WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS
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THIS LITTLE BOOK
is Belitrateti to tfjc
ISith. la. Jit^=f^er6frt, Eector of SEarsop,
not from iiiiy wish to make liim responsible for the state- ments contained in it, but as a simple acknowledgment of the great interest he has taken in its preparation and publication.
WARSOP^ PARISH REGISTERS,
WITH
f tii^s Hitb |Hii$li|nf}rtn0,
BY
RICHARD J. KING,
Curate of Warsop and Diocesan Inspector.
^
MANSFIELD :
PRINTED BY WILLIA^NI GOUK, 3, WESTGATE. 1884,
WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS,
WITH. 1357309
NOTES AND ILLUSTUATIONS.
^aiisj) Htgistcrs.
From the earliest times public registers as well as private registers have been kept by various nations of the world. They were common among the Jews, Grreeks, and Romans ; and long before the Reformation most of the religious houses in England kejit registers of public as well as of pi'ivate transactions. Marriages and burials were often recorded too in the Missals and Psalters of parish churches. But it was not till the year 1538 that Parish Registers were ordered by law to be kept in this country. The monks had been the principal registrars, and therefore upon their dispersion after the suppression of the lesser monasteries in 1536, it was highly necessary that the State should take steps to enrol and preserve the parish records. Accordingly Thomas Lord Cromwell, in the year 1588, issued an injvmction to the clergy that Parish Registers should be kept in every parish through- out the land. It runs thus : —
2 WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
" In the name of Grod, Amen. By the authority and commis- " sion of the excellent Prince Henry, by the grace of G-od, " King of England and France, Defensor of the Faith, Lord " of Ireland, and in Earth Supream Head under Christ of the " Church of England. I Thomas Lord Cromwell, Privy Seal "and Vicegerent to the King's said Highness for all his "jurisdiction ecclesiastical within this realm, do for the " advancement of the true honour of Almighty God, increase " of vertue, and the discharge of the King's Majesty, give and " exhibit unto you these Injunctions following, to be kept, " observed, and fulfilled, upon the pains hereafter declared : " First, That you shall truly observe and keep all and " singular the King's Highness Injunctions given unto you
" heretofore in my name Item,
" That you and every parson, vicar, or curate, for every " church keep one Book or Register wherein he shall write " the day and year of every Wedding, Christening, and " Burial, made within your parish for your time, and so every " man succeeding you likewise, and also there insert every " person's name that shall be so wedded, christened, and " buried. And for the safe keeping of the same Book, the "parish shall be bound to provide of their common charges " one sure coffer with two locks and keys, whereof the one to " remain with you, and the other with the Wardens of every " parish, wherein the said Book shall be laid up, which Book " ye shall every Sunday take forth, and in the presence of the " said Wardens or one of them, write and record in the same " all the Weddings, Christenings, and Burials, made the " whole week afore, and that done to lay up the Book in the " said coffer as afore ; and for every time that the same shall " be omitted, the party that shall be in the fault thereof " shall forfeit to the said Church iij^ iiij'^- * to be employed " on the reparation of the said Church."
* 3s. 4d.
WARSOP PARTSII REaiSTERH. 3
In consequence of this injunction parish registers began to be kept very generally ; and there are still some eight hundred parish registers which date from this period. Of these about forty, however, contain entries prior to 1538. The Registers of the neighbouring parishes of Perlethorpe and Carburton, for instance, begin in 1528, and contain one or two entries for each succeeding year down to 1538.
The injunction was repeated in more vigorous terms on the accession of Queen Elizabeth, in 1558; but not being regularly observed, it was ordained in the following year that parch- ment register books should be purchased at the expense of every parish, and that all names should be transcribed in them from the older books which were mostly of paper. Hence it happens that so many parish registers, like those of Mansfield, begin with the year 1559.
The Warsop Parish Registers, however, date from the earlier period. They are five in number and are all save one in good preservation. With the exception of a few unrecorded years, they contain presumably a list of all baptisms, marriages, and burials, which have taken place in Warsop and Sokeholme from that year down to the present time. Register A, the oldest, consists of one parchment volume, and contains the baptisms from 1539 to 1637 at one end, and the burials and marriages from 1538 to 1637 at the other. There are no baptisms, however, recorded in 1555 ; no burials from 1551 to 1556 inclusive ; and no marriages from 1543 to 1578 inclusive. In size it is about 15|in x 7in. ; and it is bound with a single sheet of parchment with the edges turned in. Register B consists also of one parchment volume, and contains the baptisms from 1638 to 1742 at one end, and the burials and marriages for the same period at the other. No entry of any kind, however, is made for the year 1645. The binding is similar to that of Register A, with a lining of coarse brown paper. Its size is 20^in. x 8in. Register C consists of two parchment volumes. Vol. I.,
4 WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
20in. X lOin., contains the baptisms from 1743 to 1812 at one end, and the burials for the same period and marriages from 1743 to 1776, at the other. Vol. II., 13| x 7in., contains the marriages with banns from 1754 to 1812. They are both strongly bound in calf. Register D consists of three paper volumes adapted to the Forms prescribed in the Act of Parliament of 1812, which will be referred to later on. Vol. I. contains the baptisms from 1813 to 1855 ; Vol. II., the burials from 1818 to 1875; Vol. III., the marriages from 1813 to 1837. Register E consists also of three volumes : Vol. I. contains the baptisms from 1855 to present time ; Vol. II., the burials from 1875 to present time ; Vol. III., with duplicate, the marriages from 1837 to present time.
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The greater part of this vokiine is a transcript from old paper registers. This is evident from the former of the two following memoranda which appear on the flj leaf before the baptisms : —
JHemorantlUm I* — "Warsoppe. a Eeglster book con- tayneing all christenings, marriages, and burialls, since 1539 (sic) as they were trewlie copied out of old paper books. Written or copied Anno 1612.
Per Thomam Lions, pedegogus.
Churchwardens then j ^f'''Lj^}'T^^i'' „ I Tho. Whiteheade.
JHemorantlUm M. — "An agreement made betwixt the Inhabitants of Warsoppe and Soukeholme concerning Church levys. November the tenth. Anno Domini 1626. Whereas heretofore there have been divers differences betwixt the Inhabitants of Warsoppe and Soukeholme concerning the payements of Soukeholme men to the Church levys, it is now agreed betwixt them as f olloweth : That Soukeholme men shall paye to the Chiu'ch- wardens of Warsoppe the fourth part of all charges to wind and weather, and to the keeping of the bells in repayre, and to the charges at the visitations : And in lieu of all other charges Soukeholme men do allow to Warsoppe men the beuefitte of all bui'ialls within the Church : And
b WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS,
upon the agreement there is a seat appoynted for Souke- holme hall above the long seates for woemen, on the North side before the ptilpitte, vearging to the crosse alley by the hall seates of Warsoppe. And this is entered in this booke by the consent of William Spurr, Eector of Warsoppe, James Clarke and William Deane, Church- wardens then being, and with the consent of the In- habitants of Warsoppe, as also by the consent of Henrie Lukin, gentleman, Henrie Wode, and the Inhabitants of
Soukeholme.
William Spurr, Clk.
James Clarke, ) Church Willm, Deane ) Wardens.
S'^^'^w^'^lofSoukholme." Henry Wood, )
The latter of these two memoranda is almost illegible. The agreement mentioned therein together with the " divers differences," alas ! continued to exist down to the abolition of Church-rates, in 1868. By " wind and weather " was meant any injury which might happen to the fabric by the action of those elements.
It would be interesting to know the history and character of the old church bells of Warsop, but unfortunately they are no longer in existence. Those in present use are four in number and of the following pitch : — J), C, B, A. Bell D, the weight of which is about 4^ cwt., bears the maker's name and the date of its casting, " S. Mid worth, Mansfield. 1812." Bell C, the weight of which is about 4| cwt., bears the legend, " Grod be our speed. 1747." Bell B, the weight of which is about 6 cwt., bears the legend, " Ut tuba, sic sonitu Domini conduce cohortes. 1615," which may be translated. As by a trumpet so by my sound I assemble the hosts of the Lord. This bell has upon it the trade mark of Henry Oldfield, who had a well-loiown foundry at Nottingham, established there for many centuries, at the
WAR80P PARISH REOI8TEK8. 7
back of the Long How, where the name of Bell Founderw' Yard still appears. The mark in question is a Calvary Cross with the letter h on the left hand side of the upright branch of the cross and a crescent over it ; and o on the right hand side with a star over it. The crescent and star are part of the arms of Nottingham. Bell A, the weight of which is about 7 cwt., bears the date, "October 14. 1737," and the following legend : —
" You that hear my doleful sound Repent before you're laid in ground."
Sokeholme Hall Pew is still remembered by some of the oldest inhabitants of Warsop. The hall itself stood on the site of the farm-house which is commonly called " Eyre's Farm," or more correctly Hall Farm. At the beginning of the present century part of the old hall was still in existence, and one of the upper rooms went by the name of " Lukin's Garret," and was said to be haunted by the ghost of a certain member of the Lukin family, who, according to tradition, committed suicide there. A brass tablet to the memory of Henry Lukin, of Sokeholme Hall, may be seen in Warsop Church, from which tablet we learn that he was born at Great Baddow, Essex, in 1586, and died at Sokeholme, in 1630.
Henry "Wood, the other person who signed the agreement on behalf of Sokeholme, was a miller and farmer of that place. His descendants continued to reside in the parish down to the middle of last century, when they appear to have died out. The old mill was pulled down some thirty or forty years ago. It stood on the site of the farm- stead which still bears the name of Mill Farm, although nothing now remains to mark its history of centuries save a few boulders, with hollowed holes in which the spindles used to turn, and a broken millstone. Mr. Johnson, whose father was the last miller of Sokeholme, has a water colour
8 WAKSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
painting of it, and we have no hesitation in saying that it was of the most primitive structure, and probably one of the oldest mills of the kind in England.
The fly-leaf before the burials and marriages contains the following memorandum of an allotment of seats to the several families living in Warsop and Sokeholme, in 1615.
JHemOrantlUm MUt. — " The 22nd of January. 1615. By a General Consent of the parishioners of Warsope, it was agreed that Mr. Willm. Spurre parson there with the two churchwardens then beeinge with the assistance of Robt. Remington, John Whitehead, Cr. Cove and Willm. Bai'ker, by the said parishioners men indiferently therein chosen, should sett forth and appoint to the Inhabitants of the said parishe their seats and places in the Church both for the men and wifes, and how much every seat and place shall paie towards every single levy or assessmt. for the use of the Church so proportionally to be increased and diminished as need shall require. . . ."
We wish we could give the names and places of the several persons mentioned, but after many fruitless attempts we have been obliged to give up the task as hopeless, owing to the indistinctness of the writing. It will be seen, however, from the accompanying diagram which represents a plan of the arrangement of seats according to this allotment, that, with four exceptions, the men and women sat in different parts of the Church. This was the usual custom in English Churches at that time, althoiagh it is not very clear how the custom originated. Some persons have held that it is in accordance with primitive practice, and that the early Christians adopted it on Biblical grounds, after the pattern of the Temple arrangements at Jerusalem. Certain it is that a separation of the sexes was made in the Temple arrangements j and even at the j) resent day Jewish men and
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Plan oF the AHoLmenL of feats in Warsop Church,
1615.
WARSOP I'AKISH RBOIMTEB8. W
women aro not allowed to sit together in their pla^;eH of worship. Others think that it is a comparatively modem custom, and that it was adopted simply because it was thought to be convenient and conducive to order and reverence. But, be this at it may, there is no questioning the fact that a separation of the sexes was made in the allotment of seats in Warsop Church in 1615. For the sake of convenience, we have lettered the seats set apart for men, a ; those for women, b; leaving the unapproj^riated seats unmarked. The seats next the chancel on the south side, numbered 1, 2, 3, were those allotted to " Mr. Digby, Jarvis Wilde, and their wives," to " Mr. Ffoster, Robt. Remington, and their wives," and to " John Whitehead, Ffra. Kitchen, and their wives," respectively; whilst the seat, numbered 4, near the tower, or, as it is called in the memorandum, the " Belhouse," was allotted to Warsop Hall.
The Mr. Digby, whose name is here mentioned, was the owner of Park Hall, and, therefoi'e, a parishioner of Warsop as well as of Mansfield Woodhouse. He was high sheriff for the county of Notts, in 1622. A Sir John Digby, another member of this family, commanded a regiment of foot- soldiers under Prince Rupert and took part in the relief of Newark in 1644. Park Hall continued in the hands of the Digby family down to the year 1736, when it was bought of the co-heiresses of another Sir John Digby by Mr. John Hall, ancestor of the present owner. Monumental effigies of Sir John Digby and his lady may be seen in the Digby Chapel in Mansfield Woodhouse Church.
Jarvis Wilde or Gervase Wylde, as the name is more commonly spelt, was a man of great note in his day. In early life he had been a merchant and resided in Andalusia in Spain. When England was threatened by the Spanish Armada he was living at Nettleworth, and at once hastened to place his services at the disposal of his sovereign. At his own cost he fitted out a ship and joined the English Fleet,
B
10 WAESOP PARISH REGISTERS.
and in the engagement that followed he is said to have made use of arrows tipped with iron heads, which he shot at the enemy out of muskets. After the defeat of the Spaniards which took place in 1588, he conducted a certain " barbarian am.bassador " home at his own charge. Upon his return to Nettleworth he married Margaret, widow of Anthony Burgess of Nottingham, and by her had a large family — six sons and three daughters. In the State Papers of the reign of James I., there is a petition from Gervase Wylde to the Council for continuance in his office as Muster Master for the counties of Notts, and Derbyshire, in which he refers to his previous services. It appears that the appointment, as far as concerned Derbyshire, had been given to some other person on the ground that it was not desirable that one man should hold the office for both counties. The Lord Lieutenant and the Commissioners, however, favoured his petition, stating that he had well " discharged his place," and his appoint- ment was accordingly renewed. In another petition he asks to have his rights to a fee deer and a fee tree restored to him, from which it would seem that he was also at one time a verderer of Sherwood Forest. He died at Nettleworth at the advanced age of 93 years.
Mr. Foster, who was allotted part of the second seat, was a gentleman living at Sokeholme Hall before Mr. Lukin resided there. The three others who were allowed the privilege of having their wives in the same seats with them- selves were all yeomen of Warsop and men of good position.
©Itl ,Stgl0» It is interesting to note that during the period comprised in this register, and indeed down to the year 1751, the common year instead of beginning as now on January 1st began on March 25th. This was in accordance with the Julian method of calculating the length of the year, or the Old Style as it is called. The alteration was made in 1751 because it had been proved by astronomers that this
WABSOP PARISH BEOISTEB8. 11
inetliod waH defective — the error arising therefrom having at that time amounted to eleven days. An Act of Parliament was therefore passed to amend the calendar ; and by this Act it was enjoined that the year henceforward should commence on January 1st, an<l that eleven days in September, 1752, should be nominally suppressed in order to bring the calendar into unison with the true solar year. The great body of the English people, however,' regarded the change with distrust, whilst most of the lower classes throughout the land thought that they had been cheated out of eleven days and eleven days' wages, and in London and several of the large towns crowds assembled and marched in procession through the streets with banners bearing the words, " Give us back our eleven days."
lExtraCtS* Among many curious and interesting entries made in this register, the following are perhaps the most noteworthy. They are nearly all in Latin, but for the convenience of our readers we give them in English.
1538. — "Buried Miles Baynebrigg who was found killed." 1546. — " Buried two youths."
It would be utterly impossible to convey to others the sense of sadness which we ourselves experienced on the first perusal of this simple record among the long list of persons who lived and died some three hundred years ago, and of whom, if we know but little, we do know at least their name and place of residence. Of these two youths however we know nothing — not even their name ; and it would seem that nothing was known of them by the registrar of that day. Probably they were strangers in the parish ; but whether brothers, or mere chance acquaintances of the road, we have no means of ascertaining. We have not even the melancholy satisfaction of knowing the cause of their death — whether
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12 WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
they were cut off by some sudden accident, or by one of those terrible plagues with which Warsop, like other parts of England, used to be so frequently visited : all that we know about them is that they died and were buried.
1547. — " Joan Massie was born, baptized, and buried, on
the same day." 1556. — " Baptized Simon Barker whose godfathers were
G-eorge Pettingar and G-eorge Barker, Elizabeth
Ffretwell being co-mother."
In the following year, 1557, there are seven other entries of baptisms in which the godparents are mentioned — the godfathers being called " co-fathers " and the godmothers, "co-mothers;" and the number in every case agrees with the requirements of the rubric in the Baptismal Service in the Prayer Book. In no other place throughout the whole set of registers are godparents mentioned except during the short incumbency of the Eev. AUeyne Fitz-Herbert in 1859 and 1860.
1563. — " September 22nd. Henry earl of Eutland is dead."
In olden time it was not an unusual thing to enter in the register of burials the death of any remarkable man connected with the parish or county, even if he were not buried there. The earl of Rutland whose death is here recorded was lord of the manor of Warsop and patron of the living. He was also a man of considerable importance. He was the great grand- son of the sister of King Edward IV., Constable of Nottingham Castle, and Chief Justice in Eyre of Sherwood Forest. His death took place on Sopteml^er 17th, 1563; but owing to the means of communication between distant places being so difficult in those days, it was probably not till the twenty- second of that month that news of his death was received
WAE80I' I'AlilHir RKOISTERS. 18
at Warsop. He was huriod at Bottesford, whero a handHome monument to his memory may still be seen.
With respect to tlie manor of Warsop, we may mention here that before the Norman Conquest it belonged to three Saxon thanes named Godric, Lemot, and Ulchel. After that event it was for the most part of the fee of one Roger de Busli, a Norman baron, to whom the Conqueror gave no fewer than one hvmdred and seventy-four manors in Nottinghamshire. By some means it fell later on into the hands of King Henry III., whose queen Eleanor was for a short period lady of the manor of Warsop. In 1233 Henry III. made a grant of the manor of Warsop to Robert de Lexington, an ecclesiastic of great dignity, who bequeathed it to his brother John de Lexington. John de Lexington married Margery de Merley, and dying without issue left it to his widow during her lifetime, and after her death to his nephew, Robert de Sutton, between whom and the king there was a great dispute concerning the right of presentation to the living. It was probably whilst this family was in possession of Warsop that the North aisle of the church was huilt. The Lexington coat of arms — Argent a cross patonce azure — formed part of the old East window ; but at the restoration of the church in 1877 it was removed, and has since been placed for better preservation in one of the vestry windows. It is said to be one of the finest pieces of heraldic glass in the whole county of Nottinghamshire. In 1329 John Nunnes, of London, acquired possession of the manor of Warsop and claimed the right of holding a market everv Tuesday, " with toll and stallage and other things belonging to a market." The following year the manor, together with the advowson of the church, passed into the hands of John de Roos, but whether by gift or bequest seems imcertain. In 1379 King Richard 11. granted a confirmation of the right to hold a market and a fair. In 1508 Edmund de Roos having died without lawful issue, the manor with the advowson
14 WAESOP PARISH REGISTERS,
passed into the female line of the family and so came into the possession of the earls of Rutland. In 1675 it was bought by- Sir Ralph Knight of the trustees of the late Lord Willonghby of Parham, who had inherited it from his maternal uncle, George seventh earl of Rutland ; and it continued in the possession of the Knight family down to 1846, when Mr, Henry G-ally Knight left it by will to Sir Henry Fitz-Herbert of Tissington, father of the present lord of the manor,
1586. — " Richard Clifton, Minister, married Anna Stuffin,"
There is nothing to show who this Richard Clifton was; but the Stuffins, or Stuffyns, were a Warsop family of yeomen, and probably akin to the Pleasley family of that name, one of whom, a cavalier who afterwards " yielded up his loyal life " fighting for Charles I., planted a wood which was called " Stuff yn's Wood ; " from which name the word " Stuff yn- wood is derived."
