The Rectors of Pluckley, Kent, for upwards of Six Hundred Years

( 85 ) THE RECTORS OF PLUOKLEY, KENT, FOR UPWARDS OF SIX HUNDRED YEARS. BY THE REV. FRA.NCIS HA.SLEWOOD, F.S.A.. THE benefice of Pluckley, being one of the most valuable pieces of preferment in the patronage of the Archbishops of Canterbury, has been held by many noteworthy men who have distinguished themselves at the Universities, and subsequently displayed considerable literary talents. It nevertheless seems strange that only one of the goodly list of worthies was elevated to a bishopric, and another attained a deanery, and in both instances these distinctions were con£ erred on men of our own times. 1281. JORN DE LYMYNG is the first Rector mentioned in Archbishop Peckham's Register, from which it appears His Grace admitted him at Lambeth to the Church of Pluckley on January 26th, 1281. As the benefice was then vacant, there must have been Rectors serving the parish prior to that date. Though Pluckley is mentioned in Domesday, it seems from Furley's History (i., 226) that there was no church there at that early period; Pevington, however, within the parish, was provided in this respect. The same Archiepiscopal Register records the citation of the Rectors of Great and Little Chart, Pluckley, etc., in 1282 for refusing to be present at celebration of orders ; and also that the Archbishop ordained at South Malling in September 1285 an acolyte, one Nicholas de Plukele (Adel. MS. Brit. Mus. 6062, f. 51 b). 1313. JORN DE L.A. W A'rERE is the next name that has come down. Archbishop Winchelsey collated him to Pluckley May 7, 1313. He is described as "acolitum de Maydestane" (Winchelsey, 55 b). 1363. WILLliM DE RoTHYG. This Rector died prior to ,Tune 14, 1363, because a document so dated exhibits "a general release from all actions given by the Prior and Chapter of Christ Church 86 THE RECTORS OF PLUCKLEY, KEN'l', to the executors of W. de Rothyg, Rector of Pluckley, deceased, late their farmer of the manor of Little Chart" ( Oanterbu1·y Oatlied1·al Lib1·a1·y, L, 55). 1390. WILLIAM FFREM.A.N, who had been private chaplain to Archbishop Courtenay, was collated at Croydon, September 4th, 1390 (Courtenay, 276 b). 1393. WILLIAM C.A.RNOIM (likewise the Archbishop's chaplain) was appointed to this Rectory by the same prelate, August 27th, 1393 (Courtenay, 212 b). 1401. WILLIAM PoUNTFRAIT succeeded John H urlegh as Rector of Farnham, and Archbishop Arundel sanctioned an exchange of benefices, December 16th, 1401 (Repe1·torium, R. Newcourt, ii., 256 ; Arundel, 280 b). 1402. JonN HuRLEGH exchanged Pluckley for the Rectory of Great Chart, November 3rd, 1402 (Arundel, 276 b, 285 a). 1411. RroHARD NELHA.M, exchanged (Arundel, ii., 63 a). 14ll. JonN BROUN upon the 11th of December, 1411, effected au exchange with his predecessor, and also on January 7th, 1422, with Robert Ffelsham, Vicar of Faversham, resigning the latter on January 5th, 1425 (Arundel, ii., 137 a). 1422. R01mR'r FFELSHA.M exchanged the Rectory of Reymerston, Norfolk, in 1422, for the Vicarage of Faversham. This he exchanged for Pluckley, January 7th, 1422, holding it till 1450, a period of twenty-eight years, when he resigned (Arundel, 134 a, b; Hist. of Norfolk, F. Blomefield, x., 242; Stafford, 108 b). 1450. RroHARD S:t1I:YTH, was collated at Lambeth to the Church of P1uc1dey by Archbishop Stafford, February 13th, 1450. He exchanged with his successor (108 b ). 1473. WILLIAM RonERT, formerly chaplain of the Hospital of St. Nicholas, Harbledowne, was admitted to the Church at Pluckley by Archbishop Bourchier, June 19th, 1473, His Grace having sanctioned the exchange of benefices (107 b, 108 a). 1473. JonN RICHE was upon the death of the last Rector collated by the Archbishop to Pluckley, which he resigned after holding it three years (109 a). 1476. HENRY EDY.A.LL was appointed to Pluckley by the same Archbishop, June 27th, 1476 (Bourchier, 1 14a). He resigned the benefice at the end of eleven years. 1487. WILLIAM HUETT is mentioned as Rector of Pluckley, and a note added, "all well," in a Book of Visitations, .A..D. 1498, now in the Cathedral Library at Canterbury (f. 44). He was FOR UPWARDS OF SIX HUNDRED YEARS, 87 appointed to the parish 0£ Pluckley on the 15th 0£ October, 1487, by Archbishop Morton (132 a). 1502. RICH.A.RD G.A.RDYNER, M.A., was collated to Pluckley by Archbishop Deane, July 21st, 1502 (170a). He held the benefice only tw(? years, Archbishop Wareham sanctioning an exchange for a prebendal stall in Wells Cathedral. 