I
ANNALS OF A CLERICAL FAMILY
ANNALS OF
A CLERICAL FAMILY
BEING SOME ACCOUNT OF THE FAMILY
AND DESCENDANTS OF WILLIAM
VENN, VICAR OF OTTERTON,
DEVON, 1600-1621
BY
JOHN VENN, F.R.S., F.S.A.
FELLOW AND PRESIDENT OF GONVILLE AND CAIUS COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE
iLontron
MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED
NEW YORK : THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
.904
All rights reserved
IN PIOUS MEMORY
OF
DEVOUT AND WORTHY ANCESTORS
THESE PAGES
HAVE BEEN GRATEFULLY
COMPILED
A good life hath but few days, but a good name endureth for ever.
J. V. H. V.
PREFACE
THE following short volume belongs to a class of pub-
lication which is sufficiently familiar to need neither
apology nor explanation. It does not profess to appeal
to many outside the circles of those connected by ties
of consanguinity with the various persons mentioned,
or of the few who, for biographical or other purposes,
have occasion to consult family pedigrees.
The recovery of the facts here recorded was largely
due to my grandfather, John Venn, who was somewhat
of an antiquary, and who carefully collected family remi-
niscences and traditions whilst they were yet in being.
My father was keenly interested in the same inquiries,
but his busy life left him few opportunities for indulging
a taste in this direction. The greater part, therefore, of
the following account is the result of my own investiga-
tions ; deferred unfortunately until nearly all who be-
longed to the generations behind me were no longer
present to assist.
Only two persons here recorded really emerge into
public history. Owing to the interest which naturally
attaches to John Ashton's short life, and the general
Vll
vfli PREFACE
ignorance as to his family history, I have given a fuller
account of his career than would otherwise have been
necessary. As to the regicide, John Venn (who, as will
be seen, was not certainly a relative of the Devonshire
families), most of the facts concerning his private history,
here reproduced, were first recorded by myself in the
Dictionary of National Biography.
J. VENN.
CAMBRIDGK, Jan. 27, 1903.
CONTENTS
PAGE
VENN FAMILIES : ORIGIN AND EARLY HISTORY . i
VENNS OF BROADHEMBURY .... 14
WILLIAM VENN, VICAR OF OTTERTON . . 15
RICHARD VENN, VICAR OF OTTERTON . . 22
DENNIS VENN, RECTOR OF HOLBETON . . 41
RICHARD VENN, RECTOR OF ST. ANTHOLIN'S, LONDON 44
HENRY VENN, VICAR OF HUDDERSFIELD AND YELLING 65
JOHN VENN, RECTOR OF CLAPHAM . . .112
HENRY VENN, OF CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY . 148
JOHN VENN OF HEREFORD . . . .175
APPENDIX-
I. ARMS OF FENN AND VENN . . . 209
Fenn Family Pedigree . . . 214
Fenn or Venn, of Wotton under Edge, Pedigree 216
II. BISHOP FAMILY OF LINCOLN . . .217
Pedigree I. . . . .218
Pedigree II. . .218
Pedigree III. . . . . .219
III. JOHN VENN, THE REGICIDE . . . 223
Venns of Lydeard St. Laurence Pedigree . 230
IV. GAY FAMILY . . . . .231
Gay Pedigree (Outline) . . . 233
x CONTENTS
APPENDIX (Continued)— PAGE
V. ASHTON OF PENKETH . 234
Pedigree I. . 247
Pedigree II. . 247
Pedigree III. . . . . 248
VI. RIGBY OF BURGH AND LAYTON 250
Pedigree 253
VII. KING FAMILY OF HULL . 254
King Pedigree . . 256
VIII. SYKES FAMILY OF YORKSHIRE . . . 257
Sykes Pedigree (Outline) . . . 262
DEVONSHIRE VENNS —
Pedigree I. (Outline) .... 266
Pedigree II. (Broadhembury) . . . 268
Pedigree III. (Otterton, etc.) . . . 269
Pedigree IV. (Ipswich) . . . 270
Pedigree V. (Clapham, etc.) . . . 271
Pedigree VI. (Thelbridge) . . . 272
Pedigree VII. (Otterton) . . . 273
Pedigree VIII. (Woodbury) . . 274
Pedigree IX. (Peyhembury) . . . 275
Pedigree X. (Peyhembury) . . . 276
Venns in London, Pedigree . . . 278
Gambier and Howe Pedigree . . . 279
IX. VENN WILLS . . .281
X. FAMILY PORTRAITS . . . 288
INDEX
ILLUSTRATIONS
Map — The Country around Peyhembury and Broad-
hembury, Devon .... To face page i
St. Andrew's, Broadhembury . . . „ io
Otterton, 1902 ..... „ 18
Holbeton Church, 1900 .... ,,42
St. Antholin's Church, London ... ,,49
Henry Venn, M.A. .... ,,65
Clapham Old Church .... ,,76
The Old Church, Huddersfield ... „ 79
The Old Church, Huddersfield (Interior) . ,,79
Yelling Church and Rectory, 1822 . . . „ 97
Yelling Church, 1902 (Interior) ... ,,98
Yelling Church, 1900 .... ,,99
Yelling Rectory, 1901 . , . . . „ 99
John Venn, M.A. . . . . . ,,121
Little Dunham Church and Rectory, about 1822 ,, 125
Little Dunham, 1901 . . . . ,, 125
Clapham, from the Common, 1784 . . „ 127
Clapham Church, 1812 . . . . „ 128
John Venn, M.A. . . . . . ,,138
Henry Venn, M.A. . . . . ,,148
Clapham Rectory, about 1812 . . . „ 150
Clapham Common, 1825 . . . . „ 151
Old Church, Drypool . . . . 161
St. John's, Holloway, about 1840-50 . . „ 162
Henry Venn, B.D. . . . „ 168
John Venn, M.A. . . . . . ,,175
Thomas Bishop, D.D. . . . . ,, 220
John Ashton . . . . . ,, 254
"Venn" Signatures, 1600-1903 .... 265,
xi
VENN FAMILY : ORIGIN AND EARLY
HISTORY
THERE can be little or no doubt that our family name
belongs to the class of Place-names, that is, that it originally
indicated the district — the fen district — from which those
who first obtained this surname sprang. This opinion, it
ought hardly to need stating, is not the result of guess-
work, but rests on the examination of contemporary
records, in which the process of change can be observed.
As the result of considerable search amongst lists of
proper names in all the customary sources for such
information, including early deeds, suits at law, calendars
of wills, parish registers, etc., it may be stated with some
confidence that, in early times, the name, in any of its
variants, is almost confined to two districts of England,
viz., to the neighbourhood of the two great fen regions
which lie respectively in the east and west of our country.
Thus in Norfolk and Suffolk on the one hand, and in
Devon and Somerset on the other, the forms " atte Fenne "
and " de la Fenne " are common during the thirteenth
and fourteenth centuries. For instance, William de
Fenne was a juror in the hundred of Crediton, Devon, in
1274; Hugo atte Fen was a burgess for Yarmouth in
the Parliament of 1394 ; John atte Fenne appears in an
Assize Roll for 1395, as a landowner at Bishop's Lydeard
near Taunton, Somerset. Many other similar instances
might be added from the early records of these counties.
In course of time the localising particles came gradu-
ally to be dropped, and the name assumed the mono-
9 2 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
syllabic form common in England, this abbreviation being
almost completely effected early in the sixteenth century.
But here a distinction in the spelling must be noticed,
which gradually became fixed, and which depends on a
difference of pronunciation 3 prevalent in different parts of
England. When the name first began to be written down
it was uniformly spelt with the letter F, and in the
eastern counties this spelling was permanently retained.
But in the south and west a softer pronunciation prevailed,
and the spelling seems gradually to have been modified
into accordance with the sound, by the substitution of the
letter V. This change was almost completely effected in
the latter part of the sixteenth century. After this
period " Fenn " is hardly ever to be found in the west
except as an occasional alias ^ and then only in deeds and
similar documents where the traditional usage is apt to be
retained.
With regard to these two distinct forms of the name,
it is the western or softer form with which alone we are
concerned. With a single exception, to be presently
noticed, it does not appear that any of the " Venns " in
the west of England had any tie of consanguinity with
" Fenns " in the east. Though not widely spread, the
name is of frequent occurrence within a certain area. It
is to be found in many scattered villages, nearly all of
which, however, lie not far from the great fen district
of Somerset. These villages may be separated into two
main groups, the families (of the name) belonging to one
of these groups being almost certainly independent of
those belonging to the other, though probably several in
each group have sprung from a common stock. The
villages which constitute one of these groups are scattered
on the right bank of the Severn, in the close neighbour-
hood of Gloucester, and about Wotton under Edge.
There are many wills of people of the name of Venn to
be found in the Probate Registry of Gloucester, who lived
in this district in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
1 The softer form is known to philologists as the southern, in contrast with the
northern dialectal form. Devon and Somerset lie well within the former. Gloucester-
shire is near the border-line of the two, and, as we shall see, the change of spelling is by
no means so uniform there.
ORIGIN AND EARLY HISTORY 3
Of one of the families in this locality I have given some
account in the Appendix.
The villages which constitute the other group in ques-
tion lie in the west of Somerset and the east of Devon,
nearly all of them being included within a radius of ten
or twelve miles. Commencing with the date at which
parish registers and wills become generally available, viz.
from about 1550 onwards, there appear to be three
principal families of the name in this district. Two of
these are found in Somerset, viz. at Lydeard St. Lawrence
and at Cheddar ; the third in Devon, in the adjacent
parishes of Broadhembury and Peyhembury.1
The family at Lydeard St. Lawrence was one of
very ancient yeoman stock which gradually rose to rank
amongst the gentry. I have given some account of them
at the end of this volume, and will therefore merely state
here that, being landowners, they can be traced back
without difficulty for several centuries. The earliest
pedigree I have seen — it can be deduced from an Assize
Roll of 1396 — assigns three previous generations, and
must therefore date from about the beginning of the
fourteenth century. This family seems to have remained
continuously in Lydeard St. Lawrence, or the adjacent
parish of Bishop's Lydeard, till some way into the
eighteenth century, but to have died out by the end of
that century. One or two members of this stock achieved
some distinction. Far the best known of these is the
regicide, John Venn, M.P. for London in the Long
Parliament. His son Thomas, Mayor of Bridgewater,
became known by his treatise on Military Discipline ; and
his cousin, John, was Master of Balliol and Vice-Chancellor
of Oxford. The earliest references to the ancestors of
these men always describe them as " atte Fenn," or " de
la Fenne," but this form gradually gave way to the later
one. Neither the regicide nor his father Simon seem
to have been known otherwise than as Venn or Ven,
except at the Heralds' College, where their pedigree is
1 Peyhembury is a large and straggling parish, and some of the hamlets in it lie
much farther from their own church than from that of Broadhembury. It is probable
that many who, by the register, seem to belong to the latter, actually lived within the
former. This is certainly the case with the Venns who resided in the hamlet of Beer.
•
VENN FAMILY ANNALS
4
entered in 1633, and which, naturally taking an archaic
view, terms them " Ven alias Fen."
The family at Cheddar can be traced back to 1588,
when John Venn of that place made his will. But he was
then an elderly man, and his references to his farm, etc.,
suggest that he had lived there a considerable time. His
successors continued to reside there as substantial yeomen
until the property was parted with by the grandfather of
the present A. J. Venn, M.D., of London.
As regards the two principal Devonshire families — if
they are two — viz. those of Peyhembury and Broadhem-
bury, the early wills at the Exeter Registry are unfortu-
nately lost, and we are therefore mainly dependent upon
the parish registers. Both of these registers were till
lately in excellent preservation. That of Broadhembury is
so still, and is unusually early and complete, commencing
in 1538, and continuing throughout even the Common-
wealth with scarcely any break. That of Peyhembury
commences in 1558 and was nearly as complete, until
some years ago, when the pages containing the entries
during almost a century disappeared.1 From these
registers, from early deeds, and from wills, it appears that
there was a John Venn2 at Broadhembury, and an Osmund
Venn at Peyhembury, in the middle of the sixteenth
century. Both were yeomen or farmers in fairly sub-
stantial condition, and the posterity of both can be traced
(as regards the main lines) with certainty to the present
day. What relation they were to each other is not
certain ; but from the evidence of the dates, the way in
which they appear as witnesses to each other's deeds or
wills, and a certain amount of negative proof to be
presently given, I have little doubt that they were
brothers.
That they were relations is practically certain. Pey-
hembury and Broadhembury are adjacent parishes, and it
would be a very curious coincidence if a name almost
1 It seems to have been perfect in 1824 when Mr. Dicken, master of Blundell's
school at Tiverton, consulted it and made extracts. Mr. Dicken was a relative by
marriage of the Peyhembury Venns.
- The earliest reference to the former is his marriage, June 1 1, 1553 • the earliest
reference to the latter, the baptism of his son Henry, February 18, 1559.
ORIGIN AND EARLY HISTORY 5
unknown till then in Devon should have originated inde-
pendently in them both. The evidence on this head is
fairly clear. Earlier than the date of any parish register
we have, as our main resource for localising families of
other than the first rank, the Subsidy Rolls. These rolls
are numerous, frequent, and in good preservation. A
large number of them have been consulted at the Record
Office, with the following results. In the Roll of 34 and
35 Henry VIII., namely in 1544, the name does not
occur in Peyhembury or Broadhembury, or in their neigh-
bourhood. Nor is it to be found ther^ in any earlier roll
so far as I have been able to ascertain. But in later rolls,
as for instance in those of 1570 and 1580, it regularly
occurs in these parishes and in one or two of those which
lie around. Of course such evidence is not absolutely
conclusive, but when many of these rolls are examined,
especially those which embrace a large area, they afford
very strong evidence as to whether persons of any given
name were or were not residing in the districts referred
to. Some of these rolls are almost equivalent to a
modern directory in their range and completeness. Thus
in 1580 there is one which includes 161 parishes, and
contains some 4300 names of inhabitants, heads of house-
holds, who were resident in the eastern and southern
part of Devon. When it is stated that thirty-five names
are given for Broadhembury, and thirty-seven for Pey-
hembury, it will be understood how searching a test is
thus * afforded as to the prevalence of any particular name.
In this roll the name Venn (or Fenn) occurs only four
times, always in the immediate vicinity referred to. This
seems to me almost absolute proof that those of the name
had only recently come into this part of the country.
When to this we add the fact, shown by similar evidence,
that during all this time — say from 1524 onwards — the
name is never absent from Lydeard in Somerset, which
lies only about twelve miles off to the north, the pre-
sumption becomes strong that the families spread from
this centre into Devon.
1 It is strange that this remarkable roll has not been printed by any Devonshire
antiquarian society. It would be of the greatest value to any one who was in doubt as
to the parish registers to be consulted for any family search.
'6 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
To this must be added two other pieces of evidence
which may be taken for what they are worth: namely,
tradition, and the use of particular armorial bearings.
The traditions prevalent amongst yeoman families in
remote country districts cannot be altogether neglected,
and nearly a century ago it was certainly the belief of the
Peyhembury Venns that they originally "came out of
Somerset," though they had apparently no idea from what
exact locality.
As to the use of arms, I have fully discussed the
question in a separate section, so that a few words will
suffice here. It will, of course, be understood that we are
not concerned here with the technical right to use a
particular coat-of-arms, but simply with the evidence that
the practice of using such a coat may afford as to family
affinity. John Venn, my grandfather, who was keenly
interested from boyhood in matters of heraldry, says that
the arms which his father and grandfather always used
were " Argent, on a fess azure three escallops of the first
within a bordure engrailed of the second." I have an old
seal thus engraved, which was certainly used by Henry
Venn on his letters from 1756 ; and there is no reason
to doubt that the statement is equally correct as to his
father Richard Venn. This carries us back to, say, 1720.
Again, the Peyhembury family used exactly the same
design on their seals from a period certainly some way
back in the eighteenth century.1 Now these are the arms
used by the Venns of Lydeard, and in particular by John
Venn, the regicide, as we know from the fact that they
are engraved on several tombstones over members of the
family who were buried at Lydeard in the seventeenth
century. How did Richard Venn, the London clergy-
man, and his namesakes the Devonshire yeomen, come to
hit upon the same armorial bearings, or even to use such
ensigns at all ? The former never displayed the faintest
interest in any question of family history, and used even
to declare that he did not know that he had a single
1 The Rev. E. Coleridge, vicar of Ottery St. Mary, in a letter written in 1814, says,
I was shown yesterday, by Mr. John Venn of Peyhembury, the family arms painted
and enclosed in a small frame ; besides he possessed an old silver seal handed down from
r.ither to son."
ORIGIN AND EARLY HISTORY 7
living relation. Moreover, with his strong High Church
convictions, he would have been one of the last men to
wish to claim affinity with the detested regicide. Nor is
the difficulty less as regards the yeomen at Peyhembury,
who do not seem to have been at all the kind of men to
make a push in the world of fashion.
In the present day such a question would offer no
difficulty, for there are the "heraldic stationers" scattered
abroad, each with a dictionary of armorial bearings at his
elbow, ready to describe the coat to which every man is
entitled. But one hundred and eighty years ago things
were different. The London clergyman and the Devon-
shire yeomen were ignorant of each other's existence, had
no money to spare for such pursuits as family history and
arms, in which they had no interest, and it is really difficult
to see how they should have hit upon the same device,
unless those before them had been accustomed to use it or
to regard it as what they were entitled to use. If, on the
other hand, they were both descended from the family at
Lydeard, there is nothing remarkable in their continuing
to use a device on their seals, etc., which men in their position
and of their time could scarcely have hit upon independ-
ently. This seems to me therefore to be evidence decidedly
confirmatory of the common derivation from Lydeard.
It has been already stated that the name Venn was for
long almost entirely confined to the west of England.
One small exception must be made to this statement, which
is worth notice on account of the evidence which it affords
as to the etymology of the name. " Venns " occur, as
yeomen and farmers, for some period after the middle of
the sixteenth century, in one district of Sussex, namely, in
Cuckfield and its neighbourhood. Several of their wills
are to be found in the registry at Chichester. The evidence
afforded by these wills, and by several Chancery suits,
points to the same conclusion as we drew in reference to
the persons and places of the west. In 1565 the name
appears as A'Fen and A'Fenne ; in 1573 as A'Ven ; but
at subsequent dates always as Venn or Venne. Presumably
the progenitors of these yeomen had migrated from the
marsh lands which lie in the south-east of Sussex,
' 8 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
We may sum up by saying that, towards the middle
and latter part of the sixteenth century, there were two
groups of families, whose name, though still occasionally
rendered " Fenn," had already generally assumed the form
" Venn " : one scattered through various villages on the
borders of Somerset and Devon, and the other in the
south-west of Gloucestershire. Outside these areas the
name is scarcely to be found. These two groups may be
assumed to be entirely distinct, that is, to have originated
independently as descriptive names. The whole Somerset
and Devon group may be, and much of it almost certainly
must be, of common origin, for nearly all the villages
through which it is found to prevail would be included by
a radius of ten or twelve miles drawn from a point on the
Somerset and Devon border. The likeliest place of origin
for this family, if it be of single origin, is Lydeard near
Taunton. Here the Venns were already established as a
family of yeomen or small gentry by about the year 1 300 ;
and here they remained till they gradually died out in the
eighteenth century.
Though, as already stated, the personal name was
almost certainly originally derived from that of a place or
district, the converse process, by which places come to be
named after persons, probably prevailed in later times.
This is the case, I apprehend, with some of the many farms,
small holdings, or houses, bearing the name of Venn, which
are to be found in the western counties. There can be
little doubt that some of these places came to be so called
because they had been held or tilled by men of that name.
This is a well-known explanation of many of the later
place-names in England.1 Thus, in one Ordnance Sheet
alone (viz. No. XXL, which includes portions of East
Devon and West Somerset), besides two or three " Venny V
and " Vans/' the following six instances are found : " Ven
farm," a mile or two south of Lydeard; "Ven," by
Brompton Regis, three miles N.E. of Dulverton ; "Venn,"
two miles N. of Crediton ; "Venn," a mile N. of Cul-
lompton ; " Venn Cross " (now a railway station), six
1 One of the most familiar instances of this kind is afforded by " Parker's Piece " at
Cambridge. It acquired the name because the ground was held by a man of that name
at the time the ground was acquired by the town some two hundred years ago.
ORIGIN AND EARLY HISTORY 9
miles W. of Milverton ; and ' ' Venman," two miles E. of
Bampton. Some of these designations may, of course, be
directly indicative of the " fen " character of the spots in
question, and therefore be of very early origin ; but the
situation of others renders this explanation unlikely.
Moreover, it is a fact that in almost every one of these
cases there were families of the name settled in the im-
mediate neighbourhood in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries.
As unmistakable instances, on the other hand, of the
name as descriptive of a place rather than as derivative
from a person, may be mentioned Ven-Ottery and Ven
House. The former, a hamlet a few miles from Ottery
St. Mary, certainly means " Ottery in the fen," and is
not unfrequently written Fen-Ottery.1 Ven House, near
Milborn Port, on the borders of Somerset and Dorset, is
a fine old mansion which has been the home for many
years of the Medlicott family. It does not appear that
any of our name ever resided near by, and as the name of
the manor is Ven or Fen, it seems probable that the
designation is an ancient one and directly indicative of the
nature of the locality.
" Ven farm," above referred to, may belong to either
category. On the one hand, the situation is low and
fenny ; but, on the other, people of the name had been
resident landowners in the parish for so many centuries
that it is quite possible for the name to have thus arisen.
The name is fairly old, for in the Heralds' Visitation of
1623 "Thomas Kingston, of Venne, in the parish of
Bishop's Lydiard," recorded his pedigree.
The family historian need not trouble himself with an
account of places prior to the date at which his personal
interest in them commences, but a few words of general
description seem desirable. As to Broadhembury, it is in
some respects a typically beautiful Devonshire village.
It lies at the foot of the western slope of the long group
of hills which stretch near the border-line of that county
and Somerset. At the southern summit of these hills,
1 As illustrating the dialectic difference already mentioned, Ven-Ottery may be con-
trasted with Fen-Ditton near Cambridge.
'io VENN FAMILY ANNALS
overlooking the village, is the ancient camp called Hembury
Fort. This commands a splendid view over the broad
valley of the Exe, with the cathedral in the distance, and
far away on the horizon the blue outline of Dartmoor.
The village was formerly under the lordship of Dunkeswell
Abbey, which lay some five or six miles to the north-east,
amongst the hills. At the suppression of the monasteries
Dunkeswell was given to the Russells. The manor of
Broadhembury was bought in the reign of Elizabeth by
Edward Drewe, a well-known serjeant-at-law, and recorder
of Exeter. He bought it in, or soon after, 1601, of Henry
Wriothesley, third Lord Southampton, grandson of the
original grantee. Edward Drewe's son Thomas, sheriff
of Devon in 1612, built the present "Grange" in 1610,
where his family have resided as lords of the manor ever
since.1 This house took the place of the old Grange,
supposed to have been the ancient grange of the Abbey.2
The drawing-room of the present building is lined through-
out with magnificent oak carving taken from the former
house, and said to have come originally from the Abbey.
In the boldness of the cutting, and variety of the subjects,
some of these being Scriptural, I have seldom seen any so
remarkable.
The church is a very fair one ; the tower really fine.
In the latter part of the eighteenth century (1769-1778)
the living was held by Augustus Toplady, author of the
well-known hymn " Rock of Ages," to whom a memorial
has recently been placed in the chancel. He died, and
was buried, in London. As in so many other churches in
this part of Devonshire, there was originally a fine carved
rood-screen. During some restorations in the church a
few years ago, this screen, being much decayed, was placed
in a neighbouring barn, pending repair, where it was
accidentally burnt. The font is curious, and of great
antiquity.
Peyhembury lies in the same general situation, but
lower down, and nearer Exeter, from which it is only
1 At the present time (1902) the whole estate is under offer of sale, on the death of
he late General Drewe, the last descendant, in the direct male line, of Edward Drewe.
- A little stream, the Tale, runs through the grounds, where it broadens out into
what were once, m all likelihood, the monastic fish-ponds.
P. 10.
ST. ANDREWS, BROADHEMBURY, 1900.
ORIGIN AND EARLY HISTORY n
about ten or twelve miles distant. Like Broadhembury,
it contains a small village clustered around the church,
and a number of scattered hamlets, some of these lying on
the fringe of the heather-covered moors. It is watered
by the Tale, a tributary of the Otter. The church has
been rebuilt, with the exception of the tower. The rood-
screen is one of those fine carved ones so frequent in the
churches of that district. The churchyard contains a
grand old yew tree, and being raised commands a fine
view of the hills. There are several monuments to the
Venns in the church and churchyard, but none of these
are of any antiquity.
Soon after their first appearance in the district, if we
may judge by the entries in the parish registers, we find
the Venns mentioned as tenants on one or other of the
manors connected with these parishes. These manors are
as follows : —
Broadhembury
(1) Two manors called respectively the aeast part"
and " west part." These formerly belonged to the Abbey
of Dunkeswell, and from 1601, as already stated, have
been in the possession of the Drewe family. After several
inquiries, I have not been able to ascertain whether the
early Court Rolls of these manors are still in existence.
(2) A small manor which has belonged from very
early times to the Dean and Chapter of Exeter. Many
records belonging to this are preserved in their muniment
room. A long search was made for me amongst these
records by the Rev. H. E. Reynolds, formerly librarian to
the chapter. The earliest family reference which he could
find was to John Venn, as holding a tenement called
"Watts" in 1592. This is doubtless the man to be
presently mentioned.
(3) There is also a Court Leet, commonly called the
Duchy Court, belonging to the Duchy of Lancaster. The
rolls of this court, which extend far back into mediaeval
times, are preserved at the Record Office, amongst the
records of the Duchy. They deal, however, little if at all
with the holding of the property, being mainly concerned
*i2 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
with the entry of fines for small offences. The name of
Venn could not be found amongst these.
Peyhembury
There are, or were, three manors connected with this
parish, so far as I can ascertain.
(i) Upton Prudham, or Prydham. This seems to
have been a very extensive manor, including not only
Peyhembury, but parts of Broadhembury, Feniton, and
other neighbouring parishes. A large part of the waste
land or moor near Hembury Fort, and elsewhere on the
hills around, was included in this. Pole, about 1 600, says
of this manor, " Margaret, one of the sisters and heires of
Thomas Prodham, in the middle of the raigne of King
Edward III. brought this land unto Nicholas Whitinge her
husband, in which name it contynewed divers discents,
and by the daughters of John Whitinge1 it was trans-
ferred in the families of Walrond, Keynes, the heires of
Robert Fitzjames, and Ashford ; and now Henry Ashford
hath the whole." This property, or rather so much of it
as lies in Peyhembury, the Venns gradually purchased, the
last acquisition dating from 1714. Whether the Court
Rolls of this manor are now in existence is not known ;
but amongst the earliest deeds in possession of the
Peyhembury family are several official extracts from them
made by the steward. The first of these is dated April 7,
1600, when Roger and Elizabeth Ashford were lords of
half the manor. John Venn then appeared before the
court, and was admitted tenant with his son Henry, of 27
acres lately held by Ellinor Venn (his mother). Another
is dated September 3, 1613, Walter Smyth being lord of
a quarter of the manor. Henry Ven, alias Fen, son of
John deceased, then appeared, and an arrangement as to
a holding was made between him and his brother John.
These transactions refer respectively to the persons whom
I have called the Venns of Peyhembury and Broadhem-
1 The fact that it passed through the four daughters of John Whiting doubtless
s for the subsequent references to the lords of medieties and quarters of the
ORIGIN AND EARLY HISTORY 13
bury, who will be found near the head of the pedigrees
given later on.
(2) The manor of Cokesputt. I can find little or
nothing as to the history or records of this. The lord
was formerly Sir John Kennaway. It was sold, some
forty or fifty years ago, to Mr. William Warren, in whose
family it now remains.
(3) The manor of Pole. About this I can find
nothing.
VENNS OF BROADHEMBURY
THE earliest of the Broadhembury family who can be
traced is John Venn. He is described as a " husband-
man," i.e. he was in all likelihood a tenant-farmer rather
than a yeoman ; and I strongly suspect, though direct
evidence is not forthcoming, that he was a brother of the
Osmund who heads the Peyhembury pedigree. The
parish register, as already stated, starts from 1538 ; and
on the nth day of June 1553 John de Ven1 and Agnes
(no name mentioned) were married. In the following
year the first child was born. His family consisted of
four sons, John, Thomas, Henry, and William, and two
daughters, Alice and Weniffred. Whatever his position
may have been, he must have had sufficient means to
enable his youngest son to enter Oxford. He died in
1594-5, being buried at Broadhembury in February of
that year. His will is entered in the Calendar as having
been proved at Exeter, but, like many of the early wills
at that registry, it was lost long ago. The elder sons of
John Venn — at least John and Henry — seem to have
remained in their native parish, and to have followed
their father's employment. They died in 1630 and 1637
respectively, and are both described in their wills as
" husbandmen." Judging by the legacies which they left,
and by the inventory of John, they must both have been
in fairly good circumstances for their position.
1 This, by the way, is a very late date for the use of the particle, which never
recurs in the register.
WILLIAM VENN, VICAR OF OTTERTON
WILLIAM VENN, the youngest son of John, was baptized
at Broadhembury, February 8, 1568-9. He matriculated
at Oxford, — naturally as a Devonian of that date, from
Exeter College, — March 1 1 , 1591-2. The entry is simply,
" Gulielmus Fenne, Devon., Pleb. fil. astat 22." The
expression " plebei filius " was common in those days,1
when gradations of rank were strictly preserved and
marked, as applied to the sons of the poor. Many sons
of clergymen are so described, amongst these William's
son Richard ; and students so designated paid lower fees.
William's age is apparently understated by a year, for
according to the parish register he must have been just
23. In any case he came to College unusually late, for
the ordinary age at admission in those days was 16.
It looks, therefore, as if his entering the clerical profession
was somewhat of an afterthought. He graduated B.A.,
February 28, 1594-5, shortly before his father's death;
and there seems no evidence of his having proceeded to
M.A., or having visited Oxford again. He was ordained
deacon and priest by Gervase Babington, Bishop of
Exeter, October 15, 1595. As illustrating what has
been already said, as to the uncertainty of spelling the
family name at this period, it may be remarked that
whereas he was matriculated as Fenne, and was admitted
at Exeter College as Fen, he was instituted to his vicarage
as Venne, and is always styled Venn or Ven in the parish
register.
He was instituted to Otterton, by Bishop Babington,
1 It corresponds to the " mediocris fortunae " common in some of the Cambridge
College admission registers.
15
' 1 6 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
March 21, 1599-1600, Richard Duke1 of Otterton,
being the patron of the living. Here he remained until
his death in 1621.
The only known facts about his clerical career at
Otterton are that he was appointed rural dean of
Aylesbeare, in his own district, September 30, 1616 ; and
that in the following year he had a dispute about tithes,
as most parish clergy probably did in old days, when
tithes had to be collected in small amounts from many
farmers and labourers. His opponent, George Cook, not
making his final appearance before the Consistorial Court,
was duly excommunicated, November 28, 1617.
He married in or about the year 1600. His wife's
Christian name was Mary. Three years after his death
she married Richard Hake of Otterton, the marriage
licence being dated October 29, 1624. She survived till
1645, as her son Richard refers to her as then living.
William died at Otterton, and was buried there, July
21, 1621. He seems to have left no will, but the
administration of his goods was granted to his widow,
August 24, 1621. The inventory has been preserved,
and as it gives an interesting illustration of the property
and position of a country parson of that date, it is worth
reproducing. Most of the items in the list are what
might be expected on the part of one in his position,
though the total of ^94 seems rather large for the vicar
of a remote country parish. That the bulk of the
property should consist of farm produce and stock is
quite natural, for the parson would cultivate his own
glebe ; and where, as in this case, he was a farmer's son,
and had probably worked in the fields during his early
life, he would have no difficulty in doing so. Those who
have looked at wills of this date are of course aware
that luxuries and ornaments of every kind — ornamental
furniture, pictures, carpets, clocks, etc. — are hardly ever
to be found recorded except in the houses of the great
and rich. On the other hand, .£10 for the apparel, and
the same sum for books, out of a total of £94, tell of
1 It is probable that Mr. Duke was already acquainted with the family, as he owned
property in Broadhembury parish.
WILLIAM VENN, VICAR OF OTTERTON 17
some culture and refinement. The remarkable item,
however, is the military equipment, the " musket, sword
and dagger, headpiece and bandoliers." He cannot have
used them as a priest : may they not point to some
earlier experiences in his life ? In some Devonshire
muster-rolls for 1594, when William was a student at
Oxford, the name of John Venn (most likely his brother)
occurs " for the service of her highness in Britaigne."
Had William been called out two or three years earlier,
this would account both for the possession of such warlike
implements, and for his delay in entering the University.
William Venn had four sons, Richard, William,
Arthur, and Robert. The eldest and youngest of these
followed their father's career, as Oxford graduates and
Devonshire clergymen. The two others have not been
traced. Of his two daughters, Margaret and Eliza, the
latter died in childhood.
INVENTORY OF WILLIAM VENN
One horse . £12 O O
Three kine, one calf,
13 ewes . .300
Three lambs, 9 pi gges 2 10 o
Four acres of wheat,
3 acres of barley,
3 acres of oats . 14 10 o
Apparell . .1000
Books . . .1000
Two fether beds with
their furniture, 3
daft (?) beds .12 o o
Seven gallons butter,
23 cheeses . .1180
Wolle . . . 2 10 o
Three great chests,
and three little .168
Four brasse pots . 2 O O
Five brasse pans, 2
cauldrons, 2 spil-
lets, 2 frying pans,
i brewing kettle . o 16 0
Eighteen pewter
dishes, 2 salts, 6
sawcers, 4 candle-
sticks, I dozen
spoons . . ^ i
One dozen earthen
dishes . . . o
One carpet, 4 broad
cloathes, 8 table
napkins . . I
One cupboard . o
Haye . . .2
Two table boards, 2
sideboards, 2 formes,
4 chairs, 4 framed
stooles . . - 2
Two hogsheads, one
of them full of
cyder, 6 little bar-
rels, 4 vats, 4 little
tubs . . .2
Wood and furse . 5
Two spits, two and-
irons, 2 pair of
4
16
1 8 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
pot-hooks, a brand Musket, sword and
iron,agriddle,1and dagger, headpiece
pot-hanger . .£070 and bandoliers . £i 10 o
Fivepailes and brackets o 3 4 Pultry . . . O 10 o
One pair of harrows, Two old boards, a
i shovel, I mat- seate, 2 shelves,
tocke, 5 corn pikes o 16 o and other imple-
One saddle, Crooke's ments forgotten . o 13 4
Hackney saddle, 2
pairs of panniers . o 13 4 Sum-total . 94 4 8
Dung . . . o 13 4 Debts that I owe . 36 o o
Signum1 \\/f/ John Ven de Peyhembury.
Signum -f—Q Johannes Ven de Broadhembury.
Exhibited August 24, 1621.
As our family was so closely connected with Otterton
for more than one generation, some account of the
village may be conveniently given here. The following is
Tristram Risdon's description in his Survey, written about
1630, whilst Richard Venn was vicar :—
Otterton coasteth the clifts near where the river Otter
emptieth its waters into the sea at Ottermouth, which is a goodly
manor, and from the Conquest unto the dissolution of abbies
continued in the hands of religious men ; at which time, as it is
recorded, it did contain five hides. It was first belonging unto
St. Michael's de Monk (sic) in Normandy j 2 and after these
lands were taken from the Normans by act of Parliament in King
Henry the fourth's time, the abbot of Sion enjoyed this manor by
the gift of King Henry the sixth. This, as it is supposed, served
as a cell to the Abbey of St. Michael's de Monk, unto which it
was given by the name of Otterton, whereunto was allotted the
manor of Yartcombe for the maintenance thereof.
Upon the surrender, Richard Duke, a clerk in the Augmenta-
1 Such signs must not be taken as indicative of inability to write. This particular
device seems to have been commonly adopted by John Venn of Peyhembury. It occurs
in a deed of 1618, still in possession of the family, in which he signs his name thus, —
" I \f/ Jones ffen al9 Venn."
2 It was at first a cell of the great Abbey of Mont St. Michel in Normandy (St.
Michael in Periculo Maris), as was also the Cornish Abbey of St. Michael's Mount. It
was a small house, supporting at most four monks. At the suppression of the Alien
Monasteries its revenues were handed over to Sion House. At the General Surrender,
as stated above, it was purchased by Mr. Duke. It seems doubtful if any trace is now
left of the old monastic buildings.
As an indication of the former character of the place it may be mentioned that the
prior had a right to the pre-emption of fish in all his ports,— this included Ottermouth
and Sidmouth ; he claimed also "every porpoise caught in the fisheries, and half of the
dolphins " (Oliver, Monasticon}.
WILLIAM VENN, VICAR OF OTTERTON 19
tion Court, procured this manor, and built a fair house upon the
rising over the river; who had issue one only daughter,. married
unto George Brooke, brother unto the Lord Cobham, and left
great possession to descend unto her, but conveyed this manor
unto Richard Duke, his brother's son, [who married] daughter of
Sir Arthur Basset, knight ; his son, the daughter of Reynell ; his
grandson, the daughter of Southcott.
Robert Poer granted unto the church of St. Michael that
hill and commons in Otterton, concerning which there was great
variance between his ancestors and the great church.
In earlier times the flat valley of the Otter was an
estuary of the sea, somewhat like that of the Exe but on
a smaller scale, averaging perhaps about a quarter of a
mile in width ; and the sea at high tide must have washed
the base of the hill on which the church stands. Leland,
who visited it somewhere about the time of the Surrender,
calls Otterton " a pretty fisher-town," and thus describes
its situation : —
" It standeth on the Est side of the Haven about a mile from
Ottermouth. And on the West side of the Haven is Budeleigh,
right almost against Oterton ; but it is somewhat more from the
shore than Oterton. Lesse than an Hundrith yeres sinse shippes
used this Haven, but it is now clene barrid " (Hearne's edition of
the Itinerary, iii. 57).
It is no fisher-town now, the river bed having almost
entirely silted up as far as its mouth, by Budleigh Salterton,
some three miles below Otterton. A great bar of shingle
faces the sea, leaving a narrow exit for the river at the
east side of the valley, and a gull-haunted swamp behind
at low tide. At one time the swamps here must have
been employed, as was often the case in such situations in
early days, for the manufacture of salt, an indication of
which is still to be found in the name of the little watering-
place of Salterton, at the mouth of the river, in the parish
of East Budleigh.
Otterton is a very picturesque village, with one rather
broad road through it — that which runs up and down the
hills from Sidmouth towards Exeter — lined by a small
stream, walled in as a conduit and crossed by little bridges
which give access to some of the cottages. The church,
20 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
dedicated to St. Michael, stands in a fine situation, on a
hill rising over the former estuary, with the red and rocky
banks below, which once faced the sea as cliffs. The
body of the church has been entirely rebuilt, in 1870, but
the tower of red sandstone has been left almost unaltered.
The only visible signs of antiquity inside are the font
and a number of monuments to the Duke family.
Sir William Pole, in his Collections, written about the
same time as Risdon's work, says of the first Mr. Duke,
" Hee builded a fayre howse in this place uppon an
ascent over the river Otter, which driveth his mylles
underneath the house." That house still stands there,
apparently untouched since the days of the builder and
his successors, the patrons and friends of William and
Richard Venn. It may be due to its position — in the
midst of the village and almost in contact with the church
—which has precluded it from being a suitable residence
for a modern squire, that it seems never to have been
added to or altered in any way. The arms of Duke,
quartering Poer, are carved over the entrance door. Till
lately it was used as a parish school, but is now occupied
by one or two poor families. It ceased to be a residence
of the Dukes at the death of the last male representative
of that family. The property now belongs to the Rolles.
Mr. Duke's " mylles " are at work to this day, driven
by a water-course diverted from the Otter a little way
above the village.
The churchyard rises slightly behind the church, and
is bordered by a fine row of nine old yew trees. Close by
is the parsonage house. Around, at a little distance, is a
circle of hills, most of which are well wooded, and some
are crowned with heather and furze. The village lies
so sheltered in its valley, and the surrounding trees are so
well developed, that it is difficult, as one stands there, to
realise that the sea is within a mile of the church. And
yet the parish is a maritime one, with two or three miles
of sea-coast. A walk of a quarter of an hour up the hill-
side, which rises on the south side of the village, brings
one to a point which commands a fine view of the Channel
beneath.
WILLIAM VENN, VICAR OF OTTERTON 21
In another respect there is an absence of seaside
characteristics. Those who have ever consulted the parish
registers of the exposed districts on our eastern coast will
have been struck by the terrible frequency with which the
burial of drowned seamen is recorded. There are small
parishes on the Norfolk coast where at times most of the
burials are due to this cause — the loss of a single man-of-
war amongst those treacherous sands would sometimes
strew the shore for many miles with corpses. But neither
at Otterton, nor at the adjacent village of Budleigh, could
I observe a single such instance. One can only conclude
that their position in the hollow of a deep bay, and the
absence of any such gathering place as Yarmouth roads,
had as a rule prevented most ships from approaching the
coast. There was but little opening for the " wrecker "
there in early days.
RICHARD VENN OF OTTERTON
RICHARD VENN was baptized at Otterton, May 17,
1601. He matriculated at Oxford, from Exeter College,
April 1 6, 1619, being described in the register, like his
father, as " plebei filius." He graduated B.A., May 10,
1621, and seems also to have proceeded to the M.A., as
he is distinctly so described in the Bishop's Act Book.1
The degree, indeed, is not recorded in the University
records, but these, like those at Cambridge, are notori-
ously imperfect in early times. He was instituted to the
vicarage of Otterton by Bishop Valentine Carey, December
6, 1625, on the presentation of Richard Duke, Esq., who
had formerly presented his father to the same living.
The vacancy on this occasion was caused by the resignation
of Isaiah Farringdon, B.D., former Fellow of Exeter
College, who was an elderly man and had probably been
appointed merely for the purpose of holding the living
until his successor was qualified. Richard Venn remained
here until the troubles commenced, namely, until the
year 1645.
Richard Venn was a staunch " Church and King "
man, and accordingly suffered for his opinions. There is
a very full account of his experiences in Walker's
Sufferings of the Clergy, who tells us as follows : —
The sufferings of this worthy old gentleman were, as I
have often heard,2 very great, and well deserved to have been made
known to more generations than that wicked one which brought
them upon him and were eye-witnesses of them. And indeed he
1 He also claim3 the same degree in his signature to his brother Robert's Testamur in
1 66 1, when he writes " Rich, ffenne, utriusq. artium Mr. "
'2 It must be remembered that Walker was a Devonshire man and held a living in
Exeter, so that the names of the dispossessed clergy in his neighbourhood must have
been familiar to him.
RICHARD VENN OF OTTERTON 23
had taken care to transmit them to posterity, as far as a manu-
script of his own drawing up might contribute to that end. But
that being unhappily lost, the reader must content himself with
this imperfect account of his troubles, which were wholly
occasioned by an unpardonable crime of loyalty ; and which, as
must be confessed, none was more guilty of than himself.
Notice of this being given to the Lord Fairfax when he had his
quarters at Tiverton,1 that General sent a troop of horse to
bring Mr. Venn before him, who were so severe in executing
their orders that they took him as they found him, not permitting
him to put on warmer clothes ; and carried him away with them
on a wet and cold day, it being but two days before Christmas
day. When he was come they made a fire to warm him, but
having rid so long and so thinly clad in the cold he fainted away.
The next day he was brought before the General, who told him
what things had been alleged against him, and particularly that
he read Mass in his house, meaning the Common Prayer ; and
charged him with some instances of loyalty. The truth of which,
I suppose, the old gentleman could not deny.
After this he was carried about a prisoner with the army ;
but at length obtained his liberty, I mean for some time, for soon
after his return to Otterton his troubles were renewed,2 and he
was carried, if I mistake not, before the Committee of Exeter, and
then, as I take it, or some other time, he was kept a prisoner from
October 30, 1646, to the 3rd of September following, which was
near eleven months. During which time he was ill used, and lay
for some part of it at least on the bare boards.
The prosecution was plainly malicious, and the accusation
brought against him before the Committee consisted chiefly of
matters which had passed some years before, relating to his
loyalty, and disaffection to the Parliament. Some at least of the
witnesses who came in against him were vile and profligate
fellows, nor did their depositions agree together. And what is
more observable, these very fellows could not but give an attesta-
tion to his worth and honesty, and more particularly to his
diligence in the discharge of his ministerial function. Notwith-
1 Fairfax appears to have come into Devonshire about October 14, 1645. Tiverton
was stormed by him, October 19. He continued in that part of England until about
April 1646; his headquarters from November 15 to December 2 being at Ottery St.
Mary, close to Otterton. He was again at Tiverton from December 6, 1645, to Jan.
8, 1646 (v. Rushworth, Hist. Collections, vi. p. 95 ; Sprigg, Anglia Redwi-va, p. 157).
2 The actual date of his ejection seems to have been in May 1646, or a little before,
to judge from the following order by the Committee for Plundered Ministers, "June 2,
1648. By vertue of an order of both houses of Parliament of the 2nd May 1646, it is
ordered that the yearlie rent of £40 reserved and payable to the deane and chapter of
Exeter, out of the manor of Salcombe in the countie of Devon, be paid to and for increase
of the maintenance of Richard Conant, minister of the parish church of Otterton in
the said countie, the vicarage whereof is not worth £50 a yeare." The sequestrators
were thereupon required to pay the same. (Bodleian MS. No. 325, p. 66.)
24 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
standing which, the Committee proceeded to sequester him,1 and
ordered a troop of horse to give Mr. Conant, whom they had
appointed to succeed him, induction to and possession of his living.
This order they faithfully executed, entering by violence, and,
Mr. Venn having withdrawn himself, turning his wife and
eleven children out of doors ; 2 and at the same or some other time
plundering him of every farthing that he had in the world.
Whilst they were thus dispossessing this miserable family
who knew not whither to go nor wherewithal to subsist themselves,
one of the children, a poor little harmless infant,3 gazing at the
pinkt hose of one of the troopers, very innocently went to handle
and play with them. At which the barbarous wretch, with equal
violence and malice, struck the child off from him, with such a
blow as was very likely to have done no small injury to it. How
this poor infant and some other of the children were afterwards
supported I cannot learn. But this I am informed, they lived in
a poor, mean, and miserable condition, and that one of them was
taken and kept by an old servant of Mr. Venn's, another was bound
apprentice to a chandler, and a third was maintained and kept at
school by an honest farmer, whom he ever after to his dying day
called his father.
I must here add another particular of Mr. Venn's sufferings,
though I cannot say whether it was precedent or subsequent to
his sequestration ; and it is this : that he was once seized, as I
conceive by a party of the Parliament soldiers who were going to
execute him ; but one of the king's parties, coming up in the very
instant of time, put a stop to the commission of that barbarous
outrage.
Mr. Venn, being thus dispossessed of his living, wandered to
find where he could get a place, which after some time he did,
near Liskard in Cornwall. But he was hunted thence also.
After which he got another little place in this county called
Blackawton, which he was as little permitted to enjoy as he had
been to keep that in Cornwall. How he made a shift to subsist
himself afterwards4 I cannot learn. This only I am sure of,
that he was not actually starved (which is the more to be wondered
at because he had no fifths paid him), but lived to repossess his
1 The minutes of these Parliamentary Committees were carefully kept, but a num-
ber of them seem to have been lost, and I have not succeeded in finding any reference to
Richard Venn except the above indirect one. Those which I have been able to consult
are (i) at the Record Office, amongst the Commonwealth State Papers $ (2) at the British
Museum (Add. MSS. 15669-15671) ; (3) some volumes amongst the Walker MSS., at
the Bodleian Library.
2 There is a mistake here. He had twelve children altogether, but it seems certain
that there cannot have been more than four at the outside living in 1646.
3 Probably Richard, at that time between two and three years of age.
4 The fact that a daughter of his was buried at Blackawton, July 19, 1660, suggests
that he remained here till the Restoration.
RICHARD VENN OF OTTERTON 25
vicarage after the Restoration, and what is more, to recover the
fifths from the intruder, Mr. Conant, who could not forbear dis-
covering how loath he was to pay them by throwing the money
upon the floor, at which Mr. Venn, smiling, said, " Well, well !
I will take the pains to pick it up."
There was one Mr. Venn whom I take to be the same person
with this worthy old gentleman, who it is said was the first who
read Common Prayer in the neighbouring church of Ottery
St. Mary after the happy return of his Majesty. When he died
I am not informed, but am assured he was a man of worth and
learning, a good Christian and a good preacher, well-beloved in
his parish, and spoken of with honour amongst them to this very
day. I have nothing more to add but that I had the greatest part
of this relation from a daughter-in-law of Mr. Venn, who assures
me that she had often seen and read the account which the old
gentleman drew up, as is aforesaid, of his own sufferings.
The above is taken from Walker's well-known volume.
Some years ago, having heard of the existence of the col-
lection called the " Walker MSS." at the Bodleian, I went
to consult them (May 18, 1885). I found that they
consisted of some twenty volumes of the answers which
he had received in reply to the full printed list of questions
sent out by him to every parish in which it seemed likely
that any suitable information could be obtained. The
letters are mostly dated about 1704, when some of the
original actors in the Commonwealth events were still alive,
and when those of the next generation were numerous.
As in all such letters, there is much life and incident which
is missing in the printed volumes. It must be admitted
that in the case of Richard Venn these graphic touches
serve to delineate a character not quite so meek and long-
suffering as the piety of some of his descendants has been
apt to picture. I do not mean that there is the slightest
doubt cast on his sincerity or devotion ; but he evidently
shared the strong feelings of the time, and expressed those
feelings with a vigour of language which some persons
would nowadays consider unbecoming in a clergyman.
In this case Walker's first informant was the Rev.
Edward Battie, rector of Modbury, and former Fellow of
King's College, who was personally acquainted with the
widow of Richard Venn's son Dennis. Of this lady more
will be told presently. She was at this time living at
' 26 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
Modbury, as housekeeper to Mr. and Mrs. Hele l of that
village.
Mr. Battle's first letter is dated April 21, 1704, and is
to the following effect (Walker MS., vol. ii. No. 344) :—
. . . The widow of Mr. Dionysius (vulgo Dennis) Venn,
late vicar of Holbeton, has promised me the sight and use of a
manuscript of a very reverend divine related to her husband, and
of his name, turned out in those times of affliction and persecution,
of St. Mary Ottery (sic), containing a diary of all the sufferings
he and his family underwent from those rebellious zealots. Some
particulars which she related to me yesterday in my parlour are
so barbarous and particular that I believe (if true), as I have great
reason to believe, my Lord's whole diocese will scarce be able to
parallel. I shall judge better when I see the book, and then you
shall hear from me again.
Several other letters follow, in which Mr. Battie
describes the efforts he had made, but in vain, to discover
Richard Venn's personal narrative. He therefore collected
from Mrs. Dennis Venn what she remembered to have
read in this narrative and to have heard related by her
husband :—
" I sent you what account Mrs. Venn could give of her father-
in-law's sufferings. I am sorry it should miscarry, but with much
searching I have found the original I took from her mouth, no
more than what she professes to make oath of if required. The
truth, and nothing but the truth, of what she had heard her
husband read often out of the Diary of his father's sufferings."
Then follows the substance of Walker's account above.
Another correspondent was a Mr. William Rowe,
vicar of Otterton, 1689-1718, who, after supplying a
number of facts, concludes—
" Sir, this is a short account of the ill treatment of Mr. Venn
in those times, who was a good preacher and well-beloved among
his parishioners. He is spoken of with honour to this very day.
This I have at second-hand from one of my parish, who was Mr.
1 The Heles were the principal landowners in Holbeton and Modbury. " Fleet,
one of the finest estates in the county of Devon, continued in the Hele family until the
year 1716. Richard Hele, dying in 1709, was succeeded by his only son, James Modyford
Hele, on whose death in 1716 this branch of the family became extinct" (Notes to the
edition of Risdon's Survey published in 1811). There is a huge and splendid monument
to the members of three successive generations of the family, in Holbeton church. (For
description see Trans. ofDev. Association, vol. xxxii.)
RICHARD VENN OF OTTERTON 27
Venn's servant-maid at that time, who is confined to her bed and
so I could not conveniently talk to her myself." (Published in
Dev. Ass. xxvi. 279.)
The narrative itself, as stated, was not to be found,
but Mr. Battle's search was not fruitless, for he sent two
or three fragments which had evidently belonged to such
a diary. One of these consists of ten or twelve pages by
Richard Venn, giving an account of his trial and condem-
nation. It is so fragmentary that it can hardly be given
here ; in fact it looks more like a rough copy of notes
than a deliberate narrative. It concludes as follows : —
Declining to a periode, the Table demanded of me what I
meant by the thirteen to the Romans ? I answered in this sense,
the resistance of the higher powers drew upon the resisters with
their owne hands damnation. Mr. Champneyes demanded who
were the higher powers ? I returned : Those whom God hath
set upp to be supreame head governors of churches and states.
Who are they ? I told them out of Peter : To the King as
supreame. Mr. Vaughan replies, Yea but it is powers. Not one ?
I returned can he be a king and a subject too ? Yes (Champneys)
to God.
For so St. Paul expounds himselfe where he saith (which I
delivered with hand erected) He beareth not the sword in vaine.
Immediately they sate downe as Thunder-strooke. Cleere
the barre. This only remembred of Raw, upon my speech of
St. Paul's meaning, that if there were any such thinge he would
give me the booke. I told him it was scarse worth the having
(being so torne and ruffled that I fear me that was torne out).
But the malice of my adversaryes did not so rest, fearing that
being shutt out from the barre I had been cleered they said, It
shall not goe so, we will lay him in cold iron before we have
done.
Beeing recalld Mr. Champneys quartered my sentences into
four parts, with these tearmes, demanding what I could say for
myselfe ? Sir, if you beleeve these witnesses I must be subject to
your censure : which was thus, —
Seeing you are convict of heinous lying against the parlia-
ment, so heinous and unusuall as never came before the Committee
of Exon ; you must expect a more sharpe and unusuall censure.
To be outed of your means . . . [torn] . . . your house within
this month, execute your office no more in this countye, and bee
committed to the Marshall untill further order (which I could
never heare of since).
Two other fragments of interest seem to have been
28 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
found by Mr. Battle. One of these was a copy of a letter
written by Richard Venn when in prison at Exeter.
Honoured Sir John [probably Collins].
May it please you to pity a distressed parish and family
ready to perish, the one in soul, the other in body, without a
speedy supply. Let it suffice ; a two months' imprisonment may
satisfy for a verbal relation though never so . . . , nor so proved
but by one oath of the basest in the parish now wanting a pastor ;
but your honour shall assist us with a fair and happy enlargement.
We shall ever number you with that angel which plucked a Peter
out of prison, and pour out our perpetual prayers to Almighty
God, and praises to yourself, for so great and unexpected a
blessing, till your honour assume that mansion which shall need
no more petition but eternal possession.
So prayeth
Honoured Sir
Your humble servant
OTTERTON in Newgate.
The other fragment is a copy of verses written after
his release from prison. Mr. Battie, in his letter convey-
ing them, adds the remarks, " However ordinary these
lines may seem, yet I assure you during his imprisonment
he wrote several copies to his friends and relations which
the best poets of our age would not be ashamed to own,
full of loyalty and religion/'
1646, October 30 imprisoned : released September 3 following.
We were immured in Newgate by Ro. Duke :
Knave-Clapp : l Ro. Boules : Witch-Callard, who did look
As if she kissed the devil that same morn,
And had received from him those lips of scorn.
Such as we took for kindred flock and friends,
But found close bloody and malicious fiends.
Thence came September out we crept and came
In spite of all their combination frame :
Where they (who should have laboured to preserve us)
Threatened (with bailies) to hang, rot, and starve us.
Cursed be their malice, armed with cruelty
And persecution for our loyalty.
1 " Knave-Clapp " is probably Robert Clapp, whose name appears as one of the
surveyors for the "Survey of Church Lands, 1649," m the Lambeth Library. In
this capacity he reports on the state of Otterton. Or he may be the Richard Clapp of
Sidbury, who was appointed Sequestration Commissioner for the county of Devon under
the Parliament.
RICHARD VENN OF OTTERTON 29
Be thou the Judge, oh God ; thy cause advance,
Receive our thanks for thy deliverance.
Thine, thine alone, who made their vows all vain,
Thundered x from Heaven and brought us back again.
The preacher's whole is this : A sound belief,
A grave expression and a godly life.
RICHARD VENN.
As stated in the narrative, Mr. Venn in his wanderings,
after his expulsion from Otterton, spent some time as a
minister at Blackawton. Walker, with his usual diligence,
seems to have written to the vicar there, Mr. John Adams,
from whom he received the following information : —
Blackawton, May 7, 1 706.
. . . Mr. Thomas Friend was vicar in the Civil wars, and
died here in the year 1653. Then the place was vacant for some
time till Mr. Richard Venn, who was sequestered at Otterton,
came and was minister for a year or more ; and then he was
sequestered there also. Then the place was vacant again for
about a year and a half, and then Mr. Richard Luist came.
It is rather strange that Mr. Adams should not have
referred to the following extract from his parish register,
which I owe to a late rector (Mr. D. B. Chater, May
Mr. Richard Venn, M.A., was vicar of Otterton in this
County, and sequestered by the rebels in Cromwell's time. He
wandered up and down, and at last He came to this Parish.
After the Restoration He returned to Otterton. He was a
worthy man.
This curious note is amongst the entries of 1657, but
was obviously inserted by some vicar after 1660. It will
be seen that Mr. Adams says that Richard Venn was only
suffered to remain at Blackawton for " a year or more."
This may be so, but he must either have returned again
or have left some of his family behind him, for there
is the following entry amongst the burials of 1660, "the
1 9th of July was buried Frances, the daughter of Mr.
Richard ffen, minister." We gather also from the will
of his widow that they owned a house and garden at
Blackawton.
1 " During imprisonment : I find in other verses a great storm then happened "
(Note by E. Baltic).
30 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
During his wanderings he took refuge for a time at
the family home, Broadhembury, where he had cousins
living. Two rather interesting records of the vigour and
pertinacity with which he here continued to assert his
views as to Church and King, are preserved. One of
them is contained in the " Charge of Delinquency against
Richard Drewe of Broadhembury," in the State Papers,
Domestic. It is as follows : l —
November 25, 1651. That the said Richard Drew did
releive mainteyne and protect divers Cavaleers and Officers of the
late King's Army, namely one Lieut. Whitby and divers others
who had done mischeife in the Country, and procured and
assisted their escape. . . . That the said Richard Drewe procured
one Richard Venne a Minister, a notorious Cavaleer, and one
that was sequestered, to preach constantly in the parish of
Broadhembury, and procured him maintenance for the same, to
the great offence of the well affected in those parts, the said
Venne preaching up the King's Cawse against the Parliament.
The other reference is contained in the following entry
in the parish register of Broadhembury : —
Ellis Dollin and Anne Burgen of Otterton were married
(cum annulo] in Broadhembury the 2d day of July 1649 into the
vicarage. By me Richard ffenne.
Who the vicar2 was at this precise time I do not
know, but he also must have been a bold man to allow
such an entry of the use of the ring in marriage — a
ceremony so distasteful to the Puritans — to be made in
the register.
As to the minister intruded into Mr. Venn's place, a
few words may be added. He was Richard Conant, of
Emmanuel College — that famous hot-bed of Puritanism
at the time — where he had only recently graduated as B.A.
He belonged to a well-known local family, resident in and
about East Budleigh, and was cousin of John Conant, the
Rector of Exeter College and Vice-Chancellor of Oxford
from 1657 to 1660. On his supersession from Otterton
1 State Papers, Domestic, No. 157. It is mostly given in the printed Calendar.
- Probably the regular vicar was sequestrated. The return of 1650 (Lansd. MS.
459) for Broadhembury is "No minister: incumbent suspended." In 1657 a Mr
Josiah Bangor was appointed (Lamb. MSS. 993, 998).
RICHARD VENN OF OTTERTON 31
in 1660, he retired to his native place, the neighbouring
village of East Budleigh, where the baptism of several of
his children is recorded. After some years he conformed,
and became vicar of that parish from 1672 till his death
in 1688. Mr. Walker's inference as to his character is
probably tinged with prejudice. Whatever he may have
originally been, Mr. Conant seems by all accounts to have
proved " a hardworking, painstaking, exemplary clergy-
man " at Budleigh. (See Trans, of Devon Association,
xxvi. 260, where some account of his family is given.)
A number of his relatives are entered amongst the Oxford
admissions of the seventeenth century.
As Mr. Venn was living at the time of the Restoration
he was at once, in accordance with the rule in such cases,
replaced in his vicarage. He did not live long afterwards,
being buried at Otterton, June 28, 1662. His will was
proved at Exeter in the following July, the inventory
being exhibited by his brother Robert, rector of Thel-
bridge. These, together with the will of the widow, are
given further on.
Mr. Venn was twice married. His first wife was
Elizabeth Westcott of the adjacent village of East
Budleigh, whom he married at St. Martin's, Exeter, July
26, 1630. By her he had three children, who were all
baptized1 at Otterton : viz. Elizabeth, August 28, 1631 ;
Francis, January 7, 1632 ; and Francis again, May 10,
1633. He must have married a second time in 1640 or
1641, his wife being named Margaret. She survived him
four years, dying in April 1666. By her he had nine
children: viz. Frances, baptized at Otterton, September 8,
1642 (she was buried at Blackawton, July 19, 1660) ;
Richard, baptized at Otterton, February n, 1643-4;
Dennis, born in 1648 ; William ; Robert ; John ; Mar-
garet ; Ann ; and Mary. All of this second family
except the first two must have been born away from
Otterton, during their father's exile, and very naturally
no record of their baptism has been found. Of the
children by the first marriage, probably all died very
1 These are the dates of baptism given in the Otterton register. One of the sons (or
daughters) Francis must apparently have been premature : the other was buried at
Otterton, September 19, 1638.
32 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
young. Of those by the second marriage, all but Frances
were alive at the time of their mother's death in 1666.
My father in his young days took up with much zeal
the inquiry which his father had commenced ; and paid a
visit to Devonshire in 1823. He wrote as follows : —
My father's enquiries respecting the family of the vicar of
Otterton led him to the conclusion that none were remaining of
the family in Otterton or its neighbourhood. But I heard a few
years after his death that my cousins, daughters of Edward Venn
of Camberwell, had found a descendant of the vicar still living at
Otterton, though in reduced circumstances, being the wife of Mr.
M. G. Palmer, landlord of a small public-house called the King's
Head. She had shown them several old memorials of her ancestor.
Mr. E. B. Venn, the brother of my cousins, assured me that he
had written to procure all such memorials, or copies of them. As
he was not successful, I took the earliest opportunity in my power
to visit Devonshire, which was not till the year 1823. I found
to my great regret that Mrs. Palmer had died a few years
before. I eagerly enquired of her husband whether I could see
any papers l or books which she had left. He told me that after
her death he had cleared out all the drawers and destroyed a
number of old letters, and that he had given two old bibles
containing family names to a daughter and a son. . . . He
informed me that his wife was the only child of Robert Venn, a
mariner ; that her mother was buried the day of her christening,
about the year 1 753. Mr. Palmer had never heard of any relations
of his wife except two old maiden aunts, Grace and Molly Venn,
who died many years ago very aged, having kept a school at
Otterton. His wife had a life interest in a small farm which her
father left her. Mr. Palmer also informed me that his wife was
buried, at her own desire, in the grave of the former Richard Venn,
vicar. ... He had buried her with all respect in the tomb of
her ancestor,2 and had gone to the expense of having the old tomb-
stone, which contained a long account of that ancestor, all chiselled
down to look like new, and to receive her name on a smooth
surface ! ... He gave me an old dictionary which his wife
1 As he says in a letter dated June 3, 1823, "On Monday C. Kennaway drove me
over in his gig to Sidmouth. After seeing that place I walked to Otterton, visited alone
the church, and thought on the days which were long since passed. Met with (Mr.
Palmer) the only representative of the family of the confessor, and learnt from him with
feelings which those who possess antiquarian zeal can alone fully estimate, that upon his
wife's death he had burnt a whole packet of letters of the family. The poor man,
discovering my vexation, to ease it added, ' Lawk, Zur, some of them were above 200
years old, written by an old man who was once vicar of this place.' Alas ! Alas ! :>
2 As will be seen by the pedigree in the Appendix, Mrs. Palmer was not a direct
descendant of Richard.
RICHARD VENN OF OTTERTON 33
had preserved as an old family book. But it had lately been
rebound, and the old blank leaves lost, and she had herself written
upon it, "John Ven, grandson of Rd. Ven formerly vicker of
Otterton, his book " . . . . Mr Palmer told me that the only one
of his children who could give me information was a married
daughter, Mrs. Ellis, wife of a gardener at Longleat. To her I
wrote, and received an interesting letter in reply.
LONGLEAT, i2th August 1823.
REV. SIR — I received your letter dated 1st of August, and was
not a little surprised on perusing a letter from such a distant
relation as you are pleased to consider yourself — it at first appeared
to me a moral curiosity — because the rich to claim the poor was
inverting the general practice of the world — be that as it may,
such condescension ought to have had an early answer, and for
the delay I beg pardon, which I flatter myself will be freely
granted as it proceeded from my three little ones being so very
ill. I only wish I could answer every question you are pleased
to ask, but I regret to say I know but little of my mother's
family, for very often when the name of Venn was mentioned
she would burst into a flood of tears and endeavour all she could
to suppress the conversation, whether it proceeded from delicacy
being so situated in life, that is in a little public-house, or from
her feelings for her ancestor, I know not. I have heard her
repeatedly say she never would see any of the Venn family while
she was in that situation. She knew there were some of them in
London, if living, but in what part she did not know. As to the
former vicar, I never heard her name him, more than Mr. Venn.
There are two large tombstones in the churchyard which I think
contain our ancestors in question, but these are sunk level with
the ground, and I fear the inscription on them is not legible. If
it was, you could easily find the names of both. She often used
to tell or amuse me with an anecdote of the gentleman now
spoken of, which occurred in the time of Monmouth.1 He, being
a Monmouth's man, and a little Methodistical in his discourses,
had his gown taken from him, and on being re-established, chose,
the following Sunday, his text from the Psalms, as follows, " I
have been young, but am now old ; yet saw I never the righteous
forsaken, nor his seed begging their bread." There being an
old woman in the church, that was fond of my great-grandfather,
1 Our informant had evidently got out of her depth in the matter of history and dates j
but it is a striking illustration of what Macaulay has said as to the intensity of the
feelings, about Monmouth's invasion and the subsequent trials, which lingered amongst
the country people of the West. Mrs. Ellis could think of no rebellion but that of
Monmouth. Sedgemoor is close by Taunton, and only a few miles from the Peyhembury
district ; and I find that one prisoner deported to the West Indies for his share in the
rebellion was named Edward Venn : he died at sea.
D
34 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
rose, and, with more zeal than decorum, said " Eas, Measter, but it
was ameast come toot." This I have heard her relate several
times. But of her own father she knew but little more than
what she heard from her guardians, who were her aunts, her
father's sisters, Grace and Mary Venn. These unfortunately died
before my mother attained her fifteenth year. Her own mother
died in child-bed when she was but a week old. Shortly after, my
grandfather, returning from his voyage, I believe from China,
was so much shocked at my grandmother's death that he left the
country altogether when she was but twenty weeks old : this
occurred in the year 1752. Robert Venn, my grandfather,
continued writing home for years after. And whether the ship
was lost, or whether he settled in any other part, we never could
ascertain. Such like circumstances I suppose must have been
corrosive to her spirit, and often checked her when I believe my
mother sometimes wished to say more on the subject. I am
sorry to hear that my father has destroyed the letters. My
grandmother's maiden name was Anne Stockes. As for the old
books my father mentioned, there were two old Bibles : one he
gave to my eldest sister when married, and the other to my
brother. These I have no doubt may contain family names. I
am extremely sorry my father should make such mistake in saying
I had my mother's old books. The only one I have is Paradise
Lostj and the only name written therein is Richard, and has the
date 1736. That is all I know ; I wish I knew more. There was
one Mr. Venn that became very celebrated in the time of one
Remain, a Methodist, but I suppose you could glean all the in-
formation required in the history of Devon ; if you can find any
you will greatly oblige by letting me know. I wish you had
returned here in your way to London, as I should like to see one
of my mother's relations. Such as my cottage is would have been
a welcome reception, and should you at any time have any com-
mands in this part of the country, I shall feel an honour in
answering, or doing what you wish. I am sorry I can say so
little on the subject you are pleased to enquire about, and as I
know so little, must conclude, and remain, Revd. Sir, — Yours
faithfully, NANCY VENN ELLIS.
The enquiries of my cousin, E. B. Venn, led (says my
father), after the lapse of many years, to my acquisition of a very
precious relic of Richard Venn, the confessor, of far higher value
than any mere names and dates. He wrote to the Rev. E.
Coleridge, vicar of Ottery St. Mary, to make some enquiry
respecting the name of Venn in the parish registers. In reply
Mr. Coleridge stated that he had in his possession a family Bible
which had belonged to Richard Venn, vicar of Otterton, and he
sent this copy of a note on a blank leaf of the Bible, " Ex dono
RICHARD VENN OF OTTERTON 35
Jael Reyness An. Dom. 1637. Mm I brought this booke from
Mr. Richard Venn Viker of Otterton, June 25, 1662, who made
use of it 20 years. See the interlinings and strakings pr Richard
Venn aged 61 years. Ricardus Venn obiit June 28, 1662, on
Fryday. Per me R. Duke aged 61, 1662."
When my cousin told me of this Bible he bound me in
honour not to try to obtain it for myself, as he was taking
measures to secure it for himself, as the senior branch of the
family. As in after life I became separated by distance from my
cousin, I never heard the result of his negotiations for the book,
beyond the fact that Mr. Coleridge refused to part with it on any
consideration.