1587. — "Buried John Parker a helpless old man who was found dead in a place called Nether Breck."
" Buried a certain beggar boy who died in the house of William Coo,"
" Buried Ellen Jonson who had been a prostitute."
The field called Nether Breck in which John Parker was found dead, was one of the fields belonging to Brook Farm, and was not far from the old forest boundary,
1591. — " Buried William Kitchen of the Mill houses who was killed by the kick of a mare."
The Kitchens, of Warsop, were yeomen, and probably owners of the Warsop Mill, Thoroton, in his History of
WAE80P PARISH REOI8TER8. 15
NottingJiamehire, j^ivoa the name of a William Kitchen as one of the hin<l('(l proprietors of Warsop in lfJ12.
It is recorded in Doomsday Book that at the time of the Norman Conquest, Warsop contained "a priest, a church, and a mill," and we are inclined to think that the mill has a history older even than that of the church. The very name Warsop seems to point to some connection with a mill. It was anciently spelt Warechip, Wareshop, Waresope, and Waresoppe, the derivation of which is from two Anglo-Saxon words — weave, a weir or dam, and sceop, a storehouse. So that Warsop would mean the storehouse by, or near the weir.
1596. — " Thomas Woomwell slayne with a wayne."
This so very quaint entry is recorded in English just as here given.
1600.— " Buried : Oct. 30, John Cham. Nov. 1, Margery Cham. Nov. 28, William son of John. Nov. 30, Eobert Cham son of the same John, and Anna daughter of Henry Woode and servant of the same John Cham — on the same day and in the same grave ; also Margaret daughter of the same John Cham on the same day."
Warsop it would seem has never been a very healthv place. The recognised average duration of life is, we believe, forty years. But the average duration of life in Warsop — deduced from the recorded ages at death — has been for the last twenty years only thirty-five years. At the end of last century, 1784 to 1804, it was but thirty years. Prior to this pei'iod the ages are not given, so it is impossible to make anv definite calculation; b\it we think it probable that the average duration of life in early times must have been pretty much the same as it was at the end of last century. In 1558 and
16 WAKSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
1569 tte mortality in War sop was extraordinarily great — above a hundred deaths, or more than one-seventh of the entire population. Since that time there has been only one other period when the number of deaths was so great, namely, in 1591 and 1592, — the number in both cases being, by a strange coincidence, the same. We find from Bailey's Annals of Nottinghamshire that a great plague was prevalent throughout England, in 1558, especially during harvest, when much corn was lost simply for want of labourers to gather it in; and from Dr. Short, who published in 1767 a Comparative History of the increase and decrease of manJcind in England, we learn that the years 1558 and 1559 were noted for a con- tinued endemic with hot burning fevers and agues, whilst those of 1590 and 1591 were noted for a great plague in London, and throughout the whole of England a great drought attended with plague.
Doubtless the several members of the Cham family whose burials are here recorded were swept away by some such plague, in 1600. It is hard to find in such a record as this anything bright or cheering, and yet the fact that Robert Cham and Anna Wood, daughter of Henry Wood, miller of Sokeholm, were buried in one grave, whilst Margaret Cham, the sister, was buried apart by herself, seems to speak not only of love and faith here, but of love and hope hereafter when disease and death shall be done away, and the Tree of Life shall for ever put forth its fruit and fragrance for the healing of the nations.
1602. — " Baptized a certain base-bom Elizabeth."
Concerning the state of morality in Warsop for the last three hundred years it is impossible to speak as one would wish in terms of praise. At the beginning of the seventeenth century the proportion of illegitimate children baptized was six per cent, of the whole; at the end of the eighteenth
WAR801' I'AIUHir UEaiSTERS. 17
century ihc pro])()rii<)ii wuh six jiihI ii, half por cent. ; whilHt diirin^f the last twcMity yuars it lias l>(x;n iKjarly s«;v<;ii j>or cent. It will 1)0 seen, tliwijioro, that in this respect Warsoj; stands in rather an unfavourable li^^ht. It is is true that it is no worse than the average of places in Nottinghamshire and is better than some, but compared with the rest of Enj^land it is much worse than the average — the proportion of illegitimate children born in England being only something about five per cent of the whole.
1605. — " Baptized Edmund son of Edmund Claye of London."
A record like this carries us back to the days when coaches were just beginning to be used in England, when travelling was mostly on horseback and ladies rode on pillions behind their servants, and when a journey from London to Warsop was such a difficult, not to say dangeroiis, Tindertaking that very few persons would think of attempting it. Were it not for the fact that there was a "Warsop family of yeomen named Claye living at this time, we should be at a loss to account for the presence of Edmund Claye in Warsop ; but such being the case we may fairly infer that he was a relative on a visit to some of his friends.
The last representative of this family was one Hercxiles Clay, a farmer and miller of Sokeholme, who died in 1792. He was so called after a kinsman who was Mayor of Newark, in 1644, when that town was besieged by Prince Kupert. During the siege this Hercules Clay is said to have di-eamt three successive nights that his house was on fire. On the third occasion he was so perturbed by his dream that on awaking he immediately got up and with his wife and family left the house. Before he had gone many steps, however, he was startled by the explosion of a bombshell and. turning round to see what had happened, found that it had fallen, strange to say, on the very house he had just quitted and had
18 WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
set it on fire. In commemoration of this wonderful preserva- tion he left at his death a sum of money to be put out to interest, and directed that the interest should be given away for ever in part to the Vicar of Newark, for a sermon on the anniversary of his preservation, and in part to the poor of Newark on the same day.
1609, — "Baptized William son of Thomas Bawdwin of
London." 1611. — "Buried James Hodgkinson School Master of Warsop." 1617. — " Baptized John the son of an unknown woman." 1620. — " Baptized Jane the daughter of an unknown man." 1622. — -"Buried Thomas son of Thomas Jepson who was
killed by an axe." 1623. — " Buried Mr. Wilham Lonedale the Doctor." 1626. — " Buried Elizabeth Ashmore an unknown girl," 1629. — " Baptized Ahce the daughter of a poor stranger." 1630. — "Buried Leonard Silleot a centenarian." 1631. — " Buried Joanna Eyall a wandering beggar."
Some of the foregoing entries are quaint enough to provoke a smile, but to a serious mind they supply ample food for sober meditation. Take the last entry for instance. It needs no great stretch of imagination to picture in one's mind the history of this poor woman ; — to see her in the first blush of womanhood leaving home for service full of trust and hope ; then, home and its lessons forgotten, a too fond victim of some heartless villain ; then, in some distance city, cast away Uke the orange peel when one has sucked its contents ; then, like the prodigal in the parable, coming to herself and reisolving to ret^^rn home if but to die ; then begging her way wearily, and sorrowfully, and painfully, until at length, amidst strangers and perhaps babbing of the scenes of her childhood, she is struck down by the hand of death. Strangers would then close her weary eyes to sleep ; strange hands compose her weary limbs to
WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS. 19
rest; 8tranp(!rs carry licr to iicr hiirial ; and amidst strangers bIk' would 1k! laid in God's Acn; ; wliil*- ov(;r her silent dust a straiiye voice would }^iv(! thanks to God for having delivered a sister out of the miseriea of this sinful world ; and when the priest's office was finislu'd all that cinild be recorded in the parish register was sim]>ly this : — " Buried Joanna Ryall a wandering beggar."
,SurTl2lttt0jS* The following well-knownWarsop and Sokeholme surnames appear in this register, and continue to appear at short intervals throughout the whole set of registers down to our own day. The dates prefixed to the names denote the time when they are first mentioned, and the various spellings, the forms under wliich they are found.
1538.— Smith, Smithe, Smyth.
In an old Warsop terrier of 1722, the name of "Widow Smith is mentioned as farming twenty acres of land, for which she paid a yearly rent of ^£5 10s. At the end of last century there were three distinct branches of this family living in Warsop. Their representatives were John Smith of Butt Lane, a wheelwright and parish undertaker ; Samuel Smith of Burns Green, a labourer ; and John Smith of Low Street, a labourer likewise. John Smith, the wheelwright, had a brother called Thomas, who was the owner and land- lord of the White Lion Inn. He was a very short man and very spirited, and so got the nick-name of " Tommy Tit." A story is told of this Tommy Tit which is perhaps worth relating as it gave rise to a proverb in Warsop. It would seem that one Sunday moiming a hona fide traveller called at his house for a pint of ale ; his wife waited upon him and showed him into the parlour where a pot was boiling on the hearth. Whilst her back was turned the man lifted the pot, abstracted a large dumpling, and quietly made off with it.
20 WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
The good housewife coming in to attend to her cooking, discovered to her amazement that the dumpling — her hus- band's tit-bit — was wanting. He, having been made ac- quainted with the state of affairs, immediately ran after the culprit and catching him up flew at him, like a little bantam cock, and knocked him down when the dumpling rolled out into the gutter. A neighbour who was passing at the time and was highly amused at the scene, asked " What's the matter, Thomas?" "Matter enough," he replied pointing to the tit-bit, " its a poor dog that wont fight for his own dumpling."
The Warsop families of Mekin and Slaney, are connected with this family by marriage. In 1821 William Mekin married Sarah Smith of the Burns, and in 1833 John Slaney married Sarah Smith of Butt Lane.
1583.— Warde, Ward.
In 1611 we have the death recorded of a William Warde, yeoman of Warsop. Coming down to more recent times we meet with several members of this family who have been engaged in husbandry and handicraft. About the middle of last century, one Samuel Ward, a shoemaker, married Elizabeth Fetherstone of Warsop, and had a family of four sons and two daughters : the sons were brought up to their father's trade ; Wilham, the youngest, however, never cared for shoeniaking, and after his marriage began life as a pig jobber. Not succeeding very well in this he made another change, and got together a gang of boys with whom he used to weed fields, hoe turnips, and such like, for the neighbour- ing farmers. Like so many more of the old Warsop worthies, our friend William was rather too fond of his glass, and when excited would frequently start up and dance about the room, saying, "I'll show you some waxworks ;" from which he got to be called " Waxwork Ward." He was not other than a well-
WAHHOI' I'AIUHM RKOISTEES. 21
disposed, kindly man, and as such was much liked by his
noif^dil)()urs. One of his ^ntut delights was to call a number of cliildnm around liim and set them runninf^ rac<3H for swe^jts and pence. When quite an old man he was carried in a chair by four men, at the request of the members of the women's friendly society, in their annual procession to church on Whit- Tuesday, An excellent trait in his character was his resjiect for the Lord's Day. On that day, no matter what the temptation might be, he would never do a stroke of business or enter a public-house.
1538.— Wilson, Willson.
About the end of the seventeenth century there were two branches of this family — one living at Sokeholme and the other at Warsop. At the middle of last century there was a William Wilson of Sokeholme, and a William Wilson of Warsop. Wilham Wilson of Sokeholme, was a farmer and the ancestor of the present Wilham Wilson, of Sokeholme. He had three sons, John, Thomas, and Wilham. John and Thomas both left home and went to Hve at Skegby. Here John got into a lawsuit with a man about a bhnd horse of his which fell into a stone quarry. The case was tried, and judgment was given against him ; but John's blood was up and being very tenacious of purpose he took his suit from one court to another until he was utterly ruined. To escape imprisonment for debt he secreted himself in the house of a relative at Mansfield Woodhouse, where he remained till the day of his death in an upstairs room. His relatives had some difficiilty, we believe, in disposing of his body, and for fear of distraint induced the vicar of the parish to consent to its being buried at night.
1539,— Ffox, Ffoxe, Foxe, Fox,
22 WAESOP PARISH EEGISTEES.
A William and Fanny Fox about the end of last century lived in a long thatched cottage of one story where Messrs. Websters' shop now stands in Butt Lane. They had two sons, John and Benjamin, who, with their father worked on the farm at Eastlands. After her husband's death, Fancay was employed on the same farm to repair the corn sacks, but she always Hke to make a mystery of the matter, and accordingly when asked by her too inquisitive neighboui's what she was doing so often at Eastlands, she would reply that she went there to " darn Mrs. Jackson's golawns and mushns." The present representative of this family in Warsoj) is Mrs. William Mitchell of Burns Green.
1540.— Turner.
About the end of last century, one Samuel Turner of Warsop, was a weaver by trade, and carried on his business in a house of his own in High Street : his brother John was a farmer and lived in Low Street.
1542.— Wylde, Wyld, Wilde, WHd.
The manor of Nettleworth was formerly the property of this family. We have had occasion already to speak of G-ervase Wylde : he was probably the son of WilUam Wylde who built the old hall in 1566, and whose son John was baptized m 1542. The date 1566 together with the initials WW may be seen to this day on a stone in a back part of the building. Members of this family are mentioned in Bailey's Annals of Nottinghamshire as having fought on the king's side in the great civil war. In 1 785 the old hall was partly destroyed by fire, and the present mansion built on its site by another William Wylde of Nettleworth. Ann Wylde, in 1793, left a sum of <£20 to be put out to interest, and directed that the money arising therefrom should be given to six single women every
WARSOl" I'ARIHH RKOIHTKKH. 23
Oliristnuis Eve for ever. Register C. coiitain.s a copy of her will as far as it relates to this benefaction. Brass tablets to tlio memory of various iiK-inlx-rs of this fainily may be seen Warsop Church with the following inscriptions upon them; —
"William Wyld, the infant son of William Wyld of Nettleworth, gent., died Sept. 23rd. A.D. 1694.
Here in calm jjoaco a sinle.s.s infant rests; The sweet delight of heaven all in the dnst doth lie : Like to an angel from on high sent down, he came, And straightway to his blessed home returned."
" Here lieth the body of Hannah the wife of William Wylde of Nettleworth, who departed this life the 5th day of May, in the year of our Lord 1773, aged 60 years. Also near this place lieth the body of William Wylde, Father of the above William Wylde, who died in the year 1696, aged 28 years."
" Here lieth the body of William Wylde of Nettleworth, who departed this life the 11th day of January 1779, aged 82 years."
" Here lieth the body of William Wylde Esq. of Mans- field, eldest son of the late William Wylde, Esq., of Nettleworth. He died March 11th 1787, in the 53rd year of his age.
Safe in the Hand of one Disposing Power Or in the Natal or the Mortal Hour."
This tablet contains the arms of the family : — Quarterly; first and fourth, Or, a fesse between three bucks' heads erased sable, attired gules ; second and tliird. Sable, a chevron engrailed argent, on a chief of the lust, three martlets of the field.
24 WAESOP PARISH REGISTERS.
" Here lieth the body of Ann Wylde, sister of the above William Wylde, who died Jan. 11th, 1793, aged 60 years."
" Here lieth the body of Catherina Wylde of Nettle- worth who died the 24th day of November, 1801, aged 61 years."
About seventy years ago Nettleworth changed hands and passed into the possession of Mr. Hemy Gaily Knight, who in 1846 bequeathed it, together with the manors of Wars op and Sokeholme, to Sir Henry Fitz-Herbert, of Tissington, his kinsman.
1543.— Newton.
In 1611 we have the death recorded of one John Newton, a carpenter of Warsop, and in 1637 that of Nicholas Newton, a husbandman. Nathan Newton was churchwarden in 1737, 1748, 1759, and 1769. Eichard Newton was churchwarden in 1748, 1757, and 1769.
In the old terrier of 1722, Daniel Newton is mentioned as farming five hundred acres of land at a yearly rental of =£74 12s. 6d. He lived where Dr. Stein now lives in the High Street. Peafield Farm belonged to him, and it was his custom to have the bread consumed by his servants at that farm made of barley meal, in large loaves, baked in Warsop. These loaves were commonly carried home on the servants' shoulders on the top of a stake. A brass tablet to his memory in the church states that he was coroner for the county of Notts. twenty-eight years, and that he died in 1764, aged seventy. A romantic story is told of the coroner's grand- daughter Mary or Molly Newton. It seems that Miss Molly fell deeply in love with a Mr. Parnell of Maltby, who fully recij^rocated her affection. Miss Molly's friends, however, did not approve of
WARHOI- I'ARIHH KKOIHTKK8. 25
luii- Hnilor, and w(j\il<l not, licar of their inarryiii|^. The result was t.liat Mr. I'arucll l)(!<;aiii(! very low Hpirit<,'d, iH;^l<;ct<id hia buaiuoss, and in a short time went out of liis mind and died at the early age of thirty-eight years. Miss Molly survived him twenty long years, but refused to he comforted. During the whole of that time she would neither visit her friends nor receive visitors, but kept her room and would allow no one to speak to her in tones above a whisper. She died in 1826 ; and in accordance with her expressed desire was buried in the same grave with the beloved object of her choice. Thus though parted for a while during life, yet in death they were not divided. A large neglected monument to their memory may be seen in the churchyard.
1543. — Stubbinge, Stubbing, Stubbings, Stubbins.
William Stubbings, a member of this family, was a wood sawyer on the Warsop estate during the latter part of last century. His son John enlisted in the 1st Dragoon Guards, rose to the rank of corporal, and took part with his regiment in the overthrow of Napoleon at Waterloo. On that occasion he greatly distinguished himself in a hand to hand encounter with a French soldier, during which his horse had one of its ears cut off by the Frenchman's sabre, and he himself only just escaped being Avounded. After the battle was over he was promoted to the rank of sergeant ; and on his retirement from the army in the following year received a medal and d£20 prize money. The medal is still preserved in the family as an heir-loom. Strange to say, some two years after his retire- ment, a detachment of his old regiment passed through Warsop and vrith. it his dear old horse. The meeting between the two was most affecting ; the detachment halted in front of the Hare and Hounds ; and the Wllagers turned out. to a man, to see " the one eared horse on which John Stubbings rode at Waterloo."
26 WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
1546. — Bradley, Bradlay.
About the end of last century this family was represented by one William Bradley, landlord of the Swan Inn. One of the many defunct friendly societies of Warsop was held at his house and was called the " Swan Lodge." It seems to have been quite a common custom of enterprising publicans in those days to originate friendly societies in their houses in order to promote conviviality and good fellowship ; of course such societies could not long hold together, but it must not be forgotten that it was from beginnings like these that some of our modern friendly societies have expanded to their present size and social importance. We have a copy of the rules of the "Amicable Society," which was held at the same inn in 1782 when Robert Cutts was landlord, and from them we learn how very crude and experimental these early friendly societies necessarily were. We subjoin two or three as specimens.
" Rule I. — This Society shall meet on the first Saturday in every month between the hours of seven and nine in the evening, when each member shall spend two-ijence and pay six-pence to the box ; and every member who shall neglect to appear, or send his money by eight o'clock, shall forfeit for the first offence two-pence, for the second four-pence, and for the third offence shall be excluded the society."
" Rule XI. — This society is to be continued so long as any three members chuse to continue the same : and if any member propose the breaking up of the society, he shall be excluded."
" Rule XIV. — Any member having duly conformed to the orders of this society for one year, and being rendered in- capable of business by reason of sickness, lameness, or other bodily infirmity, not occasioned by intemperance or vice, shall receive from the box 5s. per week duruig the first year of his illness, after which he may continue to receive 2s. 6d. per week so long as he remains incajjable, even to the time of his death, when d£5 shall be allowed for his funeral expence."
