England Miscellaneous Ecclesiastical Records A to L (National Institute)

Other Ecclesiastical Records
A selection of other documents is presented here, but be prepared for almost anything!

Annual Perambulations
Walking round or ganging the bounds of the parish, otherwise known as beating the bounds, took place typically at Rogationtide, (the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before Ascension Day, or on the Thursday itself) and this time was also termed gang day and gang week. The vicar and local worthies would lead the males or schoolchildren of the parish on a tour of the boundaries of their parish, in order to preserve the information in a non-literate population.

Readings from the gospel would be made at certain places, for instance at notable trees called gospel oaks, and small boys ceremonially beaten over boundary stones to impress the information on their memories. Records are often found in the parish chest, and may include lists of parishioners who took part.

Perambulation of Send and Ripley, Surrey in 1672

Perambulation of Speldhurst, Kent in 1708 and 1709

Bederolls or bead-rolls
This was the list of benefactors of the church read out from the pulpit on special occasions and specially prayed for. Reference to a bedesman, or beadsman, indicates a person paid to pray for the souls of others, whether in a church or elsewhere such as in an almshouse.

Briefs
Church Briefs or King’s Briefs were authorized collections for charity and disaster relief, which the parson read out at the end of the service and to which parishioners contributed voluntarily as they left the church, the parish clerk keeping track of the amounts given. He then handed it on to the official travelling collector after entering the sum raised in his churchwarden accounts or in a separate paper or book. Typical causes included assistance to families or towns suffering from fire and flood, relief for Christian captives, and appeals to repair churches that had suffered some calamity. Wood (1991) and Royall have interesting discussions on briefs, the latter recounting the story of the parishioner who made of habit of timing his departure for just before the service ended!

Briefs Collected at Topsham, Devon 1685-1686

In the above example one can see the effect of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 affecting French Huguenots. Briefs which list all the donors are, in effect, almost a census of the heads of households that week and their relative affluence within the parish.

A similar item is the nationwide list of Contributors to the relief of Protestant refugees from Ireland 1642 which has been indexed by Cliff Webb on fiche.

Churching Books
At St. Philip, Bristol, Gloucestershire there is a Churching Book begun in 1794. This lists the dates and names of recently delivered mothers who had attended this purification ceremony, some with addresses, and what appears to be the minister’s name, and the fees, which varied tenfold - perhaps by their ability to pay.

Extracts from Churching Book St. Philip, Bristol, Gloucestershire

Churchwarden’ Petitions
For example in Tonbridge, Kent in 1640 against John and James Goodscall for refusing to pay charity.

Customary Fees
The authorized fees chargeable at different times for the various ceremonies and services were quite often spelled out at the front of the register book, or on a loose sheet, as follows:

Customary Fees at Staplehurst, Kent 1793



Customary Fees at Shorwell, Isle of Wight, Hampshire 1830

Easter Dues
Easter Dues were the two pence customarily paid by communicants to the incumbent at Easter, and records of these may be found in Easter Books either as amounts due or actual sums paid. Since the personal tithes were due at the same time the list may include them as well.

Ecclesiastical Visitations
These were the visits by bishops (triennially) and archdeacons (annually) to oversee parochial business. The churchwardens presentments, and the glebe terriers were given to these superiors at this time. Hilton gives a description of an archdeacon’s visitation.

Licenses to Eat Meat During Lent
These were given to very elderly persons.

Lists of Ecclesiastics
Names of vicars or other incumbents dating back well before the start of parish registers may be found in many parish registers. These may have been copied from earlier parchment or paper records, or from similar lists which often occur painted on boards inside the church. Sometimes one sees a page describing the induction of a new clergyman into the parish, with date and which senior official performed the ceremony.

Other lists include those of preachers for special occasions, for example the List of Strange Preachers for 1806-1879 St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol, Gloucestershire on film. To us the title is odd but in those days a stranger meant someone from outside the parish, so this is a list of visiting preachers. In Marystow, Devon there is a list of Deans Rural from 1725-1811, the first part of which is transcribed below.

List of Deans Ruran in Marystow, Devon Parish Chest

List of Excommunicated and Absolved
Really keen parsons sometimes listed the names and dates of those excommunicated and the reasons for their banishment. Absolutions may also be recorded. This entry is delightful:

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