GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
3 1833 00729 8760
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2010 with funding from
Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center
http://www.archive.org/details/accountofchurchpOObadd
AN ACCOUNT
CHURCH AND PARISH
OF
ST. GILES,
WITHOUT CRIPPLEGATE,
CITY OF LONDON
Compiled from various old authorities, including the Churchwardens' ^Accounts, and the Vestry Minute 'Books of the ^Parish,
BY
JOHN JAMES BADDELEY^
Churchwarden, 1887-8.
Illustrated by Wood Engravings Specially executed for this work.
& ' ■ London :
PUBLISHED BY J. J. BADDELEY,
Chapel Works, Moor Lane, E.C.,
And Sold for the Benefit of the Funds of the Metropolitan
Dispensary and the Cripplegate Pension Society.
BLADES, EAST & BLADES, Printers^
23, ABCHURCH LANE, LONDON, E.C.
13352G0
PREFACE.
''PHIS compilation arose from my desire to follow in the foot- steps of many Churchwardens of St. Giles, Cripplegate, in doing something more lasting for my fellow-parishioners than could be done by merely performing the routine duties of the office. I have also further objects in view, first to benefit two of our useful Charitable Institutions with the proceeds derived from the sale of the book, and secondly, what is perhaps of more importance, to endeavour to arouse in some of my neighbours in Cripplegate an interest in, and a desire to serve, their ancient Church and Parish.
On account of the many historic characters connected with the Church, this book may have a wider circulation than amongst those for whose pleasure and information it was chiefly written. I would, therefore, say to all into whose hands it may fall, that although the facts stated, and the extracts taken from the Parish and other books, are, I believe, correct in every particular, yet it is not intended as a book for reference.
Though the title is "An Account of the Church and Parish,"' no attempt has been made to deal in detail with the many notable and historic characters once resident therein, nor to treat of the
A 2
domestic or trade history of the Parish. Those curious in such matters may be referred to the excellent volume on the subject, published in 1883, by the late Rev. W. Denton. I have con- tented myself with giving a general outline only of the state of the Parish, paying more particular attention to the History of the Church, and of the officials and others connected with it, as found in the Parish Records. The extracts from these have been left, as far as possible, to tell their own tale.
The Illustrations will, it is hoped, supply a long-felt want for some pictorial memento of the Church, and the historic monuments within its walls, and may help to cover many possible errors in the text, both of omission and commission.
My first and warmest thanks are due, and are here given to the Rev. James Christie, Curate of St. Bartholomew's, Moor Lane, for the invaluable assistance he has given me in searching the Parish Records, and for information respecting the lives of several of the Vicars, as well as for general information and help in the course of the work. To Mr. Hammond I am indebted for the particulars of the alterations in the Church in recent times. To Mr. Welch, of the Guildhall Library, and to Dr. Sharpe, Records' Clerk of the Town Clerk's Office, Guildhall, my thanks are also due, and are here given, for assistance and advice in my many searches in the books and documents under their care. In passing, I would say that, under the usual wise liberality of the Corporation of the City of London, the Records in the form of Wills and Deeds, known as the Hustings Roll, have been calendared, the Wills being already in the hands of the printers. When these calendars are completed, they will be of invaluable assistance to the searchers after facts concerning the lives and customs of the ancient inhabitants of our great city.
It gives me much pleasure to thank the officers of the Church for their help at all times willingly rendered, and
especially for their invariable courtesy on the many occasions on which their patience must have been tried during the preparation of this book.
In conclusion, my readers' forbearance is asked for all faults of style and composition, and for the incomplete manner in which many of the subjects are treated, and I would have them note that the whole was compiled by one who had no previous experience of such work, and who, full of public and private business, had comparatively little time at his disposal, except that obtained by a free expenditure of midnight oil.
J. J. B.
June, 1888.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
St. Giles, Emblem of, from Window Presented by St. Luke's, at Western end
of South Wall I
St. Giles' Church, Views of —
Exterior, South-West Aspect (1682-1790) 33
Exterior, showing the Quest House, Four Shoppes and Great
Gateway (1888) 182
Exterior, South-West Aspect (1888) ----- Frontispiece
Interior, from North-East Door looking South (1791-1860) - - 3S
Interior, looking East (1791-1S62) 41
Interior, looking East (18S8) - 44
Interior, looking West (18SS) 45
Altar Piece and East Window -------- 35
St. Giles' Church —
Jubilee (1887) Medal by Vicar and Churchwardens of - - "55
Chiming Machine in Tower of - - - - - - - 130
St. Giles' Church, Monuments in—
Busby, Thomas ----------- 75
Frobisher, Sir Martin 80
Hand, Ann Martha 102
Harvist, Edward ---------- 87
Langley, Charles .......... 82
Milton, John ........... gQ
Palmer, Matthew ... - 85
Smith, Richard ----------- 98
Speed, John ------ pi
Staines, Sir William ---------- 104
Weybridge, Rev. John --------- 106
Whitney, Constance 89
St. Giles' Church and Churchyard, from Aggas' Map of London (1556) 9
St. Giles' Churchyard — ■
Plan of - - - - - - - - - - - - 190
Drinking Fountain in (1887) 54
Great Gateway of (1660) 194
Fac-similes of —
First Minutes (1659) in Minute Book of General Vestry 162-163
First Entries in the " Grand Account " Book (1649-50) - 144-145
Page in Burial Register for August, 1665 (the Great Plague) - 20-21
F ac-simii.e Autograph of —
Robert Crowley, Vicar -------- 144
Lancelot Andrewes, Vicar - - ■ - - - - 144
Samuel Annesley, Vicar -------- 144
Sir Martin Frobisher - - - - - - - - 81
Richard Smith ---------- 100
Charles Langley - - - - - - - - - 144
Edward Harvist --------- 144
FAC-SIMILE OF William Bleyton's Mark 144
THE CHURCH AND PARISH.
OF the earliest history of the noble structure which forms the subject of these pages very little information can now be authenticated; but to obtain a glimpse of the surroundings and times of the original building, let the reader allow his imagination to wander to that period in history when the reign of our first Norman king was drawing to a close — a time when the only place of comparative safety for life and liberty was within, or in close proximity to, a city wall — and then picture to himself the aspect of the immediate surroundings of the northern side of the boundary wall of the City of London. From the Creek of the Thames — afterwards called the Fleet Ditch — on the west, to Bishopsgate on the east, and stretching away northward, where are now Finsbury, Iloxton and Islington, right away to the great Essex Forest, was an almost unbroken, dreary and impassable marsh and swamp, quite unfit for building an edifice of any size or importance upon. The number of houses and inhabitants no doubt were very few, and what particular reason there may have been for building the church without the walls does not now appear; but such being the condi- tions and surroundings, the builder was doubtless led, in selecting a site, to choose a spot as near as could be to the wall of the city, not only with a view to the greater safety thus obtained, but also to secure a better
Sf. Giles, Cripplegate.
foundation for his work than could be found farther out. Possibly he also considered the convenience of the people living within the city, the spot chosen being very close to the postern gate — afterwards known as the Creple or Cripplegate — leading from the city to the Barbican.
The generally accepted origin of the word Cripplegate is that at this particular gate, cripples were in the habit of congregating to beg from the people passing through, and hence the name. The historian Stow seems to have started this derivation of the word, and succeeding writers have blindly quoted from him. The late Mr. Denton, however, in his Records of Cripplegate points out what would appear a more correct though less interesting origin. In reference to the popular rendering, he says: "The etymology must be sought elsewhere. Cripplegate was a postern gate leading to the Barbican, while this watch-tower in advance of the City walls was fortified. The road between the postern and the "burghkenning" ran necessarily between two low walls, most likely of earth, which formed what in fortification would be described as a covered way. The name in Anglo-Saxon would be "Crepel," "Cryfele" or " Crypele," a den or passage under ground, a burrow {meatus subterraneus) and " geat " a gate, street or way. (O. Sax., gat, a hole; Germ., gasse a thoroughfare, narrow road, see Bosworth's Ang. Sax. Diet.) This is confirmed by the occurrence of the name in Domesday Book, where in the Wiltshire portion we read, "To Wansdyke, thence forth by the dyke to Crypelgeat."
In T244, Cripple-gate was " rebuilt at the cost of the brewers," of whom there were many in the parish. Till then it had been a postern gate only, Alders-gate having been considered sufficient to meet the require- ments for entrance from the north, but the increased business of the brewers rendered it advisable to provide further opening for the traffic to and from " within the walls."
From old authorities it is found that the builder of St. Giles' Church was one Alfune, afterwards the first Hospitaller of the Priory Church of Saint Bartholomew, and it is worthy of note that he is related to have given material assistance to Rahere the monk (described by Weaver as a " pleasant, conceited, wittie gentleman "), who about this time was erecting the neighbouring church of Saint Bartholomew. Alfune's experience in building Saint Giles' Church was no doubt of considerable service to Rahere in the arduous task of making good a foundation for his church in the swampy ground. We read "It was a work of infinite trouble and labour."
The Church and Parish.
The building of Alfune's church was completed in the year 1090 a.d., and it was dedicated to Saint Giles, whose festival falls on the 1st of September, and to whom in the United Kingdom there are over 140 Churches dedicated, several of these, as here, just outside a City Gate. St. Giles was evidently a man much revered at that time, and of whom it is reported that he came of Royal parentage, and was born at Athens. " He was of singular charity, and gave away much to the poor; he even gave away the very coat from off his back to cover a poor sick man, who as soon as he had put it on was perfectly well." It is further related of him that " having a desire to live more solitary from the pleasures of the world and concourse of people, he privily departed thence into a wilderness, where he obscured himself in a horrid cave, unto which place Charles Martell, King of France, while hunting, accidentally came. His hounds, chasing a hind, which hind gave milk for the sustenance of this Giles, and which flying from the hounds to his cave for succour, the hounds, by the prayers of Giles, were not able to pursue her farther than a stone's cast from the cave, and after there making a stand, returned howling to the hunters. This being reported to Charles, he with his retinue came in person to the cave, where finding this Giles, and wondering to see so grave and holy a man in such an uncouth place, he demanded of him what he was, and what he did there ? Who answered that he hid himself there for Religion and for Pietie's sake. Upon which answer and conference with him, admiring his sanctity, he took such an affection to him that he caused a monastery to be erected in that place, over which he made Giles governor or abbot." The spot is where the town of Nismes now stands, and there Saint Giles died in a.d. 700.
After the death of Alfune, the founder, we find the church in posses- sion of one Almund, who bequeathed it, after the death of his son, to the Canons of St. Paul's Cathedral, and through the eight intervening centuries, the Dean and Chapter have appointed the successive Vicars. Of the original building thus referred to, no trace now remains, unless, as some archaeologists have thought, that — from peculiarities of construction — the lower portion of the tower (when compared with the architecture known to belong to that date) can claim to be part of the original structure.
Stow, in his " Survey of London," says that " the church was at first a small thing but hath been since at divers times much enlarged as the Parish hath increased, and was newly builded." This took place about
B 2
vSV. Giles, Cripplcgate.
the years 1392-3. The church thus rebuilt is for the most part sub- stantially the same as that now standing. Of its history during the three hundred years that elapse between the founding of the original church and this rebuilding but little record is found. That the Church had a place in the affections of those worshipping there, cannot be doubted, for in the Hustings Roll of the Corporation in 1274, it is recorded that John de Hayleghe and Johanna his wife, left a house in Red Cross Street and 1 2 pence quit-rent, towards the maintenance of the fabric of the Church of St. Giles. Again in 1280, Geoffrey de Catenham, painter-stainer, bequeathed a sum of money for the service of the Church of St. Giles and for maintaining a lamp therein. Again in 1282, Lucy, relict of Ralph Atecok, left the reversion of certain tenements on the Moor, in trust for sale for pious uses in the Church of St. Giles. Again, a.d. 1305, Osbert de Essex, tanner, left by his will the sum of 12 pence charged on his house in the parish of St. Giles without Cripplegate, towards the maintenance of the fabric of the said Parish Church. Again, in 1307, Walter de Bredstrete left 100 marks for the maintenance of four chaplains in the Church of St. Giles for a term of 5 years. Again, in 1309, Richard le Brus, tanner, devised to John and Thomas his sons, and to Matilda his daughter, his tenement in the parish of St. Giles, to hold in successive tail the holder for the time being maintaining thereout a wax taper of four pounds weight, to burn before the Blessed Virgin in the said church. Again, a.d. 1310, Albrie de Finchingfeld, son of Walter de Finchingfeld, late Alderman, left by will a certain piece of land to be devoted to the maintenance of the fabric of the Parish Church of St. Giles. In the matter of chantries, on the same authority we find that a bequest was made for a chantry by Margery de Bredstrete, relict of Walter Bredstrete, circ. a.d. 1316. This family seem to have been closely connected with Cripplegate, as towards the end of this century we find John de Bredstrete bequeathing to his wife "the reversion of certain houses in St. Giles de Crepulgate near le Juesgardyn" (Jewin Street). Thomas le Plastrer left an annual rent of 4 shillings in support of a "fraternal" chantry in the Church of St. Giles.
The district surrounding the Church seems to have undergone little change; a ditch, varying from one to two hundred feet broad had been dug round the city wall (a.d. 121 1), making firmer ground in its immediate neighbourhood. On its banks a few houses sprang up, but the swamps and morasses all round prevented any extensive
The Church and Parish.
building, and caused much illness — ague in the winter, and fever and the " black death " in the summer. Stow, speaking of the time of Edward II, says that " the space of ground between Bishopsgate and the Cripplegate Postern, and some distance north in Finsbury, was let at four marks per annum." This absurdly low price, even for that time, will give an idea of the little value attached to the land in this vicinity. The character of the district may also be inferred from the fact that, at this time, there was a " Fishery " in Moorfields, belonging to the City, of which it was deprived some few years afterwards. From a.d. 1250 to 1300, the Hustings Roll shows that goldbeaters, filhackeres (file hackers), cordwainers, pelterers (skin dressers), pepperers (grocers), bladers (bladesmiths*), curriers, skinners, moniers (minters or makers of coins), spurriers (spur makers), tanners, plasterers, frippeurs (dealers in old clothes), all resided in this district. Grobbe or Grubbe Street seems to have been the principal Street, and we even find the church called St. Giles de Grubbe Street. Redcross Street is also often mentioned. A tenement willed by Hugh Moton, the City Chamberlain, in a.d. 1284, is described as near "la Redcruche Street." "More Street," also occasionally occurs. Tanners seem to have been especially plentiful. In 1348, the year of the " Black Death," when so many citizens perished, one John Baudri, a tanner, of the Moor, desires in his will to be buried near the tomb of his father in the churchyard of St. Giles Cripplegate.
An effort seems to have been made to remedy the unhealthy state of the district in 14 14, by digging ditches to drain the Moor, and by making paths and causeways across it to Finsbury, and even further north. Stow, writing of this, says " Of these Moorfields you have formerly read what a moorish rotten ground they were — impassable but for the causeways purposely made to that intent." Of the church itself we can obtain no glimpse, but parishioners and others were no doubt still active in contributing to the support of its services and of the fabric itself. In Ur. Furnivall's "Fifty earliest English Wills," we find in 1439, Sir Ralph Rochefort (who was buried in the church) giving his best horse as a burial fee, 20s. each to Lincoln Cathedral and St. Giles, Cripplegate, this last for the maintenance of the fabric, and after other bequests, the residue to his executors to be applied to pious uses for the good of testator's soul. In 1450, we find "Articles agreed upon by the Company of Painters in London, for supporting a light before the images
*This is given on the authority of Stow, but Riley, in his " Memorials," says that a "blader" was a cornmonger.
of the Virgin and St. Luke in the Church of St. Giles, without Cripple- gate," and from this time to 1550, there are many presentations of chantries to the church. Amongst others, the Fraternity of Our Lady of St. Giles, founded by John Ballincer and others, who gave to the Master and Wardens of the same Fraternity to find a Chaplain and two lights there, ^13 17s. \d. per annum. The value of house property can best be judged from an Inquisition at Guildhall, 18 and 19 Henry 6th, into the possessions of St. Peter, Westminster. Among these are "4 tene- ments in the More in the Parish of St. Giles, which are worth by the year 32 shillinges, also 4 ditto in Grub Street, at 32 shillings."
During the fifteenth century little or no record is given as to the state of the Parish; probably no further improvements were made, as owing to the Wars of the Roses then raging, and the general lawlessness of the period, honest men preferred to live within the protection of the city walls, and enjoy the privileges of citizenship, from which they were debarred if living without. The drainage having improved the land however, we find it used for agricultural purposes, " yeomen " being referred to as of the neighbourhood. The few "houses" then existing were, for the most part, miserable wooden sheds, or thatched mud and clay cottages, without chimneys or glazed windows — the wretched inhabitants living and sleeping in one room, on their palettes of rushes, hay and straw, and with the most filthy surroundings, ready to fall an easy prey to the prevalent fevers, plague, and other diresome diseases.
During the more settled and peaceful reigns of Henry the Seventh and Henry the Eighth, Cripplegate enjoyed, with the rest of the country, security, and therefore prosperity. At this period, the Hustings Roll gives, in addition to those before mentioned, the following trades as carried on in the Parish : In 14S4 a husbandman, a sherman (a shearer of cloth), a yeoman, a cheseman, a mercer, and a butcher are mentioned; and from 1500 to 1550, bowmakers, tallow chandlers, bierbruers, pewterers, haberdashers, gardyners, " brownbakers," vintners, "owners of tenter yardes," gurdelers (girdlers), are mentioned as parties to various deeds. The names of the signs (not restricted as now to public houses), are very varied, such as " The Cok and the Hynde," " le Crowne," " le Round- hope," "le Home in the Hope," "le Harpe on the Hope," "le Doggeshed in le Potte," "le Castell," described as in Grubstrete and Fore Street; "le Christopher," " The Faucon," " The Swaune," at the corner of Golding Lane and Whitecross Street ; " The Hartshorne," " The Cross Keyes," "The Swanne with two Neckes," "le Aqua Vite House," "The Mayden-
The Church and Parish.
head in Moore Lane " ; " The Redcrosse," in Grub Street. In the same deeds are mentioned "gardens in Whitecrosse Strete," "Barbycan Strete," "a brewhouse near Jewin Gardens," and " More Lane." "Grub Street" also called "High Street," "le Morestrete " occurs; and present dwellers in Redcross Street should mark " Redecrowchestrete." Further work was done towards reclaiming the Moor. Stow tells us that in 15 1 2 "The Maior caused divers Dikes to be cast and made to drein the waters of the said Morefield, with Bridges arched over them, and the ground levelled. Whereby the fair field was made somewhat more commodious, but yet at flood full of noisome waters" ; and again in 1527, that "The Maior caused divers sluices to be made to convey the said water over the Town Ditch into the course of the Walbrook." This improved condition of the moor caused many of the nobility and gentry to build for themselves residences in the district, and documents in the Rolls Office for 1522, under heading St. Giles' Without Crepulgate, show the increased value of land, and also the difference in the class of the inhabitants.
Lady Mary Willoughby, in lands yearly, 500 marks; in goods, 600 marks.
Mr. Garter Principal King of Arms, ^40.
Charles Wreothesle, in lands and fees, ^38 6s. &d. ; in goods, ^40.
Norre King of Arms, in goods, ^40 ; in fees, ^20.
Sir William Bulmer, in lands, ^30.
The Brotherhood of our Lady and St. Giles, in lands, ^30 ; in goods, ^60.
The aristocracy of the neighbourhood evidently availed themselves of the services of their Parish (St. Giles') Church. Many were baptized, married, and buried there, though the monuments and brasses placed on the walls to their memory were unfortunately destroyed in a fire, a.d. 1545 (described later on). "By which mischance," says Stow, " the monuments of the dead are now very few."
The following extract shows the value of houses : — 1526 — "Plouse in Crepulgate belonging to the late monastery of Lesnes, granted to Thomas Chamberleyn, of London, Pewterer, for 31 years, at 31^." Bell foundries, of which there were many in the Parish in the seventeenth century, were in full operation ; the following curious entry occurs — 1524 — in an account of "Revels at Greenwich" — under Lord Leonard Gray, brother to " Markus Dorset " : —
" Bought at Krepyllgaat a metal bell for the watch bell of the Castle, 8s. ; Timber for ye four shields, and painting them, gs. ^d. ; 2 bundles
of brown paper for the unicorn and mountain of rock, 2s. ; 4-lbs. of glue, is. ; a bushel of wheat-flour for paste, i6d. ; 16 hoops and 400 spleters 'for inbossing of the best' and repairing the mountain, 2 2d. ; 2-cwt. of rope, 3U. 3^/."
In addition to these honest traders, we find a less desirable class of people settling down in the rear of Fore Street, Grub Street (now Milton Street) and Moor Lane, comprising a large sprinkling of counterfeit- coiners, receivers of stolen goods, ale house keepers of bad repute, and also many foreigners or "Strangers," who, through the natural jealousy of the City freemen and apprentices, were driven here for shelter. Beggars and rogues seem to have been well looked after, however. In 15 19 occurs the following entry : —
"Idle, vagrant, and suspicious persons taken by the Mayor and Alder- men of London in their several Wards upon Sunday night (8th July) last past, by the commandment of the King's most honourable Council at 12 o'clock at midnight — 'Three' were found in Cripplegate."
Such, briefly, was the character of the inhabitants and surroundings of the church during this period, which itself must have had an uneventful time, as little mention is found of it in contemporary chronicles, till we come to "The Fire," which took place, as before mentioned, in 1545.
In a short contemporary " London Chronicle," the following notice of it is given : — " The xij day of September, Saturday, in the morning, about five of the klock, was Saynt Jyles's Church burnd, belles and alle, w'out Crepellgate " ; or as another chronicler puts it : — " Item, the xij day of September, of iiij cloke in the morning, was Sent Gylles's Church at Creppyllgate burned, alle hole, save the walles, stepall, and alle, and how it came God knoweth." Wriothesley, who was a resident in Cripplegate, and possibly an eye witness, says: — "The 12th daie of September, about fower of the clocke in the morninge, the church of St. Giles without Criplegate was espied on fire, which church, with the steeple and bells, was cleene burned before seaven of the clocke in the same morning, the stone walles onelie saved, which could not burne, by what means no man could tell." The variety of the orthography, especially of the proper names, is remarkably characteristic of the age. The fire was confined to the interior; the walls appear to have sustained little damage, probably owing to their great thickness, those in the tower being nearly five feet of solid masonry ; the whole seems to have been speedily restored, but the great loss to the antiquary and archaeologist was the destruction of the brasses and monuments, and
The Church and Parish.
of the books and papers concerning the vicars and various officers of the church — this was irreparable. Between this time and the end of the century the parish seems to have become more thickly peopled, especially at the western end, but there was still much vacant land, especially in the Moorfields. The contrast between the number of houses within the walls, and those without, is very great — as is very clearly shown in the map below (taken from Aggas' Map of London, 1556). This map
also very clearly delineates the city wall, with the ditch flowing round it, and also the area of the churchyard, but the outline of the church is but indistinctly given. At this time the ditch must have been a freely running stream, as Stow speaks of the "quantity of good fish taken in it."