WAItSOl- l-ARIHir KIOaiHTKKH. 27
" Eiil(^ XXXVIII. On the Feast Day (Whitsun Monday),
every memljer iu fJie town of Warsop shall aj^jx-ar by nine ()'(!l()ck in the nioniiii<^, or forfeit sixpence ; and all in«iinlxir8 residiii}^ out of the said town, whall appear by half past nine o'clock, or forfeit two-'pence ; and if not by ten o'clock, shall forfeit 8ix}>ence to the box."
1646. — Wilkinson, Wilkenson.
For many generations this family has carried on business in Warsop as rope-makers. A Valentine Wilkinson, about the middle of last century, was a rope-maker, and lived at the Dog and Rabbit Inn, in Butt Lane. His son William who succeeded him in business did all the rope work for Clumber, Sandbeck, Thoresby, and Welbeck. William had a family of eight sons and one daughter, and it was quite a little joke of his to tell people that he had eight sons and every one of them a sister. Thomas, his eldest son, settled at Southwell as a rope-maker; Richard followed the same business at Chesterfield ; whilst George w^as a manufacturer of women's stays at Retford. The other sons all settled in Warsop, and, with the exception of John who was a hatter, helped their father iu his business. Two of them were inveterate poachers. Joseph, the youngest, organized a regular band of men with whom he used to go out at nights with dogs and guns and scour the country far and near.
The Hooleys of Market Warsop are connections of this family : in 1840 William Hooley married an Aun AVilkinsou.
1647. — Heringe, Herringe, Hearinge, Heringe, Hereing, Hering, Herring, Herrou.
In 1597 we have the death recorded of Thomas Hearinge, a husbandman of Warsop, and in 1616 that of Richard Herringe also a husbandman. John Herring was church-
c 2
28 WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
warden in 1638. Samuel Herron filled tte same office in 1654, and John Herring in 1762. In the old terrier of 1722, Joel Herring is mentioned as farming one hundred and twenty acres of land for which he paid a yearly rent of ^£25 14s. 4d. A Samuel Herring in 1739 married Elizabeth, daughter of Daniel Newton, the Coroner. He lived at the old Sokeholme Hall, the front part of which he pulled down and rebuilt in 1748. A stone bearing this date together with the letters H. S. and E., may still be seen on the front wall just below the roof. In 1750 he had the misfortune to lose his wife : shortly after this he was sadly reduced in circumstances through the distemper which broke out among his cattle. In one year he lost considerably more than fifty head, and in the following year about the same number. In conse- quence of these losses he was obliged to give up his farm. He then built for himself a little house on some waste land, on the site of that now occupied by his grandson, old Mr. William Herring of Sokeholme, and rented a few fields close by which now form part of the present farm. Here he spent the rest of his days in company with his second vdfe, who had been a widow named Newton, and whom he married in 1771. For the house itself and the garden attached to it, he had nothing to pay save a shilKng every year as an acknowledgement to the lord of the manor. And as long as the old house stood, his son who succeeded him had to pay the same acknowledgement and nothing more.
From an old rate book we learn that, at the beginning of last century, Sarah Herring, a member of this family, kept a public-house in Sokeholme, and that the parishioners of that parish used to meet in vestry at her house to pass the church- warden's accounts for the year.
WARHOI' I'AItlHH UKniHTKUS. 29
1.549. — Law, Lawc, Lowe, Low.
The Laws of War.sop havt; b(3t;ii for many goncrations either artizans or labourers of the better sort. About the middle of last century one Siimuel Law, a member of this family, had quite a reputation for liis sober, industrious lialjits. He had three sons, Samuel, Stephen, and George, who were like himself men of excellent character, and one daught<ir Fanny. The duke of Portland of that day took notice of Samuel Law the younger, and put him into a snug apjxjintment on the Welbeck estate. To Stejjhen Law belongs the honour of having been the first to introduce a two-row drill into Warsoj). George settled at Clipstone : and Fanny was married to a William Eaton of Kand, Lincolnshire, and so became the ancestress of the present members of that family now living in Warsop. The Beans and Thorpes of Church Town are also connected with the Lowe fanoily by marriage. In 1831 James Bean married a Hannah Lowe ; and in 1860 Leonard Thorpe, miller, married another Hannah Lowe.
1561. — Jackson.
Roger Jackson in 1632 married Margaret, third daughter of Jarvis Wilde of Nettleworth. From the old terrier before mentioned we learn that Robert Jackson in 1722 farmed a hundred acres of land at a yearly rental of ^26 17s.; that Richard Jackson was the miller and farmed forty three acres of land, paying for the mill a yearly rental of ^613 8s., and for the land d£20 10s. ; and that Samuel Jackson rented a " tack of ground " of four acres for which he paid ^1 5s. a vear. Richard Jackson was chiu*chwarden in 1741 and 1762; Matthew Jackson, in 1746; Robert Jackson, in 1755, 1759. and 1767. The said Robert had a son and a grandson both called Robert after himself. They all Uved together at the Home Farm in Church Warsop. To distinguish them one
30 WAESOP PARISH REGISTERS,
from anotlier tlie villagers were wont to speak of them as "Old Bobby," "Middle Bobby," and "Young Bobby." Middle Bobby as he advanced in years became a most eccentric character. He spent the greater part of his time in walking to and fro between Church Warsop and Market Warsop. He would get up in the morning as early some- times as two o'clock ; prepare and eat his breakfast ; walk as far as the village cross, if dark with a lantern ; return and go to bed ; get up again within an hour or so, and repeat his perambulations several times during the day ; prepare his own tea about five o'clock; take his last walk, and retire to rest between six and seven p.m.
Eastland House was built, and the open common which once formed the east side of the parish was enclosed and made into a farm for Samuel Jackson the youngest son of " Old Bobby." Samuel Jackson married the sister of Mr. Bolton the agent of the Warsop estate, and he himself after- wards acted as agent for a short time. He is said to have been a man of most exemplary character and very fond of the pubHc worship of Almighty God. The services at Warsop Church, as in almost all country churches, at the beginning of the present century, were most cold and dreary. The officiating minister read mattins, the Utany and the ante- communion service, without moving from the reading desk ; and after the Nicene Creed took off his surpHce which he wore over his black gown, and laying it over the side of the reading desk entered the pulpit, preached his sermon and dismissed his congregation with the blessing. Samuel Jackson, as church- warden, tried all he could to improve this very unsatisfactory state of affairs. He got together the remains of Bishop HalHfax's choir which had been celebrated for its excellence, and paid John Maxfield who had a strong voice twelve shilhngs a year to start the tunes. The Old Hundi-edth was the favourite. This was sung at the beginning of morning prayer nearly every Sunday. An amusing incident connected with
WAIIHOI' I'AHrHIF UKOIHTKRH. 31
tliiH ]>salm Hini^iii}^' is Htill n!Tn(!Tnl)(!r<!<]. One momiri)^ John Mtixficld was iiual^lo for Homo reason or othor to att<;ud church; and thero was nol^ody to start tho tune. The psalm was given out as usual, and after a deathlike sile'n(;e of some- seconds a voice called out from the sinj^in}^ pew to Samuel Jackson who sat at the other end of the church, " Pitch it, Mr. Jackson, pitch it." Mr Jackson's death was most heautiful. He was out one day with his do^ and gun when he felt the hand of death upon him. Placing his gun carefully against a hedge he knelt down and committed his soul to God. His sagacious companion went straight home and brought some one to his assistance, but when found he was quite dead, and supported by the hedge still in the attitude of prayer.
" Suddenly ho laid his shackles by He bore not a single pang at parting; Ho saw no tear of sorrow stealing ; He heard not quivering lips that blessed him ; Ho felt not hands of love that pressed him Nor the frame with mortal terror shaking ; Nor the heart whore love's soft bands were breaking ;
So he died. All bliss, without a pang to cloud it ; All joy, without a pain to shi'oud it ; Not slain, but caught up, as it wore. To meet his Saviour in the air ;
So he died."
Mary Jackson, sister to the above, was married first to George Uuwin of Church Warsop, and, after his death, in 1774 to William Beestou of Worksop. From this latter marriage the present Beestons of Warsop are descended.
1566. — Bowriuge, Bowreing, Bowring.
At the beginning of last century, John Bovrring of Warsop went to live at Edwinstowe, where he married and settled. His son William afterwards returned to the old home and
32 WAESOP PARISH REGISTERS.
was for many years a woodman on the estate. William married a Mary Duckenfield of Warsop, and by her had two sons, Nicholas and John. Nicholas enlisted in the 45th Regiment, and after serving twenty-one years retired with a pension of Is. lO^d. a day. For some years prior to his retirement he acted as recruiting sergeant in the Mansfield district, and in this capacity used to attend all the neighbour- ing fairs beating up recruits to the inspiriting strains of the drum and fife. After leaving the army Sergeant Bowring is said to have spent his time in a most exemplary manner, — visiting the sick and in other ways assisting the clergy, in Mansfield.
1567.— Michaell, Michell, Michel, Mitchel, Mitchell.
A member of this family, John Mitchell by name, was a soldier in the Royal Artillery. He served under Wellington in the Peninsula War and took part in the battle of Salamanca, Vittoria, and Nive, for which he received a medal with three clasps. At the battle of Waterloo he was wounded in the knee by a Frenchman's bayonet. He was then discharged with a second medal and a pension of 6d. a day. It is said that on the death of his old commander he was greatly distressed in mind because he had not the wherewithal to attend his fujieral. John Mitchell came of a fighting stock. His father and grandfather before him were both soldiers. His brother Samuel was a soldier likewise ; and his own son served in the Grenadier Guards and met his death in the Crimea.
1669. — Aire, Ayre, Eyre.
John Eyre a member of this family was churchwarden in 1774. He rented the old lime kilns in Sokeholme Lane and employed several men therein. He is said to have been a
WARSOJ' I'AUrHir KROIHTERS, 33
thorou^lily lioiuiHt, liij^li-priiiciplt'd riuiii, iiwl a good churdi- man to boot. ITIh griiiidsoii, John Eyn;, at th<; beginning of the present (u-ntiiry was a man of some proj>orty in Warsop. He was a grocer by trade, and carried on Ixisiness in one of his own houses at the bottom of Butt Lane. Mount Pleasant belonged to liiin. He was very fond of dogs, especially " snaps," of which he had a famous breed, and which he trained to such perfection that he rarely took a walk on the forest without bringing home a rabbit or two. Martha Eyre, his daughter, was married in 1829 to James Radford, stone-mason.
The Eyres of Sokeholme were nothing akin to the Warsop family of that name. They were descendants of the Eyres of Mansfield Woodhouse, one of whom, a John Eyre, was among the number of those chosen for the honour of knighthood when Charles II. contemplated forming an order of the " Knights of the Royal Oak."
1574. — Dunston, Dunstan.
Throsby, in his list of High Sheriffs for the County of Nottingham, gives the name of George Dunston of Warsop, as High Sheriff in 1770. This is evidently a mistake, as the Dunstons of Warsop were simple cottagers and lived on Bums Green. We believe George Dunston of Worksop was High Sheriff at the time in question. Mr. James Caudwell, farmer of Market Warsop, is the present representative of this family.
1574.— Gilbert, Gilbord.
Samuel Gilbert, a member of this family, was parish pinder diu'ing the latter part of last century. He was a quiet, simple sort of fellow. He use to say when he thought he had erot the better of any one, "I've handled thee," and so got the name
34 WAESOP PARISH REGISTERS.
of " Handle Sammy." When he was qnite an old man he was employed by John Dnckmanton, farmer, to thresh corn in his barn, but he was so slow and used his flail so tenderly that the lads used to tease him, and John Dnckmanton, the farmer's son, who was a bit of a wag, made a wager with him that he could get under the corn he was threshing without being found out. Accordingly one morning before the old man came to work he slipped into the barn and hid himself under the corn. After Sammy had been threshing as visual for some time without perceiving him, John crept out of his hiding place, and said, " Ha, ha ! Master Sammy, I've handled thee." " Yes," said the old man, " and I'd a handled thee if I'd known thou had been there."
Another Samuel GTilbert worked for the Featherstones, at the Brook Farm, for more than half-a-century. For forty- nine years he pitched the corn in the harvest field, and when he was not allowed, because of his age, to do it the following year, he burst into tears, and said, "I did so want to complete the fifty years."
1576.— Eevell, Eevall, Eevill.
In the old terrier of 1722 the name of Francis Revill is down for a tack of three acres of land at a yearly rental of d£l 8s. 4d. About the end of last century another member of the Revell family, a mason by trade, built himself a house on some waste land near the ford at Church Warsop. When called upon by the lord of the manor to give up possession he refused, but on the promise of the use of the old " Moot Hall" he consented, and the house which he had built was pulled down. The same man was employed with a William Downes to build the buttresses, splays, and battlements, on the Church Tower in 1810.
The Dowdall family is connected with this family by the marriage, in 1845, of William Dowdall and Catherine Revill.
WAItHOI' I'AIU.SH REOIBTEE8. 36
1578.— Ryli<', Uyrhiy, Riley.
At the Itej^inniii}^ of the })resent century there was a John Riley, son of Clement Riley, who l^y dint of Hh<;er industry and economy raised himself from a lowly position to one of comparative affluence. He began life as a journeyman shoemaker : he then became master, and in course of time kejit two or three apprentices ; he next opened a grocer's shop which he carried on at the same time with his other business ; after that he took the Hare and Hounds, and did remark- ably well. Biit troubles came upon him in his old age. His sons turned out badly and involved him in continual losses. One of them borrowed some <£700 of him and never repaid it. Prom that time everything seemed to go wrong with the old man ; he suffered loss after loss, and got poorer and poorer, until at length he was taken to the workhouse where he died broken hearted the very night of his adinittance.
A George Riley has the unenviable distinction of being one of the last persons put into the Parish Stocks. He was not a member, however, of the old Warsop family. It would seem that he and some other lads were caught bv the constable playing at football on the Sunday before Martinmas, 1821. Being summoned before the magistrates they were sentenced to be put into the stocks or pay a fine. George and another were put into the stocks and one paid the fine. The latter is still alive, a hale, hearty old man, who teUs the story with great glee. George Riley, poor fellow ! came to a sad end. Whilst engaged a few years since in burning thorns on the forest his dress caught fire, and whether through fright or infirmity no one can tell, but he was unable to extinguish the flames and was burnt to death.
1579.— Hall, Halle. 135 "7309
This family is extinct as far as Wai-sop is concerned. But
36 WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
in 1697 one Jolin Hall of Warsop left by will the sum of £61 10s. to be bestowed in lands for the use of the poor of Warsop, and desired the rector and churchwardens to purchase the same. He also devised all his lands and tenements at Newton in Lincolnshire, and all his lands in Warsop, together with the lands purchased as aforesaid, to Thomas Fothergill and six others, and their heirs, on trust, that they should with the yearly rents and profits buy good wheat and rye bread every year, for ever, for the poor of Warsop ; and he directed that the same should be equally distributed on every Sunday after divine service to sixteen of the poorest people hving in Warsop, by the rector and church- wardens for the time being. The rental of this property now amounts to something more than d£100 a year, and in con- sequence of its increased value, the benefits of the charity have been extended to a considerably greater number of persons.
1579. — Cleaton, Clayton.
At the beginning of last century, Francis Clayton was a yeoman of Warsop. His name appears also in the old terrier of 1722 as renting seventy-two acres of land, for which he paid d818 16s. a year. Ann Clayton, his grand-daughter, was married in 1775 to the Rev. John Browne, Curate of Warsop. A large fiat stone to her memory and to that of her husband, who was curate for thirty-two years, may be seen in the churchyard near the South wall of the church. William Clayton, a shoemaker, was a freeman of the old borough of Retford, and is known to have obtained for his two votes sometimes as much as twenty guineas apiece. In 1827, when a Government enquiry was made into the political corruption of that borough, the said William Clayton was cited to give evidence before the House of Commons.
WAHHOV rAIUHH ItKOISTEKH. 87
1579.— Hinde, Hynde, Hind.
James Hinde, a nicinltcr of this family, was churchwarden in 1761. He wiis a fell-monger and manufacturer of leath<.'r gloves and breeches. The same husiniiss has heen carried on by his descendants down to the jjresent day. The church- warden's son, commonly known as "Jemmy Hinde," was a keen lover of sport ; so much so, indeed, that he is said to have followed the hounds at the advanced age of ninety years. Another bra.nch of the same family has been engaged for many generations in handicraft and agriculture.
1585.— Woodhead.
The Woodheads of Warsop were for many generations wheelwrights, and lived at the corner of Car Lane. Francis Woodhead, the representative of the family, at the beginning of the present century was an excellent workman, but very masterful and very fond of his glass. Mr. Martin, the rector, said to him one day, " Well Francis, how are you and your wife getting on ? " " Oh," he replied, " she can make me do as I like any day of the year." Poor little woman, she had a hard lot with him ! Sometimes when a customer called to see him she would run to fetch him from the public house, but she could rarely get anything from him but, "Now Betty go home and don't let's have any trouble with you." His son and grandson who in turn succeeded him in the business were both good workmen, and might have done well in the world but for their love of strong drink.
1589.— Ball.
About the middle of last century one Amos Ball lived in a low thatched cottage in Car Lane. In social position he was nothing but a labourer, but in habits of temperance and
38 WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
thrift he was far above the average run of men of his day. By the exercise of great carefulness on the part of himself and his better half he managed to save money enough to buy a few fowls and geese which he turned out on the Cars to shift for themselves as best they could. With the profits realised by the sale of eggs, chickens, &c., he bought a cow and rented a croft. Then not content with the old cottage in which his father had lived before him, he pulled it down and built himself a more commodious residence on the same site — the very house in which Widow Ball now lives. And here he spent the rest of his days in comparative ease and comfort, a living example of the truth of the j)roverb, " Take care of the pence and the pounds will take care of themselves." Thomas Ball, another member of this family, served for thirteen years in the Royal Horse Artillery. He was wounded in the shoulder at Waterloo and after his recovery was discharged with a medal and a pension of 9d. a day. The medal is still pre- served in the family.
The families of Coupe and Allwood are counected with this family : in 1856 James Coupe married a Mary Ball, and in 1857 Samson Allwood married a Hannah Ball.
1589. — Ffetherston, Ffetherstone, Fetherston, Fetherstone, Featherstone.
William Fetherstone is mentioned in the old terrier of 1722 as farming some forty-six acres of land at a yearly rental of =£13 2s. 4d. He was churchwarden in 1737. John Fetherstone was churchwarden in 1755. He too was a farmer and hved at the Brook Farm in Low Street. At the time of the Scotch rebellion in 1745 a party of rebels on their way to Derby came through Warsop and compelled the said John Fetherstone to spread straw in his barn for their horses. A cannon ball weighing five and a quarter pounds which is now in the possession of Mr. Blythman, a descendant, was found in the
WARHOI' I'AlilHH EBOISTEES. 89
house roof when undorf^oirif^ repairs at the end of last century. In 1768 Anne Fetherstone, ^rand-danj^'ht/er of John F«;th<T- stone was married to John Snowdciii of Ji(;tliamsall, of whom the present Sii()w<lciis of Warsop are descendants.
1695. — Barloo, Barlowe, Barlow.
