
£. South-Sea Annuities into the Names of S'r Henry Banks
Kn't. Thos Burfoot, Joseph Eyre, Thos Coventry, and Samuel
Salt. Esqu'rs in Trust to pay always to 50 Blind people,
Objects of, Charity, not being Beggars, nor receiving, Alms
from the Parish, 10 £. each for their lives, it may be said
with great propriety of this truly benevolent Gentleman that
'he hath displeased abroad, and given to the poor and is
Righteousness remaineth for ever; his Horn shall exalted with
Honour.'"
[Footnote 63: By the information of the Rev. B.W. Blyn-Stoyle, who has
most kindly assisted me in many ways in discovering quaint records of
old clerks.]
Amongst the register books of Wednesbury there is a volume bound in
parchment bearing this inscription:
"This Book seems to be the private register of Alexander
Bunn, Parish Clerk, because it corresponds with another
bearing the same dates; the private accounts written in this
book by the said A. Bunn seem to corroborate my opinion.
"A.B. Haden
"Vicar of Wednesbury
"August 7th 1782."
These accounts appear to be of items incurred by the parish clerk in his
official capacity, and which were due to him in repayment from the
churchwardens. The accompanying remarks of this old Wednesbury parish
clerk are often quaint and interesting.
The following extracts will show the nature of the book and of the
systematic record the good clerk kept of his expenditure. The only item
about which there is some uncertainty is the amount "spent at Freeman's
Coming from Visitation." Is it possible that he was so much excited or
intoxicated that he could not remember?
"1737. Land tax to hon. Adenbrook 0. 0. 11 Acount
What Mary Tunks as ad. Redy money 4/-, for a
hapern 2/-, for caps 1/6 and for shoes 2/6, and for
ye werk 6 d. Stokins and sues mendering 6 d, and
for string 2 d, and for a Gound 3/-, and for ale for
Hur father 2 d, for mending Gound 8 d, for stokens
10 d, for more Shuse strong 2/6, Shift mending
and maken 5 d, for Hur mother 1/6, for a Shift
2/7."
To this day old Wednesbury natives say "hapern" for apron, and "sues"
for shoes.
"Sep. the 10th, 1745, then recd of Alex. Bunn the sum of
six pounds for one year's rent due at Midsmar.
Last past Ellin Moris. Wm. Selvester and his
man the first wick 14/-. Mr. Butler and Gilbut
Wrigh, church wardens for the year 1741, due to
Alex Bunn as under. Ringing for the Visitation
2/-, spent at Roshall, going to the visitation 1/6-,
spent at Henery Rutoll 1/-, paid at Litchfield to
the Horsbox (?) 6 d, Wm. Aston Had Ale at my
House 6 d, for Micklmas Supeles washing and
lining 1/8, for Ringing for the 11th of October
5/-, for Ringing for the 30th of October 5/-, for
half year's wages Due June ye 24 £ 1 12 s. 6.
Ringing for the 5th November, for washing the
Supelis and Lining and Bread at Chrsmus 1/3,
for Easter Supelis washing and Lining and Bread
1/8, for Joyle for the Clock and Bells 2/6, for
Leader for the 4th Bell Clapper 5 d, Ringing for
the 23rd of April 5/-, for making the Levy 2/-,
for a hors to Lichfield 11/6, pd John Stack
going to Dudley 2 times for the Clockman 1/-.
For a monthly (?) meeting to Ralph Momford
Sep. the 15th 2/-, Spent at freeman's Coming from
the Visitation-----"[64]
[Footnote 64: _Olden Wednesbury_, by F.W. Hackwood, who kindly sent me
this information.]
But we have grievous things to record with regard to the clerks and the
registers, not that they were to blame so much as the proper custodians,
who neglected their duties and left these precious books in the hands of
ignorant clerks to be preserved in poor overcrowded cottages. But the
parish clerks sinned grievously. One Phillips, clerk of Lambeth parish,
ran away with the register book, so Francis Sadler tells us in his
curious book, _The Exaction and Imposition of Parish Fees Discovered_,
published in 1738, "whereby the parish became great sufferers; and in
such a case no person that is fifty years old, and born in the parish,
can have a transcript of the Register to prove themselves heir to an
estate." Moreover, Master Sadler, who was very severe on parish clerks,
tells of the iniquities of the Battersea clerk who used to register boys
for girls and girls for boys, and not one-half of the register book, in
his time, was correct and authentic, as it ought to be.