In this early period many distinguished persons were interred in or around the church, amongst others : Sir Ralph Rochefort, 1439 ; Reginald, Earl of Kent, 1530; Sir Harry Grey, Earl of Kent, 1562; Reginald Grey, Earl of Kent, 1573; Thomas Hawley, King of Arms, 1575 j Sir John Wriothesley, Garter King at Arms, 158S (Weaver,
io St. Giles, Cripplcgate.
in his "Funeral Monuments," says: — "Here, under a large marble stone [whereupon no inscription is at this day remaining, neither any effigies of the deceased left, both of which were inlaid and engraven upon the monument] lieth the body of Sir John Wriothesley, Knight Garter Principle King at Armes ") ; John Fox, author of the " Acts and Monuments of the Church" commonly called the "Book of Martyrs," 1587; Robert Glover, Somerset Herald at Arms. Newcourt says, "Here likewise lay interred the body of Robert Glover, Somerset Herald, an indefatigable searcher after antiquities, over whose grave is a comely monument on the South wall of the Choir"; also in 1594, Sir Martin Frobisher, the great arctic voyager and fellow-worker with Drake, in his West Indian expeditions ; and one who had no small share in the glory of the defeat of the Spanish Armada — commanding one of the largest of our ships, and receiving the honour of Knighthood (during the twelve days' fight) at the hands of Lord Howard of Effingham.
Machyn's Diary of events happening between 1550 and 1570 gives interesting accounts of baptisms and burials in the Parish Church of St. Giles, which seems to have been a fashionable church at this time for such ceremonies. There seems to have been as much fuss and ceremony over the one as the other, and the "good chere" was not the least part of the function.
1556-7. — "The xxx day of January was bered Master[ess] Ogull, the wyff of Master Ogull, in the parryche [church of] Sant Gylles with-out Crepulgatt, with ij whytt branchys, and a dosen staffe torchys, and iiij grett gylt candlystykes, and with iiij grett tapurs and armes upon them, and ij dosen of skochyons of armes and a black frere dyd pryche at masse for here."
1561. — "The xvj day of July was cristened Robard Dethyke the sune of ser Gylbartt Dethyke, Garter, in the parryche of sent Gylles withowt Crepull-gatte, and the chyrche hangyd with clothes of arrys and the cloth of state, and strode with gren rysses and strode with orbese, and ser Wylliam Huett depute for my lord of Shrowsbere and master Care depute for my lord Honsdon, and my lade Sakefeld the quen['s] depute ; and after wafurs and epocrasse grett plente, and myche pepull ther, and my lade Yorke bare my lade depute's trayne ; and so horn to here plase, and had a bankett."
1562. — "The xxx day of September was rayles mad at Sant [Giles's with] wtt Crepull-gatte and hanged with blake and armes [for the] gentyll knyght ser Hare Gray, and was brodur unto the [Earl of Kent]
The Church and Parish. 1 1
with ij haroldes of armes, Master Clarenshux Kynge, and Ruge-crosse pursewantt of Armes, and he bare the helme and [crest, master] Clarenshux the cott of armes and then the standard and [banners of] armes ; and the clarke syngyng ; and then the corse covered [with a bla]ke velvett pall with a whyt crosse of saten and armes a-p[on it] and many morners in blake ; and ther dyd pryche Master [Nowell] the [dean of] Powlles ; and after he was bered home to the plase to d[inner, where] there was good chere, dener after dener tyll iiij of the [clock]." (The words in brackets are supplied by the Editor of the " Diary.")
St. Giles' Registers record the two last more tersely : —
" Robert Dethyke the sone of Mr> Garter was christened ye xvi day of July, 1 561."
" Sr- Harry Graye, Knight was buried the last day of September, 1562."
As an illustration of the general state of the Parish, of the crimes com- mitted therein, and their subsequent penalties — the following extracts from the " Middlesex Sessions Rolls " will be interesting : — I555- — Philip and Mary —
"A Coroner's inquisition post-mortem taken at St. Giles Without Cripplegate, on a man who died suddenly, while making hay in a field called ' Fyve Acres Fielde.' "
1561-2. — 4th year of Queen Elizabeth —
" True bill— That on the highway of Fynnesbury, in St. Giles Without Criplegate, two men assaulted Henry Byrkened, of Lincolne's Inne, gentleman, and robbed him of a crymson sattin purse, with a key annexed to it, a gold ring set with two precious stones called a Turkeis and a Rubey, a hat, a linen kerchief, a sorrell gelding and a saddle. Sentence — to be hung."
1580-1. — 23rd year of Queen Elizabeth —
Richard Baker " did enter into recognizances to appear at the next Gaol delivery, for that hee killed a sheepe of two yeres olde for a lame (sic/), and so sold it to the disayte of the Queens subjects, and for killinge an sellinge victualls on the Sabothe days."
(In one of these Rolls of this same year occurs the name of the parish spelt variously — Creppelgate, Crippelgate, and Criplegate— and in another of the same year, Creplegate.)
1584-5. — 2'jth year of Queen Elizabeth —
A fight recorded— " Ralph Nashe being armed with a 'bearing bille,' and Richard Blisse with a 'pyked staffe.' "
12 St. Giles, Cripplcgate.
1587-8. — joth year of Queen Elizabeth —
Coroner's inquest post-mortem taken at " Fynnesbury," on the body of a man killed, as follows : —
"Wm. Pennington was walking to the House of Francis , in
St. Giles, Without Creplegate, tallow-chandler, when he was assaulted by the above man and 3 other persons, who came upon him with swords and daggers drawn, and before whom he retreated until he came to a post called ' the rayles,' then drew forthwith his sword and dagger, and lawfully defended himself, and in the affray he gave one of his assailants a blow on the thigh, of which he died, then and there." 1587-8. — joth year of Queen Elizabeth —
"At Finnesberrie, in the Parish of St. Giles Without, Creplegate,
slew and murdered by giving him a sword wound
in the left side of the breast, of which wound he died instantly." 1596-7. — jpth year of Queen Elizabeth —
" True bill — That in a certain close called ' Bastion's Close,' in the parish of St. Giles, Creplegate, Edward Harewood, late of London, gentle- man, assaulted Adam Crosby, gentleman, and then and there, with a sword, gave him a mortal blow, of which he died instantly. On his arraignment, Edward Harewood put himself 'Not Guilty' of Murder, but 'Guilty' of Manslaughter, and on asking for the book, read like a clerk, whereupon he was branded with the letter T, and delivered according to statute.'" 1597-8. — 40th year of Queen Elizabeth —
"in a field on the back side of the Peste House, with a
rapiour, gave his right breast a blow, of which he died instantly."
Many more such entries could be quoted, but these will suffice to show the dangerous and lawless state of the parish at this time. No mercy was shown to any found tampering with the coin of the realm (for which failing Cripplegate had a bad reputation). Quoting again the " Middlesex Sessions Rolls," under 7th year of James, we get
" True Bill. Traitorously and feloniously diminishing certain
moneys by clipping and filing them, to wit, two silver pieces called King James' shillinges, nine silver pieces called Elizabeth's shillinges, one silver piece called Phillipp and Mary shillinge, two silver pieces called King James' halfe-shillinges, and nineteen silver pieces called Elizabeth's half-shillinges. Found Guilty, and sentenced to be taken from the court in which they were arraigned to Newgate Gaol, thence to Tyburne gallows, and there to be executed as traitors, with all the usual incidents of such an execution."
The Church and Parish.
The religious difficulties of the time seem, too, to have found their way into the parish—
In a list of names and addresses of certain Papists in London (1578) with particulars of those who keep chaplains, attend mass, &c, occur the names of Baron Browne and Baron Lord of the Exchequer, of Redcross Street. These were Romanists who had evidently taken the oath of allegiance to the Queen, and were unmolested. The Romanists who refused the oath of allegiance (recusants as they were called) were active and numerous in the district. "On the 6th July, 1582, when the sexton came to ring the bell in the morning to the lecture at six o'clock he found in the church porch a seditious pamphlet which he shewed to Mr. Crowley the minister who delivered it to me immediately after the end of his sermon (Sig) Jo : Hammond." Dr. Hammond, who thus forwarded the pamphlet to the Secretary of State, was Commissary to the Bishop of London at the time, and resided in Cripplegate. Twelve years later, no fewer than twelve of these recusants from Golding Lane were either under close surveillance, or in close keeping in the Counter, Newgate or Finsbury prisons. One of their haunts is thus described : " In Mrs. Rigsbys house in Old Street behind Golden Lane there is a vault under the stairs going up to a chamber where two or three may be hid and a place on the top of the stairs where they can take up the boards to go down to the vault."
The three following extracts from the Middlesex Session Rolls refer to the same class of individuals : —
I5g8-g. — 41st year of Queen Elizabeth — •
"Amongst Forty True Bills for not going to Church, Chapel, or any usual place of Common Prayer for six months, was one against Nicholas Crudde, late of Golding Lane, in St. Giles Without, Criplegate, yeoman." 1 611— 12. — gth year of King James I —
True Bill for the same offence — on the 24th June, and during the three months next following, against one "gentleman," and three " spinsters," and later on another case of a " yeoman," and again of six more — all of Creplegate.
1620-1. — 18th year of King fames I —
" Recognizances to appear at next Sessions of the Peace for
Middlesex, then and there for doying worshipp at Tyborne, and denyinge the oath of allegiance."
Notwithstanding the state of the parish above described, the great number of poor house-holders therein (according to returns made, in
14 St. Giles, Cripplcgate.
1595 as many as 466 needed relief, being second on the list for the whole city), and the statement of a letter writer a few years later, that, "there is more elbow room, but scant better air than in Little Britain," many noblemen and gentlemen selected Cripplegate for their town residences, whose country homes in 1595 were in "Essex, Somerset, Cambridge, Kente, Northampton, Hartford, Gloucester, Lincolne, Norfolk and Sussex." At this time numbers of minstrels lived in the Parish : probably the Fortune and Red Bull Playhouses might have caused their residence here. During the last 20 years of this century over 40 are referred to in the Registers. Brewing also was a great trade in the Parish, over 70 brewers, exclusive of brewers' servants, are referred to during the same time. That great and noble man Sir Humphrey Gilbert also lived here, as is testified by a letter dated Feb. 27, 1583, and addressed from his house in Redcross Street, to Walsingham, Secretary of State to Queen Elizabeth, wherein he states " his reason why he cannot comply with Her Majesty's solicitude for him to stay at home from the personal execution of his intended discovery," " he is sanguine of success and willing to be opposed by all the best navigators and cosmographers of the realm." " The extreme winter weather alone had delayed him." How the Queen was prevailed on to grant his request, and allow him to set out on his ill-fated expedition, which was to settle Newfoundland and search the southern coast of America, and how, after many mutinies and desertions of his men, and loss of several ships, he re-embarked on the Squirrel, a little vessel of only 10 tons, and in company with two others only, the Delight and the Golden Hind, set sail for England, to be caught in a terrific storm off the Azores — is well known — his memorable words, " Be of good heart, my friends : we are as near Heaven by sea as by land," will not soon be forgotten. The end has been graphically described by Hayes, a member of the expedition : —
" The same Monday about twelve of the clock, or not long after, the frigate (the Squirrel) being ahead of us in the Golden Hind, suddenly her lights went out and withal our watch cried, ' The General was cast away,' which was true, for in that moment the frigate was devoured and swallowed up by the sea."
Cripplegate is honoured by such a man having lived in her midst, and one can readily picture a friendship existing between him and Sir Martin Frobisher (before mentioned as being buried here) who had sailed the same seas before him. It was to men of their character and to their
The Church and Parish. 15
example, that the noble public spirit displayed by all classes during the glorious reign of Queen Elizabeth is due. We find the men of Cripplegate forward in doing their duty in all good works, especially in helping their poorer fellow-parishioners, for from this time the majority of the Charities for which the Parish is noted, are dated. Many monuments, such as those of Busby, Langley, Day and Mason are placed on the walls of the Church, commemorating the men and their work (see Monuments).
Their confidence in the Vicars and Churchwardens must have been great, as many gifts were made such as follows : —
In 1603, there was given the Vicar and Churchwardens for their sole use an "orchard." No trust is mentioned.
The commencement of the seventeenth century saw great improve- ments in the vicinity of the Church. During the Mayoralty of Sir Leonard Halliday (a.d. 1605), the Moor was laid out in pleasant gravelled walks and planted on all sides with rows of trees, at the large outlay of ,£5,000, and became a fashionable rendezvous for the nobility and gentry living in the parish, and the adjoining district of Aldersgate ; the Moor Ditch, however, was- a constant source of trouble and danger to health; in 1603, we find an order "that the Moor Ditch be cleaned, and the expense divided between Middlesex and the City." The northern part of the parish, about Redcross and Whitecross Streets, was being rapidly covered with houses inhabited by respectable traders. There were several ale and beer brewers who gave largely to the Parish charities ; bell and general metal foundries were also in full operation. The gold and silver thread industry, too, was largely cultivated. Fifty years later " Milton " had two of his daughters taught the trade, " to enable them to support themselves if required to do so," The estimates of the number of the population at this time are very varied, but there were probably not less than 10,000 persons in the whole district now known as St. Giles, Cripplegate, and St. Luke's, Middlesex, but then designated respectively the Freedom and the Lordship parts of Cripplegate.
Returning to the church itself, in June, 16 12, an entry in the Church- wardens' accounts of Sworder's gifts, shows that " ^50 was taken out of Sworder's money in the chest in the Quest House, and given to the Churchwardens for the New Year, to be employed in building a gallery to the Church," and again in 1623, according to Stow (without whose writings the early history of Cripplegate and its Church would have been
impossible) " all the roof over the chancel was on the outside repaired, and in the inside very curiously clouded," and again "in the years of our Lord 1624 and 1626, the two side galleries were built, very fair and spacious," and " in the year of our Lord 1629, the steeple being much decayed was repaired, all the four spires (standing in the four towers at the four corners of it) taken down : and with new and very substantial timber work rebuilt, and with lead fresh cast new covered; every one of these spires being enlarged something in the compass, a great deal in height, but most in their stately, eminent and graceful appearance. In the midst of these, where there was none before, gracing and being graced by them, was a very fair turret erected ; the head of it (which much overpeered these spires) covered with lead, as also the props that support it : this and the spires having every one a cross with very fair vanes upon them. The charge of all this I could not certainly get (1633), and would not uncertainly speak it, but the greatness of the things speaks the cost to be great, all being the sole charge of the parishioners." Unfortunately no illustration of this turret can be found.
From 1629 to 1658 no information is forthcoming as to repairs; probably in consequence of the unsettled times for the nation generally, nothing was done, but in the latter year the middle aisle was relaid and the other aisles repaired with eight-inch coloured tiles ; further repairs and " beautifyings " were effected in 1660, 1662, and 1669; more extensive alterations in 1672, and the tower heightened in 1682.
Before giving an account of these, it is necessary to give some idea of the parish as affected by the troubles of the Civil Wars, the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, the Great Plague, and Fire of London. During the wars between King Charles and his Parliament, when both parties were in the field, the Cripplegate men seem to have taken their full share in helping to maintain the liberty of their country ; we find them drilling in their churchyard, preparatory to joining the Parliamentary Forces. In 1647 the Committee of the Militia of London offer to assist the Parlia- ment in case of danger of a riot, with the aid of " a trayned band in Cripplegate Churchyard." Entries such as the following are significant of the coming troubles : — ■
1627. — "Return of Alderman Heylin for the Ward of Cripplegate, of such as refused to pay the ' loan ' (?) or have removed, or have paid elsewhere."
The names of such as say they have paid elsewhere, but show no discharge, are given : —
The Church and Parish. 17
" Kent. — Sir Wm. Twysden ^"50 land."
" Middlesex. — The Lady Bartley ,£20 land."
"Norfolk. — *Sir Roger Townsend ,£30 ,,
"Essex. — Seargent Bramstone ^15 „
1627. — "Names of those who, with reference to the 'loan,' have conformed or referred themselves."
1640. — " A list of inhabitants who are able to 'lend' to the King."
Ecclesiastical troubles were arising, dissent from the doctrines of the Established Church was growing in intensity, and many extravagant ideas were promulgated and practised — see the following Extract : —
1639. — "A man named Eaton, a cracked-brained enthusiast, died in the parish, and was buried by some 200 Brownists and Anabaptists, in Bethlem Burying Ground." A memorandum addressed to a Mr. Alsop (a printer in the parish?) states that "they, like so many 'Bedlams,' cast the corpse in, and with their feet instead of spades, cast and thrust in the mould till the grave was almost full ; they then paid the gravemaker for his pains, who told them he must fetch a minister, but they said he might spare his labours." A Mr. Alsop, Printer (of Grub Street), was, in 1649, bound over in ^300, and two sureties of ^300 each, "not to print any seditious or unlicensed bookes or pictures, nor suffer his presses to be used for any such purpose," and at the same time, John Clowes, also of Grub Street, and Adam Hare, of Redcross Street, were bound over to the same effect. In 1653 an order was made to the Keeper of the Gatehouse to take into custody John Clowes, for printing a libellous paper called " A charge against the Lord-General."
Religious intolerance here, as elsewhere, prevailed.
1635. — "Several persons from Cripplegate appeared before the Court of High Commission, and were admonished to appear that day fortnight. It was referred to Dr. Goudge to certify on that day what hope there was of their being reclaimed from their schismatical opinions."
1635. — -"A cutler of St. Giles Without Cripplegate, was monished to answer new additional, and to be examined before next Court day, or else to be attached and re-committed."
In the year 1651 the Parish must have witnessed a scene of great excitement. At a review of the Trained bands in Moorfields, a copy of
* In 1586 the mansion of Roger Townsend was among the garden houses of Redcross Street. He was knighted with Frobisher, Hawkins and others, during the fight with the Spanish Armada in 1588. The marriage of a La: Jane Townesend is entered in 1597. If this Sir Roger be the same, he must now have been an old man.
the King's summons to the Corporation of London was burnt by the Common Hangman at the head of every regiment.
Rulers in those times had so much to think about in maintaining their authority, that they could not trouble themselves to consider such a small item as the health of their subjects; and although the condition of this parish had been greatly improved during the early part of the seventeenth century, the sanitary conditions therein left very much to be desired ; no regular drainage or scavengering was dreamt of, the consequence being that the Plague was constantly raging with more or less virulence. In 1635 we read that the "Lord Mayor and the Council appointed the Commissioners of Sewers, and Inigo Jones, the King's Surveyor-General of Works, to make inquiry concerning the great annoy- ance caused by the ' Moorditch,' and to agree upon a remedy." There seems to have been a flood-gate of the main sewer which, when over- charged with land water, discharged itself into the Moorditch, which then became full, and a fruitful source of infection. The remedy suggested was to make from the Moorditch to the Minories a large strong vaulted sewer, 4 feet in breadth, and 6 feet in height, and to fill up entirely the Moorditch. It is not to be wondered at that the Plague scourge was unusually severe in Cripplegate. At this time (1636) there were no less than 2,491 burials on the register book for the year, being three times the number for either the preceding or succeeding years; and, as showing the terror and inhuman conduct of the time, we give an order of the Privy Council to the Lord Mayor of London, 1636, "It is a common practice among the Dutch and French Congregations to send consolators from house to house, to visit the sick; they continue to send these to houses infected with Plague. That there be no such visits made where the Plague is, and if they will not forbear, he is to take care that such consolators be shut up in the houses infected."
In spite of this severe outbreak, the suggested remedy, a new sewer, was still, in 1636, not effected. The Privy Council again thought it time to bestir themselves, and in September, 1638, addressed themselves to the Lord Mayor, thus: — "His Majesty and His Board have been acquainted by Lord Cottington that the King's pleasure, being by him signified to you, for removing the great annoyance that is given by the Moor Ditch, you undertook that it should be set in hand and finished in the time of your Mayoralty — there being a good sum of money levied for that work above two years since. Complaint has again been made that there has been nothing done, but that the annoyance has grown to be
The Church and Parish. 19
more noisome. We are to let you know that His Majesty takes very ill your great neglect in performance of his commands and your own engagement, albeit we cannot hope you can now absolutely remove that annoyance in the time of your government of the City, yet you are forthwith to cause an entrance to be made, and to put it in a good way to be finished, that His Majesty and the Board be no more troubled."
The Ditch encircling the city wall has been spoken of as "a running stream," but constant work was needed to keep it so, and after the last serious attempt in 1595, when, though two-fifteenths were granted for that purpose, the part between Bishopsgate and Moorgate only was cleansed, the Cripplegate portion being allowed gradually to fill up.
In the 1633 Edition of Stow, the site of the ditch from Moorgate to Cripplegate is said to be " partly occupied by gardens, partly built on."
In addition to these great sources of danger, the parish must have been in a generally unhealthy and unsanitary condition, as is evidenced by the fact that from the Lord Mayor to the humblest citizen all were alike negligent of their duties. See the following, from an extract of the Court Roll of the Manor of Finsbury, now St. Luke : —
1636. — "John Downhame, clerke, dwelling near Bunhill Fields, presented for keeping swine to the common annoyance of His Majesty's subjects, and amerced 3s. 4^." There are many entries such as this. And again — ■
" Reginald Foster, of Redcross Street, presented for suffering seven of his houses in Whitecross Street to lie worn and ruinate to the harbouringe of rogues and vagabonds ; also amerced."
At the same Court we find the " Lord Maior and Aldermen of the Citie of London presented for not repairing the highway leading from the pound belonging to the said Manor, and for not repairing the said pound, and the stocks, and cage, and for not maintaining a pillorie and ducking-stool there as it ought to be and amerced."
The shop-keepers, too, seem to have been lacking in honesty, especially chandlers, of whom there were many in the parish — as we find at this same presentment, seven in Whitecross Street, one in Golden Lane, and one in Chiswell Street, fined for using light weights ; and nine bakers were fined for the same offence.