In the year 1864, when I served on the Royal Commission
on Clerical Subscription, Sir John Coleridge, one of the commis-
sioners, asked me casually whether I had any relations in Devon-
shire near his seat, because there was a respectable family there
of my name. I replied that I knew nothing of the family to
which he referred, but that some generations back my family
had held a living in Devonshire of which his family [i.e. the
Dukes] were patrons ; and I told him of the note in the blank
leaf of a family Bible. This evidently interested him, but he
recollected nothing about such a book : if it was in existence he
should be glad to procure it for me. A few days afterwards Sir
John told me that in boyhood he had heard his father say that a
gentleman in London had applied to him for an old family Bible ;
but as he could not ascertain that the individual applying was
properly entitled to the book he had kept it. Sir John kindly
added that when he went into Devonshire he would make a
search for the Bible throughout the family. A few months
afterwards he sent me from Devonshire a dilapidated book with
the sides torn oft, and the title-pages and blank leaves all gone,
and the Apocrypha torn out of the middle, so that it was in two
parts. But there has been little difficulty in identifying the
book as the companion of Richard Venn in his troubles and
persecutions."
We have the book, and it is certainly full of " inter-
linings and strakings " as stated in the lost note formerly
inscribed in one of the blank pages.
I append the wills of Richard and Margaret Venn, as
these early documents are always of some interest : —
" In the name of God, Amen. I, Richard Venn, vicar of
the parish of Otterton in the county of Devon, being in perfect
sense and expecting shortly the time of my dissolution, do here
make my last will and testament. Imprimis ; I bequeath my
3 6 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
soule into the hands of God my Creator, Redeemer, and
Sanctifier, and my tiody unto Christian buryall. Item I give to
my son Dennis all my books. Item I give to each of my
children twelve pence apiece ; and the rest of my goods and dues
I give to my wife Margaret Ven, whom I make my executrix ;
and I desire John Macy to see this my will performed, and for his
pains I give him twelve pence." (Dated June 25, 1662;
proved at Exeter, July 3, 1662.)
An inventory of all the goods and chattels of Richard Ven,
vicar of Otterton, deceased ; taken and exhibited by Robert Ven,
rector of Thelbridge ; also by Richard Austin and Richard Bayly
of the parish of Otterton.
His wearing apparell,
gowndand books j£
In" the Hall j i
table, i forme, I
joint - stool, 2
chairs, I carpet, i
glass cage . .
In the Kitchen ; i
table - board, I
forme. ? brass
i
pans, 3 crockes
and pot-hangers, I
skillet, 2 andires,
i spit, 9 pewter
dishes, I tankard,
i chair . .
In the Brewhouse ;
i salting tub, 2
barrels, 2 tubbs, i
joint-stool, i tub.
In the Chamber over
the Hall ; i bed-
stead and bedform,
i table board, i
littlewriting table,
i settee, 2 chairs,
13 4
In the Porch
Chamber over the
Porch ; i bedstead,
i desk . .
In the Kitchen
Chamber ; 2 bed-
steads, i chest, i
coffer . . .
i bedstead, and i bed
more . . .
For wooll . .
For come, malt, and
provision .
For wood and fuell .
For corne and peas
and beans in the
ground . .
For Hogs and
Soyle (?) .
A little mare .
A furnace pan .
For things forgotten
210
30
2
i
o
0
12
7
10
i o
0
10
10
2
£59
io
o 18
(sic)
It seems evident that the " Hall " was the dining and
sitting room, and that there were three bedrooms in the
house. If the total possessions seem few, it must be re-
membered that it was only two years since Mr. Venn had
come back into possession of his vicarage. It will be
RICHARD VENN OF OTTERTON
37
noticed that the growing crops constitute more than half
his total wealth.
Will of Margaret Venn, widow, of Otterton.
She bequeaths . . . "unto Richard, my son, my great brass
crock. Unto Dennis Venn, my son, my standing bedstead and
featherbed whereon I do usually lie, with blankets, coverlet, bolster
and pillows to the same belonging. . . . Unto William Venn, my
son, my dwelling house and garden wherein I do live at Otterton
(with reversion to Margaret Venn). . . . To Margaret Venn,
my daughter, my best coat and waistcoat. . . . To Ann Venn,
my daughter, a dwelling house and garden lying in Blackawton.
. . . To Anne Venn my gowne and one hulland sheete."
Mentions also Robert, youngest son, and Mary, youngest daughter.
Youngest sons, John and Robert, executors. Dated April 27,
1666 ; proved at Exeter in the same year. Witnesses, John
Macey, Richard Austin, and Michael Venn of Otterton, and
Robert Bayley of East Budleigh.
Inventory.
Wearing apparell . £2 10
In the Hall j I table
board and form,
3 joyned stools, 4
chairs, i settle, i
glass cage, I fry-
ing pan, and 2 fire
dogs .
Two little sides of
pork . . . o 12
One debt due to me o 9
Three silver spoons,
etc. . . . i 10
In the Kitchen; i
trendle, 3 tubs, 2
barrels, 3 brass
pans, 2 old brass
crocks, i pair and-
irons, and i gibb . 3 5
In the Chamber ; i
bedstead, i sheet,
i blanket and
coverlet, i feather-
bed, i chest, 2
coffers, 2 stools, i
sideboard, and i
feather bolster ..£516 o
In the little
Chamber ; 2 half-
head bedsteads
and beds, with
blankets, and
6 o coverlets, and
bolsters . .400
o In the little House
O within the Hall ;
1 6 pewter dishes .140
o One table board, I
truckle bedstead,
standing in the
vicarage house .100
One truckle bed-
stead and bed
o blankets, coverlets,
bolsters, and
pillows . .140
Two old table
clothes, 2 table
napkins . .040
One little old nagg . I 10 O
'38 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
i£ acres of corn in and garden at
"the ground . . ^i 10 o Blackawton .^9 o
One dwelling house For old implements
and garden at and things forgot-
Otterton .900 ten and unpriced . o 2
One dwelling house
£44
Richard was not the only one of his family who incurred
suspicion during the troubles. He had a younger brother
Robert, who was baptized at Otterton, April 9, 1608 ;
matriculated at Oxford, from Wadham College, October
30, 1629 ; was admitted B.A., December 4, 1632 ; and
M.A. — being then of Pembroke College, — July 4, 1635.
He was ordained deacon at Exeter, May 24, 1635 ; anc^
priest, not till after the Restoration, early in 1660-1.
He was instituted to the rectory of Thelbridge in 1644,
where he remained until his death in 1689.
The following is the account of his experiences, as
given by Mr. Walker's correspondent:—
The Rev. Mr. Robert Ven, rector of Thelbridge, was Master
of Arts of Wadham College, Oxford. He was a person of probity,
loyalty, and integrity, a lover of episcopacy, monarchy, piety, and
obedience, regular devotions, decency, and order. These were
things that must, by a necessary consequence, make him obnoxious
to the Cromwellian disturbers of the peace of the Church and State.
Being thus reputed or suspected for a delinquent or malignant, he
was accordingly summoned to the town of Tiverton in this county,
there to appear before a general council of two or three wretched
tryers (of whom Lewis Stuckley was one), there to answer for
malignancy or delinquency, heresy or immorality, heterodoxy or
insufficiency, or whatever else they had a mind to charge upon him.
The good man Mr. Ven appeared. Being come before them, among
other sage and wise questions suitable for the gravity, wisdom, and
learning of these rude, impudent, imperious, schismatical hypocrites,
it was asked, " What the Devil was ? " Had l the good man
answered " he was 6 veipafrv " (as he is called, Matt. iv. 3.), i.e. a
tryer^ he had answered truly, though perhaps not so prudently at
that juncture. However, Mr. Ven, by particular friendship of Sir
Thomas Stuckley, knight, who was brother to Lewis Stuckley
the tryer, and a gentleman of probity, sense, and honour, kept his
place and lived in it reputably and comfortably till the year 1689,
1 Walker has erroneously given this " Here the good man answered ... He had
answered truly . . ."
RICHARD VENN OF OTTERTON 39
and then gave up the ghost in a good old age, being succeeded by
his son, Mr. Lawrence Ven, now rector, 1704.
L. SOUTHCOMB.
Apparently his ministerial zeal in his parish outweighed
his doubtful opinions in the estimate of the authorities.
But it is obvious that he was far less of a party man than
his brother. For instance, in a "Register of all the church
livings in various parts of the country " drawn up for the
Parliament and compiled in their interest (Lansdowne MS.
459, British Museum), Robert Ven of Thelbridge is
described as " a preaching minister." It is added that
the value of the living was £40, and that the patron was
Richard Shortridge. The date of this return is said to be
about 1650. Moreover, the fact that though he was
ordained deacon in 1635, ne did no^ become a priest until
after the Restoration, looks rather significant. The well-
known royalist sufferer, Joseph Hall, was Bishop of Exeter
from 1627 to 1641.
During his researches in 1823 my father visited
Thelbridge, where he found an old wooden monument to
this Robert Venn, hanging in the chancel, to the left of
the communion table. Some fifty years afterwards, my
brother, being then one of the rectors of Tiverton, went
over to Thelbridge to find if the inscription was still in
existence. At first no trace of it could be discovered, but
at last, after a prolonged search with the aid of a ladder,
it was found hidden away in the tower, whither it had
been moved at the restoration of the church in 1870.
Not long afterwards he and I rode over there to ascertain
if it could be repaired and restored. We found it in too
dilapidated a condition for this, so we arranged to have
the inscription copied on a marble slab and replaced in the
original position. It runs as follows : —
H. S. I.
Corpus Reverendi admodum Viri
ROBERTI VEN A. M. GULIELMI VEN rdv poKaptrw
De Otterton in agro Devoniensi vicarii Filii
Qui
Purum verbum Dei } ("54 constanter predicabat
Hujus Parochise Gregem j ai >S ( 46 fideliter pascebat
'4o VENN FAMILY ANNALS
Verse Religionis Elementis Adolescentes instituendo
Omni Pietate Seniores confirmando
Ceteraque Sacerdotis Evangelic!
Munia strenue obeundo
Indefessus
'ErepoSo^'as Tempore tamen '0/o0oSo£os
Veritatis ac Pacis semper amans
Verbis Voto Vita sanctus castus humillimus
^Etatis suae j ' \ LXXXI
Coelo maturus
Xtianse ) f MDCLXXXIX
. }anno|LXX
Coelo maturus
Animam exhaluit
3>iX,o(TTopyia<s ergo
LAU. VEN Filius natu minimus
Cura animarum hie loci AtaSo^os
H. M. P.
(The original tablet of wood decaying, this more
permanent memorial was placed here by two descendants
of the above-named William Ven.
John Venn, Fellow of Gonville and Caius
College, Cambridge.
Henry Venn, Rector of Clare Portion,
Tiverton, 1880.)
DENNIS VENN
OF the twelve children of Richard Venn several died
young, and of the remainder, with a single exception, no
personal details are known. This exception was Dennis,
who continued the clerical career of his father and grand-
O
father. He must have been born during his father's
wanderings, in or about the year 1648, so that it is not
surprising that no entry of his baptism has been found.
He matriculated at Oxford, May 25, 1666, from New
Inn Hall, but migrated two months later to the college of
his father and grandfather, Exeter. He is described in
the university register as u filius pauperis," like his prede-
cessors, and his age is given as eighteen. He graduated
B.A., February 1669, and proceeded subsequently to the
M.A. degree.
He soon returned to his native county, and was
ordained priest by Dr. Sparrow, Bishop of Exeter, at the
cathedral, March 19, 1670-1. In those days of reaction
the son of Richard Venn was probably well known ; at
any rate, he had not long to wait for preferment. He was
instituted, on the presentation of Henry Northleigh, Esq.,
of Pearmartin, to the rectory of Dodbrooke, October 6,
1671. He was also instituted to the vicarage of Holbeton,
November 5, 1673, on the patronage of the King, having
obtained a dispensation from the archbishop to hold the
two livings together, though he actually resigned Dod-
brooke, October 10, 1674. Some time previous to this
he had been appointed domestic chaplain to the Earl of
Denbigh, who does not, however, appear to have resided
or held property in the county. Like his grandfather, he
was a rural dean, holding that of Woodley.
41
V VENN FAMILY ANNALS
He was twice married. His first wife is described in
the Holbeton register, as "Mrs. Luce Fortiscue of Combe
in the parish of Revelstoke." He married her at Revel-
stoke, June 29, 1683. By her he had a daughter Lucy,
who died in 1688, and was buried at Holbeton, and
probably a second daughter, Jane, buried there May 8,
1692-3. Mrs. Venn was buried at Holbeton, July 12,
1688. He married, secondly, January 6, 1689-90, also
at Holbeton, Patience, daughter of the Rev. John Gay,
vicar of East Anthony,1 near Plymouth. Mr. Gay died
in 1675, and his daughter seems to have been resident in
Holbeton for some years before her marriage, as her name
occurs in the churchwarden's accounts as contributing to
the relief of the Irish Protestants in 1685. By his second
wife Mr. Venn had three children : Richard, born at
Holbeton, January 7, 1690-1, and baptized there Janu-
ary 27 ; Patience, born August 4, 1692, buried February
23, 1695-6; and Dennis, born December n, 1694,
buried October 29, 1695.
Dennis Venn was buried at Holbeton, February 12,
1694-5. There is no monument to his memory in the
church or churchyard. As will be seen, he died at the
comparatively early age of forty-seven, and perhaps rather
suddenly, as he left no will. His administration was taken
out by his widow.
Inventory of the goods and credits of Dennis Venne, late
vicar of Holbeton, who died the 8th day of February 1694-5,
and taken and appraised by William Adams, vicar of Yohumpton,
and John King of Holbeton, April 6, 1695.
His wearing apparell ...... ^4 o O
Item four beds . . . . . . . 8 O O
Item the books in his studdy . . . . . 500
Item his plate . . . . . . . 500
Item his pocket money . . . . . . I o O
Item his pans, crocks, and kettles . . . . 300
Item his pewter . . . . . . . i 10 o
Item his horse, cow, one asse, and one young bullock 700
1 There are three places of this name in Cornwall : one on the east side of Falmouth
harbour, near St. Mawes (St. Anthony in Roseland) ; one on the west side, near St.
Martin (St. Anthony in Meneage, or in Kerrier) ; and one commonly called East
Anthony, a little to the west of Devonport. This last is the one referred to. For
some account of the Gay family see the Appendix.
DENNIS VENN
43
•
Item his chests, tulley boxes, trunks, stools, and chairs .£110 o
Item for cyder . . . and hogshead . . . i 10 o
ittem for lumber, goods, and some other things
omitted and not prized . . . . I o o
[tern his credits . . . . . . . 700
£45
Exhibited (and signed) by Patience Venne, relict.
His widow survived him more than seventeen years,
her administration being granted to her son Richard,
October 25, 1712. So far as can be ascertained she spent
the rest of her life at Holbeton or its neighbourhood, but
there is no entry of her burial in the register. In 1704,
as we have seen above (p. 26), she was living at Modbury,
as housekeeper in the Hele family. She probably remained
there for some years, as her son Richard was educated
there about 1702-1707. My grandfather, John Venn
of Clapham, who diligently collected from his father such
family traditions as survived, has preserved one little
anecdote as illustrative of the firmness and judgment with
which she carried out the training of the young children
whom her husband left in her charge. " A saying of hers
is reported which sufficiently marks her character as corre-
sponding with the impression I have given of it. Being
asked when she intended to send her son to college she
replied, 'When he can say " No " boldly"' (Parentolia).
There is no doubt, as will presently be seen, as to the
boldness of character, whencesoever derived, which this
son showed in after life.
RICHARD VENN, OF ST. ANTHOLIN'S,
LONDON, 1691-1739
IN the case of this rather distinguished divine we have
come within the scope of family tradition. Many
incidents of his private life were gleaned — doubtless
through his sons, Edward, Henry, and Richard — by his
grandson John, the rector of Clapham. These were
recorded in the Parentalia of the latter, the passages
following, in smaller type, being taken from this MS.
volume.
He was born at Holbeton, January 7, 1690-1, and
baptized there on January 27 following.
In his infancy his nurse suffered him to fall out of her arms,
by which he received an injury in his hip bone which occasioned
him ever afterwards to halt a little, and which rendered him
incapable of walking far without pain. When he was about
eleven years old he was put to school at Modbury, a few miles
from Holbeton, where his mother was then living. After five
years he was transferred to Tiverton, BlundelPs school being at
that time the principal school in the county. Here he remained
for two years under Mr. Rayner,1 a rather eminent master. (His
education at this school, it may be remarked, was the cause of his
quitting the College and University of his forefathers and entering
Cambridge, the University ever since of his descendants. Mr.
Blundell had left endowments for two scholarships and two
fellowships at Sidney Sussex. It was to one of these scholarships
that Richard Venn was elected in the summer of 1709. He
commenced residence there in October following.) In the
1 William Rayner, M.A., of Christ Church, Master at Blundell's from 1698 to his
death in 1730. Amongst his pupils was Thomas Hayter, afterwards Bishop of Norwich
and of London. The eccentric "King of the Gypsies," Bampfylde Moore Carew,
seems to have been a contemporary there of Richard Venn. His escapade of running
away from school, to join the gypsy gang, took place in the year after R. Venn left.
(For some notes on Elundtlliana see the Trans, of the Dev. Assoc. xxiii. 410.)
44
RICHARD VENN OF ST. ANTHOLIN'S 45
University he was a diligent student, and became an able scholar,
and his general conduct was such as to recommend him to the
notice and esteem of many distinguished scholars, with whom he
formed an intimacy which continued during his life.
A very extraordinary incident occurred whilst he was resi-
dent which places in the highest point of view the purity and
strength of his principles. There was a gentleman's family
between three and four miles from Cambridge to which he had
been early introduced, and with which he had formed an intimate
acquaintance. It consisted of the husband, and his wife, a
beautiful woman many years younger than himself. My grand-
father possessed a handsome person, a mind well stored with
variety of knowledge, an easy frankness of manner, and so rich a
fund of conversation that his company was generally sought and
highly esteemed. One day a carriage was sent for him, with an
invitation to dinner. When he arrived at the house he found the
gentleman had been unexpectedly called out, but the lady said she
expected his return soon. There was no other company, and
they dined together. The lady exerted herself to please her
guest, and my grandfather failed not to render himself agreeable.
The time passed away imperceptibly. Tea was introduced, the
master of the house being still absent. Apologies were made
for him, and surprise expressed that he was not returned.
Several times Mr. Venn offered to take his leave, but was
entreated to wait a little longer. It was too far for him to walk ;
the carriage should be got ready, but it could not be more than a
few minutes before Mr. would be at home, and he would be
greatly disappointed to find Mr. Venn gone. Supper was
brought in, and by various artifices and pressing entreaties my
grandfather was induced to stay until eleven o'clock. A key was
then given to the lady's conduct, which had already appeared such
as might have excited suspicion in a less pure mind. She gave
him to understand that her husband was in London, and that the
regard she entertained for him had induced her to send for him
under cover of her husband's name to enjoy the pleasure of his
society. The moment that he discovered this purpose he rose
from his chair, reproved her with a stern and resolute air, and
without waiting for a reply left the room and the house. The
night was cold, dark, and dreary, his distance from home long,
and he unable to walk without pain. He went on till he came
to a church 1 which stood near the road about the midway of his
journey, in the porch of which he sat down to rest himself.
Whilst he was here the clock struck twelve. The stillness
around him, the midnight hour, the happy escape which he had
1 According to tradition, the house was at Milton, and the church at which he
stopped was that of Chesterton.
46 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
experienced, all these circumstances gave solemnity to the scene,
and deeply impressed his mind. He knelt down and adored God.
His soul was elevated with gratitude. It was a night much to be
remembered by him, and never did he enjoy a higher degree of
true happiness than whilst he was thus fleeing at midnight from
the scene of temptation.
Mr. Venn took the degree of B.A. in January 1712-3.
The " Tripos lists " are not published so early as this, but
from the MS. lists at the Registry it appears that he was
what would now be called " 6th junior optime." He
graduated M.A.1 in 1716. According to Baker, the
well-known antiquary of St. John's, he was a candidate
for a foundation fellowship in 1713-4, but he was passed
over on the ground that the Blundell fellowships were the
proper appointments for those who had been scholars
from his school at Tiverton. When one of these fellow-
ships fell vacant two or three years afterwards he was
ineligible, owing to his marriage. (Add. MSS. Brit. Mus.»
MS. Baker, x. 420.)
He married, about the end of the year 1716, Maria
Anna Isabella Margaretta Beatrix, daughter of John
Ashton, Esq. The exact date and place of the marriage
are not known, but the licence was taken out at the
Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury on
November 2, 1716. The unusual number of her
Christian names — extraordinary, indeed, for any lady of
that time — introduces us to a rather romantic bit of
political history. So little information is given in the
published sources of information as to the antecedents of
Mr. Ashton, that I have preferred to relegate to a separate
section of this volume such materials as I have succeeded
in collecting from various records. It will suffice to say
here that he was of the family of Ashton of Penketh,
since extinct in the male line, and that he had been from
an early age in the court service of King James the Second
or of his queen. The exact office he held is difficult to
determine, but it was probably that of paymaster to the
Queen. After the flight of the King in 1689 he continued
1 As was not uncommon amongst the more distinguished clergy, he afterwards
incorporated at the sister University, his name appearing in the Oxford lists as M.A.,
January 20, 1729-30.
RICHARD VENN OF ST. ANTHOLIN'S 47
actively to work in the Stuart interest, and late in the
year 1690 he was unfortunately concerned in the plot
commonly known by the name of " Lord Preston's."
He, together with Lord Preston and Mr. Elliott, were
captured off Tilbury Fort, in a small vessel which they
had hired, and being found in possession of despatches to
the English Court at St. Germains, they were all three put
on their trial for high treason. The two others escaped,
partly, it is believed, by giving information to the Govern-
ment, but Ashton was condemned to death. He was
executed at Tyburn on January 28, 1690-1. In conse-
quence of a petition to the Queen the usual horrible
accompaniments of execution for treason were remitted
in his case, and his body was given over to his friends
for burial.
A few years before his death Mr. Ashton had married
Mary, daughter of Mr. Edward Rigby ("Rigby of Burgh,"
in the Lancashire Visitations). There were several children
offspring of this marriage. As a special mark of favour,
the queen of James the Second stood godmother to his
daughter. Hence the unusual combination of names
which she bore.
Mr. Ashton, from being so much about the persons of the
king and queen, had received several distinguished marks of favour,
among which the queen of James II. condescended to stand
sponsor for his daughter, naming her after herself. He also
received a silver and oak snuff-box made out of the Boscobel oak,
which I have in my possession ; the clock which was made for
King Charles which strikes according to the Roman figures, a
large bell striking for every V and a small one for every I ; this
was owing to the king's disliking the length of time that common
clocks were striking ; a cabinet belonging to the same, and (a
small piece of) the ribbon of the Garter which the royal sufferer
wore at his execution ; also a picture of the Pretender.1
Mrs. Ashton's after career was short and sad. She
retired with her two surviving children to St. Germains,
1 From some additions made to my grandfather's Parentalia by his cousin, Mr.
Edward Beaumont Venn. This Mr. Venn, as being descended from Dr. Edward Venn,
Richard Venn's eldest son, came into possession of these interesting family memorials.
They are now (1903) in possession of his daughter, Miss Venn of Freston, near Ipswich.
Besides the articles mentioned above, there is an old chair given to Miss Ashton by
Queen Mary. The portraits of Mr. and Mrs. John Ashton, as will be noticed
subsequently, were left to a grand-daughter and have disappeared.
48 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
hoping for some sympathy and relief from the late King
James, in whose service her husband had died ; but she
seems to have been informed that unless she joined the
Church of Rome no help would be given her. Her son l
James, it is said, was (nominally) created a baronet by
James ; he died very young. Mrs. Ashton died about
1695 ; ft *s not known where, but probably at St.
Germains.
The daughter with the many names, after her mother's
death, was brought up by her uncle and guardian Mr.
Richard Rigby at Mistley, near Colchester.2 As the sole
survivor of her family she inherited a fortune amounting
to £4000.
In the fatal year of infatuation, lyzo,3 Mr. Rigby employed
this in the purchase of South Sea Stock, and by the sudden fall of
that stock it was of course nearly all lost. This event was the
cause of a rupture between the two families which was never
afterwards healed. This Mr. Rigby was the father of the late
Paymaster-General. Whether compunction of conscience was
the cause, I know not, but Mr. Rigby built several almshouses,
and bequeathed several charitable legacies. Her father's plate,
etc., Mr. Rigby took possession of for her, but she never recovered
it. A singular circumstance occurred to my great-grandfather
(Mr. E. B. Venn says) after he had married Miss Ashton. A
gentleman, perfectly a stranger, called upon Mr. Venn and asked
him if he did not marry Miss Ashton ; answered in the affirmative,
he told him there was a large property belonging to her, but he
feared the greater part was irretrievably lost ; but if he would call
on such a gentleman in such a set of chambers in the Temple,
he would be enabled through him to recover a part. The gentle-
man took his leave, and Mr. Venn, following his advice, obtained
something handsome. . . . Party spirit ran so high that even
Mr. Ashton's infants were not secure in the house of their uncle,
Mr. Rigby, at Mistley Hall ; for, being there, a party of soldiers
sought them, I am informed, and they, being concealed by the
tapestry, a soldier thrust through some part of the tapestry to try
1 He was presumably the third son. Two others, John and Edward, had been
buried in 1686 and 1689. Mary was born June 27, 1689, and was therefore not two
years old at the time of her father's death. I suppose she was baptized at one of the
royal chapels, but I cannot find the entry in such of the registers as begin early enough.
2 Edward Rigby bought the estate of Mistley, with other property in the neigh-
bourhood, of the last Earl of Oxford. His grandson, the well-known member of
Parliament, paymaster, etc., inherited it.
3 If this date is correct, Miss Ashton was already married, and Mr. Rigby must
therefore have been one of her trustees.
ST. AN'THOLIN S CHURCH, LONDON.
Since destroyed.
RICHARD VENN OF ST. ANTHOLIN'S 49
if they were there, but providentially not at the part where they
were concealed.1
Mr. Venn's clerical career was entirely spent in
London. He was ordained deacon by the Bishop of
London, at the chapel in Fulham Palace, Sept. 23, 1716 ;
and priest, at the chapel in Somerset House,2 Dec. 2,
1717. He acted at first as curate to Dr. Thomas
Bennet, rector of St. Giles', Cripplegate, and soon became
acquainted with Bishop Hare ; Dr. Gibson, afterwards
Bishop of London ; Dr. William Berriman, rector of St.
Andrew Undershaft ; Dr. Stebbing ; Dr. Battie ; and other
learned divines of the city. He was appointed, May 25,
1725, to the important living of St. Antholin's,3 Watling
Street, at the rectory house of which he lived during his
residence in London. He also held the sinecure post of
clerk in orders of St. Giles', Cripplegate, worth about
£130 a year; and was preacher at St. Paul's Cross for
some time. " By what interest he obtained these I am
not informed, but as they are in the gift of the Dean and
Chapter of St. Paul's, I presume it to have been through
Bishop Gibson's interest." By far the most intimate of
his friends at this time was Henry Temple, the first Lord
Palmerston, great-grandfather of the late premier, with
whom he regularly dined once a week when in town. It
was this friendship which made him select Barnes as his
place of residence in summer, owing to its proximity to
1 As regards these and following personal anecdotes, it must be remembered that my
grandfather, John Venn, began his family inquiries as a mere youth when several of his
older relatives were surviving. His grandmother, Mary Venn (Miss Ashton), did not
die till 1762, at which time his father, Henry Venn, from whom most of his particulars
would be obtained, was thirty-seven years of age, and his uncles, Edward and Richard,
were respectively forty-five and forty-four.
2 Somerset House then belonged to the Crown, but was little used except to entertain
ambassadors or other distinguished persons. The present building is, of course, entirely
modern.
3 St. Antholin's was one of Wren's churches. With this parish was combined
that of St. John the Baptist, Walbrook. Both of the churches had of course been
destroyed in the great Fire, but the latter had not been rebuilt. When St. Antholin's
was removed a few years ago, about the time of the making of Queen Victoria Street,
the two parishes were united with St. Mary Aldermary. "The old rectory house
adjoined the church on the north side. It was pulled down when Queen Victoria
Street was made. The church itself was afterwards taken down, and the site fetched
the sum of £47,000. A new St. Antholin's was built out of the proceeds, at Peckham
Rye, and various other surburban churches have been partly paid for out of the surplus "
(information from Canon L. B. White, the present rector).
E
5o VENN FAMILY ANNALS
Sheen, where Lord Palmerston had a house1 for some
time. So frequent was his residence there that no less
than five of his children are entered in the parish register
as having been baptized at Barnes.
With the exception of one incident, to be presently
noticed, which brought him suddenly into public notice,
and involved him in a storm of pamphlets, laudatory and
denunciatory, he led the studious but active life of one of
those London clergy whom Macaulay so sharply contrasts
with the bulk of their country brethren. In Theology
he belonged to the old-fashioned High Church party.
Politically, he may at first have had a leaning towards the
Jacobites — sympathies which probably led to his acquaint-
ance with the daughter of John Ashton, and were not
likely to be diminished by his marriage with her — but he
nevertheless became reconciled to the party in power at a
somewhat early date. It should be stated, however, that
any such change of views led to neither wealth nor
dignity, his only known patron being Bishop Gibson, who
was by no means in favour with those in power.
Though he would not go so far as to assert that Salvation
was only to be obtained within the pale of the Episcopal Church,
yet he would say that Dissenters had nothing to trust to but the
uncovenanted mercy of God. Wherever the interests of the
Church were concerned, his whole soul was interested, and he
was amongst the most forward in taking decisive measures in her
behalf. He was the first clergyman in London who refused Mr.
Whitefield his pulpit, and who wrote against the rising sect of
the Methodists. Mr. Whitefield, in consequence, desired an
interview with him, which was readily granted. At the conclu-
sion of a long conversation my grandfather said to him, ' Mr.
Whitefield, I give you credit for the purity of your intentions,
and your zeal in the service of God, but I think you are under a
delusion, and likely to do much mischief. I therefore esteem it
my duty to oppose you, and I therefore shall oppose you. At the
same time I hope that if I am wrong in my opposition God will
not suffer me to persist in it.' Very soon after this interview Mr.
Venn died, and Mr. Whitefield, not much to the credit of either
his judgment or liberality, remarked in his Journal on the
interference of Providence, which had so soon shown him who
1 Temple Grove, in the upper part of Mortlake, near the entrance to Richmond
Park. For many years now the house has been used as a large preparatory school.
RICHARD VENN OF ST. ANTHOLIN'S 51
was right, and removed him from the power of opposing any
more.
I have not the least doubt that my grandfather
obtained this anecdote indirectly from Whitefield himself,
who was for many years, in later times, an intimate
personal friend and frequent associate of his father, Henry
Venn. The incident must have occurred at the very
beginning of Whitefield's career. He was ordained
deacon (at the age of twenty-one) on Trinity Sunday,
1736, and left for Georgia in December 1737, being in
London for only a few months during this period.
Whitefield himself presumably refers to the circumstances
as follows : — " Two clergymen sent for me and told me
they would not let me preach in their pulpits any more,
unless I renounced that part of the Preface of my Sermon
on Regeneration . . ." This is under the date of about
October 1737. The uncharitable judgment referred to is
as follows ; it was written in his Journal almost immedi-
ately after his first return to England from Georgia.
Feb. 19, 1738-9. — Amongst the letters I received from re-
ligious correspondents one writes to me thus, "Mr. , who wrote
that letter in the Miscellany, died yesterday. He is now gone to
give an account of the many hard speeches contained therein, and
is convinced that orthodoxy in notions is not the only religion."
This letter in the Miscellany was written by Mr. Venn a very few
days before his death. It contains the statement that Whitefield
had secured the use of the pulpit at St Margaret's, Westminster,
by the device of having the regular preacher locked up in his pew.
This, he says, he had on the authority of the clergyman who read
the prayers. Whitefield's explanation is that he was escorted to
the pulpit by the sexton or verger, and supposed that the preacher
had voluntarily given way to him. It seems clear that in the
early days of Methodism peculiar ways were sometimes adopted to
secure admission to the pulpits of those clergy who were supposed
to be hostile to the movement. Mr. Venn says, " One of these I
attest upon my own knowledge, because it was attempted upon
myself by some of Mr. Whitefield's followers who knew that I
would not grant him the pulpit upon any terms ; and that is, by
asking the pulpit for a friend, and then sending Mr. Whitefield
or some other Methodist. Another has been by stepping up into
the pulpit as soon as the prayers are over, without asking any leave
at all."— Weekly Miscellany, Feb. 10, 1738-9.
'52 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
Richard Vejin's private character is very candidly
summed up as follows by his grandson : —
In reviewing my grandfather's character we shall perceive
much to admire and something to censure. His defects were
principally those which arise from pushing good principles to
excess. His natural temper was warm and zealous, and his
conduct therefore energetic, nor could he form a conception of
that lukewarmness which keeps to itself its principles and takes
no pains to justify and propagate them. His health was also
remarkably firm, having never known till his last illness what
even a headache was. His character therefore was strongly
marked, and he was endowed by nature with a perseverance and
firmness which rendered him capable of great and successful
exertions. He possessed a most intrepid spirit, having never, as
he once said, felt upon any occasion the sensation of fear. His
nerves were also so firm that he was never known to shed tears
but upon two occasions : once when Mr. Temple, son of Lord
Palmerston, whom Dr. Young celebrated in his Night Thoughts
under the name of Philander, a most highly accomplished and
excellent young man,1 died ; and another time when the Mortmain
Act was passed in 1736, by which the devise of lands for charitable
and ecclesiastical uses was much restrained.
Of his personal courage the following anecdote is
recorded : —
He once hired a man-servant who, a few days after his
coming into the family, excited by his conduct some suspicions in
the maidservants concerning his character, being observed after it
was dark to go out several times and converse with strangers of a
suspicious appearance. At night he refused to go to bed. The
maids communicated their suspicions to my grandfather, who was
then gone to bed. He instantly rose, and requiring the man to
go to bed, and receiving a surly answer, he seized him by the
collar and compelled him to go upstairs. He stood by him till he
was undressed, and then, taking away all his clothes and locking
him into his room, he retired. During the night repeated
whistlings and calls were heard, but it was shown that the family
were awake. The man was afterwards discovered to have been
associated with a band of house-breakers.
" In the education of his children he combined the
natural firmness and decisiveness of his temper with much
affection. He was, indeed, absolute in his power, and no
1 His illness, perhaps, is referred to here. His death occurred a few months after
that of Mr. Venn.
RICHARD VENN OF ST. ANTHOLIN'S 53
child durst presume to manifest the least opposition to his
will. The system of Solomon he preferred to that of
Rousseau. He always required an absolute and instant
obedience. Upon any heinous offence the delinquent
was secluded from the family, and the rest of the children
and servants forbidden in the strictest manner to hold any
communication with them. In the evening it was the
custom, according to the venerable and patriarchal mode
prevalent in that day, for all the children to kneel before
their father and ask his blessing before they retired to rest.
The delinquent was allowed to join the rest and enter the
parlour, but if his punishment was not thought to have
been carried to a sufficient extent he was immediately on
his entrance ordered back to his confinement with a
peremptory, Begone ; and he knew that at least another
day must elapse before he could be admitted into favour.
If, on the contrary, the time of his suffering was expired
he was allowed to approach with the rest, and after a
solemn and affectionate address in which the evil of his
conduct was strikingly laid open, he received with the
rest the paternal kiss and benediction. Yet with all this
strictness his children loved him with as fervent an
affection as they honoured him with a profound reverence.
I can myself bear testimony to the ardour with which they
were wont to speak of his memory."
An illustration of his inflexibility of will is given in
the Life of his son Henry : —
There was a small court between St. Antholin's Church
and that part of the rectory house in which his father's study was
situated. This had been roofed and tiled over ; and here he used
to play, when he was able to say his lessons, till his father was
able to hear him. One day, being perfect in his lesson, he as
usual asked leave to play, but was refused. As this leave had
rarely before been denied, and his father did not appear to be at
leisure to hear him, he concluded that his request had been
misunderstood, and again asked permission to play ; but was
immediately and peremptorily refused. Soon after, his mother
came into the room, and seeing him looking out of the window,
whilst his father appeared deeply engaged in writing, she asked of
her own accord whether he might not be allowed to play ; but
her request was also refused. She thought this extraordinary, but
' 54 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
her surprise was changed into astonishment and gratitude when, a
few minutes afterwards, the whole roof fell in, and would have
crushed the child to death had he been playing there. His father
acknowledged that he had no particular reason at the moment for
his refusal ; but having once refused, thought it proper to persist
in doing so.
In my grandfather's original notes for the Parentalia
he says of Richard Venn's management of his children,
" If challenged or attacked by other boys, he would lead
them out, and stand by to see them fight it out."
He was perhaps scarcely sufficiently sensible of the original
difference of character in children, and therefore expected all his
children to be as intrepid and as firm as himself. Finding that
his daughter was afraid of spirits, after endeavouring to convince
her how groundless her fears were, he obliged her to go by the
light of the moon into the church (St. Antholin's), which stood at
a little distance from his house, and bring him a book from the
reading-desk on the evening of a day on which a corpse had been
interred in the aisle through which she would have to pass. In
like manner he would not suffer his children to have an aversion
to any kind of food, and his daughter having expressed a dislike
to a particular sort, he suffered no other food to be brought to
table till hunger compelled her to eat it, and till by perseverance
her dislike to it was effectually subdued.
It may be remarked that this man of iron nerve, who
had no sympathy with the timid sensibility of a child,
himself fell a victim to what many persons would regard
as an attack of sheer nervous apprehension. The circum-
stances were as follows : —
A Mrs. Boehm had a servant in her house ill of the small-
pox as was thought, though afterwards there was reason to doubt
whether it was that disease. Mrs. Boehm having on that account
absented herself from church for several Sundays, my grandfather
sent her a message that she might now return as usual to public
worship, there being no longer any danger of communicating
infection. She accordingly came on the following Sunday, and
passed by the reading-desk in which Mr. Venn was, in the way
to her pew. Upon her passing him he was sensible of an
uncommon and very disagreeable smell ; and as soon as he came
out of the church he said to his wife, " I am sure I have caught
the smallpox." In whatever way he caught it, certain it is that
in a few days he sickened, and had the disease in a fatal degree.
He was buried at St. Antholin's, Feb. 20, 1738-9.
RICHARD VENN OF ST. ANTHOLIN'S 55
During the last few years of his life his name was
brought into great prominence, and he himself incurred
much obloquy, by his firmness on a matter of principle.
The case was this. The Bishopric of Gloucester having
become vacant in Dec. 1733, the Chancellor, Lord Talbot,
petitioned for it in favour of his intimate friend Dr.
Rundle. Rundle was an able and well-known man, but
a strong Latitudinarian, or " Broad Churchman " as he
would be called at the present time, and known to be
intimate not only with Arians like Whiston, but with
Deists like Chubb. Dr. Gibson, Bishop of London, was
strongly opposed to the appointment, but had nothing to
act upon until Mr. Venn came forward and declared that
he would appear publicly in Bow Church and oppose the
confirmation, if the appointment were really carried on.
The ground of this objection was some remarks that Mr.
Venn had heard Dr. Rundle make in a conversation upon
the sacrifice of Isaac, to the effect that a had he been a
justice of the peace at that time he should have thought it
his duty to have laid Abraham by the heels, as a knave or
a madman."
Dr. Rundle had several powerful supporters,1 and a
considerable pamphlet controversy ensued, upon the news
that such opposition would be resorted to. One of the
most active of these supporters was Dr A. Ashley Sykes,2
who wrote under the designation of " a Gentleman of
the Temple." It was made a subject of bitter complaint
that a private conversation, and one dating back thirteen
years, should thus be dragged into public notice. To this
Mr. Venn replied that, so far as he was concerned, he had
made no secrecy,3 that he had before now endeavoured to
1 In the London Magazine for July 1735 is a letter from Conyers Middleton
to Mr. Venn (it is addressed to " Mr. V — ," and signed " C. M.") beginning, " Sir, I
have been well informed that, some time ago, in Mr. Inny's shop, you took the
liberty to call me by name an Apostate priest. ..." The letter is written in a very
severe tone, and concludes, " should I chance to describe a certain priest by the title of
the Accuser, there is scarce a man in England who would not think on Mr. V — ."
The allusion here is, of course, to his recent threatened action in the matter of Dr.
Rundle.
2 A well-known Latitudinarian clergyman of the day, assistant minister at St. James',
Westminster, and prebendary of Worcester. Author of many controversial tracts.
3 His grandson records a family tradition to the effect that Mr. Venn had
immediately sent distinct notice to Dr. Rundle that he should oppose any future attempt
to raise him to a bishopric whenever any such attempt should be made.
,56 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
secure public condemnation of these opinions, and that this
was the first opportunity that he had had.
Bishop Gibson himself naturally incurred obloquy for
his resolute opposition to the Chancellor's wish, and it
was always understood that it was entirely owing to this
opposition that he was rejected for the Primacy. As public
objection at the ceremony of Confirmation would have
entailed scandal, strenuous efforts were made to induce
Mr. Venn to give way. His son Henry— he was then a boy
of between eight and nine — was present at one interview
which left an indelible impression on his mind.
Some one called, on behalf of the Chancellor it was
understood, and hinted strongly on what might ensue if
he would remain quiet : the Deanery of Wells, it was
stated, would probably soon be vacant. On the other
hand, if he remained obstinate the consequences might be
serious. Mr. Venn's reply was to the effect that if his wife
had to become a needle-woman, and his son a water-man,
he would still persist.
The see of Gloucester was kept vacant for about a year,
by which time the matter had acquired much public
notoriety, and many others of the clergy had begun to
express their objection to the proposed appointment.
Eventually the matter was compromised by Dr. Rundle
being appointed to an Irish bishopric, namely, that of
Derry.
Mr. Venn's zeal and combativeness brought him into
conflict with several of the Latitudinarian, or, as they
would now be called, Broad Church clergy. One of these
opponents was Dr. Conyers Middleton, a well-known
Cambridge scholar.
He had published remarks on Waterland's answer to Tindal's
Deistical work entitled Christianity as old as Creation^ in which
positions were advanced which seemed to shake the credit of
Christianity itself. His name was not put to the tract, nor was it
known for some time who was the author. At length he was
discovered to have written it, as well as several other tracts against
Dr. Pearce, who had attacked it. Mr. Venn, happening, in Inny's
shop, a place of great resort amongst the clergy of that day, to be
asked his opinion with respect to Dr. Middleton, replied with his
usual openness and boldness, " I think he is an apostate priest."
RICHARD VENN OF ST. ANTHOLIN'S 57
These words were carried to Dr. Middleton, who at that time
had not renounced the expectation of preferment. He therefore
addressed and published a most severe letter to my grandfather.
This was not the only occasion on which his warm and zealous
temper led him into conduct which was justly reprehensible.
Another of his antagonists was the redoubtable Dr.
Warburton, though in his case, as Sir L. Stephen has
remarked, it was not necessary to have attacked his
opinions in order to draw down his hostility ; to have
supported them on other grounds than he had himself
advanced was quite enough to bring on a savage attack
upon the well-meaning ally. The following extracts will
show how the great theological pugilist treated those whom
he despised.
What think you of our new set of Fanatics ? . . . There
is another of them, one Wesley. . . . He told a friend of mine
that he will return to Georgia, and then will cast off his English
dress, and wear a dried skin like the savages. It would be well
for Virtue and Religion if this humour would lay hold generally
of our over-heated bigots, and send them to cool themselves in
the Indian marshes. I fancy that Venn and Webster would
make a very entertaining as well as proper figure in a couple of
bear-skins and marching in this terror of equipage like the Pagan
priests of Hercules of old. — Letter to Mr. P. des Maizeaus,
September 16, 1738 ; in Nichols' Lit. Anecdotes, v. 167.
Again —
. . . There is a long preface to it (Faith working by Charity)
in which I work Venn and Webster1 in a manner, though not
equal to the highest provocation that ever was given, yet that
they will have no reason to say that I sneak to them in an
unorthodox manner. The truth is I find gentleness does but
make them insult the more. I have now tried them another
way, and will not leave them. — Letter to Rev. Mr. Birch, May
27, 1738 ; in Nichols' Literary Anecdotes^ v. 578.
Mr. Venn's zeal for the Church was not confined to
the Establishment in general. In the case of individual
clergy he always showed himself remarkably generous
1 William Webster, D.D., a learned and multifarious writer, who held more than
one living in the London diocese. He was curate at St. Clement's, Eastcheap, for
some years from 1732. In this capacity, and as editor of the Weekly Miscellany, he
would naturally make the acquaintance of Mr. Venn, who frequently wrote in this
journal.
5 8 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
wherever anything like distress or want existed. In fact
his donations were sometimes so liberal that he was
remonstrated with by friends on the ground that he was
prejudicing the natural claims of his own family.
Many letters from him must have been in existence at
some time ; but rather strange to say, considering the
care with which my grandfather preserved every scrap of
family information, we do not possess a fragment from
his hand, in the way either of letter, diary, or memorandum.
The following letter, from Cole's Collections at the British
Museum, is the only one of his letters which I have seen.
It is prefaced " Extracts and copies of Original letters and
papers . . . lent to me by my worthy friend Dr. Zachary
Grey,1 June i, 1759 > being autographs of many eminent
persons." It is published in Nichols' Illustrations of
Literary History, iv. 375.
To the Rev. Dr. Grey at his house in Cambridge.
ST. ANTHOLIN'S, May 29, 1736.
Dear Sir — I heartily thank you for your kind present, which
I received from Mr. Clark, your bookseller. Your piece 2 is not
only an answer to Neale, but in a good measure will serve as an
antidote to Rapin and such other writers as have contributed to
poison the youth of the nation with prejudices against the Church
of England and the Stuart family. As the business of the town
is over, and I am retiring into the country, I intend to get your
answer 3 to Sir Isaac and entertain myself with that. I hope if
you come to London this summer you will not think seven miles
too far to let me have your company at Barnes. Things are at
present so unsettled that there is very little news to send you
that may be depended upon. The Bishop of L 4 is quite out
of court, and the Bishop of Oxford succeeds him both in the
present Church Administration and also in his view to Canter-
bury. I congratulate you upon the defeat of the Quakers, but
as that victory is allayed by the Mortmain Act, I doubt we may
1 Zachary Grey was vicar of Houghton Conquest, Bedfordshire, but resided much at
Cambridge. He was in constant communication with many of the learned clergy of his
clay. Most of his writings, which were of a very miscellaneous character, were published
anonymously.
2 Zachary Grey wrote " An Impartial Examination of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Vols.
of Mr. Daniel Neale's History of the Puritans" 1736-9.
3 " Examination of the I4th Chapter of Sir Isaac Newton's Observations upon . . .
Daniel" 1736. It was published anonymously.
4 The Bishop of London was Dr. Edward Gibson, the friend of Mr. Venn already
mentioned. The Bishop of Oxford was Dr. John Potter.
RICHARD VENN OF ST. ANTHOLIN'S
59
say, if Pyrrhus goes on to beat the Romans at this rate he will be
undone shortly. We are now thinking of sending Master Bryan1
to Cambridge, but the favour you have procured him at Trinity
Hall can't take place, as we understand, till next Christmas.
There is a Rustat Exhibition vacant we hear at Jesus : could
your interest with the master serve him to be his sizar at the
next vacancy ? The boy is a good scholar, and his father was
an honest and a learned man ; and I am sure you love to assist
persons who both want and deserve your assistance, rray be so
kind as to visit Dr. Ashton,2 and inform yourself whether any
further provision of any kind beside the Rustat Exhibition can be
hoped for from that College. You may also acquaint the doctor
that the living3 1 have to dispose of near Colchester waits the
resolution of their College till I think of selling it elsewhere.
Pray be as speedy as you can in returning an answer to your
faithful, humble servant, R. VENN.
Direct to Mr. Edward Venn at St. Antholin's, London.
Cole appends the following note : —
This Mr. Venn was the person who informed Bp. Gibson
of Dr. Rundle's infidel and indecent speeches when he was going
to be made Bp. of Gloucester, and who prevented his being
preferred to that see and was sent into Ireland : on which account
Mr. Venn was not a little pelted at by the writers at that time.
Bp. Gibson, at this time, for his unspotted integrity and adher-
ing too strictly to the rights of the Church, was disgraced, and
Potter, who really afterwards succeeded to Canterbury . . . (the
rest about Potter).
Mr. Venn did not, strictly speaking, publish anything
during his life, though a number of more or less contro-
versial letters written by him appeared in the Weekly
Miscellany, at that time conducted by his friend Dr. W.
Webster. After his death a volume of Tracts and Sermons,
composed by him, was published by his widow in 1740.
It was issued by subscription. " It received a liberal
encouragement, and produced many instances of attach-
1 Edward Bryan, B.A. at Jesus, 1739, M.A. 1744. His father, Augustin Bryan*
of Trinity College, was a well-known scholar, editor of Plutarch's Lives, etc., in which
capacity he had probably made Mr. Venn's acquaintance.
2 Charles Ashton, Master of Jesus College. He was no connection with the Ashtons
of Penketh.
3 I cannot ascertain what living is here referred to. It probably came into his
possession through his wife, as both her father, Ashton, and her omcle, Rigby, owned
property in that part of Essex.
*6o VENN FAMILY ANNALS
ment and respect to his memory." The following are
the contents : — *
1. King George's Title asserted : or a Letter to a Fellow
of a College in Cambridge ; showing the Lawfulness
of the Oaths required by the present Government,
upon Principles equally received by all Parties.
Written in the Year 1715.
The Letter is a long one, extending to over one
hundred pages, and must therefore, one would think,
have been composed with a view to publication. It
appears that the " Fellow " (? Thomas Baker) to whom it
was addressed was contemplating the loss of his Fellowship,
by his refusal to take the oath. The writer undertakes
to establish the following propositions : —
(1) That at the time of the Resolution the Chevaliers
birth was doubted of by the English nation.
(2) That on that occasion the States of the Realm had
power to determine the controversy about the
succession.
(3) That the determination then made still remains in
force though the States were at that time mistaken
in their opinion of the Chevalier s birth.
On the first of these points he does not give his own
opinion, but it looks as if he doubted the legitimacy.
His subsequent marriage with John Ashton's daughter
may have changed his views. The second point is
supported by numerous quotations from Grotius and
Puffendorf. On none of the points does he claim more
than probability, his general conclusion being that " such
probabilities of Right, joined with actual Possession, make
the possessor to become rightful and lawful King." It
was written at a critical date at Cambridge, for it was in
this year that the Act was passed requiring that all
members of every foundation should take the oaths of
allegiance to the existing Government — the act which
caused the resignation of Thomas Baker, the antiquary,
together with twenty-one other Fellows of St. John's.
2. The Debate about the Repeal of the '^Corporation and
Test Acts briefly summed up and determined. With
RICHARD VENN OF ST. ANTHOLIN'S 61
some remarks showing that the Repeal of these Acts
will never produce Peace and Union among Protest-
ants, as is weakly pretended, but rather prove a
constant occasion of fresh Feuds and Animosities.
A short tract of twenty pages : not dated, but probably
published in or about 1719. He concludes that " if a
Test be necessary, is our Sacramental Test also defensible ?
I answer briefly, Yes, and upon this Principle, it is lawful
to use the Sacrament or any other sacred Rite to any other
religious Purpose which it will suit . . . provided it is
not inconsistent with the Ground and original End for
which it was ordained."
3. A series of letters published in the Weekly Miscellany,1
dealing mostly with the supposed spread of Infidelity.
One of these contains some minor criticism on certain
arguments in Butler's Analogy. Another is a defence
of his own and Bp. Gibson's action in the matter of
Dr. Rundle. The letters were anonymous.
4. A Sermon preached before the Right Honourable the
Lord Mayor and Aldermen in the Cathedral Church
of St. Paul's, London, on Monday, January 30, 1737.
Being the day appointed to be observed as the Day
of the Martyrdom of King Charles I.
It is dedicated to the Lord Mayor ; 2 with high praise
for his conduct as Member of Parliament, especially for
his " Courage and eloquence in a late time of trial " to
the Universities. This doubtless refers to the so-called
" Mortmain Act " from which the Universities were finally
excepted.
5. Sermons on different occasions : namely ( i ) on Christmas
Day ; (2) on Whit Sunday ; (3) The Eternity of
Hell Torments asserted ; (4) The necessity of keep-
ing the Whole Law.
1 The Weekly Miscellany was a journal which had a brief existence (1736-8),
principally as a medium for clerical communications. It was edited by the Rev. William
Webster, D.D., a rather learned and multifarious London clergyman, under the pseudonym
" Richard Hooker."
2 Sir John Barnard, Lord Mayor 1737, M.P. for the City 1722-61. He was an
opponent of Walpole in the matter of the Excise Bill, etc. He was distinguished as a
financier in the House of Commons (he was offered the post of Chancellor of the
Exchequer in 1746) and for his high personal character. Died at Clapham, 1764.
'62 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
Richard Venn had eight children ; viz., Edward,
Richard, Henry,* John, Mary, Anne, Jane, and Elizabeth.
i. Edward was born in London in 1717. He was
educated at St. Paul's School, London, from whence he
went to St. John's College, Cambridge, in 1736. Here he
was elected " sub-sacrist," i.e. chapel-clerk, July 8, 1737,
which office he held until 1744. He also, in 1737, obtained
a Gower Exhibition at that College. He graduated B.A.
in 1740-1, when his name appears (in the MS. lists at the
Registry) as twenty -first out of twenty- eight in the
honours list, or Tripos as it is now called. He took his
M.A. in 1744.
He studied at Cambridge with great diligence, intending to
have taken orders. But, having passed his degrees, some obstacles
presented themselves to his mind with regard to subscribing to
the Articles of the Church of England. By this I do not mean
that he actually left her Communion and attached himself to any
other sect, but only insomuch as related to his becoming a minister.
He therefore devoted himself to the study of medicine, and became
a pupil of the famous Dr. Heberden : I should suppose he was led
to this study from his intimacy with Mr. Battie, the editor of
Isocrates, who had been a ward of his father. — E. B. V.
After studying for some time in England he went to
Leyden, where he became a pupil of the celebrated
Boerhave. It was either at Leyden or some other foreign
University that he took the degree of M.D., which he
certainly held. On returning to England he soon settled
in practice at Ipswich, where he remained for the rest of
his life. Whatever the early change may have been in
his religious opinions, it does not seem to have produced
any rupture between him and his brother Henry.1 The
distance between them and their busy lives prevented
much mutual intercourse, but such letters from Henry
as are preserved show no diminution of affection. He
married, at Wherstead, March 17, 1749-50 (licence dated
same day), Mary, daughter of Rev. Robert Beaumont,
1 Henry Venn, writing to his brother-in-law, Brasier, says of him, " He was a
man of much thought, and felt a great deal more than he would tell, being of a silent
disposition. But he was never weary of learning from me the wonderful change the
Lord is working in the souls of men, and if anything interrupted my account he would
say, * Well, but go on Harry, you were saying so and so.' This I was pleased with.
Very uncommon it was in a physician."
RICHARD VENN OF ST. ANTHOLIN'S 63
rector of Witnesham, near Ipswich, by whom he had a
son Edward and a daughter Mary. He died at Ipswich,
February 13, 1780.
2. Richard, born in London in 1718. He was bred
to business, and early in life set up as a silk mercer in
London ; but, not being successful in this venture, he
gave it up while he was able to pay every creditor.
Afterwards he entered into the house of Messrs. Car and
Ibbetson, of Ludgate Hill, in whose service he continued
for nearly the remainder of his life. He retired in 1785.
His long and faithful services were recognised by his
firm, who sent him annually a handsome gratuity as a
mark of their esteem. On his retirement, he went to
live with his brother Henry, at his vicarage of Yelling.
He was struck with palsy, whilst in church, December 3,
1789, and died at Yelling, September 27, 1791. He was
never married. There is a small slab to his memory on
the outside of the tower of Yelling church.
3. Mary, baptized at Barnes, March 8, 1720-1. She
married, March 31, 1744, Mr. William James Gambier,
an eminent tea-broker in London, by whom she had three
daughters and one son. She died at Camberwell, April
1 8, 1791, and was buried in the churchyard there.
4. Anne, baptized at Barnes, August 8, 1722 ; buried
there, August 9, 1729.
5. Henry (see next section).
6. Elizabeth, baptized at Barnes, September 4, 1728 ;
buried there, January 25, 1729-30.
7. John, baptized at Barnes, November 6, 1730 ;
buried there, February 27, 1730-1.
8. Jane, buried at Barnes, January 25, 1729-30.
Mr. Venn, probably owing to his comparatively early
and sudden death, made no will. His widow took out
the administration of his goods, March 8, 1738-9, at the
Prerogative Court of Canterbury. The register of St.
Antholin's simply records his death as follows : " Feb.
20, 1738-9. The Rev. Mr. Richard Venn bur."
His widow's will is dated December 6, 1757. It was
proved (P. C. C.) July 9, 1762. She is therein described
64 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
as "of Bread Street, London." She leaves to her sons
Edward and Richard, as executors and trustees, all her
messuages, lands, etc., in Elmsted, Essex: these they are
directed to sell as soon as convenient. Of the proceeds,
^440 is to go to Edward ; £330 is to be invested for
Henry and his children, with various provisions in case
of the failure of issue : " My cabinet, and clock, and
goJd watch, and the pictures of my father and mother,
to my daughter Mary Gambier, and I desire the same,
after her death, may go to her eldest daughter."
The latter legacies refer to the heirlooms connected
with the Stuart family, which she had received through
her father, John Ashton. The cabinet and clock are now
(1903) in possession of Miss E. G. Venn, of Freston
Lodge, near Ipswich. The watch came somehow into
possession of my aunt, Emelia Venn, of Hereford ; at
least she admitted a few years before her death, to my
horror, that she had owned it in her younger days, and
had sold it for a trifling sum in order to get some money
for a Missionary Society. Of the portraits of John and
Mary Ashton all trace seems to be lost. Mary Gambier's
eldest daughter, Maria, married a Mr. James Wright,
and certainly had issue. But after inquiries of her
nearest known relations (descendants of Mr. W. J.
Gambier), no clue has been found as to the subsequent
career of such issue.
According to family (Gambier) tradition, Mrs. Wright
and her brother quarrelled over the possession of the
pictures, during which time they were left to rot in a
coach-house or some such place.
P. 6S.
HKNRY VENN, M.A.
From Painting by M. Chamberlain, 1770.
HENRY VENN OF HUDDERSFIELD AND
YELLING, 1725-1797
HENRY VENN'S biography, consisting principally of a
collection of his letters, was commenced by his son John,
and completed by his grandson Henry. It was published
in 1834, and had at once considerable success, the sixth
edition being issued in 1839. The passages in smaller
type in the following account, unless otherwise assigned,
are taken from this source.
He was born at Barnes, Surrey, his father's usual
summer residence, March 2, 1724-5.
He discovered, from a child, such activity and energy of mind,
such decision and zeal in whatever he undertook, that all who
observed him expected he would one day become an extraordinary
character. A few anecdotes of his boyish years will serve to
illustrate this.
Whilst he was yet a child, Sir Robert Walpole attempted to
introduce more extensively the system of the Excise.1 A violent
opposition was excited, and the popular cry ran strongly against
this measure. Our young politician (he was just eight) caught
the alarm, and could not sleep in his bed, lest the Excise Bill
should pass. On the day on which it was to be submitted to Parlia-
ment, his zeal led him to leave his father's house early, and to
wander through the streets, crying " No Excise," till the evening,
when he returned home exhausted with fatigue, and with his voice
totally lost with his patriotic exertions.
A gentleman, who was reputed to be an Arian, called one
1 The bill was thrown out, March 14, 1732-3. The scheme is now universally
considered to have been a wise one, as tending to simplify the system of taxation in the
country. The clamour, however, against it — mainly raised by political opponents and
those interested in existent abuses — was so violent that it was rejected (for an account
see Lord Hervefs Memoirs, i. 178). In reference to this, and other early anecdotes, it
may be remarked that John Venn was nearly forty when his father died, and had from
boyhood been a collector of family information. He had also uncles and aunts who
could abundantly supply him with anecdotes of his father's early years.
65 F
'66 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
day upon his father. The child (for such he then was) came
into the room, and* with a grave countenance earnestly surveyed
him. The gentleman,1 observing the notice which the child
took of him, began to show him some civil attentions, but found
all his friendly overtures sternly rejected. At length, upon his
more earnestly soliciting him to come to him, the boy indignantly
replied, " I will not come near you, for you are an Arian."
As he adopted with all his heart the opinions he imbibed,
he early entertained a most vehement dislike of all Dissenters.
It happened that a dissenting minister's son, two or three years
older than himself, lived in the same street in London with his
father ; and young Henry, in his zeal for the Church, made no
scruple to attack and fight2 this seceder from it, whenever he
met him. It was a curious circumstance, that, many years after-
wards, he became acquainted with this very individual who was
then a dissenting minister ; and who confessed to him how much
he had been the terror of his life ; and acknowledged that he
never durst leave his father's door till he had carefully looked on
every side, to see that this young champion of the Church was
not in the street.
It could scarcely be expected that such vehemence of
mind would be restrained within due bounds ; it accord-
ingly increased into an inordinate ambition, attended, as
is usually the case, with the fever of impatient jealousy.
A singular instance of this was exhibited upon his hearing
a gentleman very highly commend the Latin exercises of
his elder brother Edward (then at St. Paul's School). His
passions were so agitated by this commendation, that,
though he suppressed them so far as to conceal his
jealousy, his exertion to do so actually threw him into a
convulsion fit, to the great alarm of the family.
I mention these incidents merely to show the strong feelings
and decision of character which he inherited from nature. He
possessed powers which could not but be active j but how these
powers should be determined, whether to good or evil, remained
yet a question. Great energy of character is a dangerous quality;
it is a power which must do much good or much evil. Hence,
Dr. Gloucester Ridley, after attentively observing his character
when young, said, "This boy will go up Holborn, and either
1 Not improbably William Whiston, who was certainly a friend of his father, in
spite of his opinions. Whiston says of Mr. Venn, in his Memoirs, " one that I was well
acquainted with, and had a good opinion of also."
2 As we have already seen, Richard Venn was by no means averse to his sons duly
and properly defending themselves with their fists.
HENRY VENN OF HUDDERSFIELD 67
stop at Ely Place (the then palace of the Bishop of Ely) or go on
to Tyburn."
Happily his energy was exercised in a right direction.
His generous kindness and affection were equally con-
spicuous ; and he had a natural frankness and vivacity of manner
which won upon all who knew him ; so that he was soon the
favourite, not only of his parents, but of his brothers, of the
servants, and of the whole neighbourhood.
In the year 1737, being twelve years old, he was sent to
school at Mortlake, a neighbouring village to Barnes, at which
he remained two years. From this school he was removed to
the care of Mr. Croft,1 of Fulham j where he had not been long
before his father died (February 16, 1738-9), and he was deprived
of the benefits which he would have derived from the care and
superintendence of a pious, affectionate, and learned parent.
He continued at Mr. Croft's several months after his father's
death, and his quitting this situation was at his own request —
a request which indicated an energy of mind, and a right turn
of thinking, uncommon in a boy of fourteen. He told his
mother that, though he was treated with the highest degree of
tenderness '"at Mr. Croft's, yet the very indulgence which was
shown to him and the rest of the boys was an impediment to
their improvement. He requested her, therefore, to send him to
a school where the discipline was more strict, and where the
chief stress was laid upon improvement in learning ; for he con-
sidered even severity to be preferable, on this account, to too
much indulgence.
Such a school was found at the Rev. Mr. Catcott's, of
Bristol, author of a treatise on the Deluge,2 and other tracts.
He was a man of remarkable strictness, and even sternness of
discipline, imposing large tasks upon his pupils, and very sparing
in his commendations. I, ^however, always heard my father
speak of him with the highest respect. He gained his master's
good opinion, by great diligence and by a steady desire of im-
provement j so that he never once suffered correction from him,
or incurred his displeasure.
1 Rev. Thomas Croft (probably B.A., of Jesus College, 1704). Fulham Academy
was a well-known school for many years, and, under the name of Burlington House
School, continued in existence till 1853. It was established in 1728. Thomas Pennant,
the naturalist and antiquary, was one of the most distinguished alumni of the school ;
being only a year younger than H. Venn, he was not improbably a contemporary scholar
there.
2 This seems an error. The Master of Bristol Grammar School was the Rev.
Alexander Stopford Catcott, a learned divine and author. It was his son, Rev.
Alexander Catcott, also of Bristol, who wrote on the Deluge ; i.e. he composed
what would now be called a geological treatise in support of the Mosaic account of the
Flood (v. D.N.B.).
'68 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
I know not what occasioned his removal from Mr. Catcott's,
where he continue'd about a year; but in 1741 he was placed at
the Rev. Dr. Pitman's Academy, Market Street, Hertfordshire,
where he finished his school education.1
In June 1742, being seventeen years of age, he was
admitted at St. John's College, Cambridge, where his
elder brother Edward had already resided for some years.
But having obtained a Rustat Scholarship 2 at Jesus
College, he was removed there August 24, where he
remained for seven years.
Going to College with the advantage of an acquaintance already
established with several respectable members of the University,
who had been intimate friends of his father, and having also a
brother who had been resident there upwards of five years, he was
soon surrounded by a numerous circle of friends. These he
increased by qualities which made his company much sought after j
namely, a never-failing fund of high spirits, a natural hilarity and
gaiety of manner, an engaging sweetness of temper, and a memory
stored with anecdotes, which he related in a manner peculiarly
interesting. Besides this, he captivated all whose good opinion
he wished to gain, by a delicate attention, arising from a happy
mixture of benevolence, modesty, and respect ; there were there-
fore, perhaps, very few men in the University who were so
generally esteemed and beloved. He was, however, very select
in the choice of his society, never keeping company either with
profligate men or with persons of mean talents. The rule he
laid down was to be acquainted only with those from whom he
could gain improvement.
We know nothing of his studies at College. But it
is evident that he must have been well grounded in the
classics at school, and have carried on his work at College
in a very effectual manner, to retain his acquaintance with
the Greek and Latin languages in the way he did in later
life. Many years afterwards, the interval having been
1 The school at Market, or Markyate Street, near Potton, was a small old endowed
school (v. Cussans, Herts, Hi. 117). It was here probably that H. Venn acquired his
sound classical knowledge, as the Master, Dr. William Pitman, was a Fellow of King's
College and a good scholar. He published a Latin Grammar, edited Ovid, etc. He
held the chapelry at Market Street, and also the vicarage at Kensworth, Herts. The
poet Cowper may have been Venn's schoolfellow here, as he left it for Westminster in
1741, the same year that Venn entered. It was at this school that he suffered the
tyranny which sank so deep into his mind.
a A Rustat Scholarship was then worth about £15 a year to a student who resided
tolerably continuously, as most scholars, especially the poorer ones, then did. During
his last four years he also held a Gatford Exhibition, open to the orphans of clergymen.
HENRY VENN OF HUDDERSFIELD 69
almost entirely devoted to exhausting ministerial work,
he was able to prepare his son for College during the year
or two after he had left school. Those who have, in their
later years, been appealed to by their sons to help them
in their studies, will realise that a good deal is implied by
the ability to give a youth of eighteen systematic assistance,
not merely in the Greek Testament, but in Horace and
Longinus, in Herodotus and Demosthenes. That his
son was well prepared is shown by the satisfactory way in
which he passed his entrance examination at College.
What place Henry Venn attained in the Tripos List
of 1744-5, the year in which he graduated B.A., we cannot
say, as the " order of merit " of that year has been lost.
But he evidently took honours, for, in a letter to his son
in after years, he says, " I was exceedingly wretched for a
time that I was not before Dr. Conyers1 in honour." In
1747 he was appointed by Dr. Battie2 to one of the
University Scholarships which he had just founded, and
the nomination to which he reserved to himself during his
life. This enabled him to stay on for a time in Cambridge.
Just before the time of taking the M.A. degree (i.e.
March 18, 1748-9) he migrated to Queens' College,
where a few days afterwards he was elected to a Fellowship,
" chiefly through the recommendation of Mr. Owen
Manning, the tutor of Queens','' who had formed an
intimate friendship with him. He would have been
chosen Fellow of his own College — Jesus — had there been
a vacancy during the time he was capable of holding that
station. He was elected at Queens', March 30, 1749,
and continued in residence there about two years and a
half. During the latter part of this time he held the
offices of Lecturer in Geometry3 and in Greek. He
obtained leave of absence, January n, 1750-1, which was
1 Richard Conyers, LL.D., of Jesus College, a contemporary and an intimate and
life-long friend of Venn, and, like himself, an earnest Evangelical in after life. He was
vicar of Helmsley, Yorkshire, for many years.
2 Dr. William Battie had been a ward of his father. He was son of Edward Battie,
the rector of Holbeton, Devon, who (as we have seen, p. 25) gave Mr. Walker
information about the earlier Richard Venn, the vicar of Otterton.
3 Praelector geometricus and praelector graecus. Whether the duties of such offices
had by then fallen into abeyance, it is impossible to say. But from the analogy of other
Colleges it seems probable that they were almost, if not entirely, nominal.
'70 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
annually renewed until 1757, in which year he married,
and of course resigned the Fellowship.
On June 17, 1747, he was ordained deacon by Dr.
Gibson, Bishop of London, in the chapel of Fulham
Palace, without a title, from the respect which the bishop
entertained for his father's memory. It will be remembered
that Dr. Gibson had been one of Richard Venn's intimate
friends, and his principal supporter in his resistance to
Dr. Rundle's appointment to a bishopric. Mr. Venn was
ordained priest by the Bishop of Ely, Dr. Gooch, in Caius
Chapel, June 18, 1749. Dr. Gooch was at that time
Master of Caius, and frequently held his ordinations in
his own College chapel rather than at Ely.
It was about the time of his entering into Holy Orders that
his first religious impressions commenced ; and as the life of a
retired and pious clergyman, distinguished neither by rank nor
preferment nor by interesting incidents, can be useful only by
tracing accurately his religious progress, it is to this part of his
history that I shall now chiefly direct my attention.
