# A History of Cawthorne/Endowments of the Church, Incumbents and Curates

CHAPTER VIII.
ENDOWMENTS, ETC.
"Endowments for the maintenance of the Clergy are derived principally from voluntary gifts made for the purpose in ancient and modern times; the status of such gifts being that of offerings made to God for the maintenance of Divine Service, and of the cure of souls, by means of a ministry to be sustained out of them."
The earliest endowment of the Church at Cawthorne would be the Saxon lord's voluntary gift of the "tithes," or "tenths." This dedication of a tenth part of property or income to God, a practice traceable to the time of the Patriarchs. (Gen. xiv., 20), seems to have been introduced into the Church as early as the fourth century, for the maintenance of the clergy. St. Boniface, writing to Cuthbert, Archbishop of Canterbury, in the middle of the eighth century, speaks of tithes being then paid in England, and canons of the Church in that century regulate their payment and division.
Mention has already been made of St. Paulinus as the missionary of Nortbumbria (page 73), who accompanied Eadwine's Christian wife Æthelburga and was the means of converting the King of Northumbria and his people to the Christian Faith, becoming himself the first Bishop of York in 625. The original Dioceses of Saxon England were the different kingdoms of its heptarchy: each kingdom was a separate bishop's diocese. Realms which are now all but forgotten are thus commemorated in the limits of existing Sees. The whole Kingdom of Northumbria was the Diocese of York, and the frontier of the original Kingdom of Mercia may be recovered by following the map of the ancient bishopric of Lichfield. It is to Archbishop Theodore of Canterbury (668) that we owe the present organisation of the Church of England. In 673, he summoned a Council of all the English Churches at Hertford, which was attended by all the bishops and a great number of clergy, and the whole of England was then confederated into one province under the Arch​bishop of Canterbury as Metropolitan, "Primate of all England." It was thus that the several churches, with their different nationalities between which were frequent wars, were all organised into what was virtually a National Church. It is worthy of note, that the unity of the Church preceded the unity of the kingdom by 150 years; for it was not till 828 that Egbert, King of Wessex, reduced by conquest the other kingdoms, and became the first ruler of the whole of England. When he had thus organised the Church, Theodore began to subdivide the dioceses, though not without opposition. In 678, against the wishes of St. Wilfrid, he divided the See of Northumbria into four-York, Hexham, Lindisfarne and Lindsey—and he revived the ancient British Diocese of Whithern, on the coast of Galloway, of which St. Ninian, in 400, was the first bishop. Unconsciously, Theodore was preparing the way for political unity—by his creation of parishes, arrangement of dioceses, and grouping them all round the See of Canterbury. It was the organisation of the Church "which supplied a mould on which the civil organisation of the state quickly shaped itself. Above all, the councils gathered by Theodore were the first of all national gatherings for general legislation. It was the ecclesiastical synods which led the way to our national parliaments, as it was the canons enacted by such synods which led the way to a national system of law." (Green's History of the English People, p. 30.)
The following extract from Prof. Stubbs' The Early Plantagenets (Epochs of Modern History) admirably describes this process of development: "The history of the Church of England is during many ages the chief part of the history of the nation; throughout it is a very large part of the history of the people. Their ways of thinking, their system of morals, their intellectual growth, their intercourse with the world outside, cannot be understood but by an examination of the vicissitudes of their religious history; and it plays a scarcely less important part in the development of their political institutions. Christianity in England, looked at by the eye of history, means not only the knowledge of God and His salvation by Christ Jesus; it carries with it, besides, all that is implied in civilization, national growth, and national unity.
​"When the English, under the seven or eight struggling and quarrelling dynasties, whose battles form for centuries all the recorded life of the island, were seven or eight distinct nationalities,―some of them tribally connected, some of them using allied systems of law, but otherwise having scarcely anything in common beyond dialects of a common growing language, altogether without any common organisation or the desire of forming one,—the conversion in the seventh century taught them to regard themselves as one people. They were formed by St. Gregory and Archbishop Theodore into an organised Christian Church, the several dioceses of which represented the several kingdoms or provinces of their divided state.
"Thus arranged in one or, later on, in two ecclesiastical provinces, the wise men of the several tribes learned to act in concert; the tribes themselves, casting aside their tribal superstitions for a common worship, found how few real obstacles there were to prevent them from acting as one people; and from the date of the conversion the tendency of the kingdoms was to unite rather than to break up. Although this process was slow, for it went on for four centuries, and was scarcely completed when the Norman Conquest forced the mass of varied national elements into cohesion—it was a uniform tendency, contrasted with and counteracting numerous and varying tendencies towards separation. The Church built up the unity of the State, and in so doing built up the unity of the nation.**Never, perhaps, in any country were Church and State more closely united than they were in Anglo-Saxon times in England, for they were united with careful recognition of their "distinct functions." (pp. 55, 6, 7.) Archbishop Theodore is also said to have encouraged the thanes or lords to build Churches on their estates for the honour of God, and the comfort of themselves and their people, and to provide dwelling-houses for the clergy. As an inducement, he is said to have permitted every lord so doing to pay the tithe of his manor to his own pastor instead of sending it to the Bishop's common fund, and also to select his own pastor out of the general body of the clergy. The system thus commenced by Theodore was gradually carried out ​over the whole kingdom, so that by the time of the Norman Conquest the diocesan and parochial organisation of the Church of England was completed. (Cutts, Turning Points of the Church of England: ch. ix.)
The first bishops did not begin their work without the permission of the kings, and the kings when converted endowed the sees out of their own property, and thus the patronage of the sees-i.e. the selection of one of the clergy to succeed to a vacant see—came naturally into the hands of the several kings, and so eventually into the hand of the king of the whole country. And as the Bishop (Saxon, Biscop; Greek, episcopos) had for his "ric" (rice, region) the whole of his sovereign's kingdom, so the township or lord's manor became the priest's parish (Latin, paræria, parochia; Greek, paroikia). The landowners gave their tithe willingly for the support of religion, and the law after awhile recognised and protected the right of the clergy to these endowments. The lord selected his own parish priest out of the body of the clergy, and so the patronage of the benefice continued to be vested as of right in the lord of the manor. As the Bishop sat beside the shire-reeve (sheriff) in administering the laws, so the parish priest led the people of his township to the hundred moot. Jealousies between Church and State were the growth of subsequent times and circumstances; and dissent was unknown in England for 1,500 years after Christ.
It was in 735 that York was made into an Archbishopric, when Egbert, a member of the royal family, was Bishop, and the present Northern Province formed with the Archbishop as Metropolitan. Nor was the Saxon Church in any way dependent upon Rome: in the whole course of Saxon Church history only one man, Wilfrid of York, ever appealed to Rome as to a superior authority, and on both occasions of his appeal it was distinctly dismissed, and he himself was punished for making it as for an act of disloyalty. The false doctrines and superstitions of the Church of Rome were not at this time introduced: they belong to much later times. And nearly all the property which the Church at present possesses was acquired either before the Norman Conquest or since the Reformation. If we take the present annual revenue of the Church at ten ​millions, we may say that five millions are voluntary contributions, two and and a half millions endowments before the Reformation, and two and a half millions after it. The immense estates which had been given to the Church between the Conquest and the Reformation were all confiscated at the suppression of religious houses, to enrich the nobility, and to found new noble families, many of the estates being sold for the king's own use. Six new bishoprics were created also out of six of the suppressed religious houses.
