St Peter and St Paul's Church, Saltwood

M l l l l i Tbnt and Chest at Saltwood Church- ',9,B\1TIHIVAU ar HO.SORN. r I ( 421 ) SALTWOOD CHUEOH. BY CANON SCOTT ROBERTSON. THE Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, at Saltwood, has no pretensions to architectural beauty or grandeur, but it is an interesting rural church of a plain and simple type. I t consists of a western Tower, which shews traces of its Norman original; a nave, with Norman south doorway and an Early English north aisle of two bays; and a chancel, the details of which shew more features of the Decorated style than of any other. An organ chamber was built on the north side of the chancel, and a northern turret-stair added to the tower, during Canon Knollys' incumbency. The church was restored while Archdeacon Croft was rector; but a new roof and a new reredos have recently been added to the chancel, hy the executors of Canon Hodgson. Between the tower and nave there is no Tower arch, but simply a doorway. Above the doorway there is no arched opening, like a small doorway, high up in the wall (as we usually find), but there is a small circular orifice through the wall, with trefoiled stone work therein, through the curves of which the Sexton could see the high altar. In the Tower, the basement of which is now used as the Vestry, there stands an old chest with carved front, which must be between 500 and 600 years old. The Plate opposite gives a general idea of what it is like, but minute details cannot accurately be gathered from it. The front is carved to represent five windows, each of four trefoil-headed lights. Over each pair of lights there is what I may call a six-leaved flower. Over each group of four lights there is a sexfoil, or three trefoils. The chest is not quite eight feet long, and it is two feet wide. In the Nave, near the tower, just inside and west of the south door, stands the interesting Font, which also appears upon our Plate. The howl is a plain octagon; but upon its eastern face is a shield on which appear two words, one above the other; the letters heing carved, in high relief. They are intended for Jelisu \ Mary a, hut the formation of each letter 422 SALTWOOD CHURCH. is peculiar, and rude. The date of the work is undoubtedly late; probably between A.D. 1450 and 1530. Hasted relates (viii., 229) that, in his day, this font was enclosed in a very curious case of carved oak, like that in some neighbouring churches. All such cases have now been removed. Mr. Blyth, the rector, most kindly obtained a sketch, in oil colours, of these two interesting objects (the Font and the Chest), and from that oil painting the Plate has been prepared. MONUMENTAL BRASSES. There are three monumental brasses remaining in the floor of this church. The most ancient is a demi figure of a priest, in the floor of the chancel, on its north side. The tonsure is seen, the hair is curly, the neck is all visible, as the apparels of the chasuble stand clearly away from it. The priest's hands are upraised together in the attitude of prayer, an embroidered apparel is seen upon each wrist; the embroidery of the maniple is just visible near the left wrist. The inscription, which is not dated, runs thus :—" Hie jacet d'n's Johannes Verieu quondam rector eccl'ie de Sandherst cujus a'ie p'picietur omnium rector d's." The concluding words are quite unusual; they seem to suggest a play upon words. " John Verieu was rector of Sandherst, may God, the rector (ruler) of all, have mercy upon his soul." This John Verieu had been rector of Chislehurst (1361) and of Sevenoaks (1362), and he died in 1370, being then rector of Sandherst, now generally spelt Sandhurst. The Rev. T. S. Prampton kindly supplied me with extracts from the Lambeth Registers* which prove these facts. The next monumental brass, in point of date, is on the