Hitherto religion had made no particular impression on his
mind. He was moral and decent in his conduct, regular in his
attendance on public worship, and had accustomed himself to
read chiefly books of divinity, after he had taken his degree of
B.A. . . . He possessed, however, high ideas of clerical decorum
and scrupulous conscientiousness in doing faithfully whatever he
was convinced to be right, and so highly did he rate a strict
regard to conscience in acting up to the light received, that he
often used to say, in his own forcible way of expressing himself,
that he owed the salvation of his soul to the resolute self-denial
which he exercised, in following the dictates of conscience in a
point which of itself seemed one only of small importance.
The case was this. He was extremely fond of cricket, and
reckoned one of the best players in the University. In the week
before he was ordained he played in a match 1 between Surrey
and All England ; the match had excited considerable interest
I
1 It is not surprising that no account of this match can now be recovered. The
records of the Surrey and Marylebone Clubs — at least as regards the names of players
and the scores made — do not go back to anywhere near this date. In fact, neither of
the present clubs was then in existence. The newspapers of the day never, I believe,
gave any account of cricket matches in those days. There can be no doubt, however,
about the fact, as it must have come at first hand from Henry Venn. Mr. Alcock,
secretary of the Surrey Club, has kindly informed us that he has ascertained that there
actually were matches played between Surrey and All England in May and June 1749,
the names of the players in which have been preserved. The match above referred to
must have been played in 1747, the year in which Venn was ordained deacon.
HENRY VENN OF HUDDERSFIELD 71
and was attended by a very numerous body of spectators. When
the game terminated, in favour of the side on which he played
(Surrey, presumably), he threw down his bat, saying, "Whoever
wants a bat which has done me good service may take that, as I
have no further occasion for it." His friends inquiring the reason,
he replied, " Because I am to be ordained on Sunday, and I will
never have it said of me, c Well struck, Parson ! ' " To this
resolution, notwithstanding the remonstrances of his friends, and
even of the tutor and Fellows of his College, he strictly adhered.
Nay, though his health suffered by a sudden transition from a
course of most violent exercise to a life of comparative inactivity,
he could never be persuaded to play any more.
The first considerable religious impression made upon his
mind arose from an expression in the form of prayer, which he
had been daily accustomed to use, like the world in general, with-
out paying much attention to it, " That I may live to the glory
of Thy name ! " The thought powerfully struck his mind.
What is it to live to the glory of God ? Do I live as I pray ?
What course of life ought I to pursue to glorify God ? After
much reflection on this subject, he came to this conclusion, that
to live to the glory of God required that he should live a life of
piety and religion, in a degree in which he was conscious he had
not yet lived — that he ought to be more strict in prayer, more
diligent in reading the Scripture and pious books, and more
generally holy in his conduct ; and seeing the reasonableness of
such a course of life, his uprightness again discovered itself in
immediately and steadily pursuing it. He set apart stated seasons
for meditation and prayer, turning his reading chiefly into a
religious channel, and kept a strict account of the manner in
which he spent his time and regulated his conduct. I have heard
him say that it was his custom at this period to walk almost every
evening in the cloisters of Trinity College during the time that
the great bell of St. Mary's was tolling at nine o'clock ; and,
amidst the solemn tones and pauses of the bell, and the stillness
and darkness of the night, he would indulge in impressive and
awful reflections on Death and Judgment, on Heaven and Hell.
In a letter, written long afterwards to one of his
children, he thus alludes to this early stage of his religious
progress : —
How do I feel more than requited for all the pains I have
taken, and the prayers I have offered, when I read your earnest
desires that you may glorify God ! Supernatural is that desire ;
it is the bud and the blossom which bring forth all the fruit the
Church of God bears. Well I remember when, in the midst of
72 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
great darkness respecting the Person, the work, and office of my
adored Redeemer — In the midst of utter ignorance of the Law
and of my own total corruption — I felt this desire, strong and
urgent, from day to day, and it hath never departed from me, and
never will. This supreme desire to glorify God is like a friendly
clue in a labyrinth, which guides us out of all perplexities, and
excites an earnest cry, which in time brings us to the enjoyment
of our God and Saviour, gives us increasing views of his excellency
and glory, and ripens us for the vast assembly of perfect spirits,
who are swallowed up in love and adoration of God, and are
perfectly one with each other.
In this frame of mind, Law's Serious Call to a Devout and
Holy Life^ a book which has been the means of exciting many to
a life of holiness, was particularly useful to him : he read it
repeatedly, with peculiar interest and advantage, and immediately
began, with great sincerity, to frame his life according to the
Christian model there delineated. He kept a diary of the state of
his mind : a practice from which he derived great benefit, though
not exactly in the way he expected ; for it chiefly made him
acquainted with his own deficiency. He also allotted the hours
of the day, as far as was consistent with the necessary duties and
employments of his station, to particular acts of meditation and
devotion. He kept frequent fasts, and was accustomed often to
take solitary walks, in which his soul was engaged in prayer and
communion with God. I have heard him mention that in one
of these retired walks, in the meadows behind Jesus College, he
had such a view of the goodness, mercy, and glory of God
as elevated his soul above the world, and made him aspire
towards God, as his supreme good, with unutterable ardour and
enjoyment.
For about six months after he was elected Fellow of Queens'
he served the curacy of Barton, near Cambridge, where he dis-
tributed religious tracts, and conversed with the poor in a manner
that several of them affectionately remembered after an interval of
above thirty years.1 He afterwards assisted different friends by
officiating for them, at Wadenhoe, Northants ; Sible Hedingham,
Essex, and other places ; where, besides the regular duty on
Sundays, he used to instruct the people at his own house in the
week. In July 1750 he ceased to reside in College, and began
to devote himself entirely to ministerial work. He accepted the
curacy of Mr. Langley,2 who held the livings of St. Matthew,
Friday Street, in London, and West Horsley, in Surrey. Mr.
Venn's duty was to serve the church in London during part of
1 Information doubtless derived from John Venn's visits there about 1780-2, when
an undergraduate.
2 Adam Langley, of Christ Church, Oxford.
HENRY VENN OF HUDDERSFIELD 73
the summer, and to reside the remainder of the year at Horsley.
In this employment he continued four years.
At Horsley he instructed many of the poor during the week
at his own house. His family prayer was often attended by thirty
or forty of his poorer neighbours. The number of communicants
was increased, while he was curate, from twelve to sixty. His
activity and zeal, however, offended some of the neighbouring
clergy, and occasioned them to stigmatise him as an enthusiast
and a methodist, though, in truth, he had no knowledge whatever
at that time of the persons usually distinguished by that name.
While he continued curate of Horsley he had an opportunity
of showing a very remarkable instance of disinterestedness. Sir
John Evelyn was patron of Wotton in that neighbourhood, a
living worth between £200 and ^300 a year. He was a gentle-
man very anxious to keep up the due knowledge and worship of
God in his parish, and used to maintain the most friendly inter-
course with the clergymen of that and the neighbouring parish,
to which he also presented, being accustomed to drink tea with
them alternately on a stated day in the week. It was an object,
therefore, of importance to him to have at Wotton a clergyman
of exemplary character, and a man of knowledge and learning.
As soon as the living was vacant, the squire of Horsley, unknown
to Mr. Venn, applied earnestly in his favour to Sir John, assuring
him that he was the very kind of clergyman who would suit his
views ; and Sir John seemed already disposed to accede to his
wishes. Mr. Venn, having learnt these circumstances whilst the
patron's mind was still wavering, turned the scale against himself.
Having long been acquainted with Mr. Broughton,1 secretary to
the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, and having a high
respect for his virtues, he considered him as exactly the kind of
man who would suit Sir John ; and judging that he stood more
in need of the preferment than himself, he wrote an anonymous
letter to Sir John, giving a full and faithful account of his friend's
character, and recommending him to the living. Sir John, after
making inquiry into Mr. Broughton's character, presented him ;
nor had he ever reason to repent of following the advice of his
anonymous correspondent.
Whilst he lived in this retirement his books and his devo-
tions afforded him a fund of never-ceasing pleasure. He was
accustomed to ride upon the fine downs in that neighbourhood,
1 Mr. Thomas Broughton, then lecturer of St. Helen's, Bishopsgate, and prebendary
of Salisbury, afterwards rector of All Hallows, Lombard Street. He held the living of
Wotton from 1752 until his death in 1777. He was one of the original Oxford
" Methodists," and among the first clergymen in London to admit George Whitefield
to preach. He was for some time Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford, and remained
secretary of the Christian Knowledge Society until his death. There is, or was, a
monument to him at All Hallows Church.
74 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
and to chant to himself the Te Deum; and in this devotional
exercise he used t<5 be carried far above terrestrial objects. His
plan of life was very methodical ; realising, as far as he was
able, that laid down by Mr. Law in his Christian Perfection.
Mr. Law was indeed now his favourite author ; and from at-
tachment to him he was in great danger of imbibing the tenets
of the mystical writers, whose sentiments Mr. Law had adopted
in the latter periods of his life.
From a too fond attachment to Mr. Law's tenets, however,
he was recalled by the writings of Mr. Law himself. When
Mr. Law's Spirit of Love or Spirit of Prayer — I am not sure
which — was about to be published, no miser, waiting for the
account of a rich inheritance devolving on him, was ever more
eager than he was to receive a book from which he expected to
derive so much knowledge and improvement. The bookseller
had been importuned to send him the first copy published. At
length the long-desired work was received one evening ; and he
set himself to peruse it with the utmost avidity. He read till he
came to a passage wherein Mr. Law seemed to represent the
blood of Christ as of no more avail in procuring our salvation
than the excellency of his moral character. "What," he exclaimed,
" does he thus degrade the death of Christ, which the Apostles
represent as a sacrifice for sins, and to which they ascribe the
highest efficacy in procuring our salvation ? Then farewell such
a guide ! Henceforth I will call no man master ! "
This was the turning-point in his religious life, and
marked his departure from the old type of Churchmanship
which he had inherited, to that now familiar as Evan-
gelicalism. The change was effected after much internal
question and struggle, and study of the Scriptures. It
does not seem to have been in any way due to the guidance
or instigation of others. He had no acquaintance at this
time with any of the few who had preceded him, either
within the Church, like Grimshaw and Romaine, or on its
borders, like Wesley and Whitefield. The change is very
fully described by my grandfather ; and well and wisely
so ; for he was profoundly convinced of the all-importance
of the principles thus acquired, and their comparative
novelty and unpopularity seemed to call for some justifi-
cation and explanation. The Life and Letters of Henry
Venn^ as commenced a century ago, was in fact somewhat
of a manifesto, and was intended to display the Evangelical
thought and practice as illustrated at their best. But it
HENRY VENN OF HUDDERSFIELD 75
would be foreign to the purpose of these Family Notes
to enter into the details of such a spiritual change. Those
who consult the Life in question will find it admirably
portrayed, both in the description by the author, and in
the letters which are there printed.
In 1754 he accepted the curacy of Clapham, Surrey, where
he remained five years, combining with this duty several lecture-
ships in London. His duties consisted of a full service at
Clapham J on Sunday morning ; a sermon in the afternoon at
St. Alban's, Wood Street ; and one in the evening at St. Swithin's,
London Stone. On Tuesday morning he had a sermon at St.
Swithin's ; on Wednesday morning, at seven o'clock, one at
St. Antholin's ; and on Thursday evening, at Clapham.
It is not surprising that under the strain of this work
he broke down ; suffering from a severe illness in 1756,
by which he was incapacitated from work for about eight
months. After his recovery he remained at Clapham for
some years, but probably gave up some of the work in
London.
At Clapham he made acquaintance with several con-
genial friends. One of these was John Thornton, well
known for his piety and princely liberality. Another was
Sir John Barnard, a great merchant, Lord Mayor of
London in 1737, and for seven successive Parliaments
member for the City. Sir John had been a friend of his
father (v. p. 61). It was here also, in all likelihood, that
he first came to know Lady Huntingdon and George
Whitefield ; the latter especially was an intimate friend of
Thornton.
At Clapham, or in the neighbouring village of Camber-
well, he first met the lady who soon after became his wife.
She was Eling, daughter of the Rev. Thomas Bishop, D.D.,
formerly minister of St. Mary le Tower, Ipswich. Some
account of the family is given in the Appendix. It will
1 The rector at this time was Sir James Stonehouse, Bart., appointed in 1753. He
held the living till 1792. From the total absence of any reference to him by Mr. Venn
we may conjecture that he left the curate to do what he pleased. It may be remarked
that it was only the morning service that was in the rector's or curate's hands. The
afternoon service was conducted by a lecturer j and Sunday evening services were
unknown, being very generally feared and discouraged there as elsewhere. It was not
until his son's time, many years afterwards, that the rector acquired what would now be
considered ordinary control of his own church.
f6 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
suffice here to say that, in addition to Dr. Bishop's many
excellent qualities, he was rather profuse in his expenditure,
and a bad manager. The result was that after his death
his family was left in a state of decided poverty. Eling,
in particular, having parted with the little property left to
her, in order to enable her brother to marry, found some
employment with her sister Martha in a dressmaking
establishment. Henry Venn seems to have made her
acquaintance in 1756, in which year her letters to him com-
mence. A number of these letters have been preserved,
but they deal almost entirely with her religious experience.
" In this lady Mr. Venn found a mind congenial with his
own ; the most sincere and exalted piety directed by a
sound judgment, and enriched by a sweetness of disposi-
tion and animation, which rendered her particularly
interesting as a companion and friend." He married her
at Clapham, May 10, 1757.
Something more will be said about Clapham and its
church when we come to John Venn. It will suffice here
to say that the church in which he ministered is not the
one on the common, Holy Trinity, now often called the
old church. It stood some distance off, "on an eminence1
sloping down to the road from London to Kingston. It
was dedicated to the Holy Trinity, and consisted of a
nave, chancel, and north arid south transepts, the former
of these transepts being occupied by the monuments of the
Atkins family. North and south aisles were afterwards
added in 1715 and 1730" (History of Clapham, published
by H. N. Batten, 1827). This old church must have
already been in a somewhat dilapidated state in Henry
Venn's time, for in 1769, Mr. Couse, an architect, was
requested " to superintend the propping up of the old
church, to quiet the minds of the inhabitants." In 1774
its state seems to have become worse, for " an Act was
granted for building a new church, in pursuance of which
the old church was taken down, except the north aisle,
which was left for the performance of the burial service."
In this condition it remained, serving as a sort of mortuary
1 It must have been built on the first rise of the ground out of what were in early
times the vast marshes of Battersea and Lambeth. A church seems to have existed
there from the twelfth century.
HENRY VENN OF HUDDERSFIELD 77
chapel, — the new church on the common had no burial-
ground attached to it, — for forty years. In 1815 this north
aisle was removed, and a chapel of ease l was built on the
site, which is the present St. Paul's Church. The chancel
was added about twenty years ago.
In 1759 the vicarage of Huddersfield was offered to
him. The patron, Sir John Ramsden,2 was a perfect
stranger, but had heard such a high account of him from
the Earl of Dartmouth, that he desired at once to secure
him for the living. After some hesitation, for the annual
value was under j£ioo, and Mr. Venn had already two
children, he determined to ride down there and decide on
the spot. The result was that he accepted it. As his
son says, he took it at some pecuniary sacrifice,3 as he con-
ceived that he should be far more extensively useful in a
parish of many thousands than at Clapham, where he had
not found the success he had hoped from his labours.
The fact is that the Clapham of his day was a very different
place from that which the religious associations of a later
generation have made so widely known. Mr. Venn's own
words are : 'Grieved at the obstinate rejection of the Gospel
during five years by almost all the rich (and there were
but few poor in the place), I accepted a living unexpectedly
offered to me by my very affectionate friend the Earl
of Dartmouth.4 By this change of situation our income
was reduced more than one half. However, believing
(upon what I thought good grounds) several things to be
true which were misrepresented, and supposing the small
1 A brick erection of an exceptionally unecclesiastical appearance even for its time.
It stands in the midst of the old graveyard, which appears to have been left quite un-
altered. The new church on the common was simply a substitute for the old one, and
therefore continued the former dedication of " Trinity." When the present St. Paul's
was built on the ancient site a new dedication or name had to be assigned to it.
2 The Ramsden family were for centuries almost the owners of Huddersfield, and
are still very largely interested in it. They obtained the manor and patronage from
Nostel Priory, soon after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Sir John Ramsden, Henry
Venn's patron, built the Cloth Hall in 1768. He died in 1769.
3 The statement in the Life and Times of the Countess of Huntingdon, that "urged by
the necessities of his family he accepted the large and valuable living of Huddersfield,"
is the exact reverse of the truth. As we shall see, these necessities were the part-cause
of his being forced to quit the place some years later.
4 William, second Earl of Dartmouth. He was a close friend of Wesley and
Whitefield, and is referred to by Cowper as " one who wears a coronet and prays." He
was naturally the more interested in any appointment to Huddersfield, as being the
owner of Woodsome Hall in the suburbs of the town.
, 78 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
income in so cheap a country would be sufficient to live
upon, I determined to remove to Huddersfield." He adds
that it seemed so impossible to support a family on the
income that he was almost resolved to return to Clapham,
but was dissuaded by his wife, who insisted that he had a
clear call to stay there. This was after he had been there
a few months.
Huddersfield, like Clapham, is now connected in the
minds of many people with associations of earnest and
successful religious work ; but its character then was very
different. Wesley, speaking with his almost unrivalled
experience in such matters, thus describes the place when
he visited it a few months before Mr. Venn's arrival: — "I
rode over the mountains to Huddersfield. A wilder
people I never saw in England. The men, women, and
children filled the streets as we rode along, and seemed
just ready to devour us" (Journal, 1757). Again, two
years later he says, " I preached near Huddersfield to the
wildest congregation I have seen in Yorkshire." As
further illustration of the temper of the people a century
ago, it may be added that it was here that the fiercest
opposition was shown to the introduction of machinery
and the factory system. This rose to a climax in 1812,
when Horsfall's mill was attacked by an armed mob with
great loss of life. A number of the ringleaders in this
affair were tried and executed at York.
Socially and materially the Huddersfield of to-day has
little but. the name in common with that of 1760. The
heather-clad moors surround it at a distance, as of old—
the same hills over which the earnest seekers after Gospel
truth would come straggling in all weathers to hear the
new preacher, — but the town itself has been transmuted
to an extent almost unexampled in England. At least
it would be hard to find another case of a town which,
though itself old, has literally nothing old left in it. Even
the parish church, where one naturally looks for antiquity,
is entirely new.
The town, it need hardly be said, had long been a
relatively important centre of the wool manufacture. But
the conditions of production were totally unlike those of
HENRY VENN OF HUDDERSFIELD 79
the present day. There were no factories in existence,
the work being entirely carried on at home with hand-
looms. " Masters " and " men," if the terms were in use
then, were probably almost equally numerous. Much of
the work was done in the town itself, but much also in
the many hamlets scattered amongst the neighbouring
lills, but included in the vast parish. From these and
>ther places of production the people used to bring in
heir cloth, and hang it for sale on the walls of the church-
ward. This practice continued until Sir John Ramsden
milt the Cloth Hall in 1768.
Though the population was large — it was probably
mt 5000 altogether in 1760 — the place was then, and
for long afterwards, essentially an overgrown village. It
fas not incorporated as a municipal borough until 1868 ;
md throughout the eighteenth century it was for the most
part governed, like an ancient village, by the lord of the
manor. Even the market was not established till 1683.
The parish church, dedicated to St. Peter, has, since
the Reformation, been in the patronage of the Ramsdens,
as lords of the manor — " the manor of Huddersfield in
the honour of Pontefract," as it was described. The
church in which Henry Venn ministered no longer exists.
It was built about 1 506 — a date marked by the erection
of so many of our larger parish churches, — and seems to
have been a fine building, though it had become somewhat
dilapidated by the time in question. We give an illustra-
tion here, representing it substantially as it was in Mr.
Venn's time. The present church is an entirely new
structure, on the old site, and was built in 1836. The
only traces of antiquity, I believe, still to be found in it
are the font, and a few monuments which were moved
into it from the old church. The monument to Henry
Venn, in the chancel, was placed there when the church
was rebuilt. That which he placed to the memory of his
wife in the churchyard in 1767 is still there.
The vicarage house, also, is entirely new, and in a
different situation. Mr. Josiah Bateman, late vicar, in
his Clerical Reminiscences ', says, "This was a very old
building, in the worst part of the town, with a garden
8o VENN FAMILY ANNALS
attached in which nothing green would grow. Close by
a large old-fashioned inn was standing which in times
past had been built upon the glebe. But all was hemmed
in by tall chimneys and wretched buildings." Accordingly
a new vicarage was built in the suburbs of the town.
Directly he arrived Mr. Venn threw himself into the
work of the place with the utmost vigour.
As soon as he began to preach at Huddersfield, the church
became crowded to such an extent that many were not able to
obtain admission. Numbers became deeply impressed with
concern about their souls ; persons flocked from the distant
hamlets,1 inquiring what they must do to be saved. His bowels
yearned over his flock ; and he was never satisfied with his labours
among them, though they were continued to a degree ruinous to
his health. On the Sunday he would often address the congrega-
tion from the desk, briefly explaining and enforcing the Psalms
and the lessons. He would frequently begin the service with a
solemn and most impressive address, exhorting them to consider
themselves as in the presence of the Great God of Heaven, whose
eye was in a particular manner upon them. His whole soul was
engaged in preaching j and as at this time he only used short
notes in the pulpit, ample room was left to indulge the feelings
of compassion, of tenderness, and of love, with which his heart
overflowed towards his people. In the week he statedly visited
the different hamlets 2 in his extensive parish ; and collecting
some of the inhabitants at a private house, he addressed them
with a kindness and earnestness which moved every heart.
An instance occurs to me here of the effect and success of his
preaching which deserves to be recorded. A club, chiefly com-
posed of Socinians, in a neighbouring market town, having heard
much censure and ridicule bestowed upon his preaching, sent two
of their body, whom they considered the ablest to detect absurdity
and the most witty to expose it, to hear this strange preacher and
to furnish merriment for the next meeting. They accordingly
went. When Mr. Venn ascended the reading-desk he addressed
his flock, as usual, with a solemnity and dignity which showed
him to be deeply interested in the work in which he was engaged.
The earnestness of his preaching, and the solemn appeals he
made to conscience, deeply impressed them ; so that one of them
1 Mr. William Moorhouse, afterwards an Independent minister (see p. 96), has
described how he used, when a lad, to walk from Penistone to Huddersfield and back
on Sundays, to hear Mr. Venn preach, a journey of some twenty-five miles altogether.
2 In a letter to Lady Huntingdon he says, " My congregations are daily increasing.
Besides my stated labours on the Lord's Day, I generally preach eight or ten sermons in
the week in the distant parts of the parish, where many come to hear who will not
come to church."
HENRY VENN OF HUDDERSFIELD 81
observed, as they left the church, " Surely God is in this place.
There is no matter of laughter here." This gentleman — a
Mr. James Kershaw, of Halifax — called soon afterwards upon
Mr. Venn, told him who he was, and the purpose for which he
had come to the church, and earnestly begged his forgiveness and
his prayers. From that hour to the day of his death he became
one of Mr. Venn's most faithful and affectionate friends.
The deep impression made by his preaching upon all ranks of
people was indeed very striking. The late Mr. W. Hey1 of
Leeds, who frequently went to Huddersfield to hear him preach,
assured me that once, returning home with an intimate friend,
they neither of them opened their lips to each other till they
came within a mile of Leeds, a distance of about fifteen miles :
so deeply were they impressed by the truths they had heard from
the pulpit and the manner in which these had been delivered.
He made a great point of the due observance of the Sabbath
in the town and parish. He induced several of the most respect-
able and influential inhabitants to perambulate the town, and by
persuasion, rather than by legal intimidation, to repress the open
violation of the day. By such means a great and evident reforma-
tion was accomplished.
He endeavoured to preserve the utmost reverence and devo-
tion in public worship, constantly pressing this matter upon
his people. He read the service with peculiar solemnity and
effect. The Te Deum especially was recited with a triumphant
air and tone, which often produced a perceptible sensation through-
out the whole congregation. He succeeded in inducing the people
to join in the responses and singing. Twice, in the course of
his ministry at Huddersfield, he preached a course of sermons in
explanation of the Liturgy. On one occasion, as he went up to
church, he found a considerable number of persons in the church-
yard waiting for the commencement of the service. He stopped
to address them, saying he hoped they were preparing their hearts
for the service of God, etc. He concluded by waving his hand
for them to go into the church before him, and waited till they
had all entered.
He took great pains in catechising the young persons in his
congregation, chiefly those who were above fourteen years old.
The number was often very considerable, and he wrote out for
their use a very copious explanation of the Church Catechism.
The above is the account given by John Venn, who
1 An eminent physician of Leeds, and the most distinguished of a numerous and
well-known family there, others of whom will be mentioned in the notice of John Venn.
William Hey was a Fellow of the Royal Society, to which he v/as recommended by
Dr. Priestley. His life was written by Dr. John Pearson (see also Leeds Worthies, by
R. V. Taylor).
G
I 82 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
was twelve years old when his father left Huddersfield.
His elder sistef, Eling, has given the following reminis-
cences : —
I used to hear Ruth (the maid) come running across the long
passage ; the door would open and she would say, cc A man wants
to speak to you about his soul." "Tell him to come in," my
father would say. I remember the look of many of them to this
day, with channels upon their black cheeks, where the tears were
running. " Oh, Sir," they would begin at once to say with
eagerness, " I have never slept since last Thursday night. Oh,
Sir, your sermon." "Well, I am thankful to hear it," my father
would say. "There, my dears, shake hands with that good man
and go." " Are these your children ? " " Yes ; pray for them,"
my father would say. Then, when we were gone, my father
would pray with them, and speak to them in the most solemn
manner. This would happen three or four times in the morning.
" There was quite a troop of t' young beginners," as Ruth used
to say.
In the year 1824, his grandson, Henry Venn, paid a
visit to Huddersfield in order to gather up the recollections
of the few survivors amongst the congregation who were
still to be found in the neighbourhood, after a lapse of
fifty-three years. The results of his inquiries are mostly
published in the Life and are a singularly graphic descrip-
tion of the effects of profound religious emotions on simple
and rugged natures, as recalled in old age. The following
notes may be added to what has been published : —
I saw Mr. John Edwards, aged seventy-four, who said, "I
was a very wild lad all the time of Mr. Venn, yet I loved to
hear 'm. I didn't leave my sins, but yet there was a something
which prevented me from being so easy in 'm. . . . There was
no man like 'm in that day among all the preachers, and it's not
every age that sees such an one. ... He was a very tender-
hearted man, he could not help giving when anybody asked : his
wife often felt in his pockets before he went out, for he gave
everything away that they contained. . . . All liked Venn 'mself,
he was so kind a man ; even his enemies dwelt at peace with him,
and all to a man were sorry when he left us. When he gave up
the register of the people to his successor, there was c poor '
marked against many of the names, and against others 'very
poor ' ; so they asked him what it meant, and he said, from the
' poor ' he took nothing, and to the c very poor ' he always gave
HENRY VENN OF HUDDERSFIELD 83
something when they came to pay their dues. I recollect, when
standing outside the church, old Murgatoyd of the George Inn
came to hear him, and after staying a time came out again before
the sermon was over ; so we asked him whether he had had
enough. ' Ah,' he said, f yon man would tire the divil.' A
shrewd fellow, who stood beside, replied, 'Yea, that he's done
mony a time.' A great difference was produced in the whole
place ; he was the first gentleman who had been amongst them,
and the town began to improve from that time. ... I have often
heard tell that, when he visited Huddersfield some years after he
had left it, he came on horseback with some friends, and when
he saw the old steeple three miles off, he drew up and burst
into tears."
Old John Starky lives in a cottage sunk half-way under
ground, by the side of a steep road which goes over a high hill
called Cawcliff, about two miles off. He is just eighty, past
work, but his faculties are lively, and his recollection distinct.
Upon parting with me he grasped my hand, and his eyes filled
with tears, while he said, " I canna tell you how fain I be to see
you. . . . He (Mr. Venn) made mony weep. I've cried mony
a bit. When he got warm with his subject he looked as if he'd
jump out of pulpit. I could have stooden and heard 'm while
morning." Mr. Midward, aged seventy-eight, said, " Mr. Venn
was a very bold man. He was afraid of no one. If he had not
been of that sort he ought never to have come here, for he came
into a den of lions and tigers. He had great opposition at first,
and many slanderers. But after a time he won over all to like
him, and if any one had wished to hurt him they dare not have
done it on account of the neighbours. He produced a great
change in the observation of the Sabbath. Before his time we
had butchers killing the meat and carrying it to the shambles,
and travellers exposing their goods ; but he used to go round
with the churchwardens and put a stop to all such things." Mr.
W. Hurst, turned eighty -seven, perfectly recollected his first
coming and preaching his first sermon, and the noise he soon
made throughout the whole country. People used to come and
hear him regularly from Leeds, as well as places within ten or
twelve miles. Mrs. Powley1 recollected hearing of an inn-keeper
at the Crown, Huntingdon, at whose inn Mr. Venn and Mr. E.
Bates once stopped to dine, being so much struck with the con-
versation which he casually heard, when he brought in the first
dish, that he stayed and waited throughout dinner, and received
impressions which, though not at the time very effectual, yet
induced him afterwards^tp send for Mr. Venn during his last
illness, and to leave directions to be buried at Yelling.
1 Widow of the Rev. Matt. Powley, vicar of Dewsbury j see on, p. 93.
84 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
The following extracts from the Memoirs l of the
Rev. Joseph Co'ckin add a good many particulars about
Mr. Venn from a rather different point of view. Mr.
Cockin fell under Mr. Venn's influence, when quite a
young lad, against violent opposition from his father.
As divine service was at that time kept up by Mr. Venn at
Huddersfield church on Thursday evenings, I made a point of
attending, though I was at the distance of four miles and had to
go alone. To facilitate my escape, my mother, in the course of
the afternoon, carried my clothes into a private place in the fields,
and I went and changed those in which I worked that I might
appear in decent trim. I remember once being waylaid by my
father, and there was no way of escape but through a river which
I was just able to ford. To this place I repaired, put off my
clothes and carried them over my head, and thus effected my
purpose. Such were the difficulties which attended the com-
mencement of my religious course.
He was soon afterwards sent away from home, to
remove him from the preacher's influence.
It was alleged that we had been happy before we got hold of
Venn's religion, but since then there had been no rest, and that
it should have no more continuance in that house.
On the first Sabbath morning he gave out one of Dr. Watts'
hymns, and his text was, " Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer
to God for Israel is that they might be saved." They who were
in the church, with such truths, and such vehement persuasive
language as they had not heard before, and they who stayed at
home to cook dinners, wondered at the unusual length of the
service. Tidings of this extraordinary preacher soon spread far
and wide and attracted crowds to hear him, some of whom came
six or seven miles to hear him.
Mr. Cockin also furnishes the following anecdote : —
In the year 1767 Mr. Venn left home, intending to go to a
greater distance and to be absent a longer time than ordinary.
He agreed with his friend Sir Charles Hotham,2 to take a tour on
the Continent ; but when they arrived in France, and had
advanced but a little way in that kingdom, he dreamed one night
that Mrs. Venn was very ill. The dream made a considerable
1 Published (znd edition) 1841. Mr. Cockin was for many years an Independent
minister at Halifax. jj.-'
2 Charles Hotham, afterwards baronet. He was for some time in the 1 5th
Regiment, and Groom of the Bedchamber to George III.
HENRY VENN OF HUDDERSFIELD 85
impression on his mind and left him very pensive next morning ;
but his companion slighted it, and wondered that he should be
seriously uneasy from such a cause. Next night, however, the
dream1 was repeated with additional circumstances and a more
vivid impression. This convinced him that it was preternatural,
and accordingly he gave up the design of his journey, and im-
mediately hastened home. When he alighted from the coach at
Barnsley he inquired of the mistress of the inn, whom he
knew, if she had heard anything from Huddersfield lately ?
Yes, she said, she had heard that Mrs. Venn was ill. That was
the intelligence he most dreaded ; and though the shades of
evening were coming on, he called for a post-horse, and pushed
forward without delay. Late in the evening the man heard the
sound of a horse's feet in the yard, and when he opened the door,
to his great surprise he saw his master, whom he supposed to be
in France. He eagerly asked, "John, how is your mistress?"
" Indeed, sir, she is very ill." He rushed past him and ran up-
stairs without stopping a moment to put off any part of his
travelling dress. Mrs. Venn died on the fourth day after his
return, namely, September n, 1767. This account is given on
the authority and from the information of John Moorhouse, an
intelligent conversable man whom I (John Cockin, the author of
his father's Life) met at Stockport several years ago, and who had
been in the service of Mr. Venn a considerable time.
This tour was made, or rather was commenced, a year
or two after Smollett's famous journey, his description of
which shows that a foreign tour was a rather adventurous
matter at that day for those who could not travel as great
lords. Strange to say, Mr. Venn has made no allusion
whatever to it in his many letters. We only know that
he returned by the common route to Harwich, namely, by
Helvoetsluys ; as it was at this last place that he met the
Swedish gentleman who testified so warmly to the profit
he had received from the Complete Duty of Man.
Mr. Venn's own account of the death of his wife is
printed in the Memoir. It seems to have been originally
given in a letter2 written by him at the time to his intimate
friend Sir Richard Hill, brother of Rowland Hill. It was
1 It is a curious fact that John Venn, then a boy at school, between eight and nine
years of age, always declared that he had had a similar vision or impression on the
morning of his mother's death. This has not been mentioned in print ; probably it was
feared in those days that any belief of this kind would be regarded either as sheer
superstition or as a claim of special Divine favour.
2 Published by T. S. Jones, D.D., 1822. It was also printed in Mr. Wells'
Spiritual Register.
86 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
first published apparently in the Life of the Viscountess
Glenorchy, sister" of Sir Richard Hill.
Shortly after his wife's death, Sir Charles Hotham
took Mr. Venn for a short tour with him in the south and
west of England ; but this was mainly a round amongst
the settlements of Lady Huntingdon; Brighton, Bath,
Trevecca, etc. Writing to Mrs. Riland, the wife of his
curate John Riland, he says —
October 28, 1769. — I am in as good health as with me is
usual, and, what is better than health, I am made useful to souls
here. Indeed, my talent seems to be for Conversation and for
Itinerancy. Lady Huntingdon is almost as careful of me as you
would be yourself, and the conversations I have with her are
animating and delightful. How glorious and faithful a witness is
she ! Not a day, not an hour passes, without some one or other
reaping the benefit of her alms, her gracious counsel, her fervent
love, and cordial prayers. ... It is said, when we are at Rome
we must do as they do at Rome. I find it must be so here, with
respect to my hours of rising and going to bed. Instead of my
delicious living, I go to bed at twelve, and rise at a quarter-past
seven, and breakfast at half-past nine, and dine at three ; and
every other day I ride out about ten miles.
It was during his stay at Huddersfield, in 1763, that
he published the work by which he was long best
known, namely, the Complete Duty of Man. The title was
doubtless purposely chosen in order to mark a contrast
with the doctrines of the well-known work of the previous
century, the Whole Duty of Man. It is, in fact, a sort of
manifesto of the Evangelical views. Its success was rapid
and wide, and his son, writing shortly after the author's
death, says that twenty editions had already been sold.
Several remarkable instances are recorded in the Life,
showing the profound influence which this work produced,
both in England and abroad, on many who read it. This
success is a clear proof that it must in some way have
been well adapted to the time, but it must be hard for
those who now read it to understand the secret of its
popularity. It is written in a tone of earnest simplicity,
but we look in vain for any trace of those attractive
characteristics which we know to have been so prominent
in his personal intercourse. To compare but one or two
HENRY VENN OF HUDDERSFIELD 87
well-known devotional writers : any one who looks into
the works of Law, or Baxter's Saints' Rest, or Taylor's
Holy Living and Dying, whether he fully accepts the
doctrines or not, can appreciate the power and attraction.
But the Complete Duty, I suspect, would generally strike
him as being rather like one of those sermons which he
is accustomed to glance at and dismiss. It is quite certain
that no one who heard Venn preach or converse ever felt
in this way.
Mr. Cockin gives the following account of the circum-
stances under which Mr. Venn left Huddersfield : —
Why then did he leave the place ? and especially, why did he
leave it for Yelling, a parish which was thinly inhabited, and
where his congregations, his respect, and his influence were far
inferior to what they had been in Yorkshire ? He was kind and
generous in disposition ; his style of living was genteel and hospit-
able ; he kept a horse and a man-servant ; and his charities were
liberal and extensive. His income from the vicarage was not
adequate to a third part of these demands, and the deficiency was
supplied by the benefactions of Lord Dartmouth, Mr. John
Thornton, and other opulent friends. In the course of years,
and from the various changes of life, some of his resources failed ;
and at the same time his children grew up, and were to be educated.
When his receipts lessened and his expenses increased he saw
himself in danger of embarrassment : he felt it necessary to reduce
his establishment, and he thought it more agreeable to enter upon
this system of retrenchment and economy in a new place than to
do it at Huddersfield. The late Mr. Kershaw (see p. 81), who
enjoyed a confidential intimacy with Mr. Venn, told me that this
was the true reason why he accepted the rectory of Yelling. Such
a cause, we are ready to think, might have been removed, but
he was too delicate to declare it, and the people do not seem to
have been aware of it, for they always speak of his removal from
Huddersfield as a strange thing for which they could not account.
That he was more or less in narrow circumstances all
his life is quite true. Though never uttering a word of
complaint, or soliciting help from his wealthy friends
except for the poor of the parish, there are very many
incidental allusions in his letters which show this ; and
several instances are recorded in his Life of the straits in
which he sometimes found himself. Still, but for his
health, he would have managed to struggle on in the
,88 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
place for which he felt himself so eminently suited. In
a letter written 'just before his departure (December 8,
1770) he says —
It is a happy circumstance for me, since even you and all my
dear friends in Yorkshire seem determined to place my removal
to a lucrative motive, that the living I am going to will not suffer
any such construction, nor will my circumstances be at all
materially mended by it. But this does not in the least affect
me, because I plainly perceive, every time I preach, how much I
am hurt, and the very last time I preached in Bath chapel I had
such a palpitation of heart (a thing I never had before) as soon as
I sat down in the chair, as made me ready to faint away. This
and many other symptoms I feel, but, because I am cheerful and
ride about, my Yorkshire friends, through their affection for me,
make little of the matter ; and as Mrs. Jones expressed it, she
said if she were one of the Huddersfield congregation she had
sooner see me drop down dead than leave the place. I feel very
sensibly what a total change in my condition this event will bring
about ; and if I seem to consult flesh and blood, there are many
more comforts in Huddersfield than at Yelling. Do not you
believe I enjoy the Word of God, the House of God, the Table
of God, and the Ministers of God ? and where are they to be
enjoyed in that degree they are at Huddersfield ? What is a
little church with at most a hundred people ? What is a small
solitary village ? What is the Lord's Table, with perhaps twenty
communicants, with what I have for near twenty years been used
to ? Only renew my strength and make me in any degree capable
of the labour of my much-loved post, and I will be bound to strive
rather than leave it.
Again, in a later letter he says —
Nothing would have prevailed on me to leave Huddersfield if
my lungs had not received an irreparable injury, of which I am
more sensible, by several symptoms, than ever. Looking upon
my dissolution as at no great distance, I go to Yelling as a
dying man.
At Huddersfield, as afterwards at Yelling, he was by
no means a stay-at-home person. Partly on account of
health, but still more as regarding himself as being some-
what of a missionary in a benighted land, he made repeated
visits to distant parts of the country. These journeys
were almost always made on horseback, and his stopping-
places were generally at the houses of devoted friends, for
HENRY VENN OF HUDDERSFIELD 89
his acquaintance — considering the general unpopularity of
his religious views — was extensive. Very frequently he
stopped with the Countess of Huntingdon in London, or
at Bath or Brighton. His letters often contain accounts
of his rapturous spiritual experiences during some lonely
ride, and the affectionate greeting of his friends at the close
of the day. For instance —
Mr. Jesse l met me at Malton, and accompanied me as far as
Hull : he is a very excellent man, and seems appointed to evan-
gelise the Wolds. At Hull I was transported by hearing Mr.
Milner2 on the Wednesday. In my judgment, he is much the
ablest minister that I ever heard open his mouth for Christ. . . .
He invited me to spend the evening with him. This was at the
hazard of his character ; for there were persons at the church who
knew me, and seemed not a little gratified that Mr. Milner gave
such a proof of his Methodism. I went on the evening of
Thursday to Wintringham (Mr. Adam).3 The dear blessed
man inquired cordially after you. At Wintringham I met with
a young clergyman who some months since was a careless and
worldly character . . . the young man is beginning to preach
the Word of Life. He came with me as far as Lincoln, thirty-
four miles, and spent the evening with me. I left him this
morning at five, and have ridden fifty-two miles since. It has
been a happy day indeed ; happy in almost perpetual prayer.
What though the way is quite lonely — over a heath of sixteen
miles, without a house in sight — the river which maketh glad the
City of God flowed around me. (From Peterborough, April
30, I77I-)
Again, in the autumn of the same year : —
From Sheffield I rode to Chatsworth, where I slept, and set
off the next morning at six o'clock. ... At Northampton no
Mr. Madan,4 so that I fear he is ill. Thence I came hither (to
1 Rev. William Jesse. For some time an occasional assistant to Lady Huntingdon
at Oathall in Sussex, and elsewhere. Afterwards vicar of Hutton, Yorks.
2 Joseph Milner, the well-known brother of the still better known Isaac. They
were sons of a poor weaver at Leeds. Isaac, the president of Queens' College, and Dean
of Carlisle, will be mentioned later. Joseph, of St. Catherine's Hall, was for many years
head-master of the grammar school at Hull, and lecturer at Trinity Church. For some
time minister of North Ferriby. He was an intimate friend and correspondent of Lady
Huntingdon. Best known by his Church History, which was completed by his brother,
who published his works in eight volumes in 1810. Joseph died in 1797, aged
fifty-three.
3 Thomas Adam (1701-84), son of Mr. H. Adam, town-clerk of Leeds. At first
at Cambridge for two years, afterwards at Oxford, where he graduated B.A. at Hart
Hall. Rector of Wintringham, 1726-84. His sermons were published in three volumes.
4 Martin Madan. At first a barrister and man of society, afterwards a popular
Evangelical preacher. Founder and first chaplain of the Lock Hospital, near Hyde
QO VENN FAMILY ANNALS
St. Albans), and my dear friend Mr. Clarke,1 of Chesham Boyce,
is sitting by me. . * . From Mr. Clarke I went to Reading, and
was received with unfeigned love by Mr. and Mrs. Talbot.2 He
rode with me on my way to Bath. We had very much com-
munion of heart. From Mr. Talbot's I rode to Pewsey, and was
most cordially received by Mr. Townsend.3 From thence I came
here (to Bath) yesterday, and found Lady Huntingdon and my
dear son in the Gospel, as he will call himself, Mr. Shirley.4 We
are to share the work between us [i.e. the ministration in
Lady Huntingdon's chapel].
Well might he say, towards the close of his life, in
a letter to his son, " You have been every day in my
thoughts as enjoying now one of the most delicious
gratifications below, — the travelling from place to place,
visiting the excellent of the earth."
On these journeys he used to preach wherever allowed,
with the natural result to one who was seeking rest, that
he not unfrequently knocked himself up and undid all the
good of the open-air exercise. He says himself in a letter —
In February 1766 the complaint in my chest increased so
much that I was able to do next to nothing for seven months.
This complaint, through my own unpardonable length and loud-
ness in speaking, has not mended, but grown worse and worse.
I have also found, every succeeding year, that I am more and
more hurt by speaking.
In the spring of 1769, when staying with Mr. John
Park Corner. He was a brother of Spencer Madan, Bishop of Peterborough. He was
very musical, and composed the tunes for several popular hymns. In later life he caused
great scandal by a treatise which he published in defence of Polygamy (Thelyphthora,
1780). This led to his resignation of the chaplaincy and his retirement into private
life. Being, like his brother, an excellent scholar, he devoted his leisure to classical
study, and in 1789 published a literal translation of Juvenal and Persius, for the use of
schools. He died in 1790.
1 Thomas Clarke, rector of Chesham Bois, Bucks. Of Brasenose College, Oxford.
Alluded to by Mr. Romaine as the " Solomon of the age. ' He was a curate in York-
shire when Mr. Venn made his acquaintance.
2 William Talbot, LL.D., M.A., of Exeter College, Oxford. Vicar of Kineton,
Warwickshire, and afterwards vicar of St. Giles', Reading. One of Lady Huntingdon's
preachers. Died March 2, 1774.
3 Joseph Townsend. Son of the celebrated Alderman Townsend of London, M.P.
for Calne. Former Fellow of Clare College, and one of Lady Huntingdon's preachers
at Bath. He was presented to Pewsey by his father.
4 Hon. Walter Shirley, first cousin of Lady Huntingdon. He was rector of
Loughrea, Co, Galway, but he spent much of his time in England, where he was
chaplain to, and a frequent preacher for, his cousin. He sided strongly with her and
Whitefield in the dispute with Wesley which excited so much interest in Methodist
circles. He took an earnest part in all Lady Huntingdon's schemes. Known as a
hymn-writer. He died in 1786.
HENRY VENN OF HUDDERSFIELD 91
Thornton at Clapham, — this was when he had already
become subject to attacks of haemorrhage from the lungs,
— he says —
I have not been idle. I have been too much pressed to refuse ;
and on the whole, I have preached twenty times, during eight
weeks, to crowded churches ; and, I think, with more boldness,
delight, and power than I have ever done before. . . . Last Sunday
morning I preached a Charity Sermon in one of the largest
churches in London. The curate so hated my name that he left
the church, and there was no one to read the prayers : after
making the congregation wait, I was obliged to read them myself.
During his stay at Huddersfield he had a few, but
very few,1 sympathetic clergymen within accessible distance
in the county. The chief of these were Dr. Richard
Conyers,2 vicar of Helmsley, his old Cambridge contem-
porary ; Mr. James Stillingfleet, rector of Hotham,
formerly of Queen's College, Oxford ; and the well-
known William Grimshaw of Haworth, of whom some
account will be found in Mrs. Gaskell's Life of Charlotte
Bronte. The itinerant " Methodists " also paid him
occasional visits. The following extracts from Wesley's
Journal refer to Huddersfield, during Mr. Venn's
ministry : —
1761, July 20, Huddersfield. — I came to a full explanation
with that good man, Mr. Venn. Lord, if I must dispute, let it
be with the children of the devil : let me be at peace with Thy
children.
1764, July 6. — In the evening I preached at Halifax, where
I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Venn, with whom, in the
morning of Saturday the 7th, I rode to Huddersfield, and
preached there.
1765, August 15, Wednesday. — I preached in the evening at
Leeds, and next morning rode to Huddersfield. Mr. Venn
having given notice on Sunday of my preaching, we had a
numerous congregation.
1766, August 8, Friday. — Preached at Huddersfield.
He was for some time, I think, equally cordial with
1 In 1764, Wesley mentions, in his Journal, the names of thirty-two clergymen
scattered over England whom he considered to be in general sympathy with him. Henry
Venn's name is included amongst these.
2 For some time vicar of Helmsley ; afterwards, through the presentation of John
Thornton, whose sister he married, vicar of St. Paul's, Deptford. Died 1787.
•92 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
both Wesley and Whitefield, though his doctrinal sym-
pathies were decidedly closer with the latter, and his
friendship with him of considerably earlier date. As early
as 1757, during his life at Clapham, he and Mr. Madan
accompanied Whitefield on a preaching tour in the west
of England, during which he stayed with the Countess of
Huntingdon at her house in Clifton. Ten years later,
writing from Huddersfield (1767, October 2), he says
to Whitefield, " Have compassion on my people and my
neighbourhood. Come and lift up your voice in my
church on Tuesday. It is our market day. I can give
notice on the Sabbath day : you will have thousands to
hear you." The following letter from the Life and
Times of the Countess of Huntingdon (i. 430) refers to the
year 1768. It is written by Mr. Venn, who says that,
being refused the use of the church at Cheltenham, they
" preached in the churchyard. ... At this juncture
Mr. Whitefield made an awful pause of a few seconds,
and then burst into a flood of tears. During this short
interval Mr. Madan and myself stood up and requested
the people as much as possible to restrain themselves from
making any noise. . . . We separated in different direc-
tions amongst the crowd, and each was quickly surrounded
by an attentive audience. Mr. Whitefield and myself
purpose leaving this for London the day after to-morrow."
As other instances of his intimacy may be mentioned
the fact that George Whitefield was one of the signatories
to Mr. Venn's letters of appointment to be chaplain to the
Earl of Euchan1 in 1767, and that Mr. Venn preached
the funeral sermon on Whitefield at Lady Huntingdon's
chapel at Bath. Shortly before his wife's death Mr. Venn
had contemplated going out to the American Colonies.
The fact is mentioned in Mr. Riland's short MS. memoir
of Mrs. Venn's last illness. That it was to Whitefield's
College in Georgia seems quite certain. Indeed, in a letter
of April 8, 1766, Mr Venn remarks, " I have given up all
1 David Stewart, Earl of Buchan, born 1742. He succeeded to the earldom in
1767, and seems almost immediately to have appointed Venn, Berridge, and Fletcher of
Madeley as his chaplains. His later life was spent in literary retirement in Scotland,
but his adhesion to Lady Huntingdon seems to have created great excitement in
fashionable circles.
HENRY VENN OF HUDDERSFIELD 93
thoughts of Georgia. Upon examination there are many
things that forbid my undertaking that province."
After the well-known controversy and split between
Wesley and Whitefield, on the question of Calvinistic
doctrine, Mr. Venn's relations with the former, which had
never been very intimate, became decidedly strained. In
fact, in later years Mr. Wesley's preachers treated him
with downright hostility. Writing to Mr. Powley,1 vicar
of Dewsbury, January 9, 1779, Mr. Venn says —
It was a grief but no surprise to me to hear that the
Methodists oppose and contradict the truth you teach. Excepting
some few, they are as ignorant of themselves and of the Gospel
way of Salvation as those who make no profession ; and no less
bitter against the servants of Christ who have gone much farther
than the first principles in which they stick. I have preached five
years in a barn, where Mr. Wesley's preachers come. I never
take the least notice of them or their doctrine, but establish the
doctrine of man's sinfulness.
Again, a month later, writing to the Rev. J. Bottomley,
of Scarborough, he says —
I have for many years been exceedingly abused by Mr.
Wesley as an Antinomian Calvinist, holding doctrines which
came from hell and lead to it. He has sent his preachers to
Godmanchester [where Mr. Venn had been taking duty] after I
began there, and is ever indefatigable in suggesting prejudices
against me.
This seems a convenient place to say a few words
about Mr. Venn's attitude as a Churchman. He was
profoundly convinced of the truth of the doctrines of the
Church of England, and of their essentially "Evangelical"
character, and sincerely attached to its ritual and practice.
As he says in a letter —
How often have I declared my utmost veneration for the
Liturgy ? How often, in your hearing, how often in the church,
declared the superior excellency, in my judgment, of the Liturgy
to every mode of worship, not only among the Dissenters, but
that had ever been in the Church of Christ as far as I had know-
1 Matthew Powley of Queen's College, Oxford. For some time curate to Mr. Venn
at Huddersfield j afterwards vicar of Dewsbury. Mr. Powley married a daughter of
William Cowper's friend Mrs. Unwin. He died December 23, 1806. He was at one
time an earnest supporter and assistant of Lady Huntingdon.
94 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
ledge. . . . On Saturday I dined with our Bishop. I find he has
no objection to a revisal and alteration of the Liturgy. This
change will one day, I fear, take place, and then the measure of
our iniquities will be full, when we have cast the doctrine of
Christ out of the public worship.
This was written late in life, but represents his per-
manent convictions. The fact is that his position and
attitude naturally and inevitably changed as years passed
by. He had begun in cordial and hearty co-operation with
both Wesley and Lady Huntingdon, and his personal
affection towards the latter probably remained to the last.
But as the Wesleyan and Huntingdonian Connexions
hardened into definite organisations, they tended more
and more to regard as hostile those who were not entirely
with them. For many years, as has been said, Mr. Venn
was an active helper of Lady Huntingdon, though never,
I believe, one of her chaplains. For year after year he
used to stay with her at Bath and take charge of her
chapel there. He visited her at London, Brighton, and
Clifton, conducting service in her chapels. He more
than once went into South Wales to visit her College at
Trevecca,1 the rules for the management of which were
drawn up by him, Romaine, and others. In 1771, when
he was leaving Yorkshire, he says, uAt Yelling, as at
Huddersfield, I shall still be your ladyship's willing
servant in the service of the Gospel ; and when I can be
of any service in furthering your plans for the salvation of
souls and the glory of Christ I am your obedient servant
to command."
Probably the first step in the alienation was caused by
the decision of the Consistorial Court of the Bishop of
London in 1780. An objection being raised to the
erection of one of her chapels in Spa Fields, by the vicar
of the parish, the case was tried in that Court. This
decided the character of her chapels as Dissenting places of
worship. They were accordingly placed under the shelter
of the Toleration Act : her ministers were required to take
1 Trevecca, in the parish of Talgarth, Brecknockshire. The house, which consisted
of the ruins of an ancient castle, belonged to Howel Harris, the Welsh preacher, and
was leased to the Countess of Huntingdon for a college for training her ministers.
The College was afterwards transferred to Cheshunt, where it still exists.
HENRY VENN OF HUDDERSFIELD 95
the oath of allegiance as Dissenting ministers, and her
chapels registered as Dissenting places of worship. In
consequence of this, Mr. Venn never, as his son assures
us, afterwards officiated in her chapels,1 nor, I believe, did
Romaine, Berridge, or most other of Mr. Venn's friends.
Doubtless this action embittered the feelings of her party,
until, towards the close of his life, in a letter to his son
(January i, 1796) he speaks as strongly as follows, "I am
not displeased with the opposition of the Huntingdonians
to your preaching (at Clapham). Their hatred is much
to be preferred to their praise."
The following extracts from letters display his own
spirit of moderation, and earnest deprecation of religious
controversy : —
"Now, whilst you read these lines, Mr. Wesley, Madan, Hill,
Shirley, Fletcher, and more, are all engaged in fierce disputes;
Lady Huntingdon opposing to the uttermost his preachers, and
they returning with violence the opposition, so that the world
cries out, 'When will these saints agree which is the way to
Heaven?'" (January 29, 1772). "Though the doctrines of
Grace are clear to me, I am still no friend to High Calvinism.
There is much in some villages not far from me, and I think it
little better, if at all, than Deism. In one sense I prefer the
latter, because it leaves a man accessible, whereas a false libertine
Calvinism stops up every avenue. . . Predestination cancels the
necessity of any change, and dispenses at once with all duty"
(Yelling, July 8, 1775).
In one case Mr. Venn certainly gave very definite
assistance to the establishment of a Dissenting congrega-
tion, but this was somewhat early in his career, and his son
assures us that he afterwards strongly regretted the step
he had taken. This was on the occasion of his leaving
Huddersfield. In spite of his appeal to Lady Ramsden,
the then patroness 2 of the living, his successor at Hudders-
field was a man entirely opposed to the doctrines which
he had taught and the congregation had enthusiastically
accepted. The people therefore subscribed together for
the erection of a building in which they might continue
1 Rowland Hill's well-known Surrey chapel, for some reason, stood on a different
footing. Mr. Venn and others of his friends used to minister there, I believe, to the
last.
2 Sir John Ramsden died in 1769. His son was then a minor.
,96 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
the same sort of service and preaching to which they had
been accustomed. Mr. Venn encouraged them in so
doing, and subscribed towards the undertaking. Mr.
Moorhouse was the preacher selected. In a letter to him,
dated September 26, 1772, about a year after he had left
the place, Mr. Venn says, " God's name be praised that
your church is in a flourishing condition. It has my
daily prayers. I shall be glad to hear from you as my
successor among a people whom I shall always love."
In the course of another year or two l a new vicar was
appointed, from whose preaching Mr. Venn would never
have wished the people to absent themselves. But the
schism, once started, naturally persisted, and the new
church gradually developed into a permanent Dissenting
community, which it still remains, under the name of
Highfield Chapel. As Mr. Cockin says, " Such was the
beginning of the Independent interest at Huddersfield."
This result Mr. John Venn of Clapham says his father
deeply regretted. It may be added that his curate Mr. Riland
was strongly adverse to his conduct in this matter. " His
advice and exhortation (to the people) was, ' Stick to the
Church : by all means stick to the Church, and pray for
the conversion of your minister; and if you can't approve
of his preaching, remember you have the Gospel in the
-pv > 1 »
rrayers.
In the course of the year 1770 Mr. Venn's attacks of
illness became so serious that he was obliged to resign the
vicarage, though he did not preach his farewell sermon there
until March 30, 1771. In the autumn of 1770, whilst on
a visit to Bath, he received the offer of the rectory 2 of
Yelling, Hunts, a small village about fifteen miles from
Cambridge, which he at once accepted. Shortly afterwards
he became engaged to the lady who became his second wife.
She was a daughter 3 of the Rev. James Ayscough, vicar of
1 Mr. Harcar Brook, his immediate successor, was appointed in 1772, and died in
1773.
2 It was a Chancellor's living, and was offered to him by Chief Baron Smythe, then
one of the Commissioners of the Great Seal.
3 She was a somewhat near relation of Sir Isaac Newton, through which connection
I am in possession of a mourning ring for the great scientific philosopher. I presume
that this was through her father (Newton's mother was an Ayscough), but I have not
discovered the exact link of connection.
HENRY VENN OF HUDDERSFIELD 97
Highworth, Wilts, and the widow of a Mr. Smith, and was
at this time living at Kensington. They were married,
July 15, 1771, at Kensington Church. For twenty-one
years she remained his devoted wife, and acted as the wise
and affectionate mother of his children.
The life at Yelling was naturally a great contrast with
that at Huddersfield. A small village embedded in the
clay, no resident gentleman, a few farmers and dull
agricultural labourers : this took the place of the enthusi-
astic congregations that thronged the large church, and all
the varied modes of influence in which he had taken
delight. He soon adapted himself to his new work,
however, and in one way or another continued his labours
here for twenty-five years.
Yelling itself has been but little altered since his time.
The situation is decidedly picturesque, and even hilly for
Cambridgeshire — or rather Huntingdonshire, for it lies
just within the borders of that county — in fact, one of
those, locally, very rare indications, a warning to cyclists,
stands by the rectory gate. The village is situated just on
the edge of a slope, where the ground falls away towards
the Bedfordshire Ouse and where it is much more broken
and woody than in most parts of Cambridgeshire. The
view from the vicarage garden, in front of the house,
would be considered pretty anywhere.
The church is structurally but little altered. There
was a spire in Mr. Venn's time, as represented in the
accompanying sketch, but this was removed long ago.
There is a nave, chancel, and two aisles, and though small,
it is a very fair specimen of a village church. The arches
on the north side of the nave appear to be of Norman
date, somewhat modified, and are worth notice. There is
one old monument existent — a stone sarcophagus in the
south wall, without date or inscription. The only
reminder of the Venn family is a tablet on the south side
of the tower, outside, to the memory of the wife and
brother of Henry Venn.
The old part of the vicarage house has scarcely been
altered, though the building has been nearly doubled in
size by a large addition made to it some fifty or sixty
H
.98 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
years ago. The approach to it has been changed. As the
sketch shows, the entrance was formerly from the front,
up the hill ; it is now on the level, past the church.
There is — or was, some years ago — a tradition that the
large chestnut tree in front of the house was planted by
Henry Venn.
The main change in the neighbourhood consists in the
enclosure of the country around. In those days almost
the whole expanse between Cambridge and Yelling, as
indeed on most other sides of the town, was what was
called " field," namely, open and unenclosed ground.
Even now the stretch of ten miles to Caxton is only
broken by five or six habitations, and probably the farm-
house, formerly an inn called the Two -pot house, was
then the only house passed on the way. Presumably
during part of Mr. Venn's residence at Yelling the well-
known gibbet l which still stands near Caxton, where the
track crossed the Old North Road, was bearing its ghastly
freight.
The consequent almost entire absence of practicable
roads2 in the neighbourhood made the place difficult of
access in winter. In a letter to his brother-in-law, Mr.
Brasier (Dec. 29, 1779), he says, "The snow being on
the ground, we should have been at a great loss how to
have brought you here without some apparent danger at
least. By the first week in March, unless the weather
should be worse than usual, I can engage that Mrs. Brasier
shall be brought to the end of a close not a quarter of a
mile from us without any more justly to alarm her fears
than on the Turnpike." This difficulty of access referred
1 It was originally set up for a man named Gatward, son of a very respectable woman
who kept an inn at Royston. He was convicted of robbing the mail about this spot, and
hanged here in chains, 1753-4. Cole the antiquary (as quoted in C. G. Harper's
Cambridge Road] states that he saw the body hanging there. A brother, James
Gatward, was for many years driver of a coach which passed the spot. Whether the
existent gibbet ever served its original purpose is doubtful, but it is certainly an old
erection. Not improbably there was more than one such display here, as tradition records
one that must be of later date. An old relative of mine — Miss Harvey, daughter of
Henry Venn's daughter Catherine — who was often at Yelling in her childhood, and who
died at a great age in 1884, assured me that she could remember some remains of a body
there, though she could not be sure that there was more than a leg left in her time.
2 When he moved from Huddersfield his furniture was sent by sea. The water access
to Yelling was, by Lynn, up the Ouse to Paxton, which was within three or four miles
of the village.
II
HENRY VENN OF HUDDERSFIELD 99
mainly to the lanes east and west. The Old North Road,
which ran within a couple of miles of the village, must
have been fairly good, and was in fact generally used for
the mails, though much of the passenger traffic went by
the Great North Road, five or six miles to the west.
This remoteness told in many ways. For instance, it
was almost impossible to secure a doctor. The rustics
trusted to a local bone-setter ; others had to send to
Huntingdon or Cambridge. Accordingly Mr. Venn took
particular care that the members of his family should be
instructed in what would now be called " first-aid " practice.
His daughter Jane became very accomplished in this way,
and was for many years the recognised attendant in less
serious cases, whether medical or surgical. His son John,
he says, was taught enough medicine, whilst at Cambridge,
" to be useful, and to learn to bleed," in case he should
afterwards be appointed to a similarly remote parish.
During the comparative imprisonment of the winter he
used to supplement the exercise of visiting the people by
vigorous work at home. " I have not been on horseback
once these seven weeks, and I should be shivering with
cold if I did not work in cleaving and chopping ; but
doing this in the kitchen for an a hour and a half each day,
I never enjoyed my health better" (February 10, 1784).
He spoke of himself as going to Yelling " as a dying
man," but, as a matter of fact, his health revived, and he
was soon immersed in such active work as the place
admitted of. Writing soon after his arrival — December 1 2,
1771 — he says, " I preach near three hours on a Sunday ;
I have sixteen young people on a Tuesday ; I speak on
the Lessons every evening, and neither cough nor feel any
pain on my breast, so I am meditating to do a little more
if the renewed strength continues till summer." During
the worst part of the year he often adopted the very
sensible practice of having a sort of evening service in his
own kitchen. " I have people enough to fill our large
kitchen on Sunday evenings, but I find it very heavy.
Yet I can't refrain myself, and they are very attentive."
" Last Sunday evening we had fifty-two people in my
kitchen, a surprising number when I tell you there are
I0o VENN FAMILY ANNALS
only one hundred and sixty-one souls in the parish, the
children included', and that it is a country very thinly
sown with people."
Of clerical friends' he had none in the imhiediate
neighbourhood. In fact the only country neighbour with
whom he was in sympathy was the well-known and eccentric
John Berridge, formerly Fellow of Clare, and long rector
of Everton, Bedfordshire. "Other clergymen in the
neighbourhood we shall see none. My name is sufficient
to disgust them ; and if not, the preaching twice of a
Sabbath is. None of the clergy in the neighbourhood, nor
of the gentry, come near us." Gradually, however, he
acquired a great and increasing influence in the University,
from which he was only thirteen miles distant. The best
known of the " disciples " whom he there gathered about
him were Charles Simeon ; William Farish, afterwards a
professor ; and Mr. Jowett, tutor of Trinity Hall. They
used frequently to ride or drive over to Yelling to spend
the day with Mr. Venn. It soon became an established
custom for them to bring other young men * with them
whom they wished to influence in the same direction. We
shall see more of this influence when relating the life of his
son John Venn, as most of the men referred to belonged to
his generation.
Mr. Venn was always a diligent student. For several
years from 1775, when he was turned fifty, he employed
his leisure at Yelling in preparing his son for college,
and there are many passages in his letters showing how
wide was his range of reading. In particular he was a
diligent student of French — a rare accomplishment for the
clergy of that day. There are repeated references, in his
letters, to his admiration of Daille and Fenelon. u If you
read French I would advise you to purchase a small volume
which, though written by a Papist and a Primate of France,
is one of the best books on the subject I have ever seen,
1 One of these visitors has left a MS. copy (in my possession) of his first interview.
He was a Mr. Flavel, who, with Thomas Thomason (afterwards well known in India)
and another young man, paid such a visit to Yelling in 1795. See Life, p. 50. One of
the characteristics which struck Mr. Flavel was Mr. Venn's cheerfulness and readiness
of anecdote, in spite of extreme bodily weakness. Flavel died very young, shortly after
his ordination.
HENRY VENN OF HUDDERSFIELD 101
and altogether scriptural excepting a page or two. The
title is Traite de Confiance en Dieu ; the author Archbishop
of Sens." " I am just now finishing a fifth volume of
Mr. Daille, which carries one through the Epistles to
the Philippians ; and on Wednesday I received loan of
eight volumes more." He elsewhere refers to having
read Voltaire.1
His principal employment during his country retire-
ment was that of letter-writing. Many hundreds of his
letters have been preserved, addressed to relations and
friends in various parts of the country. They form a very
remarkable collection, extending from comparative youth
to old age, and breathe throughout the same spiritual joy,
rising at times into rapture, intermixed with shrewd and
wise advice. Those who read the Life will there find an
abundant selection from his correspondence, admirably
arranged. These letters need not be reproduced here ; but
it must be remembered that the Life was composed in
order to portray the character of one who was somewhat
of a leader in a religious revival, and lays very rightly
prominent stress on this side of his nature. Such extracts
from his correspondence as are here given are intended,
therefore, not as a corrective, but as a supplement to what
has been published.
His family grew up, and for the most part dispersed,
during his residence at Yelling. His son John was at home
there, during school holidays and University vacations,
till he went to the vicarage of Little Dunham in 1783.
Two of his daughters were married here, Eling to Mr.
Charles Elliott, and Catherine to the Rev. James Harvey.
The third surviving daughter, Jane, remained with him.
In early life she had been delicate, or perhaps — as some
of her father's letters seem to indicate — was inclined
to consider herself delicate. She proved a rare house-
1 " The most execrable book I ever read — and I have read Hume, Voltaire, Boling-
broke, etc., etc. — is a book lately published by Lindsay, defending and even exalting Priestley
above Christ " (Letter to his nephew, Edward Venn, January 30, 1789).
Naturally he was, as a rule, utterly averse to the reading of fiction, but, like so many
others of his time, he seems to have fallen under the spell of Richardson on one occasion.
From what my uncle John Venn had heard, he was so captivated by the first volume of
Clarissa Harlvwe, which had somehow fallen into his hands, that he could not lay it down
till he had finished it ; he went over to a neighbouring town to procure each successive
volume.
VENN FAMILY ANNALS
manager, especially after her step-mother's death in 1791,
and was to the 'last a devoted attendant on her father
during his declining years.
The simple and affectionate family life which was thus
led there never seems to have been the slightest variance
between him and any of his relations — included all the
servants who were worthy of it, who are as cordially
remembered in his letters as if they were daughters.
Amongst these Ruth Clarke1 occupied the chief place.
" Ruth is quite well ; and doubly attached to us after her
long absence (she had been sent to Yorkshire to recruit her
health). She is indeed as a daughter ; no creature living
can be more thankful. . . . Oh what comfort and mutual
satisfaction do masters and servants lose when there is no
Christian love ! " She remained with him to the last,
having begun as a girl in their service at Huddersfield.
The following account of the family party at Yelling
occurs in a letter (November 24, 1781) from Mr. Berridge
to Mr. John Thornton : —
I came from Yelling not much improved in health, but
greatly delighted with their family worship, and with the gracious
behaviour of the whole family. Truly it seems a little household
of faith. Nelly (Eling) is quick and smart, and appears to advan-
tage in company ; but Jenny (Jane) is the most solid and has the
best abilities. She visits all the sick in the parish, makes up their
medicines, delights in the work, and would make a good parson's
wife. Jacky is the top branch of the tree; highest and humblest.
His abilities seem equal to anything he undertakes, and his
modesty is pleasing to all that behold him. He is so recollected
in his talk that I seldom hear him speak a trifling thing. His
behaviour in College has turned the hearts of the Master and
Fellows entirely to him, who were very averse and injurious for a
season, on account of his being the son of a Methodist clergyman.
There seems not a doubt that he will be elected Fellow next
Easter.
During the better part of the year he continued, as at
Huddersfield, to travel a good deal, his journeys being
undertaken partly for health, partly for the purpose of
1 She came into his service as a Yorkshire girl, when he was at Huddersfield, and
continued with him till his death. She was afterwards supported by the family at
Clapham, where she died about 1806. Her life was published by my father in a short
tract.
HENRY VENN OF HUDDERSFIELD 103
seeing friends, and preaching. For some time he used to
go to Bath, and to preach at Lady Huntingdon's chapels,
until the change of view as to their ecclesiastical position.
Other visits were to John Thornton at Clapham, to his
old friends at Huddersfield, and elsewhere. To the last, I
believe, or at least as long as his health permitted, he used
to preach for Rowland Hill. For instance, he says in
1785, "When I go to London I shall chiefly preach at
Surrey Chapel. He (Hill) writes me word the people for
the much greater part prefer the clergy, but if none will
officiate there it must be supplied by Dissenters."