The endowment of Cawthorne originally would be the tithes of the lord's manor, voluntarily given to his Parish Church. For the present antiquity does not make the gift of this endowment any the less voluntary in its origin.
It has been already shown (p. 15) how the founder of Silkstone Church gave the Church at Cawthorne with two parts of its tithes to the Priory of St. John at Pontefract. From the time of its foundation, Silkstone Church became to all intents and purposes the mother Church of this neighbourhood, though not, as we have seen, the earliest Church. For five hundred years, Cawthorne was merely a Chapelry under Silkstone, until it was made, in 1608, an independent Parochial Chapelry with the patronage of its Benefice then placed for the first time in the hands of those landowners who should from time to time pay the largest proportion of that "Vicar's Pension" by which the Benefice was at that time voluntarily augmented.
For nearly two centuries after the foundation of Silkstone Church, the rector was appointed by the monks of Pontefract, who received an annual pension from this richly-endowed benefice. In April, 1284, the Archbishop of York appropriated all the revenues of the rectory to the monastery, and made it into a Vicarage, reserving to the See of York the right of nominating the vicar, but reserving for that vicar a much larger proportion of the revenues than what Hunter calls "the poor pittance ordinarily reserved to the clergyman on whom the duties of a parish rested." The Valuation of Pope Nicholas (1292 and 1318) gives the vicar's income as £28 13s. 4d., while the monks' share is £37 6s. 8d.
The "ordination" of the Church of Silkstone—i.e.. the interference of the Bishop between the monastic body and the Vicar, to ordain ​or appoint the share each is to have in the revenues—was made by William, Archbishop of York, at Thorpe, near York, on the Eve of Palm Sunday, 1284. He directs and faithfully ordains that there shall be a holy perpetual Vicarage of collation—i.e., one to which the Bishop was to both present and institute. The tithes of the Parish with its Chapels are to be given to the said Vicar. This ordination is given in extenso in Jackson's History of Barnsley, pp: 174, 5.
The Vicarage of Silkstone is now in the patronage of the Bishop of Ripon through its having been transferred from the See of York when the new Diocese of Ripon was created by an Order of Council dated Oct. 5, 1836, under the authority of the Act of William IV., the Right Rev. Charles Thomas Longley, D.D., being elected the first Bishop, and consecrated in York Cathedral on Sunday Nov. 6th in that year.
The tithes of Cawthorne per annum are given in the Chartulary of Pontefract as exceeding in value those of any other neighbouring township mentioned: Calthorne, xxx's.; Doddewrde, xv's. vj ď.; Staynburgh, xvi's. vj d.; Thurgerland, xvii's. vj d.; Bernesley, xxiv's vjd.; Penigston, x's. iiij d.
The last Institution before this ordination was probably that of Osbert, which is given in Archdeacon Gray's Register (Vol. 56, Surtees Society):
"Annus Tricesimus Nonus. "Cawud, 2 id Nov. xxxix (1254). Institution of Oshert de Silkestun clerk to the Church of Silkestun at the presentation of the Prior and Convent of Pontisfr'." (p. 118).
There is also an entry: "Cawod, 3 non. April xiv (1229). Confirmation to the Prior and Convent of Pontefr.' of the Pensions which they derive from the Churches in their Patronage: from the Church of Silkeston, 100s." (p. 30). Cawood, where these are dated, was a seat of the Archbishop which is said to have been given to the See of York by the Saxon king Æthelstan (925).
The earliest record of any fixed income of the Perpetual Curate of Cawthorne is in the Valor Ecclesiasticus or Liber Regis of ​Henry VIII (1535): "Penc' annuati' solut' Thurstano Gawkethorp capello ppet' apud Calthorne p. annum £4 13s. 4d."
This original pre-Reformation endowment of £4 13s. 4d, it took eighty years from the time of that valuation of 1535 to raise to an income of £20.
At the dissolution of religious houses, the emoluments of St. John of Pontefract from Silkstone, Cawthorne, &c., fell to the Crown. Leases of the tithes, &c., were granted to different people till 12 Aug., Elizabeth (1592), subject to the yearly payment of £13 6s. 8d. to the Vicar of Silkstone, £5 to the Curate of Barnsley, £4 13s. 4d. to the Curate of Cawthorne. In this way the tithes of the several townships which composed the original Parish of Silkstone passed into various hands, and eventually the tithes of Cawthorne came by purchase into the hands of the several landowners.
In the Deed of Transfer of certain tithes in Cawthorne from William Greene to Francis Oley, dated Nov. 2, 1615, there is given an account of how the tithes, &c., of Cawthorne, being parcel of the Rectory of Silkstone, were successively held by laymen on lease from the Crown. Queen Elizabeth leased them in the 30th year of her reign to Edmund Downing and Miles Dodding of London, having previously leased them for 21 years to William Brammall and William Green. They were then in the hands of William Fisher and Robert Leake, and afterwards of Edmund Downing and Roger Rant: Downing and Rant conveyed them in 33 Elizabeth to Willm. Fisher, and Wm. Fisher, by deed dated 7 Nov. 40 Eliz., to Thomas Cutler of Stainborough, gent., Thomas Cutler, 1 James I., sold them to William Greene, who conveyed the tithes of the Rowlees to Francis Oley, "being his inheritance," subject to the payment of such yearly sum as the Decree of the Court of Exchequer bearing date the 11th day of May last past hath appointed to be paid (the "Vicar's Pension" decree).
Downing and Rant were quite strangers to this neighbourhood, and merely leased the tithes from the Crown to make a profit by subletting them.
​The tithes of Silkstone in 1787 were in the hands of the Earl of Strafford, the Countess of Bute, Sir Thomas Blackett, and Walter Spencer-Stanhope.
We see here how tithes became alienated from the Church, and how certain lands became exempted from the payment of tithes and still continue to be. All estates and property belonging to a religious corporation were by the common law free from tithes, and this exemption was continued after those estates had passed at the Reformation into other and lay hands. The tithes again which had been payable to religious houses became by statute payable to the Crown who granted them out from time to time to laymen, who provided clergy at very small stipends for the parishes, and used the bulk of the tithes as their own income, thus altogether diverting those tithes by this system of 'impropriation,' as it is called, from the use for which they were intended. Sir H. Spelman says that "these are now called 'impropriations' as being improperly in the hands of laymen," and that more than one-third of all the 10,000 parishes in England at that time had their tithes thus alienated from their proper and original use. The "Liber Regis" of 26 Henry VIII. gives in England and Wales 5,098 rectories, 3,687 vicarages, and 2,970 Churches neither rectorial nor vicarial: in all, 11,755 Churches in the 10,000 Parishes of A.D. 1535. "A very small proportion of the great tithes—those of corn, hay, and wood—remained in the hands of the clergy after the Reformation, all that were at that time valuable being transferred to the lay landholders; and the rectorial tithes now held by the clergy are the great tithes of lands that were then waste or worthless, but have since been improved." (Blunt, The Book of Church Law, p. 333).
