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Clerk of a church

  • Thread starter Thread starter john goodwin
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john goodwin

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My Great Grandfather was described as a clerk of the church. The church is in a small village so I cannot think the stipend would have paid for such a clerical job. My question is: does "clerk of the church" mean, Verger or Sexton, a Clerk in Holy Orders,(this I believe is another name for vicar), or an acolyte. The church in question is Anglican.
 
John, I was just as much at sea as you and just as interested so I did a google search and came up with this:

https://www.atkinsonchurch.com/contacts/clerk.html

I trust this will be of some help to you. Of course, the definition could've changed over the years. We'll have to wait for some of the real oldie board members to come along who can probably quote from living memory. :wink:

Good luck,

Paul.
 
Hi Paul,

Thanks for the info on this subject. Good spotting in Google.

I understand the job, in this day and age, with our increased population, would be worth a salary cheque.

However a little country church in 1876, would I think have been hard pressed to find sufficient work for such a person, let alone pay a salary.

The church in question is St. Leonard, Wixoe, Suffolk.
It will be several years before I visit the U.K. and investigate these things, on site, so I am trying to sort out these minor quieries, though this medium.

I would like t hear your comments.

John
 
Hi Paul,

With the info you have supplied me, we have solved the puzzle of this job.

The position was very important and was created when The Parish replaced the Manor or Monastery as the area of local government in 1600.
The system of parish government was abolished when Parliament created county,town and district councils at the end of the 19th. century.
In 1900, the classification of the job was as follows:
The Parish clerk should be 20 years old. Known to the parson as a man of honest conversation and sufficient for his reading, writing and competent skill in singing. {Canon 91 (1603)}
Functions: Reading the lessons and epistles, singing in the choir, giving out the hymns,leading the responses,serving at the altar and other like duties, opening of the church, ringing the bell, digging graves if there be no sexton.
The Parish clerk would enter records of births,marriages and deaths into a rough book, which the vicar would copy into the Parish Register. (Hence the problem of errors and interpretation). The Parish clerk was the vicar's secretary, accounts clerk and even bouncer. (I would also say "general dogsbody"). He collected fees and wrote a list of banns for future marriages.
Being more of a social equal to the parishioners, he could be approached to act as an intermediary to inform the vicar to visit the sick and dying.
As my great grandfather held this position in 1860, I think it reasonable to argue not only were these his duties but possibly a few others, as a spill over from the old Parish government system.

Once again thanks for your help and the church of St. Leonard, Wixoe, Suffolk is on my list to visit, when next I am in the U.K.

John
 
:lol: You're welcome, John. I'm happy that you got to the bottom of it. :lol: Did you phone or fax the diocese? It's handy to know, for future reference, how these types of organisations respond.

On another note, do you have any family in Birmingham? I know of a Ray Goodwin who runs a polishing business, quite incidentally, almost next door to the Catholic Cathederal.
 
Clerk of Church

Hi Paul,

I e-mailed one of the officers on the site you gave me. I have often used the e-mail medium on a "Cold call" and have always received a good response. Perhaps my Australian address makes it more interesting to the person I am e-mailing.

My family connection with Birmingham is through the families of Newell,Taylor and Momford. I have posted a request in the genealogy section, but so far no takers.

Some of the Newells were born in Aldridge,Bilston and Aston whilst the only info on the other two families is they lived in Birmingham. There was also a marriage at St. Silas Church, Lozells between William Newell and Sarah Elizabeth Taylor.

The Newell, in my tree, moved to Bethnall Green, London with his family betwen 1872/1877. All the above name's are on my maternal side of the tree, so tracing has proven difficult.

The paternal side I have traced to various villages in Suffolk as well as parts of Central London and North Kent.

John
 
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