The Parish Clerk Part 9

Him who covered up the Dead Is himself laid in the same bed Time with his crooked scythe hath made Him lay his mattock down and spade May he and we all rise again To everlasting life AMEN.

The name Collis occurs amongst those who held the office of parish clerk at West Haddon. The Rev. John T. Page, to whom I am indebted for the above information[44], has gleaned the following particulars from the parish registers and other sources. The clerk who reigned in 1903 was Thomas Adams, who filled the position for eighteen years. He succeeded his father-in-law, William Prestidge, who died 24 March, 1886, after holding the office fifty-three years. His predecessor was Thomas Collis, who died 30 January, 1833, after holding the office fifty-two years, and succeeded John Colledge, who, according to an old weather-beaten stone still standing in the churchyard, died 12 September, 1781. How long Colledge held office cannot now be ascertained. Here are some remarkable examples of long years of service, Collis and Prestidge having held the office for 105 years.

[Footnote 44: cf. _Notes and Queries_, Tenth Series, ii., 10 September, 1904, p. 215.]

In Shenley churchyard the following remarkable epitaph appears to the memory of Joseph Rogers, who was a bricklayer as well as parish clerk:

Silent in dust lies mouldering here A Parish Clerk of voice most clear.

None Joseph Rogers could excel In laying bricks or singing well; Though snapp'd his line, laid by his rod, We build for him our hopes in G.o.d.

A remarkable instance of longevity is recorded on a tombstone in Cromer churchyard. The inscription runs:

Sacred to the memory of David Vial who departed this life the 26th of March, 1873, aged 94 years, for sixty years clerk of this parish.

At the village church of Whittington, near Oswestry, there is a well-known epitaph, which is worth recording:

March 13th 1766 died Thomas Evans, Parish Clerk, aged 72.

Old Sternhold's lines or "Vicar of Bray"

Which he tuned best 'twas hard to say.

Another remarkable instance of longevity is that recorded on a tombstone in the cemetery of Eye, Suffolk, erected to the memory of a faithful clerk:

Erected to the memory of George Herbert who was clerk of this parish for more than 71 years and who died on the 17th May 1873 aged 81 years.

This monument Is erected to his memory by his grateful Friend the Rev. W. Page Roberts Vicar of Eye.

Herbert must have commenced his duties very early in life; according to the inscription, at the age of ten years.

At Scothorne, in Lincolns.h.i.+re, there is a s.e.xton-ringer-clerk epitaph on John Blackburn's tombstone, dated 1739-40. It reads thus:

Alas poor John Is dead and gone Who often toll'd the Bell And with a spade Dug many a grave And said Amen as well.

The Roes were a great family of clerks at Bakewell, and the two members who occupied that office at the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth century seem to have been endowed with good voices, and with a devoted attachment to the church and its monuments. Samuel Roe had the honour of being mentioned in the _Gentleman's Magazine_, and receives well-deserved praise for his care of the fabric of Bakewell Church, and his epitaph is given, which runs as follows:

To The memory of SAMUEL ROE Clerk of the Parish Church of Bakewell, which office he filled thirty-five years with credit to himself and satisfaction to the inhabitants.

His natural powers of voice, in clearness, strength, and sweetness were altogether unequalled.

He died October 31st, 1792 Aged 70 years

The correspondent of the _Gentleman's Magazine_ wrote thus of this faithful clerk:

"Mr. Urban,

"It was with much concern that I read the epitaph upon Mr.

Roe in your last volume, page 1192. Upon a little tour which I made in Derbys.h.i.+re in 1789, I met with that worthy and very intelligent man at Bakewell, and in the course of my antiquarian researches there, derived no inconsiderable a.s.sistance from his zeal and civility. If he did not possess the learning of his namesake, your old and valuable correspondent[45], I will venture to declare that he was not less influenced by a love and veneration for antiquity, many proofs of which he had given by his care and attention to the monuments of the church which were committed to his charge; for he united the characters of s.e.xton, clerk, singing-master, will-maker, and schoolmaster. Finding that I was quite alone, he requested permission to wait upon me at the inn in the evening, urging as a reason for this request that he must be exceedingly gratified by the conversation of a gentleman who could read the characters upon the monument of Vernon, the founder of Haddon House, a treat he had not met with for many years. After a very pleasant gossip we parted, but not till my honest friend had, after some apparent struggle, begged of me to indulge him with my name."