The history of the augmentation of Cawthorne Living in 1615 may best be given in a copy of the Decree of the Court of Exchequer dated May nth, 1615, in the case of Brooke v. Waterhouse, the plaintiff being the Rev. John Brooke, S.T.P., Rector of Elmley, Precentor and Canon Residentiary of York, and Vicar of Silkstone, and the first defendant a son of Isaac Waterhouse, of Halifax, who held the priory manor of Barnsley, and bequeathed the tithes to his two sons by his will dated 31 Oct., 1609.
​It is recited in the Decree, that, "Whereas John Brooke Doctor of Divinity and George Whittaker, Clark, have exhibited their Bill of complaint against Daniell Waterhouse, Mark Waterhouse, Thomas Barnahy, Esquire, Matthew Wentworth, Esquire, Robert Burdett, gent., Richard Burdet, gent, William Greene, Thomas Green, Richard Hartley ** and others defendants shewinge that all the privie tithes of the whole Parish of Silkstone and the tithe come of Dodworth in the same Parish, together with the privie tithes of Barnesley and Cawthorne, being parcell of the Rectorie of Silkstone, and the toll of the two Fayres at Barnesley, being parcell of the late dissolved Monastery of St. John the Evangelist at Pontefract, sometymes being of the possessions of the Abbot or Prior of St. John the Evangelist aforesaid, stoode chargeable and charged to pare out of the said tythes and premises to the Vicar of Silkstone the yearly pension of thirteen pounds six shillings eightpence; to the Curate of Barnesley Five pounds; to the Curate of Cawthorne four pounds thirteen shillings fourpence; and to the Church of York for proxies and Synodalls eighteen shillings sixpence; And that, as well before the dissolution of the said Monasterie as also after, the said tythes and premisses came to the Crown by the same dissolution, provision was made in divers Leases for the payment of the said pensions, stipends, and other duties by the Tennants, Fermors of the said tythes and premises, which were paid accordinglie untyl such tyme as the same were granted by the late Queen Elizabeth (of famous memory) by severall leases to dyvers severall persons, whoe were not so expresslie bounde by their saide Leases to pay the said Pensions, nor any certain Rates sett upon their several parts thereof, by reason whereof the said Pensions were for a tyme withholden: whereupon Com plaints being made, order was taken in this Honourable Court for the payment of the said Pensions Stipends and other duties by the Fermors and Tennants of the severall parts of the said Tythes and Premises, which were accordingly paid till the 5 and 10th of March 1611, at which tyme a certaigne Lease made by the said late Queen of the privie tythes of Barnesley, Cawthorne, and Dyvers Towns and Hambletts within the Parish of Silkstone, to one Robert Thwaites, and after assigned to John Wilkinson, was expired, And the tythes ​of the said Towns and Hambletts came to be in the severall holdings of the said severall defendants and others who hold the same in Fee Farm of his Majestie, and no severall rates sett upon their severall parts: By reason whereof, and for that there was a difference amongst the said defendants how to apportion the said payments, and who ought to pay the same, The said Pensions of the said Vicar of Silkstone and of the Curate of Cawthorne have been behinde and tinpaide since the said 5 and 20th March 1611, as by the said Bill of Complaint amongst other things therein contayned more at large it may and doth appear, Unto which Bill all the defendants before named made divers joynte and severall answers, By which said answers all the said defendants did submit and yield themselves to paie their proportionable part of the saide pensions and stipends according to the proportion of that they have, saving Matthew Wentworth Esquire [and others] **
"It was ordered and decreed that Commissioners appointed by the Court should apportion the severall rates of payment which those who then held or should thereafter hold the said privie tithes of Cawthorne should for ever thereafter paie, all such somes of money as they should be rated unto by the said Commissioners, to the Curate of Cawthorne for the tyme being. And also that the said Commissioners be authorized to call all the Fee fanners of the said privie tythes of Cawthorne before them, and to conferr and intreate with all the said Fee farmers particulate to that end to draw them to some good Rate and proportion towards the augmentation of the said stipends, to the end to procure a Preacher to be their minister, and what severall augmentation every severall Fee farmer would give out of every severall parte of the said tythes and premises which they do joyntly or severally holde, to the end the same might be certified unto this Court and remain of Record for ever: And it was further ordered and decreed that the Curate of Cawthorne for the tyme being should for ever thereafter be provided and placed by those who for the tyme being should paye the said augmentation which should be paid above the said ancient stipend of Four pounds thirteen shillings four pence, or bysoe many of them as should for the time being paie the greater part thereof, soe ​they do not place any minister at the said Church but such as the Lord Archbishop of York shall allowe and approve of. *** And the said Commission do further certifie that they did find that all or moste of the owners of the tythes in the Parish of Cawthorne doe in effect augment their stipend at the same Rate and proportion that they are or should have been rated unto or towards the payment of the said Ancient Stipend of Four pounds thirteen shillings four pence, save only some fewe that doe paie some small portion above their equal parte, and therefore they sawe noe cause to distinguish the said augmentation from the said indent stipend, But that the Minister of Cawthorne maye by vertue of the said decree be provided and placed by those which for the tyme being shall paye the said some of Seventeen Pounds which shall be yearly payable out of the tythes of Cawthorne ***
"It is therefore this day ordered and decreed by the Courte that the said Certificate made by the said Commissioners shall stande in force and be obeyed and performed in all and every parte thereof as well as on the parte and behalfe of the said defendants and every of them, their heires and assignes according to the true meaning of the said Certificate." (Folio 102: Jovis xi die Maii. 1615.)
A Parish record still exists which, though undated, is evidently contemporary with this Decree, giving "Every man's severall proportion of Stipend for ye Parish of Cawthorne," the Christian names and surnames of several of the "defendants" being the same, the "some tot: being xvii lbs.," and the amount payable from several farms being the very same as their "Vicar's Pension" at the present day.
The Certificate of the Court of Exchequer goes on to say, "and the other seventeene to make upp the said some of twentie pounds to be raised of the persons hereinafter named and their assignees only of the said tythes hereafter mentioned in manner and form following: vis., of Thomas Barneby Esq. out of the tythes of Barneby Hall and ground belonging to the same £1 4s. 0d;***Cawthorne Hall (Matthew Wentworth) £1 4s. 0d.; Robert Burdett 13s. 4d; William Greene 14s. 8d.; Hillhouse 4s.; Elmhirst 9s.; The Banckes 5s. 4d.; Richard Hartley of Cannon ​Hall and goods;£1; George Hewitt of Rawroyd 13s.; John Mosley of Norcroft 8s.; William Shirt house and grounds 10s,; Jowitt-house 12s.; John Wainwright Lane head 5s.; Thomas Pashley house and grounds 5s." The total, which includes six houses at 8d. each among the sixty names, amounts to £17 19s. 0d.
It will be noticed in this Decree of 1615, that this "Vicar's Pen sion" was a perfectly voluntary gift on the part of the proprietors, after they had purchased the tithes of their property, making these "Pensions in lieu of Tithes" a Rent Charge upon their estates payable by themselves, their heirs, and assignees for ever. It is evidently a charge upon the property in the nature of a reserved rent which does not belong to either landlord or tenant, neither of whom can properly be said to pay it out of their own pockets, inasmuch as the property itself comes into the landlord's possession legally subject to this payment. This Pension includes the original £4 13s. 4d., making up the required income of £20 by estimating the Easter offerings and surplice fees at £3 a year.