floor at the east end of the north aisle. It bears the effigies of Thomas Brockhill, esquire (who died in 1487-8), and of his wife. Around the margins of the slab runs this inscription upon brass :—" Hie jacet Thomas Brockhill, armiger, qui obiit III0 die Januarii anno d'ni mill'mo ccccxxxvii0 et • • • eius; quar' a'iab's p'picietur deus AMEN." The armorial bearings were (Brockhill) a cross between twelve crosses fitchees, impaling (Fmeux) a chevron between three * 13 Kal. Aug. 1361, John Verieu was collated to the Churoh of Chislehurst (Islep's Beg., 225s). On the 13 Kal. April 1361-2, John Vergieu was collated to the rectory of Sevenoaks (Ibid. 296b). On 6 Kal. November 1370 at Lambeth, Archbishop Whittlesey conferred on William Roooumbe, clerk, of Sarum diocese, the parish church of Sandherst, vacant through the death of John Veriewe, the last reotor thereof (Register 86"). IN SALTWOOD CHUROH. PHOVO-UTHO, 5PBAOUE « C I LONOQN. IL hir iant tma'Tobapr^mni qiioiitia rrrtDi rrrlifjr .jsannftrrlt nnneairffliinrtur omniinii mtm ftg ta tutti mr boMof ("larar^uiif aimroulatr tdrM of MinMniiifoiiirti i i r t i r ^ r Officii tjr wtojj of icptfbn tfnnesif oimodf ml imtlii tmWcioM ton tiauniOT »MOf O- LIT MO. SWWCuE * O L0"0O»t IK SALTWOOD CHURCH. SALTWOOD CHURCH. 423 spread eagles. He was the younger son of William and Margaret Brockhill, but he inherited the BrockhuU or Thorne manor and estate in Saltwood. This is the only Brockhill monument that remains in the north aisle, which, Philipott states, was built by Margaret, wife of William Brockhill or BrockhuU, as a burial place for future possessors of her manor of BrockhuU. There must be some mistake in this statement. The architecture shews that this aisle was built during the thirteenth century, and on the south side near the east window still stands a piscina of the early English style of architecture, yet the lady named died in the fifteenth century. Thomas Brockhill, whose brass is in this north aisle, had no son. His estates went to his only child Elizabeth, who married Richard Sellyng. Their son and heir John married a lady named Anne . . . ., who bore him only one child, a daughter, Joane Sellyng, who was his heiress. After John Selling's death his widow married William Muston, who seems to have been a Nottinghamshire gentleman. She died on the 7th of September 1496, and she is commemorated here hy a small but pretty monumental brass on the south side of the chancel floor. It represents an angel rising through the clouds, and bearing in his hands a heart-shaped object, possibly intended to typify the soul of Dame Anne. The inscription is in English:—"Here lieth the bowell of Dame Anne Muston, late the wyf of | William Muston; which Dame Anne decessyd the viit h day of September | ye yere of or Lord M1 iiiic lxxxxvj on whose soull ih'u have mercy." Beneath the inscription is a shield bearing three coats of arms side by side, viz.: i. (dexter) Sellyng*; ii. (centre) Mustonf; iii. (sinister) the lady's paternal coat, " three voided crossed crosslets." This lady's daughter, Joane Sellyng, married, in 1498, John Tournay, whose descendants have ever since been the owners of Brockhill manor in Saltwood. Many monumental tablets upon the walls of this church commemorate members of the Tournay family. In the year 1511, Archbishop Warham held a Visitation of the whole diocese. Por the Deanery of Elham, this Visitation was held in Saltwood Church on the 23rd of September, by commission. The sermon thereat was preached * Papworth gives this in his Ordinary of Armorials, p. 444, as Vert, a chevron Sable, between three wolves erased Or. f Burke, in his General Armory, gives this coat thus, " Argent, a chevron between three swords erect Chiles, and says that Anne, daughter and heir of Willm Muston, of Callis, Notts, in the reign of Henry VIII., married Tho9 Marshall. 