The same Roll says that four persons from White Cross Street and six from Old Street were fined for keeping swine. Some of these aggravated their offence by refusing to open their doors to the beadle. One person was fined for not cleansing the common sewer; ten in Whitecross Street
c 2
20 St. Giles, Cripp legate.
for not amending their pavements. One was summoned for not carrying away the soil cast out by her tenants dwelling in Cocke Yard, near the Cage in Old Street.
The Roll concludes with this Manorial regulation : — " All and every person and persons dwelling in said Manor suffering their hogs or swine to range the streets within the limits of the said Manor are amerced in \2d. — 6d. to the scavenger who drives them to the pound and 6d. poundage for every hogge or swine so straying."
Taking into consideration the dirty and unwholesome habits of the majority of the inhabitants, and the filthy state of the courts and alleys that then closely intersected the parish, one does not wonder at the Plague making it a stronghold. Many precautions were taken against the spread of the disease, but in those "good old times" the greatest preventative of all — personal and general cleanliness — was little thought of, and less practised.
The Parish Registers tell a gruesome tale of the many Plague years. In 1603 there were 2,879 burials; again in 1625, 3,570; in 1636, 2,491; in 1641, 1,650; and from 1654 to 1664 more than 1,000 burials each year, culminating in 1665 with a total of a little under 8,000. Above all the other City Parishes, the following description of the terror inspired by these awful visitations might be applied to Cripplegate. It is taken from an old publication entitled "The wonderful year of 1603, wherein is shewed the Picture of London lying sicke of the Plague."
" Never did the English nation behold so much blacke worne as there was at her funeral (Queen Elizabeth). It was then put on to try if it were fit ; for the great day of mourning was set downe in the booke of Heaven to be held afterwards." After describing the night, the writer says, "the tedious minutes of the night stretch oute the sorrowes of ten thousand. It is now daye. Let us look forth and try what consolation rises with the sun. Not any, Not any; for before the jewel of the morning be fully set in silver, hundred hungry graves stand gaping ; and every one of them (as at a breakfast) hath swallowed downe ten or eleven lifeless carcases. Before dinner in the same gulfe are twice as many more devoured, and before the sun takes rest those numbers are doubled."
This vivid description of the Plague of 1603 must be magnified three fold to give the full terror of the outbreak of 1665.
The first cases in Cripplegate occurred on June 2nd, when a man died in Goswell Street and another in Old Street; the number of cases gradually increased, there being 191 burials in June, 1,346 in July, 3,556
The Church and Parish.
21
in August, 1,757 in September, and 412 in October. The entries of the burials in July take up 71 pages of the Register Book, those in August 1 01 pages, and in September 54 pages. They are faultlessly written (see specimen page), evidently at some subsequent time from rough copies made at the time of burial.
When the Plague was at its height, in the month of August, as men- tioned, no fewer than 3,556 entries are given — by far the greater number as dying of the Plague — and comparing this with a register of only 74 deaths in the corresponding month of the next year, the contrast is very startling. In all, nearly 5,000 deaths are recorded as from the Plague, and 3,000 from other causes during the year, and there is every reason to believe that of the latter many were also Plague cases, and also that numbers were buried either in the Churchyard or the Pest House, or in Bunhill Fields without any entry being made — the terror and overwhelming confusion of the time being so great. The Register Book shows that over 180 persons were buried in the Church during this year. The rest (with a few solitary exceptions) are entered as buried either "above" or "below," that is, in the Pest House Burying ground, or in the one surrounding the Church. The number of burials in this comparatively small space, with the 1,196 loads of earth mentioned below, fully accounts for the great height of the Churchyard above the floor of the Church and the neighbouring streets.
The Vicar (Dr. Pritchett) fled to the country. No Vestry Meeting was held between March, 1665, and September of the same year. Three of the Churchwardens died — two of them and the Parish Clerk in the month of August. The Sexton, Ferdinand Sotheran, died on 5th July, and it was not until September, when the disease had somewhat moderated, that his successor, Meacham, was appointed. The Vestry Minute says "that much damage and loss is daily occasioned by the lack of the Sexton." Very probably the majority of the Vestrymen suffered the same fate, and there was no responsible official left to relieve the poor who escaped, or to carry on the ordinary work of the Parish.
The poor working class and shopkeepers suffered greatly, but they were not the only ones, for by reference to the burials in the Register Book we find entries of 41 in August, 62 in September, and 17 in October, described as gentlemen, gentlewomen, or children of such ; thus showing that the well-to-do did not all run away from their "poorer neighbours." Seven servants of Ralph Tasker, Deputy, died within these three months.
$ V ^ ^ ^
i 1 1
K
3 1 1
^> *o S?
I|H^^^^11M4M3^^ ^%
rrriTTT
^
1
$
3 ^ "5 5 ^ 1 P ^Ck-^ $ * 5 ^1^ 1 5 £ ^ * '" S S
1 ^> ih $<$
s - s 3 ^ m$ 'tis
Mrs*1
X %
■h
^\kk^
<t
k, k)
<V
The Church and Parish.
21
in August, 1,757 in September, and 412 in October. The entries of the burials in July take up 71 pages of the Register Book, those in August 1 01 pages, and in September 54 pages. They are faultlessly written (see specimen page), evidently at some subsequent time from rough copies made at the time of burial.
When the Plague was at its height, in the month of August, as men- tioned, no fewer than 3,556 entries are given — by far the greater number as dying of the Plague — and comparing this with a register of only 74 deaths in the corresponding month of the next year, the contrast is very startling. In all, nearly 5,000 deaths are recorded as from the Plague, and 3,000 from other causes during the year, and there is every reason to believe that of the latter many were also Plague cases, and also that numbers were buried either in the Churchyard or the Pest House, or in Bunhill Fields without any entry being made — the terror and overwhelming confusion of the time being so great. The Register Book shows that over 180 persons were buried in the Church during this year. The rest (with a few solitary exceptions) are entered as buried either " above " or " below," that is, in the Pest House Burying ground, or in the one surrounding the Church. The number of burials in this comparatively small space, with the 1,196 loads of earth mentioned below, fully accounts for the great height of the Churchyard above the floor of the Church and the neighbouring streets.
The Vicar (Dr. Pritchett) fled to the country. No Vestry Meeting was held between March, 1665, and September of the same year. Three of the Churchwardens died — two of them and the Parish Clerk in the month of August. The Sexton, Ferdinand Sotheran, died on 5th July, and it was not until September, when the disease had somewhat moderated, that his successor, Meacham, was appointed. The Vestry Minute says "that much damage and loss is daily occasioned by the lack of the Sexton." Very probably the majority of the Vestrymen suffered the same fate, and there was no responsible official left to relieve the poor who escaped, or to carry on the ordinary work of the Parish.
The poor working class and shopkeepers suffered greatly, but they were not the only ones, for by reference to the burials in the Register Book we find entries of 41 in August, 62 in September, and 17 in October, described as gentlemen, gentlewomen, or children of such ; thus showing that the well-to-do did not all run away from their "poorer neighbours." Seven servants of Ralph Tasker, Deputy, died within these three months.
22 St Giles, Cripplegate.
The variety of the occupations of those who died is curious. In two days in August the following occur : — glover, hat band maker, servant, button maker, throster, coppersmith, wiredrawer, scavenger, gardener, attorney, glazier, haberdasher, soldjer, looking-glass maker, leather dresser, plasterer, upholster, inckhorne maker, instrument maker, sugar baker, smith, broaker, cooper, clothworker, threadman, cordwainer, carman, porter, victualler, weaver, labourer, bricklayer, tailor, sawyer, butcher, brazier, joiner, carpenter, mariner, seaman, baker, grocer, fishmonger, turner, tobacco cutter, beame maker, pin maker, stocking weaver, callender, ivory turner, mealman, water bearer, dyer, stationer.
People were loath to allow that the Plague was in their houses. The Parish Clerk, Nicholas Pyne, is entered as dying of " Dropsy," and singularly enough his wife is entered as dying the same day of the same disease. (Smyth mentions her as dying ex fieste.) One of the Church- wardens is entered as dying of fever, and on the same day one of his daughters as of the Plague.
In Richard Smyth's "Obituary" many names occur of people known to him, inhabitants of Cripplegate, who died from the Plague. From the middle of June till the end of October, 1665, he gives 75 names, of whom 58 are mentioned as " ex peste." The following are a few of the more curious : —
July 5, 1665. — •" Ferdinando Sothern, sexton of Cripplegate parish, died, having not lyen sick above a day or two, and so suspected to have died of yc sickness, but not retorned."
August 20. — " Nell our maids mother in Tenter Alley newly married died ther, ex peste."
Aug. 20. — " Mis- Pyne wife of M1' Pyne our parish clerke of Su Giles, Cripplgate, ex peste."
Septeb. 2. — " Glover the smith at London Wall and his wife (about this time both) ex peste."
Sep. 2. — M1S- Durant of Cripplegate parish our pew fellow ex peste."
September 6. — "Webster, ye old drunken cobler, under my tennant Bemning's stall in Coleman Street, ex peste."
September 21. — "Dr. Bird (as commonly called), to whom I lent 20^. (a desperat debtor), died ex peste."
September 27. — "Goodwife Hunt, the cobbler's wife, sisr to goodwife Jones, ye milkwoman."
October 3. — " Mrs. Allen, ye little crooked woman, once dwelt in Whites Alley."
The Church and Parish. 23
October 27. — "Mr. Knight in ye postern, strongwater man, Lieut, of our traine band in ye Ward, died this night, ex peste."
September 16. — "Mr. Cherry, rope-maker, our honest neighbor of Morefields, died this morning, ex peste."
Then again occur two entries of deaths, evidently considered worth specially mentioning as not dying from the Plague, viz. :
October 3. — " Mrs. Whatman, at her daughter Peachey's house, not of ye sicknesse."
September 16. — "Old John Wharton, of Guildhall, died of old age."
Amidst so many entries of deaths, we find in June, only 9 marriages, in July, 7 ; August, 2 ; September, 3 ; and October, 7.
In 1 63 1 the population of the Freedom was found to be 6,445, and allowing for the natural increase in the number of inhabitants, and for strangers settling in the parish, the number at the commencement of 1665 in both Freedom and Lordship, may be estimated at 20,000, and nearly one-half of these were dead and buried before the close of the year, such a fact alone will show the awfulness of the visitation. To add to the horror of the time, and notwithstanding an increase in the size of the Churchyard in 1662, when ground was added near Crowders Well, and the new burying ground at the Pest House opened, the Churchyards were absolutely over-crowded ; the provision for even the ordinary number of interments was not more than sufficient, so that the bodies of those dying of the Plague were placed only just below the surface of the ground — a fact in itself sufficient to account for an increase in the epidemic, and hardly needing the following extract, from the Churchwardens' accounts, to enforce it: — "Paid George Day for fetching heath to lay at the Churchyard doors, and for carrying rubbish " (into the Church) "to lay under the pews, \2S. "; with a repetition of similar entry a little later on — presumably with a view of preventing the smell from becoming too offensive. Another cause of the immense num- ber of deaths was no doubt due to the proximity of Crowders Well, and of the pump in front of the Church, to the over-full Churchyard.
The following entries in the accounts show the means used to deodorize and to disinfect the Church and Quest House —
For fire in the Quest House and frankincense in the Church, 46.
For pitch, rozin and frankincense, 1/6.
For Rosemary, Bayes, Holly and Ivy, 6 8.
In September, 1665, orders were given by the Vestry "to raise the lower part of the Churchyard 2 feet higher with earth," which significant
24 St. Giles, Cripplegate.
order was duly carried out, the Churchwardens' account for 1665-6 giving details : —
" Paid Mr. Johnson and Mr. Alliston for bringing into the Lower Churchyard 1,196 loades of earth, ,£60 is. 6d.\ paid to the labourers for spreading it over several times, £4 1 js. 6d.
The necessity for providing more ground for burials was again con- sidered by the Vestry, and in the minutes for January 16th, 1666, the following occurs : —
"Whereas in the last visitation of the Plague wherewith for the sins of this nation Almighty God hath been pleased to visit this City of London, with the parishes adjacent, and other parts of this realm, and in a special manner this our parish of St. Giles Without Cripplegate, whereby such multitudes have died that our churchyards and burying-places are now almost filled with dead corpses, that not any more can scarcely be buried
there, to the intent, therefore, that we may have more ground
certain members of the Vestry be appointed a committee to treat for the purchase of houses and grounds in Churchyard Alley, adjoining the Church, to enlarge the existing burial-ground."
And again, in the same book, for October, 1666, we read : —
" Ordered that the Churchwardens doe report to the next Vestry how much ground in the alley by Crowder's Well is now out of lease, and may be forthwith added to the Lower Churchyard." This was done, and the portion that now lies between the old City Wall on the west, and the houses in Well Street (then Crowder's Well Alley) was added.
After this time it became necessary to forbid any interments in the churchyard for seven years, and not any too soon, as before stated. For a time the dead were probably taken to Bunhill Fields burying grounds ; burials, however, soon recommenced, both in the church and the church- yard, and continued down to our own time, ceasing only in 1853, when Lord Palmerston's Intramural Act came into operation.
The other great catastrophe of the time, the Great Fire, which destroyed so many of our City churches, spared St. Giles', no doubt on account of the intervention of the City Wall, and the width of the churchyard without it, but the entry of ,£29 $s. in the Parish accounts for re-glazing part of the windows, probably broken by the heat from the fire, seems to suggest that it had a very narrow escape. The fear must have been very great that the Church would suffer the same fate that many others did, as the following entry fully indicates :—
The Church and Parish. 25
1666. — " Paid for carrying the cloath and the plate away when the fire was and bringing it back 2s. 6d." The Parish Fire Engine evidently took part in fighting the fire, and was injured in the fray, as we find two entries in the month of the Fire : —
" For mending the Engine, Buckett and Hookes." This was a temporary repair, as later in the same month (September) it was ordered " That the Engine be forthwith mended and kept in good repair continually."
St. Giles' Parish formed a refuge for the people fleeing from the City, many of whom took up their abode there, and thus to some extent permanently repaired the depopulation caused by the recent Plague.
Reverting to the Church itself, we find some slight alterations were made to the fabric in 1660, and amongst other entries in the Vestry Minute Book, the following is significant of the revulsion of feeling that was running through the country in favour of a Monarchy (with corresponding ecclesiastical charges), and in which Cripplegate thus early takes its part : — ■
1660. — Paid Leonard Frier "for painting the Kinges Amies in the Church, ;£io 1 5 j. od. Canvas for do., gs. Frame for do., 10s."
This Leonard Fryer was not above executing meaner work than painting "Kinges Arms," for in 1662 occurs another entry, "Paid to Leonard Fryer for painting and gilding the cover of the font, for laying the engine in oil, and for work about the christening pews, and the Church-yard Gate, ^5 5-f. 6d." the latter, work on the Gate that faces Redcross Street, in gilding and painting the emblems of Mortality on the upper parts, still there, and in good repair.
In April, 1662, the following entry occurs, indicating a return from the small Christening font of 1650, to the "ould font lined with lead" then removed : — Resolved " that the ould font to baptize children in that hath been removed several years past, shall be sett in the ould place where it was placed and used tyme out of mind."
In 1 68 1 the Vicarage House was rebuilt at the expense of the Parish, (see notes respecting the "four shoppes," page 178).
In 1682, the more extensive alterations and repairs previously referred to were commenced. These consisted first in taking down the upper portion of the tower, with the pinnacles so minutely described by Stow as having been erected in 1629, and in adding first fifteen feet of red brick-work, and then surmounting this with what has been described as " a low cupola ending in a pinnacle, with, at the angles, corresponding
26 St. Giles, Cripplegate.
cupolas of a smaller size. Upon the platform is a raised circular arcade of wood, covered with a low pyramidical roof, forming an open turret." This upper part of the tower and the turret thus described have never been altered, and with the exception of small repairs, are now in precisely the same form as when first built. The galleries built in 1624-6 were enlarged, the one in the north aisle at the expense of a parishioner, and that in the south aisle at the Parish expense.
The Vestry Minutes, in reference to the above repairs, run as follows : —
1663. — "Paid for setting up the font, ,£2."
" Received for the little font, £\ 10s."
1663. — "For partition of wainescott and workmanshipp where the christening font was in the middle ile, jQi 12s. 6d.
Sept., 1668. — It was ordered " that diligent search be made concerning the repaires of the roof of the Church."
Mar., 1669. — The Churchwardens are ordered " to repair and amende the decayed and other things belonging to the roof and body of the Church."
Dec, 1671. — Ordered "that the defects of the body of the church be repaired, means for so doing to be raised by a general assessment on the Parish."
3rd Feb., 1672. — Paid " ^50 towards repairs."
22nd Feb., 1672. — „ ",£50 „ ,,
March, 1672. — Paid " the surveyor for looking after repairs, ^15."
19th July, 1672. — Ordered that " the Churchwarden keep in his hands ^80 of the grand account till the Freedom and the Lordship agree how to meet the account of the repairs of the Church."
Probably after these repairs of the interior were completed, the organ presented by Mrs. Charnock was introduced {see page 115).
July, 1673. — Ordered "that the Churchwardens doe take care to forthwith acquaint Mr. Stone (the Minister), that he doe forbear preaching on Thursdays and also to acquaint the Reader that he doe forbear reading of prayers for the space of one month for the forwarding of the workmen at work in the Church. To be put by the clerk of the Parish Church next Sunday.
4th July, 1674. — "The Churchwardens to try with surveyors for abate- ment on Church repairs billes."
20th Sept., 1682. — Ordered "that the steeple be raised 15 feet higher and new cased and a new clock and chimes made, a new frame for the bells, and a new gallery be forthwith built."
The Church and Parish. 27
18th Aug., 1684. — "That Mr. John Bridges doe finish the steeple, within 2 months next ensuing as he hath begun already. The said Mr. Bridges to receive 2s. 6d. a yard beside allowance for the windows if they shall be done by him."
Before proceeding to describe the further extensive alterations in the Church which were effected early in the eighteenth century, it will be as well to give an idea as to the (then) condition of the Parish and its inhabitants. Strype, in his edition of "Stow's Survey" of 1720, mentions considerable improvement in Moorfields, as follows : " For the walks themselves, with the continual care of the city to have them in that comely and worthy manner maintained, I am certainly persuaded that our thankfulnefS to God being first truly performed they are no mean cause of renewing health and wholesome air to the city (Strype was right in his persuasion), and such an eternal honour thereto as time shall not be able to efface."
Of the principal streets and thoroughfares of the Parish, the following is a brief resume, according to the same authority : —
Fore Street, pretty broad and well inhabited.
Moor Lane, for the generality but meanly built and inhabited.
Grub Street, very long but indifferent to its houses and inhabitants, and sufficiently pestered with its courts and alleys.
Bridgwater Square. A very handsome open place with very good buildings.
John Evelyn in his " Discourse on Forest Trees," published in 1662, says " that Bridgewater Square Gardens was celebrated for its orchard, and in the year that Newcastle was beseiged (1644) produced such quantities of fruits as never was produced before or after that time." This he attributes to " the decrease of smoke resulting from the scarcity of coal in the capital from that event."
Barbican. A good broad street well inhabited by tradesmen, especially salesmen of apparel new and old.
Redcross Street. Wide, well built and inhabited. (In it there is a Dissenters' Library, Dr. Williams'.)
Whitecross Street. A good place of great length ; pretty well built and inhabited, but the part within the Ward goeth but little beyond Beech Lane, where the " City Posts " are set up.
Crotvders Well Alley, of some note for its Well, which gives its name to the Alley. "The waters of this well are esteemed very good for sore eyes, to wash them with, and is said to be also very good to drink
for several distempers, and some say it is very good for men in drink to take this water, for it will allay the fumes and bring them to be sober."
Of the Church itself, he says " St. Giles Cripplegate is very large, as indeed it ought to be as belonging to so large and populous a Parish."
Fronting Redcross Street "was the Watch House where formerly stood a Watch Tower, called Burgh-Kenning, i.e., Barbican, for the security of the city in those parts."
The " security " of Cripplegate was ensured as follows : —
"There are to watch at Cripplegate and at several other stands in divers places in this Ward every night a constable, a beadle, and forty watchmen within the walls and one constable, a beadle, and ninety watchmen in several places without the walls," the inhabitants all taking their share in this duty.
The official staff was comprised of " four constables and four scavengers." In 1737 a petition was presented to the Court of Aldermen and Common Council for leave to elect and return eight persons to serve as constables in this ward.
At this time Cripplegate Without was represented in the Common Council by one Deputy and two Common Councilmen.
The population in 1685 was estimated by Smythies (Curate, 1673- 1705) at 30,000.
According to Malcolm, the population of the entire Parish (Freedom and Lordship districts), had in 17 10 increased very largely, there being then a total of seven thousand one hundred families, and forty-two thousand six hundred persons resident therein, and considering the variety of religious doctrines circulated through the various forms of worship and services, it is not at all surprising to hear of the troubles of the Vicar, Dr. Bennet, a few years later.
From another source we gather that, in 1712, there were 3,913 houses, 2,600 of which were assessed, producing in that year ,£4,000, and there were upwards of six thousand persons employed in the manufacture of gold and silver thread, a trade which, to a small extent, survives in the Parish to this day.
The early part of the eighteenth century saw extensive alterations in the Church, testified by the following extracts from the Vestry Minute Book :—
In 1703 the galleries erected over the north and south aisles were connected by one at the west end, which was ordered " to be pewed out at the Parish charge."
The Church and Parish. 29
(In August of the following year this gallery was ordered " to be forthwith pulled down, and a larger one put in its place.")
Feb., 1703-4. — The Vestry, "taking into consideration the complaint now made of the Church being extremely out of repair in the pewing thereof and otherwise," appoint a Committee "to forthwith take a view of what repairs are wanting in or about the said Church."
In March, 1703-4, the Committee appointed at the last Vestry to view the said Church as to the repairs thereof, having now reported "that they had viewed the same with proper workmen to assist them therein and that the pews in the body of the Church under the galleries and elsewhere were extremely out of repair," the Vestry order " that it be referred to the Committee to take a view also of what repairs are wanting in and about the said Church and to consult with proper workmen what the charge will be for making good such repairs and report." (57 Vestrymen present.) The Report was as follows : —
20 April, 1704. — "The charge for repairing the old pews and otherwise would amount to ^435 or thereabouts and that it were better to demolish and remove the present pews, altar piece and pulpit (they being very old and rotten) and to have new in their stead." It was then ordered " that all the pewes below in the said Church and the altar piece and pulpit be demolished and removed accordingly and that new pewes and a new altar piece and pulpit be made and placed in their stead the Committee to discourse with the workmen about the prices,
and that an assessment of three single years according to
the Poor Rate be granted and rated for the purposes afore mentioned."
