DOCSLIB.ORG

Patronage, Performance, and Reputation in the Eighteenth-Century Church

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Patronage, Performance, and Reputation in the Eighteenth-Century Church PATRONAGE, PERFORMANCE, AND REPUTATION IN THE EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY CHURCH DANIEL REED OXFORD BROOKES UNIVERSITY Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the award of Doctor of Philosophy in History SEPTEMBER 2019 1 Lancelot Blackburne, Archbishop of York. After unknown artist. Mezzotint, sold by Thomas Bakewell. 1724 or after. Private collection of Daniel Reed. 2 For Freya 3 Abstract The perceived success of the revisionist programme in dissipating the ‘longest shadow in modern historiography’ calls into question the ongoing relevance of ‘optimistic’ versus ‘pessimistic’ interpretations of the Church of England in the long eighteenth century. And yet, the case of Lancelot Blackburne, Archbishop of York (1724-1743), has not benefitted from the ‘revisionist turn’ and represents an unparalleled problem in accounts of the Georgian episcopate. Whilst Benjamin Hoadly has been the most maligned bishop of the period for his theology, Blackburne is the most derided for his personal imperfections and supposed negligence of his episcopal duties. These references are often pernicious and euphemistic, manifesting in several quasi-apocryphal tales. The most regularly occurring being accounts of Blackburne’s lasciviousness, speculation over the paternity of his chaplain Thomas Hayter, and the Archbishop’s association with piracy. As long as these bastions of resistance to revisionism remain, negative assumptions will linger on in contemporary studies of the Church, regardless of whether they are reframed by current trends. As such, this thesis utilises under-explored archival sources to reorient Blackburne’s case to its historical context. This is achieved through an exploration of the inter-connected themes of patronage, performance, and reputation. First, this thesis delineates Blackburne’s distribution of episcopal patronage across the various administrative strata of his diocese, exploring how these appointments contributed to the task of ‘turning’ the diocese toward the Whig ministry. It also investigates the reciprocal obligations of the patronage bargain, elucidating the correlation between spiritual services and temporal rewards. Second, this thesis challenges the claims of neglect that underpin pessimistic accounts of Blackburne’s archiepiscopacy, positing that supposed marks of poor performance are mis-reading of the Archbishop’s changing approach to diocesan management occasioned by his declining health. Finally, this thesis investigates under-analysed afterlives of patronage relationships, and the long shadow cast by a patron over their clients’ subsequent careers. Finally, Blackburne’s status as a mythologised patron is considered, exploring the intertwining of contemporary, politically-motivated scandal and the mythologisation of an historical figure. 4 Table of Contents Acknowledgements 6 List of Abbreviations 7 Lists of Tables 8 Introduction 9 1 ‘Our Worthy Friend in ye West’ 28 2 Establishing an Episcopal Administration 38 3 Managing Patronage: York Diocese Books, 1691-1761 83 4 Ill Health and Episcopal Performance 96 5 Patronage in Action: Visitation 114 6 The Absent Archbishop: Confirmation 142 7 The Shadow of Patronage 156 8 Lewis Stephens and ‘The Ecclesiastical Climbers’ 170 9 The Mythologised Patron 188 Conclusion 202 Appendices 204 Bibliography 236 5 Acknowledgements My gratitude for the encouragement I’ve received during my doctoral programme can barely be summarised in a few short lines, but I will make some attempt here. All financial support has helped to lighten the burden of pursuing research. I thank the Dobson Theological Fund, Institute of Historical Research, Oxford Brookes Research Fund, Royal Historical Society, Sir Philip Reckitt Education Trust, Sir Richard Stapley Foundation, and Westminster College Oxford Trust for their contributions towards my studies. I am grateful to King’s College London and the Georgian Papers Programme for providing a rare opportunity to work with the Royal Archives. I am also humbled to have received generous assistance from the Leonard Chamberlain Trust of Hull. Finally, renewed thanks to those who offered support through Gofundme.com; Dawn Bryant, Lynne Carter, James