During the last five or six years of his life at Yelling
he was gradually declining. He sometimes rallied, and
then preached with all his old vigour. " I returned last
Friday three weeks, and was very far from continuing my
good resolution. On Sunday fortnight I preached as if I
had been quite strong, very much indeed at liberty, an
hour and ten minutes. And again, on the Tuesday
following I preached at Cambridge for dear Simeon . . .
and in the meantime, on the Saturday and the Sunday
following, I lost my speech" (July 12, 1791). Then
came further blows. Two months later his brother died,
September 27, 1791 ; he had been an inmate of his house
for several years, but had latterly become a complete
paralytic. Then in the following spring his wife was
carried off. He tried again a course at Bath, and after-
wards at Buxton, and greatly rallied for a time after the
latter. But his work as a preacher was completely done,
though he continued to pour out his heart in letters to
intimate friends. " I told my invaluable Jane I must
write to you, but no more than five lines. Upon seeing
what I have written, she tells me I surely meant to have
said five pages" (Letter, 1795). He was tenderly waited
on by his daughter ; " she loves me a great deal too much
for her own peace, and Ruth, like another daughter, no
less agitated " (Letter, 1793).
Shortly before his death he left Yelling, and moved to
Clapham, where his son had been rector since 1792.
He lingered on for some months, and died at Clapham,
June 24, 1797. His last hours have been more than once
io4 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
referred to in print, as displaying that extremely rare
experience of triumphant joy to the very end. The
following is his daughter's account :—
Mr. Pearson l attended him during the last few weeks of his
life. About five weeks before his death he pointed out some
fatal symptoms to Mr. Pearson. " Does not this look well ? " he
said. " Yes," Mr. Pearson answered, " it looks far too well for
nobody but yourself." His eyes sparkled, and with the sweetest
smile he said, " I thought so : I knew I could not be mistaken."
He was so revived by the thought of dying soon, that Mr. Pearson
said, " Why, surely, you cannot die for joy. The thought of it, I
see, is such a cordial to you that it does more for you than any-
thing we could give you." Two or three weeks afterwards Mr.
Pearson said to me, " Madam, your father would have died a fort-
night ago if it had not been for joy at dying."
In personal appearance he was of about the middle
height, and in latter life seems to have become decidedly
stout. He was of a fresh, open, rather rubicund counte-
nance, a characteristic sometimes humorously alluded to
by himself. " Dr. Peckwell sends his carriage to the
tabernacle (Surrey Chapel) for Mr. Berridge and myself.
Figure to yourself such a pair of divines, so plump and so
jolly." "At Brighton I was desired by Mr. Mitchell, the
rector, who concluded positively that nothing spiritual
could have the least connection with such a countenance
as mine, to give him a sermon." This clergyman, having
been afterwards rallied by some friends at letting such
opinions be expressed in his church, replied, " Who would
have thought that such a cheerful, open countenance could
have had any connection with Methodism ? "
The accompanying likeness is taken from an oil
portrait by Mason Chamberlain, done in 1770.
His general character is thus summed up by a rare
judge of spiritual and literary qualities, the late Sir J.
Stephen :—
1 From some reminiscences by his daughter, Eling Elliott. The substance of it is
printed in the Life. John Pearson, F.R.S., of Golden Square, was a celebrated surgeon
ot the day. He was father of the Rev. John Norman Pearson, first principal of the
Church Missionary College in Islington, and grandfather of the late judge Sir John
Pearson, and of Professor C. H. Pearson, the well-known historian.
HENRY VENN OF HUDDERSFIELD 105
He was one of the most eminent examples of one of the most
uncommon of human excellencies — the possession of perfect and
uninterrupted mental health. . . . There prevailed throughout
the whole man a certain sympathy which enabled him to possess
his soul in order, in energy, and in composure. . . . Those
qualities which are antagonistic in most men were consentient in
him ; and his talents, though separately of no very exalted order,
became, by their habitual concurrence, of very singular efficacy.
Thus his aesthetic sense was associated with a keen taste for the
beautiful, and with a quick perception of the ludicrous. Though
dwelling amidst the most sublime devotional elevations, his oral
and epistolary discourse on those mysterious topics was character-
ised by perfect simplicity and transparent clearness. With a
well-stored memory, he was an independent, if not an original
thinker. With deep and even vehement attachments, he knew
how to maintain on fit occasions, even towards those whom he
loved best, a judicial gravity and even a judicial sternness. He
acted with indefatigable energy in the throng of men, and yet in
solitude could meditate with unwearied perseverance. He was at
once a preacher at whose voice multitudes wept or trembled, and
a companion to whose privacy the wise resorted for instruction.
In all the exigencies and in all the relations of life the firmest
reliance might always be placed on his counsels ( Essays In Ecclesi-
astical Biography^ p. 165).
Sir J. Stephen had not known Mr. Venn personally,
being but a child at the time of his death, but he had
ample opportunities of hearing about him from many
common friends at Clapham ; moreover, he had aided my
father in reading and selecting the letters published in the
Life.
As to his extraordinary personal charm, all those who
met him seem to be agreed. His daughter Eling gives
one or two anecdotes in illustration. He was on one
occasion going to London from Yelling, and on getting
into the coach found that the rest of the company con-
sisted of officers in the army. They filled the air with
the language which those of their profession were then
supposed to have acquired in Flanders and elsewhere.
Mr. Venn managed to convey his reproof with such a
pleasant tact that they soon became excellent friends.
" He began to talk to them on religious subjects for the
rest of the journey. They listened to him with the
greatest pleasure, and, when they parted, begged he
«o6 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
would recommend to them books to read. They took
leave of him, saying it was the most agreeable journey
they had ever taken." On another occasion, when stay-
ing with Lady Lowther, she was rather disturbed by
suddenly hearing that her brother, Colonel Ramsden — a
man strongly opposed to religion — was coming there.
The Colonel at first treated the preacher with much
haughtiness and reserve, but was at last fairly overcome
by his conversation and manner. " Talk of the Method-
ists ! " he said afterwards, " why, this Mr. Venn is one of
the most agreeable men I was ever in company with."
Many hundreds of letters in his voluminous corre-
spondence have been preserved, from which an excellent
selection is given in the Life. They deal mainly with
religious experience, but are constantly enlivened by
shrewd comments on matters of everyday life. The
following brief extracts are meant to supplement the
published letters : —
1763, March 1 8. — Mr. Whitefield is here (Hudders field) on
his way to Scotland. The account he gives of the delusions,
visions, and prophecies amongst Mr. Wesley's people in London
is indeed quite deplorable.
1773, March 3. — The next time your wagon comes into the
south, I shall be obliged to you to bring my candles. Please
direct them to Mr. Gambier. (To his friend Mr. Whitaker, a
Huddersfield merchant.)
1776, October 9. — I must not forget to tell you a good piece
of news. Another clergyman, a Fellow of Clare Hall, invited me
to supper, and I find his heart is all in a flame for Christ. He
has been four years by himself and sought after wisdom from
above, Living aside all other studies. (First reference to Mr.
Berridge.)
1778, August 27. — Two miles beyond Epsom in going, a huge
machine, called a land-frigate, coming down a gentle hill, ran foul
of us, tore away part of our hinder wheel and broke in two the
perch. The beam on which our carriage stood broke the glasses
of every panel, locking us fast in against a high bank. Many
deliverances wonderful to relate I have received, but none beyond
this.
1778, January 31. — I was the more agreeably surprised at this
instance of your regard, as I had just before determined to give a
HENRY VENN OF HUDDERSFIELD 107
schoolmaster ^20 a year to teach all the children ; and though
able to contribute but a small part myself, I could trust for the
remainder to the Christian love of my friends. (To Lady Mary
Fitzgerald.1)
1780, January 14. — Mr. Riland of Birmingham [formerly his
curate at Huddersfield] has at last forsaken the standard of
Polygamy, and betaken himself to the side of Christian decorum
and decency again. Mr. Powley [also a former curate] has been
instrumental in working his conversion, which does him the more
honour, as he had a very weak though a very good man to deal
with. [Mr. Riland had adopted Mr. Madan's views.]
1780, August 9. — I am glad to find that Mr. Madan's book is
held in abhorrence. The fruits it will produce are dreadful.
Mr. Madan sent me the book. (See p. 89.)
1780, September 21. — This morning set out on horseback with
John [his servant] for Yorkshire, through Leicester, much reduced
in flesh and strength through an ague which, with some few
intermissions, continued from October 13, 1779, to July 10, 1780.
The change of air and exercise in going, whilst there, and in
returning by Birmingham and Leicester, God was pleased to bless
to the restoring of my health and strength. But above all, by the
drinking the chalybeate spring called Nilwell I returned on
December 15, loaded with mercies.
1782, August 21. — Think of the impious audacity of the noted
Mr. Home (John Home Tooke), once vicar of Brentford, now
head-steward to Sir R. Barnard. Last Sunday but one he ordered
all the tenants to wait upon him at the chief inn at Buckden, and
did business with them during divine service.
1 78 1, October 18. — Last Saturday, as my dear [wife] was riding
behind me, the girth suddenly snapped in two, the pillion turned
aside, and she has had a fall which has very violently strained her
leg and ankle.
1784, August 5. — Nelly's letter I paid for, and I write this in
a single sheet in case the Act takes place immediately. I shall
ride over to Caxton to inquire, and if the frank will cover it, I shall
rejoice, and send Kate's enclosed. If not, I must keep hers back ;
is. 4d. is too much for postage. It will be of little use to the
Exchequer, but it will deprive his Majesty's good subjects of their
mutual correspondence — an innocent pleasure.
1786, March 1 6. — (Referring to his daughter's attendance at a
dance.) You remember I was once carried, without any intention
of giving offence, to a concert, by Mr. Madan, and never was
1 For many years one of his most valued correspondents. She was Lady Mary,
daughter of John, Lord Hervey, and married Mr. Fitzgerald. Her son was the
notorious Irish duellist, "Fighting Fitzgerald," executed for murder in 1786.
io8 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
more serious and devout in my own thoughts than there. But
great offence was taken. It was put in the papers, not by name,
but strongly intimating who was present. Mrs. Wilberforce
expressed her grief. So I paid for my want of thought.
1783, November 17. — You must remember always to weigh
what you put into a frank, to see that it weighs less than two
ounces. You put into your last one quarter of an ounce more, for
which I had to pay 55. 3d. (To a daughter.)
1794, February 16. — I received your second letter, informing
me of the certain advice Government has received of the intended
invasion of the French with 50,000 troops. I shall certainly with
all pleasure receive your wife and dear branches. (To his son John,
then rector of Clapham.)
1795, January 17. — I am much obliged to you for your having
pity upon my poor, who have no help but from myself and through
my friends. Never were they so brought into distress and want
as now : yet patient and resigned even to surprise me. But six
shillings a week ! In two or three houses are six, in one ten,
children. And the parish allowance is so small they would literally
be starved if they had no more. We have, I mean Jane and myself,
found out an excellent means of feeding them by buying sheeps'
heads and dressing them, so that one will serve six families very well,
and the cost is not more than two shillings. Some of the day-labourers
who had only one coat, and that ready to drop off, are now warmly
clad, and the women who were without any fit clothing have very
warm petticoats. . . . Thirteen stone of very good cheese have
been distributed, beside five chaldron of coals.
Henry Venn had five children, as follows :—
i. Eling, born at Clapham, February 7, 1758. She
married, at Yelling, December 20, 1785, Mr. Charles
Elliott, then of Bond Street, afterwards of Grove House,
Clapham, and Westfield Lodge, Brighton. At the time that
he made Mr. Venn's acquaintance Mr. Elliott was a young
widower with four or five children. Mr. Venn found in
him an affectionate son-in-law, and a strong sympathiser
with his views. A number of letters addressed to Mr.
Elliott will be found in the Life. There were eight
children of the marriage ; of whom the best known were
Henry, the popular minister for many years at St. Mary's
Chapel, Brighton ; and Edward, also a clergyman at
Brighton, and author of the Horae Apocalypticae. They
were both Fellows of Trinity, Cambridge. Charles Elliott
died October 15, 1832, and Mrs. Elliott, April 17, 1843.
HENRY VENN OF HUDDERSFIELD 109
2. John, born at Clapham, March 9, 1759 (see on).
3. Jane, born at Huddersfield, December 6, 1760.
The devoted attendant on her father during his latter
years, as she was, subsequently, of her brother and his
family after the death of his wife. She must have been
a very lively and intelligent girl in her youth, as indeed
both her sisters were. She had lived so much in close
intercourse with her father and his friends at Yelling, and
had so often been on visits to the latter, and to relations,
that she was to the last a storehouse of information about
the family past. She could have handed down much that
is now lost on such subjects, but unfortunately, like most
young people, I cared but little for family annals in the
days when I used to see her. Like other country-bred
girls of the eighteenth century, she was primed with
recipes for everything which home resources could supply.
As a boy, I remember her at Hereford, when she was
verging towards ninety, still active in her domestic
management, in which department, I suspect, she rather
distrusted the interference of her niece and nephew ; and
keenly interested in her garden, about which the niece
and nephew cared nothing. I have a distant vision
of her with her keys in her hand, unlocking her store-
cupboard, in which were ranged rows of pickles and other
home-made stores. In her youth, at Yelling, she was the
recognised resource of the poor parishioners during their
slighter maladies, and on every occasion on which what is
now known as " first aid " was required. .
Our faithful Ruth, seized with a fit upon the staircase, fell
down. She received a violent strain in her ankle, and a wound in
her leg five inches in length, and the sight terrified the people. Jane
became the surgeon, and undertook the cure with great resolution,
for it was terrible to look at. We are now deprived of a cook, for
our other maid did not so much as know how to spit a joint of
meat. Jane undertook the business and succeeded. — (Letter from
her father, 1795.)
She nursed her father during his last years. In 1803,
after the death of her brother's wife, she kept house for
him, and superintended the care of his family of seven
young children. After the marriage and dispersion of
VENN FAMILY ANNALS
most of these she remained with her nephew and niece,
John and Emelia-, first at Pinner, and afterwards, till the
close of her life, at Hereford. She died there July 1852,
and was buried in St. Peter's Cemetery.
4. Frances Susannah ; born at Huddersfield, October
6, 1763 ; died there, July 5, 1769, of consumption
following on small-pox.
5. Catherine; born at Huddersfield, August 12, 1765.
She married, at Yelling, November 23, 1790, James
Harvey. He was a son of the Rev. Edmund Harvey,
rector of Finningley, Notts. At the time of his engage-
ment he was an undergraduate of Exeter College, Oxford,
and was reading with Mr. Venn during his last long
vacation. He graduated B.A. in 1791. He took holy
orders, and was for a time curate to Mr. Venn's friend,
Matthew Powley, at Dewsbury, but never held any
preferment. He was, I believe, a kind husband and a
dutiful son-in-law, and blameless in his private life ; but
he must have been a strange inmate in the family, and
an extraordinary contrast to his brother-in-law, Charles
Elliott. He is mainly remembered for his remarkable
eccentricity. As my uncle John informed me, he was
passionately fond of his horses, which he would some-
times bring into the dining-room and cause to walk
round the table. He used to declare that his love of
horses was all to the glory of God ; and, pointing to one
fine animal, would remark that it raised his feelings
towards their common Creator to look at it. Mr. and
Mrs. Harvey lived for many years at Caldecot,1 Northhill,
Beds, near Sandy, where his family had long owned
property. Catherine Harvey died August 24, 1 8 1 8 ; she
and her husband were both buried at Northhill.
They had four children : a son Edmund, and three
daughters, Susan, Sarah, and Elizabeth. Edmund was
devoted to music, and was an admirable performer on the
1 The old home of this branch of the Harveys, for some three centuries, was at
Ickwellbury in Northhill. James Harvey's house at Caldecot (another hamlet in the
same parish) has been long pulled down, and the site of it occupied by almshouses built
in memory of her family by his daughter Elizabeth. Catherine Harvey is buried under
an altar slab at the west end of the churchyard. The other members of the family were
buried till 1863 in the church, and afterwards in a sort of chapel on the north side of
the chancel.
HENRY VENN OF HUDDERSFIELD in
violin. He inherited his father's eccentricity. I remem-
ber his occasional appearance at Highgate when I was a
child, and his extreme oddity ; in particular the terror he
displayed if he thought any one of us was likely to touch
his favourite instrument — his wife, as he used to call it.
He was full of quaint ways and stories, and was altogether
as remarkable an ingredient in our family circle as his
father must have been in that at Yelling. Neither he nor
any of his sisters, who were all odd in their ways, ever
married ; and the descendants of Catherine Venn came to
an end at the death of the last daughter in 1884. For
many years Edmund Harvey lived a secluded life with
two of his sisters at Bury St. Edmunds, devoted to his
music. Amongst their very few friends was George
Borrow, whose portrait I first saw, as a lad, at their house.
Elizabeth, the last survivor of the family, continued to
reside at Bury till her death.
JOHN VENN OF CLAPHAM
To my grandfather, John Venn, we owe a large part of
our family reminiscences. He was the first of our line to
take any interest in genealogical inquiries. The Parentalia
were begun by him, and carried down to his father's time ;
and without his industry, and his care in noting what he
heard and remembered, many early facts would have been
hopelessly lost. Of the main incidents in his life we have
a complete account, for he kept a brief diary, or at least
made notes of current events, from the time he entered
college. In this, besides matters directly concerning
himself, he recorded the marriages, deaths, etc., of his
relations and friends, together with many other domestic
details. Moreover, he seems hardly ever to have destroyed
a letter — a duty to posterity which may possibly be over-
done, but which had been unfortunately much neglected
by those before him.
He was the second child, and the only son, of the
last-mentioned Henry Venn. He was born at Clapham,
March 9, 1759. His father was at the time curate of the
parish, but had lately received the offer of the vicarage of
Huddersfield ; he only delayed his journey into Yorkshire
to see the place until his wife was recovered. When
John was between seven and eight years old he was sent to
a school at Leeds, kept by a Mr. Shute,1 where he remained
for about three years. In 1769 he was sent to Hipper-
holme, near Halifax. The master of this grammar school
was the Rev. Richard Sutcliffe,2 vicar of Lightcliffe, who is
1 Whilst at Mr. Shute's he made the acquaintance of the brothers Jowett, of whom
we shall hear more presently.
2 Probably the same who graduated M.A. at St. John's, Cambridge, in 1761. He
was a native of Halifax.
112
JOHN VENN OF CLAPHAM 113
described as an able classical scholar, and a diligent and
skilful teacher. Here he made such progress that his
father was strongly advised to send him to one of the
large public schools. " Mr. Madan l earnestly presses to
have him put to Westminster, but I know too well the
state of the scholars there ever upon any worldly con-
sideration to have him amongst them. I am then told
that upon our principles this is a foolish fear. But I
conceive that a Calvinist is as much bound to avoid
snares and temptations, and to take care that his children
should do so, as another man " (Letter to Mr. Kershaw).
In 1773, wnen J°nn Venn was fourteen, Mr. SutclifFe's
health failed, and pending other arrangements the boy
was sent to Mr. Joseph Milner, the Church historian
and master of Hull Grammar School, already alluded to
(p. 89). Joseph Milner's brother,2 then an undergraduate,
afterwards Fellow and President of Queens' College, called
for him at Yelling — where the family were then settled —
on his way from Cambridge northwards ; and in his
charge the boy was conducted to Hull. But Mr. Milner
was then probably too much engrossed in his History to
give due attention to his scholars. The result was that,
after some six months' tuition, when the boy returned
home and was examined by his father, the latter was
dismayed to find that he had seriously fallen back. He
took him in hand himself for a time, and it is interesting
to find that the laborious ministry of the vicar of
Huddersfield had not caused him to forget his classical
knowledge. " I have read [with him] much of Horace
and some of Herodotus. I pity the poor boy. What
trifling impertinent stuff" is it to us ! Yet so are things
constituted there seems no other way of getting the
knowledge of the languages" (July 18, 1774). He was
again sent to Mr. Sutcliffe at Hipperholme, apparently as
a private pupil, and after eighteen months returned home
in July 1775, at the age of sixteen. His father again
1 Something has been already said about Mr. Martin Madan (v. p. 89). Like his
brother Spencer, the Bishop of Peterborough, he was an excellent scholar. They had
both been trained at Westminster.
2 There is a brilliant description of Isaac Milner in Sir James Stephen's Essays in
Ecclesiastical Biography (" Clapham Sect ").
I
,ii4 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
" eagerly examined him, and was well satisfied with his
advancement."
At Christmas 1775 he finally left Hipperholme, and
went to live with his father at Yelling, where he spent
the greater part of the two years remaining before he
was to enter College. His father again became his
tutor. " I had great pleasure to find that he had applied
himself closely to his studies at Hipperholme, and still
more that here he was disposed to do the same. In half
a year he has well translated Longinus, and six orations
of Demosthenes ; Hone's Elements of Criticism — an
excellent book to form the taste for just composition ;
Hooke's Roman History ; and the blessed Code, from
Luke to Ephesians, which is our first work every morning
for an hour. But as I could not teach him to write good
Latin, and I feared he might be most defective there,
I accepted dear Mr. Robinson's * proposal, and he is now
at Leicester with him for two months" (August 12, 1776).
There he remained for several months, with such good
results that he repeated the visit during the two following
years. His father characteristically remarks, " I know
that a good understanding, well informed by acquaintance
with the best authors, adds great weight and authority to
the teacher ; and as dear Mr. Berridge (an excellent
scholar himself) says, ' Learning is a good stone to throw
at a dog to stop his barking/ ' Such instruction in
mathematics as he then obtained was given by Mr.
Ludlam,2 at Leicester.
In October 1776 his father 'entered him at Cambridge,
though he did not commence residence until a year later.
His first intention had been to place his son at Trinity,
but " the tutor and master were disinclined to admit him
through fear of Methodism." The Universities were at
this time in a very low state, both as regards numbers
1 Thomas Robinson (1749-1813), former Fellow of Trinity ; a good classical scholar
and mathematician. He was afternoon lecturer at All Saints', Leicester, and afterwards,
from 1778, vicar of St. Mary's there. He was one of the early Evangelicals, and an
intimate friend of Henry Venn.
2 William Ludlam (1717-88), Fellow of St. John's, and an excellent mathematician.
He was rector of Cockfield, Suffolk, but for many years lived at his native town Leicester.
He was one of the adjudicators appointed by the Government to decide upon the award
ot the prize of £20,000 for the best chronometer for nautical purposes. He had prob-
ably a considerable influence in encouraging young Venn's tastes towards science.
JOHN VENN OF CLAPHAM 115
and discipline, though the actual worst had been passed
and things were beginning to mend. From his residence
near Cambridge, Mr. Venn probably knew something of the
condition there, and had some hopes that it might be better
at Oxford. In a letter to his friend James Stillingfleet
(February 17, 1775) he had asked, "I want to know the
state of religion amongst the students there, and incline to
send Jacky to that rather than my own neighbouring
University. We are so bad that even some clergymen
who are not over-serious almost scruple to send their sons,
on account of the dissipation and extravagance raging
there."
Sidney Sussex was the College selected, and this was
probably as good a selection as could have been made
under the circumstances, as Mr. Hey,1 the tutor, enjoyed
a very high reputation. Mr. Venn remained at home
most of this year, under his father's guidance, whose
strong religious views, combined with his keen common-
sense, are displayed in the following remarks :—
We have begun at St. Luke, and are now at the end of
Revelations. I shall then read with him the Old Testament. He
bids fair to be as I should have him, a thorough scholar, and then
know what a fool he is. He has read and translated six orations
of Demosthenes and all Sophocles and is now in Pindar ; and
what pleases me, sees clearly what poor writers they are in com-
parison of some British ones.
He commenced residence at Sidney, October 23, 1777 ;
having been elected to a scholarship, after several days'
examination, April 18 of the same year. "Last week,"
says his father, " my son left me to reside in College, after
near two years' stay in my house. I am not able to express
my thankfulness for his good behaviour and application to
1 John Hey (1734-1815), son of Richard Hey of Pudsey, Leeds. He was, probably,
by far the best College tutor in Cambridge at that time. He was a brother of
William Hey, a celebrated surgeon of Leeds (see p. 81), and of Richard Hey, LL.D.,
a barrister, and also a Fellow of Sidney. John Hey graduated B.A. at St. Catharine's,
as eighth wrangler, in 1755 j was elected Fellow of Sidney, and became tutor there from
1760 to 1779. He was rector of Passenham, Northants, and Norrisian Professor of
Divinity, 1780-1795. His College lectures at Sidney, on Morality, were attended by
students from outside the College, — probably an almost unexampled occurrence at that
time, — William Pitt being at one time amongst his hearers. His professorial lectures
on Divinity gained him great reputation. They were highly praised by Dr. T. Arnold
for their learning and candour.
,116 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
his studies. He is put under an admirable tutor, Mr.
John Hey, who "preached before the University without
notes, a thing not known for these threescore years. He
is very candid and very kind to my son." John Venn
mentions in his Diary that he was examined at entrance in
Homer, Longinus, Cicero, and Horace, by the tutor ;
and by another Fellow in Aristotle.
His life in College was of the usual uneventful kind
appropriate to a studious and quiet man. His first two
long vacations were mostly spent at Leicester, whither
he returned for instruction in classics from Mr. Robinson,
and in mathematics from Mr. Ludlam. He also, like
other members of his family, travelled about a good deal,
on visits to relations and friends. His reading during
this time was very miscellaneous, and he found time for
many pursuits outside the ordinary curriculum : history,
science, etc. His remarkably methodical habit is shown
by his note-books, some of which date from his early
College days. They contain full notes of the subjects
he was studying. One in particular contains many pages
of astronomy, optics, hydrostatics, and mechanics, illus-
trated by exquisitely neat diagrams. These studies were
carried on after he had taken the living of Dunham.
Another folio is the " New Common-Place Book, on the
plan recommended by John Locke, Esq.," published at
Cambridge,1 in 1777. This is crammed with extracts
and notes on the books he read. Astronomy was one of
his favourite subjects, and there are many pages of entries
of the elements of altitude and azimuth of various stars.
Another subject in which he took a keen interest was
shorthand. He has given an analysis of some half-dozen
different systems with examples : he finally decided on
that of Gurney, in which he subsequently had his children
instructed. He also took especial pains to cultivate a
good style of reading and speaking. He afterwards, in
later life, expressed keen regret, when speaking to his
son, — probably mistakenly, — that he had not devoted
1 This was one of the enterprises of Mr. Nicholson, — well known in Cambridge
for many years as ^ Maps," — who kept a sort of lending library of books in use by the
ttudents. There is a portrait of him in the University Library.
JOHN VENN OF CLAPHAM 117
himself more completely to the regular studies of the
place. It should be remembered that the commanding
pre-eminence which the Mathematical Tripos assumed,
and which it retained till far within living memory, had
not been attained in that day. Every studious man read
classics for a considerable part of his time. Probably
Sidney, under Mr. Hey, was a very favourable specimen
of a College, but the following extract from a letter by
his father will show that systematic examination was by no
means unknown in that day. "After studying Euclid
all through, and Aristotle Hepl ITo^™/^, and being
examined 6 hours for 9 days successively, he got neither
the mathematical nor the classical prize l in his own
College. His antagonists had each a private tutor ; yet
I had the pleasure of receiving a letter from Mr. Hey
that he thought, taking both together, classics and mathe-
matics, he was the best."
Probably by " Euclid " his father meant — like some
other people — mathematics generally, for this was a subject
which had come up since his own day, at least as an
important part of University education. The ancient
system, though far decayed, was still more or less in vogue
in his time : the new system, as yet only inchoate, may be
said to have been in vogue in his son's day. He expresses
his bewilderment at the change, in a letter written after his
son had been a year at College : " I cannot say he studies
now with me, except in the Greek Testament. In his
other studies I have no more knowledge than an infant.
Strange that mathematics should be all in all at College,
and then, as soon as they learn it, they forget whatever
they know, except the terms of the science."
John Venn was of too shy a disposition to make many
friends at College, but amongst his intimates were several
who afterwards became men of some mark. His closest
friend in College was probably Francis J. H. Wollaston,2 the
;
1 The existence of classical and mathematical prizes — i.e. as rewards to under-
graduates for their College studies, and assigned after examination — was, I suspect, a very
rare thing at that day. Nothing of the kind was introduced at Caius till 1800.
2 Francis Wollaston was a brother of the distinguished physicist Wm. H. Wollaston.
He was elected to the Mastership of Sidney in 1807, but for some reason the election was
set aside by the Visitor. Many of his letters to John Venn are preserved.
*n8 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
senior wrangler, in 1783, and afterwards Professor of
Experimental Philosophy. Others were William Parish,1
Joseph and Henry Jowett,2 and Christopher and William
Atkinson.3 His friendship with Charles Simeon, con-
tinued through life and handed on to his sons, was not
commenced till a short time before he left College. Each
of the two has referred in his Diary to the event of their
first meeting. Simeon says, referring to Mr. Atkinson : —
He introduced me the next day to an excellent man, my dear
friend Mr. John Venn, who now, alas ! is just deceased [written in
1813]. Here I found a man after my own heart, a man for whom
I have retained the most unfeigned love to his last moments, and
of whom I shall ever retain the most affectionate remembrance.
He soon took me over to Yelling, and introduced me to a man of
no ordinary character, his own dear and honoured father. Oh,
what an acquisition was this !
Mr. Venn, in his brief Diary, says : —
1782, June i : Drank tea at Atkinson's, with Simeon, an
undergraduate fellow of King's, a religious man, and Jowett
June 2, Sunday : Drank tea with Jowett, Simeon, who preached
his first sermon to-day at St. Edward's, and Atkinson.
A few weeks later Simeon paid his first visit to the man
who so deeply influenced his future life. He thus refers
to it in a letter to John Venn, written July 14, 1782 — the
quaint insistence on punctuality was very characteristic of
him : " My dear friend, I propose, with the blessing of
God, riding over to Yelling on Tuesday morning next
before eight o'clock, or at the furthest a quarter after ; to
converse with your father has long been my desire." John
Venn, in turn, notes : u July 16, 1782 : Mr. Simeon 4 came
at eight, and staid till half-past eight at night."
1 William Parish of Magdalene, a distinguished mathematician and mechanician.
He succeeded Wollaston as Jacksonian Professor in 1813, holding the office until his
death in 1837. We shall have more to say about him under Henry Venn.
2 The Jowetts were Leeds men, whose acquaintance he had first made at Mr.
Sutcliffe's school. Joseph was a graduate of Trinity, and Fellow and Tutor of Trinity Hall
from 1775. He was Regius Professor of Civil Law, 1782-1813. For the last eighteen
years of his life he was vicar of Wethersfield, Essex. He was a strong Evangelical, and
one of the principal supporters of the Bible Society in Cambridge. It was to him that
the well-known epigram about "the little garden little Jowett made" was applied.
Henry Jowett was of Magdalene, and succeeded John Venn as vicar of Little Dunham.
3 Christopher Atkinson of Trinity, fifth wrangler 1778, afterwards Fellow of
Trinity Hall.
4 It is worth adding a third, independent, account of an interview which had such a
considerable effect upon Simeon himself, and, through him, on the Church of England.
JOHN VENN OF CLAPHAM 119
The following brief notes from the Diary give some
account of his habits and tastes during the time of his stay
in College : —
December 19, 1777 : Went home for the vacation. December
30 : Returned to Cambridge [apparently the ancient custom of
holders of scholarships residing during most of the vacation was
still kept up]. January 17, 1778 : Mr. Daw gave me an electrical
machine. August : Aurora Borealis frequent and vivid this year.
April 6 : Annual examination at Sidney for a week. August 10 :
Leicester, drawing in crayons and under Mr. Ludlam. August
29 : Saw a boy in the hydrophobia, bit by a cat a month ago which
he had irritated ; he died the next day. On Bardon Hill l saw
Lincoln Cathedral, Derby, Newark, Lichfield, Warwick churches,
Nottingham, Birmingham, Melton, the Wrekin, Belvoir Castle :
nine counties. September 22 : Left Leicester at one in the
morning, to Market Harborough ; thence walked to Yelling
(some thirty-eight miles), except from Kettering to Thrapstone,
nine miles. December 31 : Kicked on my right leg by a horse
while coursing at Southborough. In the night the most violent
gale of wind which has been known for many years ; the stack of
chimneys over my room in College blown down ; a pane of glass
in Hardy's room full of holes like a sieve by the gravel of the walk
being blown through it. 1779, May I : Purchased a boat from
Simson the builder. May 24 : Went with W. Farish in my boat,
intending to go to St. Ives ; stopped by want of water six miles from
Ely ; walked back from Ely to Cambridge. June i : Walked to
Ely with my cousin Gambier, brought boat from Ely to Mepal ;
rowed to Huntingdon, thence to Paxton.2 October 12 : Returned
to Cambridge, the boat brought from Yelling in a wagon.
October 23 : Went in canoes up the Cam to Hauxton, with
Gambier and Wollaston [the only early reference I have seen to
the use of " canoes " ]. November 1 1 : Bought at St. Ives a large
boat twenty feet long, with Wollaston and R. Pointer. 1780,
February 27 : Cooke of King's preached before the University : an
excellent sermon, memoriter. May, 15: Went with Wollaston to
It is from the young lady's point of view. " When Mr. Simeon paid us his first visit at
Yelling, it is impossible to conceive anything more ridiculous than his look and manner
were. His grimaces were beyond anything you can imagine. So, as soon as we were gone,
we all got together into the study, and set up an amazing laugh" (Reminiscence of his
daughter Eling). For this outbreak they received an affectionate but decided reproof
from their father.
1 Bardon Hill, in Charnwood Forest. From its isolated position, and the flatness of
the surrounding country, it is said to command the most extensive view in England (v.
Nichols, Leicestershire, III. i. 126).
2 On the Ouse, about three or four miles from Yelling. It seems to have been what
may be called the " port " for that neighbourhood in the days before railways. When
Henry Venn moved from Huddersfield he mentions there being " water-communication "
between the two places.
120 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
St. Ives to take our great boat up to Paxton. July 7 : Went to
London with my father. July 1 1 : Went in the Margate Hoy with
my uncle Gambier, to Margate. August n : Sailed on the
Thames with Wollaston to Mortlake in a large sailing-boat, and
had a most narrow escape under Chelsea Bridge. 1781, January
15 : Went into the Senate House to be examined for my degree of
B.A. : 6th junior op. : ought to have been senior op.,1 next to
Wigglesworth : such partiality that private tutors were abolished.
February 7 : Began to study Hebrew. May 8 : Examination
for Fellowships : Coulthurst and Munnings elected : promise of
electing me next time.
Here again he met with undeserved ill-luck. The
Master and some of the Fellows assured him of his speedy
election ; made him a member of the Combination room,
gave him a key of the garden, etc., in anticipation. But
a violent dispute arose amongst some of the Fellows, as
was not uncommon in earlier days, and the unfortunate
candidate was passed over by mutual agreement.
June : Arranging the books in the new College library with
the Master. July 7 : Went to Yelling for the long vacation ;
beginning to study Hebrew. July 25 : Met Wollaston and
Middleton, and spent a day on Whittlesea Mere.2 September 20 :
Went to Cambridge to assist the Master in arranging the library.
1782, January 18 : Studying Hebrew under Mr. Ormerod, and
making a catalogue of pamphlets in Sidney library. May 20 :
Illumination for Rodney's victory. May 29 : Examination for
Fellowships ; my election deferred by a quarrel between H
and C— — (Heyand Coulthurst?). June I : Commenced acquaint-
ance with Simeon of King's. June 6 : Election of Fellows post-
1 Explanations why a man did not get a better place in an examination are usually of
little value. But in this case there seems no doubt that my grandfather was hardly
treated. His assigned place in the Tripos, as Professor Farish himself assured my father
in later years, was far below his real merit. This was partly attributed to his own
diffidence, but largely also to the pushing interference in behalf of their respective pupils
of the private tutors, who actually pestered the examiners in their favour. In this year,
1781, the abuse had risen to a great height. So serious was the scandal, indeed, that a
Grace was passed in the Senate, by a large majority, to prohibit candidates for honours
from reading with private tutors during their last two years. It should be remembered
that at that time the examiners did not at once publish their list in a final order of merit,
but put out a provisional list of numerous classes, or " brackets " as they were called, the
men in each of which generally fought it out afterwards amongst themselves. This
preliminary arrangement into brackets left a considerable opening for choice or luck.
Whittlesea Mere was long a well-known resort for those who loved rowing and
sailing, and also for entomologists ; it was the last British haunt of the extinct " Great
Copper " butterfly. It was the largest of a group of shallow lakes in a depression of the
fen district near Ramsey, Hunts. It was drained at the time the Great Northern Rail-
way was made, about 1850 ; in fact the line crosses part of the site of it near Yaxley
station.
JOHN VKNN, M.A.
From Sketch by J. Downmnn, 178:
JOHN VENN OF CLAPHAM 121
poned sine die. July 25 : Returned to Yelling ill in a post-chaise,
and went to bed. August 12: Dr. Glynn l attended me: in a
nervous fever. September I : Extremely feeble and debilitated.
September 23: Mr. Downman2 took my portrait in chalk.
December 21 : Finally left College, giving up my room to Mr.
Lettice.
This seems a convenient place to give some account
of his personal appearance, tastes, habits, etc. The fol-
lowing particulars are mostly gathered from the recollec-
tions of my uncle, John Venn.
In stature he was rather below medium height, about
five feet seven inches or thereabouts, and slender during
his youth, though in after life he became somewhat
corpulent. The portrait referred to above is in my
possession. It is a small one, representing him after
Downman's fashion, in profile, as a rather handsome, fine-
featured young man. He is dressed in the somewhat
elaborate style which custom then required at College hall,
with his hair carefully powdered. The illness to which he
alludes on leaving College seems to have been the com-
mencement of a permanent liability to feverish attacks
from which he suffered throughout his life. They became
worse in later life, and he was several times laid by from
parochial work ; on one occasion for the greater part of
a year. This, combined with some degree of pecuniary
pressure, was probably the cause of what seems, by
comparison with the other members of his family, a
somewhat anxious and depressed type of character.
He was a man of strong mechanical and scientific
tastes (I still possess instruments which must have be-
longed to him ; e.g. a Dollond telescope, sextant, chrono-
meter watch, dividing compasses). Though not in any
way an original investigator, or with much philosophical
capacity, he had a decided taste for trying practical
experiments.
As a young man he was, as we have seen, extremely
1 Robert Glynn, M.D., Fellow of King's College. He practised as a physician in
Cambridge.
2 John Downman, a portrait painter of the day ; died 1824. He was resident in
Cambridge for several years from about 1777. His portraits are mostly in profile
(v. D.N.B.).
9 1 22 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
fond of boating, and acquired the nickname of " The
Admiral of the Cam." It need hardly be said that no
boat-clubs of the modern kind were then in existence,
and that boating generally consisted in sailing rather than
rowing. My uncle John used to tell me that his father
built a boat of his own in his College rooms ; but that,
like Crusoe before him, he found, when it was finished,
that it was too large to be moved — at least by the door.
His taste for scientific instruments once stood him in good
stead. This was on the occasion of a visit to Plymouth,
whither he had been to escort a young pupil1 and friend
to his ship. A thick fog sprang up as the boat was
returning to shore. Mr. Venn consulted his pocket
compass — a very unusual thing, presumably, for travellers
to carry in those days — and declared they were going out
to sea. The sailors naturally stood to their own \dew,
and it was some time before they would give in and
consent to be guided by a passenger.
The same taste showed itself in little matters of
domestic management, — new grates, lighting appliances,
etc., — often rather to the dismay of his very shrewd and
practical sister Jane, who kept house for him after the
death of his first wife. On one occasion, having heard of
some new kind of cooking-stove, the invention of the
famous Rumford, he must needs get one, and, what was
more, ask a party to dinner on the first occasion of its
being put into operation. The machine broke down,
driving the cook to distraction. He must have been
amongst the very first private persons to resort to Jenner's
great discovery,2 for he has left it recorded amongst his
diary notes — after duly mentioning how his children were
inoculated for small-pox from 1792 onwards —
1 800, September i : Caroline and Maria vaccinated. Octo-
ber 7 : Agreed upon a plan of vaccinating the parish : vaccination
just introduced.
1 Samuel Thornton, afterwards an admiral, father of the present Mr. P. M.
Thornton, member for the Clapham division of Surrey. He had had an appointment
to the Shannon (according to my uncle's recollection), but had somehow missed his
ship. When the news came of the great fight with the Chesapeake the poor boy
nearly broke his heart at having missed the chance.
'2 Jenner's first actual experiment of vaccination was in 1796, but his treatise on the
subject was not published until June 1798.
JOHN VENN OF CLAPHAM 123
It was characteristic of his care in recording all matters
of interest, that in the same notes he gives the dates of the
attacks of measles and whooping-cough in the case of each
of his children.
The parish register of Little Dunham is an illustration
of his care in such matters. He started a new register on
his arrival, in which the entries are made with unusual
fulness ; e.g. in the entries of baptism and burial he gives
the profession or trade of the father, and the maiden name
of the mother ; in those of burial, the age and not un-
frequently the cause of death. He has prefixed to this
register seven or eight pages dealing with the history of
the parish, including a list of the rectors, lords of the
manor, notes about the parsonage, etc.
To the last he took a keen interest in the studies of
his son Henry, who was reading at Cambridge with
Professor Parish preliminary to entering College. In a
letter of March 18, 1813, he enters into the details of his
studies, with much acute advice, — this was only three
months before his death, — adding : —
I have borrowed a Wood's Algebra, that I may follow you
page by page, and on Monday I shall expect the register of the
fortnight's work. . . . You must do innumerable examples, and
set yourself many to do. ... I would send you Bonny castle's
Algebra if I could find it ... he abounds in examples. Wood
is, I think, deficient in them, and I attribute very much the little
progress I made in the higher parts of algebra to the difficulty
which I found from not being well versed in the technical
operations. . . . Do you assist the Professor [Parish] to take
down his models and to put them up ? Make yourself well
acquainted with the principles of machinery, which a little
practice in this way will soon teach you.
He was interested throughout life in heraldry, and
indeed in all branches of antiquarian knowledge. As he
says himself, " When I was yet a boy I had a passion for
looking into books of heraldry, particularly with a view of
discovering some records of my own family." In a letter
to his cousin, Robert Jarratt, containing a minute list of
inquiries which he wished to have made concerning the
family of Venns once resident at Lydeard St. Laurence,
Somerset, he says, " You see I am making an antiquarian
I24 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
of you at once. You learned at my house to read old
writings, and it* is a pity I should not give you some
practice." Amongst other things he acquired the art of
writing shorthand ; apparently by some insertions in his
Diary and his analysis of several different systems, he must
have begun this at an early age ; in fact soon after his entry
at College. When at Clapham he had a teacher in this art
for his children. The girls in particular acquired great
facility in its use, one of them obtaining some prize on the
first occasion on which she succeeded in taking down one
of his sermons without omission of a word. They used
it habitually,1 in writing to one another, throughout their
lives, as did, and do, several of the generations which
followed them.
With this love of experiment was perhaps connected
his over-readiness to try new investments in mining and
other enterprises. These mostly turned out ill, and it was
partly in consequence of this that his circumstances were
considerably straitened during the latter part of his life.
Hence he was induced for some years to take a few pupils
into his house. Two sons of Sir Thomas Baring were
amongst these ; of whom one, Francis, afterwards became
Lord Northbrook, and remained a life-long friend of my
father. When at his first parish, Dunham, he had taken
two or three pupils ; of whom the most distinguished were
the Grants,2 Charles and Robert.
John Venn was ordained deacon at Buckden, near
Yelling, one of the principal residences of the Bishops of
Lincoln, September 22, 1782. He preached his first
sermon at his father's church the Sunday following. He
remained on in College, as we have seen, for one term after
his ordination, as there seemed a reasonable expectation of
his being elected a Fellow. On December 31 he finally
left College, and began clerical work as curate to his father
1 The system adopted was the once popular one of Gurney. The plan has its draw-
backs in its relation to family records, as we have many hundreds of letters which
posterity will never care to decipher.
'2 Charles Grant afterwards became Lord Glenelg. He was for some years Secretary
of State for the Colonies. Robert was Governor of Bombay ; knighted in 1834.
Their father, Charles Grant, was a distinguished Indian civilian, M.P. for Inverness-
shire. In later life he resided at Clapham, where he was an intimate friend of Mr.
Venn, and a sharer in the various religious and philanthropic schemes of the place.
The two young Grants graduated with very high honours at Cambridge.
I
i
JOHN VENN OF CLAPHAM 125
at Yelling. He very soon, however, had an offer of a
living, namely, that of Little Dunham, near Swaffham,
Norfolk, then in the patronage of Mr. Edward Parry.1
Mr. Parry, having once heard him preach at Camberwell,
was so struck with the sermon that he offered him the
living at once. Here, according to his own statement, he
was the first resident clergyman for seventy-five years.
He was ordained priest by Dr. Halifax, Bishop of
Gloucester, at the King's Chapel, St. James's, and was
instituted two days later. Dunham was a small parish.
He has recorded in the register — with his customary
minuteness — the population as consisting of " 53 men, 47
women, and 72 children; 172 in all" (it now contains
about 255). The church, though small, is not without
interest. The tower dates from about 1 440, and probably
most of the present building is of about the same date.
Externally — to judge from a pencil sketch probably by
him or his sister — it has not perceptibly undergone any
alteration. Internally, it has been re-seated and the roof
renewed. It consists of a nave, chancel, and north aisle.
The following notes from his Diary refer to his life at
Dunham : —
1783, August 19 : Began to build four rooms to the parsonage.
November 16 : Preached at the Cathedral, before the bishop. 1784,
March 14: Preached at Cambridge for Mr. Simeon. April 13 :
Taken ill with fever. April 24 : Recovery, and able to ride a little.
July 9 : Preserved unhurt when my saddle slipped under the horse's
belly whilst galloping. July 28 : My sister Eling came to live with
me. Nov. 16 : Began to have public family prayers twice a week
for my parishioners at my house. 1785, March 20 : Preached, by
appointment of the bishop, a charity sermon at St. Andrew's,
Norwich. May 25 : Mr. Simeon visited me for three days.
December 15 : Little Crotch,2 the musical genius, at Mr. Israel's
at Cambridge. 1786, May 10: Preached at the archdeacon's
visitation at Litcham. 1789, May 4 : Set out for Hull, and arrived
1 Mr. Parry was a retired Indian civilian. His wife was a daughter of Mr. Henry
Vansittart, Governor of Bengal. He had recently (1782) bought the manor and
advowson of Little Dunham, where he built a new mansion. Being dissatisfied with the
ministry of the rector, he bought him out in order to secure some one who would be a
better worker in the parish and a more congenial preacher. He was a friend of the
Thorntons, and afterwards connected with them by the marriage of his daughter to Mr.
John Thornton. He was elected Chairman of the East India Company. Died 1828.
2 William Crotch, the well-known English composer 5 born at Norwich, 1775. ^e
was remarkable for his extraordinary precocity as a performer.
126 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
on the 6th ; saw Miss King [his future wife] on the yth. May
23 : Embarked on board the Aurora, Captain Seagar, for Lynn ;
arrived there on the 28th.
As we have already seen, he had almost a passion for
the sea, and generally went by water to and fro between
Dunham and Hull. His father, alluding to his return,
says, " Your brother has been at Mr. Stillingfleet's at
Hotham, and returned by sea to Lynn ; was a week nearly
in the passage," — the distance is about seventy-five miles, —
" but very much delighted, though the wind was high."
July 27 : Rode to Lynn, and embarked on board the Aurora for
Hull, where I arrived on the 3Oth.
The following is his description of his establishment at
Dunham in his bachelor days : —
You will inquire what is my household. I have six acres of
land, in the middle of which stands my house ; a parlour, a kitchen,
a brewhouse, and a spare bed for a friend ; a maid, a boy ; a horse,
a cow, and two kittens. My cow furnishes me with milk and
butter. I bake and brew for myself, and live in as comfortable a
manner as I can desire. — (Letter to his cousin, John Brasier.)
His rectory house was already a somewhat old one.
He speaks of it as being built of " stud-work " originally,
which had been converted into brick in 1731. In 1783
he enlarged it, by adding at the south end " a parlour,
study, and two bedrooms over, of the same size, and a
cellar under." The value of the living, after necessary
deductions, was about £ 1 40 a year.
It may be added that a clerical society which he
started when at Dunham recently celebrated its hundredth
anniversary.
On October 22, 1789, he was married, at Trinity
Church, Hull, to Katharine, only daughter of William
King, a merchant of that town. Some account of her
family is given in the Appendix.
1790, January 16 : Appointed chaplain to the dowager Lady
Hereford. March 17 : Lady Smythe died, leaving me the
advowson of Bidborough,1 Kent. May 31 : Left Dunham with
1 Bidborough, about two or three miles N.W. of Tunbridge Wells. Lady Smythe
w.ts the widow of Sir Sidney Stafford Smythe, Chief Baron of the Exchequer, through
JOHN VENN OF CLAPHAM 127
Kitty [his wife], and sailed to Hull from Wells, in the Hopeful,
Captain Wells. July 16: Returned to Dunham by sea, Captain
Seagar, by way of Lynn. September 27 : Master Grants came
to be under my tuition [see back, p. 124]. 1792, November 20 :
K. [his daughter Katharine] inoculated for the small-pox.
In the summer of 1792 he was offered the living of
Clapham by his family friend Mr. Thornton. It is, of
course, with this place that his name is chiefly associated.
He was instituted June 8, but did not leave Dunham until
March 18, 1793. The circumstances of his appointment
were as follows. John Thornton of Clapham, his father's
wealthy and generous friend, owned the advowson or
presentation of eleven livings at the time of his death.
These he had bought from time to time, with the same
object which Mr. Simeon afterwards carried out on such a
large scale, viz., in order to secure the ministry of sound
and pious clergymen. By his will, proved in 1790, he
placed these livings in the hands of a body of clerical
trustees, John Venn being one of these, with directions
that they should appoint one of themselves, or some
other person of similar views. In the case of Clapham,
the most important, probably, of these livings, he directed
that it should be offered first to Mr. Henry Foster,1 and
secondly to Mr. Venn. Mr. Foster very generously
declined it for himself, and accordingly Mr. Venn was
appointed. It was reckoned at that time as worth about
£400 a year.
We have already said something about Clapham in
Henry Venn's time, and will therefore merely remark that
a considerable change had taken place in the course of
thirty-three years. So far from a few rich people con-
stituting almost the whole population, there were now
many poor, the total number of inhabitants 2 being about
whose influence his father had been appointed to Yelling. Both she and her husband
were well-known supporters of Evangelical views. The Smythe family had a residence
at Bidborough. Mr. Venn never had a presentation to the living, and in 1813 it was
bought of him by his brother-in-law Charles Elliott.
1 There is some account of Mr. Foster in the Life of John Faivcett, D.D. (published
1818). He was a Yorkshireman, a graduate of Queen's College, Oxford. He was for
a time curate to Romaine at Blackfriars, and held several lectureships in London. He
was rather celebrated as a preacher. The name of Samuel Thornton is given as having
actually presented Mr. Venn to the living.
2 Lysons gives the population as 2477 in 1788. He adds that it had increased more
rapidly than that of any other parish within his knowledge.
128 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
2600. Henry Venn's old church had been nearly all
removed, but the north aisle was left, and served as a
mortuary chapel. John Venn's church was the present
one, on the Common. It stands now very much as it did
on its erection, when the vestry, with a shrewd conviction
of what they wanted and what they felt sure they could
secure, resolved to have "a new strong church1 built."
It was opened for service June 10, 1776, having cost
,£11,000, and containing sittings for 1411 persons. The
portico was added in 1812.
One is sometimes apt to suppose that the life of a
country parson in the eighteenth century must have been
monotonous and dull, owing to the bad roads and to the
great Jack of posts and all the other modern means of
communication. The life at Yelling and at Dunham was
doubtless somewhat exceptional, but it serves to show that
dulness was neither necessary nor universal. Summer and
winter alike, in those pre-railroad days, the stream of
visits and of visitors seems never to have quite dried up.
For example, in 1787 there are references to nine visits
which John Venn paid to various friends and relations,
one of his journeys being into Yorkshire ; besides about
nine visits paid by his friends to him. There was no
opportunity for the acquiring of that coating of rust
which fiction sometimes suggests must have been con-
stantly thickening upon the mind and habits of the
country parson of the day.
The following notes from his Diary refer to his life
during the time at Clapham : —
1793, July 9: Set out on a journey to Bath, etc., with Mr.
Wilberforce ; Hannah More's,2 Piercefield,3 etc. July 27 : Re-
turned by coach ; escaped being robbed. July 31 : Returned to
Bath, drinking the waters. 1794, April 19 : An evening lecture
begun at the old church [see on, p. 132]. 1795, June 4: Thrown
from my horse by his falling on Finchley Common, and much
1 There is a good view of it, taken from behind, as it appeared in 1809, in Churches
in the Environs of London, published by William Miller in 1811. The view here given
is reproduced from a sketch taken for Mr. Venn shortly before his death. It stands
exactly as it did then, except that now (1902) a chancel is being added at the east end.
2 Hannah More lived for many years at Barley Wood in Wrington, near Bristol.
She was a personal friend of Mr. Venn. A long letter from him is published in W.
Roberts' Memoirs of her (iii. 321). We have a number of her letters to him.
3 Piercefield on the Wye, well known for its magnificent rock scenery.
JOHN VENN OF CLAPHAM 129
bruised [he was returning from Yelling], June 7 : Organ
opened at Clapham church. June 9 : Mrs. Dewar has sent me
some oranges just imported from Spain, and my wife immediately
set about packing them up to send to Yelling. 1796, October 19:
Went with C. Elliott, junior, to Winchester, Southampton, Salis-
bury, Bath, where I stayed to drink the waters till November 18.
1797, January 4 : My dear father began to occupy his hired house
adjoining to mine at Clapham [he had just retired from Yelling ;
he died at Clapham on June 24 following]. August 22 : Went
by water to Margate to meet my wife. September 7 : Returned
home with my wife by Dover, Romney, and Cranbrook. 1798,
March 27 : Jane, Emelia, and Henry [his children] inoculated for
the small-pox. 1799, August 21 : Went in a chaise with Mr. T.
Thompson to Hull. September 24 : Left Hull and returned home
by Hotham [Rev. J. Stillingfleet], York, Whitwell [Rev. George
King, his brother-in-law], the Temple1 [Babingtons]. 1800,
September I : Caroline and Maria vaccinated. October 7 :
Agreed upon a plan of vaccinating the parish ; vaccination just
introduced. 1801, September i : Set out on a journey into Wales,
to visit Mr. H. Bewicke ; made a tour by Neath, Swansea, Bath.
1802, August 12: Went to Brighton on horseback; returned
August 19. August 25 : Set out on horseback with Mr. Elliott
on a journey to Yorkshire. September 30 : Returned to Clapham,
and in a week taken ill with a serious return of fever, by which I
was long laid aside from duty and brought very low. 1803,
April 15 : On this day my beloved partner was removed to a
better world, leaving me with seven children to mourn my
irreparable loss. April 24 : My dear sister Jane came to under-
take the care of my family. June 21 : Set out with my sister for
Cheltenham in a single-horse chaise, being still laid aside from all
duty and in a very bad state of health. July 21 : Left Cheltenham
and went to Bath. August 1 1 : Went to Hannah More's [Barley
Wood, near Bristol], Bridgwater, Wellington [where his cousin
Robert Jarratt was vicar], Lydeards [to make genealogical in-
quiries concerning the family of John Venn, the regicide], Wells,
etc., returning to Bath. September 5 : Left Bath much better in
health, Salisbury, Southampton, Portsmouth, Chichester, Arundel,
etc., to Brighton. September 26 : Returned to Clapham after an
absence of three months. 1804, December: Instituted to the
sinecure rectory of Great Tey, Essex ; patron, Samuel Thornton,
Esq. 1805, June 4 : Preached a missionary sermon at St. Ann's,
Blackfriars. July 5 : Shopkeepers signed a resolution not to open
shops on Sunday. Course of lectures on Liturgy. November 1 3 :
At Barley Wood, Mrs. Hannah More's, for a few days.
1 Rothley Temple, the well-known family seat of the Babingtons of Leicestershire,
for a picturesque description of it see Sir G. Trevelyan's Life of Lord Macau/ay.
K
1 3o VENN FAMILY ANNALS
When on his journeys Mr. Venn generally either kept
a diary or wrote* home full accounts of what he did and
what he saw. The following brief extracts refer to a
journey undertaken with his nephew, Charles Elliott, in
1796 :—
Wednesday ', October 19. — At 1/2 past II we set out upon
our journey, Charles equipped with a formidable pair of panta-
loons. What they are will probably not be known 20 years
hence, and as I hope my journal will endure to that time, it
is necessary to inform my reader of that age that they are an
immense pair of small cloaths, made of thick cloth and leather,
which button over the other cloaths from the breast down to the
ankle, in order to keep the waistcoat, boots, etc., clean. ... I
am afraid when we have got beyond Salisbury the boys will
hoot us.
The weather was beautifully fine ; unfortunately the road was
a deep puddle up to the horse's fetlock, through which we were
obliged to wade slowly and with great caution, looking back every
moment to avoid the splashes of some chaise and four dashing
through it as if to insult our unprotected state. Beyond Hammer-
smith we met the King coming to town. Two soldiers with
drawn swords rode first. These were followed by two footmen.
Then came the Post-chaise drawn by six horses, in which was his
Majesty in a brown bob-wig. I only caught a glimpse of him,
but it gave me pleasure to see him look so well. The chaise was
followed by a troop of horse, about twenty with drawn swords,
and two footmen closed the procession.
At length, after wading through seas of mud, and being
splashed by it in our upper parts, and plaistered in our lower, we
came to Hounslow, 10 miles from town, where we were well
regaled by a comfortable room and a roast fowl.
The weather still proved fine, and therefore at 1/2 past 3 we
set out again, with the prospect of cleaner roads through the
remainder of our journey. The extensive heath of Hounslow
opens as soon as you leave the village. It is a dead flat, extending
several miles in length and breadth.
When we reflect upon the vast quantity of land uncultivated
in England, even within a few miles round the Metropolis, it
cannot but excite astonishment. Yet while many only blame it
as a piece of shameful neglect, I own ideas of a more pleasing
kind suggest themselves to me. I consider them as holding out
a striking proof of the respect which has been paid in this land of
freedom to private property. . . . They are the stores of national
wealth laid up for time of need. By and by, I figure to myself,
here will be neat, farm-houses, there beautiful gardens, here
JOHN VENN OF CLAPHAM 131
verdant meadows, there luxuriant crops of corn. The country
continues flat till you get beyond Staines. You then ascend a
fine hill which commands a most extensive prospect. Here we
passed by Runnymead. ... as it grew dusk we pushed briskly
on for 6 miles over a wide heath, with scarcely a house, a tree,
or a shrub, — fine room for the improvements of the next genera-
tion,— till we came to Bagshot, 26 miles from London, where
I am writing this, not at all fatigued with a journey of near
36 miles.
October 20. — This morning we rose at 7 and proceeded on
our journey. The country between Bagshot and Farnham, our
next stage, possesses the same features as that which we travelled
through last night : rude, dreary, barren heaths, which way
soever the eye turned. In the midst, however, of this barren
waste we were surprised and delighted to meet with a fine
navigable canal, which appears to be very lately made, and which
will be highly useful if ever any steps should be taken to cultivate
the heath.
About 2 miles from Farnham we ascended a steep hill, and
there were delighted to see an entire change of country, — in
every part highly cultivated and wooded. We saw here a larger
quantity of hop grounds than we had ever seen before, many
fields of 20 and 30 acres being composed of them. [Then
follows a long description of the bishop's palace at Farnham.]
Two things we observed the whole of our way through the
county [of Hampshire] : ist. the neatness of their farms and
especially the hedges ; 2nd. the care taken of the teams, the
harnessing of the horses being remarkably neat, with long tails
curiously buckled up, and a set of bells hanging over the neck of
each horse. However agreeable the jingling of the bells may be
to the horses, I cannot say they are so to the traveller.
We dined at Alton, and after dinner rode to Winchester,
1 6 miles, the last 5 or 6 nearly in the dark.
October 22 (Southampton}. — I believe I told you that it was
our intention to have gone this morning by the Packet boat,
which always sets out at 7 o'clock, to the Isle of Wight. We
breakfasted early and went down to the water side for that purpose,
but unfortunately it was a dead calm, so that the Packet boat was
not able to sail. The mail was therefore put on board a small
open boat which was crowded with passengers, and was to be
rowed to the Isle (12 miles) and back.
Bath, October 26. — Yesterday we got to Bath after a very
pleasant journey (from Salisbury), by which I have evidently been
so much strengthened as to be able to ride three times as far as I
could without fatigue.
We have taken Hazard's Lodgings which were, disengaged.
VENN FAMILY ANNALS
The rate of payment here is established by general custom, 1/2 a
guinea per week for each room, and i8s. per week for boarding:
tea, wine, coals, and candles not included. Coals cost 35. 6d.
per week. We have an excellent sitting-room and 2 good bed-
rooms.
I have reason to thank God that I think this journey will be
of considerable service to me. I am very regular in my habits :
I rise between 6 and half past : at 1/2 past 7 I drink the waters,
and walk with Dr. Bridges till 1/2 past 8 : at 9, breakfast, etc.
I ride every day at 12, and walk out in the afternoon.
On Sunday morning I went to hear Mr. Jay l and was ex-
tremely pleased with him. I intend to hear him again on
Thursday evening and on Sunday evening, and it is not without
much difficulty and calling in to my assistance all my High Church
principles that I shall keep to the Church of England in the
morning. He is indeed a wonderful man, and I think is con-
fessedly the first in point of abilities amongst the serious ministers.
Soon after his arrival in Clapham, Mr. Venn succeeded
in effecting a reform, the necessity of which will seem
surprising to many clergy of the present day, who are
naturally accustomed to regard the use of the parish church
as being entirely in their own hands. In Clapham, as in
not a few towns in England, it seems to have been the
custom (a legacy from Puritan times) for the rector to
take only the morning service on Sundays, and for a
lecturer, appointed by the parishioners, to take that in the
afternoon. This was all, as there were wide and strong
objections entertained against the practice of evening
services. His only opportunity, therefore, of addressing
the people was at a service which very few of the poor
attended. It is a curious illustration of the state of
Church feeling at the time that the mere proposal to open
the church for service on the Sunday evening should have
been thought to demand the following formal letter to
the Vestry. And even this proposal, as we learn from
a letter written to his friend Mr. Edwards of Lynn, had
met with violent opposition in some quarters, and had
been denounced at a so-called public meeting held at the
Plough Inn.
D
1 Rev. William Jay. A well-known Dissenting minister at Bath, where he was for
many years preacher at the Argyle Chapel. Sheridan spoke of him as one of the best
orators he had ever heard.
JOHN VENN OF CLAPHAM 133
GENTLEMEN — Your attendance has been requested to-day,
for the purpose of considering the propriety of my establishing a
Sunday evening lecture in the parish church. It will not, I hope,
be censured as pertinacious in me, if I maintain the right of the
rector of the church to establish such a lecture by his own
authority, since I am supported in it by the best legal information
I could obtain on that subject ; but the expediency of exercising
that right at the present time is a different question, and it is this
which I now willingly submit to your decision, being well assured
that an entire harmony between a minister and his parishioners is
the best foundation of that general good which it is the object of
his labours to produce. I am aware that objections have frequently
been made to evening lectures, and I am ready to acknowledge
that some particular bad effects have sometimes taken place in
consequence of them j but I still think, after mature consideration,
that those effects may be prevented by prudent precautions on the
part of heads of families and of the minister ; and that, allowing
them still to exist in some degree, they are more than over-
balanced by the general good which a greater degree of religious
instruction, and the formation of habits of piety, are likely to
produce. The morning and afternoon services may perhaps be
thought sufficient, but when it is considered how many are
prevented by necessary avocations from attendance upon these,
and how much among the lower classes, especially the mis-
spending of the evening, more than balances the advantages of
the day, I think the establishment of an additional evening
service will not appear to be precluded. One objection which
may be made in the present case would, I own, have considerable
weight with me if I thought it justly founded, namely, that it
may injure the income of the afternoon preacher. On this head
I wish to declare in the fullest terms, that I propose it in the
persuasion that it will not have this effect. The expenses
attending it will be defrayed by a few persons, of whom I have
every reason to expect that they will not on that account diminish
their subscription to the lecturer, and I do not think that any
others would, on account of their having more duty, desire to pay
less. I have only further to observe, that as it is entirely voluntary
on my part, I do not wish to have it considered as a necessary
duty attached to the living, but that it may be dropped at the
option of myself or my successors whenever it is thought ex-
pedient.
The vestry cordially accepted the proposal, and desired
to thank him " for exonerating the parish from the
expenses attending it" (History of Clapham, p. 149).
During his life at Clapham, as we have seen, the
i34 VENN FAMILY -ANNALS
recurrence of several long and severe attacks of illness
interfered with his parish work. He was, however,
fortunate in securing the successive help of several excellent
curates, amongst these being Hugh Pearson, afterwards
Dean of Salisbury, and J. W. Cunningham, afterwards
vicar of Harrow.
Mr. Venn's evangelical opinions, though not exciting
the animosity shown towards them in his father's time,
and though supported by a number of his most distin-
guished parishioners, were of course still far from popular.
As to the attitude adopted by some of those in authority,
the following anecdote, told by his son Henry, is
significant : —
A near relation of the Bishop of London, after being a guest
at Fulham Palace, was to visit Mr. Venn at Clapham. We were
ourselves sent to wait at the Bull's Head, a mere public-house,
three hundred yards from the rectory of Clapham, to bring
the visitor to the rectory : the truth being that the Bishop of
London could not allow his carriage to be seen to draw up at Mr.
Venn's rectory, though it might be seen to set down a lady at a
small public-house (Christian Observer^ January 1870).
This must refer to Dr. Randolph, who was bishop from
1809 to I^I3- His predecessor, Dr. Porteous, was much
more in sympathy with such opinions.
Mr. Venn was a strong supporter of the Volunteers of
his day, and was for a number of years chaplain to the
Clapham contingent. This company contained not a few
men of note then resident in the village. Lord Teignmouth,
whose father was then Lieutenant of Surrey, has described
in his recollections how he " remembers Zachary Macaulay
marching at the head, his austere features overshadowed
by the bearskin cover of his helmet, whilst Charles and
Robert Grant appeared as extemporised dragoons." The
Committee of Management requested (October 10, 1803)
that Mr. Venn's " excellent and animated address to them
should be printed." On October 23 of the same year he
preached a sermon to the corps, " of which 2000 copies
were ordered to be printed and circulated through the
parish, at the parish expense."
As a parish clergyman he was exceedingly active, to the
JOHN VENN OF CLAPHAM 135
fullest extent of his powers. He was, according to the
account of his son John, one of the first to introduce the
now familiar system of " district visiting," and also among
the earliest to introduce parish schools.
It may be remarked also that it was to him that the
recovery of the early parish registers of Clapham was due.
Shortly before his appointment, " in consequence of their
bad condition as to binding, they were heedlessly thrown
by as of no value, and sold as waste paper. After much
fruitless search the present worthy rector traced them by
accident to a chandler's shop. . . . He has had them new
bound, and has taken every precaution to prevent the
recurrence of a similar misfortune " (Manning's Surrey r,
in. 364).
His reputation and influence mainly rest on three
grounds : his sermons, his establishment and promotion
of the Church Missionary Society, and his personal inter-
course with the remarkable group of social and religious
philanthropists who happened to be gathered in and about
Clapham. The first of these must naturally be regarded
as of temporary importance, owing to the change of taste
and opinion. Without any attempt at popularity, his
sermons were decidedly good : marked by strong sense,
sound argument, and great earnestness. They were highly
appreciated by the group of very able men, of widely
divergent character and view, who attended at his church.
They were the outcome of much thought ; but, whether
owing to a habit of procrastination or to some other cause,
they were generally written at the last moment. His
sister used, she said, to be well pleased if on his going to
bed she found that he had retired with half of his morning's
discourse finished on Saturday night. A selection of his
sermons was published, shortly after his death, in three
volumes, and had a large sale. My father used to say that
he himself was partly supported at College by the proceeds
of this sale, the outlay for the publication having been
raised by subscription amongst friends and parishioners.
Whilst speaking of his literary efforts, it may be
mentioned that he was one of the originators of, and a
frequent contributor to, the Christian Observer. This was
136 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
started at a time when a religious magazine — which should
also be literary— was almost unknown, and it was a really-
remarkable journal for its day. Zachary Macaulay was for
some years the editor, and it was here, I believe, that his
famous son's first literary productions appeared, whilst he
was yet a boy. A full account of its origin, and the nature
of its contents in its early days, is given in Z. Macaulay's
Life. Owing to the taste and wide knowledge of the
editor, the " Review of New Publications " and " Review of
Reviews," as two of the sections were called, were particularly
good. The " Literary and Philosophical Intelligence," from
foreign countries as well as from home, was probably nearly
if not quite unique at the time. Those who, relying on
Sydney Smith's witticisms, take it for granted that an
Evangelical magazine — and one concocted in Clapham—
must have been a dull, narrow, and spiteful performance,
should read the letter which Byron wrote to the editor on
the occasion of a review of the Giaour (it is given in
Macaulay's Life). He there speaks of " the pleasure
which the perusal of a very able, and I believe just
criticism, has afforded me," adding that this was the first
time for years that he had thought it worth taking notice
of any public criticism.
The Observer had a long life for such a magazine,
considering how tastes vary in such matters, and how much
enterprise was subsequently devoted to journals of a more
popularly attractive character. I may add that it was
owing to a strong feeling of filial devotion that my father
spent much labour, towards the close of his life, in the
attempt to keep the journal in existence. He not only
wrote in it himself, in spite of growing infirmity and
overwhelming press of work, but also for several years
undertook the editorship. As a separate publication it
did not long survive his death.
As to John Venn's contributions to the journal, he has,
with his usual methodical care, left a list. These are
naturally for the most part of a religious character, but he
seems also to have done a good deal of miscellaneous and
scientific reviewing. Amongst his articles are the follow-
ing : " Review of the Philosophical Transactions for 1 80 1 " ;
JOHN VENN OF CLAPHAM 137
"On the Dry Rot in Buildings" ; " Anecdotes of Mr.
Walker of Truro " (an early Evangelical) ; <c Review of
Bates' Rural Philosophy " ; " Review of Milner's Church
History " ; " Remarks on the Account of the Death of
Dr. Priestley," etc.