On the 25th April, 1704, two years' rate pursuant to the resolution is passed by the Freedom Vestry, but in May, 1704, it is ordered "That three years' rate be levied" (the two years' rate ordered at the last Vestry not being sufficient to do the work), and that "subscriptions be taken before the said rate is made, and that those who subscribe be first acquainted with such rate."
In June, 1704, it is ordered "That three of the Church doores be pulled down and that there be new doores made larger in their stead and that they be done with all the expedition that may be," and "that the ceiling of the galleries be lathed and plastered and that there be two more lights made in the chancell."
On 19th June. 1704, it is ordered "That the Committee inspect the galleries in the Church and repaire the pews there, or cause new pewes to be made as they shall think reasonable."
30 St. Giles, Cripplegate.
On 28th June, 1704, it is ordered "That a new Vestry be made without a vault and that there be a door made at the west end of the Church next to the Armery House."
July, 1704. — "Mr. Cartwright proposed to do the altar within the rails with black and white marble at 2s. 6d. per foot, to cleane the marble steps at $d. per foot with workmanship and polishing." It is ordered " that this proposal be accepted."
In September, 1704, it is ordered "That the Vestry Room be wainscotted with right good wainscott up to the top at 5s. 6d. per yard," and "that Mr. Robinson the elder, stonecutter, do make a marble font agreeable to the scheme now produced of right good veined clean marble, he having agreed to make the same for 16 guineas the said font to have twenty inches over."
In Oct., 1704, it is ordered "That the pews and linings of the walls in all the galleries in the Church be forthwith painted wainscot color " ; and again, in the same month, it is ordered "that a crimson velvett cushion and border, with gold fringe and torsells, be provided by the Churchwardens for the pulpitt."
While these extensive alterations were in progress the congregation worshipped elsewhere, but we are not told where the "Chappie" was situated — possibly in one described in the Parish Clerk's Survey, 1732, as " an Episcopal Chapel or Tabernacle wherein is performed the service of the Church of England, which had been provided in Noble Street for the use of the people of the Parish."
In Jan., 1704-5, it is ordered "That there be presented to Mr. Walker's wife for her kindness in promoting our having the use of the ' Chappie,' a piece of plate of five guineas and two guineas in money to their servant."
In February, 1704-5. — Ordered .... " to do the whole painting worke about the Altar and Moses and Aaron according as it is done in St. Bennet's, Grace Church Street, and Curtain and Glory according as it is done at St. Michael's Cornwell [ ! ! ] and to do the branch of the Iron Curtain Rod before the Organ, the flaming of the Candles upon the Altar with gold, and find their own scaffolding"; and on the day following ordered "forty guineas for doing this and gilding the carved work round the old Kinges armes in the middle of the chancell and find their own scaffolding."
13 April, 1705. — Ordered "that the same Committee do audit the accounts of the repairs and report with all convenient speed." The report follows, giving the total amount of expenditure for these repairs
The Church and Parish.
(1703-5), including the cost of the new Organ (see page 117), and also of several new Bells, at ^2,588 9^. 2d., the money being raised as under: —
|
IN FREEDOM. |
f |
s. |
tf |
IN LORDSHir |
■ f |
9 |
d |
|||
|
Raised |
by subscriptions ... Church Rate in Redcross Pre- cinct |
293 43i |
17 12 |
0 3 |
Raised |
by |
subscriptions ... Church Rate in Old Street ... do. Whitecross |
209 200 |
13 10 |
6 6 |
|
? 5 |
do. , Whitecross |
ISO |
8 |
3 |
Street |
280 |
19 |
1 |
||
|
)) |
,, Fore Streete |
239 |
12 |
9 |
35 |
,, Gol cling Lane |
201 |
17 |
6 |
|
|
» |
,, Grub Street |
196 |
17 |
9 |
;? |
,, Grub Street |
423 |
17 |
6 |
|
|
Total ... £1 |
>312 |
8 |
0 |
Total ... £1 |
,3l6 |
18 |
1 |
The estimated cost for the altar piece and pulpit was ^150. The entry in Minutes reads : Ordered, " that Mr. John Syms, joiner, do make altar piece and table work with a sweep raile thereto thirty-three feet round and two feet eight inches high, and a pulpit at the price of ^"150." The actual amount paid is entered at ^155.
A book, entitled "A New View of London," published in 1708, gives a description of the altar piece and pulpit, and mentions that " the altar piece is very ornamental being as the pews and pulpit of right oak ; it is finely carved, being adorned with 6 pilasters and entablements of the Corinthian order. The inter-columns are the Commandments done in gold letters on black, and the Lord's Prayer and the Creed are in black on gold. Between the arches of the tables of the Command- ments and under the cornice is a pelican with her wings displayed, and feeding her young with her own blood and above that is ' God spake these words.' Over the Lord's Prayer are the words, 'When ye pray, say,' and over the other ' The Apostles' Creed,' in large characters. And on pediments, over these, Moses and Aaron, the first holding in his hand a rod, and the second an incense pot ; and on the acroters upon the cornice are seven golden candlesticks with flaming tapers and in the centre is a Book displayed above which is a cushion and mitre, supported by two Cupids. The carved work has curious ornaments." This style of adornment was fashionable at the time, several City Churches being similarly treated. This altar piece remained until 1790, when various alterations were made.
From the same source is the short account following : — "The pulpit is of fine wainscot neatly carved and finniered, adorned with an entablature and pediments and having enrichments of vases, cherubims, palm- branches, fruit, etc., done in relievo " ; but this description does not do full justice to the beauty of design and exquisite execution of the
32 St. Giles, Cripplegate.
carved work. The cost has been already quoted, and also the name of the contractor, but unfortunately the name of the artist cannot be traced. Many think that it is the work of Grindling Gibbons ; if not, it must have been done by a pupil who very closely followed his master's style. The pulpit was originally much higher than it is now, with a sounding board suspended above. The dove which now ornaments the cover of the font was taken from this board.
In reference to the Church itself, the same book says : — "The roof of the Church is flat ; that part over the middle ile is neatly ceiled with timber ; that part over the altar is painted nebulous and another part between the two former is painted in pannels or quadrangles of white and veined marble."
After renewing the interior of the Church, the Vestry, in 17 15, turn their attention to the exterior, evidently not before it was very necessary.
March, 17 14-15. — Ordered, "That the pavement before the great door of the Church be made good and the defects about the Church be made good where ' it rains in,' and : that a Church rate be made to pay debts relating to the Church, and the Churchwardens to apply to Docters Commons for an order.' "
As the sum of ,£222 was debited for these repairs, the "defects" it would seem were somewhat serious. Again, in September, 1721, it was ordered by the Vestry " that the sum of ,£340 be raised for repairing the Church," and two months later the sum is increased to ^600, and again shortly afterwards, evidently after a report is made that still more money will be required, the Vestry appoint a Committee, with full power to carry out the work, the total cost to be reported when the repairs are completed; this was done, and on January 28, 1722, it was ordered by the Vestry "that the workmen's and other persons' bills relating to the repairs of the Church be inspected, settled, and reported by the same Committee that were formerly appointed to take care of such repairs." On February 25, 1722, the list of amounts of bills owing are reported as "new, ,£1,261 fjs. yd., and old, ^222 is. yd." Some additional expenses must have been incurred, as we find on October 12, 1722, "that the Committee formerly appointed to order the repairs in and about the Church now report the work done and the severall workmen's bills for doing thereof amount in the whole to ,£1,575, or thereabouts," and it is ordered, "that a rate be forthwith made to raise the sum of ^"1,600 to pay off the said bills and other contingent charges that may be occasioned by such said repairs." Although the aggregate sum spent on
The Church and Parish.
repairs from 1650 to 1750 was large, the chief part of it was expended on the interior of the Church — the galleries, pews, fittings, etc. The fabric of the building, being substantially built, needed no material work expended upon it. The accompanying view may be taken as an exact appearance of the south-west aspect of the Church from 1682 till nearly the end of the eighteenth century.
ST. GILES' CHURCH, CRIPPLEGATE, 1682-1790 (south-west aspect). (From an old print.)
A few more extracts follow as to further repairs, etc., later on, which tell their own tale —
March 7, 1764. — Ordered, "That repairs in the Church be done with all convenient speed."
April 6, 1764. — Ordered, "That the palisadoes which enclose the Christening pew being rather inconvenient and an incumbrance be removed."
Ordered, "That the Surveyors plans for alterations are
approved, and that in addition two doors are to be hung up at the end of the middle aisle and to turn back against the Churchwardens' and
34 St. Giles, Cripplegate.
Sidesmens' pews, and to be constantly kept shut unless in time of Divine Service."
July 1 6, 1764. — Ordered, "That ^300 be paid to the workmen and
^1,000 borrowed rubbish to be taken away occasioned in
repairs to the Church."
Jan. 15, 1766. — Ordered, "That Mr. Muller as surveyor, be paid the sum of ^"ioo for repairs to the Church and all other Parish surveying to this time."
May 21, 1766. — Ordered, "That the Sexton be paid ^20 for his pains and trouble in cleansing the Church after the late repairs, and for his expense and disbursements on that account."
June 5, 1 77 1. — Ordered, "That there be made a wainscott screen within the north-east door of the Church under the direction of Dr. Nicholls." This screen stood until the removal of the Organ to the chancel in 1869.
Aug. 27, 1772. — Ordered, "That the windows in the bell loft be boarded up as high as is necessary, and the lubber hoarding there be taken down and replaced more horizontal."
Jan. 26, 1774. — Ordered, "That £300 be borrowed on Life Annuities for defraying the expenses of new bells and repairing the belfry."
Sept. 15, 1779. — Ordered, "That the turret in the Church steeple be put into good and sufficient repair so soon as conveniently may be."
May, 1790. — Ordered, "That the old roof over the middle aisle be taken off and a new roof be added covered with copper and the side walls to the same be lowered and new windows introduced, to be done by public competition. This minute was at next Vestry meeting ordered to be discharged. However, in September of the same year, it was ordered 'that the roof be extended 27 feet eastward and a wall and parapet be built and four windows fixed.' "
Dec, 1790. — Ordered, "That the great window at the east end of the Church be glazed."
Feb., 1 791. — Ordered, "That a glory and cherubs in stained glass be put in the window over the altar to cost 250 guineas."
The King's Arms, six feet wide, are ordered to be carved and gilt and placed in the Church, to cost ^22 ; the old King's Arms to be given to Mr. Robert Home. Those were placed over the chancel arch, but have since been removed, and are now placed over the Tower Arch.
The whole cost of the alteration in 1790-1 was reported in January, 1792, to amount to ,£3,603 14J. od.
The Church and Parish.
As will be seen by the extracts from the minutes of the Vestry just given, very material alteration was made in the fabric of the Church by the introduction of four additional windows in the clerestory, two in each side, with a corresponding considerable extension in the length of the roof of the middle aisle of the Church, and a decrease in the length of the chancel. This fact should entirely quash
1335260
ALTAR PIECE AND WINDOW IN ST. GILES' CHURCH, CRIITLEGATE, iSSS.
the many doubts as to the spot not now being in the chancel where Milton's remains were laid to rest. By the entry in the Register it is clear that he was buried in the Chancel. The engraved stone opposite the fifth arch which now marks the approximate position, would have been close to the original chancel, which, at the time this entry was made, began from this column. How the doubt arose is therefore now satis- factorily explained. The following are a few of the entries concerning additional alterations : —
D 2
36 St. Giles, Cripplegatc.
Aug. 8, 1792. — Ordered, "That the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments, wrote in gold letters on a black ground, be put up at the Communion place instead of those wrote in black letters on a gold ground," and " that the remainder of the sum of ,£262 be paid for the stained glass which has been put up and fixed at the great east window of the Church, over the altar."
Sept. 19, 1792. — Ordered, "That the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the Ten Commandments lately taken down at the altar when the present were put up, be given to Mr. Thomas Strong (Vestry Clerk)."
The main features of the Altar piece of 1704 seem to have been pre- served, and a Royal Crown in the centre, over the Book, to have taken the place of the Mitre. The representations of Moses and Aaron (if we may judge from the engraving on page 38) were still left in their place. They were removed in 1858, having become so indistinct that an old in- habitant of the Parish says "no one could tell what the figures meant." The Altar piece as it stands at present, as shown on the preceding page, is made of oak, finely carved, with fruit and flower ornaments. It has six Pilasters of the Corinthian order, and three Entablements. The Entablements contain the Commandments, the Lord's Prayer and the Creed, written in gold letters on a dark ground. Above the centre entablature is a Pelican feeding her young, and over the two outer tablets are the Symbols of the Trinity, surmounted by a cluster of Cherubim.
On the outer Acroters are placed Bishops' Mitres, while on the top of the centre Acroter is placed the open Book, and on it a cushion and Royal Crown, the whole supported by two Cupids.
Let us now revert to the general state of the Parish. In 17 10 the population of over forty thousand was quite beyond the accommodation which could be supplied by one Church. So far back as 1663 serious discussions had taken place in the Vestry respecting the advisability of erecting another in the Lordship part of the Parish. Nothing came of this, and in 1670 we find a petition to the House of Lords, praying that part of the tax on coals coming into the City may be applied to building new churches in several parishes, amongst others in St. Giles, Cripplegate.
This again was without result. The Vestry, however, had not forgotten the matter, and in September, 1 7 1 1 , a Committee was appointed "to find a piece of ground to build one or more Churches, one new Church in the Freedom and two in the Lordship to be sufficient." The site where the Church of St. Luke now stands was then selected for one, and for another, ground in Whitecross Street. This
The Church and Parish.
latter suggestion fell through, the extra Church in the Freedom not being built till 1850, but it is clear that in 17 16 the Vestry thought that at least one Church would be immediately built, for in January of the same year the Vestry order "That Dr. Whitfield be desired to intercede with the Commissioners for building new Churches that the labourers living in this Parish may be employed in or about the building of one or more Churches here"; but, after sixteen years, a special Act of Parliament was obtained in 1732, and the portion of St. Giles' Parish formerly known as the Lordship was made a separate Parish. The Church in Old Street was erected in 1733, and dedicated to St. Luke.
In the Parish Clerk's survey of the Parish in 1732 (St. Giles proper, then just divided from the Lordship), the income for the Vicarage is given as ,£450 per annum, and the number of houses at 1,800, with a population of 8,000. Maitland adds: "There are seven who keep coaches" (carriages). This is probably the largest number of houses the Parish ever contained, for, owing doubtless to the over-crowding (precisely as has been the case in our own times in the immediate suburbs of London), many of the wealthy inhabitants removed to less frequented, and, therefore, healthier districts, Hackney and Bow being chiefly chosen by Cripplegate people. The large houses thus vacated were, in most cases, let out in tenements, or demolished, to become the site for rows of smaller ones. Thus the Parish became gradu- ally poorer ; heavy rates for the relief of the poor were necessary, that in 1742 being at the rate of 3^. in the pound, producing ,£4,000. In 1760 the old Cripple-gate, which had been rebuilt in 1244 by the brewers, and undergone considerable repairs in 1491, and again in 1663, when a foot postern was made, was, by order of the Commissioners of City Lands, sold and removed. ^91 was given for the material by a Mr. Blagden.
During the five hundred years that the Gate stood it had been used for various purposes. Originally a military guard house, later it was used as a prison, and the upper stories, in common with other City gates, for lodging various officials connected with the Lord Mayor.
Nothing further of particular interest occurred in Cripplegate during the remainder of the century. Probably a greater variety of small traders carried on business there than in any other City parish ; ale houses were plentiful, and also not a few "stores" for receiving stolen goods. The number of tokens struck by the Cripplegate tradesmen at the end of the previous century, showed them to be as enterprising as any of their neighbours. Boyne gives "5 in Fore Street, 13 in Grub Street, and 15 in Barbican." A fair share of the City Companies had their
St. Giles, Cripplegate.
Halls in the Parish; in 1761 we find those of the Haberdashers, Curriers, Bowyers, Brewers, Plaisterers, and Loriners, situate there. Grub Street, now Milton Street {not so called after the poet), had earned for itself in the early part of the century a modest fame as the residence of authors,
VIEW OF INTERIOR OF ST. GILES, CRIPPLEGATE. TAKEN FROM THE NORTH-EAST DOOR, LOOKING SOUTH, 1791-1860 (from ail old print).
pamphleteers, and literary men generally, of more or less slender incomes, but these left the locality when their patrons — the wealthy and titled class — settled elsewhere.
The Church and Parish.
39
From 1732 until 1800 nothing definite is found as to the number of the inhabitants, but since then the census shows the following figures : — 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. 1871. 1881. 11,704. 13,038. 13,134. 13,255. i4,361- i3>498- 8,894. 3,863.
while the day census taken in 1881 by the Corporation of London gives the number of the people employed in the Parish during the day time as 15,962, which number has probably now been largely increased. Consistently with the rapidly decreasing resident population, the number of inhabited houses was reduced from 1,558 in 1841 to 463 in 1 88 1, and since that has still further decreased.
The view given on page 38 is taken from an old print in the possession of the late Mr. Denton, and gives what was probably the appearance of the East end of the Church from 1791 to i860. It clearly shows the position of some of the older monuments in the Chancel, as they are described in "Stow's Survey," edition 1633. Those of Speed and Whitney are unmistakable, while that of Fox is indicated by the words Foxe, 1587. As mentioned elsewhere, it is partly hidden by the wainscot. At the south-east side of the Chancel is a rough representation of a figure, most probably that of Moses (1704). The door facing the beholder, leading into the Churchyard, was closed during the alterations in 1862.
As has been before mentioned, a scheme had been started to build another Church in St. Giles' Parish. This was carried into effect in 1850, the site selected being that formerly occupied by the old Workhouse in Moor Lane. The great portion of the material and interior fittings were formerly part of the Church of St. Bartholomew by the Exchange, the dedication of which it retained. The funds for erecting the Church were supplied by the proceeds of the sale of the ground on which the former Church stood, together with a contribution from St. Giles' Vestry.
The Rev. W. Denton, who had held the living from the first, died in January, 1888.
At the time of the division, the new Parish contained 525 houses, with 4,158 souls, but in 1862-3, by the making of the Metropolitan Railway from Farringdon to Moorgate, three-fourths of the Parish were evicted. From that time till the present the population has continued to decrease from 1,390 souls in 1881, to 800 in 1887, and the number will no doubt further decrease. In consequence of this, the Vestry of St. Giles petitioned the Bishop of London to hold an enquiry as to the
40 SL Giles, Cripplegate.
desirability of re-uniting the District Church with the Mother Church, where it was thought sufficient accommodation for the whole of the inhabitants of the original Parish could be found, and the Clergy there would be able to attend to the spiritual wants of the whole district. A Commission of Enquiry was appointed, and after full investigation (the Churchwardens and others from both Parishes appearing before it) a majority of the Commission reported that a re-union was desirable.
Again returning to the Church of St. Giles, we find various repairs and minor alterations carried out between the years 1800 and 1858. In 18 1 3 the accounts show that ^"2,111 14^. <\d. was spent on the steeple and internal beautifying, &c. In 1840, and again in 1851 repairs were effected, those in the last-named year costing ^500. Many entries occur in the minute books of sums granted for repairing and "beautifying" the Church, this last expression usually having reference to a liberal application of plaster and white-wash, except toward the second half of the century, when much better taste and discrimination began to be displayed, especially by the promoters of the restoration of the Church in 1858, who truly reflected the altered feeling of the times in all matters of taste.
In 1818, we find the Vestry rather in advance of the times, ordering that gas, then but very recently introduced into the streets of London, "be forthwith laid on in the Church, the expense of laying on not to exceed ;£ioo, and the expense not to exceed i6.r. per annum for each burner." This was done then, and again, in a more effective manner, in 1839.
Allen in his " History of London," published in 1830, gives the following description of the Church : —
" It is a spacious and substantial building, and though much disfigured by modern alterations and detached buildings, still shows considerable portions of the ancient edifice. The plan gives a nave, side aisles, and chancel, with a large and massive square tower at west end, of four storeys, the upper part of red brick (15 feet added in 1682). The ancient parts of the tower and the south side of the Church are built of stone in irregular masses, interspersed with tile and brick. From the nature of the materials as well as the form of the arches, it is evident that these portions were not destroyed in the fire of 1545, but are the work of a period anterior to that date. The first storey shows the arch of a spacious window now walled up, on the west front.
The clerestory, rebuilt with brick in 1791, contains seven modern windows with pointed arches. The end of the north aisle has a window,
The Church and Parish.
4*
the tracery destroyed, as is the tracery of all the windows, and modern imitations introduced, and several modern windows walled up. The north side of the Church is nearly concealed by the Quest House, a
VIEW OK THE INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH OF ST. GILES, CRIPPLEGATE, looking east, 1791-1862 (fro/11 an old print).
large modern Gothic building, which also covers the porch. The clerestory on this side cannot be seen from the street, but resembles that on the southern side. The division between the nave and the aisles is
42 S/. Giles, Cripplegate.'
made by seven arches on each side of the former, and is evidently the work of an earlier date than the fire of 1545. The soffit of the chancel ceiling is painted with a choir of angels. The original corbels are carved with angels sustaining shields, which sustain the timbers of the roof, on these shields are painted the arms of the Fishmongers, Skinners, Grocers, Haberdashers, Apothecaries, Drapers, Goldsmiths, Merchant Taylors, and Salters' Companies."
This description is substantially correct of the Church as it stands to-day, with of course the exception that the windows are restored, and the roof made an open one, as described later on.
In the view given on the preceding page are seen the arms of the dif- ferent companies as described by Allen, the galleries to which reference has so often been made, and the high pulpit with its sounding board is clearly depicted. The bust of Milton is shown on the third column.
In the year 1858 a new traceried window was inserted in the south aisle, and some of the buttresses were repaired. This was followed in i860 by a new window in the north aisle of a similar character. In April, 1861, rose windows were pierced at the east end of the north and south aisles.