[Footnote 45: T. Row stands for T_he_ R_ector_ O_f_ W_hittington_, the Rev. Samuel Pegge. cf. _Curious Epitaphs_, by W. Andrews, p. 124.]

To this worthy clerk's care is due the preservation of the Vernon and other monuments in Bakewell Church. Mr. Andrews tells us that "in some instances he placed a wooden framework to keep off the rough hands and rougher knives of the boys and young men of the congregation. He also watched with special care the Wenderley tomb, and even took careful rubbings of the inscriptions[46]."

[Footnote 46: W. Andrews, _Curious Epitaphs_, p. 124.]

The inscription on the tomb of the son of this worthy clerk proves that he inherited his father's talents as regards musical ability:

Erected In remembrance of PHILIP ROE Who died 12th September, 1815, Aged 52 years.

The vocal Powers here let us mark Of Philip our late Parish Clerk, In church none ever heard a Layman With a clearer voice say 'Amen'!

Who now with Hallelujahs sound Like him can make this roof rebound?

The Choir lament his Choral Tones The Town--so soon Here lie his Bones.

Sleep undisturb'd within thy peaceful shrine Till Angels wake thee with such notes as thine.

The last two lines are a sweet and tender tribute truly to the memory of this melodious clerk.

A writer in _All the Year Round_[47], who has been identified as Cuthbert Bede, the author of the immortal _Verdant Green_, tells of the Osbornes and Worrals, famous families of clerks, quoting instances of the hereditary nature of the office. He wrote as follows concerning them:

[Footnote 47: No. 624, New Series, p. 83.]

"As a boy I often attended the service at Belbroughton Church, Worcesters.h.i.+re, when the clerk was Mr. Osborne, tailor. His family had been parish clerks and tailors since the time of Henry VIII, and were lineally descended from William Fitz-Osborne, who in the twelfth century had been deprived by Ralph Fitz-Herbert of his right to the manor of Bellam, in the parish of Bellroughton. Often have I stood in the picturesque churchyard of Wolverley, Worcesters.h.i.+re, by the grave of the old parish clerk, whom I well remember, old Thomas Worrall, the inscription on whose monument is as follows:

Sacred to the memory of THOMAS WORRALL, parish clerk of Wolverley for a period of forty-seven years.

Died A.D. 1854, February 23rd.

He served with faithfulness in humble sphere As one who could his talents well employ, Hope that when Christ his Lord shall reappear, He may be bidden to his Master's joy.

This tombstone was erected to the memory of the deceased by a few paris.h.i.+oners in testimony of his worth, April 1855.

Charles R. Somers c.o.c.ks, Vicar.

It may be noted of this worthy clerk that, with the exception of a week or two before his death, he was never absent from his Sunday and weekday duties in the forty-seven years during which he held office.

He succeeded his father, James Worrall, who died in 1806, aged seventy-nine, after being parish clerk of Wolverley for thirty years.

His tombstone, near to that of his son, was erected "to record his worth both in his public and private character, and as a mark of personal esteem--p. 1. F.H. and W.C. p.c." I am told that these initials stand for F. Hustle, and the Rev. William Callow, and that the latter was the author of the following lines inscribed on the monument, which are well worth quoting:

If courtly bards adorn each statesman's bust And strew their laurels o'er each warrior's dust, Alike immortalise, as good and great, Him who enslaved as him who saved the State, Surely the Muse (a rustic minstrel) may Drop one wild flower upon a poor man's clay.

This artless tribute to his mem'ry give Whose life was such as heroes seldom live.

In worldly knowledge, poor indeed his store-- He knew the village, and he scarce knew more.

The worth of heavenly truth he justly knew-- In faith a Christian, and in practice too.

Yes, here lies one, excel him ye who can: Go! imitate the virtues of that man!

The famous "Amen" epitaph at Crayford, Kent, is well known, though the name of the clerk who is thus commemorated is sometimes forgotten. It is to the memory of one Peter Snell, who repeated his "Amens" diligently for a period of thirty years, and runs as follows:

Here lieth the body of Peter Snell, Thirty years clerk of this Parish.

He lived respected as a pious and mirthful man, and died on his way to church to a.s.sist at a wedding, on the 31st of March, 1811, Aged seventy years.

The inhabitants of Crayford have raised this stone to his cheerful memory, and as a tribute to his long and faithful services.

The life of this clerk was just threescore and ten, Nearly half of which time he had sung out Amen.

In his youth he had married like other young men, But his wife died one day--so he chanted Amen.

A second he took--she departed--what then?