It was about this time when the parishioners gave the minister a house, garden, croft, and other conveniences valued at "about 20s. or 30s. a year."
On the second page of the old Parish Register there is the following record subscribed by "Chr. Walbancke, 1684:"
"A particular of all the Rights and dues that doth yearely belonge to the Minister of Cawthorne for the tyme being for ever Respectively as followeth;
"Imprimis, one dwelling-house and one lathe or Barne and Parcell of Ground enclosed, wherein the said house and Lathe stand, the minister for the tyme being for ever yearely paying for the Barne unto the heyres or assignes of Richard Green late of Micklethwait within Cawthorne aforesaid deceased the yearely Rent of eighte shillings.
"Item, due and payable to the said Minister of Cawthorne for the tyme being for ever forth of the tythes of Cawthorne by vertue of a decree forth of his Majesties Courte of Exchequer, together allsoe with the Easter offerings and the fees for Christenings weddings and Burialls, according to the computation mentioned in the said ​Decree amounting in the whole to the yearely Sume or Stipend of Twenty Poundes per annum.
"Item, one Close of land called the Minister Crofte, and one other little parcell of land belonging to the same called halfe of the Bowleing Alley which doth properly now belonge to the said Minister for the tyme being for ever, containing in the whole by estimation one acre, be itt more or less, the same being valued to be worth twenty shillings per annum.
"Item, the yearely Rent of Six poundes payable forth of certaine lands and Closes called by the names of the Beane furrs, the Sixlands and the Fourelands, now in the occupation and possession of Thomas Dickson, the said rente being given by a feoffee Deede unto the Minister of Cawthorne for the tyme being for ever by Thomas Pashley late of Cawthorne aforesaid, deceased.
"Item, all the tythes of the severell closes and parcells of land lyeing and being within Cawthorne aforesaid called the Rowleys, which are now in the occupation of Richard Wood and John Butterworth, which were alsoe lately given by a feoffee Deede unto the Minister of Cawthorne for the tyme being for ever by Barnabas Oley, Doctor of Divinity.
"In testimony whereof wee the Minister and Churchwardens and Overseers of the Poore of the said Parish with some other of the inhabitants of the same Parish have hereunto subscribed our names. Anno Dmi 1684.
"Chr. Walbancke, Minister ibid."
"Tho: Cockshutt, Minister" adds and signs the following:
| 1707 | $\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right.}$ | "Item, a Rent charge payd out of Bullwell Hall in ye Parish of Silkestone, being six pounds per annum, given by Mr. John Spencer. |
| 1707 | $\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right.}$ | "Item, one hundred pounds (to be laid out upon land) given by Mr. Richard Green." |
| 1718 | $\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right.}$ | "Item, two hundred pounds advanced by ye Parishioners and as much by ye Governers of ye Bounty of Queen Ann (to be laid out in land or tythes) towards augmenting our Living at Cawthorne." |
​The "dwelling-house" mentioned in this Terrier (Terrier, from Latin terræ, lands) is, no doubt, the old Vicarage situate where the garden belonging to the Living now is, at the North end of the Vicarage croft, on the Darton road. It was pulled down by the advice of the Diocesan Surveyor in 1875, when the present garden was made. The payment for it due to the owner of Micklethwaite—i.e., Banks Hall—shows the land to have been part of the Banks estate. The Vicar's Pension, called "the tythes of Cawthorne," is united with the Easter offerings and fees for Christenings, weddings, and burials, as amounting altogether to £20.
The "Bowling Alley" land, which can scarcely be any longer recognised in the field fronting the Parsonage to the South, with the consent of the Freeholders and Minister was exchanged with the administrators of Mary West for an equal piece of the "Penny Pot Croft," which now belongs to the Vicarage on the West side.
The £6 a year from Bean-furrs was the voluntary gift of Thomas Pashley, as recorded on his headstone.
There is an entry of this gift made separately at the other end of the old Register, dated March 34th, 1672: it speaks of the crofts being Bean-furrs, new close, and far field Intack, "Bean-furrs being now divided into two, so that there are four closes." In the original Indenture, made July 13, 1667, Thomas Pashley conveys these closes, "parcell of a tenement in Cawthorne called Broadgates," to Sir Thos. Wentworth of Bretton Hall, Knight and Baronet, Thomas Barnby of Barnby, Esq., and William Greene of Micklethwaite, gent., to the use and behoofe of the Minister of Cawthorne for the time being for ever, a William Nicholls being one of the witnesses. In the earliest lists of payments due to the Minister of Cawthorne, and in one of 1739, the entry is always "Rent," and not, as afterwards, "Rent-charge," for Bean-furrs.
The Indenture states that Thomas Pashley, "having taken into consideration the small yearly value of the stipend belonging to the Minister of Cawthorne, and being charitably minded to settle some part of his estate to the use of the Minister Incumbent thereof from time to time for ever, for their better maintenance and sustentation," conveys for five shillings of lawful money these closes containing nine ​acres more or less to the above Trustees, "to have and to hold to the use and behoof of the Minister of Cawthorne for the time being and the succeeding Ministers incumbent there from time to time for ever, for their better support and livelihood and maintenance, such interest estate and termes for years as the said tenant George Dixon hath being reserved, which rents shall at all times hereafter be employed to the uses and purposes above mentioned."
A memorandum on the back states that the tenant on lease, "George Dixon, did attorney to Willm Greene for and on behalf of himself and the other feoffees by the payment of six pounds of attornment"—this attorning being the professing of a lessee to become the tenant of the new owner.
For this nine acres of land left in trust for the Living, the Incumbent seems never to have received more than the six pounds a year for which it happened at the time to be let on lease to this George Dixon. This six pounds is now among the payments made to the Vicar by the owner of Cannon Hall, to whose estate these closes have by negligence, as it would seem, become annexed,
There is something told of the Barnabas Oley, B.D., who left the Living the tithes of the Rowleys (Rough-leys) at Jowit-house, in Walker's Sufferings of the Clergy. As a composition for this, Mr. John Stanhope used to pay sixteen shillings, and Mr. John Lindley, one pound: but the said Tithes having been commuted, a Rent Charge in lieu thereof has been awarded and apportioned, by which the said John Spencer Stanhope, Esquire, now pays the sum of one pound, and, by the subsequent purchase of the above property of John Lindley, the further sum of one pound and five shillings annually. (Terrier of 1873.)