In 1862 unusual efforts were made to raise a sufficient sum of money for the purpose of thoroughly restoring the Church to something like its early condition ; and wide-spread interest was evinced in this effort to honour Milton's resting-place. ^"1,000 was voluntarily contributed by the parishioners, and the general public. Among the contributors were the Baroness Coutts (then Miss Coutts), the late Samuel Morley, the Members for the City, several of the Livery Companies and Bankers, and men of every denomination. With this fund in hand the first real attempt at restoration of the grand old fabric was made. The north and south galleries and staircases were removed, thus necessitating alterations to the western gallery (which was for the time retained) and the restoration of the nave. Many monuments were removed from the columns and placed on the walls, and the columns restored. At the same time the memorial shrine to Milton was erected in the south aisle, forming a fitting canopy for the fine marble bust of the poet, which formerly stood on a bracket on one of the columns of the nave. In 1863, a new traceried window was inserted in the south aisle; in 1865, the large window in the west end of the north aisle, and in the following year a corresponding window in the south aisle. The cost of the two last was ,£393 i7->\ yi. The gallery at the
The Church and Parish.
west end was removed in 1864, and the organ removed to the foot of the tower.
The commodious Vestry was erected in 1866-7 at a cost of between ^"400 and ,£500. In 1868-9, tne more important restoration in the Church followed at a cost of between ^£4,000 and ^5,000.
This work comprised the removal of the intermediate floors to the tower, the restoration of the large west window, and the north and south windows, together with the groined roof ; also of the large western arch and piers forming the tower arch, together with the pierced stone tower screen, and the belfry windows. The plastered ceiling to the nave was removed, and a handsome framed inner roof substituted, casing in the old tie beams and roof timbers, with moulded ribs and spandrels, the ribs springing from new stone shafts terminating in carved heads and bosses. One of these carved heads is that of Milton, and is over the third column, in front of which his body lies. The others are supposed to represent Kings and Queens of England and prominent ecclesiastical reformers (one on the fifth column much resembles the portrait of Wycliffe), but, although so recently carved, all trace of the persons meant to be represented seems lost.
This work was carried out (as far as possible) in accordance with what so far as the fragmentary evidence then remaining could show, was the original idea of the building. In removing the brickwork at the west end of the tower, the outline and part of the tracery of the large window were clearly discernible, stained and discoloured by the Fire of 1545, thus clearly showing when it was bricked up.
New traceried windows, with cathedral glass and tinted margins, were inserted in the clerestory. The elliptical plastered arch to the chancel was removed, and a handsome stone chancel arch substituted, with perpendicular caps and bases. The organ at the same time was rebuilt at the east end of the north aisle, and ten years later the present modern case substituted for the old carved one. The floor of the Church was concreted, and the old pews cut down and remodelled in modern form. The wainscot and glass door was placed at the northern entrance. The nave was paved with tessellated tiles (a good sub- stitute for the old paving stones), and the handsome new font erected on the raised dais.
In 1882 the Tower buttresses were repaired and stone work restored. Again, in 1885-6, a great improvement was effected when the walls of the aisle and clerestory of the south front were faced with Kentish
44
St. Giles, Cripplegate.
VIEW OF THE INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH OF ST. GILES, CRIPPLEGATE. LOOKING EAST, l888.
VIEW OF THE INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH OF ST. GILES, CRIPPLEGATE, LOOKING WEST, l888.
46 S/. Giles, Cripplegate.
rag-stone, the castellated battlements giving a rich and finished appearance to the structure, while the old turret staircase, which forms an appropriate and important feature, was retained.
A stone at the west end of the south wall thus commemorates the various recent restorations : —
All glory be to God.
The Restoration of this Church
commenced in the year 1858, and carried
on from time to time by
voluntary contributions; was in the year 1 869
completed to the chancel, chiefly at
the cost of the parish.
The Rev. Philip Parker Gilbert, M.A., Vicar.
William Bassingham, )
„ _, 1 Churchwardens.
Thomas Turner, )
Also in the year 1880,
The Church was repaired and further beautified
at the expense of the parish.
Tames Lake, ) >-,, , ,
, Chiirc/nvaraei/s.
Cornelius Gillett, '
Various minor improvements in addition have been effected from time to time in the removal and re-arrangement of many of the beautiful and unique mural monuments, and some, which had been previously entirely hidden, are now brought into greater prominence. Of the stained glass windows though the general effect may be, upon the whole, some- what too highly coloured and garish, yet many are well worthy of notice. The window at the west-end of the south aisle is perhaps more particu- larly interesting to the parishioners of St. Giles, as it commemorates an act of tardy justice rendered to their neighbours in St. Luke's, in the matter of fair division of the charity funds administered in common by the two Parishes. So long ago as 1691, and at many different times, it was thought a settlement had been arrived at, but in 1864, when this matter was still only partly adjusted, the parishioners of St. Luke's contributed this window to St. Giles' Church in recognition of the good feeling existing between the two Parishes. The subjects are "The Shepherds watching their flocks"; "The Nativity" and the "Wise Men coming from the East." The head-lights give representations of St. Giles, with his hind (as shown
The Church and Parish. 47
on the front page), of St. Luke, the physician, with his symbol, the winged ox, in the foreground, and underneath the inscription " In grateful remembrance of Edward Alleyne,* the founder of Dulwich College." In 1877 the Churchwarden (Mr. Isaac Bosquet) made a deter- mined effort to settle this long-standing dispute ; and to save further loss occasioned by legal proceedings (the costs already amounted to ^3,000), he summoned the representatives of both Parishes to an informal meeting, when, without the aid of the lawyers, the basis of an agreement was settled — which was shortly afterwards carried out to the entire satisfaction of all concerned. A memorial window was then placed in St. Luke's Church, at the expense of the Parish of St. Giles. The window at the north-west end is unquestionably the best in the Church, its general design and colouring being very good; the central figures represent Isaiah, David, and John the Baptist ; the head light shows four angels, with over them a phoenix rising from its ashes ; below are the arms of the donor, Jabez Gower, Esq. The corresponding window at the end of the south aisle has, for its centre subject, " The Baptism of our Lord," and the Apostles Peter and Paul on either side ; the head lights is as the one described above, except that a lamb is substituted for the phoenix, and at the base the crests of the three donors — Smith, Nind, and Wilson. To the latter donor, Alderman Wilson, the Church is also indebted for stained glass in the great west window. The remaining windows give representations in various styles of design and execution, respectively, of "Moses with the table of the law," "Aaron the High Priest," " Our Saviour walking on the sea " (the Apostles John and James on either side of this), the "Good Shepherd," and "Our Saviour blessing the little children." These windows were given by Churchwardens King, Stillwell, Seeley, Pickering, Treggon, Dalphin, Hopkinson, Reid ; and by Mrs. Bassingham (in memory of her husband), the Misses Reeves, Richard Lambert Jones, Edmund Woodthorpe, and Alexander Baylis. The east end of both the north and south walls have rose windows ; the subject of each being angels in adoration. Very great praise must be given for the presentation of these windows by Churchwardens and Parishioners, who have spared neither money nor pains in adorning their Church.
The views of the interior, on pages 44~45> together with those of the exterior of the Church, as frontispiece, show, better than any description, the general style and effect of the building ; it may, however, be stated
* Alleyne was a great beiTefemTt^the Lordship part of the Parish, now St. Luke's.
48 St. Giles, Cripp legate.
that the division between the nave and aisles is made by seven pointed arches on each side. The columns and arches are elegantly formed and enriched with mouldings, and are most probably the original ones of 1392.
As will be seen by the ground plan, on page 190, the form of the Church is irregular, some say in consequence of the proximity of the City ditch, but this is quite an open question.
The inner dimensions of the Church are : — The extreme length from the west door to easternmost end of the chancel is 146 feet 3 inches; the north aisle 117 feet 9 inches ; the south aisle 1 1 1 feet 3 inches. The width at the west end is 66 feet 6 inches, and at the east end 57 feet 8 inches. The width at west end between the south wall and pier 16 feet 10 inches, and between the north wall and pier 18 feet 3 inches. The width at east end between the south wall and pier 13 feet 8 inches, and between the north wall and pier 16 feet 9 inches. Extreme width of nave at west end, 25 feet 10 inches; and at east end, 20 feet 5 inches. Height of tie beam of the roof, 33 feet ; and to moulded rib at apex of roof, 42 feet 8 inches. Height of chancel arch, 31 feet 7 inches; breadth, 17 feet 6 inches.
Height of Tower, 104 feet from pavement to the parapet; cornice of cupola, 16 feet higher; and from cornice to top of vane, 14 feet 9 inches additional ; the terminals at the four corners, 1 2 feet 9 inches above the parapet. Total height from pavement, 134 feet 9 inches. The groined ceiling from pavement, 33 feet.
Census returns of the Parish, given on page 39, show the variations in the numbers of the inhabitants for 181 1 to 1881, when the last return was made ; since that time still greater alterations have taken place, many of the inhabited houses have been pulled down, and large warehouses have taken their place. Australian and other Colonial merchants and dealers in soft goods have largely settled here. The assessment of the Parish has steadily increased, and now stands higher than any other City Parish ; it is also larger in area — comprising nearly 40 acres. In 1887 the net assessed value was settled at over ^150,000. Taken altogether, the Parish of St. Giles Without Cripplegate may now be pronounced as in a most flourishing condition.
Besides being by far the largest and the most highly assessed Parish in the City, its position is unique in being the only one whose area is conterminous with a Ward.
It may also be said that although not so radical in their ideas as in days not long distant, the Parishioners are still progressive in spirit and
The Church and Parish. 49
in action, taking a leading part in all the reforming movements of the times.
The Church is now open every day between ten and four o'clock for private prayer and devotion. Short services are held daily at 8 a.m. and 1. 1 5 p.m. ; and on two evenings in the week at 6.30 p.m. On Sundays there are ordinary morning and evening services, and a short service for children in the afternoon. The congregation in the morning is one of the largest in the City, usually numbering 450 adults and children. The evening service is also well attended.
OFFICIALS OF THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST. GILES, WITHOUT CRIPPLEGATE, 1887.
Vicar. Curate.
Rev. Prebendary Albert Barff, M.A. Rev. Charles E. J. Carter, M.A.
C/i urchwardens. John James Baddeley. Leonard Wm. Cubitt.
Overseers. Thomas Mein. Richard Dyson.
Sidesmen. Harry Townend. Harry H. Duplock.
Henry Payne. Joseph Gilchrist.
Organist. Choir Master.
Arthur Miller. Robert J. Pitt.
Beadle. Sextoness.
James W. King. Matilda Roberts.
5°
St. Giles, Cripplegate.
NAMES OF SENIOR CHURCHWARDENS, Found in the Books of St. Giles, Cripplegate.
|
From Early Leases. |
|
|
1500. |
John Sturdy. |
|
1556. |
John Hiliare. |
|
1563- |
Thomas Busby, or |
|
William Maskall. |
|
|
1568. |
Thomas Busby. |
|
From Sworder's Accounts |
|
|
1581- |
Thomas Lee. |
|
1582. |
Christopher Butler. |
|
1583. |
John Coxall. |
|
1584. |
Thomas Browen. |
|
1585. |
John Browen. |
|
1586. |
Robert Newman. |
|
1587. |
John Corbin. |
|
1588. |
William Streatonne. |
|
1589. |
Richard Pawson. |
|
1590. |
John Erode. |
|
I59I- |
John Cornwall. |
|
1592. |
Charles Langley. |
|
1593- |
Richard Pawson. |
|
1594- |
John Granger. |
|
1595- |
Peter Merry. |
|
1596. |
Robert Newman. |
|
1597- |
Charles Langley. |
|
1598. |
Charles Langley. |
|
1599- |
John Corbyn. |
|
1600. |
Hugh Parker. |
|
1601. |
Laurence Andrewes. |
|
1602. |
Peter Merrey. |
|
1603. |
Henry Wyllys. |
|
1604. |
John Taylor. |
|
1605. |
Edward Sucklynge. |
|
1606. |
David Jones. |
|
1607. |
Nathaniel Tracy. |
|
1608. |
William Reddinge. |
|
1609. |
John Cockeshotte. |
|
1 6 10. |
Stephen Atkinson. |
|
1611. |
George Bryce. |
|
1612. |
Hamlet Rochdall. |
|
1613. |
Nicholas Ruddyard. |
|
1614. |
Robert Watkinson. |
|
1615. |
James Johnson. |
|
1616. |
Robert Wilkins. |
|
1617. |
Robert Watkinson. |
From Table of Church Dices. 1644. Robert Mayn waring.
|
From Registers. |
|
|
1646. |
Ralph Tasker. |
|
From Grand Accounts. |
|
|
1648. |
Thomas White. |
|
1649. |
William Beven. |
|
1650. |
Roger Mustian. |
|
1651. |
Thomas Whittle. |
|
1652. |
Thomas Shadbolt. |
|
1653- |
William Yates. |
|
1654. |
Thomas Papworth. |
|
1655- |
Yate Brackstone. |
|
1656. |
Simon Philbee. |
|
1657. |
Matthew Chantrell. |
|
1658. |
William Lilley. |
|
1659- |
Edward Dobson. |
|
1660. |
Isaac Bennet. |
|
1661. |
John Cliffe. |
|
1662. |
Edward Dearmar. |
|
1663. |
William Rookes. |
|
1664. |
Edward Potter. |
|
1665. |
William Shatchwell. |
|
1666. |
Daniel Shaw. |
|
1667. |
Henry Peirson. |
|
1668. |
John Wythens. |
|
From |
General Vestry Minute Book |
|
1669. |
Thomas Alcocke. |
|
1670. |
Richard Knight. |
|
1671. |
Daniel Walton. |
|
1672. |
Richard Steele. |
|
i673- |
Henry Ward. |
|
1674. |
Edward Shawler. |
|
i675- |
Edward Hanney. |
|
— |
Richard Steele. |
|
1676. |
Edward Winston. |
|
1677. |
James Vesey. |
|
1678. |
John Latham. |
|
— |
Robert Bird. |
|
1679. |
William Iverson. |
|
1680. |
Henry Sudbury. |
|
1681. |
Randolph Watson. |
|
1682. |
Edward Robins. |
|
1683. |
Hugh Rigby. |
|
1684. |
Thomas Ems. |
|
1685. |
Thomas Linford. |
|
1686. |
Nathan Green. |
|
1687. |
John Clark. |
|
1688. |
William Moody. |
The Church and Parish.
5i
|
1689. |
John Jones. |
1740. |
John Hammond. |
|
1690. |
James Quilter. |
1741. |
Thomas Davis. |
|
1691. |
Ralph Cates. |
1742. |
Samuel Sanders. |
|
|
1743- |
Simon King. |
|
|
From |
Freedom Vestry Minute Book. |
1744. |
Francis Strong. |
|
1692. |
William Merideth. |
1745- |
William Tilley. |
|
1693. |
Timothy Hows. |
1746. |
William Lovejoy. |
|
1694. |
Thomas Stevenson. |
1747- |
John King. |
|
1695. |
George Osmond. |
174S. |
William Unwin. |
|
1696. |
Abraham Bedbury. |
1749. |
Thomas Ibell. |
|
1697. |
Joseph Kilby. |
— |
Francis Albone. |
|
1698. |
Samuel Seaton. |
1750. |
John Wilkins. |
|
1699. |
Thomas Osborne. |
I75I- |
Stephen Keene. |
|
1700. |
Edward Jeffries. |
1752. |
Dangerfield Taylor. |
|
1701. |
Henry Morris. |
1753- |
James White. |
|
1702. |
John Arnold. |
1754- |
Robert Heath. |
|
1703- |
John Buckmaster. |
1755- |
Caleb Lea. |
|
1704. |
Richard Bowles. |
1756. |
John Savell. |
|
I70S- |
Daniel Bird. |
1757- |
James Bonner. |
|
1706. |
John Smith. |
I75S. |
John Caterer. |
|
1707. |
John Fulver. |
1759- |
William Howe. |
|
1708. |
Benjamin Fleming. |
1760. |
Thomas King. |
|
1709. |
Roger Hitchcock. |
1761. |
John Cunningham. |
|
1 7 10. |
William Page. |
1762. |
Robert Kelham. |
|
1711. |
John Child. |
1763. |
John Jones. |
|
1712. |
Samuel Carr. |
1764. |
Edward Thornton. |
|
1713- |
Jonas Dye. |
1765. |
Richard Jackson. |
|
1714. |
Thomas Roberts. |
1766. |
William Curtis. |
|
1715- |
Thomas Caton. |
— |
* Richard Jackson (Deputy |
|
1716. |
Ralph Cartwright. |
Ch u rch wa rden). |
|
|
1717. |
John Woodward. |
1767. |
Richard Saunders. |
|
1718. |
George Stray. |
1768. |
William Watts. |
|
1719. |
Seth Adams. |
1769. |
Thomas Tuck. |
|
1720. |
John Smithers. |
1770. |
William Evans. |
|
1721. |
William Flux. |
1771. |
Henry Knight. |
|
1722. |
Philip Goodale. |
1772. |
Thomas Cox. |
|
1723- |
John Evans. |
1773- |
Robert Clark. |
|
1724. |
William Meredith. |
1774- |
John Holyoak. |
|
1725- |
John Addison. |
1775- |
Daniel Crockett. |
|
1726. |
Thomas Cogan. |
1776. |
Samuel Smith. |
|
1727. |
John Simister. |
1777- |
Southern Payne. |
|
1728. |
Thomas Spittle. |
1778. |
Edward Crawshawe. |
|
1729. |
Thomas Bourne. |
1779. |
John Scott. |
|
1730. |
Samuel Grisold. |
1780. |
William Morland. |
|
1731- |
Matthew Vines. |
17S1. |
Daniel Grindley. |
|
I732- |
John Mabbot. |
1782. |
John Warner. |
|
1733- |
John Robson. |
1783- |
Thomas Lane. |
|
1734- |
Nathaniel Lane. |
1784. |
Benjamin Geary. |
|
1735- |
Richard Higginson. |
1785- |
John Lowe. |
|
1736. |
Henry Budgen. |
1786. |
William Godfrey Browne. |
|
I737- |
Stephen Butler. |
1787. |
Richard Gouge. |
|
1738. |
Philip Adams. |
1788. |
Nicholas Browning. |
|
1739- |
John Bickerton. |
1789. |
John Benjamin Cole. |
See foot-note, page 52.
E 2
52
St. Giles, Cripplegate.
|
1790. |
William Turner. |
1838. |
Francis Sadler. |
|
*John B. Cole (Deputy Church- |
1839. |
George Thomson. |
|
|
warden). |
1840. |
William King. |
|
|
1791. |
Andrew Wright. |
1841. |
James Rutherford. |
|
1792. |
Thomas Willats. |
1842. |
John Johnson. |
|
1793- |
Thomas Smith. |
1843. |
John Johnson. |
|
1794. |
Edward Richardson. |
1844. |
Edward Stillwell. |
|
1795- |
Barnard Bayley. |
1845. |
John Seeley. |
|
1796. |
Edward Bodell. |
1846. |
James Fawcett. |
|
1797. |
John Mill. |
1847. |
John Flower. |
|
1798. |
William Tomlin. |
1848. |
George Cuthbert. |
|
1799. |
John Ward. |
1849. |
George Cuthbert. |
|
1800. |
Thomas Potts. |
1850. |
Samuel Godfrey Hall. |
|
1S01. |
William Adams. |
1851. |
Joseph Hooke. |
|
1802. |
Thomas Dolley. |
1852. |
Samuel Lowe. |
|
1803. |
William Robson. |
1853. |
John Sewell. |
|
1804. |
Thomas Challis. |
1854. |
John Pickering. |
|
1805. |
William Smith. |
1855. |
Henry Treggon. |
|
1806. |
John Moor. |
1856. |
John Scholes. |
|
1807. |
Robert French. |
1857- |
William Hughes. |
|
1808. |
Henry Carr. |
1858. |
John Nind. |
|
1809. |
Joseph Mayor. |
1859. |
John Dalphin. |
|
1 8 10. |
Aaron Stafford. |
i860. |
William Hopkinson. |
|
1S11. |
Aaron Stafford. |
1861. |
Reginald Reid. |
|
1812. |
Thomas Basset Reid. |
1862. |
Henry Fendick. |
|
1813. |
John Brogden. |
1863. |
Henry Nind. |
|
1814. |
Joseph Fallen. |
1864. |
Walter Morisse. |
|
1815. |
James Carter. |
1865. |
David Smith. |
|
1816. |
Henry Case. |
1866. |
John Eddison Craney. |
|
1817. |
William Legge. |
1867. |
John Eddison Craney. |
|
1818. |
Joseph Dalton Dewick. |
1868. |
William Bassingham. |
|
1819. |
William Beaver. |
1869. |
Thomas Turner. |
|
1820. |
William Brown. |
1870. |
Robert Hall. |
|
1821. |
William Brown. |
1871. |
Joseph Hudson. |
|
1822. |
Samuel Stevens. |
1872. |
Jesse Turner. |
|
1823. |
John Buckoke. |
1873. |
William G. Larke. |
|
1824. |
John Buckoke. |
1874. |
James Harvey. |
|
1825. |
Thomas Hill. |
1875- |
Henry Griffin. |
|
1826. |
William Mason. |
1876. |
Underdown Knell. |
|
1827. |
Matthew Wyton. |
1877. |
Isaac Bousquet. |
|
1828. |
Thomas Metcalfe. |
1878. |
George Seares. |
|
1829. |
George Roadley Simpkin. |
1879. |
George Matthew Felton. |
|
1830. |
Thomas Fernce. |
1880. |
James Lake. |
|
1831. |
B. E. Batley. |
1 88l. |
Cornelius Gillett. |
|
1832. |
George Meadway. |
1882. |
William Charles Pearson. |
|
i833- |
William Flanders. |
1883. |
John Corke. |
|
1834. |
Francis Lea. |
1884. |
Joseph Mann. |
|
1835. |
J. Ticket. |
1885. |
Henry James Felton. |
|
1836. |
John Atherly. |
1886. |
John Craggs Leefe. |
|
— |
Thomas Metcalfe. |
1S87. |
John James Baddeley. |
|
1837. |
Henry Douthwaite. |
1888. |
Leonard W. Cubitt. |
* In both these cases the Senior Churchwarden of the previous year volunteered to serve in the place of the Churchwarden duly elected, and is called in the Minute books " Deputy Churchwarden."
THE PARISH
DURING THE JUBILEE YEAR OF THE REIGN
OF QUEEN VICTORIA.
MOST of the large parishes in the City of London celebrated the Queen's Jubilee in one form or another, but it may fairly be claimed for the Parish of St. Giles, Cripplegate, that the event was here celebrated in a more complete manner than in any other.
