166 THE PITT FAMILY OF BLANDFORD ST. MARY. 



been molested in his living. The entries in the register go 

 on continuously, and in the same handwriting ; but between 

 the years 1655 and 1662 the book has been reversed, and the 

 entries made at the other end. These were the years when the 

 use of the Prayer Book was forbidden by law. The Act of 

 Uniformity came into force on August 24th, 1662, and our 

 entries are resumed on the old pages in the following Septem- 

 ber. John Pitt continued as rector at St. Mary's till his 

 death in 1672, but must have lived in an older house than the 

 present Rectory, which was only built in 1732 the year 

 after the Blandford fire. He is chiefly known to us by the 

 inscription on the tablet in the church which was placed there 

 40 years after his father's death by his second son Thomas, 

 of whom we shall have a good deal to say further on. He is 

 there described as " Hujus Ecclesise per Viginti Octo annos 

 Pastor Fidelis," and the words seem to imply that he did 

 not relinquish his post during the troubled years of the 

 Commonwealth. From the same source we learn that he had 

 a family of nine children, of whom five John, Thomas, Sarah, 

 George, and Dorothea survived him. 



Before we pass on from this generation it may be well to 

 mention that Thomas Pitt, of Blandford, had another son, 

 Robert, who lived in the town and practised as a doctor, 

 while his brother John and family lived at our Rectory. 

 Robert Pitt had two sons Thomas, who became a Master in 

 Chancery, and Robert, M.D., who lived in Blandford, and 

 was grandfather of Christopher Pitt, the poet, and translator of 

 Virgil, who was rector of Pimperne. 



To return to John Pitt at the Rectory. Judging from dates 

 on the tablet, he was born in 1610, and became rector at the 

 age of 35. He was probably married after he became rector 

 in 1645. It is interesting to note that his Induction on July 31st 

 must have nearly coincided with the gathering of Clergy and 

 Clubmen on Hambledon Hill. The letter of Cromwell to 

 Lord Fairfax, reporting the encounter with them, is dated 

 August 4th. We recollect that just six weeks previously, 

 on June 14th, the fatal Battle of Naseby was fought, and in the 