This Barnabas Oley, B.D., who was born at Kirkthorpe nr. Wakefield, where his father was Vicar, was turned out of his Fellowship at Clare College, Cambridge, and the Vicarage of Great Gransden, Huntingdonshire, April 4, 1644. Some time before this he had led the party which conveyed the Plate and money gathered in Cambridge for the King. "At the same time that he was turned out of his fellowship, he was also plundered. As for his Vicarage of Gransden, ​it was not put under a formal Sequestration by the Parliamentarians but he was so much harassed and threatened that he was forced to quit it. He was diligently sought for by the rebels, and was obliged to change his habit, and for almost seven years he had not wherewith conveniently to support himself. During some part of the wars, I find he was in Pontefract Castle, where with some other loyal and worthy clergymen he preached to that garrison whilst it held out for his Majesty. In 1660 he was restored to his fellowship and Vicarage, had a Prebend in the Church of Worcester, and the Archdeaconry of Ely, which latter he resigned, because of his great humility he thought himself not sufficient to discharge the duty of it. He died about 1684. He gave £100 to King's College, Cambridge, built a good Vicarage at Gransden, left part of his estate for the augmentation of poor Vicarages, gave £100 to the building of St. Paul's Cathedral, and left part of his books to the successive Vicars of North Orimston in Yorkshire." He presented to the Vicarage of Warmfield (otherwise Kirkthorpe) in 1684, and his trustees are still the patrons of that Benefice, the endowment of which he greatly augmented. His father, Mr. Wm. Oley, Minister of Warmfield, was buried there March 20, 1653. The family name occurs frequently in Cawthorne Registers and Parish Surveys. He is described by a very learned and excellent man who personally knew him as "a saint-like man." (See Walker's Sufferings of the Clergy: London, 1714: p. 141.)
The next addition to the Living, we see, was in 1707, being the gift of Mr. Spencer during his life-time of a Rent-charge upon his estate of Bulwell Hall (Bullah) of six pounds a year. There is an entry in the Register of the appointment of new Trustees for this benefaction, his son Mr. John Spencer appointing his son William and William Greene of Banks. "Attested by us, Tho: Cockshutt Minister, John Streete, John Thackwra, Churchwardens, Jonathan West, Constable, Will. Thornley, Edward Rhoades, Josh. Ellis, Tim: Beaver, John Longley." It is dated, Jan. 7th, 1719.
Mr. Richard Green's gift of £100 is "to be laid out in land." In 1718, the Parish voluntarily raise £200 and receive a Grant of a further £200 from Queen Anne's Bounty with which a Farm at ​Bagden is bought, the conveyance of which bears the date of June 17, 1725. This has since been sold—in 1840—to the late Mr. George Norton, and the purchase money invested by the Governors of Queen Anne's Bounty in the Three per Cent. Consols for the benefit of the Living. In the Conveyance it is recited that Mr. John Spencer is "the Patron of the Living in virtue of paying the annual sum of £12 and upwards out of the £17 directed to be paid by the decree which gave the patronage to him or those who paid the larger part of it."
A list of the subscribers towards this £200 raised in the Parish is given in the old Register: Sir Wm. Wentworth £50; W. Bosseville £10; John Spencer £50; W. Spencer £10; W Greene £10; Sarah Beaumont £3; John Grammer £1—1—6; Eliz: Grammer £2; Wm. Thorpe £2; Wm. Smith £1—5; John Rowley £2—10—0; John Lindley £1—1—6; Mr. Bright £10—15; Mr. Robt. Hall £1; John Micklethwaite ₤1—12—3; Timothy Beaver £1; Timothy Fawley £1; Wm. Woffenden £1; Matthew Wood ₤1—10; Edw. Rhodes £1—10; John Fretwell £1; Jonathan West 10s. There are 51 names altogether, from 2s. 6d. upwards: £40 of Parish-Stock is given towards it, and Mr. Cockshutt contributes £20—0—4, to make up the required sum.
The Queen Anne's Bounty, from which £200 of the above purchase money was received, is the Board of Trustees in whom Queen Anne vested the tenths and firstfruits of all the Benefices which had been seized by Henry VIII. as being "the pope's successor in his fees as he was in his supremacy." After being given up by Queen Mary, they were reannexed to the Crown on the accession of Elizabeth, but were finally restored to the Church by Queen Anne, and vested in this Bounty Board, for the augmentation of poor livings, all livings under £50 a year being at the same time discharged from their payment.
When the Bagden Farm of forty acres was bought, "Mr. Wm. Spencer kept the wood to himself, allowing in lieu thereof a Rent charge of £1 5s. per annum for ever out of Hollin House in the Parish (sic) of Clayton West."
​During the time that Bagden Farm belonged to the Living, an Enclosure Act was passed which gave nine acres and three roods to it on Denby Common, and this land still continues part of the Glebe.
By the will of Edward Spencer, dated 14 Nov., 1729, he conveyed to John Thornhill of Hoyland and Matthew Wilson "all that parcell of land called the Hackings in trust for Thomas Cockshutt the present Minister of Cawthorne and his successors for ever." In the same will he leaves a small annuity to an aunt Mary Wilson "to be paid at the Feasts of Pentecost and St. Martin the Bishop," and leaves "the residue of his personall estate unto my two unckles Math. Wilson and Thomas Cockshutt equally."
These two closes in the Parish of Dodworth were in 1857 exchanged to Mr. John Charlesworth for a Farm of twenty acres at Cat-hill Foot, which still belongs to the Benefice.
In 1822, the Living received £200 from the Parliamentary Grant, by lot, which was allowed by the Vicar to accumulate its interest till 1830, when a further sum of £600 was given by Queen Anne's Bounty, (£300 from the Parliamentary Grant and £300 from its own Funds) to meet the benefaction of the present Vicarage and its grounds made by Mr. J. S. Stanhope, who "had become the patron through the purchase of the Banks estate." This £860 was invested for the benefit of the Living in the Three per Cent. Consols.
From 1809 to 1820 the State paid £100,000 a year to the Governors of Queen Anne's Bounty for the purpose of increasing poor livings: it was from this Fund that the above £300 came.
This Grant may well be regarded as repaying the Church in part for those firstfruits which were unjustly taken from it by Henry VIII.
The last emolument mentioned in the Terrier is "the sum of two-pence called Easter dues, due at Easter from every person of age to communicate." This is said to be due by custom "in compensation for personal tithes." They are mentioned in all records of the Minister's income, and accounts exist of "offerings made at Easter," namely, 2d. per head for all above 18 years of age, from 1729 to 1830, from which time their collection seems to have gradually ceased.
​The present Vicarage is the only other endowment. It was altered and enlarged in the year 1803 by a subscription of the Patrons and Parishioners under an Act passed 17 Geo. III. (1777) entitled "an Act to promote the Residence of the Parochial Clergy," commonly called "the Gilbert Act." It was enlarged in 1822 by the Rev. C. S. Stanhope and the Rev. I. Hunt.
The following was more than once told me about it by the late Mr. J. Stanhope. When he bought the Banks estate, the solicitor, Mr. Keir, found that there had never been any legal conveyance of the Vicarage property when it was bought under the Gilbert Act by the parishioners, but that it was held at a small nominal rent. Mr. Stanhope accordingly claimed it as part of his purchase, and then offered it as a Benefaction to Queen Anne's Bounty for £600, which after considerable negociation was at last given, as stated above. The front of the Vicarage was rebuilt in the time of the Rev. J. Goodair, who, it is mentioned in the Vestry Book, was "allowed to live in one of the Town-houses during the alteration"—the first one nearest the South. The house was considerably enlarged in 1873 by Mr. Stanhope, when a new study was also built, at a total cost of £700 or £800.
The present garden and croft are given in the Terrier as measuring one acre.