424 SALTWOOD CHURCH. by the Vicar of Croydon, Mr. Rowland, from words in one of the Psalms—Benedictionem ddbit legislator.* Prom the presentment then made respecting Saltwood Church, we learn that the chancel was not well repaired.! The rain came in over the high altar. The person who farmed the revenues of the rectory was called Dom., or Sir, Alexander Liffington, and he was directed to repair the chancel roof before.the Peast of the Assumption of the Virgin, under pain of sequestration.f I t was likewise represented that the churchyard was not thoroughly enclosed. There were formerly connected with Saltwood Ohurch several Praternities which held periodical services therein— one was the Praternity of St. Peter, another was that of Saint Bartholomew. In or about 1475 Thomas Hayward, of Saltwood, bequeathed a measure of barley " to every Praternity of that church in which I am a brother." To the parish priest he left 12d.; to the clerk 6d. Thomas Herwood, of Saltwode, in 1503, left 4d. to the Light of the Praternity of St. Peter in Saltwode Church. Thomas Honywode of Hethe, in 1474, left " to the works of the church at Saltwode 6s. 8d." Of Archdeacon Croft's restoration of this church we find several traces. At the east end of the north aisle now stands a Table (probably given as a Communion Table by him) upon which are carved these words: " Presented by the Venerable Archdeacon Croft, A.D. 1847." In the chancel's north wall near the west end is a twolight window, in which are seen two shields of arms. One is that of Archbishop Manners Sutton; the other is that of Archdeacon Croft, which shews the arms of Croft (quarterly per fesse indented azure and argent, in the first quarter a lion passant guardant or) quartering the Bowes coat of his mother, who was an heiress; ermine, three long bows, "bent, in pale gules. The quarries or quarrel panes of the window bear the initials and emblems of the joint patron saints of the church alternately, viz.: P impaled upon a sword, and P impaled upon a key. The east window was filled with coloured glass, by Archdeacon Croft, I believe. The grave and tombstone of the Archdeacon and his daughter stand at the west end of the churchyard, near the entrance gate. Of the work done while Canon Knollys was rector we see several mementoes. The Lectern was given by his sons E. W. and W. E. KnoUys in 1872; and the Bible which rests * British Magazine, xxx., 255. f Ibid., p. 261. SALTWOOD CHURCH. 425 thereon was presented by the wives of those sons, viz., Caroline M. Knollys and Amicia M. Knollys. Beneath the south-east window of the chancel are two brass plates; one states that the painted glass therein was inserted in memory of Caroline Augusta Knollys in 1878, by her husband the rector. The subjects of the window's two lights are (W) Prayer for St. Peter made without ceasing by the church, and (E) St. Peter delivered from prison by the angel. The second brass states that in memory of the same lady window lights in the nave and aisle were newly glazed by some friends in 1878. Canon Knollys also caused to be engraved (upon a monumental brass in the tower, to the memory of Mrs. Hassard, mother of Sir John Hassard) a copy of the ancient seal* of the jurisdiction of Saltwood, formerly used by rectors of Saltwood. Beneath the chancel's north-east window is a brass reminding us that the painted glass (representing St. Paul's shipwreck, in two scenes) was given in memory of Elizabeth, wife of Charles Augustus North. In the north aisle the east window was inserted in memory of Colonel Percy Harry Stanley Barrow, C.B., C.M.G., of the 19th Hussars, by his mother, brothers, and sisters, in September 1887. His body lies in the churchyard. The subject of the two lights is the Resurrection of our Blessed Lord. An old slab in the chancel commemorates Jane, daughter of Thomas Boys of Mersham, gent., who was the wife of Thomas Tournay the elder, of Saltwood, by whom she had six sons and three daughters. She died in July 1653. RECTORS OP SALTWOOD. STEPHEN DE FOBDE was rector at Easter 1276 (see Hist. (Beckham's Beg., MSS. Commn 6th Beport, p. 512a ). He 150.) died before Angust 1282, when the Archbishop issued a Commission to bis Commissary to compel the debtors of Stephen, the late rector, to pay their debts. 