1504. WILLIA.M SMYTH, was collated by the Archbishop, Feb. 12th, 1504 (Wareham, 322 b), upon the resignation of Richard Gardyner. 1514. JOHN ALEFE, B.D ., was upon the death 0£ the last incumbent admitted to Pluckley by Archbishop Wareham, April 4th, 1514, and held the same twenty years, when he resigned. He was previously Rector 0£ Little Chart, and afterwards Parson of Hollingborne; and mentions in his will, proved in 1537, "the chm·ch of Little Oh art, sometime liis benefice" (Wareham, 353 b ; Hasted, iii., 227). 1534. ROBERT CoLYNS, B.D., was appointed "Recto1• of S. Nicholas Church, Pluckley," by Archbishop Cranmer, October 23rd, 1534. He resigned the benefice at the end of five years ( Cranmer, 351 a). " Robert Coleus, Rector," is mentioned in the Valor Ecclesiasticus (i., 96). 1539. HENRY MARKEHA.M, M.A., was also collated by Archbishop Cranmer, December 17, 1539. He resigned 1541 (Cranmer, 373a). 1541. WILLiill. LANO.A.STER was collated July 15, 1541, by Archbishop Cranmer (385 a), and held the benefice until his deprivation in 1554. His name occurs in the First Fruits Composition Books, at the Record Office (Kane., 34 Hen. VIII., 1542); also as "Rector dns." of Pluckle!J," .A..D. 1550-55, in the Archdeacon's Visitations at Canterbury (£. 59). When Edward Dering, B.D., was collated in 1567 by Archbishop Parker, this entry occurs in the Register, "per mortem Lanlcester cleriai ultimi Rectoris ibidem vacant" (Parker, 384 b). By this it appears that the three next Rectors were regarded as intruders. 1554. RADULl'HUS WRIGHT was instituted in the room of W. Lancaster, May 10, 1554, by Archbishop Cranmer. This collation is entered in the Register at Canterbury Cathedral Library (N, 68). 1556. WILLIAM BA.RKER, was collated May 1, 1556, by Archbishop Pole, vacant upon the resignation 0£ R. Wright (Pole, 67, 668 a, b). 88 THE RECTORS OF PLUCKLEY, KENT, 1558. NICHOLAS MORTON, B.D., was collated by the same Archbishop, September 22nd, 1558 (Pole, 81 b). 1567. EDWARD DERING, B.D., was the remarkable divine whose life is fully given in several biographical dictionaries. He belonged to the Surrenden-Dering family, being the third son of John Dering and Margaret his wife (nee Brent). Educated at Christ College, Cambridge, he graduated B.A. in 1559, and became M.A. four years later. After this he attained many distinctions, being elected Proctor of the University in 1566, and Lady Margaret Preacher the following year. He proceeded B.D. in 1568, and was appointed chaplain to the Duke of Norfolk, and in 1571 became prebend of Chardstock, in Salisbury, which latter he held four years. It was as a preacher of the Puritan school, and author of sevei-al sermons, also a commentary upon the Epistle to the Hebrews, that he was chiefly celebrated. He was also a powerful disputant with Dr. Harding, an eminent Roman Catholic divine. Archbishop Parker, who describes Dering as "the greatest learned man in England," collated him to Pluckley, February 17th, 1567 (384 b. Inductions at Canterbury, b). He held the living only two years. Mr. Dering's intrepid spirit was exhibited when preaching before Queen Elizabeth, February 25th, 1569. He ventured to address Her Majesty in these terms : "Now you are a Princess of Majestie flee farre away from all unthankfulnesse." "Now as the Sterne and Helme is in your owne hand, guide your shippe so, that the waves do not over run it. Be not cruel unto God's annointed, and do his Prophets no harme." "If you have said sometime of your selfe: Tanquam ovis (Ps. xliv. 20) as a Sheepe appointed to be slayne, take heede you heare not nowe of the Prophet: Tanquam indomita iuvenca, as an untamed and unrulie Heifer" (Jer. xxxi. 18). For his zeal in the cause of Protestantism, and £or preaching against Episcopacy, he was convened before the Star Chamber, and suspended in 1573. Dering's published works passed through several editions. Besides the sermon preached before the Queen in 1569, he delivered another at the Tower of London the same year. Added to the above are : Godl,,y and Verie comfortable Letters, 1576; Private Praye1·s ; Lectu1·es on the Epistle to the Heb1·ews, which were reprinted at least five times, these dates appearing on the title. pages of his works, 1569, 1576, 1583, 1590, 1614. Besides the above, appeared the controversial work entitled, A Sparing Resfraint FOR UPWARDS OF SIX HUNDRED YEARS. 