The Elizabethan Parish in its Ecclesiastical and Financial Aspects Part 10

[269] Morebath Acc'ts, 142 (Church stock-taking), Mere Acc'ts _(Wilts Arch_. (etc.) _Mag. loc. cit_.), 32, 37, 54, etc. Chelmsford Acc'ts, 217 ("xv dozen pewter & ix peces," and rent of it owing to church.

1560).

[270] St. John's, Glas...o...b..ry, Acc'ts, _N. and Q. for Som. and Dor_., v, 94, _s.a._ 1588 (Selling ale in church-house). Tintinhull Acc'ts, _Somer. Rec. Soc_., iv, p. xxii ("The chief source of income [church-house] at T[intinhull] and elsewhere to the end of the 16th Century,") Stratton Acc'ts, _Arch_., xlvi, 198. _Bristol and Glouc.

Arch. Soc. Tr_., vii (1882-3), 108 (Tenement donated 1532 to Northleach known as "the Churche Taverne." It was rented out, but on the condition that the lessee should "permit the towne to have the use of the same one month at Whitsontyde"). Of the Stratton church-house we are told that men were fined (in 1541) for drinking ale there, because the drinking was not for the profit of the parish. _Arch., loc. cit., supra_.

[271] _Stanford Acc'ts, loc. cit., s. a_. 1595. _Stratton Acc'ts, loc.

cit_., 198.

[272] Thus at Calne (Wilts) in 1574-5 no church-ale was had, but a gathering in lieu of it was made from the paris.h.i.+oners. Ales and collections thenceforward alternated here, until church rates were established. Marsh, _History of Calne_, 372.

[273] See, _e.g_., Thos. North, _St. Martin's Leicester, Acc'ts_, 98, where the times of collection are named.

[274] See, among others, Ludlow Acc'ts, _Shrop. Archit_. (etc.) _Soc_., iii, 127 (1567), where the name occurs. Also St. Edmund's, Sarum, Acc'ts, _Wilts Rec. Soc_. for 1896, p. 141 (1592).

[275] _E.g._, at St. Edmund's, Sarum, or at St. Martin's, Leicester.

[276] See, _e.g_., J.E. Foster, _St. Mary the Great_ (Cambridge) _Acc'ts_, 148 ff. Offerings of the masters of arts and of the bachelors form a distinct feature here.

[277] See pp. 41 ff. and 59 _supra_. In the _Morebath Acc'ts_ (ed.

J.E. Binney, p. 178) we read, _s.a._ 1553-4, as a heading to the receipt items: "Now to pay y'e forsayd dettis & demawndis y'e schall hyre of all our resettis y't we have resseuyed, & how gentylly for y'e moste p[ar]te men have payd of there owne devoc[i]on w[i]t[h] out ony taxyn or ratyng as y'e schall hyre here after." Then follows a list of 30 names. There is evidently some sort of rough a.s.sessment here, _e.g_., Nicholas at Hayne pays 4s. 9d., "consyderyng hys bothe bargayns" _(i.e_., small farms). Cf. _St. Edmund and St. Thomas, Sarum, Acc'ts_, p. xviii and p. 317.

[278] Five years later, the vicar dead, the clerk was ordered to a.s.sist the wardens in receiving the 'paskall pence' whether paid at Easter or at any other time of communion. Hill and Frere, _Memorials of Stepney Parish_, 4-5 and 13-14.

[279] Ordered by St. Edmund's, Sarum, vestry in 1628: "that the bread and wyne for the Communion shalbe paid for by the auncyennt paymentt of the halfepence, and yf it shall com[e] to more ... Jt shalbe supplied out of the rest of the mony given after the Co[m]munion."

_St. Edmund and St. Thomas Acc'ts (Wilts Rec. Soc.)_, 187.

[280] These levies were 2-1/2d. on each householder at St. Margaret, Lothbury, London; 3d. a house at St. Lawrence Pountney, London (_History of St. Laurence Pountney_, by H.B. Wilson [1831], 125 ff.).