In 1796 Isaac Barlow, a memljer of this family, was accidently killed by the falling of some timber upon him at Shirebrook, and in 1830 his great nephew, who was called Isaac after him, also met with a sudden death. The latter was a servant lad, and had been sent by his master with a wagon to Nottingham. Whilst returning he walked by the horses' side, and in an abstracted kind of way stopj>cd to look at a house he was passing, when his dress got entangled in the wheel and he was crushed to death beneath the wagon. James Barlow, cousin to the first Isaac, made quite a little fortune for himself, in the humble employment of a domestic servant. In early life he had the honour of being engaged as footman by the Margravine of Anspach. After holding this situation for some years with much credit to himself he returned to England, where he foimd no difficulty in bettering his condition. For eleven years he acted as butler to the Marqiiis of Ailesbury, and for a like numl>er of years he held the same office to Sir Ricliard Sutton. With his savings, which were by no means small, he then took the Dolphin Tavern, on Ludgate Hill, London, but finding a publican's life too irksome, he went back to the service of Sir Richard Sutton, who at the expiration of another four vears settled a pension on him for life. He then returned to Warsop, bought some property, and spent the rest of his days among the friends of his youth. Mrs. Hill of Butt Lane, is the last representative of this family in Warsop.
40 WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
1697,— Renould, Eeanolde, Reonard, Eeyniald, Eeynold, Reynolds.
From the middle of the seventeenth century down to the end of last century there appear to have been two distmct branches of this family ; one living at Sokeholme, and the other at Warsop. A William Reynold was clerk at Sokeholme Chapel during the early part of last century, and in 1750, a George Reynolds was churchwarden of Warsop. They were both small farmers. A Henry Reynolds at the beginning of the present century owned a considerable amount of property in Warsop. He was a farmer and butcher, and the landlord of the Talbot Inn.
1620, — Tin wen, Unwin, Unwine.
George Unwin, a member of this family, was churchwarden in 1744, 1750, and 1757. His sons George and Matthew afterwards filled the same office ; the former in 1771 and 1772, and the latter in 1774.
The first-named George Unwin was a farmer of Church Warsop, and kept a public-house where James Ball now resides. Some time before his death, however, he gave up his license, and there has been no public-house in Church Warsop since. Another George Unwin, a descendant of his, was a sad scapegrace. In his youth he received a good education, but he turned it to very poor account. Having committed a forgery he left the neighbourhood for some years. On his return he made a little house for himself on the upper Cars by driving stakes into the ground and plaiting them together with wattles and roofing the whole with sods. Here he lived with his wife until some mischievous lads and men so disturbed them at nights that they were obliged to leave it. He afterwards became parish pinder and bellman, and in this capacity he is remembered to have gone round the
WAKHOl' I'ARIHII HEOI8TEE8, 41
village oil tlic morning ol" the coronation of Qu»;on Vict^jria, ringing his bell and declaiming at the top of his voice the following lines of his own coinj)osition : —
" May the rose of England never blow, May the cock of Scotland never crow, May the harp of Ireland never sound, Till this young lady she is crowned."
In 1813 Elizabeth Unwin of Church Town, was married to George Taylor of Elksley, from which marriage the family of Charles Taylor is derived,
1622. — Parsons, Parson.
In the old terrier of 1722, a John Parson is mentioned as fanniug some fifty acres of land at a yearly rental of £14. Another John Parsons was churchwarden in 1767. This latter was a basket-maker and lived in Car Lane. His son William, who succeeded him in business, was the first to plant the osier holt by the river side near the " Hills and Holes." Before his time the land there had been used merely as a cow pasture, and both he and his father had to buy their osiers at Newark and other p>laces outside the parish.
1623.— Wasse, Wass.
In 1763 Sarah Wass, a member of this family, was foimd murdered in a house in Back Lane. There seems Uttle doubt that her own godson committed the foul deed for the sake of some money she had ; but the mystery was never fidlv explained, for although he was taken up on suspicion and confined in Nottingham gaol, yet owing to his death having taken place before the trial came on there was no conviction. One Aun Wass or " Nonty Wass," a woman of most disrepu-
42 WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
table chai*acter, couunitted suicide about tlie same time, and was bui'ied on the Clipstone road near the windmill. For many years after, even down to witliin tlie last fifty years, it was tlie custom of passers-by to tbrow a stone upon lier grave from a superstitious dread of lier apj^earing. Sliakspeare makes mention in Hamlet of the same custom. Speaking of the burial of Ophelia, the priest says : —
" Her death was doubtful ; And but tbat great command o'ersways the order She should in ground unsanctified have lodged Till the last trumpet : for charitable prayers, Shards, flints and pebbles, should be thrown on her."
Social COntlittOn of t\\t people. Concerning the social condition of the inhabitants of Warsop during the period comprised in this register, 1538 to 1637, we are unable to speak with anything like certainty as nothing is recorded relating thereto before 1607. Between the years 1607 and 1637, however, mention is made in the register of burials of the social position of some few of the deceased, and from the data there given we are inclined to think that Warsoj) must have been a purely agricultui-al jiarish at that time. Out of eighty-five burials in which alone the social status is recorded, two were gentlemen, fifteen yeomen, one a doctor, one a schoolmaster, twenty-two husbandmen, two millers, twenty- two labourers, three cai-penters, two shoemakers, four coopers, three butchers, two tailors, one a smith, one a weaver, one a tanner, and three men-servants.
Now in order to understand the full significance of these figures, it is necessary to bear in mind a few historical features of that and an earlier time. The feudal system with its divisions of the social classes into gentle, free, and servile, had long since passed away, and there was scarcely a parish in the land where one might not find, as in Warsop, several
WAKHOJ' I'AIUHII UKdlH'l'EHH. 48
yc()in('ii ;ui<l siiiiiJI I rcciliolddi's in udditioii lo tin; lord of the manor. A ik-vv <;lass of nifu, too, had H\>rnuy^ up in the husbandman or farmer wlio j'lnited hib land of the lord of the manor. But the most important chanf^e of all was the rise of the free lalxmrer whose condition, at this period, although infinitely superior to tliat of the old serf, was yet very far behind that of men of the same class at the present day. The old system of fixin<^ the ]jrice as well as hours of labour by acts of parliament and public; jiroelamation still continued to exist — the injurious tendency of which needs no demonstra- tion. The necessaries of life were so immoderately dear compared with the rate of wages that labouring men could rarely if ever obtain any other bread than that made of rye, barley, and oats, and in many districts of peas or beans ; whilst as regards dress they thought themselves well off if they could provide themselves with a decent suit of leather or canvas. Their dwellings, too, were on a par with their food and clothing. Even so late as the reign of Queen Mary, the English peasantry had nothing better to live in than mere clay built hovels, with no chimneys and no flooring except the bare ground. Their beds consisted of straw which was seldom renewed ; their pillow was a hard block of wood ; and as for sheets and blankets they had none. On the other hand they had certain privileges which the laboui'ers of to-day have not. They were in little danger of being thrown out of employment as they were engaged by contract for not less than a year and could not be dismissed before the expiration of that time, unless some gross misconduct could be proved against them before two magistrates ; they had on the average two or three holidays a month on account of Saints' Days and other festivals ; whilst the long ranges of common and unenclosed forest laud furnished theii* fuel gratis, and fed their pigs, ducks, geese, and cow, if they could afford to keep one. Some writers indeed, looking only to these advantages, have described their condition as equal to, if not
d2
44 WAESOP PARISH REGISTERS.
better than that of the same classes of to-day ; but we have only to study the history of the poor laws to learn what a truly deplorable state they were in. By a statute passed iii the reign of Edward YI., it was enacted that all persons who refused to labour and lived idly three days were to be branded on the breast with the letter V, and be adjudged the slaves for two years of those who informed against them. The master was directed to feed his slave with bread and water, or refuse meat and drink, and to cause him to work by beating or chaining him. If the slave absconded for fourteen days he was condemned to slavery for life ; and if he ran away a second time he became liable to be put to death as a felon. Surely with such a law as that staring him in the face, no labourer would wish to go back to the " good old days " of the sixteenth century. The condition of the yeoman and husbandman was, as might be expected, much better than that of the labourer. It was on the whole one of idle, coarse contentment. Farms were cheaply rented if roughly cul- tivated. An ordinary farm house was made of timber with walls of plaster and roof of thatch, but like the labourer's hovel mostly without chimneys and with but few conveniences. The rustic house-wife spun the clothing from the wool and flax produced on the farm. She and her maids also measured out the corn and sent it to the mill ; brewed and baked for the household consumption ; and took care of the cows, pigs, and poultry, as well as of the garden ; while the men attended to their labours in the field. In this way a rough but comfortable subsistence was secu red even when their stock of money rarely exceeded a few shillings, and when rent-day arrived the sale of a horse or cow had to make up any deficiency. With regard to food the usual diet was the produce of the farm and dairy. Tusser, the Essex poet, who lived about the middle of the sixteenth century, thus describes the good cheer of the English yeomen of his day : —
WAUHOI' l'AI{,I9l[ KhUUHTKltH. 45
"Good hrcad and good drink, a good firo in tfn:; Ijall ; ISravvn pudding, and Bauce, and good mnatard withal; Boof, mutton, and pork, slircd pioH of the best; Pig, veal, gooHo and capon, and turkeys well drest ; Cheese, apples, and nuts, jolly carols to hear. As then in the country is counted good cheer."
Such, we may well believe, was in a greater or less de^ee the social condition of the inha])itants of Warsop during the period under consideration. From the secluded character of the parish its history has been necessarily agricultural rather than anything else. Approached by mere forest tracks, or narrow crooked lanes, the native population would follow slowly the great changes of the nation at large, and, free from the highest or lowest subjects of the realm, live out their simple lives and play their part in the great drama of Ufe, leaving behind them for the most part nothing but a name.
Etgisttr 33.
This volume is much mouse eaten at the top of those leaves containing the baptisms, and at the bottom as well as top of those containing the burials and marriages, so that several names and words are unfortunately wanting. By some mischance too, the baptisms from 1644 to 1649, instead of being in their right place, follow those -of 1702.
^XttBtCtS* From the many interesting records contained in this volume, we have selected the following ; among which we have thought it right to include the earliest entries we can find respecting the various existing families which are mentioned in it, but not in the former volume.
1641.— " Buried Ga Dux veteran."
The intermediate portion of this entry has been eaten away by the mice, but there can be no doubt, we think, that it is the record of the burial of Gervase Wylde, of the Spanish Armada incident.
1643.—" Buried Eobard Tomson, Souldat."
WAEHOI' I'AKIHM KKOISTBUS. 47
From llic (•li;i,rit(f<'r oi' fliisciitry one rni^^ht Huppone that it waH the work ol' a Fn-iichman ; and iiulijod it Ih vi-ry lik«-ly that such was the case, for tliu Kev, J. Condc who was curate of Warsop at this time, and who — judging from the hand- writing—was tht' n-gistrar likcwisf?, was most prol^aldy one of those uulortunak' Hugu -nols wlio, cruelly p<,'rsecut«,'d in their own country, fled to England for refuge after the capture of Rochelle by cardinal liichelieu in 1628.
1643, — " Baptised Henry son of Thomas Bowet and Anne his wife."
The above-named Thomas Bowet was a husbandman. From his time down to the present generation, the Bowets of Warsop have belonged to the same class, and several of them are mentioned at various periods as holding the oflBce of churchwarden. In the old terrier of 1722, a Thomas Bowet's name is down for some forty acres of land at a yearly rental of .29 10s.
1646. — " Buried Mr. William Spurre late pa "
The concluding }>art of this entry has been eaten away bv the mice. Enoiigli has been left, however, to show that it is the ix'cord of the burial of the Rev. William Spurre, who was rector of Warsop when the allotment of seats was made in 1615. We are inclined to think, too, that he was the same person whose baptism is recorded in capital letters in 1564, as " William son of Thomas Spurre," a yeoman of Warsop ; and if so, he is the only native of Warsop who has been I'ector of the parish since the Reformation. Prior to that event we can say nothing. In the fourteenth centurv there was one Robert de Warso]>, an Augustinian, who was born in Warsop, and who long resided at the convent of Tickhill. He is said by Bale to have been made a bishop ; but as there
48 WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
seems to have been no prelate of that name in England, it is supposed that he was either a suffragan or a titular bishop in Greece. He was buried in Tickhill about 1360.
1646. — " Samuel the sonne of Richard Jackson and Jane his wife was borne upon the 26th day of January about the brake of day in the morning, and was baptized on the 31 of January the next Lord's day following."
" John the sonne of George Wilcocke and Anne his wife was borne upon the 28tli of January about five of the clocke in the afternoon, and was baptized on the 5th of Ffebriiary at Sokeholme."
" James and John the sonnes of Gervas Holmes and Cecily his wife were borne upon the 6th day of Ffebruary in the morning before sunrising, and were baptized on the 8th day of Ffebruary,"
We insert the foregoing entries not merely on account of their quaintness, or because they are so unlike the stereotyped entries of the present day, but because they show how very necessary our forefathers thought it to have their children baptized as soon as possible after birth.
1650. — " Gervaso the sonne of Nicholas Hinchley and Eliza- beth his wife was borne March 23rd and baptized March 31st.
A branch of this family held the office of wood steward on the Warsop estates for several generations. A William Hinchliffe, wood steward, about the latter part of last century, was clerk of Sokeholme Chapel, and used to attend the services there, dressed in the lord of the manor's livery. In 1849 we have the marriage recorded of George Robinson and Mary
WARSOI' I'ARIHir RKOIHTEE8. 49
Hinchliffc; in 18.5:',, t!i:i1 d" Ilcrhi'i-t VVliannhy and p]IizalMh HincliliilV ; and in 1871, iliatof VVilliain Methcrinpfhain and Sliaduy Hinchlilff.
1653. — " Tliomas Chadwidcc, a Idindc man, di»'d and was Iniriud April the 14th day."
"Margaret Chadwicke his widdow died April 17, and wa.s buried April the 18th day."
1655. — " Two infants, a male and a ffemale, of Henry Silleotts of the Market Town were borne, died, and bui'ied, the five and twentieth day of December."
1656. — " John and Elizabeth Infant children of Robert Ward of the Market Town were born, Baptized, and died and were Buried, April the fourteenth day."
"John the son of John Ffannery of the Market Town, a sucking childe, died and was buried, November the fourth day."
The foregoing are a few of the many entries at this period which record the death and burial as taking place on the same day. To defer the burial for any length of time beyond a day was quite the exceptional thing.
1657. — "Elizabeth the daughter of Eobert Mason of the Moon of the Church Town died August the •26th day, and was buried August the 27th day."
Here we have the name given us of the old pul)lic-house in Church Warsop to which reference has been alreadv made.
1662. — " Biu-ied Margaret daughter of Jolm Hooke and Martiaret his wife of the South Town."
50 WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
During tlie latter half of last century, one Robert Hooke, farmer and publican, lived in a house called the "Black Bull." at the bottom of Butt Lane. He himself was a steady, sober man enough, but one of his sons, who was also named Robert, turned out such a ne'er-do-well, that the old man thought it best to give up his license and live on the farm alone. Many a story is told of this Robei't Hooke the younger, who seems to have been a very whimsical sort of fellow, full of practical jokes. The landlord of the Hare and Hounds Inn having engaged a raw untrained girl as servant, gave Robert an opportunity of playing a trick upon him. The custom of publicans in those days was to mark up every evening each person's score on the chimney piece. Coming in, therefore, first thing next morning when "mine host's" back was turned, Robert called for a pint of ale, and when the servant brought it him, scolded her severely, said that she was a lazy slut, and that the last girl would never have left the chalk marks remain on the chimney piece till that time of day. The poor girl in her confusion at once fetched a v/et cloth and wiped out the scores. On another occasion he offered to bet Woodman Stubbings, a penny that he could drink an exact pennyworth out of a tankard of ale. Now this was by no means an easy feat, as the j)rice of a tankard of ale was sevenpence. Accordingly Stubbings took the bait. "Call for the ale," said wily Robert, and no sooner was it brought than putting the tankard to his lips he drained it to the dregs : wherevipon throwing down his penny on the table, he said, "There I've lost the bet after all, Goodbye, old fellow!" Another story is told how he and a boon companion after spending all their money devised a scheme to replenish their purse. Taking a farmer's horse out of the paddock one night they hid it in Warsop Wood, and when its owner offered a reward for its recovery they at once fetched it him and having received the reward went and regaled themselves as usual at the Hare and Hounds. The Hookes of Warsoj^ have
WAESOP PARISH RROI8TEE8. 61
1)('('ii a I()n<4' lived vncc ; ]m\ our i'ri<"ii'l Rohc^rt diod at t]u- coiiipiiratively early a^-i' of I'oi-fy-oiic years, h-aviu;^ heliiiid liiiu a wife and several small cliii(lr<;ii to do for themselves as l)est they eould. His father who survived him some years attained (Ik; ripe aj^e of niniity-three. His f^randfatlier, Josei)h Hooke, to whose memory there is an ornamental slate slab in the churchyard, lived to tln^ age of ninety years.
1662. — " Edward son of John Eyre and Alice his wife of the South Town was l:)ai)tized March the eighth day."
" Elizabeth the daughter of Samuel Herron and Anne his wife of the North Town, or in that in which the church is situated, was baptized March the twenty- second day."
This is the only p<^riod throughout the whole set of registers when the two divisions of the parish are so called. At all other times the distinction is drawn between Market Warsop and Church Warsop, or Market Town and Church Towu.
1663. — " James son of Richard Newton and Catherine his wife, of the town in which the market used to be held, was baptized March 29th."
White, in his Nottinghamshire Directory for 1832, says, that the market in Warsoj) has long since been obselete. This entry would seem to imply that it was given up some years previously to 1663, — probably during the troublous times of the great Civil War. " Statutes," for hiring servants, continued to exist down to the end of last century ; and there are still three fairs held every year, uam<^ly. on the Monday before Whitsiuitide, on September 29th and on November l~th.
1670.— " Buried Edward Birkbeck late of Orton in the county of Westmorland."
52 WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
The Eev. G. Fotliergill, rector of Warsop at this tmie, was a Westmorland man, and so the prohabiHty is that the person whose burial is here recorded had been in his service, or at least introduced by him into the parish.
1671. — " Baptized John sonne of Henry Milnes alias Davy and Margett."
1672. — "Baptized Elizabeth of Henery and Margrett Davy alias Milnes."
This is the first mention in the registers of the name Davy, but the family of Milnes dates from 1598. In 1671 we have the marriage recorded of Henry Milnes and Margaret Gilby, and we are inclined to think that they immediately adopted the name of Davy for family reasons and dropped that of Milnes — a supposition which is strengthened by the fact that in the old terrier of 1722 the question is asked, " Was John Davy's farm John Gilby's ? " To which, answer is made, " Yes." The said John Davy was in all probability the very same person who was baj)tized in 1671. He lived in Church Warsop, at what is now called the Moorfield Farm, and held some hundred and fifty acres of land at a yearly rental of d646. This farm continued in the hands of the Davy family down to the present century.
One of the most pleasing features in the past history of Warsop, is the length of time during which many of the farms have been held by the same families from father to son, for generations. Such a state of things betokens a certain amount of contentment, if not of actual prosperity, as well as a good feeling between landlord and tenant — a feeling which should not be lightly broken through. It is seldom pleasant to see farms change hands. It is seldom pleasant to see people turned out of houses in which perhaps they and their forefathers have lived so long that they have become full of
WAR80I' I'AKIHH IlKOIHT^:US. M
t«!n(lcr itsHociiitioiis of j>ii.st, joys aiid past sorrowH. It rnunt often be so, of course, l>ut one lik(;H to Hee families take root in a place and live and tlirive there, one generation aft<;r a another, as has been the case in Warsop.
1678. — " This year a law .... burying in woollen."