Cox, Anna Keylock, and Amy Talbot. To the staff of every archival service, library, local history society, and museum who have assisted me either in person or by correspondence (too many to name individually), I offer my sincere thanks. I also take this opportunity to acknowledge Professor Glenn Burgess, whose calm and patient encouragement first enlivened my interest in archival research at the University of Hull. I will always be indebted to Blake Gerard for graciously accepting a stranger’s invitation to a Yorkshire pub; an encounter which set me on a hobby-horsical path with a digression of International Laurence Sterne Foundation friends and colleagues. Crucially, this thesis has been made possible by the constant support, insight, and good nature of my supervisors at Oxford Brookes University. I thank Professor Joanne Begiato for her compassion and for keeping me on track, and Professor William Gibson for taking a chance on my work. I am fortunate to have experienced a model of supervisory excellence, and am grateful for their friendship, good humour, and latterly, patience. All errors that remain in this work are my own. Finally, I must make some more personal acknowledgements. This course of study has been interwoven into every aspect of my life for the past seven years, so it would be impracticable to acknowledge everyone who has supported me – but be certain that I owe you a pint. I thank Mohiyeddin for his unselfish desire to see me succeed in my academic pursuits. I honour his friendship by writing less, rather than more. To all who provide care and comfort to my beautiful daughter, and to dear Erica who has tolerated me bathed in laptop-blue for countless nights – make that three pints. And to my parents, who I love dearly; domestic holidays tramping around castles and repeat viewings of Blackadder have a lot to answer for. 6 List of Abbreviations Audley Letters Osborn c195. Letters of John Audley, Yale University, USA BIA Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York BL British Library CCEd Clergy of the Church of England Database CRO Cornwall Record Office CRS Catholic Record Society ERYAS East Riding of Yorkshire Archives & Local Studies Service GA Gloucestershire Archives HHC Hull History Centre HMC Historical Manuscripts Commission HMSO Her Majesty’s Stationary Office LPL Lambeth Palace Library ODNB Oxford Dictionary of National Biography N&Q Notes & Queries NA Nottinghamshire Archives RA Royal Archives SA Gibson Edmund Gibson MS, University of St. Andrews SPCK Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge Stephens Letters CRO. G/1968, letter book from Lewis Stephens to Francis Gregor TNA The National Archives UDSC University of Durham Special Collections ULSC University of Leeds Special Collections UNSC University of Nottingham Special Collections WYJS West Yorkshire Joint Service (Archives) YCA York City Archives YML York Minster Library Note on Dates Before 1752 all dates are given in Old Style, eleven days behind the New Style or Gregorian calendar. The year is taken to begin on 1 January. 7 List of Tables Table 1: Lancelot Blackburne’s episcopal chaplains, 1717-1743 Table 2. Clergy with preferments in York totalling £500 and over, 1742 Table 3: York diocese books, 1693-1743 Table 4: Visitations conducted by the Archbishops of York, 1691-1761 Table 5: Preachers selected for Lancelot Blackburne’s primary visitation of York, 1726-1728 (with visitation centre and benefice of preacher) Table 6: Dates, confirmation centres, and numbers confirmed by Bishop Martin Benson of Gloucester in the Diocese of York, 1737 8 INTRODUCTION In 2001, Gareth Walker stated that historians who persisted in opening their studies of the eighteenth-century Church with apologia were at danger of ‘protesting too much’.1 The inference being that at the turn of the Millennium the revisionist programme which was set on foot by Norman Sykes (with notable forerunners), and gathered pace through the 1980s and 1990s, had succeeded in dissipating the ‘longest shadow in modern historiography’ over what was once considered a ‘lifeless and least interesting’ period in the Church’s history.2 And yet, the ‘optimistic’ versus ‘pessimistic’ debate is one that refuses to stay down. The ongoing relevance of this dichotomy was exemplified by a heated exchange over opposing views of Anglican life in industrialising Lancashire in the long eighteenth century.3 Whilst