The direction in which Mr. Venn's influence is still
most perceptible at the present day is certainly in the
principles and practice of the Church Missionary Society,
of which he must be considered the main originator. A
full account of his work here will be found in Mr. E.
Stock's history of that Society (1898). The following
paragraphs have been extracted, with very trifling verbal
alterations, from that history : —
February 18, 1799, the Eclectic Society1 held a general
conversation on the subject of a mission connected with the
Evangelical part of the Church of England. This resulted in a
notice for a more regular discussion on March 1 8, when John Venn
himself would introduce the subject in the following form,
"What methods can we use more effectually to promote the
knowledge of the Gospel among the heathen ? " John Venn's
wisdom and judgment are very manifest in the summaries of his
address which have been preserved. Ultimately, after others had
spoken, it was resolved to form a society immediately. On April I
another meeting was held to prepare the rules, and on Friday,
April 12, 1799, the public meeting took place which established
the Church Missionary Society. Mr. Venn occupied the chair
on this occasion, and afterwards drew up a paper entitled " An
Account of a Society for Missions to Africa and the East." As
was stated at the Jubilee of the Society in 1848, Mr. Venn "laid
down on that memorable occasion those principles and regulations
which have formed the basis of the Society, and upon which its
work has been carried on ever since."
Mr. Venn continued to take an active part in the work
of the new society during the remainder of his life. He
preached the annual sermon in 1805, and on the occasion
of the second valedictory meeting — i.e. the meeting to
take leave of those going out as missionaries — he gave the
address ; " it might be delivered now, almost word for word,
to any departing missionary band."
His first wife died, as has been said, in 1803 ; and for
1 A clerical society, supported by John Venn and those who were in general
agreement with him.
'138 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
the next nine years his sister Jane lived with him at the
rectory, and undertook the charge of the family. It was
no light task, for there were seven children, of whom the
youngest was only a year old ; and her brother's frequent
illness, and consequent absence at Bath and elsewhere, threw
a heavy burden of responsibility upon her. She lived to
a very great age (p. 109), being in her turn devotedly
watched over by her nephew and niece at Hereford till the
close of her life.
About a year before his death my grandfather married
his second wife,1 Frances Turton. They were married at
St. George's, Bloomsbury, August 25, 1812. Mrs. Venn
survived her husband for many years, dying January 12,
1870. Her mind had failed long before her death.
During his last few years his health was very weak.
He seems to have suffered from dropsy and jaundice,
aggravated by some internal injury originated by a fall from
his horse. He died at Clapham, July I, 1813, and was
buried 2 in the ground of the old church.
We have two likenesses of him, one (already mentioned)
by J. Downman taken at the age of twenty-three, when he
was about to leave College ; and one inscribed " Slater,
London, 1814." Either the date is mistaken, or it must
be a copy of some original, as this was the year after his
death. It represents him at about the age of fifty.
It is a striking illustration of the constitutional
difference, mental and bodily, between John Venn and his
father, that whereas the latter seemed actually held back
from death at the last from sheer joy at meeting it, the
feelings of the former found vent in the following
1 Frances, fifth daughter of John Turton, of Sugnal, near Eccleshall, Staffordshire,
by Mary, daughter of Rev. Thomas Meysey, rector of Perton, Worcestershire. A
pedigree of the family (Turton of Alrewas) for six or eight generations is given in
Stebbing Shaw's History of Staffordshire. John Turton retired in late life to Clapham,
where he made Mr. Venn's acquaintance. He was great-grandson of Sir John Turton,
Baron of the Exchequer, who was buried at Alrewas in 1707. The family pedigree and
arms are entered in the Herald's Visitation of Staffordshire of 1663-4.
2 As already stated, the N. aisle of the old church had been left standing, and was used
as a mortuary chapel. The grave in which John Venn, his father, and his wife, were
buried, stood near the S.E. corner of this chapel. It was, according to the account in
the Gentleman's Magazine (vol. 85, p. ii.) an altar tomb, and contained inscriptions to the
father and wife, the inscription to John Venn being placed in the new church. The
tomb seems, on the same authority, to have occupied the site of the communion table of
the church (St. Paul's), built in 1815. I can find no trace of it now.
p. 138.
JOHN VENN, M.A.
From Sketch by J. W. Slater, about 1812.
JOHN VENN OF CLAPHAM 139
expressions — they are contained in the fragment of a letter
to his life-long friend, Samuel Thornton : —
My dear Friend. — When you receive this I shall have gone to
give in the account of my stewardship before that awful Tribunal
ac which I am too sensible of my numerous defects to expect any
mercy but through the infinite clemency of the Judge and the
gracious intercession of our blessed Redeemer.
There is a long inscription 1 to his memory in Clapham
church. If it seems somewhat fulsome in tone, it must
be remembered that he had himself expressly requested
" that nothing should be recorded of him in the way of
panegyric."
With his customary desire for accurate record, my
grandfather drew up a list of every publication of his which
he could recollect, adding with his characteristic modesty,
et They are none of them of importance or deserve to
be remembered ; but they were written with an honest
intention and published at the request of others, and when
read with the partial regard of an affectionate child may do
some good." They are as follows : —
The Nature of the Gospel as stated in the Writings of
St. Paul. A sermon preached at the Visitation of
the Archdeacon of Norwich held at Litcham, May
10, 1786.
Reflections on this Season of Danger. A sermon
preached at Clapham, April 15, 1798.
Select portions of Psalms extracted from various
versions and adapted to Public Worship ; with an
Appendix containing Hymns for the principal
Festivals of the Church of England. For the use
of Clapham Church. 1800.
The Easy Spelling Book, Part I ; containing words of
one syllable. 1797.
The Ground of Encouragement in the present National
Danger. A sermon preached at Clapham, October
23, 1803.
A sermon preached at St. Andrew by the Wardrobe
1 The stone stands against the wall, at the E. end of the N. aisle (1902).
1 40 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
and St. . Anne, Blackfriars, June 4, 1805 ; before
the Society for Missions to Africa and the
East, instituted by members of the Established
Church.
Published in Cheap Repository Tracts : — Daniel in the
Den of Lions. Character of Onesimus. Reflec-
tions on Harvest.
The account prefixed to the "First Report of the
Society of Missions to Africa and the East " ex-
plaining the Society's views and objects.
The Report of the Society for bettering the condition
of the Poor in Clapham.
The Necessity of the Observance of the Sabbath. A
pamphlet circulated through the parish in 1805.
Mr. Venn's first wife, Katharine, was the only
daughter of William King, a merchant at Hull (see
Appendix, for more about the family). She was born
there, January i, 1760. We have a pleasing picture of
her in oil, as a little child. A number of her letters are
preserved, which show her to have been a very lively,
intelligent girl, and better instructed than most of her
contemporaries. Like her brother George, she was very
fond of music. She was evidently sought after, and had
several offers of marriage, — Mr. Carus Wilson, afterwards
a well-known Evangelical preacher, being apparently
amongst her suitors. The only tradition about her which
has survived is that — very appropriately as a Yorkshire
woman — she was an excellent rider, and very fond of
horses. There is an amusing account in one of her letters
of a day's stag-hunting in Epping Forest when she was
staying with relations in that neighbourhood : —
I must not forget to tell you that my favourite diversion is
stag-hunting, and about a fortnight ago we had a most charming
day, for we were so well up in the chace that we could have been
at the death. . . . We were not at the rousing of the stag. The
first sound we heard was Bon Slote^ but we soon heard the agree-
able cry of Tio Tio, and a most beautiful view we had. You know,
I suppose, that this is the finest chace. I believe it is called the
Royal Chace. We had all the gentlemen in the neighbourhood.
JOHN VENN OF CLAPHAM 141
... It was fortunate for the ladies that the stag did not take soil,
but I own I should have liked to have seen him at bay. — (Letter
to her brother, October 20, 1783.)
Her short married life of fourteen years was too much
occupied by family duties and cares for the survival of
any but purely domestic reminiscences. She brought her
husband a considerable accession of friends, the many
visits to and from whom show that his and her society
were sought after and appreciated. She died after a brief
illness, at Clapham, April 15, 1803.
Her younger brother George was entered at Trinity
College in 1779. ^e obtained a Scholarship there, and
won the Declamation prize during his studentship ; and
graduated as eleventh wrangler in 1784. He was a Fellow
of Trinity from 1785 to 1810, and afterwards Canon of
Ely. He had been at the Hull Grammar School under
Joseph Milner, and seems to have made some acquaintance
with his future brother-in-law. He was all his life passion-
ately fond of music, and was an excellent performer him-
self. He was for some years tutor to the young Duke of
Rutland,1 who entered College in 1793, and with whom
he retained a friendship for the rest of his life. He was
of decidedly Evangelical opinions, though his studious
and retiring disposition prevented him from taking any
prominent part as a preacher or speaker. On one occasion
at least his conscientious adherence to his convictions stood
in the way of his advancement. He was definitely
offered the Mastership of Jesus College — then in the gift
of the Bishop of Ely — if he would undertake to resign
his connection with the Bible Society. . (The bishop's
letter is quite explicit on the point.) This he entirely
declined to do. He was for many years rector of Whit-
well, Rutlandshire, a living in the gift of the Duke of
Rutland. He died at Dry pool, Hull, when on a visit to
my father, February 5, 1831.
We have many of his letters preserved, as he and his
sister always kept up an affectionate intercourse. The
1 He travelled much with him in the British Isles for several years, the Continent
being then, of course, mostly closed to Englishmen. The journals of these tours were
published in several volumes ; nominally written by the youthful Duke, but presumably
the composition was largely due to the tutor.
1 42 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
correspondence commences when he was a student at
Cambridge, and* is interesting as showing the manners and
habits of the University at that day. The following brief
extract gives an account of a day's life of a reading man,
at a time when the indolence and deadness of the eighteenth
century were beginning to pass away : —
I generally get up every morning to Chapel : after prayers I
walk into the fields for about a quarter of an hour to imbibe the
wholesomeness of the morning air. I always contrive to finish
breakfast by 8J. I then sit down for an hour and a half to a
Greek historian I have in hand at present, viz., Thucydides. I
then pursue my mathematical or rather philosophical studies till
uj, at which time we go to lectures to Mr. Therond, and
continue there till near dinner. In the afternoon I attend the
disputations (i.e. in the Public Schools) till 3^ ; from that time
till 5 I am employed in reading a Latin author : what I am now
reading in that line is the most inimitable and enchanting Poem
from which you would find great entertainment by reading it in
the translation by Dryden, which you will find in the Book Case.
From 5 to 6 I get my tea and practise on the harpsichord. I
then read Rollin's Belles Lettres till chapel time ; and after supper,
provided I have no engagement with Mr. Collier, I resume my
philosophical investigations till bed-time. — (Trin. Coll., November
27, 1781.)
Mr. and Mrs. Venn had eight children, as follow :—
1 . Henry ; born at Dunham, November 24, 1 790 ; died
December 18, 1790.
2. Catherine Eling ; born at Dunham, December 2,
1791 ; died, unmarried, at 14 Mabledon Place, London,
April 22, 1827. Delicate health prevented her from
leading as active and varied a life as most of her family.
She was a very fair artist : our sketches of Dunham and
Yelling churches are by her.
3. Jane Catherine ; born at Clapham, May 16, 1793.
She married, at Harrow, December 22, 1814, James
Stephen, junior, afterwards the Right Hon. Sir James
Stephen, K.C.B., long and well known as permanent
Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, and latterly
Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge. By
him she had, amongst other children, the late Mr. Justice
Stephen and Sir Leslie Stephen. She died February 27, 1875.
4. Emelia, born at Clapham, June 20, 1794. For
JOHN VENN OF CLAPHAM 143
more than fifty years the companion and active helper of
her brother John in all his parochial and charitable under-
takings. Those who knew her in her later years will
remember her as an unusually lively and active old lady,
as full of interest in the present as in the past, and showing
the keenest sympathy with the personal affairs of every
one connected with her. To the end of her long life she
continued to add to her friends and acquaintances : I
remember her saying, when she was about eighty-two, that
there were forty houses of friends within reach, at which
she was accustomed to call. " My dear," she said, " if I
did not make new friends, a walk on Aylestone Hill would
be like going through a Campo Santo."
To the last she was passionately fond of travelling,
especially in Italy. Some of my earliest recollections are
of her numerous collection of engravings, and afterwards
of photographs, of the buildings and pictures at Rome and
elsewhere. The first of these journeys abroad l was taken
with her relations, the Diceys, in 1815. They visited
Waterloo, about six weeks after the battle ; passed Strass-
burg, which had not surrendered and was still under
bombardment by the allies ; spent a month in Switzerland ;
and two weeks in Paris, whilst the British troops were in
occupation, and many of the pictures and statues which the
French had swept up from every great gallery in Europe
were still at the Louvre.
Till she settled with her brother at Pinner, in 1830,
her life was remarkably full of incident and variety. Being
one of several at home, she had plenty of leisure. Her
journals suggest an almost constant round of visits — often
for weeks or months at a time — to the many friends whom
she inherited from the Clapham days : the Barings at
Stratton, the Thorntons and Grants at Battersea Rise,
Wilberforces, Pearsons, Macaulays, and others2 too
1 She kept a daily journal throughout most of her life 5 but as it was entirely in
shorthand, rather carelessly written, no one is likely to be the better for it. That of the
above tour, which is minute and extremely lively, I have taken the trouble to copy out
into longhand.
2 About 1874, when on a visit to Cambridge, she went with us to call on the
President of Queens' College, and rather startled some of the company by her
reminiscences of the Lodge in the days of Isaac Milner — who had then been dead fifty-
four years.
'i44 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
numerous to mention ; besides family meetings with the
Diceys at Claybrook, the Battens at Harrow, the Stephens,
and her uncle King at Ely.
To us, in our childhood, she was like a second mother.
When occasion demanded a new governess, she would come
up to London and take endless pains in her endeavours to
select the best. In the choice of books she showed a
wonderful capacity in discovering such as children would
read, and not merely such as it was considered by the
elders that they ought to read. And the house at
Hereford was always open to us as a second home.
5. Henry Venn ; born at Clapham, February 10, 1796
(see on).
6. Caroline ; born at Clapham, August 22, 1798. She
married at St. Pancras, December 12, 1820, the Rev.
Samuel Ellis Batten, assistant-master at Harrow. She was
his second wife. He died somewhat suddenly, May 3,
1830, leaving her with two young daughters. For several
years after Mr. Batten's death she lived much abroad,
principally in Italy.
One daughter, Emelia, reached womanhood. She
married, 1852, Russell Gurney, Recorder of London, and
M.P. for Southampton. She became well and widely
known for her great liberality and for her keen interest in,
and knowledge of, art. The most permanent memorial of
this interest is the elaborately decorated " Chapel of the
Ascension " in the Bayswater Road,1 the details of which
sfie minutely discussed with the artist, Mr. Frederic Shields.
She was also a devoted student of Dante, and published a
Commentary under the title Dante s Pilgrim s Progress.
She died October 17, 1896.
7. Maria; born at Clapham, June 23, 1800; died
there, September 13, 1809.
8. John ; born at Ciapham, April 17, 1802 (see on).
A few words must be said here about the so-called
Clapham Sect. Several descriptions have been given of the
remarkable group of men commonly included under that
1 There is an account of this chapel in the Art Journal for November 1902. A
full Descriptive Handbook was published by Mr. Shields in 1897.
JOHN VENN OF CLAPHAM 145
term ; two of which, in particular, stand out in a way
which might well make any other biographer shrink from
seeming to court comparison. In his Essays on Ecclesiastical
Biography, the late Sir James Stephen — drawing from the
stores of his own early recollections — has described, with
rare delicacy of touch and tenderness of sympathy, the
strong and the weak points of the men amongst whom he
had been brought up. Sir George Trevelyan again, in
the life of his uncle, Lord Macaulay, has sketched with
hereditary brilliancy, the main characteristics of some of
those with whom Zachary Macaulay lived and worked.
To speak of this group as a " sect," if by this term a
religious sect is to be understood, is rather misleading.
No doubt they accepted in the main the body of doctrines
known as Evangelical. That was indeed almost the only
form in which strong religious feeling then expressed
itself. " To John Venn the whole sect looked up as their
pastor and spiritual guide." But the real bond of union
amongst them, that which continually brought them into
mutual co-operation, was rather to be sought in their deeds
of active charity than in their speculative opinions. Several,
indeed, of the busy men of affairs who composed the group
sat rather loose to dogma, and one at least of their inti-
mate associates — William Smith — was an avowed Socinian.
The most permanent element in the Clapham com-
munity must be sought in the Thornton family. John
Thornton, a merchant renowned for his more than princely
munificence, " one of those rare men in whom the desire
to relieve distress assumes the form of a master passion,"
was already there, as we have seen, in 1756, when Henry
Venn began his ministry at Clapham. He died in 1790.
John Venn arrived as rector in 1792, and continued the
friendship with his contemporaries of the next generation,
Samuel, Robert, and Henry. These were all men of
some mark, being respectively members of Parliament
for Surrey, Colchester, and Southwark. The latter in
particular must be regarded as the central figure of the
sect. He continued in his father's steps, prominent in
all good works, and his house on the Common was the
chosen meeting-place for the discussion of all the many
T
'146 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
religious and social schemes with the furtherance of which
Clapham became associated. If, in the temper of the
worshipper at holy places, one seeks to have the precise
locality pointed out whence the spirit of the place started
on its mission through the world, the pilgrim's feet may
be directed to the library in Henry Thornton's house.
The rectory study may have been the birthplace of the
Church Missionary Society, but this was the spot where
most of the world-embracing schemes were discussed and
planned. The house still stands, almost unaltered, and
the oval library — planned by no less a man than William
Pitt himself — is there to this day. There used to gather
" a knot of legislators rehearsing some approaching debate ;
or travellers from distant lands ; or circumnavigators of
the worlds of literature and science ; or the pastor of the
neighbouring church, whose look announced him as the
channel through which benedictions passed to earth from
heaven." " Politics in that microcosm were rather cosmo-
politan than national. Every human interest had its
guardian, every region of the globe its representative."
The other principal members of the party, as described
by Stephen, are the following. Far the most prominent,
in fact the only one who was widely known in the country,
was Wilberforce, "the Agamemnon of the host we celebrate,
the very sun of the Claphamic system." He lived for
many years next door to Henry Thornton. With him
was closely connected Thomas Gisborne, of Yoxall Lodge,
Staffordshire, who resided a large part of each year with
Wilberforce. " Among the sectaries of the village he
took his share in labour and in deliberation, whether the
abolition of the slave-trade, the diffusion of Christianity,
the war against vice and ignorance, or the advancement
of Evangelical theology was the object of the -passing
day." Granville Sharpe, to whose indefatigable exertions
was due the ever-memorable judicial decision which first
pronounced the nullity of slavery on British soil. With
him, in the same great cause, laboured Zachary Macaulay,
Thomas Clarkson, and William Smith ; all but Clarkson
inhabitants of Clapham. Macaulay is best known to the
present and passing generation through the fame of his
JOHN VENN OF CLAPHAM
illustrious son. James Stephen, Master in Chancery, the
earnest coadjutor of the preceding, was not only himself
a resident in Clapham, but had a twofold connection with
other residents, as the brother-in-law of Wilberforce, and
as father of Sir James Stephen, who married a daughter of
John Venn. To these should be added Charles Grant,
Director of the East India Company, and John Shore,
Lord Teignmouth, Governor -General of India. The
establishment of the Bible Society was mainly the work
of the last.
HENRY VENN,1 OF C.M.S.
HENRY VENN, second son of John Venn, was born at
Clapham, February 10, 1796 : his elder brother, of the
same name, was born at Dunham, and died in infancy.
Coming in the midst of a singularly bright, happy, and
united family, his early recollections seem to have been
almost uniformly joyous. He lost his mother in 1803,
when he was a little more than seven years old. Her
place was supplied, as far as this was possible, by his aunt
Jane. Something has been already said about the latter,
so it need only be repeated that she was a woman of rare
sagacity and judgment, and by her early training at
Huddersfield and Yelling belonged to a type of cultivated
domestic house-managers now almost or entirely extinct.
She lived in her brother's rectory from 1803 until his
second marriage in 1 8 1 1 . Her influence in the family
was naturally increased by her brother's long illnesses and
frequent absence from home.
The following brief autobiographical sketch by Henry
Venn was drawn up at Torquay, after the death of his
wife, and when he had himself only partially recovered
from a dangerous illness : —
In the year 1805, Samuel Thornton,2 a year younger than
myself, came to be my father's pupil and to be educated with me.
Then, I suppose, plans of instruction were adopted, such as my
father's wisdom was well calculated to devise ; but he was over-
1 The life of Henry Venn was published in iSSi, written mainly by his former
colleague at the Church Missionary House, Rev. W. Knight. That volume is in great
part, naturally, a history of the Society which absorbed so much of his zeal and energy
throughout life. Following the plan of" these biographical sketches, personal character-
istics and events will here be mainly dealt with.
2 Afterwards Admiral Thornton. Son of Samuel, the well-known banker of Clapham,
and Albury Park, Surrey ; M.P. for the county. Father of Mr. P. M. Thornton, M.P.
for the Clapham division of Surrey.
148
HENRY VENN, M.A.
From Drawing by G. Richmond, about 1831.
P. 148.
HENRY VENN OF C.M.S. 149
whelmed with the business of his important ministerial charge,
and could only hear our lessons in the morning from eight to nine.
The rest of the time we learnt our lessons alone in a schoolroom
which opened out on a playground, and two windows looked into
the street. I have a more lively recollection of transactions at the
door and window than at the table. ... I cannot but in some
measure deplore the idle and desultory habits of reading which I thus
acquired. That habit of strenuous application and exact attention
which boys get at a good school, and under the excitement of
emulation, I never had, and when I went to College I grievously
felt the want of it, and was forcibly discouraged by that feeling,
far beyond the reality of the case. Samuel Thornton remained
with us until he went to sea in 1812. My other dear and constant
companion was Charles Shore1 (the first Lord Teignmouth's
eldest son), and George Stainforth2 during his holidays. My
recollections of these years are all of unmixed happiness. My
father was always pleased with me, and most tender to me ; but
his constant occupations and ill-health removed him in some degree
from that familiar companionship which would otherwise, I am
persuaded, have been his delight. Hence, perhaps, with the most
romantic love for him, I had always a degree of awe in his
presence. When Samuel Thornton went for his holidays to his
father's beautiful seat, Albury Park, I generally went with him,
and was treated like a son in every respect. ... I met with
universal kindness and attention from all my father's friends, and
thus I was brought much more forward in life, as it is called, than
boys usually are, and prepared, by premature experience of the
kindness and confidence of friends, for that difficult situation to
which I was called at my father's death, at the age of seventeen,
to settle his affairs, and make various family arrangements. . . .
In 1812 the two sons of Sir Thomas Baring,3 Thomas and John,
came to be my father's pupils ; they were much younger than
myself, and I was in some measure to instruct them. . . . My
father gave me the wisest instructions about my studies, set me a
high standard of accuracy, excited a desire to excel in composition
and style of writing, and to enter into the spirit of an author ; he
encouraged me also to seek the acquisition of all kinds of know-
ledge— mechanical knowledge, astronomy, electricity, gardening,
and heraldry.
1 Charles John Shore, afterwards second Lord Teignmouth. Died 1885. His father,
John Shore, was for many years in the East India Company's service ; Governor-General,
1792; created Baron Teignmouth, 1798. He resided at Clapham 1802-8, where he
was intimately associated with the religious and philanthropic life of the place. He was
one of the founders and first president of the Bible Society.
2 George Stainforth, my father's most intimate contemporary friend. A very
promising scholar 5 second medallist, 1818 (Connop Thirlwall being first). Died
August 1820.
3 Afterwards the first Lord Northbrook, father of the present Earl Northbrook.
9 1 50 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
The estimation in which Evangelical opinions were
generally held in those days must have prevented any real
intimacy on the part of the rector's family with persons
outside the so-called " Clapham Sect." But there were
correspondinD advantages, for within that circle there were
to be found men whom, for their ability, knowledge, and
experience of affairs, it would be hard to surpass elsewhere.
And these men lived in the closest intimacy and friendship.
In the following generation this vigour of character
naturally showed very various developments, and led to
widely different careers ; but it could have been no
ordinary circumstances which served to train such men as
T. B. Macaulay, James Stephen, the Wilberforces, the
Grants, and others, besides the Venns. Differing widely,
as they did, in their capacities and careers, they were alike
in their indefatigable diligence and conscientiousness.
Those who knew the others would probably say of them,
what those who were most intimate with Henry Venn
would certainly say of him, that this conscientiousness
resulted in what may almost be called an acquired
incapacity for anything in the shape of loose and slip-
shod work.
The early life of all the children of John Venn was
spent in the old rectory house, of which an illustration is
here given.1 The life in that home was not only a happy,
but a busy and cultivated one. The girls were, up to a
certain point, taught Latin as carefully as their brothers.
Foreign languages were not neglected, though in those
days the prospect of being able to put them to use in
foreign travel was but small. Other accomplishments
were added, amongst these the art of writing shorthand 2
which some of the daughters acquired with almost
professional success, and which they continued to use
throughout their lives.
1 The old rectory was pulled down some years ago, and its site is now occupied by
rows of small houses. One memorial of the past is preserved in the name "Venn
Street."
2 Their father (i/. p. 116) had been rather fascinated by the subject of shorthand
from an early age. For the two following generations the ladies of the family
habitually used it in their diaries, and their letters to each other. The system adopted
was that of Gurney ; popular in its day, but now so far superseded that the mass of
correspondence preserved will soon become undecipherable.
HENRY VENN OF C.M.S. 151
The actual Common has not been materially curtailed
since those days, though it has been considerably tamed
down by its gradual inclusion in greater London, and the
consequent regulations and treatment of County Councils.
Henry Venn's old friend, Lord Teignmouth, gave us a
reminiscence which indicates the change between then and
now. " I remember visiting your father, some time after
we had ceased to reside in Clapham in 1808, when we
ranged the neighbouring commons with his' gun, the only
instance in which he occurs to me in the character of a
sportsman." The accompanying illustrations show the
general appearance of the place 100 to 150 years ago.
The church has been left practically unaltered, and
remains as solid and ugly as when it was built in 1776,
except that within the last few weeks (June 1902) a
chancel has been appended to the end of it. A few of
the houses still stand almost unaltered, with their stately
old-fashioned gardens, amongst these being that which
Henry Skyes Thornton the banker occupied until his death.
But most of them have long since been converted to other
uses, or pulled down to make place for modern villas.
As Sir G. O. Trevelyan says, in his Life of Macaulay,
" What was once the house of Zachary Macaulay stands
almost within swing of the bells of a stately and elegant
Roman Catholic chapel ; and the pleasant mansion of
Lord Teignmouth, the cradle of the Bible Society, is now
turned into a convent of monks."
In March 1813 Henry Venn was sent with Charles
Baring to Cambridge, to read with the well-known
Professor Parish,1 for a year or so before entering College.
One object of this was, I believe, to escape the ballot for
the Militia, — naturally rather strict at this time, — resident
students being presumably exempt.
The professor only undertook to superintend our mathematical
studies, which he did by displaying before us the extraordinary
1 Parish was a contemporary of John Venn and an intimate friend. He was also a
family connection, as he had married Hannah, sister of James Stephen senior (father of
James junior, Henry Venn's brother-in-law). He was senior wrangler in 1778 ;
"Professor of Chemistry, 1794-1813 j and Jacksonian Professor of Natural Philosophy,
1813-37. A very ingenious mechanician and mathematician, whose extreme absence of
mind sometimes led to remarkable results.
«52 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
power of lucid explanation which he possessed on such subjects,
but seldom examining the progress we made. His kindness to us,
however, was parental, and very great advantage I am sensible we
both derived from his clear and comprehensive grasp of mind
on all subjects within the range of his thought. My cousin,
H. V. Elliott,1 kindly undertook to superintend my classical studies,
for which purpose never was a person better qualified in every
respect. But I had been too near a companion to him to make
this plan answer. Nevertheless I derived much more from his
instructions than I had ever acquired before.
In June 1813 he was called back to Clapham in
consequence of the dangerous illness of his father, who
died a few weeks after his arrival. This was one of the
earliest occasions on which that remarkable maturity of
character and soundness of judgment which distinguished
him through life were put to the test. His father had
fully appreciated his character in this respect, as, though
he was then but a few months over seventeen, he left him
one of his executors, expressly saying that " his prudence
and discretion will amply make up for his want of years
and experience." Never was judgment better justified,
for, though he was, of course, constantly aided by the
advice of his father's Clapham friends, the bulk of the
work fell upon him, including the preparation of his
father's sermons for publication. From the first also, in
concert with his aunt Jane, who now returned to the
superintendence of the family, he had much of the manage-
ment of the domestic affairs, including such matters as
the arrangements for the education of his brothers and
sisters. " Ah, he was indeed a father to us before he was
to you," as his brother John remarked to us at the time
of his death.
Added to the time which was required for one, a novice in
accounts, to settle many long and intricate ones, I had at the same
time to manage many of the affairs of the living, and to provide
Mr. Dealtry- with that information which is required by one
perfectly new to everything of the kind, he having never before
1 Henry Venn Elliott; second medallist 18145 Fellow of Trinity for some years.
Afterwards a popular and well-known preacher at Brighton.
2 William Dealtry (1775-1847) succeeded John Venn as rector of Clapham. He
was a Fellow of Trinity ; second wrangler in 1796 ; author of a work on Fluxions (/.*.
Differential Calculus). Afterwards Prebendary of Winchester, and Chancellor of the
diocese, and Archdeacon of Surrey.
HENRY VENN OF C.M.S. 153
even had a curacy. A great portion of my time and thoughts
has also been occupied in placing in a proper train the sermons
designed for publication. Though four persons had kindly
engaged to do all in their power, I was yet obliged on many
accounts to do much myself. I hope I have now settled that
matter. — (Letter to H. V. Elliott, August 1813.)
He returned to Professor Parish, remained with him
for about a year, entering at Queens' in October 1814.
This College was then in a very flourishing state, so
far as numbers were concerned, standing fourth in the
University. The president was the well-known Isaac
Milner, of whom my uncle has given some reminiscences
further on ; and of whose capacity and dominant character
Sir James Stephen has given a vivid description in his
Ecclesiastical Essays. It was probably his reputation that
decided the choice of this College. But the bulk of the
Fellows in residence seem to have been of a very rough
and uncultivated character.1 I never heard my father, with
all his chanty and his keen appreciation of humorous
character, refer to any one of them as either willing or
able to sympathise with the students or influence them
for good.
Of his College life we have few details. He was
naturally of a shy and sensitive nature, and rather shut off
from most of his companions by his strong religious
convictions. Things had much changed since his father's
day. John Venn's old contemporary and friend, Simeon,
had now become a power in Cambridge and in England,
and the religiously inclined students, instead of being
scattered in isolation, were, under his influence, brought
into frequent intercourse with each other. They became
regular attendants at Simeon's church, Holy Trinity, and
at his Friday evening gatherings in his College rooms.
A " Sim " was the recognised term for those who thus
distinguished themselves, and, as the Evangelical views
1 In a squib of the day it is declared that, on one occasion, " fired with frenzy, they
all fell to blows." This was not mere exaggeration, for Mr. Venn, in a letter addressed
to the Master, speaks of a personal combat of this kind, in the presence of students and
strangers, as being a notorious fact. It may be remarked that the hero of the anecdote
recorded by Mr. Conybeare in a once well-known article (on Church Parties), viz., the
vicar who remarked, on hearing that his church had been filled to crowding during his
absence by a popular young substitute, "that it didn't matter, he would soon empty it
again," was then a resident Fellow of the College.
154 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
were almost the only form of religious life at Cambridge,
the name came to be applied to most of those who were of
a serious way of thinking.
There were, however, disadvantages in this state of
things, as it tended to split the society of the place into
hostile camps. Comparing Henry Venn's College ex-
periences with those of his father and grandfather, I cannot
but think that a man with naturally considerable social
gifts lost a good deal by being confined to the society of a
few, and those few of one way of thinking.
He was, of course, a steady reader, and those were days
before men had begun to throw their strength almost
entirely into one line of study. Though not an accurate
scholar in the University sense, he was very fairly
acquainted with the classical languages. With the Greek
Testament he kept himself familiar till the end of his life.
Like his grandfather — I can speak from experience — he had
learned the languages soundly enough in his youth to be
able, many years afterwards, to help his sons in their
schoolboy tasks. He gained a College prize for a Latin
declamation, and two prizes in mathematics, and was
elected a Scholar early in his career.
As to his amusements there is little to be said, for such
resources were very scarce at that time, and he had neither
his grandfather's love of cricket nor his father's passion for
boating. Long walks with some friend were then, and
long afterwards, the staple form of exercise for the ordi-
nary quiet student ; and these walks l had always to be
performed in cap and gown. The only other relaxation
I ever heard him allude to — and this was far too expensive to
be more than a rare indulgence — consisted in occasional long
rides. There was still, at that time, a vast amount of open
country all round Cambridge, which made excursions on
horseback very attractive. One occasional trip was to go
to Newmarket Heath, thence to Ely, dine with his uncle
Canon King, and so home again ; most of this route being
then unenclosed.
1 My first visit to Cambridge was in 1845, when my father drove us children down
from London on a visit to the President of Queens', his old friend Joshua King. I
remember, as we approached Cambridge, his telling us that if it had been earlier in the
day we should have met numbers of men out walking in their caps and gowns.
HENRY VENN OF C.M.S. 155
The May term of 1 8 1 5 saw the last occurrence in Cam-
bridge of an experience common enough in mediaeval times.
The plague of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and
the small-pox of the eighteenth, were epidemics of the past.
But there were occasional outbreaks of typhoid, and in this
year the prevalence of this disease was so serious that the
students were dismissed, and allowed to count the term
in their absence. Henry Venn went with his sisters to
Cromer, where he was afterwards joined by his friend
G. Stainforth.
His last long vacation was spent with a reading party
at Tenby — a remote spot from Cambridge then — under
Mr. Ebden l of Caius. The end of the time he and his
friend Stainforth filled up at Manorbier, a village on the
coast near by.
He graduated B.A. in 1818, being nineteenth amongst
the wranglers. The smaller Colleges had not then adopted
the plan of electing Fellows solely from their place in
the mathematical list. A fair knowledge of classics was
demanded ; in fact the examination was almost confined to
this subject ; and Mr. Venn accordingly spent his next year
in careful preparation for this purpose.
The summer of 1818 was a time to which he always
afterwards looked back with affectionate remembrance. It
was mostly spent at Rydal in Westmoreland, with the
Wilberforce family. William Wilberforce had been a close
friend of his father, and the friendship was handed on
undiminished, as the following extract from a letter of this
date will show : —
My dear Henry — for I hate the formality of any other way of
accosting you . . . yours ever affectionately, and with the deepest
sense of your kindness, for which may God reward you : begging
also your prayers for the success of our endeavours, I remain ever
yours sincerely and affectionately.
Remarkable terms for the old statesman to use to a
youth of twenty-two. Wilberforce's friendship introduced
Mr. Venn to several of the then local celebrities whose
acquaintance he would not otherwise have made ; amongst
1 J. C. Ebden, B.A. 1816. For some time Fellow and Tutor of Trinity Hall ;
afterwards Head-Master of Ipswich School.
.156 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
these, Wordsworth and Southey, with the latter of whom
he had a long day's ramble through St. John's Vale.
In January 1 8 1 9 he was elected Fellow of Queens', and
on the jist October following was ordained deacon by the
Bishop of Ely. Owing to his name and opinions he had
at first some difficulty in finding any one to accept him as
curate. In a letter to a friend he speaks of having only
three alternatives before him : a foreign chaplaincy, a
country curacy near Croydon, and that of St. Dunstan's,
Fleet Street. This latter he accepted in 1821, being
ordained priest by the Bishop of Norwich on June 17 of
that year. The post was a very laborious one, for Mr.
Lloyd, the rector, was in weak health and generally absent
at another living. The parish was then much more
populous] than it is now — 6000, as against 1800 — and
contained many very bad districts, not a few of which
have been since improved away. The tradesmen in Fleet
Street then, with scarcely an exception, lived over their
shops.
Mr. R. B. Seeley the publisher, who was then resident in
the parish, has given (1873) the following reminiscences : —
At a distance of fifty years it will riot be expected that I
should recollect much of the sermons which I heard at St. Dunstan's
in 1822, 1823. Yet some of them made an impression which
will never be effaced. I heard from Mr. Venn an exposition of
the Lord's Prayer so full and so clear that nothing I have since
listened to from more celebrated pulpit orators has obliterated it
from my memory. . . . Few people would have been able to
anticipate the position which he occupied half a century later.
The quietness of his demeanour, the absence of everything
pretentious or aspiring, and his freedom from that sort of perhaps
allowable ambition which is so common nowadays, all tended to
prevent the thought from arising that in the curate of St. Dunstan's
men beheld one who half a century after would possess a degree
and extent of influence in the Church which no other man, apart
from rank and official dignity, could pretend to wield.
As a preacher he could not, in the common sense of
the term, be called popular. He always devoted much
care and thought to his sermons ; but he had not a very
easy delivery. No one could state his views in a more
clear and enlivening manner in the committee-room, and
HENRY VENN OF C.M.S. 157
he had a singularly happy conversational tact, set off with
an abundance of anecdotes ; but, as 'he -was well aware
himself, he had none of those natural or acquired charac-
teristics which are required for good public speaking. At
the annual meetings in Exeter Hall his task was to write
the report, his brother's to read it. He made efforts,
though somewhat late, to remedy the defect, and would
often impress upon young clergymen the importance of
adding to the weight of their matter by every legitimate
improvement in their manner.
It was perhaps to improve himself in the art of
speaking that he was for some time a member of a small
debating society. This was at the instigation of his friend
Charles Shore, afterwards Lord Teignmouth, who supplies
the following reminiscence : —
We met weekly at the house of Dr. King, afterwards during
many years a much respected resident at Brighton. The members
were, as far as I can recollect : Sir R. T. Kindersley ( Vice-
Chancellor ), Sir C. Chambers, George Grote (the historian),
Francis Baring (Lord Northbrook), Norman, Lord Overstone,
H. Handley (M.P.), G. R. Smith (M.P.), Maberley (Sec. to
the Post Office), Stephen Lushington, Cowell, Cameron, King,
Venn, and myself. Dr. King, our president, used to boast that
every member of the club distinguished himself in after life.
I never heard my father allude to this club, and suspect
that his natural shyness at that time prevented him from
taking any very active part in its proceedings.
He had four years of very hard work at his London
curacy, broken only by two short holidays, one in the
north and one in the west. These were both undertaken
for the purpose of completing some of his father's family
inquiries. His expedition to Devonshire was made in
1823, and that to Huddersfield in 1824. He has given
an account of each in his Journals, from which I have
already quoted. Whilst at work at St. Dunstan's he lived
with the rest of his family at 14 Mabledon Place,1 near
the present St. Pancras Station. The party then consisted
1 After their father's death they took a house at Harrow in June 1814, John being
sent to the school. Here Jane married James Stephen (December 22, 1814). They
moved to London about 1817, soon after which John went to Charterhouse. He used
to relate how, when he visited them from Harrow, he cut across the fields, steering by
the scaffolding of St. Pancras church, which was then being built.
•158 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
of himself, his aunt Jane Venn, his sisters Emelia,
Caroline, and Catherine, and, till 1820, his brother John.
Caroline was married here in 1820, and Catherine died in
1827. They stayed here till 1829.
He left London in 1824, and took up his residence
in College. His principal reason for the change is given
in a letter to his rector, Mr. Lloyd : —
I have long determined that before I undertake another
ministerial charge I would devote some time to regular and
systematic professional study. Experience has taught me that
the weekly expense of thought in two sermons on the Sunday
requires a stock of sound and well-digested knowledge which I
have been quite unable to acquire in the midst of parochial duties,
and which I sadly neglected to lay in before I entered upon them.
The state of the College seems to have decidedly im-
proved by this time. Mr. Venn's old friend and contem-
porary, Joshua King, was now the leading spirit, and with
his great ability and boundless energy, seemed destined to
important work in the University or elsewhere. His
brother John Venn was also now in residence ; for, having
completely broken down with fever in India, he had given
up his appointment and come to Cambridge with the view
of taking orders.
He threw himself heartily into the work of the place,
being soon appointed Lecturer and Dean, and during the
latter part of his stay being an assistant tutor, with
Mr. King. He secured a fair amount of time for study,
principally in theology, with a view to the B.D. degree,
which the statutes of the College then required. But he
also wisely took the opportunity of attending lectures on
several other subjects — for instance, those of Mr. Smyth,
the then popular Professor of Modern History. He also
laid the foundations of a very fair amateur knowledge of
medicine, attending the lectures of Dr. W. Clark, and
making a practice of attending at Addenbrooke's Hospital.
He used to say that one of his reasons for this study was
the anxiety and disturbance which he had often felt when
in attendance on the sick, from his ignorance of their
real physical condition. This interest he retained to the
last, and we children had ample evidence of his wisdom
HENRY VENN OF C.M.S. 159
and knowledge in connection with our ailments, and of
the care with which he scrutinised every prescription.
When we were living at Highgate, about 1846, a man
climbed into the garden and drowned himself in the pond.
I remember being roused by my father's energetic call for
hot-water bottles, and his instant resort to every appliance
for restoring the apparently inanimate. To this particular
subject, as it happened, he had given careful attention long
before ; as I find, amongst some College note-books, an
abstract of a lecture by Prof. Clark on the treatment of
the apparently drowned.
He held the office of Proctor during the academical
year 1825-26, an office which was then decidedly more
onerous and unpleasant than it is now. One affray in
which he was engaged was serious, and might have led to
dangerous results. He was suddenly summoned with his
friend King, who was then Moderator, to quell a sort of
riot which had grown out of a November town-and-gown
row. When they arrived upon the scene, in St. Mary's
Passage, the mob, having routed the undergraduates, turned
upon the University authorities. They attacked them with
fists and stones, kicked and pelted them with mud, and
more or less hurt them both. Such an outrage as this
naturally could not be passed over. A prosecution was
conducted by the University against the principal offenders
at the summer assizes of 1826, several of whom received
sentences of imprisonment.
So high an opinion did he leave behind him of his tact
and firmness in the conduct of this office that his advice
was asked by the Proctor of the day, some thirty-five years
afterwards, on the occasion of a more than usually serious
dispute between the University and the town. After
giving some account of his experiences, he says : —
At the end of my year of office only two such houses [of
notorious ill-fame] existed : one within the town jurisdiction, and
one at Trumpington. In both instances I instituted prosecutions
on the evidence which I had obtained. . . . We regarded it as a
part of our duty to exercise the power we possessed as a means of
reclaiming the women, by communicating with their friends,
procuring their removal from Cambridge, etc. Steps of this kind
were taken in nearly twenty cases.
160 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
There is also a ludicrous side to these experiences.
Mr. Venn used to relate how, on one occasion, when
pursuing a delinquent student in a waste part of the town,
the fugitive suddenly disappeared down some open pit or
well. As soon as he was gone from sight, however, he
was heard reassuring his pursuer, who was tumbling after
him, by the announcement that he had reached the
bottom.1
During the last year of his stay in Cambridge he held
the newly created office of evening lecturer at St. Mary's.
To this he was appointed by the vicar, Mr. Musgrave,
afterwards Archbishop of York. Evening services were
not then an entire novelty in the town, for Simeon had
introduced them into his own church — against bitter and
persistent opposition — many years before, but they were
still sufficiently novel to be looked at with great suspicion
by the more conservative of the University authorities.
Mr. Venn says in a letter (November 6, 1827) : —
Last Sunday I began the evening lecture. The congregation
was very large, owing to the novelty of the thing. It is very
popular with the townspeople, as it ought to be, since it is
instituted entirely with a view to the benefit of the parishioners,
who have often complained of the unprofitableness of the scholastic
addresses which they hear from the University pulpit.
At the time of his leaving Cambridge, Queens' was, by
a long way, the third College in the University, numbering
as many as 150. One distinctive element was the number
of Fellow Commoners. Several of these had been in the
army, and had come to Cambridge, after the Peace, with
the view of taking orders. They must have added an
improving element at the common table.
In the year 1827 he was appointed to the living of
Drypool, a commercial suburb of Hull. The presentation
on this occasion was in the hands of his old family friend
William Wilberforce. Mr. Venn thus describes the place
when leaving it in 1834 :—
1 Amongst our childish recollections is that of the discovery, in a cupboard, of an old,
roughly cut truncheon. On inquiry as to its use, we were told that it dated from our
fathers' proctorial clays. It had been designed, not of course for attack, but for defence
against the assaults of dogs in the purlieus of Barnwell, who naturally did not side with
the Proctor.
HENRY VENN OF C.M.S. 161
Drypool is not a place which every one could or would under-
take. The income is improving, and may be stated at ^230, but
the parsonage house is in a deplorable local situation. ... It is
in itself a good and suitable building, but is placed in a most
abominable situation : above a mile from the church, a brick-field
in front, the great Holderness drain on one side : the passage to
the house, for half a mile, not deserving the name of a road, and
utterly impassable for half the year . . . and the population
altogether of the lower ranks, with an overwhelming mass of
surrounding poverty : about 6000 poor, and none but poor.
He laboured here for nearly seven years, making many
friends and introducing all the various parochial schemes
now so familiar, Sunday schools, district-visiting, missionary
collections, etc. His residence at Hull led to his acquaint-
ance l with Martha Sykes, daughter of Nicholas Sykes of
Swanland, whom he married at Ferriby, January 21, 1829.
None but his nearest relatives knew what this union was
to him and to her, and they only realised it as they saw
how thirty years of active and laborious widowed life seemed
rather to intensify than to dull the love which had found
its earthly expression during eleven happy years.
Among the principal local incidents of this time was
the invasion of the cholera in 1832. Hull suffered
severely from this then little known Eastern pestilence,
and was one of the first places at which it began its ravages
in England. It must be remembered that the belief was
then almost universal that the disease was terribly con-
tagious. The following extract from a letter from Mrs.
Venn refers to this date : —
Joseph, Daniel, and Frederick [her brothers] left us on Monday.
It was very delightful to me to hear the manner in which Joseph
(then an officer in the navy) spoke of Henry, and to see what he
chose for praise, especially his seeing that the poor people had their
houses fumigated when any death from cholera occurred.
The principal relaxation in these days consisted of
driving tours about the country, in which way Henry
Venn, like his father and grandfather,2 acquired a wide and
1 Or rather re-acquaintance, several members of the two families having already been
mutual friends. Nicholas' sister Mary Ann married Henry Thornton of Clapham. A
sister of Martha married Matthew Babington of Rothley Temple, Leicestershire. For
some account of the Sykes family see the Appendix.
2 There is a certain interest in noting the modes of locomotion adopted by successive
generations. My great-grandfather naturally went everywhere on horseback $ my
M
1 62 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
accurate knowledge of the features of most parts of England.
To us, as children, it seemed difficult to mention a place
which he did not remember and could not describe. Their
annual visits to London were always made in this manner,
and, as in the case of those before him, many of the stopping
places were determined by visits to relatives and congenial
friends. Now and then more extensive tours were indulged
in. Thus, in 1833, when a longer holiday than usual was
taken, I find that a journey of about 850 miles was per-
formed, extending through London to the New Forest and
Wales, and returning by Lancashire. He kept diaries on
most of his expeditions, and his note-books are full of
references to the various inns, and suggestions as to the
choice of roads. The last of these journeys was to
Torquay in 1839, when my mother was pronounced to be
in a consumption. In the spring of 1840 he brought us
back in the same way as far as Basingstoke, to which place
the S.W. Railway had then extended. I was at that time
between five and six, and can just remember his calling my
attention, as I sat on the box beside him, to the vast open
waste of Salisbury Plain, and my being perched on one of
the smaller blocks at Stonehenge, in order to get a view of
that most impressive of ruins. He was a good driver, and
very careful of his horses, the management of which he
thoroughly understood. Amongst my early reminiscences
is one of his insisting on seeing the horses actually eat the
corn which it was the ostler's duty to give them when we
stopped to bait.
In 1 834 he had the offer of St. John's, Holloway, in the
parish of Islington, and then on the outskirts of London.
He thus describes it on his first visit :—
The parochial district attached to the church extends from near
the top of Highgate Hill for two miles towards London ; stopping
just short of Highbury Terrace. The residences are all on the
sides of the Great North Road, with green fields beyond on
each side.
The move thither was made in the course of the
grandfather kept to the water wherever he could j my father, by preference, always drove ;
I fell in with the then prevalent pedestrianism, and was always on foot ; the generation
below will not stir except on a cycle.
" -
HENRY VENN OF C.M.S. 163
autumn. One inducement for the change was the prospect
of being near his relations, nearly all of whom were then
resident in or about London. He also wanted to join
more frequently in the work of the Church Missionary
Society, though he had not then realised that this work was
to become the occupation of his life.
He remained at Holloway for nearly fourteen years.
His stay there marked the great change in his work and
position, from the zealous parish clergyman to the practical
head of one of the great religious organisations in the
country. It covered also the principal period of trial and
suffering in his life : the loss of his wife and of one child, and
two years of severe, and at one time very dangerous illness,
in his own case.
There was no parsonage house in a new district like St.
John's. After occupying a couple of houses temporarily,
Mr. Venn took one in Hornsey Lane (now numbered 9)
close to the Archway, and within easy access of the
church. The house was inconvenient, and anything but
beautiful ; but attached to it was one of those magnificent
gardens of which so many were then to be found in the
suburbs of London. Our childish recollections there are
those of the country rather than the town — a large lawn,
kitchen-garden, rookery, and pond ; a number of ex-
ceptionally fine trees ; all on the slope of the hill. In the
distance, London, and smoky signs of the docks, and ships
on the Thames. My father's keen love of out-door life
made this garden a great attraction during the very few
hours in the week which he could spare for such enjoyment.
To the north of Hornsey Lane there was nothing but
country. For years we used to ride on our ponies, mostly
through the rustic lanes, and by the woods and brooks,
which occupied the site of the present Colney Hatch.
We could never mention any such ride to my father
without its recalling his own occasional rambles there with
my mother during the brief years in which she was still
able to indulge her love of riding.
Mr. Venn threw himself vigorously into parish work
at Holloway. An incident he once mentioned will show
how thorough was his knowledge of the people under his
1 64 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
charge. A man came hurriedly one day from a chemist's
shop, saying that Some unknown person had just obtained
a dose of poison, and that his suspicious manners made him
fear that suicide was intended. Mr. Venn thought over
all his more doubtful parishioners (the population was then
about 3000) and formed his conclusion as to the likeliest
amongst them. They went at once to the suspected house,
which proved to be the one supposed, and were in time to
prevent mischief. Besides the now usual parish societies,
he introduced a system of occasional lectures on scientific
and literary subjects. The work fell mainly upon him, as
the system was new, at any rate in that neighbourhood, and
lecturers almost impossible to obtain. Very careful schemes
of lectures were thus prepared upon a variety of subjects :
popular astronomy, the different modes adopted for
measuring time, the amphitheatres of Rome, and Aries (he
had recently paid a visit to the latter), etc.
During the first few years of his work in London his
life was a busy and happy one, a certain amount of .his
time being devoted to attending committees of the C.M.S.,
in Salisbury Square. Holidays continued to be taken in
the form of driving tours, with occasional visits to Brighton,
where several of his Elliott relations were now settled.
The first interruption of this active and happy life was
caused by his own severe illness in 1838. This was an
attack of dilatation of the heart brought on by his over-
exertion in carrying his wife upstairs. She was then
expecting her confinement, and he was so anxious not to
cause her any anxiety by breaking off the practice which
he had continued for many weeks, that he persisted in it
to the last, in spite of extreme suffering, and, as it after-
wards appeared, of urgent danger to his life. As soon as
she was somewhat recovered he consulted a surgeon, who
took a very grave view of his condition, and ordered him
at once to lay aside all clerical work of every kind. For
some time he appeared to be continually losing ground ;
but after a few months he put himself under the care of
Dr. Jephson of Leamington, then at the height of his
great reputation. An autumn and winter spent there
proved very beneficial, and after a year, i.e. in August
HENRY VENN OF C.M.S. 165
1839, he returned home with every hope of resuming
work.
But, alas, symptoms of consumption appeared in my most
precious wife. We consulted Chambers : he advised a winter in
Italy or Devonshire. I then consulted him about myself: he said
at once and decidedly that I was not in working condition, and
there was equal need of my absence from the scene of my duty.
We therefore went to Torquay. During that sojourn so great
were the consolations of Divine grace which overflowed from the
heart of my precious wife to refresh my own, that I do not think
that I suffered from anxiety or distress from first to last. But the
watching by night and the sight of her sufferings, and a settled
though composed grief, brought back many symptoms of my old
complaint, and my apprehensions of an early dismissal from my
desolate lot.
His wife died at Torquay,1 March 21, 1840. The
spirit of enraptured resignation with which he accepted
the stroke is almost inconceivable except to the very few
gifted with like faith. It was the outcome of perfect
devotion and spiritual sympathy with her, and perfect
confidence in the Divine love. It is quite true, as Sir L.
Stephen says, that " his closest relations used to speak
with a kind of awe of the extraordinary strength of his
conjugal devotion."
He returned home in the course of the spring, driving
us — as I have said — most of the way to London. The
doctors whom he consulted on his return declared him
still quite unfit for work, and recommended a long and
complete rest from all parochial and other labour. To
this he could not bring himself to consent. As he said,
" I entered into full employment, — the secretaryship of
the Ch. Miss. Society, preaching once a Sunday, and keep-
ing a watch over my health, not to go too far ; and each
summer travelling abroad." These foreign tours, — always
in Switzerland, — short as they were, probably contributed
much towards his recovery. A large part of the available
time was of course spent in getting to and from the
country, by long diligence routes or by steam-boats on
1 She was buried by the side of her sister Anne, in the vault under St. John's,
Holloway. The body was taken by sea from Plymouth, Mr. Venn and his brother
John accompanying it. After the funeral he returned for a short time to his children
at Torquay.
f66 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
the Rhine ; and fountain travel and mountain inns, as
now understood, were quite unknown. But he found in
these expeditions the entire change of scene necessary for
real relaxation to any active mind, and was enabled to
gratify his intense love of beautiful scenery.
From this time onwards his life is almost merged in
the work of secretary to the Church Missionary Society.
As the history of that Society forms no part of these family
memoirs, and has been very fully detailed in the volumes
recently published by Mr. Stock, the remaining years of
his life must be passed over summarily.
Although he had been for many years a leading
member of the Evangelical party, his name was so espe-
cially connected with the C.M.S., and his energies so
almost exclusively directed to furthering its interests,
that it was not till comparatively late in life that he was
called on to take a prominent part in Church matters
generally. This was in connection with the two well-
known Commissions, that on Clerical Subscriptions, and
that on Ritual Reform, in both of which he was generally
recognised as representing the views of the Moderate
Evangelical party. The first of these Commissions was
appointed in 1864, and the latter in 1868. In both he
took a very active part, and was most sedulous in his
attendance at the meetings, in spite of steadily failing
strength, and, during part of the time, of serious illness.
The results of these Commissions belong to the history of
the Anglican Church, and therefore no account of them
can be given in these family memoirs.
For a few years after his return from Torquay he tried
to combine his missionary with his parochial work. But he
soon found the labour too exhausting, and the distance
from Highgate to Salisbury Square too great. Accordingly,
at Midsummer,1 1848, we made a move of two miles
towards London, and occupied a house in Highbury
Crescent. At the same time we boys left the Cholmondeley
School at Highgate, and went to the Islington Proprietary
School. The change altogether was a rather melancholy
one. The so-called " garden " attached to the new house
1 He resigned St. John's Church in 1847.
HENRY VENN OF C.M.S. 167
seemed to us a mere yard in comparison with the varied
four acres which we had left. All chance of cricket or of
other games was lost, and when we tried a walk, which
my father continued for years to do on Saturdays, we found
that practically there was but one line of exit towards any
pretence of hedges and green fields. But the claims of
the Society were paramount, and, much as he must have
felt the contrast, he never expressed a word of dissatisfac-
tion with his new surroundings.
Years passed away here. His sons left school and
went to College. He continued his daily work in
Salisbury Square with undiminished energy, and almost
undiminished strength, for some twelve years. The
immediate cause of our move from Highbury was the
serious illness of my sister. The house, situated on the
London clay, and within the common range of London
fogs, was not very healthy. As school necessities were
over, and the railway facilities for getting to and from
London were much increased, he looked out for a house on
better soil and in a more open situation. These recom-
mendations were secured at East Sheen, Mortlake, and in
the course of 1860 the household was transferred thither.
The twelve years that remained were spent in an heroic
struggle against gradually increasing infirmity. When he
first went to Sheen in 1860 he was still able to enjoy
occasional rambles in Richmond Park, and used always to
walk to and from the railway station. For several years
he was able to spend a short holiday in Scotland or Wales,
and enjoyed the scenery and his curtailed expeditions as
much as ever. His last visit to Switzerland was under-
taken in 1863. After this, increasing lameness and a
sharp attack of illness in the summer of 1864 prevented
anything beyond brief visits to Malvern or the sea-side.
His daughter, throughout her life his companion and
assistant, accompanied him almost everywhere, and re-
mained with him to the last. If ever they were separated
he wrote to her every day.
This gradual curtailment of physical power in every
direction was, to one of his very active and self-reliant
disposition, a severe trial, and he found it harder to bear
• 1 68 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
than the actual pain which continued to increase in
frequency and intensity as the years went by. But so
little did he complain even to those immediately about
him that they only partially realised — and that after some
time — how acute the actual suffering was.
The secretariat work went on with undiminished
attention for year after year almost to the last. The only
change was that, to save bodily fatigue, he adopted the
plan of doing the correspondence at home instead of at
the office for two or three days in the week. Gradually
this became too much, and he definitely resigned the
secretaryship in 1872. He still continued to write
occasionally to the missionaries with whom he had been
long acquainted. His last letter of this kind was to
Africa, December 30, 1872, just a fortnight before his
death. His handwriting had now become sadly shaken
in comparison with the clear and vigorous style formerly
so characteristic of him. But the language is full of
vigour, and the letter breathes nothing but resignation
and hope. The end came at last rather suddenly on
January 13, 1873. On the I'jth he was buried in Mort-
lake churchyard.
In family memoirs such as this, personal characteristics
naturally deserve full notice. So far as a son can or
ought to judge of a father I should sum up his character
as follows. He was penetrated through and through
with the truth of the doctrines which he had inherited.
Young boys are terribly keen critics of the sincerity and
consistency of their elders, but (as I have already said)
never, under any circumstances of illness, fatigue, or
disappointment, can I recall an even momentary lapse
from the calm and cheerful resignation with which every
trial was accepted. If one may trust report, some of
those who live in intimate relation with a preacher are
accustomed to hear public denunciations of the worthless-
ness of riches combined with much private readiness to
secure the perilous treasure. For ourselves, we never
heard anything of either extreme. Wealth was simply
scarcely alluded to. His own income varied but little
during the greater part of his life, and was sufficient for
P. 168.
HENRY VENN, B.D.
From Crayon Sketch by G. Richmond.
HENRY VENN OF C.M.S. 169
comfort. His resignation of his parish made but a slight
change, for the outgoings there were considerable, and his
secretariat of the Missionary Society was throughout
honorary. He was, however, by nature an excellent man
of business, and few could give better advice or go into
details more carefully where the interests of others were
concerned. As executor, guardian, or in similar offices,
his attention and sagacity were remarkable.
He shared to the full the old-fashioned distrust
and aversion towards " worldly amusements." Theatres,
novel-reading, dancing, cards, etc., were never, to the best
of my recollection, named or denounced, but the under-
standing was none the less clear that such things were not
for him or his. In respect of fiction his views, I think,
were stricter than those of other members of his family,
I never saw him take up a novel, or allude even to
Walter Scott's prose works, which his sisters certainly
read with delight when they came out. When I was a
boy there was, to the best of my recollection, only one
novel in the house, viz. Quentin Durward. How it had
effected an entrance I cannot say.
For art, in most of its forms, he had but little taste.
As to painting, indeed, he certainly greatly enjoyed
Rubens, and I remember his sitting for a long time in the
Louvre and expressing his admiration of the rugged and
muscular forms in the gallery devoted to the works of
that painter. Indeed, one of the attractions of Antwerp
to him consisted in the large collection of paintings by
Rubens to be found there. For poetry he had, in certain
directions, stronger feelings, his taste being mainly to-
wards the eighteenth-century poets. He used in early
days not unfrequently to take out a volume from a collec-
tion of British Poets published in many volumes, which
he possessed, and read some favourite piece to us, perhaps
from Pope or Dryden. The latest poet l whom he really
enjoyed was Walter Scott, and our first acquaintance with
the Lay of the Last Minstrel was gained by his reading*
it to us as children. When people began to talk of
1 An exception must be made in the case of some of the religious and speculative
poems of Browning. During his last years he loved to hear us read to him such pieces
as "Rabbi Ben Ezra," "Saul," "Karshish," etc.
i yo VENN FAMILY ANNALS
Tennyson he bought the poems and made an effort to
study them, but unfortunately beginning with the earliest
pages he lighted on " Airy Fairy Lilian," and read no
more.
His only keen enjoyment in the way of relaxation was
found in natural scenery, especially in its wilder forms.
For the mountains his love was very strong, and it must
have been no small sacrifice to him to spend his short
summer holiday, as he sometimes did, with us at the sea-
side instead of indulging in a ramble in Switzerland.
In the matter of politics and the corresponding social
questions his interest was subordinated to what seemed to
him more important considerations. It may sound strange,
in days when party feeling is so sharply emphasised, but I
really could not class him, in the ordinary voting sense of
the terms, as either " Liberal " or " Conservative " ; his
support was generally given according to the religious
character of the candidate or the religious policy of the
leader. Whatever might be his views of Lord Palmerston's
persona] character, he highly appreciated the fact that he
was one of the few statesmen of the day who had a keen
and genuine horror of the slave trade. It need hardly
be added that the episcopal appointments made during
Palmerston's government attracted my father's sympathy
and support.
So in scientific matters. Directly he could see his way
to any practical result that was likely to aid the religious
progress of the natives of West Africa or any other
heathen country, he threw himself into the inquiry with
the utmost diligence and attention. He early came to the
conclusion that the best counter-agency to the slave trade
was a conviction on the part of the chiefs that it was more
lucrative to employ their people in their own country than
to sell them to foreign dealers. Palm oil and cotton
seemed the most fitting natural products for this purpose.
Accordingly he made frequent visits to Kew, and obtained
introductions to leading botanists, in order to learn what
were the most hopeful openings for the selection and
cultivation of these and other tropical products. Repeated
visits were also paid to Manchester to realise what were
HENRY VENN OF C.M.S. 171
the characteristics of the fibres preferred by the spinners
there, and what were the chances of the negroes being able
to grow marketable kinds of cotton. In these inquiries he
found cordial sympathy and valuable help from his friend Mr.
Clegg. Similarly with various kinds of scientific apparatus,
which he always encouraged the missionaries to make use
of. Sometimes valuable instruments were got for use in
the native colleges and schools. The first astronomical
telescope through which I ever looked was one which had
been bought for Sierra Leone, and which had been sent up
to his house for inspection. With similar intentions he
devoted some study to mountain barometers, first of the
old mercury type, which afterwards were superseded by the
aneroids. He took considerable trouble in testing their
use in our mountain rambles in Wales and in the Highlands
of Scotland.
Another subject to which he gave considerable attention
at one time deserves notice, for it illustrates the wide range
of the discussions which are forced upon the attention of
the secretary of one of our large Missionary Societies.
This was the subject of a standard alphabet for the uniform
printing of Bibles, prayer-books, etc., in heathen languages,
especially in the many dialects of Africa. Mr. Venn had
much talk and correspondence with the abler and more
learned missionaries on this topic, and with various scholars
and philologists. At last, mainly through the efforts of
Professor C. R. Lepsius of Berlin, a Standard Alphabet
was produced and published in 1855. A second edition
was issued in 1863.
As my brother was for several years associated with
my father in his work at Salisbury Square, and was there-
fore more intimately acquainted than myself with the daily
routine of his life there, he has put together some of his
own reminiscences. He says of this life : —
There are scarcely any persons now alive who can describe it
from personal recollection as I can do, so I will do my best to draw
for others the picture which is so deeply imprinted on my own
memory. I am now speaking of the period between 1852 and
1862, which was perhaps the time of our father's greatest activity.
The hours were early at 1 1 Highbury Crescent, for prayers were
172 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
at eight, and breakfast a few minutes later. If our father had been
working much after I A.M., he did not, perhaps, come down till
half an hour later, and then prayers followed breakfast. But he
would start off for Salisbury Square about nine, usually walking
thither for the sake of exercise, the distance being about two and
a half miles. The room l in which he spent most of his time was
of moderate size, and very gloomy to my boyish mind. It had one
window, which looked into a tiny court at the back of Salisbury
Square, surrounded on three sides by Lloyd's printing office. The
clang of the machines seemed continuous during the latter days of
the week, for Lloyd's was then almost the only Sunday newspaper.
Our father would never allow his room to be furnished with any
sort of luxury, or even comfort. The tables, chairs, carpets, book-
cases, were all of them old, and grimy with London soot. It was
no unusual thing for him to take his seat here at 10 A.M. and not
stir from his chair till half past four or five. When the new
buildings were occupied, next door to the old ones in Salisbury
Square, our father was assigned the best room, with two large
windows looking upon the Square ; but he absolutely2 refused to
have any new furniture bought for his use. He only consented,
under great persuasion, to accept a new carpet. His faithful and
devoted clerk for many years, Mr. Bartlett, used to bring him a
cup of coffee (simply made with hot water poured over some
extract of coffee) and two penny buns or some such thing, about
one o'clock, and this was all the food he took between breakfast
and dinner. On Tuesdays there was a Committee meeting, and
nearly the whole day was generally spent in discussing one or other
of the many intricate and important questions which were in-
cessantly arising. On other days many hours were generally
taken up by interviews with one visitor after another. Sometimes
it was a missionary just returned from abroad. He would almost
certainly be invited to Highbury Crescent to dine and sleep, and be
minutely questioned about all the details of his own special work.
Sometimes it was a naval officer lately come home from the West
African squadron engaged in the suppression of the slave trade.
Sometimes a distinguished traveller or a German philologist, with
the latter of whom he would discuss the possibility of a standard
alphabet for the innumerable languages and dialects of Africa.
Occasionally we had negro merchants from Sierra Leone, or a
Manchester trader interested in African cotton. No one who had
not seen something of the inside working of a great Missionary
Society would realise how wide are the interests involved in its
1 This refers to the old building which was quitted in 1862.
2 This was of course only the application in detail of his fixed principle that, in the
case of a Society supported by subscriptions, not one penny should be unnecessarily
expended on management.
HENRY VENN OF C.M.S. 173
operations, or how many and various are the persons with whom
its secretaries are brought into contact.
These visits, interesting and important as they often were,
sometimes involved a serious interruption in his work of letter-
writing, especially on the foreign mail days, which were then less
frequent than they are now. I can remember how often he and
Mr. Bartlett remained at the office after every one else had gone,
in order to finish important despatches. I can recall this succes-
sion of visitors very clearly, because on Wednesday — our school
half-holiday — he would sometimes say to me, " If you will be at
the office about two, we will go together to see what I told you
about." This was sure to be something interesting, but generally
had some connection with the interests of his Society in general,
or of Africa in particular. I would be in Salisbury Square by
two 5 and then often came a long time of waiting, as one visitor
after another was announced, till at last the pleasant plan had to
be abandoned.
As a rule — if one can call that a rule which was constantly
broken — we dined at half-past six. But we often waited till seven
before he returned. Dinner did not last long, and by eight o'clock
— unless there was some missionary or candidate to be inter-
viewed— he was again sitting at his table for a long and hard spell
of work. Some persons may possibly read these notes who can
recall one of those evenings at Highbury Crescent. He sat in the
drawing-room at a table covered with papers. One of us would
read aloud the missionary journals or letters which had been last
received, whilst he sat with pen in hand making notes of any-
thing which seemed of interest or importance. This went on
till ten, when the servants came in to prayers, and we went to bed.
Then came the real spell of work. He sat on in his chair for hours
after we were all asleep, still reading letters, making abstracts, and
writing his despatches. We seldom knew when exactly he did go
to bed, for he did not mention this. I believe it was seldom
before one in those years, and I know that in April, when he was
at work on the Annual Report for the May Meeting, he occasion-
ally wrote on till daylight ; and would then express his regret for
not being down to breakfast till nine.1 This is the plain story of
many years of the life of the unpaid secretary of the Church
Missionary Society.
Let me add a few words to put on record my thoughts about
the character of one who has been dead just thirty years. I have
seen and known many great and good men since he passed away,
1 "April 4, 1850. — Began letter-writing at 7.30. Half an hour allowed for break-
fast. Half an hour occupied in going to C.M. House. Left off" writing at 5.30.
Home to dinner at 6.30. Sat down to work at Annual Report at 8 " (Extract from
Journal). In another year he notes about the preparation of the Report : " Bothered
about Sierra Leone Mission. Did not get to bed till 3."
i74 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
and I can better appreciate his character than I could when he
was alive, but each succeeding year makes me honour and respect
his memory more. It was my great privilege to be permitted to
assist him in his work from 1861 to 1869. I was therefore
brought more closely into connection with him than my brother
was. I did not understand at the time how much I was learning
from him, but I can never forget the lessons of diligent cheerful-
ness and devotion to every duty, for these were conspicuous in his
life. Any one who met him could see that he was devoted to his
work ; but only those who were closely associated with him could
understand the spirit in which that work was carried on. Are
there many men who could honestly say, after living more than
thirty years at home, that they could not recall a single occasion
on which their father had lost his temper ? We never heard any
denunciations of those who differed from him, or any regrets
when his most cherished plans were frustrated. On one occasion
he brought forward a scheme which he had elaborated with much
care and patience. It was not accepted by the Committee, and he
withdrew it without a word more. Some time afterwards a
member of the Committee proposed the same scheme, and it was
unanimously applauded. He merely sent for his own paper, read
it aloud, and then remarked, "I read this to you three months ago,
but you would not have it." Nothing seemed to ruffle the
natural sweetness of his disposition. Yet we know that commit-
tees are not always harmonious, and that sometimes the agents of
a great society are unwise, obstinate, or even blameworthy. All
the annoyances and all the disappointments fell more heavily on
the secretary than on any one else. It was his business to soothe
the Committee, and to advise or blame the distant missionary.
