ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 



Hopper seems to have retained his living of Barkway for some time longer, 

 as his successor there was not instituted until March 1563-4°* 'on the 

 resignation of John Hopper.' It seems probable, however, that the patron 

 of Barkway was in favour of the old rather than the new learning, for the 

 new vicar, Thomas Chambers, was deprived, his successor being instituted in 

 1565.°' The only other recalcitrant person was Robert Yngham, who was 

 instituted to the living of Stocking Pelham in 1559,™ but evidently hesitated 

 in 1 56 1 ; that his objections were overcome may be inferred from the fact 

 that he retained the living until his death some eighteen years later. ''^ To 

 these five deprivations must be added that of Robert Manners, parson of 

 Watton at Stone and prebendary of Lincoln. In 1562 he was described as 

 an ' unlearned priest ' and was confined to Baldock ' or within twenty miles 

 compass about the same ' '''^ ; but of his case, as possibly of others in the 

 archdeaconry of Huntingdon, no details are procurable owing to the gaps in 

 the Registers. While such returns as exist lack many of the details 

 supplied from other archdeaconries, the return of vacant livings made in 

 1 565 mentions only three Hertfordshire benefices " ; the rectory of Throcking 

 had been vacant for four years and was served by a curate ; the vicarage of 

 Little Mundcn had been vacant for two months, the patron was not known 

 and the fruits were yet untaken ; while at St. Ippollitts the vicarage, in the 

 gift of Trinity College, Cambridge, had been vacant for a year, and the 

 parishioners were taking the fruits for the use of the curate. In no case is 

 the cause of vacancy stated. 



In the absence, therefore, of evidence to the contrary, it must be assumed 

 that the majority of the Marian clergy in this county accepted the Elizabethan 

 settlement. That there was a great deal of ' movement ' at this time is 

 undeniable,'* but its cause should probably be sought in directions other than 

 that of sympathy with the old order. From 1 564, indeed, the non-conformist 

 generally looked to Geneva for guidance, though Whitehall was the only 

 authorized director. From the beginning Elizabeth and her councillors 

 recognized the danger of the advanced views advocated by the returned 

 exiles, who on their part took full advantage of the popular reaction. The 

 growth of Puritanism in Hertfordshire during the first twenty years of 

 Elizabeth's reign is not easy to trace owing to the lack of visitations for that 

 period, but Puritanism was probably the cause of certain deprivations. The 

 rector of Radwell was deprived and Benjamin Chambers admitted in March 

 1 571— 2 " ; in March 1573-4 the church was again vacant by the deprivation 



«8 Newcourt, Repert. ii, 803. 



^' Gee, op. cit. 290. Thomas Chambers, rector of Westmill some years later, refused to subscribe to 

 the Articles (Lambeth MS. xii, no. 2). ™ Newcourt, Repert. i, 867. 



'1 Ibid. In 1576 he was described as grave, a priest, of no degree and but slightly acquainted with 

 Latin or theology (Lambeth MS. xii, no. l). 



'2 Gee, op. cit. 182. 



'^ S. P. Dom. Eliz. Add. xii, 108. Of the seven other vacancies in the archdeaconry six were in the 

 patronage of the Crown. 



'^ A list of 1592 for the archdeaconry of St. Albans {Rec. of the Old Archd. of St. Albans, 82-8) shows 

 that of its twenty-three clergy one had been instituted in each of the years 1560, 1572, I574» 'S^"; IS^^; 

 1584, 1586 and 1587, two in 1588, 1589 and 159O, three in 1591 and 1592. The only representative 

 of the old order was John Amery, vicar of Codicote, instituted 1546. The vicar of Redbourn would 

 produce no instruments. Of the twenty-nine clergy in the deanery of Braughing in I 5 6 1 (Visit, of Grindal, 

 Ij6i [Lond. Epis. Reg.]) ten were returned as beneficed in 1576 (Lambeth MS. xii, no. i). 



'^ Line. Epis. Rec. — Bp. Cooper — (Line. Rec. Soc), 327. 



4 321 41 