acknowledging the merits of his study, Mark Smith stated that Michael Snape had taken up an out-dated, polemicist agenda that amounted to little more than a refurbishment of the pessimistic case.4 In retort, Snape claimed Smith was no less entrenched in a position that was beholden to anachronistic, comparative analysis with the nineteenth-century Church.5 Despite the authors’ intentions, their attempts to dismiss the historiographical relevance of the ‘optimistic’ versus ‘pessimistic’ debate inadvertently demonstrated its vitality and contributed to its continuance. Rather than repeat the debate’s long history here, it is more fruitful to acknowledge that this thesis benefits greatly from the 2017 publication of the second volume of the Oxford History of Anglicanism, and its crystallisation of the current historiography of the Church in the long eighteenth century.6 This landmark series takes on the heavyweight agenda of producing a history
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Catalogue of the Earl Marshal's Papers at Arundel
    CONTENTS CONTENTS v FOREWORD by Sir Anthony Wagner, K.C.V.O., Garter King of Arms vii PREFACE ix LIST OF REFERENCES xi NUMERICAL KEY xiii COURT OF CHIVALRY Dated Cases 1 Undated Cases 26 Extracts from, or copies of, records relating to the Court; miscellaneous records concerning the Court or its officers 40 EARL MARSHAL Office and Jurisdiction 41 Precedence 48 Deputies 50 Dispute between Thomas, 8th Duke of Norfolk and Henry, Earl of Berkshire, 1719-1725/6 52 Secretaries and Clerks 54 COLLEGE OF ARMS General Administration 55 Commissions, appointments, promotions, suspensions, and deaths of Officers of Arms; applications for appointments as Officers of Arms; lists of Officers; miscellanea relating to Officers of Arms 62 Office of Garter King of Arms 69 Officers of Arms Extraordinary 74 Behaviour of Officers of Arms 75 Insignia and dress 81 Fees 83 Irregularities contrary to the rules of honour and arms 88 ACCESSIONS AND CORONATIONS Coronation of King James II 90 Coronation of King George III 90 Coronation of King George IV 90 Coronation of Queen Victoria 90 Coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra 90 Accession and Coronation of King George V and Queen Mary 96 Royal Accession and Coronation Oaths 97 Court of Claims 99 FUNERALS General 102 King George II 102 Augusta, Dowager Princess of Wales 102 King George III 102 King William IV 102 William Ewart Gladstone 103 Queen Victoria 103 King Edward VII 104 CEREMONIAL Precedence 106 Court Ceremonial; regulations; appointments; foreign titles and decorations 107 Opening of Parliament
    [Show full text]
  • A Brief History of Christ Church MEDIEVAL PERIOD
    A Brief History of Christ Church MEDIEVAL PERIOD Christ Church was founded in 1546, and there had been a college here since 1525, but prior to the Dissolution of the monasteries, the site was occupied by a priory dedicated to the memory of St Frideswide, the patron saint of both university and city. St Frideswide, a noble Saxon lady, founded a nunnery for herself as head and for twelve more noble virgin ladies sometime towards the end of the seventh century. She was, however, pursued by Algar, prince of Leicester, for her hand in marriage. She refused his frequent approaches which became more and more desperate. Frideswide and her ladies, forewarned miraculously of yet another attempt by Algar, fled up river to hide. She stayed away some years, settling at Binsey, where she performed healing miracles. On returning to Oxford, Frideswide found that Algar was as persistent as ever, laying siege to the town in order to capture his bride. Frideswide called down blindness on Algar who eventually repented of his ways, and left Frideswide to her devotions. Frideswide died in about 737, and was canonised in 1480. Long before this, though, pilgrims came to her shrine in the priory church which was now populated by Augustinian canons. Nothing remains of Frideswide’s nunnery, and little - just a few stones - of the Saxon church but the cathedral and the buildings around the cloister are the oldest on the site. Her story is pictured in cartoon form by Burne-Jones in one of the windows in the cathedral. One of the gifts made to the priory was the meadow between Christ Church and the Thames and Cherwell rivers; Lady Montacute gave the land to maintain her chantry which lay in the Lady Chapel close to St Frideswide’s shrine.