Etc. At Salehurst, Suss.e.x, the fee was 1d. a poll yearly, heads of households being empowered in 1585 to abate that sum from their servants' wages: _Suss.e.x Arch. Coll_., xxv, 154. At Pittington, Durham, landlords were to answer for their cottagers for a yearly fee of 2d.: _Surtees Soc_., lx.x.xiv, 29 (1590). Cf. _ibid_., Houghton-Le-Spring Acc'ts, 269. Leverton, Lincoln, Acc'ts, _Archaeologia_, xli, 368 (A penny a poll for the elements. 1612). In the Abbey Parish Church Estate Acc'ts, Shrewsbury, every "gentleman"

is to pay 6d. yearly to the wardens for bread and wine; "the second sorte" of the paris.h.i.+oners 4d. each; "the third or weaker sorte," each 2d.: _Shrop. Arch. Soc_., i, 65 (1603).

[281] See Great Yarmouth Acc'ts, _East Anglian_, iv (1892), 67 ff. (An item for purchase of 1000 tokens. 1613-14). Also _St. Margaret, Lothbury, Vestry Minute Books_, 14 (1584). Also _Archaeologia Eeliana_, xix (1898), 44 (Ryton, Durham, Book of Easter offerings. 1595).

[282] _St. Edmund and St. Thomas, Sarum, Acc'ts_, 288 (Muscatel and claret). _Abbey Parish Church Estate Acc'ts_, 62 (same). _St.

Martin's, Leicester, Acc'ts_ (ed. Thos. North), 100 (Malmsey and claret).

[283] Rubric -- 144 of the First Edwardine Prayer Book directs that as ministers are to find the elements, the congregations are to contribute every Sunday at the time of the offertory the just value of the holy loaf. See E. Freshfield, _St. Christopher-le-Stocks Vestry Minute Book_, p. vii, _et pa.s.sim_. Stanford, Berks, Acc'ts, _Antiquary_, xvii, _s.a._ 1582 (2d. collected every Sunday for holy loaf). Mere Acc'ts (_Wilts Arch_. (etc.) _Mag_., x.x.xv, 38), _s.a._ 1568, _et pa.s.sim_.

[284] J.V. Kitto, _St. Martin's-in-the-Fields_ (London) _Acc'ts_, append. D., Vestry Order of 1590. Parish order of Salehurst (1582), _Suss.e.x Arch. Coll_., xxv, 153. St. Margaret's, Westminster, Overseers Acc'ts in _Westminster Tobacco Box_, Pt. ii, 18 (1566).

[285] _E.g._, at St. Laurence Pountney, London, the "clerk's wages"

amounted in 1598 to nearly 30 in the wardens receipt items, but in the expense items to 8 plus various dues for lighting, bell-ringing and church-linen was.h.i.+ng, in all 12 12s. Wilson, _History of St.

Laurence_, 125. In the _St. Christopher-le-Stocks Acc'ts_ (ed. E.

Freshfield), p. 4, the receipts in 1576 for "Clarkes wagis" are 9 6s.

5d., but we read: "Pd. to J.M. Clarke his whole yeares wagis [etc.]

... iij li." In _St. Margaret, Lothbury, Vestry Minutes_ (p. 13) it was decided in 1581 to raise the "clarkes rolle" to 8 a year, but expressly stated that the clerk is to be paid as before, "but That [the] overplus Shall remayn For astocke to the churche to beare owtt such charges as shalbe nessesarye for the same." In _St. Bartholomew, Exchange, Vestry Minutes_ (ed. E. Freshfield) in 1583 it is agreed (p.

27) that the clerk is to pay out of his wages the statutory a.s.sessment of 2d. weekly on the parish for maimed soldiers and mariners. Same stipulation at St. Alphage's, London Wall: G.B. Hall, _Records of St.

Alphage_ (1882), 25 (1594).

[286] _St. Mary, Reading, Acc'ts_ (ed. F.N. & A.G. Garry), p. 56.

[287] Hill and Frere, _Memorials of Stepney_, 1-3 (1580). Later, 1606 (p. 50), the same method was employed to pay debts for casting the bells. Those not paying their a.s.sessments were to be deprived of their seats (p. 4). Other examples of raising money by pew rents are Butcher, _Parish of Ashburton_, 49 (6 4s. collected "for the seat rent". 1579-80). _St. Christopher-le-Stocks Vestry Minutes_, 71 (Clerk's wages to be "sessed by the pyews").

[288] Baker, _Mere Acc'ts (Wilts Arch_, [etc.] _Mag_.), 33 (12d. for seats for a man and his wife, "which before were his ffather's."