There is a tradition that the house to the West of the Vicarage now known as "Johnny Roberts' House" was built for the residence of the Rev. Chr. Walbank about 1690, and the name of "the study" survived in it, as long as the house was inhabited. For a hundred and twenty years or more this house was in the occupation of the Roberts family, who succeeded its former occupant "Dame Rowley."
An anecdote of the still older "Minister's house," the Old Vicarage now destroyed, has been handed down: The Vicar of that time used to eke out his pittance by basket-making. He is said to have once mistaken the day of the week, and to have been sent for to the Church on Sunday, when the Congregation was waiting. Tradition says that he was found working at what he supposed was his Saturday's basket, having "clean forgotten" that his having been ​away at Sheffield fair on the Tuesday would make him one basket short of his usual week's number.
A copy of the present Terrier, "fairly written on large paper and signed by the Rev. C. S. Stanhope, John S. Stanhope, Walter S. Stanhope, and by the two Churchwardens, Thos. W. Stones and George Swift, was transmitted to the Ripon Diocesan Registrar, May 28th, 1872."
In the Parchment Register of Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials which begins in 1800, there are copies of Terriers dated 1809, 1817, and 1825. The first, "taken and renewed according to the oldest and best evidences and knowledge of the Parishioners," was "exhibited at the Primary Visitation of the most Rev. Father in God Edward [Vernon Harcourt] Lord Archbishop of York held at Sheffield," June 21, 1809. In this, the old Vicarage is described as "two small houses now let to the Parishioners for Poor Houses" at £1 15. a year. The Bagden Farm is stated to be let at £45 a year. The "Pension or Minister's Wages" is said to amount to £1 7 0s. 8d. "paid forth of the Tithes of Cawthorne by virtue of a Decree of His Majesty's Court of Exchequer."
"There is also due to the Minister at Easter from every person within the Parish of age to communicate the sum of Twopence called Easter Dues.
"There is due to the Parish Clerk (who is appointed by the Minister) * * for every Christening sixpence, for every Proclamation in the Churchyard twopence. There is also due to him from every Family within the Parish keeping a separate fire twopence. But instead of his going about the Parish as usual to collect this, Four pounds and four shillings a year is fixed upon him to be paid quarterly out of the Church Assessment during pleasure."
"There is due to the Sexton, who is appointed by the inhabitants, for making a grave ninepance, for ringing a Bell at 5 o'clock in the morning and at 8 o'clock at night one pound ten shillings annually."
An Inventory is given of all the Church Property, including Pulpit, Font, The King's Arms, &c. "There is also one large Pewter flagon, one silver Plate for the Bread given by Mrs. Jane Beatson, and two ​silver chalices, one given by John Spencer Esquire, the other by the Parishioners. * * The Parish repairs the Church excepting a small Chancel on the North side which is repaired by Walter Spencer Stanhope Esquire, and the Churchyard is also fenced and repaired by the Parish."
There is the following Memorandum on the next page dated "February 5, 1810: Received of Mr. Parker as ye Purchase money of an allotment of Common to ye Curate of Cawthorne by measurement 6 Perches and applied to defray part of ye expence of building a wall at ye North end of ye Garden: ye sum of £2 2s. 0d. Edmund Paley, Curate of Cawthorne."
This allotment is in respect of the "Hackings "closes in the Township of Dodworth which had an Inclosure Act passed in 46 George III. (1806), a "William Parker Esquire" being mentioned in the Terrier as the tenant of "the Hackings" at this time.
Another entry is: "1810; Remaining on Mortgage made by ye Gilbert Act with Walter Spencer Stanhope, Esq., £86 13s. 2d."
The Terrier of 1815 differs little from the previous one: an allowance of £1 6s. is given to the Sexton for winding up the Church clock. The pewter Flagon is given as weighing 3 lbs. 7 ozs.; the Plate or Paten (Latin, patina, a dish) 8½ oz.; Mr. Spencer's Chalice 10½ ozs.; the Parishioners' 8 oz. "There is one ancient Tree at the West end of the Church which has been long decaying: there are also 19 other trees at the West end of the Churchyard newly planted." They are mentioned here as being legally the property of the Incumbent whose freehold the Churchyard is with its herbage and trees. The present row of four elms represents those 19 trees newly planted on the extension of the Churchyard in 1813.
This Terrier is signed by J. P. Buee, Minister, Elijah Moxon and John Livesley, Churchwardens, and by Sam. Thorp, Thomas West, John Howson, Thos. Dransfield, Dan. Wilson, Elihu Armitage, John Bashforth, John Hunt.
The Terrier of 1825 mentions "one Clock and three Bells," and adds, "There was an ancient Elm tree at the West end of the Church which had long been in a decayed state, part of which was broken ​off by the wind so that now only the stump remains." It mentions "eleven other trees at the West." This is signed by Joseph Jaques, Curate, George Fisher and John Livesley, Churchwardens, J. Spencer Stanhope, Richd. Thorp, Giles Shaw, George Shirt, J. Wilcock, with seven other names in pencil which were never signed in ink.
The oldest Chalice—"the Parishioners'"—bears the old York Hall-mark before 1692—a half fleur-de-lys half rosecrowned and the date letter 1627-8, with an unknown makers mark. It has no inscription, but a pattern engraved on it. Mr. Spencer's gift bears the arms of his family and the legend "Ex dono Johannis Spencer de Canon-hall, generosi. An. Dom. 1715." It has the London Hall-mark of a leopard's head crowned and lion passant, with the date letter 1636-37. and a maker's mark.
A new larger silver Chalice (Greek, Kulix; Latin, calix, a cup) has no inscription, but was given at the same time as the new silver (illegible text) which has inscribed on it, "Cawthorne Church, 1858. D.D. {i.e. Dono dedit) W.S.S." "Pascha nostrum immolatus est Christus" {"Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.")
The Paten mentioned above has the modern York mark since 1701, with a leopard's head and maker's mark without any date letter. The letters "J. B., Cawthorne," show it the gift of Mrs. Jane Beatson of Cinder Hill.
In connection with the various Leases of the tithes of Cawthorne mentioned above (p. 124), it may be added that Hunter speaks of having seen the draft of an Indenture between Joan Savile of the New Hall in Elland, widow, late wife of Nicholas Savile, Esq., on the one part, and Beatrix Barnby, gentlewoman, William Beaumont, of Cawthorne, and all the inhabitants and farmers of the town of Cawthorne, whereby for a sum of money in the name of a garsome Savile leases to them all their tithe corn of every grain in the town and fields of Cawthorne and Barnby at a rent of £3—2—2, to be paid at Hague in the township of Kexborough.
Hunter also mentions that during Green's possession of the tithes there was an order or decree of the Exchequer Chamber confirming a Grant made by Green to Edmund Cundy, clerk, John Mickle​thwaite, Godfrey Ellison, and John Hawksworth, yeomen, of a charge upon these tithes to the use of the Minister or Preacher of the Church or Chapel of Cawthorne; and the portions of tithe sold by Green to the freeholders were sold subject to their share of this charge.
The Bosvile Chantry
has already been described (page 75): it only remains to give a full abstract of the original Foundation Deed, as it is given in Hunter (Vol. II. p. 238).
"Omnibus, &c. William Mirfield and Percival Cresacre, esqs. feoffees, together with Thomas Lord Clifford of Westmorland, Knight, now deceased, to the use of Isabella wife of Henry Langton Esq., and for performing the will of the said Isabel, of all lands in Cawthorne belonging to the said Isabel.