1279 "WILLIAM DE DOVEB was collated by Archbishop Peckham (Bec7cham's Beg., in August 1279. 48.) 1309-10 Master WILLIAM ABCHEB was rector in 3 Ed. II. (see Hist. MSS. Qommn 6th Beport, p. 512). 1310 Master MICHAEL DE BEEEHAM, Doctor of Civil Law, (Wyncliclse's Beg., Chancellor of the diocese, was collated by 49".) Archbisbop Wynchelse on the 3rd of the # See Archceologia Cantiana, XI., p. 40. 426 RECTORS OF SALTWOOD. nones of December 1310. In the following month he was made a canon of Wingham. He died in 1320. 1320 JOHN DE BBTTXTON, Chancellor of tbe diocese, was collated by Archbishop Reynolds in 1320. This learned man was a canon of Wells and of Exeter. In December 1317 he obtained the rectory of Cliffe at Hoo, but exchanged it for that of Lyminge in Oct. 1318. In 1320 he became a canon of Wingham, and for a year, 1323-4, he was Archdeacon of Canterbury. King Edward II. appointed him to be one of his Royal Chaplains. 1322 JOHN DE RTNGEWODE was collated in January 1321-2 by Archbishop Reynolds. Dom. RICHAED DE HEMMESBT died in 1361 holding this benefice. 1362 Master JOHN BBOGHTON, Doctor of Law, was collated by (Islep's Beg., 295.) Archbishop Islep in January 1361-2, who gave him (in October 1362) a Commission to exercise Jurisdiction in Saltwood Church. JOHN MAESELLY was rector of Saltwood in September 1365, when he exchanged this benefice for that of Tunstall near Sittingbourne. 1365 Dom. ALAN DE SLEDDALE, who had been rector of Tunstall (Islep's Reg., 307a.) since June 1363, obtained this benefice by exchange in September 1365. 1384 Dom. Q-TJYDO MONE, who was then Archbishop Courtenay's (Courtenay's Beg., domestic chaplain (clericus familiaris suus), 254a.) was collated by that Primate to this benefice on the 5th of August 1384. He bad up to that time been rector of Bradwell by the Sea in Essex, and a prebendary of Lincoln Cathedral. In October 1386, Braybroke, Bishop of London, gave him Cadington-major Prebend in St. Paul's Cathedral, which he resigned in 1389. Archbishop Courtenay gave him the rectory of Harrow at Christmas 1387. He resigned Harrow in October 1390, when he became Rector of Maidstone. Then probably he resigned Saltwood also. He was, in 1390, the Land-Steward of the Archbishop. On the 27th of May 1394, Bishop Braybroke of London made him Treasurer of St. Paul's Cathedral, and, soon after, he resigned the rectory of Maidstone, in lieu of which he got an annuity of £133 6s. 8d. for life. Ghiy Mone resigned the Treasurership of St. Paul's in July or August 1397. He was consecrated Bishop of St, David's November 11, RECTORS OF SALTWOOD. 427 1397, and was appointed Lord High Treasurer of England by Richard II. He seems to have held that high office for little more than a year. It is remarkable, however, that Henry IV. also appointed him to the same great post on the 25th of October 1402. He died at Charlton near Woolwich in 1407, and in accordance with MB will (dated August 17, 1407) he was buried in the church of Leeds Priory. (?) WILLIAM DE KENYAN may have been rector here, and have exchanged about 1390 with William Preone, whom he succeeded at Woolwich. Dom. WILLIAM DE PEEONE was rector of Saltwood in Pebruary 1391-2, when he accepted the rectory of Lyminge in exchange for it. He had been rector of Woolwich from September 6, 1361, for many years. He died late in 1404, having made his will on the 13th of August, desiring to be buried in Woolwich Church. He derived his name from Preone in Salop. 