At the Easter Vestry, 1887, it was resolved that "A Committee be appointed to consider and report what steps should be taken in the Parish to commemorate the completion of the 50th year of the Reign of Her Majesty the Queen, an event unexampled in the history of any female Sovereignty in any country."
A committee was appointed, who at their first meeting unanimously resolved that " A Drinking Fountain be erected in some suitable place in the Churchyard, and that this be recommended to the Vestry as a proper memorial to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee." It was also re- solved that, " Designs and estimates be obtained, the designs to harmonize with the church, and that the old ' Cripplegate ' appear in the design."
This was done, and on the 24th May, 1887, a Vestry Meeting was held, at which three designs were submitted, that of Messrs. Woodthorpe and Hammond being chosen. The work was proceeded with (a faculty having previously been obtained from the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's), and was completed and formally opened by the Vicar, at a Special Meeting of the Vestry, on the 22nd September following.
The engraving on the next page clearly shows the design, which, as desired by the committee's resolution, thoroughly " harmonizes with the church." The main portion is of Kentish ragstone, rough hewn, the basin and pediment of Aberdeen granite, the Queen's head, in
54
St. Giles, Cripplegate.
bold relief, in bronze; and on plain and simple tablets, on the front face of the towers, is the following inscription : —
Erected by The Vestry of St. Giles, Commemoration of Crjpplegate.
Queen Victoria's
Tttijttt,t. Albert Barff, M.A., Vicar.
JUBILEE, '
June 21st, 1887. JOHN J- Baddeley, j Churchwardem.
Leonard W. Cubitt, )
The idea, design and execution have given general satisfaction, while
the fountain supplies a long-felt want. In the summer time hundreds
DRINKING FOUNTAIN IN THE CHURCHYARD OF ST. GILES, CRIPPLEGATE, ERECTED IN COMMEMORATION OF QUEEN VICTORIA'S JUBILEE.
of the working people of the Parish refresh themselves with the water, and in their dinner-hour wander through the shady and pleasant churchyard.
The Parish during the Jubilee Year
55
The cost, including laying-on the water supply, obtaining the faculty, architect's fees, &c, was ^240, which was paid out of the Parish rents account.
In addition to this permanent memorial, the immediate wants of the poor of the Parish were not forgotten. At the Easter Vestry Meeting it was ordered that "^"io iar. be granted to the City of London Union, towards a fund for providing, in various ways, for the pleasure and gratification of the Inmates of the Union." Also, "That 10s. be given to each of the Pensioners on the Bequest Fund under the Separate Estate Trustees, and also to those on the Cripplegate Pension Society's Fund." The Children in the Schools were also remembered ; ,£20 was ordered to be placed at the disposal of the Trustees of the Boys' School, and the same sum to the Governors of Lady Holies Girls' School, in aid of a Special Treat for the boys and girls of these Schools." These Gifts were granted out of the Parish rents.
The Queen's Jubilee was also celebrated in a more personal manner by the Vicar and Churchwardens, who, at their own expense, caused medals to be struck commemorating the event. The design is given below, and has been much admired ; the profile of the Queen is exceptionally good, and compares favourably with the new coins struck in the same year.
MEDAL STRUCK IN COMMEMORATION OF THE JUBILEE OF QUEEN VICTORIA, 1887.
Medals in bronze were presented to the members of the Vestry, and to the chief officials of the Parish, and medals in white-metal to all the children attending the Girls' and Boys' Schools.
THE VICARS.
NO trace can be found of any of the Vicars of St. Giles, Cripplegate, until towards the end of the 13th Century. In the Hustings Roll of the Corporation of the City of London, is enrolled a Will, dated 1279, of Philip, Vicar of the Church of St. Giles Without Cripplegate, whereby he Wills that his dwelling-house be sold by his executors, and the proceeds distributed for pious uses. In a Deed dated 1280, Robert de Lausele is described as Rector of St. Giles Without Cripple- gate. When the office of Sub-Dean in St. Paul's Cathedral was created in 1295, and the living of St. Giles set aside for its endowment, Robert de Lausele was appointed the first Sub-Dean. In 1847, on this ground the then Sub-Dean of St. Paul's claimed the living of St Giles, but the Bishop ruled that the evidence in support of his claim was not sufficient. In 1333 Peter de Berkhampstede, in 1348 John Ferour, in 135 1 Martin Elys, in 1353 Johri*Philip are styled Vicars, and in 1360 " Bartholomew " is described as perpetual Vicar of the Church of St. Giles Without Cripplegate.
In a document in Rymer's " Foedera," dated 137 1, Philip de Norton, Vicar of St. Giles, beyond Cripplegate, is mentioned as having license to go to the Court of Rome. In the Hustings Roll, between the years 1378-1393, John Trowbridge is mentioned several times. The fire in the Church in 1545, and the destruction of the archives of the Dean and Chapter of St. Pauls (the Patrons of the living), in the Great Fire of London of 1666, are the chief causes of such scanty information as to the Vicars of Saint Giles. The next reference after those in the 14th Century is found in the Will of one John Sworder, dated 2nd April, 1500, in which he bequeaths to Mr. Thomas Sworder, "Vicar of the Parish Church of St. Giles, Cripplegate," eight tenements in Fore Street, to pay certain charges, and after " to allow the residue to remain in a chest within the church, having three locks, of which the Vicar and Churchwardens should respectively keep the keys, until it reach the
amount of ^40 as above, to the intent that when any fifteenth should be granted to the King by Parliament, the same money should be applied in aid of the poor inhabitants of the Parish towards their charge of the same fifteenth, and that if any money be remaining in the chest after the charge of such fifteenth, that it be applied towards such things as should be necessary for the Church of St. Giles, aforesaid, or towards the works or reparation of the same."
Part of the proceeds of this bequest is still used for church repairs.
In a lease, a copy of which is among the Cripplegate papers, to one John Kennedy, on 8th March, 1557, Henry Mallet, clerke, is mentioned as "Vicar of St. Giles, Creplegate." The next Vicar, and the first to whom existing Parish records make any reference, is Robert Crowley. The date of Crowley's appointment is not known, but in a lease to a William Maskell of 10th March, 1564, his name occurs as "Vicar of Cripplegate."
Robert Crowley, after taking his degree at Oxford and becoming a Fellow of Magdalen College, settled, owing to the religious difficulties of the time, as a stationer and printer, in Ely Rents, Holborn, where for three years he carried on this business, and was the first to print and publish the "Vision of William " concerning "Piers the Plowman." Three different impressions were issued from his press in 1550. When ordained by Bishop Ridley, he is styled " Stationer of the Parish of St. Andrews, Holborn." His sympathies were with the extreme Puritans in their strong dislike to all church ceremonial, and their desire that the Psalms and other portions of the service should be read instead of chanted. In this he was so far ahead of the ideas of his parishioners and of his ecclesiastical superiors, that he was frequently in trouble, and placed in positions of some danger. It was on this account that he was for a time deprived of his living. His objection to the surplice led to his deprivation. On 28th March, 1566, for refusing to conform he was suspended. This he disregarded. On the 1st April, 1566, the singers, relying on the new orders, appeared to take part in a funeral service in the Church, dressed in their habits. They were met by Crowley, his Curate, and the Deputy, at the Church door, and ordered " to take off these porter's coats." The Deputy threatened to lay the singing men fast by the feet if they would break the peace. The singers retired. The Lord Mayor complained to the Arch- bishop, who summoned Crowley and the Deputy to appear. Crowley said his conscience would not allow him to wear the surplice, nor would it
allow him to cease from his duties as vicar, unless he were discharged. The Bishop said he did discharge him, to which Crowley replied, he would be discharged by a court of law. Crowley was ordered to keep his house, and the Deputy was bound over in ^ioo to appear again if called on. A month after this three-score women went to the Bishop of London's house, to ask him to remove an inhibition he had laid on the lecturer at St. Giles for contumacy. The Bishop replied, " that he would not in such case deal with such numbers of women, as much misliking such kind of assembling, but he wished them to send him half-a-dozen of their husbands, and with them he would talk."
Crowley was obstinate, and in three months deprivation followed. He was sent to Dr. Cox, Bishop of Ely, and on 28th October an order was issued to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London to order the case of Mr. Crowley, who had been committed to the Bishop of Ely, as it was more fit for them than the Council. In 1569 he dates the preface of one of his volumes from his house in Southwark, near London. In 1574 he preached before the Lord Mayor and Common Council, and in 1576 was presented to St. Lawrence Jewry, the patronage for this turn having lapsed to the Bishop of London. On the death of Draunt, in April, 1578, Crowley was again installed in Cripplegate, and on May 5th his successor was appointed to St. Lawrence Jewry, by the patron. On the 22nd April, 1582, we find Crowley as Vicar, signing a lease (in which mention of the " Quest House " is made), and from this date until May, 1588, his signature occurs regularly to the audit of " Sworder's " accounts. He was admitted a member of the Stationers' Company, in 1578, and after his death, his widow having fallen into poverty, the Company allowed her, in 1592, a noble per year towards her support. Although he did not live to see it, Crowley's teaching and example no doubt bore fruit in the next generation when, during the great constitutional struggle of the time, the men of Cripplegate were zealous partizans of the Parliament.
In a lease, a copy of which still exists among the Parish papers, Thomas Draunt occurs as Vicar, on 12th February, 1568-9. His burial took place on 16th April, 1578. He would appear to have been in high favour with Queen Elizabeth, for when the Bishopric of Chichester was vacant in 1570, she appointed him, on 21st January, Prebendary of Chichester, on 31st January, Rector of Slinfold in Sussex, and on 27th February, Archdeacon of Lewes. The baptism of one daughter, and the burial of another, would seem to point to his residence in the
60 SL Giles, Cripp legate.
Parish. His quarrels in the Diocese of Chichester occupy considerable space in " Strype," who also quotes a sermon preached in St. Giles as evidence, in his opinion, that Draunt was not quite sane. The name in the copy of the lease and the entries in the Parish Registers are all the memories now of his connection with St. Giles'. Lancelot Andrewes succeeded Robert Crowley, and remained Vicar until 1604, when, on being appointed Bishop of Chichester, he resigned the living of St. Giles. It is said of him " that he was learned in fifteen ancient and modern tongues." He was one of the translators of the authorised version of the Bible. After him came Dr. John Buckeridge, who held the living until his appointment as Bishop of Ely in 1628. He was appointed Bishop of Rochester in t6ii, and, on account of the poverty of his See, was allowed to retain the Vicarage of Cripplegate. It was during his tenure of office as Vicar, that Oliver Cromwell, then just twenty-one years of age, was married in St. Giles' Church to Elizabeth Bourchier, daughter of Sir James Bourchier, one of the many country gentlemen who made Cripplegate their London home. The entry under the head of marriages for August, 1620, runs as follows: — "Oliver Crumwell and Elizabeth Bourcher, 22. Lye.*" This is in the Clerk's writing, auto- graph signatures, which would have made this entry more_ interesting, unfortunately being not yet introduced.
The next Vicar, Dr. William Fuller, who succeeded Dr. Buckeridge in 1628, being a staunch Royalist and Churchman was latterly in constant difficulties with his Parishioners, and many unbecoming scenes naturally resulted. As an instance of the annoyance to which the Vicar was subjected, the Parishioners on whom Parliament had, in 1641, conferred the right of appointing a Lecturer, exercised that right by selecting for the post John Sedgwick, Rector of the neighbouring Parish of St. Alphage, an active member of the " Committee formed for raising money to carry on the war against the King." {See Denton.)
Charges were made to the Privy Council against him by Robert Grosse, one of his Curates, but the answer was as follows : — January, 1639. — "Upon consideration of petition of Robert Grosse, Clerk, against Dr. Fuller, Dean of Ely (Vicar of Cripplegate), the Lords declared that they hold the same to be clamorous and in no sort to be credited against so Reverend a person, whose integrity is in so good esteem with the Lords as the aspersions endeavoured to be cast upon him weigh nothing with the Board." It is ordered, "That Grosse's petition be rejected, and the business left to the Court of High Commission. "
* The figures stand for the day of the month. " Lye." indicates marriage by licence, not after banns.
The Vicars. 6 1
In July, 1642, Timothy Hutton, Curate to Dr. Fuller, was assaulted in the Church, and imprisoned by the House of Commons, for reading the King's proclamation. In the same year Dr. Fuller himself was deprived of the living and imprisoned by the Parliamentary party. King Charles, however, afterwards rewarded him, as far as was in his power, by presenting him to the Deanery of Durham. It is probable that he reaped little or no benefit from the Royal favour, as we find him with the King at Oxford, and after the surrender of that town to the Parlia- mentary forces (the King having meanwhile made good his escape), he returned to London and lived in obscurity until his death in 1659. He was buried in the Church of St. Vedast, Foster Lane, being refused burial in the Church of which he was some time Vicar. Newcourt in his "Repertorium" says, that the value of the living of St. Giles in 1636, was returned "as followeth: — Tyths, ,£360, Casualties, ^140, and a Vicarage House" — a considerable sum in those days, but hardly out of proportion to the onerous duties resting on the Vicar, the Church being the only one in the entire district, extending to Shoreditch, Islington and Pentonville. The charges upon the income are given as first fruits jQ$2 $s., and other minor charges as £\2 45-. 6d.
From the time of the deprivation of Dr. Fuller in 1642, no Vicar was inducted until Samuel Annesley's appointment by Richard Cromwell in 1658. Bruno Ryves was appointed in 1646, but never took possession of the living, Churchmen being at a discount in Cripplegate just then. From 1648 to 1658 many entries occur of payments to "Ministers." The Parish is known to have been active in the Parliamentary cause, and probably the majority of the inhabitants were adherents of the Independent Party, and opposed to the Presbyterians. This very likely is the reason that no regular appointment was made. Many of the other City parishes settled down to the Presbyterian form of government, electing Elders, and the like. No record can be found that Cripplegate had a share in subscribing the Solemn League and Covenant, nor can any reference be found to any contribution towards the ,£100,000 to bring into England the Scotch Army in aid of the Parliament. Whatever was the reason, no Minister of any denomination can be found as having held the living. In one part of a Minister's duty, marriages, there would be but little need for him, very few marriages being solemnized in the Church during this period, marriages having come to be looked upon merely as a civil contract, and not a religious rite. The result was there were butfew publications of banns or registrations
62 St. Giles, Crippkgate.
of marriages, and an Act was passed in 1653 to make both compulsory. The following three extracts from the Registers, will illustrate the dif- ferent practices of the time: —
Marriages in October, 1653. with their several Dayes
of Publications, as also the places Where, with the Dayes of the
Marriages successively.
"Evan Pritcharcl and Judith Fleming both of our parish of Giles Cripplegate were published three several market dayes in Newgate Market in three several weekes concerning theire intention of marriage viz'- on the Ist 5th and 12th days of October 1653 and married the 23rd day of the said month. —
Per Justice Blomer."
"Thomas Coates of the parish of Pancras Soperlane and Ann Partridge of Essex the daughter of Bartho : Partridge of Priors Hall in the County of Essex were published in their respective parish Churches and married per Aid : Titchbourne on the 2nd day of November 1653: by virtue of whose certificate they were married the same day in our parish Church."
"James (the vellum has failed) and Jane Farmer of the parish of Stephen Coleman Street were published in Cheapside Market three market dayes in three several weekes viz'' on the 9th IIth and 18th dayes of December 1654 and were married on the 19th day of the said December. — Per Christopher Pack, Lord Maior."
From 1648 to 1659, the annual audit of the Grand Account lacks the signature of a Vicar, the Deputy of the Ward signing his name first on the roll; Dr. Annesley first signs the audit on 14th June, 1660, as Vicar.
The following are some of the payments made by the Vestry to
Ministers for Sermons : — ■
1648. — Mr- Kelly for sermon on Allhalowsday £2 los.
1649. — Mr- Torshell ,, ,, £2 10s.
1652. — Mr- Witham for a sermon iar.
1652. — Mr- Kelly for sermon on Allhallows day $os. [With the exception of 1649, Mr.
Kelly preaches the Allhallows day sermon every year from 1648 to 1658.] 1654. — Mr- Kelly for a sermon on a thanksgiving day the 24th March for the peace
concluded between England and the Netherlands 55. 1656.— Mr- White Minister for preaching on 28th February for the peace concluded
between England and France in November of last year ioj. 1657. — Mr- Mackarness for a sermon on a thanksgiving day ioj-. 1657. — Mr- White for a sermon on the 3rd June 1657 being a thanksgiving day iar. 1658. — Mr- Sheffield for a sermon 28th March 15J. ,, Meade ,, ,, 4th April 20s.
,, Mackarness ,, ,, 11th April 15 s. ,, 18th „ 15s. 1658. — Mr- Crooke for a sermon on Oct. 17th 15s. Mr- Love for a sermon on Oct. 24th 20.C
It appears that the new Vicar had very decided Royalist predilections. His first sermon in St. Giles is recorded as preached on Allhallows' Day, 1658, and was speedily followed by petitions to Richard Cromwell,
The Vicars. 6
o
presumably for his removal. The three entries following occur in the accounts before the close of that same year : —
Paid for conch hire several times to Whitehall and back again, and for a petition and other charges concerning Dr- Annesley's business, 18s. 6d.
Layed out about Dr- Annesley's business in going several times to Westminster with the New Petition and other charges, 145. 3</.
Laid out more about Dr- Annesley's business, £1 $s. 6cf.
Whether these petitions produced the desired result or not is not clear, but in the year of the Restoration Dr. Annesley's view of the case is shown in a petition he makes to Charles II, wherein he states, " he publickly detested the horrid murder of your Royal Father," .... and "refused to send a Horse against your Majesty at Worcester," and " sent a man (he being away from home at the time) 40 miles to seize upon the keys of his Church lest any one should keep a thanksgiving service there for Worcester." His chief grievance would seem to have been against Cromwell (whom, in his opinion, "God would discover to be the arrantest hypocrite that ever the Church of Christ was pestered with '■'), that though he had been necessitated to quit a parsonage worth ^200 or ^300 per annum, yet Cromwell stood in the way of his promotion ; and later on, while presenting him to a vacant Lectureship at St. Paul's " to cover his base injustice," Oliver with it only allowed him ;£i20 per annum instead of ^400 as previously. Charles II's decision seems hardly to have been satisfactory to Dr. Annesley.
At this time a petition signed by the Earl of Bridgewater and 282 other residents of Cripplegate (37 of whom made their mark) was presented to the King in favour of Dr. Bruno Ryves. It sets forth " That by reason of the late troubles the Doctor could not enjoy the benefit of His Majesty's favours nor your petitioners the benefit of his labours soe at present one Dr. Ansly doth possesse the said Vicaridge contrary to the votes and desires of the inhabitants of the said Parish who were altogether ignorant how he came to possess the same, the said Dr. Ansly pretend- ing to be settled upon us by a grant from the late Tyrant or his son. "
Annesley, however, continued Vicar of Cripplegate until St. Bartholo- mew's Day, 1662, when, on the Act of Uniformity coming into force, he resigned with the best grace he could. He would, however, appear to have been admired by some part of his parishioners in St. Giles. Many of them continued to avail themselves of his ministrations when he afterwards opened a Chapel in Great St. Helens, Bishopsgate, amongst others, the family of Foe, afterwards altered to " De Foe," one of the members of which (young at this time) has since immortalised
64 St. Giles, Cripplegate.
the name as author of "Robinson Crusoe." Dr. Annesley died in 1696, better known to the public as an ancestor of the noble brothers Wesley, founders of the now considerable religious body called after them. Susannah, the wife of Samuel Wesley, and mother of John and Charles Wesley, to whose training they and the world owe so much, was a daughter of this same Dr. Annesley, but her marriage seems to have displeased her father, as in Annesley's will she is not mentioned — other brothers and sisters sharing the property left.
The unsettled times just mentioned were followed by a re-action to enthusiastic Royalism. We find the next Vicar, John Dolben, had been all his life a staunch Royalist. At Oxford he had taken up arms for the King, and he now had his reward. He had married a niece of Dr. Sheldon, the Bishop of London, and was made by him Archdeacon of London, and Canon of St. Paul's; to this the living of Cripplegate was added, but after two years he resigned it for the Deanery of Westminster. In 1666 he was made Bishop of Rochester, and in 1683 Archbishop of York, where he died from small-pox in 1686. In his time the first movement was made towards building a Church in the Lordship part of the Parish — that part outside the Freedom of the City and extending to Pentonville and Islington, and which is now comprised in the Parish of St. Luke. The minutes read as follows : —
June 9, 1663. — Ordered forthwith that there bee two men chosen by the Freedom and two men likewise by the Lordship that live out of this Parish to treat about the building of the Church in the Lordship, and upon their non-agreement if such be : it be referred to Mr- Deane Dolben finally to determine on the whole matter.
Nothing however was settled until 1732 — nearly three-quarters of a century afterwards — (see pp. 36, 37).
Soon after the Act of Uniformity, and the induction of Dr. John Dolben, a change was made in the manner of conducting the services ; there was a return to the forms of the Church of England, with surpliced clergy, and the use of the Book of Common Prayer, as is shown by such entries as the following : — ■
1662. — A surplus be provided speedily of holland for the reader.
2 books of Common Prayer.
2 ,, ,, of the last translation.
1663. — For 10 ells of Holland at 4s. per ell for surplis £2 ; For making the surplis 12s.
2 Common Prayer Books of the last impression, 18.J.
Church Bible ,, ,, £2 y. 4^.
In the Inventory at this time occurs the following : — "Item. Three hour glasses and one half hour glass," and a year or so afterwards — •
"Hem. Three glases, one running an hour, another three quarters and a third half an hour."
When Archbishop of York, Dr. Dolben was described as a "Preaching Bishop," and one wonders, when Vicar of St. Giles, which of these glasses he was in the habit of using.
For many years previous to this time these graduated glasses were in general use. So far back as 1552, the following entry occurs in the Churchwardens' accounts of St. Michael, Cornhill : —
•' Item for an houre glasse for ye churche iiijr/." Other City churches can show similar entries, and one can well imagine the anxiety of the congregation to see which glass a dull preacher sets in motion, and with what earnestness they watch the sand run its course.