89 of ?lta?l!J lavisk untrutks, which Doctor Harding dotk ckalen,<7e, etc., 1568. Mr. Dering's books found numerous purchasers after his decease, which took place at the Priory of Thoby, in Mountnessing, Essex, June 26, 1576, aged 36 years. There is no monument to his memory, and the Parish Registers are lost. Mr. Dering was married, but died childless. His widow Ann married Richard Prowse, December 7th, 1579, at St. Thomas the Apostle, London, and was residing at Exeter in 1583. (A portrait appears in the Heroologia, Gran,r;m·'s Bio,r;. Hist., i., 215; Athenm Cant., i., 354; Fasti Ecclesim Sarisberiensis, ii., 371; Hist. of Univ. of Oamb., ii., 67; Ped􀂓qtee of 1Je1•ing., .A.rcli. Cant., X., 327.) 1569. JoH PrcARDE, M.A., whose name is spelt in at least six different ways, was collated to Pluckley by Archbishop Parker, March 15, 1569 (39S b), and inducted into same February 13th the following year. Complaint is made in the Archdeacon's Visitations that " or minister dothe not use the surples '' ( Oanterbm·y Oatliedral Lib1·a1·y, £. 17). He inducted Richard Gresbrooke into the Vicarage of Bethersden in 1598. John Picarde died in 1616, having held Pluckley forty-seven years. He and his wife, who predeceased him only a few days, were both buried at Pluckley (Parker, 398 b ; Inductions, f. 10 ; First JJ'ruits Composition Books, .Kane.). " 1616. Margery Pickard the wy£e 0£ John Pickard was buried the 23 of June. "John Pickard the Parson was buried the 4th day of July." (Parish Register.) 1616. JOHN COPLEY, M.A., fourth son of 􀄸ir Thomas Copley, Knight, was collated to Pluckley by Archbisho1J Abbot, July 11, 1616 (419 a.), when he resigned the Vicarage of Bethersden, which he had held since 1612. At Archbishop Land's Primary Visitation in 1637 Mr. J oh'es Copley exhibited his preacher'l:l licence, and letters 0£ institution and induction. Walker in his Sufferings of tlte Clergy (ii., 220) mentions that " John Copely was sequestered by the House about September 1648, at which Time they order'd Sam. Immat to succeed him." He, however, recovered possession of his Rectory at Pluckley at the Restoration of Charles II. .John Copley married Martha Moone ; died at Ashford, and was buried in the chancel there, a monument recording, '' Heere lyeth the Body of Mastar John Coply, 90 'l'HE REC'l'ORS OF PL UOKLEY,. KEN'l', late minister of Pluckley ;" the date of his death being June 2nd, 1662. His widow, who died in 1663, made bequests £or a sermon at Ashford, etc. (A.rck. Gant., XVI., 87; Proc eedings in Kent, by L. B. Larking, 47). It appears that Sir Edward Dering and Copley, "parson of Pluckley with Pevington," were at variance concerning the tithes of the latter. The Baronet complains to Archbishop Laud in a letter, dated Ii'ebruary 16th, 1636, that " he never did nor shall :find Mr. Copley a friend, nor can he unless the leopard change his spots." Re furt1ier prays the Archbishop to admit Mr. Craige upon the King's presentation to Pevington, "whose life and abilities deserve a good parsonage better than Mr. Copley's do a sheaf." ( Abbot, f. 419 a; Inductions, 128 ; First JJ'ritits ; Lib. Licentiatum at Gant., M, 1635-163'7, 145 b; A.1·ck. Cant., III., 194; XVI., 8'7; State Papers, Charles I., 1631-1633, p. 361.) 1643. SAMUEL JEMMETT, who was put in by the Parliament, held this church in 1643 and 1652. At the latter date he succeeded Edward Simpson as Rector of Eastling. Jemmett'!:; name is mentioned in Rymer's Fredera (xix., 141) as having Letters Patent to hold the Vicarage of All Saints, Sudbury, the presentation thereto having lapsed to the King. In 1676, August 14th, being at that time a widower, S. Jemmett applied for a licence, and signed the application to marry Elizabeth Sillyard, a widow, of Bettishanger, either at Wye, Boughton Aluph, or Eastwell. Jemmett died the following year. (Hasted, iii., 234; Pat. v., Car. I., N. 59, 1629; Mar. Lie. at Gant., 127.) 1628. EDWARD SrnPSON, S.T.D., a native of Tottenham, Middlesex, was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, became chaplain to Sir M. Finch, and was by the Viscountess Maidstone, his daughter, preferred to the Rectory of Eastling, January 2nd, 1617, when he was succeeded by S. Jemmett. He was prebendary of Coringham, in Lincoln Cathedral, August 13th, 1628. He resigned Pluckley in 1649. He was the author of Notes on Horace, Persius, etc., also Ok1·onicon Oatlwlicum ab Exordio Munai , fol., pub. 1652. This work, which Dr. Reynolds, Bishop of Norwich, highly commends, contains his portrait. (Survey of Ga.tkedrals, by B. Willis, ii., 1'71; Biog. Hist., by J. Granger, ii., 180.) 1649. EznAEL ToN