1561). In a sale to a paris.h.i.+oner in 1556-7 it is expressly stated that she is to hold the seat during "here lyfe Accordynge to the old usage of the parishe": _ibid_., 24. At St. Edmund's, Sarum, the sale was sometimes for life, sometimes for a lesser period. A fine was paid for changing a pew, _Introd_., p. xxi. Cf. order made at Chelmsford in 1592, _Ess.e.x Arch. Soc_., ii, 219-20. See in St. John's, Glas...o...b..ry, Acc'ts, _Notes and Quer. for Somer. and Dor_., iv, 384, _s.a._ 1574, and _op. cit_., v, _s.a._ 1588, many receipts from the sale of seats.

Cf. Pittington Vestry order, 1584, _Surtees Soc_., lx.x.xiv, 13. _St.

Michael's in Bedwardine Acc'ts_, Introd., p. xvi. Fletcher, _History of Loughborough_, Acc'ts, 24 ff.

[289] See, _e.g_., in _St. Martin-in-the-Fields Acc'ts_, 214, the long list of receipts "for burialls, knylles and Suche Lyke," _s.aa_.

1563-5. At St. Edmund, Sarum, burials with christenings and banns netted 8 5s. 2d. in 1592-3 (_Acc'ts_, 141). At Kingston-upon-Thames in 1579 burials totalled 39s. 8d.: _Surrey Arch. Coll_., viii, 75. In _St. Michael's, Cornhill_, London, _Acc'ts_ (ed. W.H. Overall & A.J.

Waterlow), 178-9, the receipts from knells and peals alone were 44s.

8d. in 1589-90.

[290] J.V. Kitto, _St. Martin-in-the-Fields Acc'ts_ (1901), 106, _note_.

[291] One of the most systematic tariffs I know of is that of St.

Alphage, London Wall (G.B. Hall, _Records of St. A_., 28-30) drawn up in 1613. First there are _The Parson's dutyes for Paris.h.i.+oners_, for bann-askings, weddings, churchings, etc., as well as a percentage on offerings. Then the burial fees due him, without or with a coffin, in churchyard or in church, etc. Then comes the heading, _The dutyes belonging to the Parrish for Parris.h.i.+oners_, a catalogue of fees for burial under various conditions. Then follow _The Parrishe's dutyes for the Bells_ (knells, peals, with small or large bells). Finally, _The Clarke his dutyes for Paris.h.i.+oners_ (Bann-askings, weddings, churchings, grave digging, tolling the bells for funerals in various ways, and on specified occasions, etc.). All the above fees are doubled in case of non-paris.h.i.+oners. See also the Salehurst tariff of 1597, most comprehensive and minute also: _Suss.e.x Arch. Coll_., xxv, 154-5. Also parish order in _St. Martin's, Leicester, Acc'ts_ (ed.

Thos. North), 19 and 128, _s. aa_. 1570-1 and 1584-5, as to duties for bells. These are regulated according to the rank of the person. _St.

Margaret, Lothbury, Vestry Min., 2_ (Order regulating fees for "weddinges, cristeings, churchinges and berrialls" of 1571). See also the tariff of St. Edmund, Sarum (_Acc'ts_, 194), of 1608.

For receipt items for palls in the acc'ts, see _St.

Martin's-in-the-Fields Acc'ts_, 317 (1580), where "best cloth" nets 20d. on each occasion, the "worst" but 2d. See also Stepney vestry regulation of 1602 concerning fees to be paid for palls: _Memorials of Stepney_, 41-2.

For expenses for making parish coffins see _St. Martin's-in-the-Fields Acc'ts, s. a_. 1546. Cf. _St. Edmund and St. Thomas, Sarum, Acc'ts_, introd., p. xx. _St. Helen, Bishopsgate, Acc'ts_ (ed. J.E. c.o.x), 103 (Ordinance of 1564 that those buried within the church are to be confined). Also the other acc'ts _supra_. At St. Edmund, Sarum, the wardens sold tombstones for the benefit of the parish (_Acc'ts_, 135.

1587-8).

[292] _Memorials of Stepney_, 39-40.

[293] See W.G.D. Fletcher, _Hist. of Loughborough (Acc'ts)_, 24: an order regulating fees for marriage peals in 1588. In _St. Edmund, Sarum, Acc'ts_, 127, are receipt items, being money turned over to the wardens by the s.e.xton, for banns, christenings, etc. Cf. _Introd_. to _St. Edmund and St. Thomas, Sarum, Acc'ts_, p. xix. Cf. also _St.