Dolben's successor was John Pritchett, one of the most noted pluralists of his day. He held, at his death in 1681, in addition to the Vicarage of Saint Giles, the Bishopric of Gloucester, the living of Harlingdon, and a stall in St. Paul's Cathedral. During his Incumbency the Great Plague raged at its highest in Cripplegate, and one is hardly surprised that he retired from his Parish during that time. Thomas Luckeyne, a Curate, was left behind, and on the death of the Parish Clerke; Dr. Pritchett, on 23rd August, in a letter from his country house, commissioned Luckeyne "to see the place of Clerke well and sufficiently supplied in every respect, and to take the Clerke's dues for his paines." The appointment was ratified by the Vestry on 4th September. It is comforting to find from the Parish Registers that in spite of his (the Vicar's) bad example devoted men remained, who knew their duty, and did it, though at the cost of their lives. The following names of Nonconformist Ministers are given as dying of the Plague : all honour be to them : — Samuel Austin, John Askew, Samuel Skelton, Abraham Jennaway, Henry Morley, John Wall.
On the death of John Pritchett, in 1681, he was succeeded by Edward
Fowler, who also seems not to have thought it contrary to his profession
to undertake more duties than he could perform in person, as we find
him for 23 years Vicar of the Parish (surely no sinecure, if properly
performed), and also Bishop of Gloucester. He seems to have been
well liked by his parishioners, though he did not always at first carry
out his own points. See following extracts : —
1700. — It was ordered "That the chancel of the Church be put in good repair at the charge of the Parish, in acknowledgment of the bounty and kindness of the Vicar, the Bishop of Gloucester, who hath for a long time provided a Lecturer at his own charge.
66 Sf. Giles, Cripplegate.
Oct. 30, 1706. — The Bishop requesting this Vestry to choose a Lecturer for this Parish and recommending for their choice Mr- Thomas Sawyer, they debated the same for some time and then dispersed themselves without coming to any resolution thereon.
Sept. 15, 1708. — The Right Rev. Father in God Edward Lord Bishop of Gloucester Vicar of St. Giles, Cripplegate representing at this Vestry his having provided and paid a Lecturer at his own charge for five and twenty years last past, his being disabled by reason of age and sickness to preach himselfe in a morning any longer his being at the charge of a person to preach for him and that his family is large and the profits and income of his Vicarage very much decreased and having requested the said Vestry to ease him in his said charge by choosing Mr- Thomas Sawyer, Lecturer, It was agreed and ordered by a great majority of the persons then present that as well for the consideration afore mentioned as also of the several favours and kindnesses in many respects granted to this Parish by his Lordship, since he hath been Vicar thereof, that the said Mr' Thos- Sawyer should be and he is chosen Lecturer to preach the afternoon sermon of a Sabbath day during the life of his Lordshipp if the said Mr- Sawyer shall think fit and shall so long live.
It was in Dr. Fowler's time that the Cripplegate Boys' School was started (1698) ; afterwards ground was purchased, and the first permanent building erected in 1709, by voluntary subscription, added to a legacy of one Thomas Moore. In the same year the Lady Holies School for Girls was also founded, under a bequest of Lady Eleanor Holies, daughter of the Earl of Clare. The amount bequeathed was invested in ground rents, and by a decree in Chancery, a body of Trustees was appointed, by whom the School was established. At first it was carried on in the Boys' School House, when fifty girls wrere admitted, receiving a free education. Additional bequests were afterwards made for the same purpose, and these, together with subscriptions and contributions, enabled the Trustees to enlarge the School to receive one hundred girls. Both Schools have continued with increased efficiency until the present time. The Girls are now located in commodious premises in Redcross Street, with 250 girls in the Upper School, and no in the Infants; 105 in the Upper School being clothed out of the Trust funds, and 40 in the Infants' School, out of the funds left for the purpose in " Robert Hitchin's " Charity, administered by the Clothworkers' Company and the Churchwardens of Cripplegate. The Boys' School is now conducted in specially built but not too spacious or well planned premises in Bridgewater Square, and educates 170 boys in the Upper and 100 in the Lower School. Clothes are provided for 150 of the Upper School Boys.
Built and partly supported by surplus funds of The Lady Holies School Trust is a Middle Class School for Girls in Mare Street, Hackney, with 250 scholars on the books, who pay sums varying (according to age) from four to six pounds per annum for their education.
The Vicars. 67
Dying in August, 17 14, Dr. Fowler was succeeded by William Whitfield, who, during a short tenure of office, was not on the most pleasant terms with his parishioners. He could scarcely have been appointed when the following entry in the minutes of the Vestry occurs, which, to modern minds, must seem a strange way of attempting to transact parochial business : —
Sept. 19, 1714, — A Committee of six Vestrymen of the Freedom and six of the Lord- ship, and the four Churchwardens to meet the Reverend the Vicar, every Thursday night at six of the clock at "Fellows Coffee House" to consult matters relating to the Parish.
Probably, and it is not surprising, the Vicar did not like the proposed arrangement, and but few of the meetings took place, for on June 19th, 1 7 15, we find the Vicar, in his turn, "proposed and desired that the Committee formerly appointed to meet him of a Thursday night at Fellows' Coffee House, to consult the affairs of the Parish, will come to his house on that night weekly for the future." The Vestrymen, however, seemed determined to ensure more convivial surroundings for their meetings, for on January 15th, 17 16, it was proposed by the Vestry —
"That the Committee will meet Dr. Whitfield of a Thursday night, at five o'clock weekly, to consult about having a workhouse in each part of the Parish, the first meeting to be on Thursday the 24th inst. at the Castle Tavern at Cripplegate."
As, however, the Vicar only lived a few months after, nothing decisive was arrived at, and during the short period of his incumbency, he had little time to make any mark in the Parish, or set on foot any work of importance.
These unpleasant relations between the congregation and its head seem, unfortunately, to have been continued with greater bitterness under the next Vicar, Thomas Bennet. Unseemly disturbances were of constant occurrence in the Church and Parish. This bad feeling is hardly to be wondered at, considering the unusual variety of sects and religious bodies in the district. In addition to the Church of England men, there were Quakers (passively resistant) well represented, the members of two Anabaptist Meeting-houses, two Independent, and one Roman Catholic Chapel, all, as may well be imagined, not over tolerant of the difference between their own and their neighbours' religious views, and possibly still less tolerant of the payment of Church rates and tithes. In 1 7 19 we find three Quakers were brought before the Court of Exchequer for non-payment of tithe of 2s. gd. in the pound. After being in Court three years, the case was decided against the Vicar, with the result, no doubt, of leading many others to refuse payment. The following minute shows that the collection of the Church rate was troublesome.
f 2
" That the Churchwardens be empowered to prosecute such people at Doctors Commons as shall refuse to pay the Church rate." And again in April, 1705, with reference to two complaints against the same rate, " decided by the majority to rebate neither rate nor charge nor any part thereof." The question of payment of tithes and Church rates was no doubt then, as it always has been, a knotty one, and does not belong to our own times alone. Dr. Bennet was little likely to be tolerant of opposition, for he is well known as a champion of the Church of England against Popery and Dissent ; he came into a Parish over-burdened with poor, and was himself rendered liable to arrest for non-payment of Poor Rate at the beginning of his Ministry, which no doubt embittered him in his treatment of the Vestry. Less than two years after his induction, i.e., on the 2nd May, 17 18, we find him " sueing the Churchwardens in the Court of the Dean and Chapter of St. Pauls for fees for burial of the poor pensioners" — 2s. on each such burial. On June 12, the Vestry "resolve to stand by the Church- wardens," and allow them the assistance of counsel. Bennet seems to have been driven to extremes to defend himself. The position may be briefly described as follows : — The Vicar had right in saying to the Vestry, "you deny me my tythes, you deny me my rights under the lease of the Quest House and 'the four shoppes,' you tax me for the poor, and you seek to deny me my proper dues, which I will claim in a Court of Law."
On 1 8th December, 1723, the Vestry resolve "That the suits depending at Doctors Commons against Dr. Thos. Bennet to oblige him to dis- tribute the Sacrament monies in his hands to the use it was given be proceeded in with effect by the Churchwardens from time to time (till the same be determined) at the charge of the Parish."
On March 29th, 1725, Dr. Bennet challenges the right of the Vestry to elect both Churchwardens (see page 172), and on 21st July, 1727, the Churchwardens "are empowered to advise with Council about the Vicar's claiming a right from the Deane and Chapter of St. Paul's as ordinary of this Parish about the right of burying in the Churchyard adjoining the Church, and to take such other measures as they see proper concerning the same." The great dispute, out of which all these arose, is mentioned on page 178. On his death in 1728, he was succeeded by Dr. John Rogers, who, though only holding the living until May in the following year, has left a record of exemplary discharge of his duties, exhibiting much devotion to the material and spiritual well-being of his
The Vicars. 69
parishioners. His endeavours to heal the breach between the Vicar and the people caused by the many controversies in Dr. Bennet's time, were, however, owing to his premature death, of too short duration to make any lasting improvement. Dr. Rogers' biographer says: — "That had he lived, it would have been no hyperbole to say there was a Vicar of Cripplegate a popular man in his Parish."
During the earlier part of the time of his successor, Dr. Nicholls, the feelings of animosity were as strong as ever. Denton says there was "constant parochial warfare," and emphasizes this by the following extract from the will of one Ned Ward, dated 1731 : — Oh ! bury not my peaceful corpse
In Cripplegate, where discord dwells, And wrangling parties jangle worse Than alley scolds or Sunday's bells.
But after a year or two a fair amount of good-will and confidence seems to have been exhibited towards Dr. Nicholls, as, when the Deputy Parish Clerk, Mr. Peake, was prosecuted by the Parish "for acting as Clerk without due license," the Register Books were "ordered to be placed in Dr. Nicholls' hands for keeping the same, and the current Registers, when full, to be placed in his hands for the same purpose."
Amid all the discords, however, some steady work must have been going on in the Parish, as, during his incumbency in 1732, the Church of St. Luke was built, for the accommodation of the vastly increased population of the district, for whom no room could be made in St. Giles, and then the two Churches, with their respective Parishes, were made quite distinct {see pp. 36, 37, 64). At Easter, 1733, eacn Vestry elected its Committee on the Charitable Funds. Dr. Nicholls continued in office till his death in 1774, having then held the living for 45 years, a longer period than any previous Vicar. After him, we have George William Hand, of whom little is known, but from that very fact, and also from the comparison drawn between him and his successor, it may be well inferred that his was a peaceful time. Not so, however, under the next Vicar's rule, William Holmes, M.A., who succeeded him in 1802. In addition to the living of St. Giles', he for 30 years held the office of Sub-Dean of His Majesty's Chapel Royal. This latter office was possibly more to his taste, as we find he was very unfavourably thought of, on account of non-residence in the Parish. Another grievance against him was his grasping spirit in the matter of tithes. In a volume called " Choice Scraps " (in the Guildhall Library), there is a large collection of letters, pamphlets, &c, from 1820 to 1832, on the subject, with many
yo St. Giles, Cripplegate.
addresses to the Parishioners, calling upon them to resist payment. Comparisons, by no means favourable, are very freely instituted between him and his predecessor, such as the following : — ■
In 1800, the Rev. Dr. Hands, the resident Vicar of Cripplegate, was content to receive Tythes and Church Dues to the value of ^400 per annum in paper currency.
In 1832, the Rev. W. Holmes, the non-resident Vicar of Cripplegate, receives Tythes, Compensations, Glebe and Church Dues of about ^2,300 per annum in gold currency.
In justice to the Vicar, it should be mentioned that this great increase was in a considerable measure due to an Act of Parliament of 7th George IV, which extinguished tithes and Easter offerings for the Clergy, and ordered the Churchwardens instead, to levy a Church Rate : that in the Parish of St. Giles to be fixed at a sufficient amount to pay to the Vicar ,£1,800, for his stipend and for the necessary expenses of the Church.
Cap. 54, Sec. 1 of the above Act states : —
Whereas it will be beneficial to the inhabitants of the Parish that a certain annual stipend should from henceforth be paid to the Vicar of the said Parish for the time being ^1,800 subject to such averages according to the price of Wheat from time to time in lieu satisfaction and discharge of all Tithes and Easter offerings or payments in lieu of Tithes to which such Vicar is entitled within the said Parish.
Sec. 28 runs as follows : —
And whereas the said annual sum of One thousand eight hundred pounds is the average price for ten years preceding the 25th day of December last of 4,105 bushels of good marketable Wheat within the said City of London according to the returns published in the London Gazette ; and it is expedient that the annual sum to be paid to the Vicar for the time being of the said Parish should be subject to revision or variation every tenth year from and after the passing of this Act and that the annual stipend to the said Vicar for the time being should from time to time be the same number of bushels of good marketable Wheat according to the average price thereof within the said City of London, for the period of ten years then preceding.
The result of above Act has been that the Vicar's stipend has been gradually diminishing (with the exception of the decade 1 875-1 885), as the following table will show : — ■
From Christmas, 1S25 to Christmas, 1S35 -
1835 „ 1845 "
1845 », i855 "
1855 „ 1865 -
1865 ,, 1875 "
1875 ,, 1885 -
1885 „ 1895 -
When in 1851 the present Parish of St. Bartholomew was carved out of the Parish of St. Giles, a sixth part of the amount payable to the Vicar of St. Giles was allocated towards the stipend of the Vicar of St. Bartholomew. At the time of the appointment of the present Vicar,
|
£ |
s. |
d. |
|
1,800 |
0 |
0 |
|
1,526 |
10 |
1 1 |
|
1,509 |
8 |
10- |
|
1,421 |
15 |
8 |
|
1,317 |
0 |
5 |
|
1,411 |
1 |
10 |
|
1,133 |
3 |
0 |
a further sum of ^200 per annum was, by an order of the Privy Council, ordered to be paid to the Rector of St. Luke, thus reducing the amount received by the Vicar of St. Giles to less than ^750 per annum.
These further extracts following, show the Parishioners' grievance as to the advanced rateable value of House property in the Parish : —
In 1800, houses were rated at half their rental, and Tythes and Church Rates paid by the occupiers of the best houses did not exceed 35/- per annum.
In 1832, houses are rated upon Rack Rents, the Tythes and Church Rates paid by the occupiers of the best houses being from £\2 to ,£14 per annum.
The succeeding Vicar was Frederick Blomberg, D.D. It is said that he was of a most charitable disposition, and universally esteemed. A tablet in the south aisle of the Church states that " he gave the munificent sum of ^750 during the first three years of his Pastorate, towards relieving the necessities of his poor parishioners." A well- executed painting of him in oil hangs in the Vestry-room of the Quest House. He died in 1847, and was succeeded by William Hale Hale, M.A., Archdeacon and Canon of St. Paul's. He is also spoken of as of a kindly disposition, and one who bestowed much thoughtful charity among his parishioners. Resigning in 1857, he was succeeded by Philip Parker Gilbert, M.xA, who held the living until his death in 1886. He was a man of great business capacity, and at one time possessed commanding eloquence. Soon after his induction to the living, he commenced the work of arousing an interest both in the Parish and the City at large, in the restoration of the Church. In this, with the help of successive Churchwardens and others, he was eventually successful. His business qualities also materially assisted in framing measures for the more efficient management of the different Parochial Charities, and he was the leading spirit in the management of the Boys' and Girls' Schools, and of the Metropolitan Dispensary, as well as in the more immediate work of the Parish.
He was succeeded by the present Vicar, Albert Barff, M.A., who entered on his duties fresh from the important post of head of the Choir School of St. Paul's Cathedral. During his as yet brief tenure of the office, he has won for himself golden opinions, and the good wishes of all. He was appointed to the Prebendal Stall of Twyford in St. Paul's Cathedral in September, 1887.
ML
THE MONUMENTS.
AS mentioned in the account of the Church, the fire of 1545 destroyed most of the monuments, and there are none now existing prior to 1575 ; the one to Thomas Busby is of this date, and is in a remarkably good state of preservation.
It may be here mentioned that this, with several others, notably Constance Whitney's and Edward Harvist's, is of white marble varnished over. This seems to have been done ulterior to 170S, with the idea of more effectually preserving them, as a writer of that time describes one of the monuments as "a very spacious white marble." From various sources we gather that many monuments and tablets have been removed or covered over during different " plasterings." Stow mentions one especially, which he describes as " a very fair table with a rich Coat of Arms, hanging upon a pillar in the middle aisle, under it a long inscription, and below all, Two Hands joined, one out of a Cloud, and the other out of a Globe," and these words : — "TILL THEN FAREWELL."
Stow also mentions that the Church was full of carved Heraldic Arms — mentioning thirteen Escutcheons of Arms of one family. A manuscript in the Ashmolean Library of the Bodleian, Oxford, contains the following as appearing in St. Giles' Church : —
For the Clarke's wife, of the parish, in the middle ile before the pulpitt in a faire brass monument is the wrighten: —
" Body— I Mary Pawson lye below sleeping Soul— I Mary Pawson sitte above waking Both — We hope to meet again with glory clothed Then Mary Pawson for ever more blessed.
She lived 70 years and dyed 1599.
74 St Giles, Cripplegate.
The entry of the burial in the Church Register is as follows : —
Mary, wife of Richard Pawson, Sadler, Parish Clarke (buried), 20 September, 1599.
Malcolm, writing in 1805, speaking of the monuments, says: — "The
floor of the enclosure for the font partly covers several large stones,
having on them seven lozenges, each containing a field, on which have
been brass plates."
These stones have either been removed from the Church, or the inscriptions have been defaced by wear of many feet, as also is the following, described in 1708, as inscribed on a grey marble slab in front of the Communion rails ; this is not now to be found.
HENRY COLEBURNE,
Died August 8th, 1655,
Aged 57.
Silence ! but a word, namely, that he Was pious, wise, just, merciful and free ; This was his work, to quench illegal hates, Not conquer Kingdoms, but compose debates ; How rare a pilot in such tempests known, Many estates embarked, but shipwrecked none. Pardon his meaner grave, who thought it meet, By virtue, not with fabrics, to be great, For to his tomb none could more trophies bring A useful man on earth, in Heaven a King.
Epitaph.
Before this stone interred lies
The lame man's feet, the blind man's eyes,
Blest when at the last judgment he
With these, shall his Redeemer see,
None like to those except that Eye
Of faith which brings plerophory.
The composer of above is unknown, and no more efforts of his genius are discernible in the Church, but he evidently had as much "plerophory" in his own powers of composition as in Henry Coleburne's merits.
The Registers record —
" Henry Coleburne, Scrivener, Jaundice, buried 9th August."
"Smyth's Obituary" says —
Henry Colborn Scrivener in Wal brook died Aug'- 8.
We shall now proceed to describe the Monuments that are still to be seen in the Church.
The Monuments.
75
THOMAS BUSBY, Buried, July nth, 1575.
The monument to this Cripplegate worthy is at the east end of the north wall, and is a fairly well executed half-length figure, in the dress of the period; his right hand resting upon a skull, and his left holding a pair of gloves. A Coat of Arms surmounting the whole.
On the tablet below is the following inscription : —
This Busbie willing to reeleve the Poore with Fire and with Breade
Did give that howse whearein he dyed, Then called ye Queene's Heade
Foure full loades of ye best Charcoles, he would have bought ech yeare
And fortie dosen of wheaten bread, for poore howsholders heare
To see these thinges distributed — this Busby put in trust
The Vicar and Church Wardenes, Thinkying them to be Just.
God grant that poore howsholders here may thankful be for such
So God will move the mindes of moe to doe for them as much
And let this Good Example move such men as God hath blest
To doe the like before they Goe with Busby to there rest
Within this Chappell, Busbies Bones in Dust awhile must stay
Till He that made them rayse them up to live with Christ for aye.
The entry in the Register is : —
Thomas Busby householder was buried the nth clay of July 1575.
j 6 St. Giles, Cripp legate.
Thomas Busby was one of the earliest benefactors of the poor of Cripplegate, and the wish expressed in the inscription just quoted, as well as his example, no doubt stimulated others to follow in his footsteps, as during the next half century many similar bequests were made. There seems to have been two houses devised by Busby's will, one the Queene's Head, mentioned in the inscription, was let for ^10 per annum in 1649. A lease was granted in 165 1, at an annual rent of £12 and ,£150 fine, which rent seems to have been paid for many years, but at the commencement of the present century both houses realized only ^10 per annum. The property is under the control of the Joint Estate Trustees of St. Giles and St. Luke, for the benefit of the poor of both parishes, and is now of considerable value.
JOHN FOX, Died April iSth, 1587.
John Fox, author of the famous " Book of Martyrs," lies buried
in the chancel. At the north-west end of the church is a large stone
slab inscribed as follows : —
CHRLSTO. SS.
JOHANNI FOXO, EcCLESI/E AXGLICAN.-E
Martyrologo FIDELISSIMO, antiqui-
TATIS HISTORIC/^ INDAGATORI SAGACIS-
SIMO, EVANGELIC/E VERITATIS PROPUGNAT-
ORI ACERRIMO, THAMATURGO ADMIRABILI,
QUI MARTYRES MARIANOS, TANQUAM
PHCENICES EX CINERIBUS REDIVIVOS
PR.ESTITIT, PATRI SUO OMNI PIETATIS
OFFICIO INPRIMIS COLENDO, SAMUEL FOXUS, ILLIUS
l'RIMOGENITUS, HOC MONUMENTUM POSUIT
NON SINE LACHRYMIS.
Obiit die XVIII mens : April an0
SALUTIS, 1587, IAM SEPTUAGENARIUS.
Vita Vit.-e mortalis est spes yit.e immortalis.
A translation of the above is cut on a brass tablet fixed below the
stone, as follows : —
JOHN FOXE. The most faithful Martyrologist of the Church of England, the most sagacious investigator of Historical Antiquity, the most valiant Defender of the Evangelical Truth, a wondrous worker of Miracles, who presented the Marian Martyrs like Phrenixes, alive from their ashes.
Chiefly to fulfil every duty of filial affection, Samuel Foxe, his eldest son, erected this monument, not without tears.
He died the 18th of April, A.D. 1587, a septuagenarian.
The Life of mortal life, is the hope of Immortal Life.
The Monuments. yy
It has been suggested that a better reading for a "wondrous worker of miracles," would be, " a wondrous wonder worker."
This stone tablet, although commemorating the fact that one of the most illustrious and worthy of Church of England Divines had found his last resting place within the church walls, was, until the year 1862, partly hidden by the wainscot in the chancel. An inscription, recently cut on the stone states that Fox was some time Vicar of the Parish, but this surely should be erased, as no warrant can be found for such a statement. He certainly lived in the parish, in Grub Street (now Milton Street), but the following should conclusively show that he was not Vicar of St. Giles:— The late Mr. Pratt, of Coleman Street, in the life prefixed to Fox's works, says "Tanner, in his Bibliotheca, states 'that he was for some time Vicar of Cripplegate,' but Fox's name does not appear amongst the list of persons paying first fruits."
