'35 



ittmute Booft of tf)e OTfrkstuortt) (Elassis, 



1651—1658. 



Edited by J. Charles Cox. 





N the voluminous collections of the late Mr. Bateman, 

 of Middleton-by-Youlgreave, we found, some four or 

 five years ago, a reference to a MS. Minute Book of 

 the Classical Presbytery of Wirksworth during the Commonwealth. 

 Knowing how exceedingly rare are any documents pertaining to 

 the ecclesiastical history of that period, no pains were spared in 

 the endeavour to ascertain if such a book were now extant. But 

 it was not until 1879 that the book was traced to the possession 

 of Philip Hurt, Esq., late of Wirksworth, who inherited it 

 from his uncle, Mr. Charles Hurt. Mr. Hurt most kindly 

 placed the MS. at the service of the Derbyshire Archaeological 

 Society, and it was decided by the Society to print it in extenso. 



The book is a small quarto, consisting of ninety-four leaves of 

 paper, and covered with a single thickness of parchment. It 

 begins with the date December r6th, 1651, and from that time to 

 February 21st, 1652, the entries are in the handwriting of Roger 

 Coke, the official scribe of the Presbytery. Then follow eleven 

 blank pages. The entries are resumed on January i6th, 1654, 

 by John Rudyard, who succeeded Coke in the office of scribe, 

 and are continued in his handwriting to the end of the volume, 

 the last date of which is November 17th, 1658. 