    [Show full text]
  • John Thomas Mullock: What His Books Reveal
    John Thomas Mullock: What His Books Reveal Ágnes Juhász-Ormsby The Episcopal Library of St. John’s is among the few nineteenth- century libraries that survive in their original setting in the Atlantic provinces, and the only one in Newfoundland and Labrador.1 It was established by John Thomas Mullock (1807–69), Roman Catholic bishop of Newfoundland and later of St. John’s, who in 1859 offered his own personal collection of “over 2500 volumes as the nucleus of a Public Library.” The Episcopal Library in many ways differs from the theological libraries assembled by Mullock’s contemporaries.2 When compared, for example, to the extant collection of the Catholic bishop of Victoria, Charles John Seghers (1839–86), whose life followed a similar pattern to Mullock’s, the division in the founding collection of the Episcopal Library between the books used for “private” as opposed to “public” theological study becomes even starker. Seghers’s books showcase the customary stock of a theological library with its bulky series of manuals of canon law, collections of conciliar and papal acts and bullae, and practical, dogmatic, moral theological, and exegetical works by all the major authors of the Catholic tradition.3 In contrast to Seghers, Mullock’s library, although containing the constitutive elements of a seminary library, is a testimony to its found- er’s much broader collecting habits. Mullock’s books are not restricted to his philosophical and theological studies or to his interest in univer- sal church history. They include literary and secular historical works, biographies, travel books, and a broad range of journals in different languages that he obtained, along with other necessary professional 494 newfoundland and labrador studies, 32, 2 (2017) 1719-1726 John Thomas Mullock: What His Books Reveal tools, throughout his career.
    [Show full text]
  • The Church Militant: the American Loyalist Clergy and the Making of the British Counterrevolution, 1701-92
    The Church Militant: The American Loyalist Clergy and the Making of the British Counterrevolution, 1701-92 Peter W. Walker Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2016 © 2016 Peter Walker All rights reserved ABSTRACT The Church Militant: The American Loyalist Clergy and the Making of the British Counterrevolution, 1701-92 Peter W. Walker This dissertation is a study of the loyalist Church of England clergy in the American Revolution. By reconstructing the experience and identity of this largely-misunderstood group, it sheds light on the relationship between church and empire, the role of religious pluralism and toleration in the American Revolution, the dynamics of loyalist politics, and the religious impact of the American Revolution on Britain. It is based primarily on the loyalist clergy’s own correspondence and writings, the records of the American Loyalist Claims Commission, and the archives of the SPG (the Church of England’s missionary arm). The study focuses on the New England and Mid-Atlantic colonies, where Anglicans formed a religious minority and where their clergy were overwhelmingly loyalist. It begins with the founding of the SPG in 1701 and its first forays into America. It then examines the state of religious pluralism and toleration in New England, the polarising contest over the proposed creation of an American bishop after the Seven Years’ War, and the role of the loyalist clergy in the Revolutionary War itself, focusing particularly on conflicts occasioned by the Anglican liturgy and Book of Common Prayer.
    [Show full text]
  • The Cathedral Church of St Peter in Exeter
    The Cathedral Church of St Peter in Exeter Financial statements For the year ended 31 December 2019 Exeter Cathedral Contents Page Annual report 1 – 13 Statement of the Responsibilities of the Chapter 14 Independent auditors’ report 15-16 Consolidated statement of financial activities 17 Consolidated balance sheet 18 Cathedral balance sheet 19 Consolidated cash flow statement 20 Notes 21 – 41 Exeter Cathedral Annual Report For the year ended 31 December 2019 REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION Governing statute The Cathedral’s Constitution and Statutes were implemented on 24 November 2001 under the Cathedrals’ Measure 1999, and amended on 18 May 2007, 