"At the request of Isabel, license and letters patent from the king were first obtained to the effect following: Henry (VI.) &c., to the to the Honour of God, the glorious Virgin Mary, and all Saints, at the special request of our beloved esquire Henry Langton and Isabel his wife have granted to them, Clifford, Mirfield, and Cresacre, that they may out of the special devotion which John Boswell, esq. deceased, late husband of the said Isabel, bore, and which Isabel now bears to the most glorious and untainted Virgin Mary, the Mother of God omnipotent, found one perpetual Chantry of one chaplain at the altar of the Virgin in the Chapel of St. Michael at Calthorn on the north side of the said Chapel, to pray every day for our good estate, and the good estate of Henry and Isabel while they live, and for our souls when we die, and specially for the soul of the said John Boswell, and the souls of his parents, ancestors, and benefactors of the said John and Isabel, and of all the faithful; to be for ever called The Chantry of John Boswell at the altar of St. Mary the Virgin in the Chapel of St. Michael at Calthorne, and the said chaplain to be corpus perpetuum, and in that name to plead and be inpleaded, &c.
"Further, that the three feoffees may settle on the said chaplain two acres of land which are held of us in capite and an annual rent ​of one hundred shillings, to be taken from the lands of the said Isabella in Calthorn at Michaelmas and Easter, by equal portions, with power to enter if not paid; dated at Westminster 2 July, 30 of his reign.—And for £15 paid into the hanaper, and also with the assent of William Archbishop of York [William Bothe, 51st Archbishop] Primate of England and legate of the Apostolic See, we found the Chantry in manner aforesaid, and appoint Oliver Elystones to be the chaplain, and endow it with two acres of land lying together in a croft, between the land of Richard Waterton on two sides, and abutting at the west end on the brook, and at the east end on the highway which goes to the middle of the town of Cawthorne; for the building of a house and the construction of a garden for the use of the said chaplain and his successors; and with an annual rent of 100 shillings to be taken from all our lands in Cawthorne. The chaplain to say masses and divine obsequies for the persons above named every day, except there was some lawful impediment; to wit, on every Sunday 'de Sancta Trinitate,' except on the double Feasts; each second or sixth feast, 'de officio mortuorum,' to wit, 'Requiem æternam;' and each Saturday, of the office of the Blessed Mary the Virgin, and every day 'Placebo and 'Dirige' with the Commendation, according to the use of the Cathedral of York; also every day after mass, the Psalm 'De Profundis,' with the Collect of the Faithful, and 'Requiescant in Pace.'
"The chaplain to be constantly resident, and if absent for 22 days may be removed from his office by the said Isabel, her heirs and assigns, unless it be on account of the business of the Chantry, or for other reasonable cause; but if through age or infirmity he should be unable to officiate in the Chapel, or shall be thrown into prison, except on account of felony, he shall then say the appointed masses in such way as he is able. But if he be convicted of any felony, or if he be addicted to frequent taverns, or to play at unlawful games, if after three admonitions he do not forbear, it shall be lawful for the said Isabel and her heirs to appoint another chaplain in his place. The chaplain to find the bread and wine, and light, and other things necessary for the service: but the vestments, books, cups, ornaments and other jocalia required, to be found by the said ​Isabel and her heirs; for which they bind themselves in an indenture of three parts, one remaining with the said Isabel, another with the prior of the house of St. John the Apostle at Pontefract, and the third with the chaplain. Whenever the Chantry shall be void, the said Isabel, her heirs and assigns, the lords of the manor of Gunthwaite, shall appoint the chaplain, who shall be a secular, not a regular, [i.e., not under the rule (regula) of any religious house], and who shall enter without any other presentation. If they do not present within a month, then the prior of St. John of Pontefract shall present; and if he does not present within three weeks, then four or two of the most able parishioners of Calthorn shall appoint. Neither the Archbishop nor the Archdeacon to have any power or jurisdiction in this Chantry. Three copies of this indenture to remain with the chaplain, Isabel, and the prior, one each." It was dated at Cawthorne on the Feast of St. Margaret 1455 in the presence of Sir Thomas Harrington, Richard Waterton, Thomas Everingham, Aymer Burdet, Robert Barnby, Esq., William Methley, John Addy and many others.
The following is the return made of this Chantry in the "Valor Ecclesiasticus," or "Liber Regis," which contains the returns made by the commissioners of the value of all benefices in accordance with the Act passed 26 Henry VIII., conferring upon the Crown the first fruits of all benefices and also one yearly rent or pension amounting to the value of the tenth part of the profits of every benefice:
"Chantry of the Blessed Mary in the Chapel of Cawthorne in the parish aforesaid [Silkstone]: Master Richard Wygfall cantarist there. The Chantry there is worth in site of the mansion with garden iiijs.; rents and farms of certain lands and tenements in Cawthorne cs.; în all per annum ciiijs. Sum of the value above. Which it is worth clearly. A tenth part thereout, xs. vd."
This Chantry was suppressed in the first year of Edward VI. (1547), but the endowment, which became the possession of the Crown, was afterwards given to the Parish School, which is still receiving this £5 4s. a year from the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
​The house belonging to the Chantry, and a garden, and croft adjoining, together with nine acres of land belonging to a Chantry at Badsworth situated at Cawthorne, were included in a Grant from the Crown to Richard Venables and John Maynard, and by them immediately conveyed to Godfrey Bosvile of Gunthwaite, the heir of Isabel the founder and the patron of the Chantry.
There is a house in Church Street which still bears the name of "Chantry Cottage."
Incumbents and Curates of Cawthorne.
There is a list of the Incumbents of Cawthorne given in the old Register from the middle of the seventeenth century:
"Mr. Nicholas Broadley, Minister of Cawthorne, dyed in 1659.
"Mr. Henry Skins (his successor) dyed in 1662: he was succeeded by Mr. Christopher Walbanke, who dyed in 1708, and was succeeded by me, Thomas Cockshutt, in 1703, upon his suspension.
"The said Thomas Cockshutt was buried Febr. 4th, 1739, and was succeeded by his son Mr. Thomas Cockshutt, who died April 14, 1774. He was succeeded by Mr. John Radcliffe who had been his assistant Curate upwards of thirty years, who died April 13, 1776.
"He was succeeded by Mr. Thomas Heron, who resigned in the year.
"He was succeeded by the Rev. Samuel Phipps, who died April 9th, 1799, aged 85 years.
"He was succeeded by the Rev. John Goodair, who was buried July 24, 1809.
"He was succeeded by the Rev. Edmund Paley, who in 1813 vacated the Curacy of Cawthorne, and was succeeded by the Rev. Benjamin Eamonson, A M., who was licensed to the same the 2nd August, 1813.
"N.B. The Rev. Edmund Paley was son of Dr. William Paley" (Archdeacon of Carlisle and author of Paley's Evidences) "and was removed to the Vicarage of Easingwold by the collation of Dr. Vernon, Archbishop of York.