The intermediate portion of tliis entry has been eat^in away by the mice ; but it evidently refers to the Act of Parliament which was jjassed in this year, compelling people to bury their dead in woollen shrouds, in order, as the Act states, " to lessen the importation of linen from beyond the seas, and to encourage the woollen manufacture of this kingdom." It was in allusion to this law that Pope wrote his well-known lines on the death of Mrs. Oldfield, the actress, who was buried in Westminster Abbey : —
" ' Odious ! in woollen ! 'twould a Saint provoke ! ' Were the last words that poor Narcissa spoke ; ' No ! let a charming chintz and Briissel's lace Wrap my cold limbs and shade my lifeless face.' "
1679. — " Buried John Bouskill an old man of Solkholm."
There is a very curious little gravestone in the churchyard to the memory of the person whose burial is here recorded. It is about eighteen inches iu height, with an ornamental border, and wdth the following inscription upon it : —
HEETHEBODY
OFIOHNBO WSKSKILDEAD
ND E
ABVRIED16DY OFMEY1679
64 WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
This is one of tlie two oldest stones in tlie chnrcliyard. The other, which is the older of the two, is a plain stone, standing barely a foot high and containing the following inscription : —
" K Middleton wife of Tho Mid 1649 "
Inside the Church Tower, however, there is a memorial stone neatly let into the wall which bears date 1512. This stone formed part of an old floor which was discovered at the Restoration of the Church in 1877, and which stood some eighteen inches below the then existing floor. The marks in the middle of the stone shew that it originally bore an engraving of the Cross, but very little of this, or of the inscription round the edge, now remains. The following, however, is quite plain : —
" ^ t c t a -i- r 0 ft c r I u g a b e t u ^- o v t iS
eiu5>5«annolio m° tccccyii ^ '*
We may thus conclude that it covered the remains of a man and his wife. Of course the wife's name being in the genitive case while the man's is in the nominative, creates a difiiculty not easily surmounted, but this may possibly have arisen through some mistake on the part of the engraver or of the person who supplied the inscription. With respect to the identification of the individuals, we have consulted Thoroton to see if we could find two such persons connected with Warsop about that time, and we believe not imsuccess- fully. It must be remembered that the manor of Warsop then belonged to the sister of Edmund, Lord Eoos, who died without lawful issue in 1508. Well, only a few years before, a member of that family, one Robert Roos was living, who had for his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Middleton ;
WARHOI' I'AltlHH ItKOlHTKliH, .">/>
iiiid Hiiicc ilicn- is room on IIm- Htoiic i'or only a v«;ry hIioH. surname, and Uic (Jlirisf,i;in nam<;s of ilicsc two pcrsoriH a^HMJ with tlic names incniionrd tlicrcon we. would fain l>clit;v<! that I his sl()n<' was ori^nnally laid down to thfir in(;niory. If ho, lh(j iiiscri[)tion would run som-'thinj^ aft^-r this manner: —
*'|L)ic fa -|- lobcitu roo^ i^ f It'gabct uyovii eiui -i* anno Uom t'f^u (\jviiti m° cttctyii ►!- *'
Or, iu plain English, " Horu lie Robert Roos and P]lizal>eth liis wife. In the year of the Lord Jesus Christ 1512."
In connection with these memorial stones, the following interesting features in the history and architecture of the Church itself ought perhaps to be noticed.
1. — The Porch and Doorway which are considered excellent specimens of the Early English style of archit^^cture, and date back to the thirteenth century.
2. — The Norman Archway in the Tower with dog-toothed decoration, hatchet cut ; this dates back to the eleventh or twelfth century. Before the galleries were removed in 1872 this arch was completely blocked np so that no one knew of its existence.
3. — The plain semi-Norman Arch to the North doorway which is at present blocked up.
4. — The Aisles w^hich are in the Early English, or Early Decorative st3^1e ; that on the North side being the older of the two.
5. — The magnificent Chancel Roof supported by cherubim and containing a curious wooden pulley which was used most probably for a lamp, on the third beam from the East window. The Chancel itself is remarkable for its grand dimensions. The Priest's doorway remains, biit is blocked uji.
6. — The three Sedilia within the altar rails, each on a different level, for priest, deacon, and sub-deacon.
66 WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
7. — The Piscina of the quatre-foil form. The Credence ledge is wanting.
8. — The very fine East window of the perpendicular style which dates back to the fifteenth century.
9. — The South East Chapel, or Chantry, which is now used as a vestry and which also dates hack to the fifteenth century. The windows in this Chapel have lately been filled with painted glass, the remains of the old East window.
1680.— "of William and Ann Eolling
of Sokeholme "
The Rollings appear to have settled on their first coming into the parish at Sokeholme, but within a few years after this we find them living at the " Burndels Farm," or as it is now called Warsop Cottage, where they continued to live for more than a hundred and fifty years. In the old terrier of 1722, William Rolling, son of the above, is mentioned as farming one hundred and forty acres of land at a yearly rental of d635 12s. 6d. Another William Rolling was church- warden in 1760 and again in 1771.
1681. — "Buried Mr. John Rolleston, an aged person, of Sokeholme."
This Mr. John Rolleston was of the same family as the Rollestons of Watnall Hall though not a direct ancestor. He was private secretary to the famous equestrian duke of Newcastle, who for some time was general of the royal forces in the Civil War between Charles I. and the parliament, and he himself took part in the same. To account for his living at Sokeholme we must know something of the history of the place. The name Sokeholme is derived from two Anglo- Saxon words — soc, or soke, a pi'ivilege or jurisdiction, and holme, an island or the rich land by a stream. So that
WAIlHOr I'AKIKir ItKOHSTEES. •)!
SokclioliiK! orif]finally rnoani iJn' rich l;iri<l l>y a Htroarn licicl in tenure by i)rivil('f^<'. Bcloro tli<' K»; format ion th« manor of Sokeliolmo belonged to the Priory (jf St. OHwald at Nostell in Yorkshire, and was most probably served by the monies of tliat priory. Acnordinj^ to tradition tli(;n; was a l)ran(;li cstablishnumt of the }>riory settled at Sokeholme ; and althouj^h no record of this remains, yet there is the significant fact that in a field near the road leading to Shire- brook there are a number of fine old yew trees planted in the form of a quadrangle — just such trees as one would expect to see near a religious house. In the reign of Edward III. the prior of St Oswald claimed all sorts of privileges in the manor of Sokeholme, but the jury could not find that " he, or his predecessors, ever had the right of gallows, or of infangtheis," that is, the power of passing judgment on thefts committed within one's jurisdiction, " or that bread was ever baked there to be sold that he might have had emendation of the assize." After the Reformation " Sokeholme with all its appurtenances" was granted to the Leek family ; and from them it descended to the Cavendishes, one of whom was the Duke of Newcastle already mentioned. This nobleman took a very active part in the civil war. At the beginning of the troubles he assisted his royal master with a gift of ^10,000 ; as well as raised a considerable body of horse and foot soldiers at his own expense. As general of the royal forces he defeated the rebels at Atherton Moor in 1643 ; and in the following year kept the Scotch at bay till Sir Thomas Fairfax coming to their relief compelled him to retire upon York. At the battle of Marston Moor his regiment, resolute to conquer or to perish, alone held their ground and main- tained by their dead bodies the same order in which thev had at first been drawn up. After this he retired to the continent where till the Eestoration he lived in great want whilst his immense fortune was squandered by those who had assumed the reins of government. Out of eight magnificent estates
58 WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
possessed by Mm "before the war, Welbeck alone was preserved from utter ruin by the noble exertions of his secretary, Mr. John Eolleston of Sokeholme Hall. From the dukes of New- castle, the manor of Sokeholme passed into the hands of the dukes of Portland; and through them, by an exchange of lands, to Mr. Henry Gaily Knight, and so on to the present proprietor, Sir WilHam Fitz -Herbert.
A handsome marble tablet to the memory of Mr. John Eolleston, in Warsop Church, contains the following inscrip- tion, nearly illegible : —
" To the Memory of A Trusty Servant, a loyal Subject, a kind Master, a faithfuU friend, a loving husband & a good Christian. And now Eeader think not y this is to y memory of Many, but wonder that 'tis to that of One. To y of Mr. John Eolleston of Eolleston in Staffordshire well born & well bred. Well Knowne & therefore well beloved by f high & mighty W™ late L*^ Duke of Newcastle & his Noble Family ; as having had y honour of being his Secretary when He himself had y great one of being Grovernor to the Prince after- wards King Charles the 2nd, as hkewise that of Secretary to y Army under his Excellencies command in y late unhappy warrs. His apjjroved honesty & abihties in business rendered him highly usefuU to his Master & to his Country : particularly to the former in y management & preservation of his Estate at a time when y Government itself was too weak to preserve anything from Eapine & Euine. The advan- tages rais'd to himself out of a long & meretorious service were almost entirely lost uj)on the dechning fortune of f Eoyal Party at Marston Moor, & yet his good service in y end mett w what he valued above all f honour of having been highly trusted & y comfort of having honestly discharged y trust. To y many
WAKHOI- I'AltlHII KEOISTEU8. o\)
blessings of f Man here njiuemborod was added that of a long lifo, lie having liv(jd to tho ago of 84 yoarH ; a long bnt to him a glorious tyino of tryal. He departed this life y 22nd of December 1681 in full hopes of a joyfull Ri'surnjetion to a much l>etter.
Erected as a monument of true love }>y his entirely beloved wife & sorrowfuU widow Mrs. Elizalx;th Rolleston now living in this Parish MDCLXXXVI."
1689. — " Gartrude Grace daughter of the Honourable Charles and Frances Stanhope, born November 21, and bap- tized December 3."
The Hon. Charles Stanhope here mentioned was the grandson of the first earl of Chesterfield and son of the Hon. Ai'thur Stanhope of Mansfield Woodhouse, who was M.P. for Nottingham in the Restoration Parliament. Correctly speaking he had no right to be called " Honourable, " but it seems to have been a common practice in those days to apply this title indiscriminately to all the younger members of noble families.
In 1740 we have another entry relating to the same family, namely, the marriage of Arthur Charles Stanhope of Mans- field, and Mary Thornhagh of Osberton. This Arthur Charles Stanlioj)e was the son of Dr. Michael Stanhope, Canon of Windsor, and grandson of the former Charles Stanhope. His own son, Robert, by a second wife, afterwards succeeded to the earldom as fifth earl of Chesterfield.
1690. — "Buried John of Ffrancis and Sarah Crooks of Nettleworth."
About the middle of last century John Crooks, tailor and draper, carried on a good business in a house of his own at the top of Dawney Hill. His son, Francis, who succeeded
E 2
60 WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
him, increased tlie business to sucli an extent that he used to take sometimes as much as ^£600 in the Martinmas week. As he advanced in years, however, he fell into habits of intemperance — the bane of so many old Warsopians — and his business went to wreck and ruin. His death was sudden. When going to church one Sunday afternoon he was seized with a choking sensation, and turning back with difficulty reached his home, where within two hours he expired in his chair. A strange fatality indeed seems to have attended his whole family ; for a few years prior to his own death, his eldest daughter whilst on a visit to Swanwick, committed suicide by drowning herself in a well ; his second son hanged himself on a tree in Edwinstowe Forest; his widow and a married daughter took a pubhc-house at Blythe, where the daughter killed herself by hard drinking ; and his eldest son Francis not long since lost himself somehow one cold winter's night in the snow, and was found some days after frozen to death in a ditch in Lower Car Lane,
1696. — " Baptized John of Thomas and Mary Halifax of Market Warsop."
In 1726 the above named John Halifax was married and living at Sokeholme at the farm which was afterwards held so long by his descendants ; but not having an old Sokeholme terrier, like that of Warsop, to guide us, we are unable to give the original size and yearly rental of this or any other farm situated in that parish. For more than a hundred years a branch of this family has lived at the farm now occupied by Mr. Thomas Hallifax of Market Warsop. William Halhfax, basket maker, a member of this family, is said to have ridden one cold winter's night across Thoresby Lake.
The Chapmans, Robinsons, and Askews, aj-e connections of this family by marriage: in 1793 William Chapman married an Elizabeth Hallifax; in 1851 John Robinson, miller and
WAKHOI' I'ARrSir EEOISTEES. 01
])ak('r, inai'ricd I'^lizalx'lli liiuH'ord, wIioh*; mothor was a llallii'ax, and whose iath<;r, William Jtadi'ord, built and owned the Warsop windmill and the adjoininj^ cotta^'es ; and in 18G2 SamiUil Ask(!w, ]>asket maker, married 8arah Hallifax.
Th(! Hallii'axfs of Warsop claim kinship with bishop Hallii'ax, who died bishop of St. Asaph and rector of Warsop in 1790 ; but we ourselves can find no trace of the connection either in tlie Warsop Registers or in those of Mansfield where bisho}) Hallifax was born. We shall have occasion to speak of the bishop again later on.
1697. — "Buried Sarah of John and Mary Duckminton of Church Warsop."
About the latter part of last century one John Duckmanton was a Warsop yeoman and the local carrier between Worksop and Mansfield. He was a man of some means and owned nearly a hundred acres of land in the jjarish. For several years he held the offices of churchwarden, overseer of the poor, and constable, in which last capacity he was under the necessity, sorely against his will, of punishing George Riley and the other lads who were caught playing at football on the Sunday. According to tradition, John Duckmanton, though a temperate man for liis time, would never drink ale — little or much — except out of a quart tankard ; and a portrait was once taken of him by some waggish painter whilst he was sitting in the Bowling G-reen inn, at Mansfield, dressed in the old-fashioned smoek-frock of the period, leaning on his stick and with his favourite tankard on a table before him. This portrait is now, we believe, in the possession of Mr. Hemy Duckmanton of Car Lane.
1699.—" Buried Elizabeth Knight, Lady and Widow of Sir Ralph Knight, of Church Warsop."
62 WAESOP PARISH EEGISTEBS.
The lady whose burial is here recorded seems to have had a most eventful history. She appears before us first at the altar as a Miss Barbar of Carburton ; then for twenty years as the wife of John EoUeston of Sokeholme, who was, as we have seen, a strong supj^orter of the King during the civil war; next as his " sorrowfull widow"; then, as the second wife of Sir Ealph Knight, an old man of sixty-eight years of age, and moreover one of her first husband's most determined opponents ; and finally, in her nameless and unhonoured grave, as Sir Ralph's lady and widow. Poor Lady Knight! she is said to have brought dissensions into the family ; but we have reason to beheve that the fault was not so much in her as in Sir Ealph' s grown-up children, who bitterly resented his second marriage.
From a memoir of the Knight family which Sir William Fitz -Herbert has kindly placed in our hands, we learn that Sir Ealph Knight was a descendant of an old Hampshire family that used to live at St. Denys, near Southampton. At the beginning of the civil war he took a very active part on the side of the parliament, and was present in more than one engagement ; but after the death of Cromwell he changed sides and, as Colonel under General Monk, was instrumental in the restoration of Charles II. For his services on that occasion, he afterwards received at the King's hand the honour of knighthood, as well as a large sum of money, part of which he spent in the purchase of the manor and advowson of Warsop, as has been related. He died in 1691 in the seventy- second year of his age.
Elizabeth Knight, Sir Ealph' s granddaughter, who in- herited the family estates in 1768, was married to the Eev. Henry Gaily, D.D., a French protestant divine, who fled to this country for refuge after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Her sons assumed the name of Gaily Knight.
Henry Gaily Knight, who died in 1846, was the last of the family. He was a man of most amiable and accomplished
WARSor r'AJiFHir ukoihtkiih. 03
inauiicrs. Alicr fiiiiHliin^^ liis iinivorHity courBO at Cambridffo wlicrc he Hindi! llio a<;(jn;i,iiiliiii(;<! of Lonl J'yron, lio w<'rit, on ii i.onr iliroii^li the iiioHi iiiicrcstiiif^ proviiicoH ot" Turkey ; and licre, it would Boem, h*; ronow(!d his acquaintance with the autlun* of Cliildo Harold, and, wanned by the wynipathy of a kindred spirit, conceived a serieH of Easte-m tales, illustrative of the manners and customs of the countries he had travelled through. In 1819 he was Hif^h Sheriff for the County of Notts., and in this official capacity met the Judge at the Assizes, accompanied with twelve of his own tenants all clad in the Knight livery— six from Warsop and six from Langold and FirLeck. He afterwards made a tour through Normandy taking with him a special artist in order that he might have " the assistance of a practised eye to examine the Churches of that country and a practised hand to delineate their outline." On his return he publislied a small octavo volume with plates called A71 Architectural Tour in Normandy. In 1831 he was returned as M.P. for Malton; and from 1835 to 1841 he represented the North Division of Notts. Dying without children, he left a sum of about d66000 for the building of St. John's Church, Mansfield, and the whole of his Firbeck Property, which realised some .£65,000 or ^670,000, to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for the building of churches, and parsonage houses, and for the augmentation of small livings. A brass tablet to his memory in Warsop Church bears the following inscription : —
" In Memory of Henry Gaily Knight. Born 1786 : died 1846. The dutiful Son of a widow'd Mother ; a Poet as witnessed by her "Portrait"; over Sacred and Classical ground a Traveller ; a man of kindness and Benefactor to his Church and Kinsmen. To commemorate the Eestoratiou of this Church, re- opened July 13th, 1877, Sir William Fitz-Herbert has erected this Tablet to a respected name in Warsop."
64 WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
1701. — " Married John Elmcoats and Elizabeth Eeonard of Market Warsop."
This seems to be the first mention of the family of Elmcoats, or as the name is now spelt Amcoats. The said John Elmcoats appears later on in the register as John Hempcoats and Hemcoats, whilst his children are called indifferently Hamcoats and Amcoats. Thomas Amcoats during the latter part of last century was a Warsop tailor and draper. He was the owner of several small properties in Warsop, and carried on his business in a house of his own at the bottom of High Street. His son and grandson both succeeded him in the same business.
1704. — "Buried Benjamin G-abetas who was killed by a coal cart."
It was long the custom of Warsop farmers to lead from the pits' mouth all the coal needed for their own use and for the use of their labourers. The man whose burial is here recorded was doubtless engaged in this task when he met his death. One of the Duckmantons was killed in the same way. He fell from the top of a load of coals, and was crushed to death beneath the wheels of the wagon.
1708. — "Buried John Johnson a souldier."
According to tradition this poor fellow was one of a company of soldiers who passed through Warsop on their way from Worksop to Mansfield. For some act of dis- obedience he was tied to the old oak on Cuckney Hill and there flogged so unmercifully that he expired under the infliction. His body was brought on to Warsop and buried without the accompaniments which usually attend a soldier's funeral.
WAItSOl' I'ARISM UKOISTEB8. 65
1712.— "Baptized Willi;uii of Williiuii aiirl Aiim- VVanlley of the Markci Town."
For several generations different members of this family have l>een employed on the Warsoj; estate as woodmen. About the middle of last century a Tliomas Wardlt-y, wo<xl- man, lived in the house where old Mr. William Wardley now resides in Butt Lane. He had a saw pit in the little phjt of ground by the side of the house, and a shed in which he used to make gates and other things connected with his employ- ment. Samuel Wardley, one of his descendants, is wood steward at the present day.
In 1854 we have the marriage recorded of John Mellors and Elizabeth Wardley ; and in 1859 that of John Story and Sarah Wardley.
1739. — " John Kirk and Anne Reynolds, both of this parish with l>anns three times published, were married by me
Mr. Mosley Rector."