12 March 2014 and 14 January 2016, under the provisions of the Measure. The Chapter The administrative body is the Chapter. The members of the Chapter during the period 1 January 2019 to the date of approval of the annual report and financial statements were as follows: The Very Reverend Jonathan Greener Dean The Reverend Canon Dr Mike Williams Canon Treasurer The Reverend Canon Becky Totterdell Residentiary Canon (until October 2019) The Reverend Canon James Mustard Canon Precentor The Reverend Canon Dr Chris Palmer Canon Chancellor John Endacott FCA Chapter Canon The Venerable Dr Trevor Jones Chapter Canon Jenny Ellis CB Chapter Canon The Reverend Canon Cate Edmond Canon Steward (from October 2019) Address Cathedral Office 1 The Cloisters EXETER, EX1 1HS Staff with Management Responsibilities Administrator Catherine Escott Clerk of Works Christopher Sampson Director of Music Timothy
    [Show full text]
  • Proquest Dissertations
    UNIVERSITY D'OTTAWA - ECOLE UES GRADUES EFFORTS IN THE FIELD OF RELIGIOUS TOLERATION IN THE EARLY POLITICAL CAREER OF EDMUND BURKE, I765-I782 by John Edmund O'Brien Thesis presented to the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ottawa through the Department of History as partial fulfill­ ment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. -sit>tee d'd'o0( ^ <^ "*YJ ^ \ s* m Ottawa v y t , L.ttKAKicS » Ottawa, Canada, 1955 UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA - SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES UMI Number: DC53435 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI UMI Microform DC53435 Copyright 2011 by ProQuest LLC All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 _ UN1VERSITE D'OTTAWA - ECOLE PES GRADUES ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This thesis was prepared under the guidance of Doctor George Buxton of the department of History of the University of Ottawa. ; ; The writer wishes to express his gratitude to the ; I j I following people or institutions that helped in the work of i ithe thesis: to Doctor Ross Hoffman and Doctor Paul Levack of i the Graduate School of Fordham University for introducing the! writer to the field of Burke studies; to Earl Fitzwilliam and; i his trustees for permission to quote from Burke letters in ! i the Wentworth Manuscripts and to J.
    [Show full text]
  • Welsh Church
    (S.R. 0-- O. and S.I. Revised to December 31,1948) ---------~ ~--"------- WELSH CHURCH 1. Charter of Incorporation. 2. Burial Grounds (Commencemen~ 1 of Enactment). p. 220. 1. Charter of Incorporation ORDER IN COUNCIl, APPROVING DRAFT CHARTER UNDER SECTION 13 (2) OF THE WELSH CHURCH ACT, 1914 (4 & 5 GEO. 5. c. 91) INCORPORATING THE REPRESENTA­ TIVE BODY OF THE CHURCH IN WALES. 1919 No. 564 At the Court at Buckingham Palace, the 15th day of April, 1919. PRESENT, The King's Most Excellent Majesty in Gouncil. :\Vhereas there was this day read at the Board a Report of a Cmnmittee of the Lord.. of His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy C.ouncil, dated the 9th day of April, 1919, in the words following, VIZ.:- " Your Majesty having been pleased, by Your Order of the 10th day of February, 1919, to refer unto this Committee the humble Petition of The Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of St. Asaph, The Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of St. David's, 'rhe Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of Bangor, The Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of Llandaff, The Right Honourable Sir John Eldon Bankes, The Right Honourable Sir J ames Richard Atkin, Sir Owen Philipps, G.C.M.G., M.P., and The Honourable Sir John Sankey, G.B.E., praying that Your Majesty would be pleased, in exercise of Your Royal Preroga- 1,ive and of the power in that behalf contained in Section 13 (2) of the Welsh Church Act, 1914, to grant a Charter of Incorpora­ tion to the persons mentioned in the Second Schedule to the said Petition, and their successors, being the Representative Body of the Church in Wales under the provisions of the said Ad: "1'he Lords of the Committee, in obedience to Your Majesty's said Order of Reference, have taken the said Petition into consideration, and do this day agree humbly to report, as their opinion, to Your Majesty, that a Charter may be grant~~ by Your Majesty in terms of the Draft hereunto annexed.