1392 Dom. JOHN EXCESTEE, rector of Lyminge, became rector of (Courtenay's addi- Saltwood on the 16th of Pebruary 1391-2, tional Beg., 203a.) but he resigned this benefice in November 1393. 1393 Dom. THOMAS SPABKEEOED, a chaplain, was collated by (Gourtenay's addi- Archbishop Courtenay on the 11th of Novemtional Reg., 215.) ber 1393. 1413 WILLIAM JAKXS, on the death of the last rector, was collated (Arundel's Reg., ii., to Saltwood by Archbishop Arundel on the 65b.) 30th of January 1412-13. He resigned in March, and took the rectory of Lyminge, which he retained for twenty years. He was also rector of Hunton. 1413 MATTHEW EDENHAM, a canon of Lincoln Cathedral, was (Ibid., 66.) collated hither by Archbishop Arundel on the 10th of March 1412-13. He exchanged in 1416 with a Lincolnshire incumbent, the rector of Waltham. 1416 SIMON HOKE, rector of Waltham in Lindsey, obtained this (C7iic7iele's Reg., benefice by exchange with Canon Edenham on 79b.) the 8th of November 1416. Mr. Hoke, in 1419, made another exchange, and went into the diocese of Norwich to Pal grave. 1419 EUDO WITH, rector of Palgrave in Suffolk (near Diss), (OhicJiele's Reg., obtained this benefice, by exchange, on the 114b.) 29th of March 1419. Master JOHN ESTCOTTET was rector of Saltwood when he died, late in the year 1427. 428 RECTORS OF SALTWOOD. 1427 Dom. DEOGO MALEEOENETTTS, who was a foreigner, was (Chichele's Reg., collated to Saltwood on the 1st of December 170b.) 1427. He held this benefice for more than twenty-seven years, and died holding it in 1455. His name may have been Maleforneti; if so, he was probably an Italian. 1455 The Right Reverend. RICHAED, BISHOP OEROSS, was collated (Bourgchier's Beg., to this benefice by Archbishop Bourgchier on 60b.) the 12th of June 1455. He had for many years acted as Bishop Suffragan, under Archbishops Stafford, Kemp, and Bourgchier. 1466 JOHN SATIN DEB, was collated, Peb. 15,1465-6, by Prior G-old- (Register S, of Xt stone, sede vacante. Ch. Cant. 220b.) Master JOHN PEESE, Doctor of Law, was rector of Saltwood when he died in 1487. He was rector of Lyminge in 1477, but how long he had held that benefice, or this of Saltwood, I have not ascertained. Dr. Peese was a prebendary of St. Paul's Cathedral from 1471 until his death. 1487 Dom. HENEY EDIALL, a Prebendary of Lichfield, was col- (Morton's Beg., lated to Saltwood by Archbishop Morton on 130b.) the 16th of June 1487. He, in July 1497, became Provost of Wingham College, where he was buried in 1520. He was Archdeacon of Rochester, and an executor of Cardinal Morton's will. Master JOHN TONG, LL.D., the King's " Master of the Rolls " (Gustos Botulorum) from 1508 to 1516, resigned this benefice in 1514 upon being made Dean of York. He died April 25, 1516, and was buried in the Rolls Chapel. He had been rector of St. Stephen's, Walbrook (1503), of St. Mary le Bow (1504-5), and of St. Magnus. He was also a prebendary of St. Paul's and of Tork for a time. 1514 Master EDMUND OHOLLEETON, Bachelor of Theology, was (Warham's Beg., collated by Archbishop Warham on the 22nd 355a.) of July 1514, to the parish church of St. Peter at Saltwode, together with the chapel of St. Leonard at Hith. He resigned in 1526. 1526 Master PETEE LIGHAM, Doctor of Decrees, was collated by (Ibid., 391a.) the same Archbishop on the 9th of June 1526 to the parish church of Saltwode with the chapel at Hith. Dr. Ligham paid £6 13s. 4d. to the priest, who served as his curate at Hythe. Dr. Ligham died in August 1538. He was Dean of the Court of Arches, and from about 1526 to 1538 was vicar of Lydd also. Por a few months before his death he was likewise Master of Eastbridge RECTORS OF SALTWOOD. 429 Hospital in Canterbury. He held a Prebend (Wenlakesbarn) in St. Paul's Cathedral from 1533 to 1538, and a canonry at Wingham. 