The John Kirk here mentioned was a noted gunsmith of Warsop. He was a man who always took a great interest in church matters. At his death in 1767 he left a sum of .£30 to be spent in the purchase of a silver flagon and plate for the service of Holy Communion, at Warsop Church. He also left a further sum of £,60 to be put out to interest, and directed that the money arising therefrom should be given away in two equal portions on Good Friday and St. Thomas' Day, to such poor inhabitants of Warsop as the Rector and Churchwardens might think most necessitous and deserving. Strange to say, however, nobody seems to know anything about the latter of these bequests. The £S0 were spent as enjoined by the will ; and the silver flagon, alms dish, and plate, inscribed with the donor's name, are those in present use at the service of the altar. The Warsop Church plate is
66 WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
'not very interesting. But at Sokeholme Chapel tliere is one of the oldest pieces of plate in the county — a small silver cup and cover paten. The upper part of this cup is ornamented with a double seeded rose, a crown, and the fleur de lis ; the bowl, with a foliated band interlaced four times with the hour glass curve. It bears the York date-letter L which stands for 1568-69.
(I^OntltttOtX of t|j0 people* in our endeavour to form a correct estimate of the social condition of the past inhabitants of Warsop, we found little to aid us in the former volume ; but we find still less in this. Nowhere throughout the whole register is the social status given of the persons mentioned therein save in the case of a few solitary individuals during the time of the Commonwealth. Fortunately, however, there are other sources from which we may learn something, if not of the actual inhabitants of Warsop, yet of the state of the agricultural classes generally throughout the land during the period comprised in this register, namely, from 1638 to 1742 ; and from these we learn that it was on the whole one of gradual but steady improvement. At the begimiing of this period, and indeed all through the seventeenth century, agriculture was still in a very rude and imperfect condition compared with that of to-day. An average crop of wheat, rye, barley, oats, and beans, then reached only some ten millions of quarters, whereas now it is more than thirty millions. The rotation of crops, too, was very imj^erfectly understood ; and cattle were still often killed at the beginning of winter and turned into what was called Martinmas beef — that is, salted and cured — because there was no means of keeping them alive till the following spring. The great criterion of the state of the working classes at any time is the amount of their wages compared with the price of food. During the seventeenth century the rate of wages for agricul- tural laboui-ers, such as were found in Warsop, did not
WARHor I'AItlHIf ItEOISTERB. VJ
avcni^c iiHU'c lliaii 4h. \\. vvi'i'k willi food, or flH. witliout, ; and the wa^-es of ariizaiiH were l»iit lilllo belter, oxeej^t in London where firKt-ratc Iti-idilayers and carpeutors could <,-arn 2h. or 2s. 6d. a day. Tlic uecessarieH of life were still immoderately dear. The average price of wheat was 50h. the quart<;r; so that bread such aw is now given to the inmates of our workhoTises was then seldom if ever seen on the table of a labovirer or artizan. Meat was much ch(?aper than at present, but comj)ared with wages tlie price was so dear that not one half the people could get animal food more than once a week. Sugar, salt, coal, candles, soap, shoes, stockings, and all kinds of clothing and bedding, were also much more expensive than they are now. It was partly in consequence of this miserably low rate of wages, and dearncss of food and clothing, that the amoiint of pauperism at this period attained to such magni- tiide. The number of people claiming jiarish relief at the present day, exclvisive of vagrants, is estimated at about one thirtieth of the whole population, whereas, then, according to writers of that day, about one fourth of the people were paupers. Another thing which helped to produce this truly awful amount of poverty, was the very oppressive Act of Parliament which was passed in 1662 to prevent poor people settling in any other place than the one where they had previously resided. This was the origin of the law of settle- ment which continued to harass the poor, as well as waste parochial funds in litigation, down to the beginning of the present century. By this Act "it was lawful for any two justices of the peace, upon complaint made by th»^ church- wardens and overseers of the poor, within forty days after the arrival of any new comer in the parish, to remove him by force to the parish wiiere he was last legally settled, either as a native, householder, sojourner, apprentice, or servant, \inless he either rented a tenement of ^£10 a year, or coidd give such security against becoming burdensome to the parish where he was living as the two justices should deem
68 WAESOP PARISH REGISTERS.
sufScieiit." It was not till 1795 that tlie law was amended allowing working men to change their abode as they saw a better chance of employment elsewhere, so long as they did not become chargeable to the parish.
During the whole of the time this merciless Act was in force, and indeed down to the amendment of the poor law in 1834, and the formation of the Mansfield Union, "War sop had not only the sole management of its own poor, but also a workhouse of its own. In those days no one was considered a parishioner who did not fulfil the provisions of the said Act ; and no relief was granted, save in very exceptional cases, to anyone not a parishioner, unless he first gave the name of his parish or showed a settlement paper stating where he came from and who were answerable for his maintenance. The consequence was that many j)ersons provided themselves with settlement papers beforehand so as to prevent delay in case of emergency. In a small chest, kept in the vestry, there is a number of such settlement papers dating from 1698 to 1844.
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Thp; records in this register are not so interesting to the general reader as those in the two earlier registers ; but the following are perhaps worthy of special notice : —
1744. — " George Singleton and Elizabeth Higgs with banns three times published were married by Mr. Browne, Curate"
This is the first record relating to the Singleton family, but from the settlement papers we learn that the above- mentioned George Singleton came into the parish from Mansfield Woodhouse, in 1740. After his marriage he lived in an old-fashioned house which stood on the rectory grounds opposite the old entrance to the churchyard, and for many years held the ofiice of sexton. His son and grandson, who were both called George after him, in turn succeeded him in this ofiice. So long indeed was the ofiice of sexton held by this family that the inhabitants of Warsop used to joke about it and tell their friends when they were sick to mind what they were about or they would soon find themselves in " Singleton Park." The present representative of this family is Mrs. Stocks of Low Street.
1749, — "Buried Mary the wife of James Rigg a stranger."
70 WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
1750. — "Baptized Jolin tlie son of Marshal and Ester Fells of Market Warsop."
Marshal Fells whose son's baptism is here recorded was a farmer and rope-maker. He was a native of Thorpe Salvin, in Yorkshire, but having been apprenticed to Valentine Wilkinson of Butt Lane he afterwards made Warsop his home, and on the death of his first wife in 1754 married a Warsoj) woman, Elizabeth Clarke of Gleadthorpe, and by her had a son. Marshal, who in course of time succeeded him in business. Marshal Fells, the son, was churchwarden for some time and was very much respected by his neighbours on account of his quiet, gentle ways. He lived at the farm now occui^ied by Mr. Sidda, and had his rope- walk by the side of his house and garden. A valuable mare called "Bounce" which belonged to him was once stolen from the stable. Happening some two years after to be at Alfreton fair with John Duckmanton, he saw the very mare exposed for sale with a foal by her side. Turning to his friend, he said, " Why, John, there's my Bounce. Do you go and see if you can get her for me without making a row." Whereupon John Duckmanton went up to the dealer and began to bargain with him for the mare and foal, and at length agreed upon a price. Then after carefully locking them up in the stable of the inn where he was stopi^ing, he invited the dealer into the house to take a friendly glass before paying him, rang the bell, and when the landlord aj)peared, asked him to send for the constable as he had just caught the fellow who stole his mare two years before. The dealer no sooner heard this, than bolting through the open door he made his escape from the town as fast as possible. The two friends had a good laugh over the affair and returned to Warsop in the best of spirits, accompanied by "Bounce" and her foal. Mrs. Thomas Wilson, the grand- daughter of Marshal Fells, is the only direct rejiresentative of the family now living in Warsoj).
WAESOJ' I'AIUHIt RKOIHTKHS. 71
1760. — "Bapt.iz(i(l Joliu tin; mm of John and Anix; Jiri^^^H oi Church Town."
John Brif^o-s, whose l)ai>t,i,siu is liere recorded, married in 1781, a Sarah Smith, and by her had a lar^e family, which he- had some difficulty in supporting,', out of his little fann in Church Warsoj). In 1802 he had the misfortune to lose his wife, who died within a f(;w days of the death of our old friend Robert Hooke ; and whether it was owing to this coincidence or to the more substantial fact that Robert Hooke's farm was better than his own, we cannot say, but he married the widow, and so doubled his family at one stroke. Two years afterwards he lost his second wdfe, and then for the rest of his days he was veiy much hke the famous old woman of childhood's romance who " had so many children, she didn't know what to do," Complaining one day of his difficulties to some of his friends, he remarked that he would " willingly be hanged for Squire Knight's estate," and when one of them said, " Why, what good would it do you when you were dead?" he replied, "There would be the childer, would'nt there ? " One of these said " childer," Mary Briggs, a nice modest girl, was married in 1815 to Isaac Slack, and so became the mother of Mr. Slack, farmer, of Church Warsop.
1762. — " John Renshaw and Mary Chapman both of this parish with banns three times pubKshed were married by Mr. John Crutchley."
About the end of last century Samuel Renshaw, possibly the son of the above, left Warsop to reside on a small farm at Kirkby Cliff ; and the story is told how his wife when in her seventy-sixth year used to go some two miles a-millring with the kit on her head and knitting in her hand. In a local newspaper of that day, she was described as one who
72 WAESOP PARISH REGISTERS.
" knocked the dew oif the young milk maids." When they were hoth quite old they returned to Warsop and lived to a very advanced age with their son John who then kept a day school in the Baptist Chapel in Butt Lane.
1763. — "Thomas Maxfield and Sarah Jepsoii both of this parish with banns three times published were married by Mr Clarke, Curate."
This is the first mention of the name of Maxfield, but the family of Jepson which has since become extinct in Warsop dates from 1550. Thomas Maxfield was the father of John Maxfield who was the leader of the Church choir at the beginning of the present century.
1763. — "Buried Francis the son of Francis Peacock of Market Warsop."
The Francis Peacock whose burial is here recorded was a young man twenty two years of age, the only son of his aged father who was a widower. In his son's death the bereaved parent lost, as it were, the object of his life, and at once made over to trustees some property belonging to him at Shirebrook, directing that the rents and profits of the same should be given away in bread to the poor of Warsop for ever on the second of February and the eighth of August. The name of Francis Peacock is down in the old terrier for some forty two acres of land at a yearly rental of =£11 19s. For nearly two hundred years a branch of this family lived at the Spring Farm Sokeholme.
1767. — "Baptised Elizabeth daughter of Thomas and Eliza- beth Brothwell of Market Warsop."
The Brothwells on their first coming into Warsop were millers and bakers. A Thomas Brothwell lived for some years at the mill house in Church Warsop. His brother,
WAKSOP I'AKIHH EEOIHTERS. 73
Gorvasc Brothwoll, was a }>akor and carried on hi» buBiness in the house where Mrs. Reynolds now lives in Low Street. It seems to have been the custom in his day for jK;ople to make up their own bread at home and then bring it to him to be baked, and in order to let them know when the oven was ready Nanny Brothwell, his wife, used to stand at her door and blow a bullock's horn which could be heard to a j:p-eat distance all round. Another curious custom which he intro- duced was to perambulate the streets every Sunday morning selling hot bread. Warsop has long been noted for its fine breed of asses. But an ass belonging to Gervase Brothwell is still spoken of as the " finest and swiftest runner of any in England." For two consecutive years it won the silver cup at Babworth races near Retford. These cups, as well as the aforesaid bullock' shorn which is nearly two feet in length, are still treasured up, we believe, among the family household gods. The Warsop families of Ilett and Nilan are connected with this family by marriage : in 1822 Mary Brothwell a granddaughter of G-ervase Brothwell was married to Charles Ilett of Lincoln, and in 1857 Hannah Brothwell, another granddaughter, was married to Thomas Mian of the county of SKgo, Ireland.
1772. — " John Neep and Barbara Wombell both of this parish with banns three times published were manned by Mr. Nicholas Mosley Cheek, Curate."
When peace was proclaimed after the battle of Waterloo, Warsop, like most other places in England, was en fete for the occasion. A public tea was provided, at which the child- ren were all admitted free, and, to grace the proceedings, a mock king and queen with six maids of honour were chosen from among the parishioners. James Hinde, fell monger, was king, whilst Barbara Neep, then a comelv-looking old woman with silver hair, was qiieen. Dressed in snowy white, attended by her maids of honour, also in white, and accom-
74 WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
panied by her royal consort, slie was drawn through, the streets of the village in a cart amid the rapturous applause of the assembled crowds, and repeated shouts of " Long live the king and queen ! "
The present representative of this family is Mrs. Wood of Butt Lane.
1778. — " Baptized Mary the daughter of Matthew and Mar- garet Wilcock, Chimney Sweepers, sojourners here."
1780. — "Buried George the son of G-eorge and Mary Moor, Clerk and Schoolmaster, Bridge-foot house."
Here we have the name given us of the old school-house, near the mill at Church Warsop. Before the present stone bridge was built, foot-passengers used to cross the river by a wooden bridge, whilst vehicles went through the water, either a little above or below the mill. The wooden bridge was probably the one referred to in this record.
1783. — " Here begins for the Stamp Act."
From this date, mention is made of the " duty " being paid every year down to 1794, when the Act was rej)ealed. But as long as it was in force a stamp duty of threepence had to be paid for every baptism, marriage, or burial, recorded in the registers.
1788. — " Baptized William Henry the Son of Eobert Shore Milnes Esq., Captain in the Royal Regiment of Horse Gruards, and Charlotte Frances Milnes his wife."
1789. — " Baptized Betty the daughter of Robert and EHza- beth Wood, Soulkholme."
The above mentioned Robert Wood is said to have come into the parish direct from Scotland, and, seemingly, was
WARHOI' I'AiaSH EEOI8TERS. 75
nothiiif,' akin to tlii! Huiiry Wood, who was miller of Soke- liolme, in 1626, and whose descendants continued to reside in that place down to within a f<;w y(;ars of this date. The Sirring Farm waH tenanted by this family for many years. Betty Wood, whose baptism is here recorded, was married in 1808 to John Pogmore, a publican of Mansfi(^ld Wocjdhouse, and lived to a ripe old age : at her death, in 1870, she was l^iiried, in accordance with her wish, in Warsop churchyard, where a stone has been placed to her memory.
The Beards of Church Warsop and Nettleworth are con- nected with this family by the marriage, in 1850, of John Beard, farmer, and Elizabeth Wood.
1789. — "Baptized Elizabeth the daughter of William and Eleanor Herringshaw, Soulkholme."
William Herringshaw, whose daughter's baptism is here recorded, was a miller by profession, and succeeded Hercules Clay, at the old Sokeholme mill. After his death, which took place in 1820, his daughter Elizabeth bravely kept the mill a-going, until her younger sisters were grown up, when she passed it on to James Johnson, who married her sister Eleanor, and who was, as we have already said, the last miller of Sokeholme.
1790. — "Baptized Frances the daughter of Francis and Ann Pashley. Sojourners here. Poor."
1792. — "John Allcroft in the Parish of Edwinstowe & Ann Eyre of this Parish were married by License in this Church this tenth day of October by me John Parsons Curate."
By this marriage of John Allcroft, warrener at Clipstone Park, with Ann Eyre of Sokeholme, the family of Allcroft
f2
76 WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
tdtimately came into possession of all tlie Eyre property at Sokeholme and Mansfield Woodhonse.
1794. — "Baptized Catherine daughter of John and Martha Hartley. Travelling Tinkers."
1794.— "Baptized Elizabeth Katherine, D^ of the Eev<i John Ashpinshaw, and Elizabeth his wife."
John Ashpinshaw was curate of Warsop at this time, and was very much respected by his parishioners, for whom he him- self personally contracted a great regard. On the death of the two maiden daughters of Job Staunton Charlton, the last male heir of the ancient family of Staunton, of Staunton in the vale of Belvoir, his wife came into possession of the family estates, under condition that she and her husband should take the name, and bear the arms of Staunton only.
1794.— "Baptized John son of John & Sarah Glover. M.W."
The Grlovers from this date down to the present time have been engaged as woodmen on the Warsop estate, and have always been noted as steady, industrious workmen.
1794_" Baptized Mary D^ of Joseph & Sarah Youle. C.W."
Joseph Youle, who was parish clerk and schoolmaster of Warsop, was the predecessor of Mr. Eobert Bowler's father.
1798. — " Baptized Amelia Penelope, daughter of Eichard and Penelope Burden of Park Hall."
We have had occasion already to speak of Park Hall which once formed part of the manor of Nettleworth. For many years it was the property of the Digby family ; but on the death of Sir John Digby, in 1736, it was bought of his co-heiresses by
WATIHOP PARIHTf REGISTERS. 'Jl
Mr. Jolin Hall, of Nottloton Hall, in LirH;oln«hiro, and HatfieM Poveril, in Esh(!x, and it, lias n;main<i(l in tho posHr-HHion of this family ever since. Url)an Hall, his son, aftx^r serving with much distinction in the Blues, and taking part, with hig regiment, in the l)attl(' of Minden, retired from the army, and lived as a country gentleman at Park Hall. Towards the close of his life, however, his health was very precarious, and he removed to Mansfield in order to be near his medical attendant : it was during this enforced residence at Mansfield that the Burdens become his tenants, and lived at Park Hall as stated in the above extract. John Hall, son of Urban Hall, was also a soldier. As a young man he joined the 65th Regiment and took part in the Carib war ; and it is a remarkable fact that of all the ofiicers who entered on that expedition he, with two others, alone saw its termination. After this he served under the duke of York, in Holland ; and took part, with Sir Ralph Abercrombie, in the Egyptian cam- paign and in the battle of Alexandria, where Sir Ralph lost his Ufe. On the death of his commander he left Egypt, and whilst retui'ning to England was captured by a French man- of-war and carried to France, where he was detained for some months as a prisoner on parole. When peace was re- stored he was promoted to the rank of general and put in command of the Glasgow district, where, we believe, that his son, the present owner of Park Hall, was bom.
1798. — "Buried Francis Woodward who died suddenly aged 1^ years."
About the beginning of last century, the Woodwards of Warsop held some ofiice in connection with Shenvood Forest, then in the hands of the crown, and wore the royal Kveiy.
At that time by far the greater part of Warsop consisted of open forest land, which was so overrun by red deer, to the sore injury of the cultivated part, that Mr. Isaac Knight, lord
78 WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
of the manor, with other gentlemen whose estates were similarly infested, presented a petition to Queen Anne and to her Parliament praying for redress of the grievance. This petition had about four hundred signatures attached to it ; but it does not appear to have been well received, either by her Majesty's ministers or the law officers of the crown. In 1739 Mr. Ealph Knight engaged in a dispute with the head ranger of the forest respecting a stack of hay which had been placed on some forest land in Warsop parish, and enclosed for the foddering of the deer which lay in that part. Not being able, however, to obtain any satisfaction, he determined to bring matters to a crisis, and accordingly directed a tenant to pull up the enclosure and turn his own cattle upon the land — which was done. Law proceedings were threatened, but never adopted ; and within less than a century afterwards the crown had little of the ancient forest left in its possession, whilst all the deer were destroyed. Of the old oaks for which Sherwood has been justly famed, one at least — the " Young G-reendale Oak" — was in the confines of Warsop parish. This fine old tree stood near the site of the Wesleyan Chapel, in Back Lane, and was so much admired by the duke of Portland of fifty years ago, that he used to buy the acorns which grew on it year by year to plant on his own estate. The " Old Churn" and the " Parliament Oak " which are still in existence, although in a most ruinous condition, stand within a few hundred yards of each other in the boundary fence, that separates Warsop from Clipstone. It is not very clear how the latter tree obtained its name. One story says that it was called the " Parliament Oak " from the fact that King John whilst hunting in Sherwood Forest in 1212, here re- ceived intelligence of the revolt of the Welch, and hastily assembled his followers under its wide spreading branches for a parle or consultation as to the best mode of proceeding. According to another story it was not till 1290 that it was so called. In that year Edward I. held a parliament in this
WAHROI' PAUIfiH KKOISTERR. 70
noighbourliood, Itut wlu;ther at the old royal palace at Clip- stone, or uudci' ili<! oiil< in whicli tradition lias f^ivcri t!i«; nurtu:, is uncertain. In 1775 the Warsop forest land wan partially enclosed by Act of Parliament — some two-thirds of the area of the parish Ixnn^ after that ev»Mit enclosed lands, and the remaining one-third still ioveHt; and in 1818 another Act was passed to enclose the remainder. By this latter Act some seven hundred acres were allotted to the Rectors of Warsop in lieu of tithes,
1798. — "Baptized Azariah son of Thomas & Mary Burton. M.W."