    [Show full text]
  • STEPHEN TAYLOR the Clergy at the Courts of George I and George II
    STEPHEN TAYLOR The Clergy at the Courts of George I and George II in MICHAEL SCHAICH (ed.), Monarchy and Religion: The Transformation of Royal Culture in Eighteenth-Century Europe (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007) pp. 129–151 ISBN: 978 0 19 921472 3 The following PDF is published under a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND licence. Anyone may freely read, download, distribute, and make the work available to the public in printed or electronic form provided that appropriate credit is given. However, no commercial use is allowed and the work may not be altered or transformed, or serve as the basis for a derivative work. The publication rights for this volume have formally reverted from Oxford University Press to the German Historical Institute London. All reasonable effort has been made to contact any further copyright holders in this volume. Any objections to this material being published online under open access should be addressed to the German Historical Institute London. DOI: 5 The Clergy at the Courts of George I and George II STEPHEN TAYLOR In the years between the Reformation and the revolution of 1688 the court lay at the very heart of English religious life. Court bishops played an important role as royal councillors in matters concerning both church and commonwealth. 1 Royal chaplaincies were sought after, both as important steps on the road of prefer- ment and as positions from which to influence religious policy.2 Printed court sermons were a prominent literary genre, providing not least an important forum for debate about the nature and character of the English Reformation.
    [Show full text]
  • Pedigrees of the County Families of Yorkshire
    94i2 . 7401 F81p v.3 1267473 GENEALOGY COLLECTION 3 1833 00727 0389 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center http://www.archive.org/details/pedigreesofcount03fost PEDIGREES YORKSHIRE FAMILIES. PEDIGREES THE COUNTY FAMILIES YORKSHIRE COMPILED BY JOSEPH FOSTER AND AUTHENTICATED BY THE MEMBERS, OF EACH FAMILY VOL. fL—NORTH AND EAST RIDING LONDON: PRINTED AND PUBLISHED FOR THE COMPILER BY W. WILFRED HEAD, PLOUGH COURT, FETTER LANE, E.G. LIST OF PEDIGREES.—VOL. II. t all type refer to fa Hies introduced into the Pedigrees, i e Pedigree in which the for will be found on refer • to the Boynton Pedigr ALLAN, of Blackwell Hall, and Barton. CHAPMAN, of Whitby Strand. A ppleyard — Boynton Charlton— Belasyse. Atkinson— Tuke, of Thorner. CHAYTOR, of Croft Hall. De Audley—Cayley. CHOLMELEY, of Brandsby Hall, Cholmley, of Boynton. Barker— Mason. Whitby, and Howsham. Barnard—Gee. Cholmley—Strickland-Constable, of Flamborough. Bayley—Sotheron Cholmondeley— Cholmley. Beauchamp— Cayley. CLAPHAM, of Clapham, Beamsley, &c. Eeaumont—Scott. De Clare—Cayley. BECK.WITH, of Clint, Aikton, Stillingfleet, Poppleton, Clifford, see Constable, of Constable-Burton. Aldborough, Thurcroft, &c. Coldwell— Pease, of Hutton. BELASYSE, of Belasvse, Henknowle, Newborough, Worlaby. Colvile, see Mauleverer. and Long Marton. Consett— Preston, of Askham. Bellasis, of Long Marton, see Belasyse. CLIFFORD-CONSTABLE, of Constable-Burton, &c. Le Belward—Cholmeley. CONSTABLE, of Catfoss. Beresford —Peirse, of Bedale, &c. CONSTABLE, of Flamborough, &c. BEST, of Elmswell, and Middleton Quernhow. Constable—Cholmley, Strickland. Best—Norcliffe, Coore, of Scruton, see Gale. Beste— Best. Copsie—Favell, Scott. BETHELL, of Rise. Cromwell—Worsley. Bingham—Belasyse.
    [Show full text]
  • Church in Wales Review July 2012
    Church in Wales Review July 2012 The September 2010 meeting of the Governing Body was notable for the number of contributions from members with a common message: “The Church in Wales cannot go on doing the same things in the same way; some things need to change and we are open to – and indeed encourage – that possibility”. The Standing Committee and Bench of Bishops responded to this call by appointing an external review of the Church, with particular reference to its structures and use of resources, to increase the effectiveness of the Church’s ministry and witness. The Review Group’s members are prominent thinkers with a blend of experience in dealing with matters ecclesiastical and organisational: Lord Harries of Pentregarth, the former Bishop of Oxford; Professor Charles Handy, the eminent writer and adviser on business and organisational theory (and son of a Church of Ireland archdeacon); and Professor Patricia Peattie, former Convenor of the Scottish Episcopal Church’s Standing Committee and the first chairwoman of the Lothian University Hospitals NHS Trust. The aim was to commission a review that could move quickly to gather and assimilate information about the state of the Church in Wales, then provide independent advice on how the Church might reshape itself to be more effective in the twenty-first century. Given the extent of its members’ other commitments, the Review Group has pursued its task with extraordinary vigour and dedication. The Group determined its own approach and programme. It has visited every diocese in Wales, meeting with the Bishop and Diocesan team in each and holding an open meeting for Church members to express their views.