​"The Rev. Benjamin Eamonson resigned the Perpetual Curacy of Cawthorne in February, 1814, and was succeeded by the Rev. John Penketh Buee, Clerk, LL.B., who was licensed before the Rev. George Markham, Clerk, D.D., Dean of York (the Commissary appointed by His Grace Edward Venables [Vernon, afterwards Vernon-Harcourt], by Divine Permission Lord Archbishop of York) on the 4th day of April, 1814.
"The Rev. J. Penketh Buee, LL.B., died April 27th, 1822, and was buried May 4th in ye same grave of Mr. John Radcliffe in the Chancel of the Church, aged 42 years,
"and was succeeded by the Rev. C. S. Stanhope, Clerk, who was fifty two years Incumbent of Cawthorne, though never resident: he died at his other Parish of Weaverham in Cheshire Oct. 22, 1874, and was buried there. He was succeeded by Charles Tiplady Pratt, M.A., of Queen's College, Oxford, who was instituted to the "New Vicarage" of Cawthorne ("new" under the recent act of Bishop Wilberforce creating "Vicarages") on the presentation of Walter T. W. Spencer Stanhope, M.P., by Bishop Bickersteth at the Palace Ripon on Dec. 1, 1874, and was inducted by the Rural Dean on Dec. 10th. He had previously been Curate-in-charge of Cawthorne from Oct. 6, 1866, and the year previous (1865-6) had been licensed to Cawthorne for the new Mission District (now the Parish) of Hoyland Swaine."
The "Institution" of an Incumbent is the act by which the Bishop, who holds the cure of souls for the whole of his Diocese, assigns a portion of that spiritual oversight to the Curate of a Parish within it as his deputy, the clergyman kneeling down before the Bishop and holding the seal of the document in his hand. The "Induction" is that by which an Incumbent previously instituted is placed in possession of the temporal emoluments of the benefice, a public proclamation of such possession being usually made by his tolling one of the bells. The "presentation" is the formal nomination to the Bishop of the clergyman whom the patron desires to be instituted.
The above Nicholas Broadley was the father of the Rev. Timothy Broadley, instituted to the Vicarage of Penistone in 1642, who is several times mentioned in Captain Adam Eyre's Diary, and whose ​burial is entered in the Penistone Register: "Timotheus Broadley, artium magister, vicarius ecclesiæ Penistoniensis Sepult. Cawthorniæ." The Rev. M. Shirt married a daughter of the Rev. N. Broadley, Incumbent of Cawthorne. An entry in Capt. Eyre's Diary says: "Easter day, April 18: This morn I went to Cawthron, to church, where I heard Mr. Broadley preach in the forenoon: [he] laboured to shew the excellence of the Divine Providence by examples of terrene government." (p. 26.)
Mr. Walbanke, it will be noticed, is mentioned as having been "suspended" in 1703. There is a full record of his suspension among the old papers at the Vicarage. Several charges were brought against him: One, that he had forged several names to a certificate of moral character presented to the Archbishop, in order that he might be admitted to serve the Cure of Denby Chapel. This is what Hunter refers to, no doubt, when he speaks of an attempt to connect this Chapel [of Denby] with Cawthorne, where Christopher Walbanke was then the Minister. Another charge proved against him was that he had "caused to be set and painted on the walls of Cawthorne Church several pretended sentences of Holy Scripture not agreeable thereunto," giving an example of how he had altered the words of St. Luke xxi., 42. A further charge is that he had allowed one who had been "enjoyned by the Archdeacon's Court to do penance (for having committed the crime of fornication) habitu penitentiali in the time of Divine Service upon Sunday the 25th Sept., 1664, and in the presence of the congregation, to do the same clandestinely and not habitu penitentiali in the said Church, on the Feast-day of St. Michael, returning the said penance into the Court as having been duly performed." He is also charged with having celebrated sundry clandestine marriages, and one especially, in which both the parties lived without the Parish. These charges and his suspension at least shew that there was some real ecclesiastical discipline in the Church more than 200 years ago over both clergy and laity.
Mr Cockshutt is frequently mentioned in John Hobson's Diary. One entry says: "Mr. Cockshutt minister of Cawthorne told me that he had an old man called ✶ ✶ ✶ Turton his parishioner, who died about seven years ago, who was clark at Silkston in the civill​warr time; the minister's name was Walker. He was present at the Church when some soldiers came and forced him out, and obliged him to run into Silkston fall, to hide himself. He was ejected, and [John] Spofforth who lies buried in Silkstone Churchyard was put in his place."
He was an executor of Mr. Edward Spencer's will who died at Cannon Hall, 1729. An entry of Hobson's Diary in 1733 states, "Young Mr. Cockshutt and his bride at our house."
Mrs. Cockshutt his mother was a daughter of Mr. John Wilson of the Broomhead Hall family, who had an estate at Huthwaite. Mr. Cockshutt's second son James succeeded to the property on the death of an elder brother in 1798. He was a civil engineer, F.R.S., commander of a company of local militia, and a magistrate of the West Riding.
The elder Mr. Cockshutt was a Vicar of Penistone.
The Rev. S. Phipps was Vicar of Penistone, Silkstone, and Cawthorne, and traditions of his memory have scarcely yet died out: the late George Ashton, when our "oldest inhabitant," remembered many things about him.
Mr. Goodair's letter of thanks to "Walter Spencer Stanhope, Esquire, Grosvenor Square, London," is lying before me, showing how much importance Mr. Stanhope attached to the Incumbent's residing at Cawthorne for the future.
The Rev. E. Paley published "An earnest and affectionate Address to the people called Methodists," who were at that time building a chapel at Cawthorne.
On Mr. Buee's death in 1822, the owner of Bretton with the approval of the representative of the Bosvile estate offered the Living to the Rev. John Sinclair, who afterwards was Archdeacon of Middlesex: but, when the latter found that Mr. Stanhope desired his brother to accept it, he at once wrote to withdraw his promise of support to Mrs. Beaumont's nominee and gave it to Mr. Stanhope.
The Rev. C. S. Stanhope was one who took a peculiar pleasure in helping forward any natural talent, and especially any talent in art. It has been already mentioned how he assisted Mr. Atkinson the ​architect; he was also the means of discovering and encouraging the great talent of Herring, the artist, who then lived at Doncaster and drove the Doncaster and Huddersfield coach. An address was presented to him by the Parish on the completion of his fifty years' Incumbency, to which he returned in print a feeling and characteristic reply.
The following is a list of "assistant Curates," the title of "Curate" being properly applied only to one who has the spiritual cure or care of souls committed to him, whether the source of his income cause him to be a Rector, Vicar, or Incumbent: T. Langley, 1813; J. P. Buee (afterwards Vicar) 1814; J. Jaques, 1823; A. M. Parkinson, 1837; H. Badnall, 1856; Henry Sandwith, M.A., 186z; Charles Tiplady Pratt, 1866.
Mr. Jaques was afterwards Vicar of Bywell St. Andrew, in Northumberland, where he published a volume of sermons called "The Gospel the only true Foundation of Morality" (Rivingtons, 1861): Mr. Arthur Mackeson Parkinson was for many years Vicar of Morley, where he died in 1877: the Venerable Hopkins Badnall, D.D., has been many years Archdeacon of the Cape: Mr. Sandwith, who left Cawthorne in 1866 for the Rectory of Todwick, is now Rector of Thorpe Salvin.
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