From the chronological list of Vicars of Cripplegate, it will be seen that there really was not a time when he could have been Vicar ; very probably he often assisted "Crowley," with whom in the matter of the habits he was in sympathy. He may also have been described as "Minister" of Cripplegate, as John Field is on the title-page of one of his books, or as the Curates who died in the time of Andrewes and Buckeridge are described in the Registers, as " Mynister of this Parish," or " Mynester of the Church."
John Fox was born at Boston, in Lincolnshire, in 15 16. He took his degree at Oxford in 1538, and became a Fellow of Magdalen College in 1539. He left his College in 1545. Had he remained longer, by the conditions of his Fellowship, he must have taken orders, and the " six articles " (celibacy, transubstantiation, the King's supremacy, &c.) at that time stood in his way. He was appointed tutor in the family of Sir Thomas Lucy, of Charlecote, and in 1547 was married there. He is next found in London, in St. Paul's, in great distress, from which he is relieved by the kindness of the Duchess of Richmond, who takes him home to her house in Knightrider Street. By her influence, in 1548, Fox is appointed tutor to the children of the late Earl of Surrey, son of the Duke of Norfolk, and continues as such at Reigate, in Surrey, till 1553. In the meantime he is ordained Deacon by the Bishop of London, on 24th June, 1550, having taken up a temporary residence with the Duchess of Suffolk in Barbican for that purpose.
Edward VI died in 1553, Norfolk was released, and his grandchildren removed from Fox's care. By the help of his former pupil, afterwards Duke of Norfolk, Fox and his wife were enabled to escape to the Continent, where he resided for a time, working as a corrector for the press at Strasburg. He there published his first work on the history of the Church. From this he went to Frankfort, and afterwards to Basle, then famous for its printers and printing presses. Here he continued to work as a corrector for the press, and at the same time was busily engaged in collecting materials for his great work, " the Acts and Monuments of the Christian Church." While thus engaged, he repre- sents himself in a letter as " reduced to his last penny." He did not return to England immediately on the Accession of Elizabeth, but remained for a time at Basle to publish the first edition of his " Acts and Monuments."
In October, 1559, he returns, and resides in the Duke of Norfolk's house in Aldgate. On January 25th, 1560, he is ordained Priest by the Bishop of London, but demurs to the use of the " habits." For three years after this he is with Parkhurst, Bishop of Norwich, and in 1563, when the first great English edition of his work was published, he was again in the Duke of Norfolk's house at Aldgate. In the following May he was appointed to the Prebend of Shipton, in Salisbury Cathedral, the first fruits of which he is obliged, from poverty, to ask the Queen to remit. In 1564 he is residing at John Day's, the printer, in Aldersgate Street, and in 1570 the second edition of his work is published. In this same year he preached his famous sermon, on Good Friday, at Paul's Cross. Next year the Convocation of Canterbury order a Copy of the "Acts and Monuments" to be placed in all the Churches, to be read and studied by the people, and in the same year Fox's house is in Grub Street. The third edition of his book was published in 1576, and the fourth in 1583. Worn out with his arduous labours, and well-known for his unstinted charity, he died 18th April, 1587, and was buried in the Chancel of St. Giles' Church, Cripplegate.
The entry in the Register is —
John Fox, householder, preacher was buried the 20th April 1587.
The following entries of Fox's family (?) occur : —
Fox the dr- of Mr. John Fox was buried the 25th October 1578.
Annie Fox, widow in Grub Street (buried) 16th March 1598.
The Monuments. 79
ROBERT GLOVER,
Died 1588.
Robert Glover has been described as an " indefatigable searcher after
Antiquities," his monument at the east-end of the south aisle is of marble,
handsomely sculptured, varnished and gilt, with inscription as follows : —
DEO OPT. MAX: ET POSTERITATI SACRUM.
Roberto Glovero, alias Somerset feciali cele- berrimo, Heraldic^ sciential et veritatis antique vindi- ci acerrimo, summam laudem et benevolentia ob prae- clarum ingenium, peracre judicium ex multa veterum scriptorum (labore indefesso) perscrutatice, mora fa- cilitatem vitaeq : innocuae sanctimoniam apud omnes consecuto: avunculo Chariss: Thomas Milles nepos
amoris hoc monumentum mcerens posuit. Robertus iste natus Ashfordiae Cantii emporio, pa- rentib9 ingenuis liberaliter educatus, in multis apprime versatus heraldicae unice peritiss: evasit, Fratre uni- cura Gulielmil ex Tho: et Mildreda PPA: Sorores autem v. habuit. ex Elizabetha Flower conjuge v tantu su- perstites reliquit liberos, filios sclt. in filiasque II. Tandem, cum jam patriae orbiq : post varia exantlata studia acuminis peritiae et diligentiae stupenda gustu insigne praebere atq: principi Sereniss: suis meritis grat- issimus esse cceperit: x April m,cccc,lxxxviii aetatis suae XLV, vitam aerumnosam cum morte pie et placide in uno Christo commutavit. Idq: omnium cum doctissimorum turn optimorum undiq : pro tan- to literar' pietatis et virtutis alumno, dolo- re ac gemitu ut pote quern fata tantum terris ostendisse videantur, nee amplius esse sinant R. G. Moriens ut viveret vixit ut moriturus.
The family arms surmount the inscription, with motto —
" Tolerandum et Sperandum."
The entries in the Registers are as follows : —
Robert Sommerset als Glover, gentleman, buried 13th April, 1588.
Thomas [Glover] als- Somerset, ye son of Mr. Somerset Harold, christened 23rd June, 157b.
John Glover, sonne of Robert Glover als Somerset, Christened 22d March 1 580-1.
Robert Glover, son of Robert Glover als Sommerset harolde of Arms, Gent. Christened 18th September 1586.
Under the Monument is a brass plate, stating that this inscription having become obliterated by time has been restored, from motives of high respect for the memory of Mr. Glover, as well as for the College of Heralds, collectively and individually, by Frederick Henry Barnwell, F.S.A., of Bury St. Edmunds, in Suffolk, who has received considerable
8o
St. Giles, Cripplegatc,
pleasure from the Ordinary in Edmondson's Heraldry, as well as from frequent sight of the original MSS. of Arms compiled by this eminent person and attested, now in possession of Sir Thomas Gery Cullum, Bart., of Hardwick House, in the same county, a.d. mdcccxxv.
There are a few misprints in the restoration, such as CANTH for CANTII, GUSEV for GUSTV, VLTAM for VITAM, TEM for IE.II, which the next restorer may see put to rights. An instance or two of similar mistakes occur on Fox's and on Cage's Monuments.
Sir MARTIN FROBISHKK.
The present year being the Tercentenary of the Defeat of the Great Spanish Armada, the Vestry of St. Giles, Cripplegate, thought that it would be an opportune time to place a memorial in the Church to one who played such a gallant part in that momentous struggle. The design as shown above has been approved, and the monument is in course of execution. When finished it will be placed on the wall in the south aisle.
As will be seen, the design is of Elizabethan character. The marbles
used are Dove for the backing, Sienna for the portion surrounding the
statuary panel, Irish green for the pilasters, and Sicilian for the other
portions. The upper tablet contains the following lines : —
Attend all ye who list to hear our noble England's praise,
I tell of the thrice famous deeds she wrought in ancient days ;
When that great fleet invincible, against her bore in vain,
The richest spoils of Mexico, the stoutest hearts of Spain. — (Macaulay.)
The centre is occupied by a three-masted ship of the period, with a background of Arctic and West Indian scenery, thus indicating Frobisher's share not only in defeating the Invincible Armada, but also his work in the two regions named. On the lower tablet is the following
inscription : —
Within this Church lie the remains of Sir MARTIN FROBISHER, Knight,
one of the first to explore
The Arctic Regions and The West Indies.
Having gained great glory
by his skill and bravery in. the Naval engagements
which terminated in the defeat of the
Great Spanish Armada, 1588,
he died from wounds received in Action off Brest,
22nd November, 1594.
This Monument was erected
in honour of his memory
by the
Vestry of St. Giles, Cripplegate,
1888.
Martin Frobisher was born of a good family at Doncaster about 1530-40; early in life he embraced the profession of the mariner, and eventually became one of those great naval adventurers who carried England's flag triumphantly over every sea, and who finally crushed the
^tl0/v*/r°&/h
FAC-SIMIEE OF FROBISHER S SIGNATURE.
power of Spain, the then boastful mistress of the seas. Frobisher was the first of our great Arctic explorers. In 1576 he left England in command of two tiny vessels of 25 tons each, to search for a north-west passage to India. As many others have since done, he failed in this object, but made discoveries that others have profited by, and one portion of the sea in the Arctic zone still bears his name. He then served with Drake in the West Indies, and returned in time to take part
82
Sf. Giles, Cripplegate.
in defeating the Great Armada, in which great fight he so distinguished himself that he was the first of six who received then and there, at the hands of Lord Howard of Effingham, the honour of Knighthood. The power of Spain thus being temporarily crushed, he probably spent some time ashore, Cripplegate being, no doubt, again honoured with his presence, as just before this time Sir Humphrey Gilbert, with whom Frobisher is known to have been intimate, resided there, as also did Sir Roger Townsend, who was knighted at the same time as Frobisher, and many of the great naval adventurers of the time no doubt con- gregated here round him. At any rate, Frobisher must have had some connection with the Church and Parish, for although dying at Plymouth, we find him brought home to London — to Cripplegate — to be buried.
In 1594 he was in command of a squadron sent to support Henry IV of France against the Leaguers and Spaniards. When off Brest he received a wound, from the effects of which he shortly afterwards died, in Plymouth. An entry occurs in the Register Book of St. Andrews, Plymouth, as follows : —
On the 22nd Novemb. 1594. — Sir Martin Frobisher, Knight, being at the Fort built against Brest, by the Spanyards, deceased at Plymouth this clay, whose entrails were here interred, but his Corpse was carried hence to be burned in London.
The entry in St. Giles Cripplegate register book is as follows : —
Sr- Martyn Furbusher Knight (buried) 14 Jan^- 1594-5.
CHARLES LANGLEY, Died, June, 1602.
The tablet that perpetuates the memory of Charles Langley is placed very appropriately near to that of Busby on the north wall, for it may well be that Busby's example inspired Langley with the desire of also
The Monuments. 83
helping his poor neighbours. The inscription on both breathes the same spirit throughout.
The inscription runs as follows : —
With in this He lieth buried the bodie of CHARLES LANGLEY, Some time of this Parishe, Ale Brewer, Who was buried the 8th day of June, Anno DiTi 1602, And did give bountefully to the poore of this Parishe.
If Langlie's life thou liste to knowe reade on and take a viewe
Of Faith and Hope I will not speake his work shall shew them treue.
Whoe whilest he lived, wth counsaile grave, ye better sorte did guid
A stay to weake, a staffe to poore, wthout back-bite or pride.
And when he died he gave his mite all that did him befall
For ever once a yere to cloathe Saint Giles poore withall.
All Saintes hee pointed for the day *gownes xx redie made
Wth XX shirts, and xx smockes as they may best be hadd.
A sermond eke he hath ordayned that God may have his praiese
And others might be wonne thereby to followe Langlies waies.
On Vicar and Churchwardens then his truste he hath reposed
As they will answer him one day when all shalbe disclosed.
Thus beinge deade, yet still he lives lives never for to dye
In heaven's blysse, in worlde's fame and so I trust shall I.
Lanncellott Andrewe, Vicar.
John Taylor, Wm- Hewett, Edward Sicklyn, Richard Maye, Ch urchwardens.
The entry in the Register is as follows : —
Mr. Charles Langley, Householder, Brewer, buried 8th June, 1602.
Charles Langley gave by his will to the Vicar and Churchwardens for ever six messuages and tenements of the yearly value of ^"48 per annum, for the purpose of clothing forty poor men and poor women of Cripplegate. In the course of time the poor of the parish have further largely benefited by Langley's will. The income now is about ;£8oo per annum, and is managed by the Joint Estate Trustees of St. Giles and St. Luke.
Langley was for some years a Vestryman of the Parish, and at one time Churchwarden; his signature continually occurs as having been present at the audit of Sworder's Accounts.
A curious account is given on pp. 209-10 of the cost of making these "gownes.' and "shirts."
G 2
84 St. Giles, Cripplegate.
Near the north side of the chancel arch, but hidden by the organ, is a neat marble slab, containing the following inscription : —
ROGER MASON,
Of this parish, Citizen and Vintner of London, gave to the poor of the freedom of this parish ^200, wherewith a yearly rental of £16, or thereabouts, is purchased for ever, to be bestowed on ten gowns of black cloth, lined, to be distributed yearly to ten poor men of the freedom of this parish, upon All Saints' day, at the discretion of the Vicar and Churchwardens of the time being.
He Died the 3rd day of September, 1603,
Aged 37 Years.
Which ^200 his wife, Jane, faithfully paid and joined the erection of this monument.
Set up Anno 1606.
This bequest is under the management of the Joint Estate Trustees.
The entry in the Register is : —
Roger Mason, Householder, Vintner, buried 6th September, 1603.
This was one of the Plague years, and the Registers show that 26 burials took place the same day, 36 the day before, and 26 the day after, so that it is probable he was a victim to the visitation.
WILLIAM DAY,
Died 22nd September, 1603.
This monumental slab has recently been removed from behind the organ and placed at the west end of the south aisle. The inscription is as follows : —
WILLIAM DAIE,
Citizen and Vintener of London,
The Sone of Thomas Daye, of Boseham in Sussex, gent., and Elizabeth,
his wife, Gave to ye poore of this parishe £&o, wh was paid by his brother, George Daie, wherewith an yearely rent of £6, or thereabout, is purchased for ever, to be bestowed on coots of green cloth, to be distributed yearely upon poore orphanes,
upon All Saunt day, at the discretion of ye Vicor & Churchwardens for ye time beinge —
He lyeth buried in his parish church of St. Michael, in Cornehill, and
Died Septemb. 22, 1603.
32 Aetat : sure.
Sett up Ann : 1606 Maye the viii day.
The space for numbers is vacant on the monument as printed.
This bequest is under the management of the Joint Estate Trustees of St. Giles and St. Luke.
The Monuments.
85
MATTHEW PALMER, Died 1605.
The monument to Matthew Palmer is placed under the clock in the north aisle, and consists of the recumbent figures of the deceased and his wife, and in the panel below their five children, kneeling; immediately below which is the original inscription and a well-designed Cherub. Underneath all is a tablet with the inscription added in 1 7 1 2 (see next page). The whole monument is small compared with "Harvist's" and others of the same date, but the figures are beautifully sculptured and in an excellent state of preservation.
The original inscription was as follows : —
Here lyeth the body of Mathew Palmer, Esqr- who died yc iSth of May, 1005, together wth Anne, his wife, who died ye laste day of June, 1630, by whome he had four sonnes and one daughter, viz. :— Thomas Palmer, his eldest sonne, deceased, the fifte of May, 1631, and here also buried, Elizabeth, Edward, Andrew and Ralfe, who, when it also pleaseth God, desire this place for the custodie of their bodies, likewise, till their assured and glorious resurrection.
There seems to be no mention in the parish records (excepting in the Register of Burials) of his name, or of any work done by him for the parish or church that received his remains, but he was evidently of some note. Stow speaks highly of him, and describes his Coat of Arms.
86 St. Giles, Cripplegate.
The following was added to the inscription in 1 7 1 2 : —
M. S. This is a very ancient family, and originally of Winthorp, in Lincolnshire, bearing
for their arms — Argent three pilgrims' staves sable, ye heads and points or, and for their crest, being placed above an helmet, a mans arms couped, ye sleeve azure, cuff argent, and hand proper holding a palmer's staff, sable, garnishd or. He whose monument this is was of Cotes, in Nottinghamshire, and had an honourable employment in ye Exchequer. His wife was Anne, ye daughter of Roger Raven, Esqr- whose arms were argent, a raven rising proper, by whome he had issue ye Children above mentioned, Edward lyes here interred, as likewise does Matthew Palmer, Esqr- of ye Middle Temple, ye son of that Edward. Andrew Palmer, Esqr- (a person of approved loyalty), of Hertford, was buryd here too, who by Elizabeth, sister to Baldwin Harney, of London, M.D., left one son, Ralf Palmer, Esq., of Little Chelsey, in ye County of Middsx- who by Alice White (of ye family of that learned prelate Dr- Francis White, sometime Ld- E-p- of Ely), had issue Ralph Palmer Esqr" of ye Middle Temple, who repaired this monument of his ancestors, a.d. 1712, having at that time a son born, Ralph Palmer, by Cathrine sole issue of Sir John Ernie, K> (sometime Chancellor of the Exchequer), by his second lady, Elizabeth, relict of Chariles Ld- Seymour. His youngest son, Ralph Talmer, Esqr- died a bachelor, and lyes interrd in a porch of his own erecting at Broxbome Church, in the county of Hertford.
The entries in the Register are : —
Mathew Palmer, Gent. (Buried), 23rd May, 1605. Mr. Thomas Palmer, Gentleman (Buried) 7th May, 1631.
EDWARD HARVIST, 14th March, 1610.
This handsome monument which from " tyme out of mind " had been on the north wall at the east end, has, since the organ was fixed in its present position, been entirely hidden. Recently, however, it has been removed and placed in its present position over the north door. Of marble, originally white, it has suffered with others by being varnished, or painted and gilt.
It is a fine and spacious monument with finely carved figures of the deceased and his wife kneeling at either side of a desk. The columns and entablature are well designed and executed — the enrichments con- sisting of cannon and other implements of warfare — in keeping with his position as one of " His Majesty's Gunners." The whole is surmounted with the Arms, presumably intended for those of the Brewers' Company, but treated somewhat differently to the arms now in use by that Company.
The Monuments.
87
The entry in the Register is : —
Edward Harvist, Brewer (Buried) 14th March, 1610-11.
The inscription is as follows : —
Here lyeth the body of
EDWARD HARVIST,
Citizen and Brewer of London, Alderman's Deputie, of this Parish, and
One of His Mats- Gunners,
And ANN, his beloved wyfe.
They were bothe very charitable persons as in giving land to
this parrishe perpetually for ye relefe of the poore widow ; as
also land to the companie whereof he was free for ye mending
OF YE HIGHWAY BETWEENE EDGWER & PADINGTON. He GAVE
CREATE LEGACIES TO HIS POORE KINDRED
AND DEPARTED THIS LYFE YE I4TH OF MARCH, l6lO. SHE DEPARTED THIS
LYFE YE 24TH OF May, 1610
Expecting bothe a glorious resurrection in Jesus Christ.
88 St. Giles, Cripplegate.
Edward Harvist left no legacy to the Parish, but his wife, who died shortly after him, gave by her Will "' Four tenements in Mugwell (Monkwell) Street yielding ^20 per annum rent, which she directed to be distributed to twenty poor widows, at every quarter of a year $s., during one whole year, and then twenty other widows the next year, changing every year." This bequest is now of the value of ^250 per annum, and is part of the Joint Estate Trusts.
ROBERT CAGE. On the wall near the western end of the north aisle is an exceedingly handsome marble monument adorned with entablature, pyramidal pillars, death's head, &c, and on either side two well-designed cherubs. The inscription in bold Roman gilt characters is as follows : —
Memoriae SacrD II ic Iacet Robertus Cage, armiger, omnium i.iterarum homo, vita integer morte christi- anus nec dum mortuus nam in memoria eter- na erit justus.
Solus Christus mihi sola Salus. Axo Dni 1625.
The entry in the Register is : —
Mr. Robert Cage, Gentleman (buried) 22nd November, 1624.
CONSTANCE WHITNEY, Buried May 25TH, 1628.
This very curious monument on the wall in the north aisle has given rise to much speculation as to its meaning. It represents a woman in her grave clothes rising from her coffin, and with hands outstretched receiving from a cherub on each side a crown and a chaplet. It is no doubt intended to be emblematic of the Resurrection ; but a legend has been handed down from one church custodian to another, that " it represents a woman awakening from a trance, into which she had fallen, and in which state she had been buried. The Sexton in his desire to possess himself of a valuable ring she wore, cut her finger to obtain it, and in doing so, awakened and saved her from a horrible death." It is further stated that she returned home to her husband, and became the mother of several children, but the fact that the inscription
The Monuments.
89
on the monument states, amongst other things, that she died at the early
age of 17, is surely inconsistent with such a tale.
There is no date given on the monument, but the Registers record "Mrs. Constance Whitney, (Buried) May 25th, 1628." The title Mrs. or Mistress was not restricted then, as now, to married ladies.
90 St. Giles, Cripplegate.
The inscription on the representation of a coffin runs as follows : — To the Memorie Of Constance Whitney, eldest daughter to Sr- Robert Whitney, of Whitney, the proper possession of him and his ancestors, in Herefordshire for above 500 yeeres past. Her mother was the fowrth daughter of Sir Thomas Lucy of Charlecote, in Warwickshire, by Constance Kingsmel, daughter and heyre of Richard Kingsmel, surveiour of the Court of Wardes, this lady Lucy her grandmother soe bred her, since shee was 8 years old, that shee excelled in all noble qualities becomminge a Virgin : of so sweete proportion of beauty and harmonie of parts, shee had all sweetnesse of manners answerable, a delightfull sharpeness of witt, an offensles modestie of conversation, a singuler respect and pietie to her parents, but religious even to example. She departed this life most Christianly at seaventeene, dyeing the greife of all, but to her grandmother an unrecoverable loss, save in her expectation shee" shall not stay long after her, and the comfort of knowing whose shee is, and where in the resurrection to meete her.
JOHN SPEED, Died July 28th, 1629.
The monument to John Speed is placed on the wall near the western end of the south aisle, and consists of a half-length bust in a cabinet with the doors thrown open. Upon one of them is the inscription in Latin relating to Speed, on the other a similar inscription to his wife —
Vije Memoria
Charissimorvm Parentvm
Iohannis Speed Civis Londinen- -SIS mercatorvm scissorvm fra-
Svsann^; sv^ svavissim/e; qu^e POSTQVAM dvodecim
-tris servi fidelissimi regiarvm ii.i.i filios et sex filias pepe-
magestatvm Eeiz.f:, Iacobl {sic) et rerat: annos qvinqvaginta