1538 Master JOHN THIXTILL, S.T.P., was collated to this benefice (Granmer's Beg., by Archbishop Cranmer, on the 27th of 365b.) August 1538. Two months later he was also collated to the vicarage of Lydd, which his predecessor Dr. Ligham had likewise held. Dr. Thixtill died in 1540. 1540 Master HENBY MAEKEHAM, M.A., was collated to Saltwood (Ibid., 378".) " by Archbishop Cranmer on the 1st of November 1540. Mr. Markeham died in 1550. 1550 ROBEET WATSON, presbiter, one of Archbishop Cranmer's (Ibid., 412b .) household, was collated on the 30th of September 1550. NICHOLAS HAEPSEIELD, LL.D., was Archdeacon of Canterbury (1554-9), and author of a List of the Archdeacons, and of a Life of Sir Thomas More which contains the assertion that the bones of Archbishop Becket were burned in 1538. He was deprived for his opinions in 1559. 1560 Master ALEXANDEB NOWELL, M.A., was collated to this (Barher's Beg., benefice by Archbishop Parker on the 3rd of 341a.) Pebruary 1559-60, on the deprivation of Harpsfield. At this time Nowell was Archdeacon of Middlesex, having succeeded to that dignity on the 1st of January 1559-60. He vacated it when made Dean of St. Paul's in November or December 1560, when he also vacated a Canonry of Westminster Abbey which he held only a few months. In addition to the deanery, however, he was allowed to hold the Wildlund Prebend of St. Paul's Cathedral from December 3, 1560, to November 1588, when he obtained the Totenhall Prebend in that Cathedral, which he held at his death in 1601. The rectory of Much Hadham, Herts, was given to him in December 1562, but he resigned it about 1589. In 1594 he became a Canon of Windsor. His college (Brazennose), at Oxford (from which he had graduated Bachelor of Arts in 1536), elected him its Principal in September 1595, and the University then created him Doctor of Divinity with precedence of seniority over all other doctors then in Oxford. It is said that for thirty years, continuously, he in Lent preached before Queen Elizabeth the first and the last sermons of each season. He died Pebruary 13, 1601-2, and was buried in St. Paul's 4 3 0 RECTORS OF SALTWOOD. Cathedral. He was a benefactor to Brazennose College, and he published many books. 1561 Master STEVEN NEVYNSON was collated hither by Archbishop (Barker's Beg., Parker on the 2nd of January 1560-1, when 347s.) Dean Nowell resigned. 1580 Master JOHN COLDWELL, Doctor of Medicine, Fellow of St. (Grindal's Beg., John's College, Cambridge, a native of Favers- 542b.) ham, was collated to Saltwood by Archbishop Grrindal on the 7th of October 1580. In 1585 he became Dean of Rochester, and in 1591 he was consecrated Bishop of Salisbury. 1592 Master RALPH TALBOYES, S.T.P., was collated to this benefice (Whitgift's Beg., by Archbishop Whitgift on the 29th of July ii. 315a.) 1592. He died in 1596. 1596 Master JOHN SELTEE was Dr. Talboyes' successor, and was (Ibid., 338a .) collated hither on the 31st of July 1596 by Archbishop Whitgift. Mr. Selter or Salter died in 1614. 1614 Master WILLIAM KINGSLEY, S.T.P., was collated by Arch- (Abbgt's Beg., bishop Abbot on the 17th of November 1614, i., 410a.) with the old formula to the Church of Saltwood, with the Chapel of Hith thereto annexed. Dr. Kingsley was rector of Ickham from 1617, and Archdeacon of Canterbury from 1619 until his death in January 1648. He had been Fellow of All Souls, Oxford, and a Prebendary of Canterbury. He married Damaris Abbot, a niece of Archbishop Abbot, and by her had sixteen children. Parliament sequestered Saltwood from him, April 30,1644. Hasted obtained the names of the next eight rectors, from (I believe) the Begister of Inductions in the Office of First Fruits (now Queen Anne's Bounty). THOMAS CABTEE, who was rector in 1663, died in 1674. 