Laurence Pountney Acc'ts_ (Wilson, _Hist. of St. L_.), 124 (A marriage offering going to the parish. 1582). Usually marriage and churching dues went to minister and clerk (see tariffs, p. 221 _supra_).

Chrisoms, _i.e._, white robes put on children when baptized, and given as an offering at churching, occasionally figure in the wardens'

receipt items. See, _e.g_., J.E. Foster, _St. Mary the Great_ (Cambridge) _Acc'ts_, 156 (1565-7), _et pa.s.sim. St. Thomas, Sarum, Acc'ts_, 282 (Chrisoms farmed out by the parish in 1562-3. In 1567-8 the value of the chrisom offerings is 40s.). See _Introd_. to _St.

Edmund and St. Thomas, Sarum, Acc'ts_, p. xix.

[294] See p. 27 _supra_. Also p. 35 _supra_.

[295] _Provision for the poore now in penurie Out of the Store-House of G.o.ds plentie, Explained by_ H. A[rth], London, 1597 (No pagination). "Wednesday suppers" refers to fasting nights appointed by proclamation or by statute. A not uncommon entry in the act-books is "no levy of the fyne of 12d." See, _e.g., Manchester Deanery Visit_., 57, _et pa.s.sim. Barnes' Eccles. Proc_., 119, _et pa.s.sim_. Hale, _Crim.

Prec., pa.s.sim_. Cf. in _Bishop Stortford Acc'ts_ (J.L. Gla.s.sc.o.c.k, _Rec. of St. Michael, B. S_.), 64, the rubric: "Rec. of defaultes for absence" (9 names follow, each for 12d., except one for 3s.). _Dean of York's Visit_., 215 (Hayton wardens report to commissary that they have a small sum from absentees yet undistributed to the poor: "But it shalbe shortlie". 1570).

[296] See examples in note 32, pp. 19 _supra_.

[297] _Warrington Deanery Visit_., 189 (Penance of three days standing in white sheet for fornication commuted--the offender "_humiliter petens_"--to 13s. 4d. to be paid to vicar and wardens of Ormschurch to be distributed to poor, etc.). Hale, _Crim. Prec_., 232-3 (Commutation of a penance for having a b.a.s.t.a.r.d into 5 to be paid for the repair of St. Paul's, London, and also into 34s. 4d. to be paid to wardens of Horndon-on-the-Hill for the poor. 1606). See also _Chelmsford Acc'ts_, 212 (20s. received in 1560 "toward the pavynge of oure churche for part of his penance"). _Abbey Parish Church Estate Acc'ts, s. a_. 1578 (20s. received for a "purgation" to go to parish poor and to church).

[298] For some interesting receipt items see _The Westminster Tobacco Box_, Pt. ii, _Overseers Acc'ts_, 18 ff. (Fines in 1569 from a player beating a drum in service time; for selling coals on Candlemas day; for selling wood on Sunday; for driving a cart on that day, etc. In 1570 fines are received for retailing during service time, from proceeds of forfeitures of pots and dishes, etc., etc.). Wandsworth Acc'ts, _Surrey Arch. Coll_., xviii, 146 (Receipts for 1599 from fines for bricklaying on Sunday; for being in ale-house at service time--a number).

[299] See John Hawarde, _Les Reportes del Cases in Camera Stellata_.

1593-1609 ed. W.P. Baildon (1894), _pa.s.sim. E.g_., p. 91 (Offender fined 10 to use of poor for not laying sufficient ground to his cottages). _Ibid_. (Ed. Framingham, of Norfolk, fined 40 to use of poor for same offence. Oct. 14th, 1597). _Ibid_., 71 (Council commend a justice of the peace for condemning a Wilts engrosser to sell his corn to the poor 8d. under the price he paid for it).

[300] Some examples taken from many are North, _St. Martin, Leicester, Acc'ts_, 119 (Agreement in 1571 by mayor and brethren to fine one refusing to be warden for the first year 10s. to the use of the church). _Ibid_., 142 (This fine raised in 1600 to 20s.). _St. Edmund and St. Thomas, Sarum, Acc'ts, Introd_., p. xi, and _St. Edmund's Acc'ts_, 121, 129. _Mere Acc'ts, 26_ (Parish order of 1556-7). _St.

Margaret, Lothbury, Minutes_, 33 (An offer from a paris.h.i.+oner in 1595 of 10 for church repair, "condicynellie that the parish wowld dispence with him for the church warden, Officers and cunstable...").