To most men of tender sympathy, and especially to one who
suffered from weakness of the heart, these were times of trial ;
but his love and patience carried him through them.
I will add a few words about his parental relations with us.
Unlike many parents of decided evangelical opinions, he never
spoke much to us about religion. Neither he nor our dear uncle
ever forced religious advice upon us. Hereford was another home
to us : our uncle John was almost like another father ; yet neither
of these wise men ever endeavoured to mould our unformed
opinions into any particular pattern. Indeed it was needless for
them to preach to us. Their lives spoke far more plainly and
convincingly than any words. We saw their patience, cheerful-
ness, generosity, wisdom, and activity daily before us, and we
knew and felt that all this was only the natural expression of
hearts given to the service of God.
JOHN VENN, l82O.
From Sketch by J. W. Slater.
P. 175-
JOHN VENN OF HEREFORD
MY uncle John was the youngest of my grandfather's
family, having been born at Clapham, April 17, 1802. As
I first remember him, he was a fine man, — as in fact he
remained until the last, — about 5 ft. 10 in. or so in height;
rather broad-shouldered and very upright. But, as a
result of his illness in India, he always had to be careful
of himself, and retained some of the ways of an invalid
throughout his life. He was, from a comparatively early
age, quite bald. When we were children at Highgate we
saw a good deal of him, as, besides other visits, he used to
come up annually to London in order to read the Report
of the Church Missionary Society at the great May
Meeting in Exeter Hall. For this task his exceptionally
fine and well-managed voice peculiarly fitted him. In
those days he generally wore, in bad weather, a curious
long old-fashioned cloak, with brass chain and clasp for
the neck. This cloak was somewhat of a family relic.
It had been given to his grandfather, Henry, when he
left Huddersfield in 1771, as a parish gift from that
great centre of the cloth-weaving trade. Both Henry
Venn and his son John wore it, especially on riding
expeditions, and it was still in excellent preservation when
in use by my uncle, in the third generation. He finally
gave it to a Scripture reader of his parish, on whose
shoulders it became a centenarian, and from whom I
heard of it, as still in existence and in occasional use,
about 1890. My uncle used to tell of the effect he once
produced at a missionary meeting at Huddersfield, when
— alluding to his old family connection with the place, and
the kindness of the people — he mentioned this gift, and
175
,i76 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
then held up the cloak to the audience, saying, "Here
it is ! "
His early life was a much more varied one than that
of most of his family. He was first sent to a small private
school at Clapham, kept by a Mr. Greaves,1 which was
frequented by several of the boys of the neighbouring
families. One of these was " Tom " Macaulay, as the
historian was then called : a timid, book-loving boy, and
therefore regarded as a coward by his playfellows. He
lived in some terror of little John Venn, who was his
junior by two years ; and when his father used to bring
him to the rectory, and leave him there with the injunction
" to play with Johnny Venn," he generally contrived to
slip away into a cloak-room or cupboard with a book. If
found, he was routed out on to the common and harried
by his companions. Thence he would endeavour to
escape, and if discovered would generally be found hidden
among the furze bushes declaiming poetry.
After leaving Mr. Greaves' school my uncle went for
a year to one at Bewdley, kept by a Mr. Cawood.2 From
thence he went to Harrow, his brother Henry considering,
from his own experience, that there was little chance of
his acquiring the accuracy and discipline of a good classical
training except at one of the few large public schools.
He was entered there June 28, 1814, but not as a boarder;
his family — then under the charge of their aunt Jane
(v. p. 109) — having taken a house at Harrow, for the
purpose of keeping him with them. Another tie with the
place was found in the presence of the vicar, Mr. J. W.
Cunningham, who had been curate at Clapham, and who
remained a lifelong friend of all the family.
Harrow school was delightfully situated, and the boys had
plenty of time to play. They had a good-sized pond about a
mile from the hill to bathe and fish in, a magnificent cricket-
1 "John Venn, the rector, had, in conjunction with Mr. Thornton, made a happy
selection of a schoolmaster under whose charge ihey (the young African natives brought
to England) were placed. This man, Mr. William Greaves, who came from Yorkshire,
did his duty thoroughly by his pupils." After the failure of this scheme for the
Africans, many of the resident Clapham gentry continued to send their sons to Mr.
Greaves for tuition (Z. Macaulay, Life, p. 237).
2 Rev. John Cawood, M.A., of St. Edmund Hall, Oxford. I cannot conjecture the
reasons for this distant choice, as nothing seems to be known of him in the family.
,
JOHN VENN OF HEREFORD 177
ground, and a good open space round three sides of the school for
football — and, will it be believed, a piece of ground adjoining this
open space, but several feet lower and separated from it by a wall,
for the boys to fight in, whilst the wall was crowded with lookers-
on. Oh, what battles I have seen there ! I have seen faces
covered with blood, and the eyes bunged up. I have seen a poor
fellow with one of his fingers dislocated, so as to be unable to use
the hand, continuing to fight with the other hand. And nobody
interfered to put a stop to the brutal work.
After two years at Harrow, my father, who throughout
exercised a quite parental care over him, became dissatisfied
with his progress. Henry Venn was then an under-
graduate at Queens*, and pending the decision as to another
school, took his young brother to live with him for a few
months in College.
In the interval I went to Cambridge, and took up my
quarters with my brother ; and Mr. Musgrave,1 younger brother
of the Bishop of Hereford, was kind enough to let me come to
him as a pupil. I went very regularly to Mr. Musgrave's rooms
every day, excepting upon one occasion. I was going with my
books under my arm, and was walking by the road at the back of
the Colleges, when suddenly a hunting-party appeared with the
hounds, on their way into the country. This was more than I
could resist. I at once followed the hounds, with my books under
my arms, opening the gates for the riders, and keeping well up
with them. They did not, however, start any game, or I should
have soon been left behind. This was the only hunt I ever
joined in either at home or abroad.
My brother's inquiries as to what schools were, at this time,
sending up the best scholars to Cambridge, decided him in favour
of the Charterhouse, which was then beginning to acquire the
great reputation which it obtained under Dr. Russell.
What a difference was there between the teaching at Harrow
and at the Charterhouse. Dr. Russell was the head-master, and
had only a little time before taken his degree at Oxford. The
other masters rebelled at his being put over them. But he was a
match for them. He did without them, and he filled their houses
with boarders. There was one very large room, in which all the
boys were assembled. Dr. Russell appointed a senior boy to be the
head of each class, and then he rushed about from one class to another,
1 Thomas and Charles Musgrave were sons of a well-known tailor in Cambridge,
They both became Fellows of Trinity. Thomas was afterwards Bishop of Hereford,
1837-47, and Archbishop of York, 1847-60. His brother Charles became Archdeacon
of Craven, and was for some years vicar of Halifax.
N
I78
VENN FAMILY ANNALS
saying to them, " Shut your books : repeat such an ode of Horace,
or such a passage in Virgil, or construe them." Everything they
had once learned by heart they were never to forget, and they
might at any time be examined in it.
My uncle at this time lived with his family, going to
school every day. Their house was No. 14 Mabledon
Place, near the present St. Pancras Station, Euston Road.
They had moved thither from Harrow, in or about 1816,
in order that John might continue to be with them during
his school time.
After he had been here for about two years, an opening
occurred which the rather narrow means of his family put
it out of the question for them to refuse. This was the
offer of a writership in India, which was due to the kind-
ness of two intimate friends l of his father, Mr. Grant and
Mr. Parry, who desired in this way to show their affection
to the late rector of Ciapham.
At the age of sixteen I went to Haileybury College,2 having
obtained a writership for Bengal. The East India Directors had at
that time the government of India in their own hands, and
appointed all the civilians. Two of the Directors were most
intimate friends of my father, and each of them claimed the
privilege of giving a writership to me, as the son of one whom
they so loved and revered.
One of my earliest days at Haileybury I never shall forget ;
and I shudder even now when I think of what might have
happened to me. It was on a Saturday night, and I had been
washing my feet, when suddenly I heard the sound of many voices
in the passage into which my door opened, and then there was a
violent kicking at it. I instinctively took up the tub with all the
water in it, and held it up ready to hurl it at the intruders. In a
moment the door burst open, and a tall man with a mask on his
face and a white sheet over his body rushed at me. I had not a
moment to reflect, and I lifted up the tub and hurled all the
contents at him. He then made another rush at me ; but I again
lifted up the tub, and was just on the point of throwing the tub
itself at him when he made an immediate retreat amongst the
shouts of laughter of his friends. I never can think even now of
this scene without thanking God that I had not severely hurt or
1 For Charles Grant see p. 124 j and for Edward Parry, p. 125.
2 Then, and until 1857, the training place for those who had been appointed to
writerships under the East India Company j Addiscombe being their corresponding
military college.
JOHN VENN OF HEREFORD 179
even killed him. If I had struck him upon his head, or indeed
any part of his body, the consequences might have been most
serious or even fatal. The tub was of china, and very heavy. I
was strong and not a little excited. I never had any further
annoyance of this sort whilst I was at Haileybury.
Here too, as at Harrow, fighting was allowed. But they
fought here with what they called " single-sticks." I remember
one terrible battle between two of the students, in which one of
the men, after they had been knocking each other about in a
fearful way, suddenly made a great effort and struck his opponent
violently on the head. The poor fellow fell down, and for a short
time he was insensible. He recovered, however, after a little time,
and his first words were " I forgive you." He saw that his
opponent was terribly distressed.
The Professors at Haileybury were a very able set of men ; and
amongst them was the Professor of Political Economy, the well-
known Malthus. The great idea upon which Malthus was
always harping was the terrible increase of our population. He
was continually setting before us the fearful rate at which the
population was increasing ; and gravely did he urge upon us,
young lads as we were, the duty and necessity of our never
having more than three children when we became husbands.
Indeed, he was so constantly harping upon this theme that we
always called him "old Pop." What he said, indeed, was plausible,
considering the state of things at that time, when the power of
steam as applicable to navigation was never dreamed of.
I succeeded in getting a great number of prizes 1 at Haileybury j
and amongst others a prize for Sanskrit. But it was the merest
chance by which I got it. The Bengal students were not obliged
to learn it ; but if the Madras and Bombay students should not be
able to stand the examination then the Bengal students might
compete for the prize. Now there was a friend of mine who
knew something of Sanskrit, but was not going himself into the
examination, and he offered to cram me if I liked it. I accepted
his offer, and then he went with me through a certain passage,
1 First prize, with gold medal, for Classics, Mathematics, Law, and Sanskrit ; the
same, divided with another student, for Political Economy j and prizes of books for
Hindustani and English Essay. In the whole history of the College only one or two
students were equally successful. Zachary Macaulay (Life, p. 355) thus alludes, in a
letter, to his success : " The second son goes out to India in a few weeks with higher
honours on his head, both literary and moral, than any young man has yet carried away
from the East India College." He showed similar diligence and success in his examina-
tions at the College of Fort William, Calcutta, where he was reported, July 16, 1821 :
"In the class of this last examination Mr. Venn stands pre-eminently distinguished." He
was first in Persian, where " his proficiency acquired for him a medal of merit." They
add that but for illness he would probably have stood first in Hindustani.
These medals he, very characteristically, gave, in after life, to a Bible Society
deputation for the benefit of that Society, who informed him that they fetched
£24- ' i os.
i8o VENN FAMILY ANNALS
assuring me that the examiners would give it me to translate. I
got the passage well up, and was then examined in it and was
awarded the prize.
Amongst the seventy or eighty students there were only two
or three who seemed to have any religious feelings. One young
fellow, in the term above mine, called one day upon me and told
me that he wished to be religious, and that he had heard that I
never swore or got drunk, etc., and that he should like to become
intimate with me and to read the Scriptures with me. We
became great friends ; but when we left Haileybury he went to
Madras and I went to Calcutta ; and he remained in India for
many years, whilst I returned to England at the end of my first
year.
After two most pleasant years spent at Haileybury I took
leave of my family. No one can tell what was involved in going
to India as a civil servant in those days. The voyage was most
expensive, and it required months to get there. I was half a
year, both in going to, and in returning from Calcutta. Few
civilians returned home within twenty years ; and oh, what
changes had often taken place within that time ! Indeed, few
civilians ever returned home at all. And parents who had sent
their children home when they were very little ones, sometimes
could not identify their grown-up sons and daughters. No
wonder then, when I parted from my family, we embraced each
other with sobbing and weeping. My brother Henry read the
9 ist Psalm, and then we knelt down to pray. With the utmost
difficulty he got through our last family prayer ; and then he
and I left the room to enter the post-chaise which was to take us
to Gravesend. But I paused for a few moments on the steps
leading down to the pavement. " Oh," I said to myself, " I can-
not go ; I will give up my appointment." But I felt it was too
late now to change my mind. I do not know how I got into
the carriage. But I did get into it, and my brother followed me,
and the driver started the horses. We slept at Gravesend, and
after an early breakfast we went down to the waterside, and I got
into a boat which was waiting to take me to the ship, which was
lying at anchor a little distance from the shore. My brother
gave me a sad farewell look and then turned away, and the boat
pushed off and took me to the Boyne. Nearly seventy years have
passed since that day ; and my brother, sisters, my aunt, and my
brother-in-law, so dear to me (James Stephen), have all passed
away ; and I have forgotten things without number that happened
in times long past ; but never have I forgotten, and never shall I
forget, so long as memory lasts, those last days I spent in England
before embarking for India.
Among the many presents which I had received, there was
JOHN VENN OF HEREFORD 181
one which was given to me by a beloved brother-in-law, James
Stephen, viz. the pictures of every member of my family by an
artist who was very successful in taking likenesses, all bound up
together in one large volume. How often did I go down into
my cabin, and open this book of pictures and look at them with
a sad heart, and feel that I would give anything to see those
beloved ones once more face to face.1
It was six months before the Boyne reached Calcutta, but
there was a most pleasant party on board, consisting of old
Indians, on the one hand, who were returning after two or three
years spent in their native land, and young cadets, civilians, and
ladies going out for the first time. There were also two clergy-
men going out to take charge of the Bishop's College which had
just been established. One of these clergymen was a Fellow of
Trinity College, Cambridge, a Mr. Mill (afterwards the well-
known Dr. Mill, Canon of Ely and Regius Professor of Divinity) ;
and such a man for extensive and accurate knowledge of almost
all subjects, including music,2 I have scarcely ever met with,
before or since. Notwithstanding his knowledge and talents, he
was as humble and meek and unassuming a man as I ever knew.
He was then only twenty-eight years old.
On Sunday morning we were off" Dover or Deal, I forget
which, and there we anchored for the day. Some of us went on
shore to attend the morning service ; and, to my great surprise
and joy, I heard one of my beloved father's sermons preached by
the clergyman. He did not tell his people that he was preaching
a sermon of Mr. Venn's that had been published ; and little did
he think that a son of Mr. Venn was one of his hearers. But I
was too touched and delighted at hearing my father speak to me, as
it were, as I was taking my leave of England to go to the far-
off land of India with the expectation of spending in it the next
twenty years or more of my life.
We passed Brighton in the night ; and as I gazed upon the
long line of lights I thought of the many pleasant days I had
spent there under the roof of my dear cousins the Elliotts, who
had for years past gone from Clapham to Brighton for the
summer.
As we got further south everything about the sea was full of
interest to me : the shoals of bonito swimming just ahead of the
vessel ; and the Mother Carey chickens flying about it ; and the
huge albatrosses floating by from time to time ; and the sharks
now and then hooked and brought on deck and cut up, with
every piece of their flesh trembling and quivering for some time
1 These pictures are now in my possession.
2 The tedium of the voyage was partly relieved by Mr. Mill dictating a treatise on
music to my uncle.
.i82 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
afterwards, and their very hearts, after being cut out, continuing
to beat ; and sometimes a huge whale swimming by the side or
the vessel for hours together — all was full of interest to me. And
then, as I never saw the tree on land which I could not get to
the top of, so I could get to the tops of the masts. On one
occasion, indeed, I was in the greatest danger of being dashed to
pieces. I had got up to the top of the mainmast, and then I
determined to go to the next mast by hanging on with my hands
to the comparatively thin rope which joins them, and going hand
over hand from the one mast to the other. But when I had got
about half way my strength failed me. I thought I must have
fallen and been dashed to pieces. All who were on deck were
horrified and gave me up, expecting me every moment to fall. I
made a great effort, however, and got my arm over the rope ; and
after resting for a short time I was enabled to reach the mast and
to come down the rigging in safety.
Upon another occasion it was well that I did not lose all my
teeth. A party of us were on deck after dinner, and, by way of
amusement, I offered to take up any one of them in my mouth and
shake him. A tall young officer in the army challenged me to
lift him up and shake him. I accepted the challenge, and he lay
down upon his face. I took out my handkerchief and put it under
his body, and the ends of it in my mouth, and having gently
shaken him I put him down again safely. The purser, who was a
taller and a stouter man than myself, exclaimed, u I can do that ! "
" Do it, then," we all cried. The young officer again lay down upon
his face, and the purser put his handkerchief under him, and the ends
of it in his mouth, and lifted him up a little above the deck, when
the young officer fell out of his jaws, and with him half a dozen
of the poor purser's teeth. We were cruel enough to laugh at his
failure ; but he in a moment picked up his teeth and then rushed
down into his cabin, and it was some time before he appeared again.
I had taken care to knot the ends of my handkerchief and to lay
the handkerchief along the back teeth, so that the knotted ends
might press against the whole line. The poor purser put the
handkerchief in a lump into his mouth in such a way that the
pressure was thrown upon the front teeth, which were unable to
bear it.
My uncle used to tell of one exciting incident on their
voyage out which nearly resulted in the total loss of all on
board. The ship struck on a sandbank in the Bay of
Bengal, during a heavy sea, at night. He heard the
captain and mate discussing their chances, and deciding
that no small boat could possibly live in the surf. The
ship seemed about to go to pieces, when a sudden change
JOHN VENN OF HEREFORD 183
of wind enabled them to back off. He remembered one
amusing incident occurring during the agony of that night.
There was a young and attractive girl on board, of whom
he had seen a good deal during the voyage. As they were
taking farewell he asked her if there were any papers or
small articles which she would like to hand over to him,
in case by any chance he should get to land on a piece of
wreck or otherwise. The poor girl reappeared from her
cabin in a few moments with a large desk, begging him to
take that. Many years afterwards, at a clergyman's house
in the country, he happened to mention this incident,
when the lady of the house replied, " Why, that was my
mother ! she often told me of that experience."
When my grandfather, Henry Venn, was at Yelling, three
undergraduates,1 viz., Thomason, Jerram, and Flavel, one day rode
on horseback to Mr. Venn's house and introduced themselves as
young men who were anxious about their souls and wanted
direction and encouragement from him. It was that visit which,
humanly speaking, many years afterwards saved my life when I
was unprepared to die, and sheltered me from temptations which
might have been the ruin of my soul. My brother had seen Mr.
Thomason when he was in England, or at all events had heard of
his devoted piety and wisdom ; and when I left England he made
me promise to call upon Mr. Thomason as soon as I reached
Calcutta, and to take no step without consulting him. On my
arrival, therefore, in Calcutta, I got into a sort of hackney coach,
and drove to Mr. Thomason's house, which was in the same
enclosure as his church, known as the Red Church. In driving,
however, to Mr. Thomason's, I passed by the Writers' Buildings,
as they were called, i.e. the College for the young civilians ; and
having received a letter before I left my ship, from one of my
Haileybury friends a year my senior, asking me to " chum " with
him, i.e. to occupy with him a common sitting-room with its
adjoining bedroom. As I walked up the steps I heard the
clattering of knives and forks and the merry sounds of youthful
voices ; and I just got high enough up the stairs to see my friend
at the head of his table, as full of health and merriment as any of
them, and then I gave my card to one of the servants, and retired
unseen by the party. On my arrival at the Thomasons' they at
once insisted on my taking up my residence with them. The
next evening at about 6 o'clock, as I was driving with my friends
1 Thomas Thomason, B.A. of Magdalene, 1796 ; Charles Jerram, B.A. Magdalene,
1797, afterwards vicar of Witney, Oxon j John Flavel, B.A. Clare, 1797.
.184 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
the Thomasons, in their open carriage on the Course, we met a
funeral procession, 'and amongst the mourners I saw one of the
Professors of the College. This led me to ask whose funeral it was,
and I found that it was the funeral of my friend whom I had seen
the day before in such high spirits. He had dined out that evening,
and had come home quite well, and went to bed as usual. At
12 o'clock he was attacked with cholera, died in two or three hours,
and was buried at six that very evening. (My uncle used to say
that the incident excited the more attention, as the disease was but
little known at the time, and Europeans were not supposed to be
very liable to it.)
I was intent upon distinguishing myself, and studied incessantly.
Even at my meals I had a book generally on my knees, at which I
kept peeping as often as I possibly could without being perceived
by Mr. and Mrs. Thomason. When, at the end of the year, the
examination took place, I obtained gold medals for Sanskrit, Arabic,
Bengali, and Hindustani.
The young civilians in Calcutta were always invited to dine
at Government House before they finished their College course.
In accordance with this custom I received and accepted the
invitation which in due time came to me. Whilst we were
waiting for the announcement of dinner we formed ourselves into
little groups, and in the group in which I stood was that wonderful
man, Carey, Professor of Sanskrit in the College of Fort William.
Close by this group was an officer of high rank, who was standing'in
the midst of another group of guests. This officer asked one of
his group in a low voice if it was true that Professor Carey was
once a shoemaker ? In a moment Carey stepped forward and said,
" No, General, I never was a shoemaker." The General was quite
distressed, and apologised for having for a moment entertained such
a thought, observing that he had not had the slightest idea that
the Professor could have overheard him. Carey again protested
that he never was a shoemaker, and again the General vehemently
apologised. It was rather a painful scene to us all. But in a
moment we were all convulsed with laughter by Carey's saying
very calmly, " No, General ; I never aspired to be a shoemaker. I
was only a cobbler ! "
When we were summoned into the drawing-room the music
and dancing commenced. I had never seen a dance before, and I
have never seen one since. But how I pitied the ladies. The
long hair of them was flapping about their shoulders, and the
perspiration was streaming down the faces and necks of them all.
The Governor -General was kind enough to come to me and
say a few words to me ; but they were not very edifying. He
exhorted me, indeed, to keep to my studies, and get as quickly
through the College as I could ; but the motive to which he
JOHN VENN OF HEREFORD 185
appealed had not much weight with me, for he said, " And then
you will be able to engage in the noble sport of hog-hunting."
Suttees were not prohibited when I was in India. I well
remember, when I was one morning walking by the side of the
river a few miles above Calcutta, seeing a poor widow on the
opposite side of the river ascend a pile of wood on which the corpse
of her husband was laid. Whether she was in any way bound or
not, I could not see. But the flames soon ascended, and the
people appeared to be drawing around the pile till the bodies were
burnt.
In due time I went in to the examination, and was very
successful, obtaining four gold medals ; and I at once received
a good appointment in Calcutta, with a liberal salary. But I
never entered upon its duties. I was suddenly taken ill. My
head felt as if it were being cleft by a hatchet. I went to bed,
and the doctor was at once sent for. His name was Macwhirter,
and he was considered one -of the best medical men in Calcutta.
In those days quinine was unknown, I suppose, as none was
given to me ; and the only remedies applied were, bleeding me
till I fainted away, and then dosing me with mercury or calomel.
It never, however, occurred to me that 1 was in danger till Mr.
Thomason came in to see me, and knelt down by my bedside and
prayed for me as if I were a dying man. When he was gone
I asked Mrs. Thomason if the doctor thought I should die. Her
only answer was, " May God spare one so precious to us ! "
Then for the first time I felt I was in danger j and I knew
that I was unprepared to die, and the fear of being lost for ever
filled me with unutterable horror. Then one and another came
and looked at me with a countenance terribly sad. They said
nothing, but their looks seemed to say, " Farewell : we shall see
you no more." The physician said nothing to me, but I found
out afterwards that he went to the undertakers and told them to
look out for a coffin for a man of such and such dimensions.
The result of this illness was that he was invalided
home, with the promise that on his return in better health
his post should be still open for him.
I had a return of fever on my voyage home, and the doctor
came to see me, and at once used very strong remedies. He
then left me for half an hour or so, and returned followed by the
cabin boy with a tray and six large cups upon it. "What is that
for, doctor ? " I asked ; and his answer was, " Oh, I am going to
fill them all with your blood." I submitted of course, but it
weakened me very much.
As we were coming home in the Falrley we were hailed by an
1 86 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
outward-bound vessel. We hove to, and a boat was let down
and came towards us with a young military officer in it, who
looked very pale and feeble. He was helped, by the sailors
who rowed him, to get into our ship ; and then they gave several
hearty cheers as they took leave of him and rowed back to their
own vessel. We were all looking with pity at this pale young
soldier as he walked with difficulty through the line we had
formed. When he came near me he fixed his eyes upon me and
said, "It is; it must be; but no, it can't be." I said, "Who,
sir, did you think I was ? " " Why, sir," he replied, " you are as
like a friend of mine, George Babington, as possible ; and yet I
left him in England." Mr. Babington was one of my intimate
friends, and we were so like each other that once, when I called
at the hospital which he attended, the door-keeper opened the
door and then stood on one side, without asking a question, and
wondered that I did not come in. In consequence of this I felt,
of course, an interest in this young soldier ; and as there was no
spare cabin for him, I gladly gave up my cabin to him for the
nights and slept between decks, and shared the cabin with him by
day. This sick young soldier was a son of the Rev. Mr. Symons
of Paul's Cray, who had been a friend of my father. When we
landed at Portsmouth, late in the evening, we at once took a
post-chaise and travelled up to Paul's Cray, which we reached early
in the morning, and I delivered him into the hands of his parents.
He died soon after. On our way to London we passed by
Stratton Park (not far from Winchester), where Sir Thomas
Baring lived.1 It was almost a year since I had heard anything
of my family ; and I was most anxious to hear how they were,
and indeed whether they were all alive. We drove up, there-
fore, to the house, though it was between eleven and twelve
o'clock at night. I found that Lady Baring was downstairs, but
that all the rest of the family had retired to their bedrooms.
He was glad to be assured that, so far as known, his
family was in health.
When my uncle left India his appointment was reserved
for him, and he had at the time hopes that in a year or so
he would be able to return thither. In the meantime he
resided with his family in Mabledon Place. This was in
1822. In the course of a year it became apparent that
his health was still such as made it very doubtful whether
he would be able to stand the Indian climate. Accordingly
he resigned the service, and resolved to enter at Cambridge.
1 His son Francis Baring, afterwards Lord Northbrook, had been a pupil of John
Venn's father, and remained a lifelong friend of my father and uncle.
JOHN VENN OF HEREFORD 187
His brother was at this time a curate at St. Dunstan's in
the West, and was living at Mabledon Place ; but, being
a Fellow of Queens' College, and looking forward to
returning there before long, John naturally went to the
same College, where he was admitted by his brother,
October 15, 1823.
Here he had a very successful career, gaining not only
a scholarship and several College prizes, but also securing
the distinction of the Bell University Scholarship. He
came out eleventh wrangler in the tripos list of 1827, and
was not long afterwards elected to a fellowship at his
College. Queens' was at that time in a very flourishing
condition, under the tutorship of Joshua King, afterwards
President, who was then conspicuous for his energy and
abilities. My uncle, of course, allied himself with the
Evangelical party at the University, which, though still
numerically small, was beginning to outgrow its days of
ridicule and persecution. Naturally, from grounds of
hereditary friendship, as well as community of sentiment,
he saw much of Simeon. Simeon had then nearly, but not
quite, got past the stage of obloquy and insult which
marked the early days of his preaching at Trinity Church,
Still, recurrences of this kind were occasionally noticed.
My uncle remembered, for instance, a student coming in
one Sunday evening during service, and at a momentary
pause opening the door and shouting out " Charley in a
way which completely disturbed the preacher. They would
also often come in after their wine, stroll up the aisle and
deliberately stare at him. Simeon's powers of managing a
voice not naturally powerful are well known. He took great
pains with my uncle's training in this respect, and probably
never had a more acceptable pupil. He used to give him
a passage to prepare, would then hear him repeat it, and
would give illustrations of how it should be read. As an
instance of the immense pains Simeon himself would take
to secure a good delivery, he mentioned an instance which
occurred at Hereford in after years. Shortly before his
death Simeon came to preach for him at St. Peter's. It
was 'an old sermon with which he was perfectly familiar,
but he studied it carefully every day till the Saturday, and
.i88 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
on that day repeated it several times in order to make his
delivery as effective as possible.
In addition to the natural gift of a splendid voice, my
uncle had a very strong taste for music, and considerable
knowledge of it practically ; at least of vocal music, for he
did not, I think, perform on any instrument. In his days
there was no University Musical Society, but he used to
practise a great deal with a few of his friends, amongst whom
was Carus, afterwards a Canon of Winchester. I remember
many years later, when he was on a visit to us at Cambridge,
we went on the Sunday afternoon to King's Chapel. As
it happened, it was a day or two after the death of Bishop
Wilberforce of Winchester, in 1873, and the Dead March
and the Sleepers, Wake were given there unexpectedly to
us, in the usual admirable style. The effect upon him
of such music, on such an organ, was almost over-
whelming, and to his last day he never ceased occasionally
to refer to it.
Of the sort of religious activity with which he was
afterwards so much occupied there was, of course, little or
none in the University then, the residents, though now for
the most part perfectly decorous, being of the driest and
most anti-enthusiastic type. He used to tell of a meeting
at which he was present, I believe, for the Society for the Pro-
pagation of the Gospel, of which old Dr. Wood, Master of
St. John's, was chairman. Wood opened the proceedings
rather unnecessarily by a strong deprecation " of any appeal
to the feelings." With this start the six or seven selected
speakers all came to an end, in successive agreement each
with his predecessor, in some quarter of an hour. But for
Sedgwick, who came to the rescue with a lively little speech,
the whole meeting would have collapsed.
The following are some of his reminiscences of
Cambridge life : — -
I became acquainted with that wonderful man Professor Lee.
Mr. Lee had been a common carpenter, and was on one occasion
sent by his master to do some work in the house of a rich gentleman
in the neighbourhood. This gentleman had a good library ; and
one day went into the study at the workmen's dinner hour, and to
his surprise saw Lee reading one of his books. In those days it
JOHN VENN OF HEREFORD 189
was a rare thing for a working man to be able to read, and the
gentleman began to ask him how he had learned and what books
he had read. He then found that this carpenter was a man of
rare talent ; used to read and master a book, and then sell it and
buy another. He was at once taken up by some friends and sent
to Cambridge, and entered at Queens' College.
I also saw a good deal of Professor Farish, my father's friend,
and one of my guardians ; and regularly attended his church (the
old church of St. Giles', since pulled down). He was very absent-
minded. On one occasion when his servant brought his horse to
the door l he mounted it, and, to the surprise of his servant, dis-
mounted it again on the other side and walked quietly away, till
the shouts of his servant brought him back again.
He was Professsor of Mechanics, and some of the early
promoters of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway took
the occasion of a visit which he paid to the north of
England to ask his opinion on several points concerning
the means of locomotion to be adopted, amongst others as
to the limits of safe speed.
They asked him at what rate they might go if they made a
railway such as he suggested. The Professor paused for some
little time, and — as I often saw him do — rested his elbow upon the
table and looked up at the ceiling. He said, " Well, gentlemen,
I can now answer your question. If you adopt my suggestions,
then you will be able to go thirty miles an hour with perfect
safety ; and if you wished you could go sixty miles an hour ; but I
should advise you to be satisfied with thirty." The committee
looked at one another, and asked no more questions. The
Professor, on his return to Cambridge, called upon a friend whom
I knew intimately, and who told me the story, and said to him, " I
have been thinking over the whole matter, and feel perfectly
satisfied that I am right. I am going to London to see Mr.
Huskisson, and to propose that the Government should make
railways throughout the kingdom, and to assure him of my
conviction that they might derive such a profit as might in time
almost pay off the national debt." Before Farish could com-
municate with Huskisson the fearful news came of the accident,
and death of the latter, at the opening of the railway. The
intimate friend of his and mine, to whom I have referred, asked
1 He lived in what is called Merton House, at the backs of the Colleges. One of
his ingenious contrivances there is still in existence. It consisted of a movable
partition which could be screwed up and down, so as to convert a large bedroom into
two separate rooms when two guests were on a visit. Tradition has it that with his
usual absence of mind he one night proceeded to remove the partition when both rooms
were occupied, one by a lady and the other by a gentleman.
1 90
VENN FAMILY ANNALS
him why he did not go to London and make his suggestion.
His answer was, " Huskisson was my pupil, and knew me well, and
would have listened to me. No other member of the Government
would pay any regard to what I might say. They would think I
was in my dotage or out of my mind."
The President, Isaac Milner, was the son of poor parents in
Yorkshire, and brother of Joseph Milner, author of the Church
History. A little girl, called Ruth Clark, was living in the same
court as the two Milners ; and they were great playfellows
together. That little girl became a servant * of my grandfather's
when he was living at Yelling. She was a most intelligent and
devoted Christian, and my brother published a life of her entitled
The Single Talent well Employed. When my grandfather died my
father got a little house for her in Clapham, and there she spent
the remainder of her days. When she died I was taken to see
her. It was the first dead body I had ever seen, and I remember
to this day the wonder and strange feelings I felt as I gazed upon her.
Isaac Milner was a great talker ; and even when at Mr.
Wilberforce's — who everywhere else led the conversation — he
was the centre of attraction. I well remember when a sister of
mine was visiting the Parishes, and called on Dr. Milner, whom
she had met at Mr. Wilberforce's and become well acquainted
with. The doctor called out to her, just as she had got to the
bottom of the stairs, to remind her of some engagement ; and
when my sister asked him if he was sure of being able to meet
her on the appointed day, he thundered out to her, u Sure ? — there
is nothing sure but death and taxes ! " On one occasion he was
travelling with a friend — I think it was Mr. Wilberforce — and
they stopped at an inn for the night. After supper Milner began
to tell a ghost story. Every one came to the door, which had been
left ajar, and listened with intense interest. Milner perceived
this, but took no notice and went on with his story. Suddenly
he shouted out, " And there the ghost is at the door ! " Instantly
the servants, men and women, were seized with panic, and rushing
away tumbled one over the other, to the great amusement of the
party. And yet this strong-minded man trembled whenever there
was a thunderstorm, and would rush down into the cellar, where-
ever he was, when he heard it. The explanation of this was as
follows. One day he was travelling in his carriage when a
tremendous thunderstorm suddenly overtook him just as he was
entering into a town. The lightning was terrific, and he
hastened to take shelter in an inn. There was a school of little
children close by, and the lightning struck three of them dead
just as he entered the inn.
1 There are many references to her in Henry Venn's correspondence, and to the
esteem and affection felt towards her by the whole family. See back, p. 102.
JOHN VENN OF HEREFORD 191
Whilst I was at Cambridge a most distressing accident occurred
which I can never forget. Two young Trinity men went up
the Cam in the higher part of it above the mill, in one of those
dangerous canoes l which were then very commonly used. One
of the young men was club-footed. The other foolishly stood up
with his feet one on each edge, and made the canoe rock. The
poor club-footed man implored his companion to desist, reminding
him that he could not swim. Suddenly the canoe was upset and
both the poor fellows disappeared. Some men on shore at once
dived, but could not find the bodies for half an hour or more. At
last they were found at the bottom of a hole, the club-footed man
closely clinging to the other. Their bodies were carried to
Trinity ; and by a most affecting coincidence the father of one of
them, who had just come from a distance to see his son, met the
body at the gate of Trinity College.
My uncle was elected to a fellowship at Queens'
College, January 16, 1829, which he held till 1834. He
did not reside there after taking his degree. He went to
London, where he was ordained deacon in 1828, and
priest in 1829, and almost immediately began clerical
work as curate at St. Mary le Strand. With regard to
the then population, and the spiritual provision for them,
the great London parishes were probably at their worst
about this time. St. Mary le Strand was no exception.
The rector had another parish, and seldom came near the
place. Accordingly the whole work fell on the curate,
with the result that in a year or two my uncle broke down
under the strain, and suffered from an apparent return of
his Indian fever and ague.2 There were many hours a
day of visiting and teaching in the parish, and, what was
worse, there were continual burials in an awful little
graveyard near Drury Lane. He seemed falling into a
hopeless state under the mistaken treatment of the doctors,
who would insist on bleeding and cupping him, when he
fortunately resolved to consult Dr. Jephson of Leamington,
who was then at the height of his reputation. This was
1 If these were what we now call " canoes " they must have gone out and come in
again at Cambridge. They were unknown in 1853, having only made their appearance
a year or two after this date. My grandfather refers to them in 1782.
2 The Vestry of St. Mary addressed a letter of thanks to him on his leaving
(dated August 6, 1829), in which especial stress is laid on his "proposing and adopting
the Visiting Society, for his temporal and spiritual works for the poor and needy, and
for the establishment of an infant school."
1 92 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
the same doctor to whom my father considered that he
owed so much •himself ten years afterwards in his very
dangerous illness. Jephson's treatment was of the most
rigorous kind as regards obedience to his orders. He
trusted very largely to strict diet. His patients had to
live in a certain hotel of which he had control, stay there
for some time, and obey his directions in the minutest
particular. Any exhibition of disobedience ensured their
dismissal. He entirely altered the treatment to which my
uncle had been subjected, obliged him to take regular
exercise in spite of lassitude and weakness, gave him strict
rules of diet, and in a few months he was restored to his
former health.
After this he accepted in 1830 the small living of
Pinner by Harrow,1 — the patron being Mr. Cunningham,
his old friend and father's curate, — where he went to live
with his aunt and sister Emelia, who then composed the
family ; the two other surviving sisters being already
married — Jane to Mr. J. Stephen, and Caroline to Rev.
S. E. Batten. He must at this time have been really a
strong man in spite of his occasional illnesses. For instance,
he heard one day that Mr. Godfrey, then President of
Queens' College, was dead. It immediately occurred to
him that the Fellows might be induced to take his brother
as successor (Henry Venn had then ceased to be a Fellow,
having married and taken the living of Drypool, Hull).
No time was to be lost, so he went to a neighbour — his
squire, a Mr. Walkden, who was famed for his excellent
horses — and asked him if he could give him a mount for
Cambridge. He provided at once two good horses, one
for John Venn and one for himself, and though it was
already about two o'clock in the afternoon they set off.
At Mr. Walkden's suggestion they occasionally changed
horses for relief, and finished the journey of fifty miles or
so before the College supper party had dispersed. Mr.
Venn proceeded to open the matter to Joshua King, but
saw at once that some other proposal had been already
under discussion. It came out, in fact, that King was
1 Pinner was a small hamlet in the parish of Harrow. The living was a perpetual
curacy in the gift of the vicar.
JOHN VENN OF HEREFORD 193
thinking of the post for himself. Being a layman he
was by statute ineligible, but in consequence of his great
reputation it had been suggested by some of his friends
in College that a Royal injunction might be procured to
enable him to hold the office. This course was adopted,
and as no one else could be put in competition with a man
of King's renown, the visit to Cambridge proved abortive,
and the two friends rode back next day to Pinner.
In reference to this Mr. Walkden, my uncle used to
claim that he had had a humble part in aiding the mak-
ing of the first trunk railway in England. The London
and Birmingham line was planned to pass through Mr.
Walkden's property, who came to ask my uncle's advice as
to whether he should join most of the neighbouring squires
in their opposition to it. Mr. Venn had often heard Parish
argue in favour of railways, which, combined with his own
strong interest in scientific schemes, induced him to urge
the squire to do all he could to support the proposal.
Mr. Venn stayed about three years at Pinner. In 1833
Mr. Simeon offered him the vicarage of St. Peter's,
Hereford, the advowson of which he had recently bought
for his trust. Hereford was then such an out-of-the-way
place that many people regarded it as lying in Wales. At
most of the London coaching offices the people knew
nothing about the means of getting there, till some one
suggested that there was a conveyance called " the old fish
cart," which went there through Worcester. It took, as
it turned out, some thirty hours to effect the journey.
Hereford is the place with which my uncle's name will
always be prominently associated, both from the length of
his stay there, his marked personality, and the wonderful
vigour and conscientiousness with which he threw himself
into every kind of good work. As children we knew the
place well, for we were often there, especially during our
summer holidays. In fact for many years Hereford was a
second home to us, and supplied in some respects what
we could not readily secure at our own home. Neither
Highgate nor Highbury were very congenial places as
regards the making of friendships ; and my mother's early
death, and my father's absorbing work, prevented both the
1 94 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
retention of many old family acquaintances and the
formation of n<§w intimacies. But the long residence of
my uncle and aunt at Hereford, and the universal love and
respect entertained for them, had surrounded them with a
circle of friends who at once extended their kindness and
hospitality to their young relatives. Cricket was then
very keenly practised at Hereford, and there happened to
be a number of boys around with whom we used to play,
and who supplied us with a higher standard of the game
than we could find at our own school. There were
continual rambles in the fields and lanes near by, boating
excursions on the Wye, simple and friendly tea-parties at
many a neighbouring house, and every now and then a
picnic excursion to Fownhope, Dinedor, or one of the
other beautiful hills which lay on every side of the town.
Some of our amusements in our early days were of a kind
which few parents would have tolerated in their own
gardens. One in particular, I remember, consisted in
borrowing an old Bath-chair from some kindly ladies who
lived near by, mounting it in turn, and then driving each
other furiously along the paths, with the object of upsetting
it into the hedges.
My uncle's house stood on Aylestone Hill, just outside
the city. It commanded a superb view : one which I have
seldom seen equalled. In front was a foreground of
sloping green fields, behind this the tower and spires of
the cathedral and of the two principal churches rising from
amidst the red bricks and tiles of the city houses ; then
the broad fertile valley of the Wye ; and in the distance
the magnificent range of the Black Mountains beyond the
Welsh border. He had bought the house on his first
arrival in Hereford. It was a mere cottage then, but it
was added to from time to time, until it became a fair-sized
and very convenient house.
His church, St. Peter's, was a fine old building, and held
a large congregation. But it displayed during his time
almost every blemish which church restorers denounce,
together with a few peculiarities which must have been
almost unique. It retained to the last pews with lofty sides
and covered with green baize, galleries crowded under the
JOHN VENN OF HEREFORD 195
fine arches, the clerk's desk, the high reading desk, and the
still higher pulpit, standing in the east end of the nave.
But in one respect I should suppose that the " use " of St.
Peter's, Hereford, had no parallel elsewhere. There was a
beautiful and very large chancel. It was in fact so large
and long that it was supposed that any one reading from the
end of it would not be heard in the galleries. Accordingly
this chancel had been at some time completely cut off from
the body of the church by a large screen of carpentry and
glass. The administration of the communion was of course
held in the chancel, but the Epistles and Gospel were
always delivered from the reading-desk. Another peculiar
arrangement which my uncle found there he got rid of
before long. It was a reproduction of the ingenious
arrangement which Professor Farish had introduced into
his church of St. Giles at Cambridge, and consisted of a
paraboloidal sounding-board of which the preacher's head
occupied the focus. This device sent a blast of sound
down to the end of the church, but it also, according to
the laws of acoustics, sent back to the preacher's ear every
whisper uttered there. My uncle's predecessor had a weak
voice, and had been so struck with Parish's ingenious
apparatus that he persuaded his congregation to erect one
of the same kind for him, at a cost of some ^200. My
uncle accordingly, when he entered the pulpit for the first
time, found himself enclosed in a huge arrangement some
six feet long which prevented him from seeing, or being
heard by, nearly half the congregation. The thing was
got rid of as soon as the susceptibilities of those who had
provided it would allow.
In connection with this I may repeat that my uncle
had an admirable voice, which he managed to a degree
which I have never heard equalled. Even in his old age,
when past eighty -two, it was a lesson in elocution to
hear him read at family prayers. His powers in this way
struck every one who heard him, and were equally dis-
played when only his old servants were present. This
proficiency was largely due to the very careful instructions
of Mr. Simeon. Referring to him soon after his appoint-
ment to Hereford Simeon says : —
j96 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
I do not conceive that in general intonations I shall be able to
add anything to him. It is in pauses, in which almost the chief
excellence of reading consists, that I may yet help him a little more.
I sadly regret that your sister cannot accompany him, because
her exquisitely delicate ear caught every the slightest inflexion of
my voice, and greatly emboldened me to make what a common
ear would have judged hypercritical observations. And your dear
brother most affectionately and with delight seized the hints so
given and so attested and approved. — (Letter to Henry Venn, 1834.)
Besides his purely clerical work — and he was quite
unwearied in visiting, and in the supervision of his schools
— my uncle devoted much time and attention to a number
of schemes for social and economical improvement. At
an early stage of his career in Hereford he started the
" St. Peter's Literary Institution/' which was designed to
provide a lending library, reading-room, and popular
lectures. It did good work for many years until it was
superseded by similar institutions on a larger scale.
The largest organisation with which he was concerned,
and one which was due almost entirely to himself, was the
Steam Corn-Mill and the many agencies which sprang
from it. The following were the circumstances out of
which it grew. On first going to the parish he was struck
with the hardship inflicted upon the poor people who
wanted their corn ground. (In the days before Free
Trade and steam cultivation the gleaning of the corn left
on the ground after the harvest was an important source
of income to the poor ; in fact a family looked to obtaining
in this way a portion of their bread supply for the year.)
The women used to take their bags of corn to the millers,
but of course such small customers had to wait till other
work was done. Often they had, he said, to go week
after week for months, before they could get their flour
back, and then it might be scant or adulterated. Casting
about for a remedy he resolved to establish some grinding
machinery which should be always and honestly at the
service of the poor, but the proper motive power was a
difficulty. At first he thought of utilising the treadmill
labour, and actually applied to the magistrates for permis-
sion to employ this ; but they declined, mainly on the
ground that to make such labour useful was to destroy its
JOHN VENN OF HEREFORD 197
proper punitive character. At this time it was suggested
to him by a Mr. Robinson, a Hereford man, who was, or
had been, in the employment of Mr. Scott Russell, the
great shipbuilder, that he had best start at once with a
steam mill. Mr. Robinson had been concerned in the
erection of some such mills himself, and he offered to
construct one for Mr. Venn at cost price, which was done.
Once at work such a mill rapidly outgrew its original
design, the more so as the greater care in farming, after
the introduction of Free Trade, considerably reduced the
value to the poor of their gleaning. Accordingly the mill
soon had to begin to work for the general public, and as
this was one of the first steam corn-mills in the West of
England, and rapidly acquired a reputation for prompt
and fair dealing, it had as much thrown upon it as it could
possibly get through. Such was the confidence reposed in
the manager of it that the farmers would bring their corn
in bulk, and leave it to him to weigh or measure it and
give them flour at their next visit. The choice of this
first manager was a queer one. He was a shoemaker,
who had no knowledge whatever of either corn or
machinery. He had been an active teacher and preacher
— I presume in connection with some dissenting body — at
a neighbouring village, where he went every Sunday for
some twenty years without failing. This man, Thomas
Day by name, at first helped in some humbler way at the
mill, but soon showed such skill and zeal that he was made
manager, an office which he retained for many years.
My uncle was of course largely helped at first both
pecuniarily and otherwise. He started with a capital of
some £3000, partly advanced by himself and relations,
partly lent by some benevolent parishioners and others.
The flour was also ordered by friends as an encouragement.
I remember the occasional appearance at our home in
Highgate, when a child, of the sack of " Hereford flour,"
and the excellent bread it made. One of his objects in
this scheme was to encourage the poor to use the " whole
meal," as being cheaper and wholesomer, but to the last he
had to struggle in vain against the determination of almost
all his customers to have only the very whitest of flour.
'198 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
This corn -mill was only a part of his philanthropic
scheme, though its pecuniary success made it the most
important aid in carrying on the others. The beggary
and thriftlessness of the poor struck him forcibly. Groups
of women were in the habit of going round amongst the
residents and almost extorting money from them. He
therefore started the "Hereford Industrious Aid Society" — -
in this one of his various schemes being supported heartily
by the Bishop of the diocese, Dr. Musgrave. Through
this Society he did what he could to extend the Allotment
System amongst the poor, but met the violent opposition
from landowners and farmers which the earliest supporters
of that scheme had to encounter. It was with the greatest
difficulty for some time that the society could persuade
any one to let them the land even at remunerative rents.
Simultaneously with this, another scheme was started
which was also — at least then and there, though " Charity
Organisations " have since made it familiar — a novelty.
It was the plan of advancing loans to the poor to start
them in business or otherwise. He rigorously adopted
from almost the first the plan of demanding security of
the borrowers from people in their own rank of life,
finding that then, and then only, would they be careful to
repay. They thus lent in the aggregate a very large sum
of money with an extremely small percentage of loss from
bad debts.
Amongst minor modes of helping the poor he was
always endeavouring to persuade them to adopt improved
and more economical food, and better processes of cooking
—he thus had for a time a breakfast prepared to which the
working people were freely invited, to see if they would be
persuaded to try Scotch oatmeal for their meals, — but this
met with little or no success. As a small instance of
providence on behalf of the poor it may be mentioned that
in his early days at Hereford, before the making of the
railway (or even of the temporary Gloucester canal), he
noticed that the poor were sometimes put to terrible shifts
to get coal in winter. He therefore hired a small yard,
got in a supply of coal at a low rate in summer, and dis-
tributed it at cost price to the poor in the winter. This
JOHN VENN OF HEREFORD 199
plan was given up directly the improved means of transport
altered the circumstances.
From the first the management of the mill was put into
the hands of a Committee, of which he was only a member.
As time went on it became a rather large concern, having
extensive business dealings with some of the neighbouring
counties. The proceeds, after paying interest to those who
had originally lent him part of the capital, were rigorously
devoted to the recognised aims of the " Industrious Aid
Society." He held strongly that it was the duty of such a
society, enjoying tolerably ample means of its own, not
merely to follow the lead of others by aiding in generally
admitted cases of want, but also to try experiments in
economical procedure, which those who had to struggle for
their livelihood could not in common prudence be expected
to originate. The a experimental gardens," as managed
by Mr. With,1 were a very large development of the
Industrious Aid Society. It was his aim that this garden
should try every available plan, and then set a model,
especially to the poor and small cultivators. The most
economical kind of manure, the best plans for keeping
pigs, fowls, etc., the most useful and nutritious crops, were
all to be tried, and the results not merely thrown open to
the people but urged upon their notice. In connection
with this subject it may be added that he was one of the
earliest supporters of Mr. Moule's system, introducing it
wherever he had any power or influence.
This receptivity to new ideas was conspicuous to the
last, and displayed itself at an age when very few people
can be brought to realise the possibility of improvement in
methods to which they have long been accustomed. I
remember being with him when he was first informed that
the old-fashioned millstones were being superseded by the
new contrivance of crushing the grain between cylinders.
1 Mr. G. With was for many years my uncle's chief assistant in the scientific part of his
schemes. He was a good chemist, and was constantly at work analysing manures, with
a view to determining what would be the most economical material for the use of the
poor. What first brought him into notice was his extraordinary delicacy of hand and
eye in the difficult art of grinding the concave glasses used for the mirrors of reflecting
telescopes. For many years he had the making of all the glasses used by Browning the
optician, the work being carried on in his own house with the simplest apparatus. This
brought him under the notice of Dr. Dawes, Dean of Hereford, a well-known
scientific man.
200 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
He was then about eighty, and every detail of his mill was
naturally endeared to him by long use. He instantly,
however, caught at the new idea, took the keenest interest
in the method as described to him, and attended meetings
of the Committee summoned to consider what should be
done in order to meet the new demands.
His readiness to propose plans for the benefit of others
was accompanied by an equal readiness to try new devices
in his own case. This disposition sometimes caused amuse-
ment amongst his relations ; and the sturdy common-sense
of his aunt Jane, during her reign, and that of his sister
Emelia afterwards, was put in action to control any wide
departure from the practice of his neighbours. But for
this kindly restraint he might very likely have gone in for
dietetic experiments upon a rather mischievous scale. He
once more or less seriously advocated the idea that we
should do better by continually eating very small amounts
instead of filling the stomach occasionally, and proposed, if
he did not actually practise, the plan of nibbling grains of
corn almost continuously. If this was a serious proposal
it was almost the only case I can recall in which a desire
for novelty was not kept within reasonable limits.
We used indeed to think him rather too prone to
take up what seemed new fads in the way of remedies ;
for instance, the water cure and homoeopathy. But he
generally succeeded in carrying them out ; and it must be
admitted that, judging by experience, they mostly seemed
to answer in his case.
It will be readily conjectured that he was an early and
a strong advocate for total abstinence from alcohol. He
commenced the practice at a time when it excited surprise
even on the part of a clergyman. His difficulty at first
was that he found that, without some kind of stimulant,
he had a difficulty in digesting his food. A cup of tea at
every meal was at last suggested, which he tried and found
perfectly successful.
In his religious opinions he was, it need hardly be said,
a decided and consistent evangelical of the old type ;
though speculatively somewhat more of a Calvinist than
his brother. Young people are ready enough to detect,
JOHN VENN OF HEREFORD 201
or think they detect, inconsistencies between the opinions
and the practice of their elders ; but I may repeat what
has been already said of Henry Venn — and I think that
all of my generation in the family will agree with me — that
never, under any conditions of illness, anxiety, or disap-
pointment, did I ever observe the slightest lapse in practice
from the doctrines which he publicly professed.
My uncle had the old Protestant horror of Popery1
more deeply and sincerely than any other really good man
whom I have known, though he never fell into anything
resembling vulgar abuse of it or of its adherents. The
establishment of a Romish monastery at Belmont, on the
Wye, near Hereford, was a very severe blow to him. He
courageously tried to grapple with the evil by challenging
a priest to a public controversy. This was a step which he
intensely disliked ; for, though a good speaker, he had no
experience whatever in debating, or in religious controversy.
Moreover his refined sensitiveness shrank from such a
public display. The Hereford priest himself declined the
contest in favour of his brother — Canon Waterworth — who
was somewhat of a professional combatant in such matters.
The debate took place in 1847, being carried on in a
public hall in the city. It was published under the title of
the Hereford Discussion. Controversies of this kind were not
very infrequent at the commencement of the Romish revival
fifty or sixty years ago. They arose out of the old-fashioned
Protestant view that the Papist had not a rational argument
in his defence. This particular one was as indecisive as
any such display must be when speculative doctrines, which
theologians have fought over for centuries, are to be
popularly decided on a platform in a few hours. The
effect upon many of those who listened to it was probably
the same which it produced upon my own mind when I
read it as a youth. It raised a feeling of surprise and
almost of dismay to find that the Romanist had a word to
say in reply to Protestant objections. As against his
individual opponent, my uncle put himself at considerable
disadvantage by his studied fairness and courtesy through-
1 So intense was his disapproval of whatever seemed to savour of Rome that he would
probably have quitted the Church of England, shortly before the time of the Gorham
judgment, but for the advice of his brother.
202 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
out, and especially by a needless depreciation, at the outset,
of his own power's and attainments : an admission of which
his opponent proceeded to make use in a tone almost of
insolence.
His relations with his ecclesiastical superiors, though
always those of courtesy and mutual respect, were not
unfrequently somewhat strained. His first bishop during
his incumbency at Hereford was Dr. Grey, son of the first
Earl Grey, a prelate of the old-fashioned imposing and
lordly type. With him the difficulty arose from my uncle
proposing to say the words at the communion to each
group of persons simultaneously ; the bishop insisted on
their being repeated separately to each. It was urged
against this that the service had lasted, on one occasion,
from eleven to four, so great was the number of com-
municants. The bishop would hear of no departure from
the rubric ; and when it was suggested that even his
brethren adopted a similar course in the analogous case of
confirmation he replied that he never did — as indeed he
afterwards showed on one occasion, by repeating for hour
after hour the words of benediction over each separate
child at a large confirmation.
With Bishop Musgrave — a very different style of man
—his relations were more sympathetic, though difficulties
arose on one occasion from the bishop's extreme annoyance
at his having invited Dr. M'Neile of Liverpool to take
part in a religious meeting in the town. It was to Dr.
Musgrave that my uncle owed the only little piece of
church dignity which he ever possessed, viz. a prebend at
the Cathedral, which he held from 1843 to 1868. His
thorough knowledge of music, and his extreme delight in
it, made the appointment very suitable, though of course
he had no direct influence on the conduct of the service.
His reason for resigning the office deserves notice. A few
years after his appointment Dr. Hampden was appointed
bishop. The election created much interest, owing to the
strong opposition excited by the bishop's supposed un-
orthodoxy. Mr. Venn only realised at the last moment
that, as one of the chapter, he would have to join in the
ceremony of praying for guidance to select the man whom
JOHN VENN OF HEREFORD 203
the Crown imposed upon them. He had not the slightest
objection to lay appointments, nor, I believe, any strong
aversion to Dr. Hampden's views, as far as these were then
known ; but he shrank, as he himself explained, from what
seemed to him almost like blasphemy. Rather than take
part in another election he resigned the office shortly before
the next appointment.
His relations with the neighbouring Dissenters, whether
ministers or laymen, were mostly very friendly ; and his
earnest advocacy of the Bible Society * often brought him
into co-operation with them at public meetings and in
committee -rooms. At first, indeed, when he was some-
what stricter as a churchman than he afterwards became,
he was inclined to resist their pretensions. At one time
he had a sort of disputation with some leading Dissenter
about Church government or principles, which led to some
rather bitter attacks upon him by his opponent, in letters
which appeared over his name in the local paper. The
sequel to this was rather curious. Several years afterwards
he happened to meet this man on the top of the coach,
as he was travelling to Malvern. With his customary
friendliness he entered at once into conversation with him,
but found him adopt a very different tone from that of the
former disputant. In fact he bitterly bewailed the tyranny
of his own sect. As he expressed a wish to be ordained in
the Episcopal Church, my uncle got him introduced to Dr.
M'llvaine, Bishop of Ohio, U.S., who, after ordination,
gave him a cure somewhere in his own diocese, where he
lived for some years, and where he finally died.
In regard to personal characteristics, without ever in
the least aiming at wit, or attempting to predominate in
conversation, he had a remarkably playful and humorous
manner of talk, and a power of narration which made him
very attractive to young and old alike. As children he
used to keep us in laughter by his stories and playful
comments. Of personal tastes or accomplishments, that
1 I remember once, as a youth, standing with him on the top of Penmcenmaur, and
gazing on the Isle of Anglesey, lying spread out like a map beneath us. He suddenly broke
out into an exclamation of admiration — not of the scenery, but of the people of that
island. I was puzzled, until he proceeded to explain that in proportion to the population
Anglesey contributed more largely to the Bible Society than any other county.
, 204 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
of music was perhaps the only one he possessed : nothing
but his zeal fbr higher purposes prevented it, I think,
from becoming a passion with him. He did not seem to
have any keen love of nature — though he made more
than one tour in Switzerland with my father in early days
—beyond the liking for fine scenery, and exercise in the
open air, which is almost universal amongst healthy
people.
For poetry he seemed to have but little taste, and for
fiction he naturally shared the strong antipathy felt by
most of those amongst whom he had been brought up. I
never knew him to open a novel, and never heard him
mention any but one, Clarissa Harlowe ; — the strange
power of Richardson over our ancestors may puzzle the
present younger generation, but it dominated on one
occasion (see p. 101) even Henry Venn of Huddersfield.
My uncle declared that this novel had lost him a place or
two in the Tripos. He got hold of it some days before
the degree examination, and could not lay it down. He
said that in the morning, after reading nearly all night, his
eyes were red with weeping.
On the intellectual side he seems to me a remarkable
instance of a rare type of mind. He was one of those
who, without the slightest pretence of scientific knowledge
or study of scientific works, seem to possess an almost
intuitive capacity of assimilating, by conversation and
observation, every scientific suggestion which is able to
help forward the practical schemes which they have at
heart. He was the polar opposite of those who read
everything that comes out, and apply nothing. Advocates
of the old-fashioned Cambridge training would perhaps
claim him in support of their views. He probably never
looked at a book on mathematics or mechanics after
leaving College, or indeed any regular treatise on scientific
subjects, but he had absorbed much of the methods and
principles, and he was constantly conversing with those
engaged in very various kinds of scientific work, and
seemed always able to extract some useful hint from their
experience. It was the same in his social schemes. He
had had nothing to do with Political Economy since he
JOHN VENN OF HEREFORD 205
attended the lectures of Malthus as a youth at Haileybury,
but practical common-sense, and discussion with those who
had had experience, soon led him to adopt many of the
methods which modern " Charity organisers " would
suggest for the management of allotments, and for Loan
societies for the poor.
Calvinist as he was in doctrine, he never showed
anything but the most cheery optimism in daily life, both
as regards the world at large and individual men. I
remember him once, when past eighty-two, on some one
present disparaging modern times in comparison with the
past, breaking out with the exclamation that " he hardly
knew whether it rather made him laugh or feel indignant
when he heard people say that the world was getting
worse and not better." Utterly depraved as he held
" man " to be, he had such trust in individual men that he
was not infrequently taken in,3 an occurrence which would
probably have been more frequent but for the keen judg-
ment and sagacity of his sister. " My dear, he is a most
wonderful man " was now and then his confident opinion
on some one who soon after failed him entirely. From
time to time we had hints about various people who had
not altogether fulfilled our good uncle's sanguine hopes,
but he remained as enthusiastic to the last, always ready
to believe the best of everybody and to help every one to
the utmost of his powers.
It may have been the same disposition to accept new
methods of practical utility which induced him so heartily
to throw himself into various plans for helping on the
spiritual progress of the Church. For instance, in the
later fifties he paid one or two visits to Ireland for the
purpose of observing the course of the religious Revival
then in progress. He was so deeply interested in what he
saw there that he travelled much about England, preaching
on the subject and describing the spiritual movement.
1 On one occasion it was a converted jockey, whom he accepted as a Scripture-reader.
Unfortunately he also employed him to buy a horse for my father, whereon the old
Adam was revived with disastrous results to us. I shall not forget my father's dismay
when he arrived and found what had been purchased for him. He attempted to drive it
home 5 but after the poor brute had dragged the phaeton as far, I think, as Ledbury,
the effort was abandoned.
2o6 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
The rigour of his Calvinism seemed somewhat to give
way, at least on one point, during his latter years. During
most of his preaching time he never shrank from the most
solemn warnings and denunciations of future woe to the
unconverted. But a conversation with a niece seemed to
show that his kindly heart had rather warped the logical
stringency of his convictions. Discussing the work of
Dr. Farrar on the non-eternity of punishment, he said in
tones of the deepest feeling, " My dear, I wish with all
my heart that I could believe every word he says. I can't
now ; perhaps I shall some day."
Gentle, affectionate, and loving as he was, nothing
would restrain him from doing or saying what he felt to
be a duty. One Sunday morning, walking up Aylestone
hill with a young nephew, he met a working-man carrying
a fishing-rod, and apparently returning from Lugg
Meadows. He was a stranger, but my uncle at once
stopped him and spoke to him affectionately but most
earnestly on the sin of breaking the Sabbath. In the same
spirit he spoke and wrote strongly against some of the
gaieties connected with the Three Choirs Festival, when
held at Hereford. The fact that bishops and deans and
all the great people of the three counties supported the
festival mattered nothing.
He resigned St. Peter's Church in 1870, but continued
to the last to take the keenest interest in his various
industrial and social enterprises. He was continually
visiting his experimental gardens, and discussing with the
manager, Mr. With, how the results could be extended
and improved.
He gradually failed in health, and died at his house in
Hereford, May 1 2, 1 890, having just completed his eighty-
eighth year. He was buried in the old graveyard of St.
Peter's, by the side of his sister and aunt, on May 17.
It is foreign to the purpose of these Family Annals to
enter into the deeper spiritual experience of those described
in it. But it may be said that to him everything that he
tried to effect for the minds and bodies of those for whom
he worked so strenuously was as nothing to what he strove
to effect for their souls.
JOHN VENN OF HEREFORD 207
DEPARTMENTS OF THE HEREFORD SOCIETY FOR AIDING THE
INDUSTRIOUS, ESTABLISHED BY THE REV. JOHN VENN,
MARCH 1841.
1. A Steam Corn-Mill, to enable the working classes to get
their corn ground at small cost, the other millers charg-
ing very high prices for so doing.
2. A Soup -Kitchen, to supply during the winter season a
nourishing soup at id. a quart. In severe seasons as
much as 52,500 quarts were sold.
3. An arrangement for supplying the poor with coal during
the winter at a moderate price, from 6d. to qd. per cwt.,
delivered at their homes.
4. A Loan Department, to lend money to the poor at a very
moderate rate of interest. By the end of the year 1 848
the sum of ^18,000 had been lent to poor people.
5. In order to assist the industrious poor, allotments of land for
vegetable culture were let in various parts of Hereford
and suburbs. About fifty-two acres were divided into
allotments.
6. In 1876 Mr. G. With, Master of the Hereford Blue
Coat School, was engaged as agricultural chemist, and
the various manures Mr. With invented have proved a
great boon to all engaged in the various departments
of agriculture.
7. Another most useful department of the Society was
established for lending on hire, at a very reasonable rate,
various articles required by invalids.
8. A Provident Depositors' Department was opened. Any
sums, however small, were allowed to be deposited, as
in a Savings Bank.
9. A Tea and Coffee Shop was opened in connection with the
Soup-Kitchen.
The Hereford Public Swimming and Washing Baths were
erected in 1870 under the direction and superintendence of the
Committee of which Mr. Venn was Chairman, and they were
among the first large swimming baths erected in the country
where all classes of boys and girls could learn to swim.
The Hereford Society for Aiding the Industrious, as it now
exists, is the outcome of the Steam Corn-Mill established by Mr.
Venn, although entirely reconstructed and now licensed by the
Board of Trade. During the last ten years the above society has
,208 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
aided, by grants from ^10 to £500, nearly all the churches,
chapels, and charitable institutions of the city and neighbourhood,
more especially having regard to those institutions which more
particularly benefit the working and industrious classes. Among
others we may mention :—
The Hereford Free Library.
Voluntary Elementary Schools.
Hereford City Mission.
Herefordshire General Hospital.
Hereford Working Boys' Home.
The Venn Incurable Fund.
Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution.
Hereford Servants' Home.
The Venn Memorial Fund.
Hereford Nursing Association.
Young Women's Christian Association.
Young Men's Christian Association.
City and County Mission.
Society for the Rescue and Protection of Young Women.
(Drawn up by Mr. Wm. G. Lloyd, Secretary of the Hereford
Society for Aiding the Industrious, May 13, 1901.)
APPENDIX
I. ARMS OF FENN AND VENN
THE Arms habitually and independently used for many years, both
by my own family and by the Venns of Peyhembury, were, as
already stated, " Argent, on a fess azure three escallops of the first,
within a bordure engrailed of the second. Crest, a dragon's head
erased argent, about his neck a collar azure charged with three
escallops of the first." My great-grandfather, Henry Venn, used
a seal for his letters, engraved with this coat, certainly from 1756 ;
and his son John (who from boyhood was very keen on the subject
of Heraldry) tells us that his grandfather Richard, the rector of
St. Antholin's, had always used the same coat. This would carry
its use back to 1710 or 1720 probably. As to the Peyhembury
family, the earliest reference I have found is in a letter from the
Rev. E. Coleridge, vicar of St. Mary Ottery, written in 1814, in
which he says, " I was shown yesterday, by Mr. John Venn, the
family arms painted and enclosed in a small frame : besides he
possessed an old silver seal [afterwards shown to my father in 1823],
handed down from father to son, with the family arms." I may
repeat here that as neither of these families had any knowledge
of the existence of the other — at any rate during most of the
eighteenth century — this common use of the same coat suggests
the probability of an earlier common tradition, dating from the
time before they dispersed.
As to the origin and history of this coat of Arms, so far as
those persons are concerned who had an unquestionable right to its
use, the pedigree on page 214 should be consulted. It is taken
from one in Anthony Norris's collection, now in the possession of
Mr. Walter Rye, but the Heralds' Visitations on which it is
mainly founded are indicated, and with these I have carefully
compared it.
This pedigree, it will be seen, starts with a Hugh Fenne who was
killed about 1 390, and who is assigned to Yorkshire.1 As far as I
1 This is not at variance with what was suggested as to the etymology of the name.
Besides the two main fen districts in the east and west of England there was a third such
area in the south of Yorkshire, around what used to be called the Isle of Axholme.
209 P
,210 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
know there is now no living descendant in the male line of any one
here included. The family, it will be seen, quitted Yorkshire im-
mediately, and dispersed into various parts of England. One branch
settled in Gloucestershire,1 where they lived, as flourishing clothiers,
for several generations. The best known member of this branch
was Sir Richard Fenn or Venn, Lord Mayor of London in 1638.
He was a son of Hugh Fenn of Wotton under Edge. Another
branch was in business in London, where a John Fenn appears as
" Captain of the City of London, temp. James I." A third branch
was resident for several successive generations in Norfolk, and
appears in the Visitation of that county in 1664. Far the best
known member of this last branch was Sir John Fenn the
antiquary, celebrated by his discovery and publication of the Paston
Letters. He died without issue in 1794, the last of his stock, and
I have found no evidence of the present existence of any one of
the name descended from the branches above named.
It may be pointed out that this long pedigree entirely confirms
what I have said as to the change of F to V in the spelling of the
name. Every person included in it remains a " Fenn," with the
exception of the descendants of Robert, who settled at Wotton in
Gloucestershire. This spot is very near the limit drawn by the
philologists between the harder and softer dialectic forms, and we
accordingly find Robert's descendants described as Venn. His son
Hugh, for instance, who died in 1611, and whose will was proved
at Gloucester, appears simply as Venn. So does Hugh's son
William, who died in 1617, and other members of the same family.
The Lord Mayor himself indeed is commonly styled Sir Richard
Fenn, but in all the references to him in the wills of his
Gloucestershire relatives he appears as Venn.