Thomas Burton was a blacksmith who came into the parish from Papplewick : he lived in the house where his descendants now live, but had his forge on the opposite side of the road, on the site now occupied by the mission-room. His wife, who was a Roman Catholic, and of very retiring habits, is said to have once quarrelled with a neighbour and to have kept up the quarrel for some months by means of correspondence. Azariah Burton, as well as his sister Mary, died young ; they were carried ofE by scarlet fever which was prevalent in Warsop, in 1809.
1804. — " Mary Aim daughter of Joseph Froom of Newtown Hampshire & Mary his wife received into the Church and said to have been baptized at Leicester (All Saints) but not registered."
1804. — "Thomas Moody & Ann Brummitt "Widow both of this Parish were married in this Church by Baniis the seventeenth day of December by me Sam. Martin Ciu-ate."
Prom the settlement papers we learn that Thomas Moody came from Kingston -upon-Hull: he was a shoemaker and
80 WAESOP PARISH EEGISTEES.
worked as journeymen with Jolin Brum mitt, whose widow he afterwards married, and with her obtained the "business. Ann Brummitt was a daughter of Robert Cutts, who was, as we have seen, landlord and proprietor of the Swan Inn, in 1782.
1806.—" William Cowlishaw & Elizabeth Eobinson both of this Parish were married in this Church by Banns this seventeenth day of April by me Sam. Martin Rector."
, William Cowlishaw came from Mattersea and began business in Warsop as a saddler: his wife was a daughter of Dr. Robinson, who lived in the parish, and had a good practice in the neighbourhood. The families of Lee and Storey are con- nected with this family by marriage : in 1830 Matthew Lee of Sokeholme, married Martha Harriet Cowlishaw ; and in 1843 Charles Storey of Harthill, married Julia Anne Cowlishaw.
1812. — " Buried Thomas Whiteman, M.W. aged 65 years."
Thomas Whiteman was a yeoman of Warsop, who for some years held the office of churchwarden. At his death, in 1812, he left a sum of d8400 upon Trust, the yearly interest of which was to be used " in educating certain poor children of Warsop, in purchasing proper school books for that purpose, so that such children might be taught to read the Bible, and in purchasing Bibles to be distributed amongst such poor children where the Trustees should see occasion." Sarah Whiteman, his widow, surrendered, in 1813, a copyhold house and garden in Warsop, and directed the rent to be divided twice a year among eight poor widows and widowers ; and at her death, in 1818, bequeathed the sum of £50, the interest of which was to be given to the poor of Warsop in bread, on St. Thomas' Day and on the day of her own burial, August 18th.
Clergs of Wiuxmip.
The inside of the cover of Vol. I. of R<.'^i8ter C contains the following memorandum, in leather, together with a written list of rectors from 1638 to the present time.
IMemOrantlUm. — "Warsop Register. The Revd Mr. Mosley, Rector; W'} Jackson & T? Bowet, Church Wardens. 1742."
*' laertors of SEarsop/*
" 1638. William Spurre. 1658. Oliver Dand, S.T.B., Minister verbi Dei. 1661. William Lacy. 1663. George Fothergill. 1683. Thomas Fothergill, A.M. 1703. John Mandevile. 1735. John Mosley, A.M. 1778. Samuel Hallifax, D.D.
1790. Robert Southgate, A.M died Jan. 25, 1795.
1795. Francis Herbert Hume, A.M. died Feb. 17, 1806. 1806. Samuel Martin, A.B died April 4, 1859.
1859. Alleyne Fitz-Herbert died Aprd 15, 1860.
1860. Philip Davison Bland, A.M., — was inducted to the Rectory of Draycot le Moors, in Staffordshire, March 25, 1871: instituted to the same, Nov. 21, 1870.
1871. William Alexander Woodward 1871—1872.
1872. Richard Fitz-Herbert."
02 WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
In addition to the above list of rectors, about whom we purpose making a few remarks presently, we are glad to be able to give a few particulars respecting some of tbe clergy of Warsop prior to the earliest date on this list.
From the Archbishop's Register at York, we learn that in 1245 " Richard de Sutton had the Church of Warsop at the presentation of John de Lexinton." This was no doubt the Richard de Sutton who was prebendary of North Muskham, at Southwell, and to whom, in 1260, the vicar of Southwell granted that when the Mass for the Dead was celebrated in that chui'ch, a special petition should be made for him, and another for the souls of Robert de Sutton, and Alice, his wife. A Chantry at St. Peter's Altar, at Southwell, was founded for Richard de Sutton's soul by his executors, Ernald de Callenton and Oliver de Sutton, canon of Lincoln — Oliver Sutton, bishop of Lincoln, being a helping party.
His successor was Stephen de Sutton, who died in 1290. On April 7, 1291, bishop Sutton of Lincoln, granted an " indulgence for the soid of our cousin, Stephen de Sutton, archdeacon of Northants, whose body lies in the prebendal Church of Empingham." He was archdeacon of Northants from 1280 to 1290, and at the time of his death, prebendary of South Newbald, at York, as well as rector of Thoresway and Aston, in the diocese of Lincoln, and of Averham and Warsop, in the county of Notts.
In Register A we have the burial recorded of Thomas Pott, rector of Warsop, who died in 1550 ; whilst in the Arch- bishoj^'s Register mention is made of his appointment, in 1513, and the death of his jjredecessor John Pecke.
With respect to the foregoing list of rectors, it is to be noted that the first eight names are all in the same handwriting, and to all appearance that of Bishop Hallifax; but unfortunately the dates prefixed to the first two names are not in accor-
WAR80P PARIHH REOI8TEUH. 83
dance with those f^ivcii in tlio older registerH. William Spurre W!is, iiH w(! li;iv(! already seen, rector of VVarsop at the time oi' tli(.' alloijiiciit of seats in 101.5, if not bcfon-. His death took i>la(;(' in 1G46, and judj^inf^ from the handwriting^ of the records of that time it is most probable that Oliver Dand was his immediate successor. It is certain that he was r<;ctor prior to the date given by Bishop Hallifax, for we have his own signature as such in 1653. The names of Richard Southgate and Francis Herbert Hume are also in one hand- writing, namely that of John Ashpinshaw — better known as Dr. Staunton of Staunton — who was curate of Warsop from 1792 to 1798. The other names appear to be the signatures of the several rectors themselves, with the ex- ception of that of Philip Davison Bland, which seems to be in the handwriting of W. A. Woodward.
Oliver Dand, the second name on Bishop Hallifax's list, was the son of Francis Dand of Mansfield Woodhouse, one of the few Nottinghamshire families mentioned in the Herald's Visitation. He was born in 1605. His name appears among the baptisms for that year in the Mansfield Parish Registers as the Second Oliver Dand son of Francis Dand — the First having died in infancy the year before. He was rector of Warsop all through the troublous time of the Commonwealth, and, as it would seem, exerted what interest he had on the side of the King and the Church. There is a fine old brass tablet to his memory in Warsop Church, surmounted with the arms of his family — a griffin rampant, and three scallop shells — and bearing the following inscription in Latin : —
" Sacred to the memory of Oliver Dand, Bachelor of Divinity, and formerly one of the Senior Fellows of St. John's College, Cambridge, Rector of this Church, and a vigorous Defender of the lately down-trodden Cause of King and Religion, who, after gaining many
84 WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
and liouoiirable distinctions by his fidelity, zeal, and learning, was at length carried off by paralysis. May 4, 1661, aged fifty-five years, and now lies here the ornament of his own tomb.
Heedful traveller wouldst thou turn From the speaking stone in fright ;
Know, a sacred herald's urn A voice to have is only right."
Brass tablets have been erected also to the memories of George and Thomas Pothergill. A curious circumstance is connected with the tablet to the former of these two rectors. When removing it just lately from the tower, where it was lost to sight, to a more prominent position on the West wall, it was discovered that the inscription exposed to view was a comparatively modern one, and that the original inscription which contained the same words, only in a quaint sort of spell- ing, had been turned to the wall. We need scarcely add that the older inscription is the one now to be seen. It runs thus : —
" Here lyeth the Body of Master George Pothergill whoe was Rector of Warsop twenty yeares whoe departed this Hf e in the seventy six yeares of his age the twenty third of August Anno Domini 1683."
The modern side of the plate contains also the arms of the family — a buck's head couped within a bordure engrailed or. This proves at once the connection of these two rectors, father and son, with the old Westmorland family of Pothergill — one of whom founded a Grammar School near Eavenstone dale in that county ; as well as with the Revs. George Pothergill, D.D., and Thomas Pothergill, D.D., who were eminent members of the University of Oxford about the middle of last century.
WAKSOl' I'AJaSll UKOIHTKILH. H!j
Jolm Mo.sloy was of the Haino family aw tho MoslcyH of KollcHt.ou Hall, near Burton-on-Trent. He was the 8«jcond sou of Sir Oswald Mosl(;y, ]iart., and on the death of hin brother, without issue, in 1757, succeeded to the baronetcy. In 1777 he presented himself to the living of Rolleston but did not resign Warsoj) till the following year. He died at KoUeston, in 1779, and was buried in the church of that parish. During his incumbency as rector of Warsop, and before he succeeded to the family estates and title. Sir John seems to have got into a dispute with Mr. Ralph Knight, the patron of the living, concerning the right to dig limestone and other building stone out of the glel)e lands and to sell it for his own jjrivate profit and advantage. The case was never brought to trial, we believe, but covmsel's opinion was obtained which from its general bearing is so very important that we are tempted to insert it in full. " I think," wrote the counsel, " Mr Mosley has no right to dig limestone and other stone in his glebe for sale, for I take the breaking of the surface of the ground and selling the soil to be waste ; from the doing of which he may be restrained : and Mr. Knight's proper method will be to file a bill in Chancery and endeavour to get an Injunction to restrain Mr. Mosley from committing any further waste. I know of but one case that makes this doubt- ful, and that is the case of the earl of Rutland and Gee, where the court refused to grant a Prohibition for digging Mines in the parson's glebe : but admitting that case to be law, it seems to differ from this ; for in w^orking Mines, the surface of the ground is not broken up and spoiled, as in dicing lime- stone ; and besides the limestone may be wanted for repairs." The following copy of an inventory of church goods, signed by Sir John Mosley, was found by us in the small chest con- taining the settlement papers : —
"A Schedule or Inventory of the Books, Vestments and Vessels belonging to the Parish Church of Warsop.
86 WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
Books : A Great Bible Newly Translated in the year 1610. Common Prayer Books, Register of Parcliment, a Book of Homilies.
Vestments : A Surplice, a Carpet for the Communion Table, a Linnen Cloth for the Communion Table, a Linnen Cloth to cover the Elements, a Cushion for the Pulpit, and Hearse-cloath.
Vessels : Which are a Pewter Flaggon, a Chalice and Paten, of Silver, and Bason for the Offertory of Pewter.
June the 21st 1736. Attested by us
John Mosley Rector WnHam^Wood ] Churchwardens"
The old Bible mentioned in this inventory has long since disapi^eared, as has also the Book of HomiHes ; but the Prayer Books, although no longer in use, are preserved and kept in the parish chest. The silver chalice and paten, too, as well as the pewter flagon and bason, are still in existence, but the two latter vessels are no longer in use.
Samuel Hallifax was the second son of Robert Halhfax and Hannah daughter of Richard Jebb, maltster of Mansfield. By his father's side he was connected Avith the old Waterhouse family of Halifax, in Yorkshire, and by his mother's with the celebrated Sir Richard and Dr. Jebb. His grandfather, Robert Waterhouse de Halifax, was, we believe, the first of the family to drop the patronymic of Waterhouse and to call himself simply Halifax, from the town with which his family had been so long connected. The bishop was born at
WAUS(JI' I'AICIHII KEOIHTKUS. 87
MtinsficM ill 171^;}, and cAucaiUA in th<; Grammar School of that town. At ilio early a}i;<; ol" HixUicn years h<; proceeded to Jesus College, Cambridge, where he gained a sizarHhip, and in duo course graduated B,A. in 1754, and M.A. in 1757. In this latter year he was also elected Dean of his college, whilst in the following year he was nominat<.'d Lecturer liy the President. In 1764 he took the degree of LL.D; in 1768 he was made Regius Professor of Arabic; in 1770, R<.'gius Professor of Civil Law; and in 1775 he was created D.D., by royal mandate. During the course of his professorship he acquired much eminence by a work he published on civil law, in which a comparison is drawn between the old Roman laws and those of England. For some time, too, he was Chaplain in Ordinary to his Majesty George III., as well as Master of Faculties in Doctors Commons. In 1778 he was presented to the living of Warsop, by Mrs. Gaily; whilst in 1781 he was consecrated Bishop of Gloucester, and in 1789 transferred to the See of St. Asaph. As a prelate he was renowned for his deep knowledge and great ability ; but as rector of Warsop, little is known of him beyond the mere fact that he took much interest in the choir which he brought to such a state of proficieiicy that no choir for miles round could bear comparison with it. A story is told how he stopped the sing- ing one morning in the middle of a psalm, greatly to the choir's disgust, because they were singing somewhat out of tune. His second son, Richard, a Httle boy not three years old, was accideutly scalded to death by falling into a vessel of hot liquor in a brew- house, at Warsop, in 1782, and was buried in the chancel of the church. A marble tablet to the bishop's memory may be seen in Warsop Church, with the following inscription upon it in Latin : —
" Here near to his most dear little son who was some time since snatched away by untimely fate the Very Reverend Samuel Hallifax LL. D and S.T.P. wished
88 WAESOP PARISH REGISTERS.
his paternal remains to be deposited. Born and instructed in the first rndiments of learning in this neighbourhood he afterwards held the position of Public Lecturer and Regius Professor of Civil Law in the University of Cambridge, Master of Faculties in Doctors Commons, Rector in this Church, and Bishop first in the Cathedral Church of Gloucester and after- wards in that of St. Asaph: through all of which offices he distinguished himself by his ability, pro- found learning, and wonderful industry ; by his unswerving allegiance to the English Church ; by the power and sweetness of his discourses ; by the touch- ing grace and elegance of his writings ; and moreover by what he ever held to be of paramount importance, the uprightness of his life.
He was born at Mansfield Jan. 8. 1733 : worn out by stone he died a prematui'e death alas ! March 4. 1790, aged fifty-seven years. His wife Catherine being left his survivor with an only son and six daughters has erected this monument as somewhat of a mournful solace to her grief."
The following table drawn uj) and signed by Bishop HalUf ax, appears on the fly-leaf before the burials in the same volume.
" From 1688 to 1697 inclusive were 181 Baptisms, 106 Burials 1741 to 1750 inclusive 189 129
1771 to 1780 inclusive 281 176
S. HaUifax, Rector."
Robert Southgate has the honour of having been the first rector who started a Sunday School in Warsop. As a matter of fact, indeed, he was one of the pioneers in the excellent
WARHOI' I'AIMHII KKdlHTKUH. H'.f
iriov(!m(!iit wliic-li was Ix-guii in 1781, ]>y Kolxjri Jiaikos of Gl()U(!(;Ht(!r. He was an antiquary of f^reat not<i in his day, and is said to havo spent most of his time in the British Museum, where at tlie time of his death he was enf^aj^ed in arranging, for publication, a series of notes on the Anglo- Saxon coins.
Samuel Martin had the spiritual oversight of the parish for the unusually long period of nearly sixty years ; first as curate in charge for some six years during Francis Hume's incumbency, and afterwards as rector for fifty-three years. He seems to have been a man of most extreme liberality and was much beloved by his parishioners. His sons, of whom he had several, took a great interest in the cricket club and other parochial institutions. Francis, his second son, who was a distinguished member of the University of Cambridge, a Senior Fellow, and for many years Bursar, and afterwards Vice-Master of Trinity College, bought and pre- sented the church clock to the 2:)arish in 1844. Miss Martin, daughter of Major Martin, another son, worked and presented, at the restoration of the church in 1877, the beautiftd altar cloth which is now in use. A brass tablet has been erected to the memory of Samiiel Martin, containing the following inscription : —
" In the churchyard six feet from the centre of the East chancel window he interred the remains of Samuel Martin rector of this parish for a period of fifty-three years. He died on the 4th April 1859 aged 89."
Alleyne Fitz-Herbert — the last of the rectors we shall notice in this way— Avas the third son of Sir Henry Fitz- Herbert, Bart., and brother of the present lord of the manor. He is said to have been a very able scholar, a good church- man, and an excellent preacher. Like his predecessor, too, h«
90 WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
was a man of great kindness and liberality to the poor ; so liberal indeed was he that, according to a Derbyshire woman who told us the story, he once " took the boots off his own feet to give to a poor man in his parish at Tissington." During the short time he held the living of Warsop he re- stored the rectory — raising the roof to form a third story and otherwise enlarging it to its present comfortable dimensions. A brass tablet to his memory in Warsop Church bears the following inscription : —
" In Memory of Alley ne Fitz-Herbert one year Rector of Warsoj) third son of Sir Henry Fitz-Herbert Bt. of Tissington Derbyshire and Agnes Beresford his wife : born May 9. 1815 : married May 5. 1841 AngeHna third daughter of James Haffenden Esq. of Homewood House Tenterden Kent : died April 15. 1860 leaving a widow with five sons and six daughters."
Before leaving the subject of the Warsop Clergy, we think it only right that we should give an approximate list of the curates of Warsop for the last three hundred years as far as it can be obtained from the several registers. We prefix the earhest date at which each name appears, but we do not intend to convey the impression that the interval between two successive dates necessarily denotes the length of any one's appointment.
*' (fTurates of SEarsoi}/*
1572. Anthony Fisher 1762. John Crutchley
1638. Jo. Conde 1763. William Clarke
1717. —Shaw 1772. Nicholas Mosley Cheek
1726. Joseph Brooke 1777. Thomas Wilkinson
1731. John Browne 1790. Edward Otter
WAHSOI' I'AIilHil KEOI8TEU8.
01
" Curates of Wareojt " — Continued.
1792. Jolin Parsons
1793. John Ash]>inshaw 1799. Samuel Martin 1842. James Atlay * 1846. T. C. Grovcr 1859. Frank G. Lys 1871. W. W. Brown
1871. J. Parry Winder
1872. James Fitz-Herbert
1873. J.C.WellesleyBumaby 1875. Arthur Bros
187(J. Charles Hallsworth 1878. Richard J. King
* The present Bishop of Hereford
^^
G-J
legtsttts IB anb (B.