What shall be said of the carelessness of an incumbent who allowed the
register to be kept by the clerk in his poor cottage? When a gentleman
called to obtain an extract from the book, the clerk produced the
valuable tome from a drawer in an old table, where it was reposing with
a mass of rubbish. Another old parchment register was discovered in a
cottage in a Northamptonshire parish, some of the pages of which were
tacked together as a covering for the tester of a bedstead. The clerk in
another parish followed the calling of a tailor, and found the old
register book useful for the purpose of providing himself with measures.
With this object he cut out sixteen leaves of the old book, which he
regarded in the light of waste paper.
A gentleman on one occasion visited a church in order to examine the
registers of an Essex parish. He found the record for which he was
searching, and asked the clerk to make the extract for him.
Unfortunately this official had no ink or paper at hand with which to
copy out the entry, and casually observed:
"Oh, you may as well have the leaf as it is," and without any hesitation
took out his pocket-knife, cut out the leaf and gave the gentleman the
two entire pages[65].
[Footnote 65: _History of Parish Registers_, by Burn; _Social Life as
told by Parish Registers_, by T.F. Thiselton-Dyer, p. 2.]
Another scandalous case was that of the clerk who combined his
ecclesiastical duties with those of the village grocer. The pages of the
parish register he found most useful for wrapping up his goods for his
customers. He was, however, no worse than the curate's wife, who ought
to have known better, and who used the leaves of the registers for
making her husband's kettle-holders.
What shall be said for the guardians of the church documents of
Blythburgh, Suffolk? The parish chest preserved in the church was at one
time full of valuable documents in addition to very complete registers.
So Suckling, the historian of Suffolk, reported. Alas! these have
nearly all disappeared. Scarcely anything remains of the earliest volume
of the register which concludes with the end of the seventeenth century,
and the old deeds have gone also. How could this terrible loss have
occurred? It appears that a parish clerk, "in showing this fine old
church to visitors, presented those curious in old papers and autographs
with a leaf from the register, or some other document, as a memento of
their visit[66]."
[Footnote 66: _Social Life as told by Parish Registers_; also
_Standard_, 8 Jan., 1880.]
Another clerk was extremely popular with the old ladies of the village,
and used to cut out the parchment leaves of the registers and present
them to his old lady friends for wrapping their knitting pins. He was
also the village schoolmaster, as many of his predecessors had been, but
this wretch used to cover the backs of his pupil's lesson-books with
leaves of parchment taken from the parish chest. Another clerk found the
leaves of the registers very useful for "singeing a goose."
The value of old registers for proving titles to estates and other
property is of course inestimable. Sometimes incomes of thousands of
pounds depend upon a little entry in one of these old books, and it is
terrible to think of the jeopardy in which they stand when they rest in
the custody of a careless clerk or apathetic vicar.
The present writer owes much to the faithful care of a good clerk, who
guarded well the registers of a defunct City church of London. My father
was endeavouring to prove his title to an estate in the north country,
and had to obtain the certificates of the births, deaths, and marriages
of the family during about a century. One wedding could not be proved.
Report stated that it had been a runaway marriage, and that the bride
and bridegroom had fled to London to be married in a City church. My
father casually heard of the name of some church where it was thought
that the wedding might have taken place. He wrote to the authorities of
that church. It had, however, ceased to exist. The church had
disappeared, but the old clerk was alive and knew where the books were.
He searched, and found the missing register, and the chain of evidence
was complete and the title to the property fully established, which was
confirmed after much troublesome litigation by the Court of Chancery.