1674 PEANCIS PECK was inducted in 1674, and he died in 1706. 1706 JOHN LEWIS, inducted in 1706, resigned in 1709, when he became vicar of Minster in Thanet. He held that benefice until his death in 1747-8. His History of Tlianet is a valuable work. He likewise wrote a History of Faversham Ohurch and Abbey. His antiquarian researches were wide and deep. 1709 ROBEET PAYNE, M.A., succeeded Mr. Lewis, and remained rector of Saltwood about thirty-two years, until he died in October 1741. He was also vicar of Postling. 1741 JOHN CHAPMAN, S,T.P., who had been educated at Eton College, held this _ rectory for about three RECTORS OF SALTWOOD. 431 years. He was then preferred to the rectory of Mersham, which he retained until his death in October 1784. He was one of the executors of Archbishop Potter, and he seems to have enjoyed pluralities of great value. With Mersham he held Aldington rectory, and the Treasurership of Chichester Cathedral. He lived to the age of eighty-one. 1744 JEEEMIAH MILLES, who succeeded Dr. Chapman in December 1744, resigned in 1746. He was a distinguished antiquary, and became President of the Society of Antiquaries in London. When he died in 1784 he was Dean of Exeter. 1746 THOMAS RANDOLPH, S.T.P., held this rectory from 1746 to 1769, when he resigned it in favour of his son. He was Archdeacon of Oxford, President of Corpus Christi College in that University, Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity there, with a canonry at Worcester annexed. For a time he also held the vicarage of Petham cum Waltham by dispensation. He died in 1783. 1769 THOMAS RANDOLPH, son of Archdeacon Randolph, obtained this rectory when his father resigned it, and also obtained the vicarage of Petham cum Waltham in 1783 when his father died. He was educated at Westminster School. He died in 1808 on the 18th of July. 1808 1812 JAMES CEOET was presented to this benefice by Archbishop Manners Suttonin 1812. Cliffe-at-Hoo Rectory was given to him in 1818. He got a Prebendal Stall in Canterbury Cathedral in 1822, and was made Archdeacon of Canterbury in 1825. These benefices and dignities were all conferred upon him by the same Archbishop, one of whose daughters became his wife. He survived until 1869, when he died at Saltwood Rectory on the 8th of May. The American gardens in the rectory grounds were formed by him, and were very successful and beautiful until the railway was carried through them, when the chief spring in them was interfered with by the construction of the line. 1869 WM. PEED. EESKINE KNOLLYS was presented to Saltwood by Archbishop Tait, whose "chaplain he was for thirteen years, 1869-82. He was promoted to the rectory of Wrotham in 1879, having in 1876 been made an Honorary Canon of Canterbury. He was an active Secretary of the 432 RECTORS OF SALTWOOD. Canterbury Diocesan Conference for three years, 1883-6. Por a short time the late Mr. Craufurd Tait (son of Archbishop Tait) was Canon Knollys's curate here. 1879 JOHN G-EOEGE HODGSON succeeded Canon Erskine Knollys in 1879. He was for thirty-three years vicar of Croydon from 1846 to 1879, and rural dean there from 1870 to 1879. In 1870 he was made an Honorary Canon of Canterbury. His father, the Rev. John Hodgson (who married Sarah, daughter of the first Lord Harris), was the founder of that useful institution the Sea Bathing Infirmary at Margate. He died at Saltwood Rectory May 24,1888, aged 76. 1888 EDWAED HAMILTON BLYTH, who had been vicar of Margate for eight years, was promoted by Archbishop Benson first to the rectory of Woodchurch (which he held for two or three months), and then to this rectory of Saltwood, to which he came in August 1888. Mr. Blyth was an Indian chaplain for three years, 1864-7, and he held the vicarage of Hammersmith for seven years, 1871-8. For his brother, Bishop Blyth of Jerusalem, he acts as Commissary in England.