These registers are of quite recent date and contain little of interest to anyone except to those persons whose families are mentioned therein. The entries are all made in accord- ance with the Forms prescribed in the Act of Parhament which was passed in 1812 " for the hetter regulating and preserving Parish and other Registers of Births, Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, in England." By this Act it was enjoined that registers of baptisms, marriages, and burials, should not be kept in one and the same book as had been the custom, but that a separate book should be kept for each ; that books adapted to the Forms prescribed in the said Act should be sent to every parish ; and that a Ust of all extant register books should be transmitted to the Registrar G-eneral before the 1st of June, 1813. A memorandum in Register C, in the handwriting of the Rev. S. Martin, states that a copy of the list of the Warsop Parish Registers was sent to the Registrar at York, May 31, 1813. It was also enjoined that annual copies of all the register books should be made and, after being verified by the officiating minister for the time being, transmitted to the Diocesan Registrar by the church- wardens ; and that all register books should be kept in custody of the officiating minister in an iron chest provided at the expense of the parish. The churchwardens of Warsop, we find, acted uj^ to the latter part of this instruction and
WAICHfiT rAUIHM R KOIHTPMtH. 93
l)ouf^lil. tlic iron clx'sl ill wliidi tlir n-^'iniiTH an; still kept. The lid of lliis clirsi ()[)ciiH iipwardH and "Ix-arn tlio following inscrij)iion in rais(^d li.-ttcrB : —
" WiirHoj), 1813. S. Martin, K<;(!tor. J. Diu.kmanton, J. FctlKjrst-one, Clnirchvvardcns."
The old " sure coffer," made of oak, " with two locks and keys," — probably the very same that haxl Ijeen in use from the time of Cromwell's Injunction — was discarded and stood for a long time in the Church tower ; but when the Church was re-pewed in 1832 it was taken away, and has since fallen to pieces.
In 1836 another Act of Parliament was passed to amend that of 1812. It enjoined that Register Books in duplicate should be furnished to every Church and Chapel where Marriages may be solemnized ; that at the end " of every quarter a copy of the entries made during that period should be sent to the Superintendent-Registrar to be forwarded to the Registrar-Greneral ; aud that one copy of the Register, when filled, should be delivered up to the Superintendent- Registrar, and the other kept with the Registers of Baptisms and Burials.
statistics.
Under this heading we have much pleasure in furnishing our readers with a few particulars respecting the population and mortality of Warsop during the last three hundred years. We have already touched upon this most interesting subject when sj^eating of the extraordinary mortality of the Cham family, in 1600 : but we venture to hope that some additional information will be gladly received by all who are interested in the past history of Warsop. The mortality of any com- munity is so closely related to the most important conditions of its existence and well-being, that there is little wonder that the Legislature has taken so much pains, of late, to ascertain as correctly as possible the population and mortality of this country. Prior to 1801 there were no official returns of the population of any part of the British Isles ; but the estimated population of England, based upon the parish registers of baptisms, marriages, and burials, is, for the j)eriod between 1570 and 1750, that given in the following table.
lEsttmateti population of ^nglanti.
|
Date. |
Pop. |
Date. Pop. |
|
|
1570 1600 1630 |
4,160,221 4,811,718 5,600,517 |
1670 i 1700 1750 |
5,773,646 6,045,008 6,517,035 |
WARHOI' ['AltlHII REOI8TEEH. .fh
Diu'i!!^' ilic ('i<^lit<'(iii h (■< 'I I in ry ii ^n-iif, jiifliix of the* niral ]>()|)iiIii,lioii .s<'l, in iowiirds f Ik- niannriicf nrin^^ fown.s; an'l tliiw, conplod wiili ili<; \(>hh ol" in»;n who Icll in tho AuK-rican and Frcncli wars, gave rise to the impression that the population of En<,'land, as a whole, had decreased, and was rapidly de- creasing. The first general census in 1801, however, disjHjlled this idea, and showed that notwithstanding all drawbacks, the population was much greater than was commonly believed : since that time it has gone on steadily increasing as may be seen from the census returns which we subjoin.
(JTensus i^eturns.
|
Date. |
Pop. |
Date. |
Pop. |
|
1801 |
9,334,549 |
1851 |
17,927,609 |
|
1811 |
10,666,792 |
1861 |
20,066,224 |
|
1821 |
12,289,331 |
1871 |
22,712,266 |
|
1831 |
14,166,988 1 |
1881 |
25,968,286 |
|
1841 |
16,914,148 |
Through the kind assistance of Mr. Samuel F. Wilson we are enabled to publish a table of all the baptisms, marriages, and burials, which have taken place in Warsop and Soke- holme, from 1539 to 1882, together with the estimated population for the same time, and a diagram showing the mortality.
96
WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
EMt of 33aptisms, JKarriacjes, anti Burials, from X539 to 1882, ixitti) tje lEsttmateti population.
|
Date. |
Ol ;>^ O d |
Baptisms. |
Marriages |
Burials. |
nS 1=1 -2.2 |
||||
|
3 o |
a3 eg r-t > |
o |
i 3 COED 5 6 5 4 3 4 5 6 7 7 10 7 7 |
o |
a5 > |
||||
|
1539 to 1550 1551 — 1575 1576—1600 1601 — 1625 1626 — 1650 1651 — 1675 1676—1700 1701 — 1725 1726 — 1750 1751 — 1775 1776—1800 1801 — 1825 1826 — 1850 1851 — 1875 1876 — 1882 |
12 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 7 |
174 365 443 511 451 516 446 425 466 577 758 793 1041 10u3 276 |
14 15 18 20 18 21 18 17 19 23 30 32 42 40 39 |
13 NO RE 104 137 124 107 80 97 122 152 168 169 193 167 49 |
123 289 441 397 363 541 396 349 344 365 443 471 651 712 154 |
10 12 18 16 15 22 16 14 14 15 18 19 26 28 22 |
lOi 12 14 15i 16i 17 16i 15 14 15i 17 21 24 261 25 |
580 670 780 860 920 940 920 840 780 860 940 1180 1340 1460 1400 |
|
|
Totals |
344 |
8245 |
1682 |
6039 |
WARSOP I'AKIHTr IlEOIBTKRH.
97
In the compilation of the foregoing tabhj the following UKithods have been ado{)t<;fl. First, all the baptismH, luarriaf^es, and hurialH, recorded in the various regiHtfjrt* from 1539 to 1882 inclusive, were carefully taken down year by year and tabulated. The results were then grouped together in periods of twenty-five years, and the averages worked out to the nearest unit, as shown in the table. The corrected averages of burials have been obtained (i), by casting out the years in which the death-rate was abnor- mally high ; and (ii), ]>y sinootliing down the irregularities still remaining in the twenty-five-year periods, which was done by taking a second average for every three successive periods, instead of as at first, for one period only. The estimated population has been deduced from the corrected averages by assuming the rate of mortality to have been yearly eighteen deaths per thousand — an assumption which agrees well, though undesignedly, with the census returns of Warsop and Sokeholme sinc(j 1801.
Census 2^eturns,
|
DATE. |
POP. |
DATE. |
POP. |
|
1801 |
944 |
1851 |
1398 |
|
1811 |
1047 |
1861 |
1426 |
|
1821 |
1141 |
1871 |
1603 |
|
1831 |
1281 |
1881 |
1364 |
|
1841 |
1884 |
Probably the most remarkable result shown in this table of baptisms, marriages, and burials, is the apparent decrease in the population during the period from 1650 to 1750. There can be no doubt, in fact, that there was a serious decrease.
98 WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
and that it was chiefly owing to the extraordinarily high rate of mortahty prevalent from 1650 to 1682. But before giving our reasons for these conclusions, it may he well to notice two remarkable facts. The first is that the periods which show a very high mortality occur in groups of two or more years, and are separated by a longer or shorter interval with a relatively even rate of mortality; and the second, that in those years, or series of years, when the rate was largely in excess of the average, the number of marriages shows a corresponding depression. The former of these facts is well brought out in the accompanying diagram by the tracing which shows the mortality of Warsop since 1538. In illustration of the latter we may mention that in 1591 there was but one marriage ; in 1680, none ; and in 1682, but one. This inverse proportion is shown to have occurred on an exceptionally large scale during the period in question by the table of baptisms, marriages, and burials. From 1650 to 1675, the proportion of burials to marriages was more than five to one, whilst the number of deaths exceeded the number of births — a state of things without a parallel through- out the entire series. The total number of baptisms from 1539 to 1882 was eight thousand two hundred and forty- five ; and the total number of burials (allowing ninety for the years 1551 to 1556 inclusive, which are unrecorded), six thousand one hundred and twenty-nine. Deducting six hundred and sixty for increase of population, it is evident that one thousand four hundred and fifty-five ii:ore persons have left the pai'ish and died elsewhez-e than have settled here from other places : that is, on an average, more than a hundred have left the parish during every one of the fourteen twenty-five-year periods. Taking this into account, along with the excessive number of deaths from 1650 to 1675, the decrease in the population is, we think, fully accounted for. One thing seems certain : the causes on which the rate of mortality depend (supply of food, epidemics, &c.) would
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/7^ f*^ ,90 /Ol VARSOP SINCE 53i . |
98 WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
and that it was chiefly owing to the extraordinarily high rate of mortality prevalent from 1650 to 1682. But before giving our reasons for these conclusions, it may be well to notice two remarkable facts. The first is that the periods which show a very high mortality occur in groups of two or more years, and are separated by a longer or shorter interval with a relatively even rate of mortality; and the second, that in those years, or series of years, when the rate was largely in excess of the average, the number of marriages shows a corresponding depression. The former of these facts is well brought out in the accompanying diagram by the tracing which shows the mortality of Warsop since 1538. In illustration of the latter we may mention that in 1591 there was but one marriage ; in 1680, none ; and in 1682, but one. This inverse proportion is shown to have occurred on an exceptionally large scale during the period in question by the table of baptisms, marriages, and burials. From 1650 to 1675, the proportion of burials to marriages was more than five to one, whilst the number of deaths exceeded the number of births — a state of things withoxit a parallel through- out the entire series. The total number of baptisms from 1639 to 1882 was eight thousand two hundred and forty- five ; and the total number of burials (allowing ninety for the years 1551 to 1556 inclusive, which are unrecorded), six thousand one hundred and twenty-nine. Deducting six hundred and sixty for increase of j)opulation, it is evident that one thousand four hundred and fifty-five more persons have left the jjarish and died elsewhere than have settled here from other places : that is, on an average, more than a hundred have left the parish during every one of the fourteen twenty-five-year periods. Taking this into account, along with the excessive number of deaths from 1650 to 1675, the decrease in the population is, we think, fully accounted for. One thing seems certain : the causes on which the rate of mortality depend (supply of food, ejjidemics, &c.) would
INSER FOLD-C OR MA HERE
WARBOP rAnrsiT uRoiHTEnfl, 99
appear to have Ixjcome more n-^'iilar in their action from the Le^iiining ol" tli(; ei^litcjcnth century. Tlxj abnormally hij^h rate at various p(;ri(jd8 durinj,' th(! present century, an hhown in the dia^'ram, was due to th(; prescnice of ej<id(;niicH whieh, an old parishioners will doubtless remember, prevailed at the periods in question, namely, scarlet fever in 1825, diphtheria in 1858, small i)ox in 1872, and low fever in 1874-5. Should the mortality of the neighbouring parishes be worked out "with equal minuteness, as we hope it may, it will be of the highest interest and importance to ascertain whether it shows that corresiiondence with the experience of Warsop which one might be led to expect.
How much lies hidden in the foregoing statistics ; how many joys and sorrows, hopes and fears ; how much love and hate, none can tell. The roll of individuals which make up the hfe of Warsojj for the past three himdred and forty-four years is here reduced to units. It is impossible to gaze on this roll without wishing to Hft the veil of obscurity which time has drawn so closely over the religious, social and domestic hfe of the thousands who are gone before. In what has preceded we have endeavoured to fill in a few of the more interesting known details. It is a mingled story telling us in part of sin, and sorrow, and shame, but in part also of zeal, and honour, and learning, of duties heroically performed, and of trust faithfully discharged. The work of collecting the simple anecdotes and fast disappearing traditions recorded in these notes and illustrations, and of separating the probablv true from the obviously false, or at least unsubstantiated, has been no easy one ; but our labour has been a labour of love, and if this first attempt of the kind in Warsop sei-ves but to kindle m the minds of its inhabitants a greater interest m everything connected with their church and parish, or better still to facilitate some more elaborate and complete attempt to give the history of the locahty in the future, we shall l>e amply rewarded.
100 WARSOP PARISH REGISTERS.
It only remains for us now to tender our very best thanks to Mr. S. F. Wilson for the great assistance lie has given us throughout our work, and to the Eev. Kirke Swann, the Rev. F. Brodhurst, Major Lowe, Mr. F. Blythman, Mr. W. Wardley, and other kind friends who have helped us with much valuable information respecting the past history of the parish and its old worthies.
Knirt):.
A
Agreement between Warsop and
Sokeholme, 5. Allotment of Seats, 8. Architecture, 55. Ashpinshaw, John, 76.
B Baptisms, infant, 48. Bells, 6. Benefactions :
Hall's, 35. Kirke's, 65. Peacock's, 72. Whiteman's, 80. Wylde's, 22. Burials, immediate, 12, 49. Burying in woollen, 52,
C Clat, Hercules, 17. Communion plate, 65. Condition of the people, 42, 66. Cromwell's injunction, 2. Curates of Warsop ,90.
E Extracts from Register A, 11-18. ,', ,, Register B, 46-65.
„ „ Register C, 69-80.
Forest enclosures, 79. Friendly societies, 26.
G Godfathers and godmothers, 12.
H Huguenots, 47.
I Inventory of church goods, 85.
K Knight family, 61.
M Manor of Nettleworth, 22. ,, Sokeholme, 56. ,, Warsop, 13. Memoranda, 5, 8, 81. Memorial stones. 53. Morality, 16. Mortality, 15, 96-99.
X Nettleworth, hall, 22.
,, manor, 22.
North and South to\vn, 57.
O Old churn, 78. Old school-house, 74. Old style, 10.
102
INDEX.
Parish registers, 1. Park Hall, 9, 76. Parliament oak, 78. Population of England, 94-95.
,, Warsop and Soke-
holme, 96-97.
E Rectors of Warsop, 81. Robert de Warsop, 47. Eolleston, John, 56. Ryall, Joanna, 18. S Settlement papex-s, 68. Sherwood forest, 77. Sokeholme, hall, 7. ,, manor, 56.
„ mill, 7.
Soldier flogged to death, 64. Stamp Act, 74. Stanhope, Hon. Chas., 59, Statistics, 94. Surnames :
Allcroft, 75.
Allwood, 38.
Amcoats, 64.
Askew, 60.
Ball, 37.
Barlow, 39.
Bean, 29.
Beard, 75.
Beeston, 31.
Bowet, 47.
Bowler, 76.
Bowring, 31.
Bradley, 26.
Briggs, 71.
Brothwell, 72.
Burton, 79.
Caudwell, 33.
Chapman, 60.
Clayton, 36.
Surnames (continued) Coupe, 38. Crooks, 59. Davy, 52 Dowdall, 34. Duckmanton, 61. Dunston, 33. Eaton, 29. Eyre, 32. Fells, 70. Petherstone, 38, Fox, 21. Gilbert, 33. Glover, 76. Hallifax, 60. Herring, 27, Hill, 39, Hinchliffe, 48, Hinde, 37. Hooke, 49, Hooley, 27. llett, 73. Jackson, 29. Johnson, 75. Lee, 80. Lowe, 29. Maxfield, 72. Mekin, 20. Mellors, 65. Metheringliam, 49 Mitchell, 22, 32. Moody, 79. •^eep, 73. Newton, 24. Nilan, 73. Parsons, 41. Radford, 32, 61. Renshaw, 71. Revill, 34. Reynolds, 40. Riley, 35. Robinson, 48, 60.
INDEX.
103
SurnaiMOH (continued) Rollinjj, 50. Singleton, 61). Sliick, 71. Slunoy, 20. Sniitli, lU. Snowdon, '.i'J. Stocks, (J!». Storey, (55, 80. Stubbiugs, 25. Taylor, 41. ThoriJB, 29. Turner, 22. Unwin, 40. Ward, 20. Wardley, 65. Wass, 41. Wharniby, 49. Wilkinson, 27.
HumamoH (continued) WilHon, 21. Wood, 71. Woodliead, .-57. Wyldc, '.), 22. '1' Taui.k of bajjti.siiiH, niarriageH, &e., 96
W Wakssop, fairs, 51. hall, 9. „ manor, 13. „ market, 13, 51. „ mill, 15. „ parish registers, 3. ,, statutes, 51. Y Young Greendalo oak, 78.
?
7/
9
EERATA.
Page S. For Cr. Cove read Cr. Cooe. Pao-e 65. For John Storv read John Storev.
?/-
■^i^:-
BENBY COUNTY,
247
lay clown their arms and swear allegiance to the king, lie warned them to suhinit peaoeahly, and admitted his inahility to restrain his waniors, when ex(;ited in the strife of hattle. Col. Shepherd, the commandant, promptly replied, that they would never surrender to //////, and that ne could only obtain possession of the fort when there remain^ no longer an American soldier to defend it. Girty re- TicwedTiis proposition, but it was abruptly ended by a shot from a thoughtless youth, and Girty retired and opened the siege, which proved unsuccessful. Baker's station, in that vicinity, was also at- tacked, not far from this time, by Girty and his band, but without success.
In August, 1782, a powerful body of Indians, led by Girty, appear- ed before Bryant's station, in Kentucky, about five miles from Lex- ington. The Kentuckians made such a gallant resistance, that the Indians became disheartened, and were about abandoning the siege ; upon this, Girty thinking he might frighten the garrison into a sur- render, mounted a stump, within speaking distance, and commenced a parley. He told them who he was, that he looked hourly for rein- forcements with cannon, and that they had better surrender at once ; if they did so, no one should be hurt ; otherwise, he feared they would all fall victims. The garrison were intimidated ; but one young man, named Reynolds, seeing the effect of this harangue, and believ- ing his story, as it was, to be false, of his own accord, answered him in this wise : " You need not be so particular to tell us your name ; we know your name and you too. I've had a villainous untrust- worthy cur dog this long while, named Simon Girty, in compliment to you ; he's so like you — just as ugly and just as wicked. As to the cannon, let them come on ; the country's roused, and the scalps ot your red cut-throats, and your own too, will be drying on our cabins in twenty-four hours ; and if, by chance, you or your allies do get into the fort, w^e've a big store of rods laid in, on purpose to scourge you out again." This method of Reynolds was effectual ; the In- dians withdrew, and were pursued a few days after, the defenders of the fort being reinforced, to the Blue licks, where the Indians lay in ambush, and defeated the Kentuckians with great slaughter. Girty was also at St. Clair's defeat and led the attack on Colerain.
Dr. Knight, in his narrative of his captivity and burning of Col. Crawford, (see Wyandot co.,) speaks of the cruelty of Simon Girty to the colonel and himself. Col. John Johnston corroborates the account of Dr. Knight. In a communication before us he says : *' He was notorious for his cruelty to the whites, who fell into the hands of the Indians. His cruelty to the unfortunate Col, Crawford, is well known to myselt^ and although I did not witness the tragedy, I can vouch for the facts of the case, having had them from eye wit- nesses. When that brave and unfortunate commander was suffering at the stake by a slow fire, in order to lengthen his misery to the longest possible time, he besought Girty to have him shot, to end his torments, when the monster mocked him by firing powder without ball at him. Crawford and Girty had been intimately acquainted in the
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