Sir Richard left (according to Hutchins 2) a daughter, Jane,
who married John Tregonwell, Esq. of Milton Abbas, Dorset. In
the first edition of the History of Dorset^ in his description of the
house at Milton Abbas, it is stated that the Fenn Arms, as above
described, were still to be seen in the great hall there, both singly and
1 I take it for granted that the Heralds satisfied themselves that these particular
Gloucestershire Fenns or Venns were really descended from the Yorkshire stock, as
shown in the pedigree. Otherwise I should have assumed the Wotton family to be one
of those which seem to be autochthonous in the county. Several of these are to be found,
from an early date (e.g. wills of 1545), in the near neighbourhood of Gloucester, not more
than fifteen miles from Wotton. However, even if the identification were erroneous,
Sir Richard Fenn had the sanction of the College for the Arms which he used. As to
the descent of Sir John Fenn I do not suppose there can be any doubt.
2 There must be some mistake here. In the first place, by what must be an oversight,
Hutchins calls the Lord Mayor Robert Fenn. Again, in the wills of both Sir Richard
Fenn and his widow, which are unusually full in their reference to relatives, no daughter
Jane is mentioned, and there seem to have been two sons living, with issue. That John
Tregonwell married a Jane Fenn of this family is doubtless true, but it is not easy to
assign her place in the pedigree. Hutchins is so explicit as to her being a daughter of
the Lord Mayor that the likeliest supposition seems to be that she was a daughter of his
first wife, but it is strange that he should not mention her in his will.
ARMS OF FENN AND VENN 211
impaled with Tregonwell ; also in the church, on Tregonwell
monuments, arranged quarterly. From the last edition of Hutchins
(1870), I gather that all traces of these arms have been removed
from the house.
The next person, or rather family, to use this coat of Arms, as
far as I can ascertain, was John Venn, the regicide, the well-known
M.P. in the Long Parliament and at one time Governor of Windsor
Castle. He seems to have had no connection with the above-named
stock, but came of a family of yeomen who had been very long
settled at Lydeard near Taunton. Their names do not appear in
any Visitation of Somerset. There was a Visitation for instance
in 1623, when John Venn's elder brother Simon was living, but
there is no reference to the family, though the Heralds visited the
immediate neighbourhood and indeed recorded the pedigree of one
gentleman from the parish of Lydeard.
John Venn first appears in the London Visitation of 1636, when
a brief pedigree, commencing with his father, is entered. He then
seems to have claimed the arms mentioned above, but their use was
not definitely authorised, as there is an entry attached that they
were " respited until his return from Devonshire." Similarly with
his son Thomas, the royalist mayor of Bridgewater. The pedigree
is entered in 1672, but the coat of Arms does not seem to have
been authorised. In fact, according to the best information 1 can
obtain, this coat was never definitely allowed to any of the Venns
of Lydeard.
As a matter of fact, however, with or without due license,
John Venn and his family continued to use this coat. As to
his seal, attached to the Warrant l for the King's execution, we
can say nothing, as the impression is too imperfect to be legible.
But it occurs several times on the tombstones of members of his
family at Lydeard St. Lawrence. The earliest of these stones
(with armorial bearings) is that to the memory of Simon Venn,
cousin of the regicide, who died in 1683, at the age of ninety-one.
There is another to John Venn, the master of Balliol, who was
a son of the above Simon. In both of these cases the same arms
are assigned, with the crescent for difference. The widow, also,
of the master of Balliol left, by will, an escutcheon to be placed
in the College Hall, with his and her arms (Venn or Fenn,
impaling Lowe). It had been placed outside the College, after
his death, in accordance with academic custom.
How the regicide and his family came to select this coat we
cannot say for certain, but it seems to me most likely that he
took it for granted that he had a right to use the arms of his
London namesakes. He must have known Sir Richard, the Lord
Mayor, for they were contemporaries, active in the City, fellow-
1 This Warrant is preserved in the Library of the House of Lords.
212 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
officers in the Artillery Company, and both engaged extensively
in the cloth trade/ Moreover, these arms are recorded in such a
popular work as the Display of Heraldry of Guillim, who says,
" The field is, argent on a fess azure three escallop shells of the
first, a bordure engrailed of the second. In chief a crescent
gules for a difference of a second brother. This is the coat
armour of that worthy gentleman John Fenn, one of the Captains
of the City of London." This account appears in the edition
of 1632, and is repeated in subsequent editions. As will be
seen in the Fenn pedigree, this " captain " was a second cousin
of the Lord Mayor, and must almost certainly have been an
acquaintance of his fellow-captain 1 the subsequent regicide.
What confirms this view is that the regicide and his family,
as will be seen, followed the two other London citizens in adopt-
ing the " crescent for difference," the distinctive indication of a
second son. This characteristic, true of the latter, could hardly
be properly applied to the former. If the Lydeard people really
belonged to the same family they would seem to have been in all
likelihood an elder branch, for, as we have seen, they were of
very old standing as yeomen in that parish. In fact they can be
traced there from a period considerably anterior to the Hugh
Fenn who heads the armigerous family. My own conviction in
fact is that the regicide simply took it for granted, as is, and
already then was, common enough, that the arms belonged to
the name rather than to the descendants of some assigned individual
or family, and that he therefore had a right to their use.
As to the use of the same coat by my own forefathers and the
Peyhembury yeomen, I have already said something. It seems
to me very unlikely that at that date (150 to 180 years ago), and
in their position socially, they should have both started, and started
independently, the use of the same armorial bearings. But if, on
the other hand, as is confirmed by a certain amount of supple-
mentary evidence, they were really of the same stock as the
Lydeard people, it would be likely enough that they should
continue to use, on seals, etc., the arms which had been claimed
and actually used by the latter since 1636. In saying this I
must repeat what has been said above, namely, that this usage
is only mentioned as corroborative evidence of family affinity.
None of the families either in Somerset or Devon can show any
technical right to the particular arms in question. They do not
appear in the Visitations of those counties, nor was their right
acknowledged by the Heralds' College.
It is, of course, impossible to prove a negative in the matter
1 It need hardly be said that Guillim cannot be referring here to the regicide, who,
though he might have been a "worthy gentleman" in 1632, could not possibly have
been so called after the Restoration, by any one at the Heralds' College.
ARMS OF FENN AND VENN
213
of a long pedigree, but I am inclined to believe that John Fenn
the antiquary, who died in 1794, was the last person strictly
entitled to use these arms ; unless, indeed, there be survivors
from those who lived in and about Wotton under Edge in
Gloucestershire.
In the year 1814 my granduncle Edward Venn of Ipswich,
dissatisfied with the uncertainty in which he stood, obtained a
new grant. In accordance with the custom of the College of
Arms, the coat hitherto used by his father and grandfather, never
having been officially sanctioned, was not now allowed, though
one does not see why something was not assigned which should
have been more nearly in agreement with the device they had
used for nearly a century. The only point of agreement consists
in the three escallops. What was then granted is thus described :
" Erminois, on a bend gules, between six fleur-de-lis azure three
escallops argent. And for crest on a wreath of the colours on a
Mount Vert a lion passant erminois, the dexter paw resting on
an escocheon azure charged with a fleur-de-lis or." In this
grant one rather unusual condition must be noticed. Instead of
being granted to one assigned living person and his heirs male,
it is practically antedated and granted to Edward's grandfather,
Richard Venn, who died in 1739; for his living descendants
who then bore the name are expressly mentioned. That is,
besides " the memorialist " Edward, " Henry Venn, John Venn,
Catherine Venn, Jane Venn, and Caroline Venn, children of the
memorialist's cousin german John Venn," are entitled to bear
the arms " with due and proper differences according to the laws
of Arms." This included every living descendant of Richard
Venn except the issue of his married daughter Mrs. Gambier, and
Emelia, omitted by mistake.
ARMS OF FENN, FROM GUILLIM.
ARMS GRANTED TO DESCENDANTS
OF RICHARD VENN, 1814.
°.ic
0 •SIS
•s 11 * H*°
•^- £ '3s1*4 «« M •
PL,
So '- N- ' § " £
B *3 d ** * «3 "° ^
0\
»— i
CJ tx "S ;. ^ -EL 2 d
h- «
to-** <~ 3 3 0 -s-
M
S S ° ^ 53^^
"JH
fa 1 rf°
D
d ^
.S
S H
|2
?1 11.
>
H
S ^
*° _i< *** « 3
•*»
S >-
ja *°
^ tf 3*0
1-4
y
^J
o
Is
Q
•S "°
~1
II
"§u
o
^ .^ SKj
ON II —
Sffl
fj -§2
1
"S'g
S8
-3*3
ON .S
ii —
•
'»'§
d, ; 1
o "a
if — — I
3*
"** d
— 1 g
• o
^d
*O -d' C«J
^ «o
03
<u . II •- ' ' ' ^
S ti
Z -o
C/)
fa o
«T S
-^ «nT "« S S
3 M
% > rt
S W) "^
13
"2 jj
O ^ M •• S!
a .s ~^ .s ^
"~l|
O .S "2 « £ rt -S,
^^ C^ ^Vj CO ^— < p
-i "o ^o ^
/" •l^i'S w'^ ffi
*" ^ ^>^ J
""^ "co P^ -^ bB co
W
d"
•
O S S « «Tf3
^ *Jll I-
C ^'^ ^ "S> «
o en "^ ^ ""*
-_1 ^ h-H n3
Eleanor . . ., buried in St.
Bartholomew's Priory.
ville, Lord Abergavenny,
d at Tewkesbury.
John Fenne =
1
Thomas Fenne = . . . Seym;
of Suffolk. 1
1
, of Kensington, " Ancient =
Servant to Qu. Eliz. and
3 I," b. 1542, d. 1619.
"r< "^
II— —
£J
III
0
d
o
i/5
||
IIs"'
In
fa
"^ 2
II
•S'S
1
^2
-a
d
d" «
-2
K^
d W
.
<; ^
*O "^ N
J
— ^ 1
•a*
|"f
II —
«"•£ ?
IA?
2 £-5
~~ c3
-ii*
r jS *« w ^ 5 2» «3
to ta ^ 'S ^L
t! 60 H C
3 »- S
^r « es CA
g s s ^
UJ ^ --5
bo S "°
1 T. i-r ?< :^ - 1
£0,fe
-III!
I .I'll
*« &
s . ^ .J
1
I
ll
-
s-s
4s
§ "
00
If7
-o
tf5T
•2 M o
P<^t5
1
o £•
1 <*
j*
3**
•
o •*
-2 J2
3^1
•g ?<o.
S «
"S^*
.U.l
(U
OH
I
U^
w
o
Q
H
w
o
fe
-g_
0- <^
*
e
-
01
ft!
C ' — ' r.
"g ^O g
& |CU 1
' a I §
g en
^H HH
gui
O w = u g
^ § CU' d,
BISHOP FAMILY
217
II. BISHOP FAMILY OF LINCOLN
The Bishops were for several generations an important com-
mercial family in Lincoln, two or three of them successively
holding the office of Mayor of that city. As in so many cases
where younger sons entered into business in London or other
large towns, the family seems to have originated from good local
stock in the county. My great-grandfather, who married Eling
Bishop and left a brief memorial notice of her for his children,
ARMS OF BISHOP OF HEMSWELL
Argent, on a bend cotised gules, 3 plates : a crescent for difference (Vis. 1592).
states that they belonged to the same stock as the (now extinct)
baronet family of Sussex. Henry Venn himself did not care for
such considerations, and showed no interest whatever in questions
of genealogy ; and considering how remote Lincoln is from Sussex,
I supposed at first that he was probably mistaken. But I now
think that there is no doubt that they really did belong to the
"Bishops of Hemswell," who appear in the Visitations of the
County of Lincoln in 1592 and 1634. In the latter of these
visitations it is expressly stated that the Bishops of Hemswell were
a junior branch of those of Sussex. Thomas Bishop, Eling's
father, was buried at St. Mary-le-Tower, Ipswich, of which church
he was for several years the incumbent. The Hemswell family
arms, " Argent, on a bend cotised gules, three plates j a crescent
for difference," are displayed on his monument there. The exact
place of Thomas, the first known of those who settled in the city
of Lincoln, in the Hemswell pedigree, is not quite certain ; but
it is probable that he was the fourth son of Richard.
Of the three following pedigrees, the first two are taken
BISHOP PEDIGREE I.
Visitation of Lines. , 1592.
Thomas Bishop =. . .
of Hems well, gent.
Robert,
of Sturton,
Lines.
Richard = Agnes, da. of
of Hemswell. John Johnson,
Of Kettleby.
John,
of Hemswell.
lard, = Elizabeth, da. of
1 1 !
Nicholas, John. R
1 1
obert. Richa
Attorney in Rich. Skendleby, == Dorothy, widow
the K.B. of Stow. of Austin Gabitus
(in business in
Lincoln).
Richard,
only child as
yet, 1592.
Thomas Christopher. Roger,
(mercer in Lincoln,
-v. Fed. III.)
BISHOP PEDIGREE II.
Visitation of 1 634.
Thomas Bishop, descended from the family = Mary, da. of . . . Johnson,
of Bishop in Sussex j 2nd brother unto
Sir Thomas Bishop's grandfather.
Richard Bishop = Elizabeth, da. of .
of Hemswell.
Bridgett, da. of=:
Augustine
Earle, of
Stragglethorpe.
I
Richard,
of Hemswell.
1 1
= Elizabeth, da. of Nicholas. John. Tho
Thomas Skendleby,
of Stow, Lines.
Thomas, =
of Hemswell.
1
Ellen, da. of Sir Johnr
Thomas Darnell,
of Stickford, Knt.
1
Charles,
about 3 years old.
1 .
Francis. Jo
1
in. 3rd son.
(As will be seen, there are some discrepancies between these two accounts.
J' vO 01 C
rv?
A f* • »*
-
w
w
rt
o
3
£
P-I
PH
O
a
CO
PQ
.a
-ss
o "
^"o
— « ^
— £?
I
8^
TO
-II-
O -D ^ H<
•5 N o\ 6
— 13 ^^§
S jj -o' -a'
— .S
-
•§.
-Q *0
^00 fc
J" HH t^. t-«
j^ C^o
H Ja' ^ W
II
.2 >
S£
I
I
3"
1
pile
£20 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
from the Visitations^of 1592 and 1634 ; the third I have compiled
from parish registers, wills, etc.
The earliest of the family in the city of Lincoln who can, so
far, be certainly identified is Thomas, whom I suppose to be the
fourth son of Richard Bishop and Agnes Johnson, of Pedigree I.
He belonged to the parish of St. Peter at Arches, where he
married, June 12, 1598, Elinor, daughter of Thomas Langworth.
He was doubtless by trade, like his successors, a mercer, and the
same as the Thomas Bishop who was Sheriff of the city in 1614.
He had nine children, whose baptisms are recorded in St. Peter's
register. Of these Thomas went to St. John's, Cambridge, where
he graduated B.A. in 1631. He was in Holy Orders, and died
young and unmarried, his will being proved at Lincoln in 1636.
His eldest son William succeeded him in his business, and was
a man of some note in the city. He was Sheriff in 1631, and
Mayor in 1639. During the Civil War he was on the side of
the King, and was forced to compound for his estate. His case
is thus described in the Royalist Composition Papers. "William
Bishop, mercer, City of Lincoln. His delinquency that he was
in arms against the Parliament, and that he did help the Earl
of Newcastle to defend the city against the Parliament." He
admits that he " did unfortunately, to save his estate, join with
the said forces in defence of the city." He owned property in
Lincoln, and sixty-three acres of land, with cottages, in Brant-
broughton ; all his other personal estate being " taken from him
by the rage and fury of these unhappy times." He took the
National Covenant before the Committee, April n, 1646 ; being
fined ^34. In a petition which he addressed to the King after
the Restoration he asserts that he "did, in the years 1642 and
1643, aid and defend his Blessed Majesty to the utmost of his
power," and prays that he may be restored to the post of
Alderman, from which he had been expelled by the Corpora-
tion. What was the result of the petition is not stated, nor
have I succeeded in rinding his will, or the record of his burial.
He had a son, Thomas, and four daughters, Sarah, Mary,
Elizabeth and Hannah. Thomas was a mercer, and Alderman of
the city. He was born in the month of May 1630. He was
married three times. By his first wife, or her successor, he had a
son William, born in 1664. In or about 1678 he married Martha,
daughter of Maccabeus Hollis of Hull.1 By her he had a son
1 Maccabeus Hollis was an Alderman and merchant of Hull, where he was baptized
(at Trinity Church), March 21, 1603-4. His father's name was Robert. He married,
August n, 1633, at Thornton by Pickering, Mary, daughter of Robert Hunter, Esq.
He held the office of Chamberlain of Hull in 1639. Politically, he was on the
Parliamentary side. He was one of the Committee of Defence in 1643, and in
command of troops in the garrison after the seizure of Sir John Hotham. In Tickell's
History of Hull there is an account of his examination and evidence in the matter of the
arrest and supercession of Hotham. In 1650 he received £2000, by warrants of the
THOMAS BISHOP, D.D.
P. 220.
BISHOP FAMILY 221
Thomas, and a daughter Mary. He died March 26, 1682 j and
is described in the burial register of St. Mark's as " alderman, and
one of the King's Majesties justices of peace, and by trade a
mercer." His will was proved at Lincoln.
Thomas Bishop was born in the parish of St. Mark's, where
he was baptized August 19, 1681. He was admitted at Trinity
College, Cambridge, in 1696, whence, after three years' residence,
he migrated to Sidney. He graduated B.A. 1700-1; M.A.
1704; and D.D. in 1725. His Act for this last degree is said
to have attracted considerable attention. The occasion was
otherwise distinguished by the fact that no less than seven
Doctors in Divinity were created at the same time. Dr.
Bentley, the famous master of Trinity, who presided on this
occasion, as Regius Professor of Divinity, published his own
speech as a preface to his edition of Terence. Mr. Bishop was
ordained priest by the Bishop of Norwich, September 22, 1706.
His title was apparently the Rectory of Greeting All Saints,
Suffolk, to which he had been presented by Orlando Bridgman.
He soon added other preferments, becoming minister of St.
Mary -le- Tower, Ipswich, in 1707 ; Rector of Greeting St.
Olaves in 1711 ; and Rector of Gosbeck, Suffolk, in 1720. He
held these till his death.
He was an able and learned man, and his reputation as a
preacher was shown by his appointment, in 1724 and 1725, to
deliver the lectures founded by Lady Moyer at St. Paul's
Cathedral. He was also distinguished by his remarkable memory.
It is recorded of him (Gent. Mag. 1797, ii. 618) that once
having walked from Temple Bar to St. Paul's he was able to
recall and describe all the signs in order, which then hung over
almost every shop (this notice is doubtless by his grandson, John
Venn). He was fond of company, but so lavish and profuse in
his expenditure that the family were left in decided poverty
after his death. He married Elizabeth, daughter of John Fowle,1
Rector of Greeting St. Peter, by whom he had twelve children.
He died June 29, 1737, and was buried in the church of St.
Mary-le-Tower, where there is a monument to the memory of
his wife and himself. His will was proved at Norwich. There
is a miniature likeness of him, in clerical costume, in my pos-
session.
Council of State, for the fortifications of the town. His will was proved (P.C.C.) in
1652. His eldest son, Robert, became Recorder of Hull. As to the Hunters of
Pickering, their pedigree is given in the Yorkshire Visitations of 1612 and 1664.
1 John Fowle, M.A., Rector of Greeting St. Peter, Suffolk, 1672-1724. He was of
Caius College. He married, as his second wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Nathaniel Keble,
gent., of Creeting All Saints, by whom he had one daughter, Elizabeth. He died in
1724. His father, Thomas, was Rector of Monewden, and died in 1663. He was
probably somewhat of a Puritan, as he was instituted by the Parliament in 1647, and
did not receive Episcopal ordination until after the Restoration, August 20, 1662.
,222 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
Of his large family, six died in infancy, and some others young
or unmarried. The following may be mentioned : —
1. Thomas, in Holy Orders, M.A. of Magdalene College,
Cambridge. He succeeded his father at St. Mary-le-Tower in
1737, having been elected minister by the parishioners. He also
held the rectory of Trimley. He married a Miss Carew. He
died in Ipswich, and was buried, January 5, 1778, at St. Mary-le-
Tower. He left one daughter, Elizabeth, who married the Rev.
Samuel King, Head-Master of Ipswich Grammar School, and
rector of Witnesham. They had a family of eight children.
2. Mary, married Mr. Brasier, who was in business near
Ipswich. The last male issue of this marriage was the late John
Henry Brasier, barrister, of Lincoln's Inn, who died in 1894.
3. Eling, who married Henry Venn, and of whom an account
has already been given.
JOHN VENN, REGICIDE 223
III. JOHN VENN, THE REGICIDE
John Venn was second son of Simon Venn, of Lydeard St.
Lawrence, Somerset, where he was baptised, April 8, 1586. He
sprang from an old yeoman stock which may be traced back, in
that parish or the adjacent one of Bishop's Lydeard, to about the
beginning of the fourteenth century. He was apprenticed in
the Merchant Taylor's Company, June 8, 1602, and admitted to
the freedom of the Company, August 27, 1610. He served as
warden of his company in 1640-41, but was excused the mastership
in 1648, being then in Parliament. He belonged to the
Honourable Artillery Company, becoming "captain serjeant-
major" in 1636, whence his early title of Captain Venn. He
seems always to have been a substantial citizen of London, in spite
of the Royalist statements to the contrary. He was one of the
original members of the Massachusetts Bay Company, enumerated
in the Royal Charter of March 4, 1628-29 ; attended their meetings
regularly whilst these were held in England, and is mentioned as
a stock-holder in 1644 (Records of Massachusetts^ vol. i. Boston,
1853). According to Hutchinson, in his History of that colony,
Venn had at one time intended going to America. His main
business in London was that of the silk and wool trade with the
west of England and with Ireland. He was one of the merchants
who made a petition of complaint that their visits to the fairs of
Exeter and Bristol were forbidden by the local magistrates from
fear of the plague (Cal. of State Papers, May I, 1637). He wasa
member of the Long Parliament, having been elected for the city
of London in 1 640, and began at once to take a prominent part on
the side of the Parliament. He was accused, on December 2,
1641, of fomenting the gathering of armed citizens in the
neighbourhood of the House of Commons, by saying in a shop in
Cheapside, " You must go to the Parliament with your swords,
for that party which is best for the Commonwealth is like to be
over-voted." His defence is given in a brief pamphlet entitled " A
speech made by Captain Venn to the apprentices of London who
rose in Cheapside, upon the Combustion at Westminster . . .
December 29, 1641." He was one of six members who, together
with those charged with treason, were excepted from the King's
pardon on June 17, 1642. He shortly after appears as Colonel of
Foot in the Parliamentary Army, and took part in the fight by
Worcester on September 23, 1642. In an account in a letter in
the State Papers he is said to have been in command of a party of
horse there, employed in guarding the passages of the Severn. He
was sent on October 28, 1642, to take possession of Windsor
Castle, where he remained as governor till June 1645. In this
,224 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
capacity he showed himself harsh and fanatical. He plundered the
chapel of St. George, destroyed the furniture and decorations of
the choir, and expelled the canons.
" Now as the members do lord it at Westminster so did Master
Venn in his castle at Windsor, where, if you chance to die, there
is no Christian burial. For Colonel Shelley (who, for his loyalty
to his Majesty in the business of Chichester, had been prisoner
there by a twelve-month) desired Venn to allow Christian burial
to a gentleman that died there, to whom Venn returned this very
answer here inserted from the original under Venn's own hand.
" Sir, you know I am not willing to deny you anything
reasonable ; but what you mean by Christian burial I understand
not. Sure I am it is Christian burial to have Christians to
accompany the corpse to the earth, and not to have prayers
said over the dead. I am sure this is Papistical burial ; and to
have this done I denied it to a captain's wife lately buried, and to
all of our side ; yea, and in the town also, for it is against the
covenant we have taken, and therefore I must crave excuse. Only
this I shall afford you, that I do afford to ourselves. You shall have
your request in this, that some of your officers shall carry him to
the grave, if ye do it in the day-time. — John Venn."
" Is not this a champion for the Protestant religion, who hath
the face to give it us under his hand that Christian burial according
to the doctrine of the Church of England is expressly against their
covenant ? But Mistress Venn affirms it, and we are bound to
believe her, who, good lady, professed to her husband c she could
not sleep or take any rest in any part of Windsor Castle but only
in the Queen's lodging ' " (Mercurius Aultcus^ December 17, 1643 »
quoted in Malcolm's Anecdotes of London^ vi. 141).
In his military capacity he was vigorous and successful. Whilst
in command at Windsor he repelled, November 7, 1642, a sharp
attack by Prince Rupert, who had succeeded for a time in obtain-
ing mastery of the town. " Colonel Venn behaved himself very
bravely, to the wonder and amazement of the beholders " (from "A
most famous victory obtained by that valiant religious gentleman,
Colonel Venn, against Prince Robert [sic]," 1642). Another con-
temporary account says, " Colonel Venn's dragooners have done
of late very good service. His name is grown so terrible to the
cavaliers that for fear of him they have taken up the bridge at
Staines " (" A true report of two merchants of London who were
taken prisoners by the cavaliers," 1642).
By the 3rd April 1646 John Venn was in command at North-
ampton, whence he was ordered to send recruits for the attack on
Woodstock. For these services he received the thanks of Parlia-
ment, April 26, 1646. For the next few years he resided in, or
near to, Hammersmith, but was constantly at Westminster, where
JOHN VENN, REGICIDE 225
he was often in attendance as a member of the Army Committee
of the House of Commons. A grant of ^4000 had been made
to him by Parliament, March 8, 1 647-48, principally for his outlay
and other expenses at Windsor. This he was to receive out of
the estates of papists and other delinquents discovered by him.
He was appointed " treasurer of petty emptions," August 14, 1649.
Venn was nominated a commissioner for the trial of the king.
He was present at all but two of the sittings of the commissioners,
and his name and seal are affixed to the death-warrant. As regards
his religious opinions, he was at one time much under the influence
of the well-known preacher, Christopher Love, who had been a
chaplain in his regiment, and lived in his house at Windsor. He
used to attend Love's preaching at St. Anne's, Aldersgate, and
when he was no longer able to attend had his sermons taken
down and sent to him. He died on the 28th of June 1650. Bate
says that he was found dead in his bed in the morning, an account
which is confirmed by his daughter's Diary^ who speaks of the
suddenness of his death, and which probably gave rise to the
Royalist report that he committed suicide. It was referred to
the Committee of the Army, July 3, 1650, "to consider of some
recompense to be given for the faithful service of John Venn."
His will was proved in London, July I, 1650. Besides a small
family estate at Lydeard, he left lands in several parts of England.
He was attainted after the Restoration, August 29, 1660, and it
is said that his estates were forfeited.
He married twice : first, Mary, daughter of a city merchant
named Neville ; she was buried at All Hallows, August I, 1625 >
secondly, Margaret, daughter of John Langley of Colchester, and
widow of John Scarborrow, and previously of John Elliott. In
the license, dated February 13, 1625-26, Venn is described as a
silkman, of All Hallows, Bread Street.
His widow married, not long after his death, a " Mr. Wells,"
as we learn from a petition which she presented to the House of
Commons, in which she is described as " relict of Colonel John
Venn, and now wife of Mr. Wells, minister" (State Papers,
Dom., April 14, 1657. This, her fourth husband, was the well-
known Puritan minister, Thomas Weld or Wells, who had retired
to New England during the Laudian period, but afterwards
returned, and was active in London for several years during the
Commonwealth. There is evidence of his intimacy with the
family of John Venn in the fact that he edited, or at least wrote
an introduction to, the Diary of his daughter Anne. This diary
was published in 1658, under the title, "A Wise Virgin's Lamp
burning, or God's sweet incomes of love to a gracious soul waiting
for him. Being the Experiences of Mrs. Anne Venn, Daughter
to Colonel John Venn, and Member of the Church of Christ at
'226 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
Fulham, written fyy her own hand, and found in her closet after
her death." She was about twenty-seven at the time of her death.
The Diary is of the usual Puritan kind, and mainly occupied
with her religious experiences, the family references being few.
There is much in it about the ministers who had most influenced
her, especially Christopher Love and Isaac Knight.
This Anne Venn died about the end of 1654. Her will
was proved in the P.C.C. It mentions the names of many rela-
tives, mostly on her mother's side, as well as those of several of
her favourite ministers, amongst these the well-known Sidrach
Simpson. The only relatives mentioned on her father's side are
her brother Thomas and his son Thomas, which confirms the
conclusion that her other brothers and sisters were then dead.
Colonel Venn's name was, of course, execrated by every
Royalist writer. The account of him in Noble's Lives of the
Regicides seems merely an expression of this hatred ; and that in
the Universal Magazine of December 1751 is even more bitter.
A somewhat more moderate account is in a scarce volume at the
British Museum, entitled "The Lives, Actions, and Execution
of the Prime Actors and principall contrivers of that horrid
murder of our late pious and sacred Soveraigne, King Charles the
first of ever blessed memory ; with several remarkable passages in
the lives of others their assistants, who died before they could be
brought to Justice. By George Bate, an observer of these trans-
actions" (London, 1661). The following is what he says
of Venn :—
Colonel John Venn was a citizen of London likewise, and, as I
have heard, a decaying Tradesman. He was taken notice of for his
more than ordinary forwardnesse against the King's Interest. When
the wars increased his factious principles increased too, by reason
whereof he was made Governor of Windsor, where he had an oppor-
tunity to increase his Estate, not only by the plunder of the Country
thereabouts, but by getting into his possession much of the King's
Household Stuff, Hangings, Linen, etc. He was a chief Consultator
with the wicked Counsel of the Army at Westminster, and gave his
vote among them to murther the King. Mr. Christopher Love, after-
wards martyr'd, Chaplaine to his Regiment, who instructed him in
better principles than he afterwards profest, and about the year 1645
or 1646 this Colonel Venn took a house in Aldersgate Street, London,
for the only reason that he might be near unto Mr. Love, who then
preached at St. Anne's Church, Aldersgate, not far from Venn's Lodging ;
and about 1647 this professed religious Colonel, being to remove from
thence to a place called Brumley, near Kensington, by reason of which
distance he could not enjoy, as he pretended, the benefit of Mr. Love's
Soul-searching preaching. Whereupon he hired the Author of this
small treatise to be a constant Hearer of Mr. Love, and to take his
sermon in Short-writing, who made it his business all the week
JOHN VENN, REGICIDE 227
following to transcribe them again into a legible hand, whereby what
Mr. Love preached one Sunday at St. Anne's was the next Sunday
repreached to Colonel Venn in his own family. And yet this wretched
man acts contrary even to these principles ; in the year 1648 he forsook
both Mr. Love and his religion too, and sides with the then prevailing
factious party, and is nominated one of the judges of the King, whom
by this time they had contrived to put to death to the great affliction
and more than ordinary trouble of Mr. Love. Finally, he was one of
the Judges of the King, and most impudently sat amongst them ; he
signed likewise to that blacke Authority that caused that unheard of
Execution. And lastly, he proved a great enemy to Mr. Love, whom
formerly he so earnestly thirsted after, and would not appear to help
him either in his Imprisonment, Confinement, or Death. But at last
he himself was not much regarded. The Judgments of God followed
him in a troubled conscience ; and at last, going to bed with his wife
very well, he was found dead by her in the morning ; no persons that
were with him that night, nor his wife that lay by him, being in the
least sensible of his approaching end.
John Venn had eight children by his two wives. Most of
these died in infancy, and his daughter Anne, as we have seen,
died before she was thirty. In fact, from the evidence of his
will, and of the parish registers, it seems that only one son,
Thomas, reached maturity.
This Thomas was a son by John Venn's first wife and was
baptised at All Hallows, Bread Street, December 21, 1624.
In 1672 he published the work by which he is known, a
folio of 206 pages, entitled Military Observations or Tacticks put
into Practice for the Exercise of Horse and Foot, being the first
of three parts or books in a volume of Military and Maritime
Discipline^ the two other parts dealing with Fortification and
Gunnery. From the various prefaces to this treatise we learn
several facts about his previous life. He speaks throughout as a
strong royalist : " my sacred King," " his late Majesty of ever
blessed memory," "to defend his Majestie's person, with all his
rights and prerogatives, that such as our late intestine ruins may
be for ever hereafter prevented." These are strong words on
the part of the son of a regicide, and coupled with the state-
ment (p. 1 8 6) "it was in the years 1641 and 1642 that I
minded any of these military actions " (i.e. the duties of an ensign)
there seems no doubt that he must have fought on the opposite
side to his father. He expressly states that he served under Sir
Hugh Wyndham, and in the " Epistle to all my fellow-officers "
he says, " It is well known to most of you that I was a Com-
mander of Horse myself." The Epistle to the Honourable Ralph
Stawell, Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Somerset, tells us
that he was then a captain in the foot regiment under that
commander, that is, he was in 1672 a captain in the Somerset
228 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
Militia. One of. these dedications is to the members of the
London Artillery Company, to which he distinctly says he then
did not belong, though he had received his instruction originally
"from some who were leaders in your ground." (Can this refer
to his father ?) It was perhaps in return for this dedication that
he was admitted as captain in that corps, May 26, 1674.
It seems plain, therefore, that the regicide's family presents
one of those not very uncommon cases in which a household was
divided against itself, and that father and son must probably have
fought on opposite sides. There is one reference in his sister's
Diary which I think must apply to him, as he was then, in 1654,
her only near male relative. It is a petition proposed for a fast
day, — " One desires your earnest prayers, and to spread the sad
condition of one in near relation to her that conceiveth himself
in a happy condition, when there are grounds enough to fear
the contrary."
It seems probable that after the war was over he retired to the
family home at Lydeard. At any rate he was living there from
1 654 onwards, as the baptism of several of his children is recorded
in the register, as also the burial of his wife in 1673. -^n ^83
he was appointed controller of the Port of Bridgewater, and in
1684 held the office of mayor of that town. In this capacity he
showed his zeal in the cause of the King by seizing from the
mail-bags, and forwarding to London, some proclamations * which
had been sent out by the Protestant party.
Like his father before him, he recorded his pedigree at the
Heralds' College, in 1672. At this period it seems that he had
one son John, and four daughters living. He married a Somerset
lady some time before 1654, namely Avis, daughter of William
Catford, of Boomer, in the parish of North Petherton. I have
not succeeded in discovering his will, or ascertaining when or
where he died. The burial of his wife is recorded on one of the
tombstones at Lydeard, but there is no reference there to him.
There is the baptism recorded, in the Lydeard register, of John,
son of John, on December 2, 1679; the latter of these may
perhaps be his son, but I could find no later entries about him.
Nor can I find any evidence of the present existence of male issue
of this Lydeard family.
1 A few weeks after the accession of James II., viz. in February 1684-85, a number
of proclamations were sent out, mostly to influential persons in the towns of the West
of England, denouncing the King's supposed Papistical tendencies, and suggesting that
sound Protestants should be selected for Parliament, etc. Some of these proclamations
are given in the Life and Works of Kettlewell, i. 36. Their significance at Bridgewater
is evident when we remember the large support obtained in this district by Monmouth
a few months later.
His appointments at Bridgewater were, I suspect, marks of Royal favour. An
examination of the parish register, over many years, shows no trace of his having been
a resident there. North Petherton, the home of his wife's family, is close to that town.
JOHN VENN, REGICIDE 229
Besides the regicide and his son, another member of this
Lydeard family rose to some distinction. This was John Venn,
son of the regicide's first cousin Simon. He was a Fellow of
Balliol, Oxford, Master of the College 1678 to 1687, and Vice-
Chancellor of the University in 1686. He married Catherine,
"sister to Sir E. Lowe, one of the Masters in Chancery, daughter
of the son of Lowe of Fisherton, Wilts, by his wife sister to Sir
E. Hyde, Earl of Clarendon and Lord Chancellor" (MS. F. 4,
69, Ashmol. Mus.). According to the historian of Balliol
College he does not seem to have in any way distinguished him-
self as master. He owned estates in Pyleigh and elsewhere, and
was buried in Lydeard Laurence. The arms he claimed (as
described already, p. 211), impaling those of Lowe, are still to be
recognised on his tombstone.
I append the signature of John Venn, as given on the Death
Warrant —
cu 3 °°
.^h..* u->
£ g s
o
o
HT
.-^ o
SE
^P c
"18
lit
si
-|S |g
I? III
h ^ W .£ -o'
BN
£
j$ -0
-^"2
a-
_CJ _
O, -T
o .
1 §
— o P
s
cT °
-1«
GAY FAMILY 231
IV. GAY FAMILY
The Gays of Goldworthy and Frithelstock belonged to a
Devonshire family of some antiquity, which duly appears in the
Visitation of that county in 1620, but is believed to be now
extinct in the male line. The following pedigree is partly
constructed from the above Visitation, but has been continued in
both directions by the industry of Mr. W. P. Hiern, F.R.S., of
Barnstaple, whose grandfather married into the family. I give
his results (see Pedigree) in an abbreviated form.
Or, a fess sable charged with five fusils argent, between three escallops azure.
Only one member of the family attained any general reputa-
tion. This was the poet, John Gay, who seems to have been a
great-grandson of Anthony of Frithelstock, brother of Matthew,
the Rector of Bratton Fleming.
Dennis Venn married a daughter of John Gay of East
Anthony, who was a son of Matthew Gay. This Matthew was
presumably born at Frithelstock, as his father John is described
as being "of Frithelstock," and was buried there November 21,
1625. He was probably born about 1581 or 1582. He was a
graduate of Cambridge, according to the statement of his
successor at Bratton, communicated to Mr. Walker, but his
name is not recorded in the Cambridge lists. He was presented
by his father a few weeks before the death of the latter, to the
Rectory of Bratton Fleming, near Barnstaple, being instituted
September 17, 1625. As the early registers of this parish are
lost, we have no contemporary reference to him until the days
of the Commonwealth. Like most of those whose names occur
in these family memoirs, of whose principles and practice
anything is known in those times, Matthew Gay was a
'2 3 2 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
Royalist and Church of England man. Walker gives an
account of his troubles, but, as before, I prefer to quote the
original account given by his informant. Mr. J. Wauchope,
Rector of Bratton, in a letter dated April 13, 1704, says, "A
worthy man, and for morals commendable and unblameable.
In the beginning of the Rebellion he was so persecuted by the
soldiers of the rebellious party, that, to escape being cast into
prison, he fled into Wales, and lay hid where he could be secure
and safe, being in a widow's, and was strubbed of all his house-
hold goods by the soldiers and their assistants, a fickle mob. . . .
He lived in the town of South Molton, having bought a house
there, where he lived several years, but preached only once, and
not troubled for it. As for his family it consisted only of
servants, all his children being dead, and none of the descendants
now living that can give any notices ; his circumstances being
indifferent. He married after he came to South Molton."
The statement that all his children died before him is not
correct. In his will, dated 1655 and proved in February 1658-59,
he mentions at least one daughter. It appears that he was twice
married, the lady's name in each case being Thomasine ; the
second wife survived him.
His eldest son, John, was born about 1616, and was admitted
a scholar at Winchester in 1629. HC entered Exeter College,
Oxford, September 9, 1634, where he resided about a year, but
did not graduate. He was ordained by the Bishop of Oxford in
1644 — as we learn from one of the Visitations of the Exeter
Diocese — and some time during the Interregnum was appointed
to the vicarage of East Anthony, near Plymouth. Here he
remained undisturbed until his death in or about 1675. The
early registers of this parish are lost, and I have not succeeded
in finding his will or administration. As far as we know, he left
only one daughter, Patience, who some years after her father's
death was living at Holbeton, where her name occurs in the
churchwardens' book as subscribing to the relief of the Irish
Protestants in 1685. She married Dennis Venn, as his second
wife, January 6, 1689-90.
GAY PEDIGREE (OUTLINE)
John Gay, of Goldsworthy = Alice.
John, of Goldsworthy, = Agnes, da. of John Gambon
living 1420. I or Gomonde, of Marston.
William, of Goldsworthy = Alice, da. of Wm. Fleere, of Dunsland.
John
= Alice, da. of John
Mylleton, widow of
0. Worth j ob. 3. p.
Anthony =
-
= Joan. Inett. Richard,
bur. at Barn-
staple.
J^
Andrew. Thos. Eliz
(•*•>
Thomas, of Goldsworthy, = Alice, da. of Anthony
living 1566. I Pollard, of Horwood.
Joan.
John, of Frithelstock, = Margaret, da. of Edward
William.
bap. at Parkham, July 16, 1548 j
bur. Frithelstock, Nov. 21, 1625 ;
Will at Exeter.
John Welsh of
Barnstaple j
married, Oct. 1574.
13 other
sons and das.
Anthony,
bap. at Parkham,
Jan. 8, 1577 ; Mayor
of Barnstaple, 1638.
= Elizth., da. of Ri.
Beaple of Barn-
staple ; b. 15875
d. 1664.
Matthew, R. of Bratton Fleming,
bap. at Monkleigh, Mar. 24,
1583-84; d. at S. Molton,
1658-59 j =(i) Thomasine,
(2) Thomasine. Will, P.C.C.
I I
Priscilla
(=John Cuttin).
Margaret
( = Henry Davy).
I
John,
b. 1613 j d.
1678 j of
Frithelstock.
Joan, da. of John
Smith of
Torrington.
10 other
sons and das.
John, Vicar of =
E. Anthony ;
b. 1616 ; d. 1675.
John of Frithelstock,
B.A. of Ex. Coll. Oxford
( = Tryphcena, da. of Jas.
Huish, of Sidbury) ;
b. 1641 j bur. at Frithelstock,
Jan. 25, 1716.
William,
of Barnstaple,
= Katherine, da.
of Jonathan Hanmer.
7 other
sons and das.
5 other
sons and das.
Patience = Dennis Venn,
V. of Holbeton.
Jonathan,
1679-1709,
Capt. in the
Army.
I I I
3 das.
John, the Poet,
bap. Barnstaple, Sept. 16, 1685 j
d. Dec. 4, 1732 j bur. in
Westminster Abbey.
Deborah,
1675-91.
John,
1678-1720.
James,
1680-1743.
Richard, 1682-1755
(R. of St. Leon. Exeter).
Elizabeth. Joan. Tryphcena.
234
VENN FAMILY ANNALS
V.' ASHTON OF PENKETH
The Ashtons of Penketh were a family of Lancashire gentry
who, after flourishing for many generations, disappeared, so far
as the male line is concerned, not long after the Revolution.
Their decay, I think, was mainly due to their loyalty.
Penketh itself was a hamlet in the district or chapelry of
Farnworth, near Warrington. Like many other places in
Lancashire, the original parish in which it was situated was of
ARMS OF ASHTON OF PENKETH
Argent, a chevron between 3 mascles gules (Vis. of 1567). They quartered those of
Penketh of Penketh, viz. 3 kingfishers proper, plumed about the neck azure.
vast extent ; the mother church of Farnworth, as of Liverpool
itself, being Prescott. Penketh, in old days, must have been a
somewhat remote place, near the shores of the Mersey ; but the
neighbourhood of Warrington on the one side, and, still worse,
of Widnes on the other side, have reduced the natural features
of the district almost to the condition of the Black Country.
The Ashtons of Penketh are included in the Lancashire
Visitations of 1567 and 1613, when the following arms were
allowed to them: "Quarterly; 1st and 4th, argent, a chevron
between three mascles gules (Ashton) ; 2nd and 3rd, argent,
three popinjays1 proper, plumed about the neck azure" (Penketh).
These arms are very different from those of the other armigerous
families of the name of Ashton, of which there were several in
the county of Lancashire. As will be seen by the pedigree, the
Penketh quarterings came in at an early date, and represent the
long since extinct family of that name and place. In the Visita-
tion of the County by Dugdale in 1664-65 there is no mention
of the Ashtons of Penketh : they had apparently lost much of
their property, and soon afterwards disappeared from the place.
1 Corrected to "kingfishers" in the original Vis. of 1567.
p. 234.
JOHN ASHTON.
From the Engraving after J. Riley's portrait.
ASHTON OF PENKETH
235
The family troubles began during the Civil Wars, when
every member espoused the Royalist cause. The then eldest
son of the family, John Ashton, son of the Thomas who was
buried at Farn worth in July 1645, was a captain in the Royal
army. He was killed in the attack on Bolton, February 16,
1642-43. He is described in a contemporary narrative (Chetham
Soc. ii. 83) as "Captain Ashton of Penketh, eldest son of his
father."
His next brother, Thomas, who inherited the property on the
death of his father in July 1645, suffered heavily in fines for his
loyalty. Like his brother, he seems to have served in the King's
army. The following is the account in the Royalist Composition
Papers (published in Record Soc. of Lancashire and Cheshire^ vol.
xxiv.) : "Delinquency : in arms against the Parliament. He laid
down his arms and submitted himself unto Sir John Meldrum,
Knight, ... in November, 1 644. Took the National Covenant
in the county; and subsequently took it before Benjamin Spencer,
minister at Bow, April 10 last, and the Negative Oath, May 7,
1646. Seized to him and his heirs in possession of the manor of
Penketh, and of divers lands and tenements to the same belonging,
and of a wind mill and water mill there, being of the yearly value
of ^28 : 10 : O ; also of an estate in old rents, parcel of the said
manor, worth ^9 : 15 : 8. Also, in right of his wife, of certain
lands, etc., in Newtown, Cheshire, worth ^27 a year. Also, from
the death of his mother, Mrs. Katherine Ashton, of other lands in
Penketh, worth j£6o a year ; also of other lands in Penketh and
Great Sankey, coming to him at the expiration of eight and a half
years, held for that period free by one Mrs. Elizabeth Fitzwilliams,
worth £50 a year.
" He claimed a deduction of ^30 per annum, being £10 each to
his younger brothers Andrew and William, and to his sister,
Christian ; also a further charge of ^600 made by his father, viz.
/2OO each to his three other daughters, Katherine, Elizabeth, and
Margaret. Fine ^192 : 8 : 4.
" Certificate signed by Benjamin Spencer, declaring that peti-
tioner was at the time residing at the house of Mr. Peter
War barton, in the town of Bromley, parish of Bow, Middlesex,
and voluntarily took the National Covenant.
" Particular of his estate. As for his personal estate he hath
nothing but the clothes to his back."
In the House of Commons Journals, there is an entry October
2, 1648, "That this House doth accept the sum af £192 : 8 : 4,
for a fine for the delinquency of Thomas Ashton of Penketh,
gent., . . . and for taking ofF the sequestration of his estate."
He seems to have returned to his Lancashire home after the
Restoration, as from 1663 onwards, for some twenty years, there
' 236 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
are occasional references to the Ashton family in the parish register
of Farnworth. He was buried there, February 18, 1675-76, the
entry being, " Thomas Ashton, armiger, of Penketh."
He had several sons and daughters, as will be seen in the
pedigree ; the eldest of whom, Colonel John Ashton, died in 1707,
leaving a son, Strange, who died in 1756. I cannot find that there
is surviving male issue of any of these. It seems certain that the
family soon parted with the Penketh estates, and finally disappeared
from the neighbourhood.
The next and best known sufferer in the cause of the Stuarts
was John Ashton, the Jacobite, the associate, with Lord Preston
and Mr. Elliott, in the political plot of 1690, and the only one of
the conspirators who suffered death for his share in it. Con-
spicuous as he was at the moment, however, his fate is singular
in respect of the entire ignorance which seems to exist about him
on the part of the historians and the writers in biographical
dictionaries. He bursts into notoriety on the last day of
December 1690, at Gravesend, when Captain Billop catches the
ship in which the party had embarked, and he disappears as
suddenly at Tyburn less than a month afterwards ; leaving
apparently no trace behind, except a mass of ephemeral literature
consisting of pamphlets respectively denouncing the "Traitor"
and glorifying the " Martyr." In the State Trials he is merely
described as "John Ashton, gent., of Covent Garden"; whilst
Macaulay and most of the other historians call him simply "a
Lancashire gentleman."
He was, however, an Ashton of Penketh. This is decisively
shown in the Administration Act of his effects (P.C.C., September
2O, 1698) granted some years after his death to his father-in-law,
Edward Rigby, in which he is described as "Johannes Ashton,
nuper de Penkett, in Com. Lancastrian." (This, of course, refers to
his family origin, for he did not reside there, having been long
about the Court in London.) Moreover, there was a portrait
taken of him by Riley, the well-known Court painter of the day,
which was afterwards engraved. On this are given the name, as
also the arms of the Ashtons of Penketh, which, as already stated,
are very different from those of any other of the Lancashire
families of the name. A third piece of evidence, which serves to
assign him his place, with reasonable certainty, in the pedigree, is
afforded in the report of his trial. Reference is there made to his
" Aunt Dupee," who had some post about the Court, and used to
attend the service at St. James's Chapel. Now in the will ©f
William Ashton, brother of the Thomas who died in 1675
(Chester Registry, proved 1668), we find that one of his sisters
was named Dupuy.1 This makes it fairly certain that the
1 It is printed Dupny (Rec. Soc. of Lancashire and Cheshire), but I feel sure that this
ASHTON OF PENKETH 237
Jacobite sufferer was a son of Andrew Ashton of Liverpool, for
the only other known John of his generation was the Colonel
who died in 1707. Andrew's will was proved in 1679. He
desires to be buried at Farnworth, the family bury ing-place, and
mentions his son John. What adds force to this identification
is the fact that John Ashton seems to have had the privilege
conferred on him of appointment as an " out - burgess " of
Liverpool in 1685. "In the Charter of James II. to Liverpool
(April 1685) amongst the members of the Common Council
appointed by the charter appears John Ashton. . . . He is
described as 'of Penketh.' The position of his name in the
list indicates that he was a gentleman, and non-resident. The
name does not appear in a list of the Council in 1692." The
entry of admission is, " 1686, June 22. John Ashton of Penketh,
Esquire, took the oath of a Common Counsell-man " (Letter
from E. M. Hana, Esq., Sec. of the Hist. Soc. of Lancashire and
Cheshire}.
As to John Ashton himself, not much is known. He must
have been born in 1653 (a very awkward date, so far as parish
registers are concerned), as he is described as thirty-two in his
marriage license of 1685. Presumably he was born in Liverpool,
as his father seems to have resided there. The latter is several
times mentioned in the lists of burgesses l as " Captain Andrew
Ashton," so that he too, like his brothers, was probably in the
King's army. His name continues in the rolls until 1675. He
desired, as stated, to be buried at Farnworth, but I do not find
his name in the register.
John Ashton must have entered the service of the then Duke
of York at an early age, for in his trial he speaks of having served
him sixteen years. He does not appear to have had a regular
commission in the army, but as one of the contemporary pamphlets
describes him as, " commonly called Major Ashton," it seems likely
that he was one of those to whom the King granted a sort of
nominal army rank. His real office, however, was in the Royal
household, where he is doubtless the "John Ashton, clerk to the
Commissioners," in the Duke of York's household, in 1684; and
must be a misreading for the much more probable form Dupuy. Two or three generations
of gentlemen of this name held office at the Court : " Henry Dupuy, servant to the
Duke of York ; reversion to his sons James, Thomas, and Lawrence, of the custody of
the Pall Mall" (Cal. of State Pap., Dom., 1661-62). There are similar grants in 1672
and 1687, "with the usual fee or allowance of £100 p. ann., together with the use of
the house or lodge called the Mall House." A Dupuy is several times mentioned in
Bishop Cartwright's Diary in connection with John Ashton.
1 In the Liverpool Burgess roll of 1644 the name of Andrew Ashton appears, with
the prefix " Captain," and from its position on the list would seem to have been added
at the time the Royalist forces held the town. It continues in all the lists to 1675.
In the rolls of 1671 and 1675 the name of " Major Thomas Ashton " occurs, apparently
inserted in 1668. This is probably his brother Thomas, who had to compound for his
estates under the Commonwealth " (E. M. Hana).
' 238 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
"clerk to the Council"1 in 1687, as described in Chamberlain's
Notitia^ under the* heading "Officers of Her Majesty's Revenues."
But, as in the case of other secret agents and conspirators, his real
functions were latterly of a far more serious and important kind
than his nominal office would imply. In fact, the family account,
derived from his daughter, that he was "privy purse to James II.,"
was practically not far short of the truth, so far as his relations to
the Queen were concerned.
In 1685 he married Mary, daughter of Edward Rigby, mercer,
of Covent Garden, whose house soon became a noted meeting-
place for the Jacobites, and, as Bishop White Kennett says (Hist.
iii. 575), came to be called "The Royal Club." His marriage
license (Vicar-General's Office) is dated December 15, 1685.
The parties are described as "John Ashton, Esq., aged about
thirty-two, of St. Martin's in the Fields, and Mary Rigby, aged
about nineteen, daughter of Edward Rigby, mercer, of St. Augus-
tine." Of her father, one of the family of "Rigby of Layton
and Burgh," some account is given in the following section.
Like the Ashtons, these Rigbys remained consistent adherents of
the Royal cause as long as this could be maintained.
John Ashton had several children, whose names appear in the
register of St. Augustin, or rather in that of " St. Faith 2 under
St. Paul's." Probably the Ashtons lived with Mr. Rigby, whose
business was at first carried on in Paternoster Row. One son,
James, reached boyhood, and, according to Narcissus Luttrell
(Diary , November 8, 1692), was made a baronet by the ex-King
at Versailles, as a recognition of his father's devotion. One
daughter only grew up. This was Maria Ann Isabella Margaretta
Beatrix. This unusual combination of names was due to the fact
that the Queen, Mary Beatrix, stood godmother to her.3 This
must have been very shortly before the abdication.
John Ashton's zeal and activity in the cause of his fallen
master soon showed themselves after the flight of James. There
are many references to him in the diaries and pamphlets of the
time. For instance, in the Diary4 of Cartwright, Bishop of
1 Macaulay calls him " clerk of the closet to Queen Mary." His relations were
evidently with the Queen more than the King.
2 The Church of St. Faith originally stood beyond the east end of St. Paul's. When
the old Cathedral was extended in this direction, part of the crypt was assigned to the
parishioners as a parish church j whence the title " St. Faith under St. Paul's." After
the great fire the parish was united to that of St. Augustin.
3 Several interesting Stuart relics are still in the possession of her descendants (at
present, 1903, in that of Miss Venn of Freston Lodge, near Ipswich). Amongst these
are a carved chair, given by the Queen as a christening present ; an inlaid cabinet j a
clock which had belonged to Charles II. ; and a small piece of the ribbon of the garter
worn by the King. Several of these heirlooms are specially mentioned in Mary (Ashton)
Venn's will, proved (P.C.C.) i/Sz. There is also a miniature of Prince James (the
Pretender), in possession of my cousins the Howes, inherited from the same source.
4 Edited for the Camden Society, in 1843, by Mr. Joseph Hunter. Cartwright wa$
ASHTON OF PENKETH 239
Chester, he is frequently mentioned in company with Lord
Preston, Colonel Worden,1 Mr. Dupuy, and others of the party.
"October 3, 1686. I preached at St. Augustin's . . . and was
kindly entertained at Mr. Rigby's, Mr. John Ashton's father-in-
law, at the Blue Posts in the Hay market." There are several
other notices of his dining with the Ashtons, and of their dining
with him. The Bishop left him, by will, a ring, he being
apparently the only non-relative included amongst these bequests.
In Clarendon's Diary, the date and juxtaposition with the Bishop
of Ely leave no doubt that Ashton is referred to in the following
passages: "April 16, 1690. In the evening the Bishop of Ely
and Mr. As arrived. April 17. In the morning Mr. As
went to London." The Bishop of Ely, Francis Turner, it will
be remembered, was involved in Lord Preston's plot, but saved
himself by flight. Again, in the autobiography of a scoundrel
named William Fuller, who, after having been for some time con-
fidentially exployed by the ex-King, went over to the opposite side
and betrayed his companions, we read : " I had likewise bills of
exchange for ^35,000 to be remitted from London to Scotland
by several hands. . . . This contrivance was most ingeniously
undertaken and managed by Mr. Ashton and Mr. Graham "
(?• 33)- This was in 1690, just before Fuller betrayed his
accomplices. It explains the reference made in the trial of Ashton
to a visit which he had recently made to Edinburgh. Graham,
it will be remembered, was put on trial with Elliott and Ashton.
The same Fuller, in " A plain proof of the true father and mother
of the pretended Prince of Wales," written after he had changed
sides, makes the following statement: "Mr. Ashton was to pay
the money ; he was her Majesty's treasurer in England, and since
hanged for his zeal in a bad cause." He gives also a letter from
the ex-Queen, dated March 8, 1689-90, in which the following
passage occurs : " I have ordered a sufficient sum of money to be
remitted amongst the bills which F. (i.e. Fuller) brings over
to Ashton."
Towards the end of December 1690 John Ashton started on
the desperate enterprise3 that cost him his life. It was a plot
a notorious Jacobite. He succeeded Pearson, as Bishop of Chester, in 1686, and died in
Ireland, whither he had followed King James.
1 General Worden was Treasurer to the Queen, Mary of Modena. John Ashton is
a witness to his will, proved (P.C.C.) 1690, from which source the signature at the
bottom of the portrait has been reproduced.
2 Sir Richard Graham, Baronet, was Viscount Preston in the Scottish Peerage. At
his trial he made an unsuccessful attempt to be treated as an English peer. His patent
for this having been made out by James after his flight to France, the claim was only
an aggravation.
3 This was not his first attempt to get to France, whether or not for political
purposes. Luttrell, for instance, says, under date May 17, 1690, "Col. Butler, Mr.
Ashton, Capt. Matthews, Capt. Lane, and Wm. Butler, who were lately taken at
Dover, making their escape to France, were brought up this day to the Court of the
24o VENN FAMILY ANNALS
for calling in the aid of the French king in favour of the
restoration of James ; Lord Preston, Ashton, and Elliott, being
apparently the most active agents in the scheme. The inter-
esting details of their start and speedy capture are very fully
given in the report in the State Trials, in the evidence of the
various witnesses called for the prosecution. The arrangements
for the voyage were in the hands of Ashton. As the wife of the
boatman testified, " I was sent for to a house in Queen Street
by Cheapside, to know whether he could have a smack to go
for France : I told him yes, I could help him to one. He told
me there were two or three gentlemen bound for France as
merchants to fetch silk, and I was there two or three times, and
Mr. Ashton met me there." Chief-Justice Holt : " Look upon
the gentleman ; is that he ? " Mrs. Pratt : " Yes, that is the
gentleman, and he met me there. He hired the vessel, but first
of all he desired us to meet at the Dog Tavern upon Ludgate
Hill to make the bargain, and we did meet there, and were there
about an hour or an hour and a half. The next morning we
met, and there we made the bargain for ^100, and there was
sixpence broke in two pieces. Mr. Ashton gave one half of the
broken sixpence to Mrs. Burdett, and when the master of the
vessel brought the other half of the sixpence, or I, either of us,
we were to have the ^100." The next night they had a final
meeting at the house of Mrs. Ashton's father, Edward Rigby,
"at the Seven Stars in Covent Garden," where, in fact, John
Ashton and his wife seem then to have been living. Mrs.
Pratt continues, in answer to the question, " Had you any
discourse with Mr. Ashton's wife after they went away ? "
"We had little discourse, only she gave me some victuals and
drink ; and she said she hoped I would not tell of her husband."
" What else did she say ? " " She hoped God would deliver
them out of the lion's mouth." "Did she say anything about
cock - crowing ?" "Yes, she said she thought she should have
no good luck, for the cock crowed." That evening, Wednesday,
December 31, 1690, the party of four — Ashton, Elliott, Preston,
and his servant — started in a wherry, about ten o'clock, from
Surrey stairs to near the Tower, where the smack was waiting
for them. Here they embarked, and got as far as Gravesend by
the next morning, when the tide turned. They evidently
suspected that their enterprise had become known — as the event
proved to be the case — and several times retired into hiding in
a sort of ballast hole in the hind part of the smack. At last a
Captain Christopher Billop, who, it seems, had been somewhat
King's Bench, and were all severally admitted to bail upon good sureties." This
attempt was mentioned by Ashton in his own defence, to show that he had already,
before the plot, had private occasion for a journey to France.
ASHTON OF PENKETH 241
of an acquaintance of Ashton and Elliott, overtook them in a
pinnace. On the pretext that he was looking for seamen to
impress, he proceeded to search the smack, and soon dragged
forth the four fugitives. They had the incriminating bundle
of papers with them, to which they had taken the precaution to
tie a piece of lead so that it could be sunk in the river in case
of their capture. Unfortunately for Ashton, one of Billop's
sailors told his captain that he had seen him thrust a parcel into
his bosom. " Mr. Ashton was the last that came up ; and when he
came up, a waterman of the Captain's calls to him and says, c That
gentleman that came up last has put something in his bosom, but
what I can't tell.' So the Captain took Mr. Ashton by the arm
and turned him about, and says, 'What did you put in your
bosom ? ' Says Mr. Ashton, c Nothing but my handkerchief,' and
pulled out his handkerchief and shewed him. Then the Captain
put his hand in and pulled out papers with a piece of lead tied to
them." This was fatal to them at the trial, for the papers contained
not only information as to the numbers, armament, etc., of the
British fleet, but a direct invitation, partly in cypher, for the
intervention of the French in favour of the late King James.
Ashton solemnly declared that he did not know the contents
of these papers. Bishop Burnet (Hist, of his own Times\ who
examined them, and who was acquainted with his handwriting,
considered that some of them were written by him, but suggests
that they may have been copied out by him carelessly and hastily.
Some one had certainly betrayed them, perhaps Fuller already
mentioned, as Billop, in his evidence, states that he was sent for
by the Lord President, who told him " there were divers persons
that had papers of dangerous consequence, and were going to
France, and desired me to use my skill for seizing and securing
of the papers." The party were then at once taken back to
London, examined before Lord Sydney, the Lord President of
the Council, and committed to the Tower.
At the trial, pressed as to why he was at such pains to get
to France, Ashton had no more plausible story than that he was
going there about money matters concerning himself and his late
friend General Worden. He declared that he did not know the
contents of the papers, and that his anxiety to get rid of them
was simply due to a fear lest there might be something in them
to compromise others. A graphic account is given by the
witnesses of how the prisoners kept beseeching, and attempting
to bribe, their captors to throw the papers overboard, and how
Mr. Elliott, as they passed under London Bridge, prayed that it
might fall down and crush them. This was on the night of
December 31, 1690, and during the following morning.1
1 Billop afterwards petitioned for some remuneration for his services, he having
242 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
Ashton, in bis defence, lays stress on the sincerity of his
attachment to Protestantism. Four divines — Drs. Fitzwilliam,
Lake, Bursh, and Davenant — were called in evidence. Dr.
Fitzwilliam testified to the frequency of his attendance, both at
daily service and at the Communion, "at the service of the
church in the Protestant part of the Family, at St. James', where
I was chaplain " ; and to his efforts to induce his aunt, Mrs.
Dupee, not to go over to Popery. But the testimony of this
divine was damaged by his being at once asked in Court whether
he had taken the oaths to the King and Queen, which he had
to admit he had not done. Ashton, pleading that he had had
the sacrament administered to him quite recently, the doctor was
forthwith asked if the prayers he had used were "as they are
now altered," and again had to admit that this was not the case.
This attempt did not serve the prisoner, and only evoked the
sarcastic comment from the Judge that " they were all so careful
of the Protestant Religion that they design to restore and
establish it by the King of France."
No real defence was possible, and the prisoners were convicted
and sentenced to death, under the usual ghastly conditions, for
high treason. The trial of Ashton only lasted one day, being
begun and completed on January 19, 1690-91. Proceedings
were rapid in those days, where State matters were concerned.1
The prisoners only started on their journey on the night of the
3 ist December, and their trial was begun on the lyth January.
Ashton was tried on Monday January 19, and hung at Tyburn
on the a8th.
The disgusting proceedings at such executions, so far as the
half-hanging, dismemberment, etc., were concerned, were remitted
by Royal favour. Narcissus Luttrell says in his Diary : " Mr.
Ashton was carried in a coach (from Newgate) to Tyburn. He
said but little to the people, but thanked the sheriff for his kindness
to him, and delivered a paper to him which he desired might be
printed. He had two clergymen with him, men who had not
taken the oaths to the Government, who assisted him with their
prayers. He was not much daunted, and so was executed ; and
" lost the good sight of his eyes, through the extreme cold " of the weather (State Pap.
Dom. 1692).
1 Many of the circumstances of a criminal trial at that day seem strangely cruel to
us. In cases of high treason the prisoners had to look to their defence in Court for
themselves. In answer to Ashton's plea for the aid of counsel the Chief Justice
replied : " We must not allow your Counsel to pick holes in the Indictment : that
never was done." The shortness of notice, too, was a great hardship. As Ashton
replied, in answer to the Judge's remark that "seven days' time is very fair notice,"
"• Three days of the seven we had not the liberty of seeing any friend or counsel, or
anybody, not till Tuesday night (this was Friday), and that we got with great applica-
tion and great charge to get an order for our counsel to come to us, so that though we
have had seven days' notice, yet we have had but three days in all to consult with
anybody."
ASHTON OF PENKETH 243
his body, without being quartered, was delivered to his friends
and put into a coffin to be privately buried." One of the non-
jurors above mentioned seems to have been Jeremy Collier, who
absolved him by laying on of hands, as he afterwards did to Friend
and Parkyns : "At the execution of Mr. Ashton in 1690-91,
absolution was given him in the same form, with imposition of
hands, at the same place and upon the same occasion" (Defence
of the Absolution given to Sir William Parkyns).
The two other prisoners were also condemned and sentenced
to death. Lord Preston, after one or two reprieves and partial
confessions, was finally pardoned on making a full confession of
all that he knew about the plot. The Government evidently had
no high opinion of him, as the President of the Council, Lord
Sydney, writing to the Queen, says, "I think he will do you
more service than his head is worth, and therefore I am for
suspending his execution" (State Pap. Dom. 1691). Elliott also
escaped execution, but whether on the same conditions, I have
not been able to ascertain. He is described as " Captain Edmund
Elliott."
The following is the account of the execution, as given in a
contemporary Broadsheet, " A True Account of all passages at
the execution of John Ashton, gent.," preserved at the Bodleian.
" Wednesday, January 28, 1690-91, being the day appointed for
the execution of John Ashton, gent. He was carried from Newgate
to the usual place of execution in a Hackney coach ; for though,
according to his sentence, he should have been drawn on a hurdle, as
is usual in cases of high treason, yet, upon the humble petition of
his relations to the Queen, her Majesty was graciously pleased to
remit the drawing and quartering, and ordered the dead body to be
delivered to the relations entire to be by them privately interred.
And so he came to the place of execution about eleven of the clock,
with the usual guard and a multitude of spectators. There were in
the coach with him a divine of his own acquaintance whom he brought
with him to perform his last offices for him, and two of the sheriff's
officers. The ordinary of Newgate was in the cart, designing to
serve him in his passage out of this world ; but the prisoner, being
desirous to have the gentleman he brought with him to officiate, desired
the sheriff that the ordinary might not concern himself therein, which
was granted, and accordingly Mr. Ordinary withdrew. The minister
and the prisoner, both kneeling down, the service of the church was
read suitable to such an occasion, the prisoner behaving himself very
devoutly. Soon after, another divine did join with them (Jeremy
Collier ?). Prayers being ended, which continued about half-an-hour,
the prisoner addressed himself to Sir F. Child, one of the sheriffs, and
gave him a paper, telling him that what he had thought fit to say he
had committed to that paper, and that but one person beside himself
knew the contents of it, and desired him to dispose of it as he thought
244 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
fit. He thanked the sheriff for his civility to him at the trial, and
likewise for that lie had procured leave for him to be carried in a
coach, and desired him also to return his thanks where else they were
due. Then he took leave of the two ministers, to whom he com-
mended his wife and children to be instructed and comforted. Which
when he had done, he called the executioner and gave him five
guineas, and requested him to do his work well. He declared himsejf
to die in the Communion of the Church of England, and that he
doubted not but by the merits of his Saviour to be happy in it. Then
he said, I have no more to do than to think of dying and bade the
executioner take off his periwig,1 and put on his cap, to which was
fastened a handkerchief to cover his face. Which done, and the rope
fastened about his neck, and being tied up to the tree, he stood
expecting the driving away of the cart, refusing to give any sign.
When the cart was gone, he hung about half an hour, and then was
cut down, and his body conveyed away by his friends in order to its
being privately interred."
He was buried the same night at eleven o'clock, in the family
vault of his father-in-law, Edward Rigby. The entry is simply,
"John Ashton, Mr. Rigby's son-in-law, was buryed in St. Faith's,
January the 28, 1690-91."
His unfortunate widow — she was only twenty-four at the time
of his death — had a short and sad life. There are several references
to her in contemporary diaries and pamphlets. For instance,2 "Mrs.
Ashton, widow to Mr. Ashton who was executed for his being
concerned in my Lord Preston's affairs, went to the Court of St.
Germain's after her husband's death, as thinking she had some
merit to plead for a kind reception, but she was much deceived. . . .
A few days after her arrival priests were sent to tell her that nothing
but her being a Roman Catholic could recommend a woman to the
Queen's service, which the poor gentlewoman declining to comply
with, was neglected ; and dying soon after was refused burial till
her father, Mr. Rigby of Covent Garden, as a mighty favour and
at great charges obtained leave from the Court of St. Germain's to
have her body brought over to England, and buried her in Covent
Garden church." (This last statement seems doubtful : at least
the parish clerk informs me there is no such entry in the register.)
The dates of some of these occurrences are supplied in N. Luttrell's
Diary: "November 8, 1692, Mrs. Ashton, wife to him lately
executed, with her son, went for France : and at her arrival at
Paris, King James made him a baronet." "February 21, 1692-93.
Paris letters say Mrs. Ashton 3 died at St. Germain's, and was
ordered by King James to be embalmed and sent to England."
1 A glance at his portrait, which represents him in a very long full-bottomed wig,
will show that such a costume was not designed for occasions of this kind.
2 View of the Court of St. Germain's, 1690-1695. Printed in the Harleian
Miscellany, vi. 395.
a According to the evidence of the Administration of her husband she died in 1695.
ASHTON OF PENKETH 245
As to John Ashton's family, there are entries of the burial of
three infants in the register of St. Faith's. Two children survived
him, the eldest of whom cannot have been more than two or three
years of age at the time. The boy James, according to the
statement just recorded, was made a baronet by the ex-King. He
died young ; perhaps in France. The much-named girl — Mary
Ann Isabella Margaretta Beatrix — was presumably 1 baptised at St.