    [Show full text]
  • John Battely's Antiquites S. Edmundi Burgi and Its Editors Francis Young
    467 JOHN BATTELY'S ANTIQUITATESS. EDMUNDIBURGI AND ITS EDITORS by FRANCISYOUNG IN 1745 the first history of Bury St. Edmunds, John Battely's AntiquitatesS. EdmundiBurgiadAnnum MCCLXXII Perductae(Antiquities of St. Edmundsbury to 1272; henceforth referred to as Antiquitates), appeared in print, half a century after it was left unfinished on its author's death. The publication of this early antiquarian account of a Suffolk town was a significant event for the historiography of the county, and the work was to become the foundation for all subsequent research on the life of St. Edmund and Bury Abbey. John Battely and his work have been undeservedly forgotten; largely because he wrote in Latin for a narrow academic audience. This article will examine why and how Battely wrote a history of Bur) why the work remained unpublished for so long, and the personalities that lay behind its publication in the mid eighteenth century. Antiquitateswas a product of the antiquarianism of the seventeenth century, acutely sensitive to the political and theological implications of Saxon and mediaeval history. Battely died in 1708, already celebrated as an antiquary despite having published nothing in his lifetime, apart from one sermon on I john 5:4. His manuscripts were inherited by his nephew, Oliver Battely, but it was Dr. Thomas Terry, Greek Professor at Christchurch, Oxford, who edited his AntiquitatesRutupinae(Antiquities of Richborough') in 1711. When AntiquitatesS. EdmundiBuigiwas published in 1745, it was printed bound together with a second edition of Antiquitates Rutupinae as the complete posthumous works of John Battely. Battely's work on Bury found itself overshadowed by the earlier work; richly illustrated with maps and engravings of archaeological finds, and fully indexed, AntiquitatesRutupinae was a work of scholarship that was deemed worthy of translation into English byJohn Dunscombe as late as 1774.
    [Show full text]
  • 127179758.23.Pdf
    —>4/ PUBLICATIONS OF THE SCOTTISH HISTORY SOCIETY THIRD SERIES VOLUME II DIARY OF GEORGE RIDPATH 1755-1761 im DIARY OF GEORGE RIDPATH MINISTER OF STITCHEL 1755-1761 Edited with Notes and Introduction by SIR JAMES BALFOUR PAUL, C.V.O., LL.D. EDINBURGH Printed at the University Press by T. A. Constable Ltd. for the Scottish History Society 1922 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION DIARY—Vol. I. DIARY—You II. INDEX INTRODUCTION Of the two MS. volumes containing the Diary, of which the following pages are an abstract, it was the second which first came into my hands. It had found its way by some unknown means into the archives in the Offices of the Church of Scotland, Edinburgh ; it had been lent about 1899 to Colonel Milne Home of Wedderburn, who was interested in the district where Ridpath lived, but he died shortly after receiving it. The volume remained in possession of his widow, who transcribed a large portion with the ultimate view of publication, but this was never carried out, and Mrs. Milne Home kindly handed over the volume to me. It was suggested that the Scottish History Society might publish the work as throwing light on the manners and customs of the period, supplementing and where necessary correcting the Autobiography of Alexander Carlyle, the Life and Times of Thomas Somerville, and the brilliant, if prejudiced, sketch of the ecclesiastical and religious life in Scotland in the eighteenth century by Henry Gray Graham in his well-known work. When this proposal was considered it was found that the Treasurer of the Society, Mr.
    [Show full text]