Sometimes litigants have sought to remove troublesome entries in those
invaluable books which record with equal impartiality the entrance into
the world and the departure from it of peer or peasant. And in such
dramas the clerk frequently appears. The old man has to be bribed or
cajoled to allow the books to be tampered with. A stranger arrives one
evening at Rochester, and demands of the clerk to be shown the
registers. The stranger finds the entry upon which much depends. In its
present form it does not support his case. It must be altered in order
to meet his requirements. The clerk hovers about the vestry, alert,
vigilant. He must be got rid of. The stranger proposes various
inducements; the temptation of a comfortable seat in a cosy corner of
the nearest inn, a stimulating glass, but all in vain. There is
something suspicious about the stranger's looks and manners; so the
clerk thinks. He sticks to his elbow like a leech, and nothing can shake
him off. At length the stranger offers the poor clerk a goodly bribe if
only he will help him to alter a few words in that all-important
register. I am not sure whether the clerk yielded to the temptation.
There was a still more dramatic scene in the old vestry of Lainston
Church, where a few years previously a Miss Chudleigh had been married
to Lieutenant Hervey. This young lady, who was not remarkable for her
virtue, arrived one day at the church accompanied by a fascinating
friend who, while Mrs. Hervey examined the register, exercised her
blandishments on the clerk. She expressed much interest in the church,
and asked him endless questions about its architecture, the state of his
health, his family, his duties; and while this little by-play was
proceeding Mrs. Hervey was carefully and noiselessly cutting out the
page in the register which contained the entry of her marriage. Having
removed the tell-tale page she hastily closed the book, summoned her
fascinating friend, and hastened back to London. The clerk, still
thinking of the beautiful lady who had been so friendly and given him
such a handsome present, locked the safe, and never discovered the
theft. But time brought its revenge. Lieutenant Hervey succeeded
unexpectedly to the title of the earldom of Bristol. His wife was
overcome with remorse. By her foolish scheme she had sacrificed a
coronet. That missing paper must be restored; and so the lady pays
another visit to Lainston Church, on this occasion in the company of a
lawyer. The old clerk unlocks again the parish chest. The books are
again produced; confession is made of the former theft; the lawyer looks
threateningly at the clerk, and tells him that if it should ever be
discovered he will suffer as an accomplice; and then, with the promise
of a substantial bribe, the clerk consents to give his aid. The missing
paper is produced and deftly inserted in its former place in the book,
and Miss Chudleigh becomes the Countess of Bristol. It is a curious
story, but it has the merit of being true. Many strange romances are
bound up within the stained and battered parchment covers of an
old register.
Sometimes the clerk seems to have recorded in the register book some
entries which scarcely relate to ecclesiastical usages or spiritual
concerns. Agreements or bargains were inserted occasionally, and the
fact that it was recorded in the church books testified to the binding
nature of the transaction. Thus in the book of St. Mary Magdalene,
Cambridge, in the year 1692, it is announced that Thomas Smith promises
to supply John Wingate "with hatts for twenty shillings the yeare during
life." Mr. Thiselton-Dyer, who records this transaction in his book on
_Social Life as told by Parish Registers_, conjectures with evident
truth that the aforenamed men made this bargain at an ale-house, and the
parish clerk, being present, undertook to register the agreement.
A most remarkable clerk lived at Grafton Underwood in the eighteenth
century, one Thomas Carley, who was born in that village in 1755, having
no hands and one deformed leg. Notwithstanding that nature seemed to
have deprived him of all means of manual labour, he rose to the position
of parish schoolmaster and parish clerk. He contrived a pair of leather
rings, into which he thrust the stumps of his arms, which ended at the
elbow, and with the aid of these he held a pen, ruler, knife and fork,
etc. The register books of the parish show admirable specimens of his
wonderful writing, and I have in my possession a tracing made by Mr.
Wise, of Weekley, from the label fixed inside the cover of one of the
large folio Prayer Books which used to be in the Duke of Buccleuch's
pew before the church was restored, and were then removed to Boughton
House. These books contain many beautifully written papers, chiefly
supplying lost ones from the Psalms. The writing is simply like
copper-plate engraving. In the British Museum, amongst the "additional
MSS." is an interleaved edition of Bridge's _History of
Northamptonshire_, bound in five volumes. In the fourth volume, under
the account of Grafton Underwood, some particulars have been inserted of
the life of this extraordinary man, with a water-colour portrait of him
taken by one of his pupils, E. Bradley. There is also a specimen of his
writing, the Lord's Prayer inscribed within a circle about the size of a
shilling. There is also in existence "a mariner's compass," most
accurately drawn by him. He died in 1823.