James's chapel. It seems, from the family tradition, of which she
was doubtless the source, that her childhood was spent at the house
of her uncle and guardian, Richard Rigby, at Mistley, near
Manningtree, Essex.
Under the circumstances of their death it is not surprising that
neither John nor Mary Ashton left any will. The Administration
of the effects of the former was not taken out until 1698,
September 20, nearly eight years after his execution. It was
granted to Edward Rigby, the father-in-law. The widow was
then dead, and the one daughter was the sole survivor.
The practice of confiscating the entire property of those
condemned for treason was beginning, I believe, to be abandoned
at this time. But that such punishment was not entirely remitted
in this case seems plain from one of the grants under William III. :
" Assignment to Robert Manning for a mortgage made by Charles
Earle of Manchester of the Park Farm or enclosed ground called
Ashill Park in the county of Essex, for ^1500 paid to him by
John Ashton, gent., forfeited to his Majesty by the attainder of
the said Ashton."
From the will of Edward Rigby (proved, P. C. C., 1711) it
would seem that Mary Ashton received little or nothing from her
father, as Mr. Rigby desired, " in case she does not get more than
^500 from the estate of her deceased father," that his wife should
pay her that sum. This was twenty years after her father's death,
when she was his sole representative. From the statements on page
48, however, it seems that eventually something was recovered.
A brisk pamphlet controversy sprang up immediately after John
Ashton's death. The Trial itself was published in a couple of
months, in a very full report, and its popularity is shown by the
fact that it was afterwards translated both into French 2 and into
Dutch. It is interesting, not only on account of its political
importance, as showing the critical state of affairs during the first
years of William's Government, but also from the many sidelights
1 I am told that the register does not go so far back as this date. She was born,
according to the Parentalia, June 27, 1690, i.e. six months before her father's death : but
this must be a mistake for 1689.
2 The origin of the French translation is interesting. It was published by the
National Assembly Jan. 26, 1791, exactly a century after the English version. Accord-
ing to the preface it was circulated in order to show the French people how fairly and
considerately a trial, even for high treason, could be held under the jury system.
' 246 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
which it throws, on social matters, for instance, the river -life
amongst the watermen and others on the Thames. As to the
paper which Ashton gave to the sheriff, this also was eagerly
sought for. At the end of the copy in the Bodleian is a MS. note,
" This speech was printed by stealth about the middle of March
1 690-9 1, and was scattered in the night time about London streets.
I saw it at Oxon in a private hand March 16."
The " speech " itself is calm, dignified, and earnest. He
declares his devotion to his King, James, " whom he had served
for sixteen years ; " and asserts the legitimacy of the infant Prince.
It concludes with the following touching words : " Forgive, forgive,
Oh Lord, all my enemies. Comfort and support my dear afflicted
wife, and poor babes. Be thou a husband and father to them.
For their sakes only I could have wished to have lived, but pardon
that wish, Oh God, and take my soul into everlasting glory."
The following personal characteristics are from an anonymous
pamphlet, " The Vindication of the Dead."
" It had been very material to have made proof of that (i.e. the
hand-writing of the incriminating papers) upon his trial, which they
might easily have done had it been true,1 no man's hand being better
known, and they having in their hands volumes of his writing when he
was in places at the Court." "I would have the religious of all per-
suasions know that I could give instances of his piety and mortification
that are miracles, considering where he was bred and the age in which
we live. I will end his character by saying he could not dissemble
with men, even in his looks, and that he had awful regard towards God.
Christianity made him forgive his own personal enemies, but he could
not caress a base man or palliate a vile action. He thought solidly,
spoke sensibly, and died calmly. He was the kindest husband, the
most indulgent father, and the best of friends."
Some time before his death his portrait had been taken by John
Riley, a well-known Court painter of the day, as likewise that of
his wife. These portraits were in existence in 1762, when they
were bequeathed by his daughter, Mrs. Richard Venn, to her
daughter Mary ; the Stuart relics above mentioned being left to
her eldest son, Edward. As I have already said (p. 47), all trace
of these portraits has long disappeared. According to Noble
(continuation of Granger's Biographical History^ i. 218), two
engravings of this portrait were taken — one in folio by R. White,
and the other in duodecimo. The latter I have never seen : the
former, though scarce, is occasionally to be obtained. It represents
a rather handsome young man dressed in the long full-bottomed
wig commonly worn by gentlemen of the period. The arms of
Ashton of Penketh are displayed in the margin. It has been re-
produced for this volume.
1 No letter, or other MS. in his hand, seems to have been preserved, so far as
I can ascertain.
ASHTON OF PENKETH.— PEDIGREE I.
Visitation ofi$6j.
Richard Asheton of Penkethe, =; Margery, da. and one of the co-heires
Co. Lancaster, gent. I of Richard Penkethe, Co. Lancaster, ar.
Thomas Asheton of Penkethe, = . . . da. of . . .
gent., sonne and heire.
Hamlett Asheton of Penkethe, = Maryan, da. and sole heire of
sonne and heire. I ... Baxter of Warrington.
Thomas Asheton:
of Penkethe,
sonne and heire.
= Elyn, da. of Sir ... Butler George,
of Bewsey, Co. Lancaster, 2nd sonne.
knt.
Elizabeth, maryed
to Hynley.
1
Jennett,
maryed to
Henry Whittle.
John Asheton of Penketh, =
sonne and heire.
= Cisceley, da. of Gilbert Asheton
of Bamfurionge, Co. Lan-
1
Thomas,
2nd sonne.
caster, gent.
Thomas Asheton of Penkethe, = Dowce, da. of William
the sonne and heire.
Massie of Rixton,
Co. Lancaster, gent.
George,
2nd sonne.
Ellyn,
maryed to
William Ferrar.
I
William Asheton,
eldest sonne
[d. 1604].
John,
2nd sonne.
Ciscelye. Elizabeth.
Elyanor
[d. 1610].
I
Dorothey.
ASHTON OF PENKETH.— PEDIGREE II.
Visitation 0/1613.
Thomas Ashton = Dowce, da. of ... Massey
of Penketh. I of Rixton.
John Ashton of Penketh, = Julian, the da. of ...
Co. Lancaster. I Grimsditch of Grimsditch.
Elizabeth, = Hamlett Ashton = Christian, da. of John
da. of . . of Glazebrook. Ashton.
Thomas Ashton of Penketh, = Katheren, da. of John Brock
living anno 1613. of Upton, Co. Chester.
^ «
o
h— I
Q
eu
!
ffi
S
W
£
g
K
CO
co
. s - ^
'll
w
u
M VO
w d
.2 "^ ^*
-—j vn o
:=3 « vo
Q5 -a vo -J3
w [V]
> v^ > O
is? &z 5
_
e
0 W
Iv^S
• O -O
r fi
a 2
.-£vo
.1 tf 8
^S,
.g
.~ -Q ^
* §
_ s^.^
8
t3 O ON
-
i| o s "
£50 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
VI. RIGBY OF BURGH AND LAYTON
Like the Ashtons of Penketh, the Rigbys of Burgh and
Layton were a Lancashire family of ancient and gentle descent.
Like them, too, they suffered for their loyalty to the King, though
in a less degree. The two accompanying pedigrees, the former
taken from the Heralds' Visitation of Lancashire, the latter com-
piled from various sources, will serve to explain the fortunes of
the family.
Of the two seats from which they took their name, Burgh
ARMS OF RIGBY OF BURGH AND LAYTON
Bendy of six indented, argent and azure. On a chief sable three cinquefoils or.
was in the parish of Standish, near Wigan.1 Layton was a village
in the parish of Poulton, and is now mainly covered by the exten-
sions of modern Blackpool.
The principal sufferer in the King's cause in the case of these
Rigbys was Alexander. He was for some time in the Royal
army. " At Furness, Mr. Alexander Rigby of Burgh, leading
the Lancashire forces in an attempt to relieve the garrison of
Thurland Castle, was utterly defeated by Colonel Alexander
Rigby at the head of the Parliamentary troops " (Despatch to
House of Commons, October 17, 1643). The ^atter °f these
namesakes belonged to the Preston family. Both he and his
son, also Alexander, were very active Parliamentarians. The
father was in command of the forces at the famous siege of
Lathom House.
Alexander of Burgh was born about 1583. He was admitted
a student of Gray's Inn in 1606 ; married Catherine, daughter of
Sir Edward Brabazon, of Nether Whitacre, Warwickshire ; and
1 " Burgh Hall, in Duxbury, now a farmhouse, once the residence of the Standishes "
(Baines, iii. 520).
RIGBY OF BURGH 251
apparently led the life of a country gentleman until the troubles
began. He fought, as we have seen, in the Royal army, and after
resistance was suppressed he was heavily fined. The following
is the account in the Royalist Composition Papers : —
Alexander Rigby, of Burgh, Lane., Esq. His delinquency that
he was a Commissioner of Array, and otherwise assisted the forces
raised against the Parliament. His petition is dated January 16, 1646-
47. He hath taken the National Covenant before John Sumner,
minister of Poulton, as by his certificate attested . . . and the negative
oath before the Committee in the country, dated December 25, 1646.
That by virtue of a deed dated January 25, 7 Charles I. (1632), made
upon the marriage of Edward Rigby, his son and heir apparent, he is
seized of a frank tenement for life, the remainder for his said son for
life. . . . One capital messuage called the Burgh ... a messuage
and lands called the Hulls of Layton. . . . His personal estate has
been seized and disposed of to the value of £2000, out of which he
craves to be allowed £200, so much due to one Alexander Holt of
London. . . . That he compounded here, April I, 1647, and his fine
was set at a moiety of ^959 ; and afterwards, in November 1648, his
said fine was reduced to a sixth, amounting to £361 13 14, which he
hath fully paid.
His son Edward also fell in the same cause during an attack
on Bolton. "About the last week of Lent, 1643, divers souldiers
from Wigan came up to the mood walls shotting disperatly, and
were resisted manfully. At the last a son of Mr. Alexr. Rigby
of Brugh mounted a mood wall, threwe himself over crying ' a
Towne, a Towne ' ; he, with some few as disperat as himself was
slayne" (A Discourse of the Warr in Lancashire, Chet. Soc. xlii.
p. 22).
He married Mary, daughter of Edward Hyde of Norbury,
Cheshire, a connection of the Hydes of Westhatch, from whom
was descended Lord Clarendon.
Of the sons of this Edward, Alexander, the eldest, was, like-
wise, in the Royal army. He was sheriff of Lancashire in 1677,
" in which year he gratefully erected a monument on the battle-
field of Wigan in honour of Sir Thomas Tyldesley, to whom he
was cornet, and who was killed there."
The younger brother of Alexander, Edward, went into business
in London. Like so many of the younger sons of gentlemen of
family and estate, he began from the beginning, being apprenticed
as a boy to a mercer x in Paternoster Row. He was made free
1 John Bent, mercer. He again was of armigerous stock, being a son of Richard
Bent of Cosby, Leicestershire, whose arms and pedigree are given in the Visitation of
1619. He was born about 1624, and was made free of the Merchant Taylors' Company
in 1646. He died October 16, 1689, and was buried at Houghton on the Hill, Leicester-
shire, where there is a monument to him and to his wife (Anne, daughter of John
Newton, of Houghton). See Nicholls, Leicestershire, i. 614.
VENN FAMILY ANNALS
of the Merchant Taylors' Company, December 7, 1 662. Accord-
ing to correct formj he married his master's daughter, Anne Bent,
and carried on the business of a mercer for many years, at first in
Paternoster Row and afterwards in Covent Garden. He was
buried at St. Faith under St. Paul, where his son-in-law, John
Ashton, had been buried, March I, 1710-11. Anne Bent's sister
Amy married John le Neve, by whom she was mother of the
author of the Fasti.
This Edward Rigby followed the family traditions, and was
evidently a strong sympathiser with the Jacobite cause, though
he did not display his sympathies to as dangerous an extent as his
son-in-law did. His later house in Covent Garden, "the Seven
Stars," was a well-known place of resort, after the Revolution, of
the supporters of James. Bishop White Kennet refers to it as
" the Royal Club ; so they called it, in Covent Garden." As
was mentioned in the last section, the final arrangements for the
Preston and Ashton Plot were made at this house ; and Rigby,
like Ashton, is frequently referred to, along with other well-
known Jacobites, in Bishop Cartwright's Diary. Edward Rigby,
however, was fortunate enough to keep himself out of actual
mischief, and acquired in time a considerable fortune. He bought
(in 1680, according to Morant) the reversion of some of the Essex
estates of Lord Oxford, the last of the famous De Veres, which
he inherited in 1703. These were at Mistley, not far from
Harwich. Here he seems to have spent his declining years, and,
according to the Parentalla^ his grandchildren, James and Mary
Ashton, spent some of their early days here. Apparently he died
in London, as he was buried in the family graveyard, at St. Faith
under St. Paul, March i, 1710-11.
His son Richard built the mansion at Mistley, where he died
in 1730; and was succeeded in turn by his son, also named
Richard, the famous, or rather notorious, Member of Parliament,
Paymaster of the Forces, etc., of whom an account is given in
the Dictionary of National Biography. After his death the property
passed into the possession of his brother-in-law, General Hale.
One other member of the family deserves a moment's notice.
Edward's elder brother Alexander had a son, Alexander, who went
into business in London. He was at first very successful, and
was knighted, November 28, 1695. Then his fortunes failed.
As Colonel Chester says (Westminster Registers), "Losing ^40,000
by the enemy seizing his vessel, he became bankrupt, and died in
the Fleet Prison, although through his grandmother (Hyde) he
was second cousin to the Queen."
P i 1 S
NO
V,
s
J5
,
&
'L—
cr
W
f «
PQ £
e Rigbye
incolne's
nd sonne
Hi
ol
Inr
ne, da. of S
d Brabazon
cs J3
o
-1
_
&
— a
iam,
onn
han
Wh
W
i
war
r
ar
h
e
C
Ne
i
_« +J<2
<U > fc.
"ill
.
0-T3
c
•
-5
2 -
]j|
1 Jt
*0-g.a
Ann
unma
Richard, M.P.
Paymaster of
the Forces.
g^£r
-O qj
^ G > -a
C oo
rt vo
X «
'254 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
VII. KING FAMILY OF HULL
William King was a successful merchant at Hull, where he
was in trade, principally with the Baltic ports. The firm had
for many years a branch establishment at Riga, where two of
King's sons for a time conducted the business. He was born in
or about the year 1720, and was apprenticed to a Hull merchant
(George Woodhouse), May 24, 1734. He is then described as
"son of William King, of Lambeth, Kent" («'f), but I have
not discovered anything about his earlier parentage. He was
admitted freeman of the town in 1742, was "chamberlain" in
1761, and seems to have played the part of an active and benevo-
lent citizen. He married, in or about 1755, Katharine, daughter
of Robert Thorley x of Hull, by whom he had three sons and a
daughter, as shown in the following pedigree. He died May n,
1781, and was buried at Trinity Church, Hull.
His two eldest sons, William and Robert, were both engaged
in mercantile business at Riga, in connection with their father.
The third son, George, was entered at Trinity College, Cambridge,
in October 1779. He had a very successful career, and was for
many years a Fellow of the College. In his young days, as
already stated, he was tutor to the Duke of Rutland, whom he
accompanied on many tours in England. He was a canon of
Ely from 1810, and was latterly Rector of Whitwell, Ruts., a
living in the gift of the Duke. He was all his life passionately
devoted to music, and was a very good performer on the piano-
forte. His religious views inclined moderately towards those of
the Evangelical party. He was of too retiring and sensitive a
nature to take any prominent part, but he showed his firmness,
on one occasion, in a very creditable way. The mastership of
Jesus College was offered to him by the Bishop of Ely — in whose
absolute gift it then was — provided he would drop his connection
with the Bible Society. " I take this opportunity of repeating to
you what I said in my former letter, viz. that the mastership of
Jesus is at your service, provided you are willing to accept it
upon the same conditions on which the present Archdeacon of
Ely accepted the archdeaconry, that is, relinquishing your con-
nection with the Bible Society" (Letter from the Bishop,
1 The Thorleys were for several generations a commercial family in Hull, princi-
pally concerned with the Baltic trade. Robert Thorley, Katharine's eldest brother, was
a merchant in Russia. Robert senior was born in 1702, married (June 10, 1728, at
York Minster) Catherine Jackson, of St. John Delpike's, York, and had a family of
four sons and three daughters. One of these daughters, as above stated, married William
King. Another married a Mr. Bolton who settled as a merchant in Russia, and whose
descendants are, or lately were, carrying on business as " Bolton and Co." at Riga
and Narva.
KING FAMILY OF HULL 255
November 20, 1820). This he entirely refused to do, though he
does not seem ever to have spoken for the Society, or to have put
himself prominently forward in its behalf. He died at Drypool,
Hull, February 5, 1831, when on a visit to my father.
His nephew Robert followed his father's profession as a
merchant at Riga. George King, son of Robert, went as a
young man to Australia, being then the last male representative
of his family. He was very successful there ; and at the time of
his death in 1894 there were, or had been, about sixty children
and grandchildren to represent him. What may be the numbers
in the following generation I have not ascertained.
I have a portrait of George King, as a boy, in pastel ; it is
signed "G. E. pinxit, 1776" (? George Engleheart). Another,
also in pastel, represents him a few years later. A water-colour,
taken in mature life, was given by my uncle, John Venn, to one
of the Australian cousins.
O
H- H
Q
O
s ^?
r &
3
15
2s
.ffi
-
-
4J (j ^
.O
<U M
— M
C
45 ••» .
O ON <^
SYKES FAMILY
257
VIII. SYKES FAMILY OF YORKSHIRE
ARMS OF SYKES.
Argent, a chevron sable between three sykes or fountains proper.
The Sykes were for many generations a considerable com-
mercial family, first at Leeds and afterwards at Hull : at the
latter of these places they were largely concerned in the importa-
tion of Swedish iron for the manufacturers at Sheffield. They
first appear as an armigerous family in the Yorkshire Visitation
by Dugdale in 1664. The accompanying outline pedigree will
show our own derivation, and that of the present baronet family
of Sledmere, as far back as it is known.
Like most families which can be traced from soon after the
Reformation, they have furnished sufferers to one or another
religious and political cause. But their " confessors " are of a
rather more varied type, as regards convictions, than is usual, as
amongst them may be found those who have suffered for the
Romish faith, for the cause of Church and King, and for that of
the Quakers. As will be seen, the pedigree almost starts with a
martyr, in the person of Edmund Sykes the seminary priest. The
following account l gives most of what is known about him : —
" Mr. Edmond Sykes, a seminary priest, Rhemist (i.e. trained at
the College of Rheims), born at Leeds or thereabout, being brought
up at school, after went to Oxford, and after to the seminary beyond
sea in France, or Douay, and thereafter proceeding in virtue and
learning took Holy Orders, and being desirous to benefit his country
with that talent which God had given him, came over and lived a
very strict and strait life, wandering as a poor pilgrim, coming to
1 From Father Chr. Grene's MS. in the English College at Rome, as printed ia the
Records of the English Province of the S. Jes. (Series v.-viii. p. 736).
S
258 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
Leeds, did help many with his holy life and doctrine ; there fell
sick with an extreme ague. There one Arthur Webster, who was a
Catholic, and through wrath, envy, and lowness of life, fell from his
faith and Catholic religion, knowing where this good man lay, having
procured a commission for to apprehend Catholics, went and took
Mr. Sykes, being sick, brought him to York before the Council, who
committed him to the Kidcot, and through feebleness and infirmity he
went to church, yet straight he recalled himself back, that he kept
him still there. And from thence he was banished, in which time he
went to Rome upon some occasion that happened whilst he was
prisoner. And as he was praying there in a church, he had a revela-
tion which foreshowed unto him that he should return into England,
and there receive his crown, for otherwise he determined to enter into
a religious habit. After which he returned into his country, and
coming to a kinsman's house of his about Tanfield, or in Wath, who
presently caused him to be apprehended, and brought to York before
the Council, who sent him close prisoner to York Castle, where straitly
he was kept. Yet there he gave himself to much contemplation and
prayer, abstinence and discipline ; for Wednesday and Friday he used
it sharply, with much watching. In the Lent following, at the Assize,
he was brought before the Judges, at the bar, amongst the felons.
The Judge, upbraiding him with his former actions, he answered, 4 It
was the infirmity of sickness which caused me to go to your service,
and not for any liking I had of it ; the which I have repented, and
now detest to do it. Neither did I wholly that which was required,
or like of your doing, wherefore I was kept in prison, and so banished.'
They proceeded against him, and condemned him as a traitor, whereat
he rejoiced and thanked God. Being brought back, and kept that
night most straitly from his other fellow-prisoners, and watched in a
chamber that night, the next day following, 23rd of March (1587-88)
he was laid on the hurdle in the Castle yard, where heretics did assault
him, and from thence to the place where he was executed." Accord-
ing to the law in such cases, he was hanged and quartered.
The reference in the Douay Diary is briefly this : —
1586, June 1 6. Angliam petituri discesserunt . . . et Ds. Edmundus
Sikes, presbyteri.
1587. Edmundus Sikesius, ex incarcerate exul, ex exule martir.
In the second generation from the above we reach the times
of the Civil War, and here the family seems — as in not a few other
cases — to have been divided against itself, one brother being for
the King and the other for the Parliament. The former, Richard,
was Rector of Kirkheaton, Yorks. The following is the reference
to him in the Report of the Committee for Compounding (vol. i.
977) : "1645, November 20, Richard Sykes begs to compound for
delinquency in absenting himself from home, and going into the
King's garrison. He never bore arms. 1646, April 23, Fine
at one-third, ^1350 ; but because he hath lost a good church-
SYKES FAMILY 259
living worth ^300 a year, and a great estate, has a great charge
of children, and was an opposer of bishops, and a very moderate
man, the Committee recommend to the House to take but^iooo.
Fine paid." He had already been sequestrated from his living,
for apparently his support of the King quite outweighed his
merits as an opponent of bishops. After the loss of his living
he seems to have retired southwards, as he died in Islington,
January 10, 1652-53, at the age of fifty, and was buried at
Clerkenwell.
His brother William, a merchant at Hull, sided with the
dominant Parliamentary majority in that town. He seems to
have taken an active part during the siege by the Royal troops.
His sufferings, however, came from his own party, as he was
imprisoned for many months from inability to repay sums which
he had borrowed. According to his petition (August 2, 1648)
he "lent ^8000, more than his whole estate, in money, plate,
arms, etc., to Lord Fairfax, Sir John Hotham, and the Committee
of Co. Lincoln. He borrowed £ I ooo for Lord Fairfax, but the
bill being protested he was cast into prison, and lay there twelve
weeks. And now he has been kept in prison for twenty-six
weeks, to his utter ruin." He adds that he was also "thrice
plundered, up to ^2000, and twice imprisoned, by the enemy."
Whether he ever obtained redress on this account is not clear.
If he did, he must have got into trouble again, as he died a
prisoner in York Castle, and was buried in St. Michael's, Ousegate.
His will was proved July 5, 1652.
His wife also — Grace, daughter of Josiah Jenkinson of Leeds —
followed her husband into York Castle in later years. But this
was on a different account, as she suffered as a Quakeress. She was
committed to prison in 1684, and died September 26, 1685. A
similar fate attended their son Richard, about the same time, as
he was lodged in Hull gaol in 1685, presumably on account of
the same religious opinions as his mother. He died March
26, 1694.
His son Daniel was a merchant of Hull and Knottingley.
He married into a Royalist family of Pontefract, his wife being
Deborah, daughter of William Oates,1 mayor of that town.
The family had so far been very fairly successful in trade.
The first, however, to secure any prominent place in com-
1 The Oates family were for long of some local importance in Pontefract, three
successive generations furnishing the mayor of that town. There are references to both
William, above, and to his brother Richard, in the Royalist Composition Papers.
William's delinquency was "that in 1643 he sent horse and arms to Sir William Saville
for the Kingj that from 1642 to 1646 he constantly frequented Pontefract and other
castles and furnished them with provisions"} Richard, "that he deserted his dwelling
in the town and went into the castle, and lived there while it was a garrison holden for
the King against the Parliament, and contributed voluntarily towards the maintenance
of those forces, and continued there till the time of the surrender."
260 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
mercial affairs was Richard, son of the above Daniel. He
was born in 1678, and was a large merchant in Hull, of which
town he became chamberlain in 1707. He had also an estate and
residence at Sledmere. He married twice. By his first wife,
Mary, daughter and co-heiress of Mark Kirkby of Sledmere, he
had, as eldest son, Richard, who succeeded him at Sledmere, was
Sheriff of Hull, 1740, and Sheriff of Yorkshire, 1752. Richard
dying without issue, the estate came to his younger brother, Rev.
Mark Sykes, D.D., Rector of Roos. Mark was created a baronet
in 1783. From him descended the present family of Sledmere,
including the famous Yorkshire sportsman, Sir Tatton Sykes,
who died at the age of ninety-one in 1863.
Richard Sykes' second wife was Martha, daughter of Tobias
Donkin of Hull.1 His eldest son, Joseph, settled at West Ella,
near Hull. He was successively Sheriff and Mayor of Hull, and
Deputy-Lieutenant of the East Riding. His fortune was mainly
acquired by a lease of the White Iron Mines in Sweden, of which
metal he was one of the largest importers in England. He died
November 26, 1805, aged eighty-two.
The fourth son of Joseph Sykes, Nicholas, resided at Swan-
land, near Hull. He was for a time in the army, and afterwards
engaged in the family business at Hull. He died April 29, 1827.
My father married his daughter Martha in 1829.
The fifth son, Daniel, was the best known of this generation.
He was for a time Fellow of Trinity, Cambridge, Recorder of
Hull, and M.P. for that town, in which capacity he was well
known as an early supporter of the Reform movement. He was
F.R.S. A brief life of him was written by his friend George
Pryme, Professor of Political Economy at Cambridge. His
sister Mary Ann married Henry Thornton, of a family originally
Yorkshire. He was a member of the well-known banker family,
and one of the hereditary residents at Clapham.
1 The monument in Trinity Church to Richard Sykes gives his father-in-law the
name of William ; but from a study of the family wills I feel convinced that his name
was Tobias, and that he was probably a doctor in Hull.
c
15
c
S
13
o
/-• X
H
w
^ .
C*ri
0
h-H
*• ^ "10
cj
-o
5 c «
«"
H | .
DC x— v vo
*- *** r\
-1x1
s| s
sf
J3
s
O -^
s s
.^
c tT
N
^ OV c3
"« 1 ^
. ca 6
z% ™
T—
W l| jf*
£3 c/T^ 2 jf
1
£
s,|?
ill
-^
P< 's'8 gs
/• K - eo SO
» |> "
Q «^^ f
^ is ^
«r
"w _;
5 •*
T^-
•s ^
^3 —
rt ~
S
II
N
I- IS-
u C C/5
S
. V-
rt O C
4ft7
rt rt -3
IS
U
Q
1i
y U 0
co S
w
II
11 J-
1^1 ^
II —
^
"s" "o ^
rt "u ^
-11-si «
_l^l
Jll!
ll
^35
^ all s|^£fe g|>^5 3|c2T
'0=' <j~" *o -c ^ goJ^
-^ j2
0( J 4J
I*-
— 8 S3 S
rothy, da. of
holas Twigge,
Bakewell,
d. 1796.
GZ
Ip
s n-
:• 12
Q
2 « g
2* i-
-*J8
ON N
^
;— J ^^
o M
CJ °*-o
" c w ^
H«~
C « t\ w
_^ eQ i^ N •
J
_l«i—
13 g
a o s -
c w • ^ ^
-K
li O H.
£ VO vO
I -C -S ^ M 00
_sgs??
C _J~ .
2 c5 N
TO CQ 00
"VENN" SIGNATURES, 1600-1903
31&+
^_
For the dates, etc., of these signatures of nine successive generations, see
the Pedigree I. on following page.
0
.S • v
w " •«
II • • "^ "^
c" >;
« „ «
C JS
•— , p-
^"loo .
II
M «
< ^
11 ;
.-a <u u->-c
*&
o
If""'
_lfj
>,
^J
J
s
'^£f
— g?^
it
' o * ~' {£*
<*.
c
<*_, C l^ C G
o — _c « H r
O
5
Si
i'l
CO
.1.1
CO
8 S
3
S
•i
S
S a'
g
i — t,P.
~ oi -
-I1J
ti n oo »^
«3 ¥. N « 6
'S II
n — r
• TOO" 3
,-. vO -^
ej » „•
l«a
. .
- ggSg
-.11"
Jtf-°
1! I s 2 I
< Q «• S U
2 .
II
u
-i
I*JC
S fc
3'3
-1 N
w
•s S
KG
cs oo pT
•5? I
•g<S §
Q5
«P< e«
« &
g^
i — S '2 ^2 •< 5
-I K 5 «• e •"
__ i« — w
J~ C M
aj-.
.fi
PH
(^
D
«
S
ly
ffi
Q
S
rt
PQ
w
w
rt
o
HH
I
CO
^
I
ffi
i
a
Q
^ x
oo O
."5
£<» -«
0
S cu^S
.2
IS
h o.
d ^
£.*-'
-II d
-- s
— "S o M -o
"° t3
o" ^
-Mf
H S5
»2 0, w
2 << ^
"
3 §• " 9 ^2 tS
•n
a
— c SP
»T w 1
— — Q ^ M
J
i
— c S N
Oot5
Q°.
r|S
-i
-°'l
-3
»— X
-°
3,
J
"•*§»
c" ^ «^>
-H
s; =
-||||
f|
^1^
— S> i> 6
"•Q ~
S^f -
ef
S ^^
tj
I f.2
N <M ^^
5
•H
^
— 5)
(H
(4
-Q 3
s ^ «
^ -SC'
H *!
3 jl
~|fll
-° ^
£ 1^ ^^ °°
-sli
"w
.2 **"
^ _Q ^
3
t) £^""3 «
C^
/I. »«
^Q
SC *T* ^*
B
rn
CT>
o >"^ .
H "^p
N
.»> N •
*o ^
"" T
-III
§~5§!*!
PQ
>
q
^ d, ^
. '"-S ^" • o S
^'
3 ^
J
.2"^-"o M ° S -
_; g
.-
§ I
JJ'sJ j^
«'!
C" N N
«-r* M M
j H
5 1* 5
4 « «2 o *
| « ^
{S £ £jl -
i
**«
-Q -c
H S£0|£
"1^
3
^~" rr
7
S3. M
5 fl13l*
r J^fcS^
* 3 « £ £ .£.
g o g 0 ^
^«w'Sj
J ^.<:r
iw>
• ••» N
« ° u '
K &4 M
Jl
oo~
-gtl
af4i
~l ^"^
•o-a .
j
s
u . «
tt, £X
«-
^
It
J3
.^ ^
H
M* "** f$ ^°°
"O OQ
4
vO | ^§ ^2" 2" «^
-|^-|
1
\
)
"1^2 «
-jifii
2 ja K 3
"9
C4 ^ " 3
^ ^
1 • S •
„
J*£ J
,sf ^£
d
"5 **" •
— C W N
•xT "^ M
2 . ***
rt w r-"1""^
jfiT
_g " ^ "* 'S 2
^ c
W J3 M
^
^ N <*•
grf~^.^# -a*-*
'
Jll^li
-IH—
j §3
c 'c"
o ' — >'~~'
Ǥ
• — ^
'"'^vll
S
C3
-1*
-1|j;||||s
|Q|
€
w«7*i«i./
pll
| fi'J «
- cT" o S-" '
jll'l
« •§ iJ l£
fc d 3°c» ?* S g-c^
w 3 rt N
c, O .
-^ « <-> -T3 D-,
•^ c2
^ JQ ^^ 2
°-av-'^
^ §,«,-<
H < >- 0
1^1?
00 *
^ Sjf^
O <z.£ gj
n do . .^J"
N,d-
" 0 £ "
•*• T; o
; s®
Ilil
-fl^lf
_jf|_
^ 0
•*J *• II
5*
{SWQ^W<
2 J*«
C! <^) • II
H o « h ^
jjs-tjj. f*.
"°"^
^^w
j II
J ^^JPQ^^. co i-* 2"
•^ ^ £r ^
Vfc-^'
tB,.g3 si^
c"
— ^ 2 °° 'S
w .~ re -2 « £ „
q 1 s 3 s f •§ ^ g
4 t"i!«--H ^^
- ||^l| .s|«s
2 « -s f 1 ,-| §^ 6
^^
-life
rt ^» t^
J >;o §: " j w '-' n
~ -^ ^
W Q °
^
5= u ^ re £? -^~
S^^ -§|
^ Q .r^
V- **-« OO
.0
t!*pi
|| j 2 T^ ^j
cS
"^ ^ ra '•''^ ^
^ aT^ *^ " ^ o
r -^ U .^ r-
ffi
_l|^l|o-^
ff^
r "J"| "| '^ o^
cj *o
fe < "1 ^ i."5 ^ ^
8 S*
T C t^* - i— -j KJ c/^
rt ^"^ ^H --* t-H
^C cJ2 •
^ *^
ci ^"™i P
U ~ ^ -"2
>• re |-- « _2
^ ^ oo"
_
^^'^
^ £ ~" -°*
Ic ^ M
rt -c" •* M *d* cf
u
1 CJ 'o CM
"^ '«
^ .m >^ JJ
" c" c -c
H 5 J= 0.
1?}
^3 73 N , .ON .
iliilfll
:•? ^i - 0
»> _ c oo •••»
" . c
w-°' ^-£ J
fit
^ 1 *S ? M o -c
) |.^: ,-«
ill
2|52^2^
-1 S*-
fe ^d -S -5 ~ § «
S " cLpq
^ 3 S"^ || S *< ^
d <"w
^ t-g ^ js ? 3 cS — ^ •= ' ,
M ^5 ^^ ~"
ffi J3 I'
|»| -l2ll lift
tj S^°*
W<£ § •*
-n JD 7
.
d < S 1 u ^ - | d
15 Jo?
.— § t\
^•S ^ts iij
o M
~~l|o?
R. ~*
vcT
M
-C- ro "C "^
c" § c*T
|J|^
hij C "-1
S ^o ^^ °°
i
-ol
•s2 s
"c vO C
0 on • =
|| C ~« C
KG
w M. ^
O
r.§
si
^6
12
53
PH
3
W
W
tf
o
Q
W
|
W
>
W
^H
ffi
g
o
1
05 -C t
« *J N
ti
17
3|8.
l£l
£• I ^
VO
*
efi "C
2 o g *" g
jf -C ^ CX) N
«" N .^ N ^
•c ^ °.
W >
*
g-BC
-^ ON
a ^
« , N - j .
0 ^
• »
S 3 a^"2 ^
S»j ;Tfe g
w
u cc
q« ^ g
*
S tJ
|o
•Jdrf
I
05 0
W 6
CO
Su
•M
O
•s ^ .
W jo
sS-^
< ^
c o
w
9
&
3
W
DC
H
>
W
w
tf
o
5
w
OH
CO
£
SS
w
w
2
53
CO
£
O
w
G
-i-i •«-£; 00
5 2
il
« N 0
o
^ o
C vo
^ N
u* d t"
Q d**2
" bb
I
w
h
w
y vo
f II
"}" 13 H
w
ffi
00
W
Q
2
^
WH
S D- M
Q, W
^
s-=-
II —
1
w *°
•||§S
J* ^
**
O D.
.s
O
S
w
P-.
JC
S
O
SJ P £ "§
z I
1|Ij|j
^T
J3 11 ~
-m
w n
1?
I
u
I?
It
no
S
o
o -^
-1-1 xi
-c «
«• °
» s ?
O
J^ I 2 «\
« ^
PQ
W
ffl
W sg
W ^
« "~
w
§
&M
JL§
"3
O
. S x
•*
i*is
rfj
_-s a c >sS
=^« « e
.a
I!
>. ON
•If
1 El
O f-^C/3
aw
— - - M. u s
- ^<
>v ^-( -^
^ O •*-» qj Y~
>H
C*
D
PQ
S
W
ffi
g
P-I
X
w
w
PS
o
5
w
PH
S
£
w
w
p^
s
1
>
w
Q
Q~
^. O CO ^Q
>. N •w £
a J^^-l
s ^ £~
M
•iSSh? tfiil
js r
a
_
°
-o |^^-£ g^i
- C 4^
— ^ o "i
-5 w «
-I II g
tq 2Q
^oo EH •»> .
.B-S* *S5
« OO fc- '
- S M rt pi
UO jj UJ oo
Soo fe «
S M a *
0
U fa
.
o
x_x 4) "^ 3
G"^
C V}
~?ll?l
• w'
So .-1 -s 8
'=: ja
o
Q
C l\
'-% ^
IflU
C
W jo ~
rs
T ^
fii
J*H 05 . W
& JT ~.r
~ ^r N o
G~"S oo ^2
.
_ rj U M QO O-"
'
g
CO
£ Iti!
" l^-OO **•
c ^ ° -2 i
0 -0 —
c S j
JH M
- C3 w
3 ~°
-
G N « c O -"
-C • S
o « — c c c
_s
O J3
-I li
-I ^
w
w
w
o
5
w
O 'I
E .*
Q |
§ |
w I
I— I —
M S
s
o
s H
Is
14
•5 ,
-I 5M
£S,-
w
g
C -o . •
< «^£
o ^ C .
ij -o c -c
o W w «
S 'I ^
^
BB
^ j e< ^
.sr
. "3 O •»«
W) C C ^
ISJl
„•"» 8
5",
c« vo
-it-si
H
fd,
'^M.
ss
a «*- •
^ *^
S 5
g M M
Il
**jS ° C
lip
-"J n*!-
S J^«
S rt 2^ S
r — O
j'
-s
VENN WILLS
281
IX. VENN WILLS
The following is as complete a list of wills of the name Venn,
down to a recent date, so far as the registries principally containing
that name are concerned, as I can make. They are inserted here,
as it seems a pity that the trouble expended in compiling the list
should not be available for any one else who may be interested in
the same inquiry. The date is that of the Probate.
Administrations are marked with asterisk (*).
I. EXETER
(i) Principal Registry
*l62I
1625
1662
*i695
1707
1711
1712
*i7i9
*739
J747
J759
*i785
*i789
1812
William Venn
Christopher
Richard
Dennis
Hugh
Frances
John
Laurence
Richard
Hugh
Mary
Elizabeth
Thomas
Matthew
Robert
Clerk
Husbandman
Clerk
Clerk
Husbandman
Widow
Yeoman
Clerk
Clerk
Yeoman
Widow
Spinster
Otterton
Peyhembury
Otterton
Holbeton
Stoodley
Stoodley
Stoodley
Thelbridge
Puddington
Stoodley
W. Worlington
S. Molton
Heavitree
Sandford
Witheridge
(ii) Archdeaconry of Exeter
1588 Osmund Venn
1595 John Fenne
(Will lost
1608 Richard Venn
(Will lost
1609 Elinor „
Widow
1610 Oliver „
(Lost)
1614 Thomas „
1617 John „
* 1 6 1 7 Jasper „
1620 Elinor „
(Lost)
1621 Edward „
*i624 Anstice „
1630 John „
Husband)
^1632 Elizabeth „
Widow
Peyhembury
Broadhembury)
Peyhembury)
Peyhembury
Peyhembury
Cheriton
Cullompton
Exeter
Peyhembury
Honiton
Cullompton
(Broadhembury
Peyhembury
282
VENN FAMILY ANNALS
1638
Henry V
en
1639
John
f»
1642
Margaret
5>
1661
Charity
55
*i663
Thomas
55
1665
Amias
55
1666
Margaret
55
^1669
Thomas
55
1670
John
5)
1674
Ellis
5)
1674
George
55
1675
Henry
55
1676
Richard
55
1677
Jasper
55
1680
George
55
1684
John
55
1685
Thomas
55
1689
Dorothy
55
*i689
John
55
1696
William
55
1698
Edward
55
1701
Samuel
55
^1707
Henry
55
1710
Richard
55
1717
Mary
55
1720
John
55
*i;25
Elias
55
1727
Elias
55
1729
Mary
55
*i73o
William
55
*I732
Robert
55
*733
John
55
*T733
Elias
55
1736
John
75
*i738
John
55
1740
Edward
5>
*i;5i
Ann
55
1768
Laurence
55
1772
Henry
55
*773
Robert
55
1777
Dorothy
55
1781
Edward
55
1783
John
55
1786
Catherine
55
*i?94
Richard
55
T795
Richard
55
Husbandman
Carpenter
Widow
Widow
Cob-mason
Widow
Husbandman
5)
5?
55
Broadhembury
Peyhembury
Exeter
Peyhembury
Broadhembury
Bradninch
Otter ton
Cullompton
Peyhembury
Tiverton
Cullompton
Peyhembury
„ Cullompton
Exeter
Yeoman Tiverton
Widow Peyhembury
Husbandman
Mariner
Wool-comber
Yeoman
Widow
Yeoman
Serge-maker
Widow
Yeoman
Serge-maker
Yeoman
55
Widow
Gent.
Mariner
Widow
Gent.
Yeoman
Yeoman
Withycombe Raleigh
Cullompton
Peyhembury
35
Tiverton
Peyhembury
Otterton
Peyhembury
Tiverton
Halberton
Silverton
Peyhembury
Otterton
Exeter
Peyhembury
(Otterton)
Peyhembury
Halberton
Peyhembury
Honiton
Peyhembury
VENN WILLS 283
1800 Sarah Venn Widow Peyhembury
1807 Henry „
1812 John „
1821 Joan „ Honiton
1831 William „ Peyhembury
1832 John „ Cullompton
1832 Thomas „ Tiverton
^1832 Thomas „
1837 Agnes „ Exeter'
1840 Henry „ Peyhembury
*i843 William „
1844 Saria „ Tiverton
^1846 Eliza „ Cullompton
1851 William Hex Venn Whimple
(iii) Dean and Chapter of Exeter
1744 Samuel Venn Comber Colyton
1750 William „ Excise Officer Clyst Honiton
1760 George „ Maltster Heavitree
1761 Elizabeth „ Widow „
1775 Margaret „ „ Clyst Honiton
(iv) Consist or I al Court of the Bishop
1606 Richard Venn Weaver Crediton
1677 Thomas „ Burdocke
*I7O4 Michael „ Ship-carpenter W. Teignmouth
^1705 William „ Husbandman Morchard Bishop
1730 William „ Cordwainer Crediton
^1741 Joseph „ Cordwainer „
*I747 Elizabeth „ Spinster „
1774 William „ Morchard Bishop
(v) Vicars Choral, Peculiar Court
^1694 John Venn Woodbury
1696 George „ Serge-maker „
^1698 Katharine
1716 George
1730 Robert „ Gent.
1729 George
1738 Margaret „ Widow
55 55
55 55
55
55 55 55
55
(vi) Archdeaconry of Earnstaple
1643 Robert Venn Coleridge
1673 John „ Husbandman E. Anstey
1715 Robert „ Yeoman E. Worlington
VENN FAMILY ANNALS
J737
*i738
*i74o
--1758
1789
*i793
1808
1820
1824
1825
Nicholas Venn
Thomas ,,"
Sarah „
Robert
Richard
Robert
Robert
Henry
Christian
Henry
James
Ann
William
Yeoman
Wife of Robert
Husbandman
Yeoman
Yeoman
Spinster
Stoodley
5)
S. Molton
Witheridge
Wembworthy
Witheridge
S. Molton
Chulmleigh
W. Worlington
Chulmleigh
Lit. Torrington
35
S. Molton
(vii) Archdeaconry oj Totnes
*iji2 Patience Venn Widow Holbeton
^1796 Sarah „ Dartmouth
*i8o6 Elizabeth ,
II. PREROGATIVE COURT OF CANTERBURY
1559 William Venn
1576 John Fenne
1581 Thomas Venn
1588 John „
1591 John
1595 Margerie „
1606 Robert „
1611 Hugh „
1617 William „
1629 William „
1639 William „
1639 Sir Richard Fenn
1641 Simon Venn
1641 Henry „
Thomas „
Nicholas „
1647 Lady Jane Fenn
1650 John Venn
^1650 Martin „
1653 Thomas „
1654 Mary
Yeoman
Merch. Taylor
Haberdasher
Yeoman
Draper
Widow
" Conner "
Clothier
55
Yeoman
Alderman
Yeoman
Schoolmaster
Widow
M.P. ; Silkman
Yeoman
Widow
Lyd. Laurence, Som.
London
Cirencester, Gloucs.
Cheddar, Som.
Lyd. Laurence, Som.
55
London
Wotton under Edge,
Gloucs.
Of Bantam
London
Lyd. Laurence, Som.
Cuckfield, Sussex
Stogumber, Som.
Stogursey, Som.
London
London
Kings Brompton,
Som.
Hawkesbury, Gloucs.
Wotton under Edge,
Gloucs.
VENN WILLS
1655 Anne Venn
Spinster
1656 John „
Yeoman
1657 Hem7 55
Husbandman
1657 Henr7 «
Yeoman
1657 John
55
1665 John „
55
1667 Catherine Venn
Widow
1667 William „
Yeoman
*i677 Robert „
Mariner
*i677 Thomas „
^1678 Richard „
1683 William „
1683 Thomas „
Gent.
1688 John
Dr. of Divinity
*i69i George „
1691 John „
Mariner
*I7O4 Thomas „
55
1709 John „
•)•)
1713 Ambrose „
55
^1713 Edward „
1723 Catherine „
Widow
1734 Joseph „
*I735 Edward „
*I739 Richard „
Clerk
*I745 William „
1756 Joseph „
Mariner
1762 Mary M. A. J.
B.
Venn
Widow
1762 Charles Venn
Mayor of
1763 Stephen „
Merchant
1764 John „
1 765 Isaac „
Clerk
Mariner
1770 Elizabeth „
Widow
*ijj6 Catherine „
1780 Edward „
1780 Edward „
Dr. of Physic
Cowkeeper
1786 Richard „
Baker
1791 Richard „
Gent.
1792 Catherine „
285
Brompton, London
Hempstead, Gloucs.
Kings Brompton,
Som.
Peyhembury, Devon.
Staverton, Devon.
Kings Brompton,
Som.
Hawkesbury, Gloucs.
Kings Brompton,
Som.
« Stepney "
Lyd. Laurence, Som.
Newington, Surrey
Hawkesbury, Gloucs.
Wotton under Edge,
Gloucs.
Oxford
Gloucs.
In part, transmarinls
St. Marg., West-
minster
Oxford
Mitchel Dean,
Gloucs.
Kent
St. Antholin's, Lon-
don
Carshalton, Surrey
H.M.S. Lowestoff
London
Barnstaple, Devon
London
Jamaica
In part, transmarinis
Jamaica
St. Leon., Shoreditch
Ipswich
Middlesex
St. Leon., Shoreditch
Yelling, Hunts.
55
286
VENN FAMILY ANNALS
^1796 Arthur Venn
Gloucs.
1 797 Edward ,-,
Yeoman
Stoke, Surrey
1797 Henry „
Clerk
Clapham
1800 Elizabeth „
Halberton, Devon
1802 Hannah „
Spinster
Lyd. Laurence, Som.
1805 Benjamin „
Mariner
In part, transmarinis
1808 Thomas „
London
*i8o9 Elizabeth „
Devon
*i8c>9 Elizabeth „
Middlesex
1 809 Thomas „
5)
1 8 1 1 Mary „
Surrey
III. TAUNTON REGISTRY. ARCHDEACONRY COURT
1541 Alson Fenne
Widow
Lyd. Laurence
1582 Simon Venue
Yeoman
35
1597 Agnes Venn
(lost)
55
? 1597 William „
(lost)
? Spaxton
1610 John „
Yeoman
Lyd. Laurence
1610 Thomas „
Upton
1612 Richard „
(lost)
Kings Brompton
1614 Peter „
(lost)
Upton
1617 John, als. Stone
(lost)
Chipstable
1617 Robert Venn
(lost)
Kings Brompton
1618 Joan „
(lost)
Upton
1620 Thomas „
Kilve
1624 William „
Husbandman
Kings Brompton
1624 Margery 5J
Widow
55
1626 Maud „
}•>
Lyd. Laurence
1632 Elizabeth „
•)•)
55
1634 John „
Clatworthy
1637 Cicely
Widow
Kilve
1637 Ebbot „
5)
Taunton, St. Jas.
1637 Robert „
(lost)
Stogumber
1639 Richard „
Stogumber
1640 John „
Kings Brompton
1666 Thomas „
Yeoman
Upton
1667 William „
Husbandman
Wythiell
1668 Thomas „
J5
Kings Brompton
1674 Alice „
(lost)
Upton
1675 Elizabeth „
Spinster
Skilgate
1683 Simon „
Yeoman
Lyd. Laurence
"^1690 Patience „
(lost)
Kings Brompton
1692 John „
Husbandman
Lyd. Laurence
^1694 Gregory „
(lost)
Kings Brompton
1695 Jane „
Widow
Lyd. Laurence
1696
1697
1698
1699
1704
1712
1714
1717
1727
1728
i73o
'734
1739
'739
VENN WILLS
Martin Venn
Simon „
George (Vaine)
Radigund Venn „
Susan „ (alias Watts)
Elizabeth „ Widow
William „ Husbandman
Mary (Vaine)
William Venn (alias Hookins)
Elizabeth
1744
'747
1751
1762
1764
*i764
'1766
*I777
1781
1786
*i8oo
*i8o7
1808
1819
*i848
1851
Robert
Nicholas
Agnes
Alice
Ann
Joan
Robert
Edward
Thomas
Thomas
Robert
William
William
Edmund
William
Robert
Richard
William
Robert
William
Thomas
James
Mary Jane
Mason
Yeoman
(lost)
Spinster
Widow
(alias Hookins)
Yeoman
Butcher
Gent.
Yeoman
Mason
Yeoman
33
Husbandman
287
Kings Brompton
Hilfarrence
Taunton, St. Jas.
Kings Brompton
N. Petherton
Wythiell
Wythiell
Taunton, St. Jas.
Milverton
Lyd. Laurence
N. Petherton
Wythiell
Stogumber
Kings Brompton
N. Petherton
Porlock
Stogursey
Milverton
Combe Flory
Lyd. Laurence
Wythiell
N. Petherton
Wythiell
Brushford
Wythiell
Kings Brompton
Lyd. Laurence
Stogursey
Huish Champflower
Upton
Nettlecombe
Chipstable
Pitminster
WELLS REGISTRY
General Calendar of all Courts (before 1660)
1620 Thomas Venn Husbandman Brompton Regis
Bishop's Court
1665 Agnes Venn
^1693 Jonn Fenn
^1726 John Ven
Chipstable
Kelston
East Brent
Robert Venn
1732 Thomas „*
1755 Joseph
288 VENN FAMILY ANNALS
Stogumber
Stanton Drew
Archdeaconry of Wells
1663 William Venn Burnham
Peculiar Court (St. Decumans]
1726 Benjamin Ven
Dean's Court
1706 Thomas Venn
1728 William
1737 William
1744 Thomas
1761 John
1770 William
1775 Betty
Wed more
53
Allerton
Wedmore
Mark
Wedmore
The following wills were noted by me some years ago, but do
not appear to be recorded in the Calendars : —
Wells
1570 John Fenne
1580 Thomas Venn
1639 John „
Tolland
Cheddar
GLOUCESTER.
The Calendar of the wills at Gloucester (1541-1650) has been
published in the Index Library, vol. 12.
X. FAMILY PORTRAITS
Family portraits are so apt to lose nearly all their value, through
loss of their identification, that I have thought it well to give a
list here of all those the existence of which I can verify. Except
where otherwise stated, they are in my possession.
HENRY VENN, 1725-97.
i. Large oil-painting ; £ length. In cassock, gown, bands,
and wig. Painted by Mason Chamberlain, R.A. 1770. JEt. 45.
FAMILY PORTRAITS 289
Given in 1834, to my father, by Miss Riland, daughter of H.
Venn's old friend and curate, John Riland. Engraved by J. A.
Dean, 1834, for the Life.
2. There is another portrait, closely resembling the above, in
possession of Miss Venn of Freston. Engraved by G. Adcock.
3. A miniature in possession of Miss Howe (v. Gambier
Pedigree).
JOHN VENN, 1759-1813.
1. Water-colour, oval ; \ length ; about 10 x 6 in. Profile ;
dressed for College hall, hair powdered. Taken at Cambridge in
1781. Mt. 22. By John Downman, A.R.A.
2. Water-colour ; J length ; about 10 x 6 in. In gown and
bands. Mt. about 54. By J. W. Slater. (Signed and dated
1814. As Mr. Venn died in 1813, this picture — if the date be
correct— was probably a copy of a former one.)
Engraved by E. Scriven.
HENRY VENN, 1796-1873.
1. Pencil -sketch ; miniature ; about 3x2 in. In profile.
Mt. about 12. Probably done by his sister Catherine Eling.
2. Pencil-sketch ; J length ; about 6 x 5 in. Taken in 1820,
by J. W. Slater. /Et. 24.
3. Water-colour; \ length; about 12 x 8 in. Taken in
1831. Mt. 35. By G. Richmond, R.A.
4. Oil-portrait ; f length. Painted for the C.M.S. Committee-
room in 1862. £t. 66. By G. Richmond, R.A. Now at
Salisbury Square. Engraved by Henry Cousins.
5. Crayon-sketch, by G. Richmond. Study of the head for
the above portrait. In possession of Rev. H. Venn, Walmer.
MARTHA VENN, 1800-40.
Oil-painting, by H. W. Pickersgill, R.A. ; f length. Even-
ing dress ; sitting on sofa. 1829. Mt. 29.
JOHN VENN, 1802-90.
Small water-colour ; £ length. In green-gray coat. /£>. 18.
By J. W. Slater, 1820.
JANE VENN, 1760-1852.
Miniature ; J length. Dark blue dress and turban. Mt. 67.
Taken in 1827, by Miss Reynolds.
290
VENN FAMILY ANNALS
ELING ELLIOTT (nee VENN), 1758-1843.
Pastel, by John Russell, R.A. About 1785. In possession of
Sir Charles A. Elliott. (The artist's sketch, a study for this, is in
possession of Dr. Forshall, 12 Southwood Lane, Highgate.)
Pencil-sketch by J. W. Slater. One of a family group, about
1825. In possession of E. A. Elliott, 41 Holland Park, W.
GROUP OF PENCIL- SKETCHES BY J. W. SLATER.
1. Caroline Venn (Mrs. S. E. Batten). Mt. 22.
2. Emelia Venn. Mt. 26.
3. Catharine Eling Venn. Mt. 29.
4. Jane Catherine Venn (Lady Stephen). Mt. 27.
5. Mrs. John Venn (nee Frances Turton).
6. Jane Venn. Mt. 60.
These sketches were done for my uncle, John Venn, for him
to take to India, in 1820. There were also, in the same set,
likenesses of Mrs. Dicey (nee Anne Mary Stephen), and Rev. S.
E. Batten. They were the gift of James and Jane Stephen.
JOHN VENN, Sc.D., b. 1834.
1. Miniature; J length. By Miss E. J. Rosenberg, 1890.
2. Oil-painting ; f length. By C. Brock. In the Hall of
Caius College. 1899.
3. Crayon-portrait ; J length. By E. Clifford, 1899.
4. Photogravure for title-page of College Biographical History.
THOMAS BISHOP, D.D., 1681-1737.
Miniature; in sepia; about 3x2 in. In gown, cassock, bands,
and wig. ^length. Circa 1730. Mt. 50. Given to me, 1885,
by his gr.-gr.-grandson, my cousin, J. H. Brasier.
GEORGE KING, 1763-1830.
1. Pastel; in oval frame, f length. Youth, about 13. In
blue coat, with book of music at his side. On the picture is
written "G. E. pinxit, 1776" (probably George Engleheart).
2. Pastel; with oval border. Mt. about 15. f length.
Companion picture to No. 2 of Catharine King;.
FAMILY PORTRAITS 29i
KATHARINE KING (MRS. JOHN VENN), 1760-1803.
1 . Oil-painting, of a pretty little child. Originally full-length
holding up her dress, dancing. Unfortunately cut down to *
length.
2. Pastel; with oval border. f length. £t. about 15.
Companion to No. 2 above.
The three pastels above seem plainly by the same artist. They
doubtless came to my father on the death of his uncle, George
King, in 1830.
EMELIA BATTEN (MRS. RUSSELL GURNEY), 1823-96.
Water-colour; \ length. By Negelen, about 1842.
FLORENCE BATTEN, 1825-43.
1. Water-colour; £ length. By Negelen, about 1842.
2. Water-colour ; *- length ; somewhat similar to above.
JOHN CAM, 1699-1769.
In blue coat, white cravat, and long wig. J length.
Miniature, 4 x 3 in.
(Given to me by my cousin, T. H. Babington, 1885. At
the back is written, by my aunt Mary Anne Sykes, " my mother's
grandfather.")
SUSANNA CARNEGIE VENN (nee EDMONSTONE).
Miniature, from photograph, about 1886. By Miss E. J.
Rosenberg.
JOHN ARCHIBALD VENN, b. 1883.
1. Chalk ; life-size. By Miss E. J. Rosenberg, 1885.
2. Miniature, from photograph, by Miss Wheelwright, 1899.
3. Oil; f length. 1893. Mt. 10. By Miss Wale.
Of the Ipswich Venns there are the three following at Freston
Lodge :—
EDWARD VENN, 1752-1830.
A good picture, representing a man of about 50 ; frilled shirt ;
looking to the right.
There is a somewhat similar likeness in water-colours.
u 2
292
VENN FAMILY ANNALS
EDWARD BEAUMONT VENN, 1781-1857.
Mt. about 40 ; black hair ; white cravat and waistcoat ; look-
ing nearly straight forward.
GERARD NOEL VENN, 1809-77.
Oil-painting, from a photograph. Gray beard and moustache.
In possession of Miss Howe I—-
MARY (VENN) GAMBIER, 1721-1791.
Miniature, in black oval frame, representing a lady about 40,
in a large white satin headdress.
Corresponding miniature of her husband, William James
Gambier, in a mauve coat and green waistcoat ; powdered hair.
INDEX
Adam, Rev. T., 89
Adams, Rev. J., 29
Antholin's, St., 49
Anthony Parish, 42
Arms of Fenn and Venn, 6, 209
Ashton of Penketh, 46, 234
— Andrew, 237
— Maria, 46
— Rev. C., 59
— Thomas, 235
Atkinson, Chr. and Wm., 118
Axholme, Isle of, 209
Aylestone Hill, Heref., 194
Ayscough, Catherine, 97
— Rev. James, 96
Babington family, 129
— George, 186
Baker, Thomas, 46, 60
Bardon Hill, 119
Baring family, 124, 149, 186
Barnard, Sir J., 61, 75
Barton, Cambs., 72
Bateman, Rev. Jos., 79
Bath, 131
Batten, E. and S. E., 144
Battie, Edw., 25, 69
Bell Scholar, 187
Berridge, Rev. J., 100-106
Bible, old, 35
Bidborough, 126
Billop, Capt., 241
Bishop family, 217
— Thos., 75, 221
Blackawton, 24, 29
Blundell's School, 44
Boating, 119, 122
Bottomley, Rev. J., 93
Broadhembury, 9, 30
— manors, 1 1
Brook, Rev. H., 96
Broughton, Rev. T., 73
Bryan, Ed., 59
Buchan, Earl, 92
Byron, 136
Carew, B. M., 44
Carey, Prof., 184
Cartwright, Bp., 238
Catcott, Rev. A. S., 67
Catford, Avis, 228
Cawood, Mr., 176
Caxton gibbet, 98
Champneys, Mr., 27
Charterhouse, 177
Christian Observer, 135
Church Miss. Soc., 137, 166
Clapham, 75, 127
— church, 76, 128, 138
— common, 151
— rectory, 150
— Sect, 146, 150
Clapp, R., 28
Clarissa Harloiue, 101, 204
Clarke, Ruth, 82, 102, 109, 190
— Rev. T., 90
Cockin, Rev. Jos., 84, 87, 96
Cocksputt manor, 13
Cole, Wm., 58
Coleridge, Rev. E., 6, 34, 209
Commission, Ritual, 166
Conant, Rev. R., 24, 30
Conyers, Rev. Ri., 69, 91
Cricket, 70
Croft, T., 67
Crotch, Wm., 125
Cunningham, Rev. J. W., 134, 176, 192
Dartmouth, Earl, 77
Dealtry, Rev. W., 152
Dialectic forms. 2, 210
Dicken, Mr., 4
Dissenting chapels, 95
Donkin, Tob., 260
Downham, Jo., 12 1, 138
Drewe family, 10
— Ri., 30
Drypool, 161
Duke, Ri., 16, 18, 20
Dunham, Little, 125
Dupuy family, 236
Duty of Man, Complete, 86
Ebden, Rev. J. C., 155
293
'294
VENN FAMILY ANNALS
Eclectic Soc., 137
Elliott, Ch., 108, 130 .
— E. B. and H. V., 108, 152
Ellis, Mrs., 33
Evelyn, Sir J., 73
Excise, the, 65
Fairfax, General, 23
Parish, Wm., 118, 123, 151, 189
Farnworth, 234
Farringdon, Is., 22
Pension, 100
Fenn alias Venn, 2,15
— family, 214
— Hugh, 209
— Jo., 213
— Sir Jo., 210
— Sir Ri., 210
Fitzgerald, Lady M., 107
Flavel, Mr., 100
Fortescue, Lucy, 42
Foster, Rev. H., 127
Fowle, Jo. and Thos., 221
Fuller, Wm., 239
Gay family, 231
— Patience, 42
Gibson, Bp., 56, 70
Gisborne, Thos., 146
Glynn, Dr., 121
Graham, Sir R., 239
Grange, Broadhembury, 10
Grant, Ch. and Rob., 124, 134
Greaves, Mr., 176
Grey, Bp., 202
— Zach., 58
Grimshaw, Rev. W., 91
Guillim, 212
Gurney, Mrs. R., 144
Haileybury, 179
Hake, Ri., 16
Hampden, Bp., 202
Harrow, 177
Harvey, Edm., in
— Rev. Ja., 101, no
Heirlooms, 47, 238
Hele family, 26, 43
Helvoetsluys, 85
Hereford, 193
— Discussion, 201
— Steam Mill, 196
Hey, Jo. and Ri., 115
- Wm., 8 1
Highbury, 166
Hill, Sir Ri., 85
— Rowl., 95, 103
Hipperholme, 113
Hollis, Mac., 220
Holloway, 162
Hornsey Lane, 163
Horsley, 72
Hotham, Sir Ch., 84, 86
Huddersfield, 77, 175
Huntingdon, Lady, 77, 86, 92
India, voyage to, 181
arratt, Rob., 123
ay, Rev. Wm., 132
enkinson, Grace and Jos., 259
ephson, Dr., 164, 192
esse, Rev. Wm., 89
esus, Mastership of, 141
ohn's, St., Holloway, 162
owett, Jos. and Hen., 118
Kershaw, Ja., 81, 87
King family, 254
— Geo., 140
— Josh., 158
— Katharine, 126, 129
Kirkby, Mark, 260
Langley, Rev. A., 72
— Marg., 225
Law's Works, 72, 74
Lee, Prof., 188
Leland, 19
Lepsius, Prof., 171
Liskeard, 24
Lloyd, Mr. W. G., 208
Love, Chr., 225-27
Ludlam, Wm., 114
Lydeard Laurence, 129, 223
Macaulay, T. B., 176
— Zach., 134, 136, 145
Madan, Bp., 113
— Rev. M., 89, 107, 113
Malthus, 179
Markyate Street, 68
Mathemat. Tripos, 120
Merton House, 189
Middleton, Conyers, 55, 56
Mill, Dr., 181
Milner, Is., 89, 153, 190
— Jos., 89, 113
Milton Abbas, 210
Miscellany, the, 51, 57
Mistley, 48
Modbury, 25
Monmouth, Earl, 33
Monuments, 39, 139
Moorhouse, Wm., 80, 96
More, Hannah, 128
Musgrave, Ch. and Thos., 160, 177, 198,
202
Muster-rolls, 17
Neville, Mary, 225
Newton, Sir Is., 96
Nicholson, Mr., 116
INDEX
295
Gates, Ri. and Wm., 259
Otterton, 18, 32
Palmer, Mr. M. G., 32
Palmerston, Lord, 50, 52
Parry, Edw., 125
Paxton, 98, 119
Pearson, Dr., 104
Pedigrees, Ashton, 247, 248
Bishop, 218
Fenn family, 214
Gambier and Howe, 279
Gay, 233
King, 256
Kigby, 253
Sykes, 262
Venn, Devon, 266-277
— London, 278
— Somerse.t, 230
Penketh family, 234
Peyhembury, 3, 10
— manors, 12
Pinner, 192
Pitman, Wm., 68
Poer, Rob., 19
Pole, Sir W., 20
Portraits, family, 288
Powley, Rev. M., 83, 93, no
Preston, Lord, 47, 243
Proctorial, 159
Queens' Coll., 69, 153
— Mastership of, 192
Ramsden, Sir Jo., 77, 95
Rayner, Wm., 44
Regicide, Jo. Venn, 3, 223
Rigby of Burgh, 250
— Mary, 47
— Edw. and Ri., 48
Riland, Rev. Jo., 96, 107
Risdon, Trist., 18
Robinson, Thos., 114
Rolls, Subsidy, 5
Romish Controversy, 201
Rothley Temple, 129
Rowe, Wm., 26
Rundle, Dr., 55
Russell, Dr., 177
Ruth Clarke, 82, 102, 109, 190
St. Faith's, 238
St. Mich. Mount, 18
St. John's, Holloway, 162
Salterton, 19
Seal, family, 6
Seeley, R. B., 156
Service, evening, 133
Sharpe, Granville, 146
Shields, Mr. F., 144
Shirley, Rev. Walter, 90
Shore, Ch., 149, 157
Shorthand, 124, 150
Shute, Mr., 112
Sid. Suss. College, 44, 115
Simeon, Ch., 118, io, 187, i
Sion Abbey, 18
Slater, J. W., 138
Small-pox, 54
Smith, Wm., 145
Smyth, Prof., 158
Smythe, Sir S. S., 126
Somerset House, 49
Stainforth, G., 149
Stephen, Sir J., 105, 142, 145
Stillingfleet, Rev. J., 91
Stock, Rev. E., 137
Stonehouse, Sir J., 75
Stuart relics, 47, 64
Stuckley, L. and T., 38
Subsidy Rolls, 5
Sutcliffe, Rev. R., 112
Sykes family, 257
- A. A., 55
Dan., 260
— Edm., 257
— Martha, 161, 165
— Richard, 258
Talbot, Rev. W., 90
Teignmouth, Lord, 134, 151
Temple Grove, 50
Temple, Mr., 52
Thelbridge, 39
Thomason, Rev. T., 100, 183
Thornton family, 145, 148
— Jo., 75, 127
— Sam., 122, 148
Tiverton, 23
Tooke, J. H., 107
Toplady, Rev. A., 10
Townsend, Rev. Jos., 90
Tregonwell, Lady, 210
Trevecca, 94
Turton, Frances, 138
Upton Prydham, 12
Vaccination, 122
Vaughan, Mr., 27
Venn, Alb. J., 4
— Anne, 63, 225
— Caroline, 144, 192
— Catherine, 101, no
— Dennis, 41-43
— Edmunda G., 64
— Edward, 213
- M.D., 62, 66
— Beaumont, 34
— Eling, 101, 108
— Elizabeth, 63
— Emelia, 143
— Frances Sus., no
— Henry, of Huddersfield, 65
change of views, 74
-296
VENN FAMILY ANNALS
Venn, Henry, of Huddersfield, as Church
man, 93 •
marriage, 75, 96
— — preaching, 81
death, 104
family, 108
- Henry, of C.M.S., 148
• — marriage, 16 1
death, 168
labours, 171
— Jane, 63
— Jane, 99, 109, 148, 192
— Cath., 142
— John, 63
— John, regicide, 211, 223
— of Clapham, 112
— marriage, 126
— death, 138
— works, 139
— John, of Hereford, 175
— in India, 180
— death, 206
— labours, 207
— of Oxford, 211, 229
— Katharine (King), 140
— Margaret, 37
— Maria (Ashton), 46
— Maria, 144
- Mary (Gambier), 63
— Richard, of Otterton, 22
— Richard, 63
— Richard, of St. Antholin's, 44
— • — marriage, 46
— family, 62
— works, 60
Venn, Robert, of Thelbridge, 38
— Simon, 223
— Thomas, 227
— William, of Otterton, 15
" Venn," place-name, i
Venns, distribution of name, 8
Venns of Broadhembury, 14
— Cheddar, 4
— Devon, 4
— Gloucester, 2, 210, 216
- Lydeard, 3, 8, 223, 228
— Sussex, 7
Volunteers, Clapham, 134
Walkden, Mr., 192
Walpole, Sir R., 65
Warburton, Dr., 57
Warrant for execution of Charles
Waterland, Dr., 56
Waterworth, Mr., 201
Webster, Rev. W., 57, eg
Weld, Thos., 225 "
Wesley, Rev. Jo., 78, 91
Whiston, Wm., 66
Whitefield, Geo., 50, 92, 106
Whittlesea Mere, 120
Wilberforce, Wm., 155
Wills, 17, 35, 37, 42, 64
— List of, 281
With, Mr. G., 199
Wollaston, Fr., 1 17
Worden, General, 239
Yelling, 97
THE END
Printed by R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, Edinburgh.
WORKS BY JOHN VENN, SC.D., F.R.S., F.S.A.
THE PRINCIPLES OF EMPIRICAL OR INDUCTIVE
LOGIC. 8vo. 1 8s. 1889.
SYMBOLIC LOGIC. Crown 8vo. ics. 6d. Second
Edition, 1894.
THE LOGIC OF CHANCE. Crown 8vo. los. 6d.
Third Edition, 1888.
ON SOME OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF BELIEF,
SCIENTIFIC AND RELIGIOUS. 8vo. 6s. 6d.
Hulsean Lectures, 1869.
THE BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF GONVILLE AND
CAIUS COLLEGE. 3 Vols., 1897-1901.
LONDON : MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD.
PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE
CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY
03 Venn, John
Annals of a clerical fa^nil;
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11