The incumbents of the church of Milton went under a variety of titles – rector, sinecure (Though this word has been employed in conformity with common use, non-resident would have been a more appropriate term.) rector, vicar, curate, and sequestrator. The following two lists of them have been drawn up with considerable care and research, still they, no doubt, are far from being devoid of errors. The early names are taken from Cole (MSS. Vol. XVIII. fol. S4 b); the later from a variety of sources. Three independent causes rendered the list of the vicars the most difficult to complete, even so far as this has been accomplished: 1. The imperfection of the Bishop of Ely’s registers. 2. Because the vicars occasionally held their preferment simply as sequestrators, and thus their names could not appear in those registers. 3. The rector sometimes took upon himself also the office of vicar, so that if he had any one to assist him in his duties, it was only a stipendiary and resident curate.
THE RECTORS.
Peter de Woseri, according to the Rotuli Hundrederum, was rector in 1279. The chaplain of the manor chapel, we learn from the same authority, was then named Robert.
Henry. A priest of this name was parson of Milton. No year is given as the date of his incumbency.
Ralph was rector at the very beginning of the fourteenth century : a fact of which we are informed in the archdeacon’s book.
P……, (however the name is to be filled up,) was presented, whilst rector, to the living of Littlebury near Saffron Walden, 15th March, 1345-6.
John Scot was instituted to the rectory, 29th May, 1349, on the presentation of Roger le Strange. His predecessor, like the vicar John de Borewell, must have fallen a victim to the plague, “the Black Death,” which at that time was desolating England. For the clergy did their duty manfully, not
fearing to expose themselves to its contagion, so that the number of them who fell victims to the pestilence was very large (Hook’s Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury, Vol. IV. pp. 105-129; Hist. of Landbeach, p. 102. It was so memorable, that it became an epoch from which charters and other instruments were sometimes dated (Nicolas’ Chronology of History, p. 389)). John Scot’s family was clearly connected with the parish, one of the same name having occupied land therein at least as early as 1279. He was buried in the chancel immediately underneath the east window, which had been put in at his expense. Possibly, the stone still existing there with the matrix of a short brass inscription, belonged to his grave.
John Epurston died about the end of the year 1395.
Eubulo le Strange succeeded to the rectory 27th January, 1395-6, on the death of his predecessor, John Epurston. He was presented by John le Strange, lord of Knockin, and died himself in 1399.
Philip Seneschal followed Eubulo le Strange. The noble lady Matilda le Strange, lady of Knockin, presented him; and he was admitted to the rectory, 18th September, 1399. Philip Seneschal resigned the living three years after.
Eudo la Zouch (Cooper, Ann. [1380] Vol. I p. 118) was admitted to the rectory, 10th May, 1402, on the presentation of Henry IV., in consequence of the minority of Richard le Strange, the patron. He gave to Philip Seneschal, in exchange for Milton, the rectory of Middle Claydon in Buckinghamshire, then in the diocese of Lincoln. Eudo la Zouch very soon got tired of his new preferment, for
Thomas Kirkebird having been presented by the same king, and also on the minority of the patron, was instituted, 15th November, 1403. He had effected an exchange with Eudo la Zouch, and vacated in his favour the living of Hogsthorpe in the county of Lincoln.
John Woodham was instituted, 5th November, 1406, Richard le Strange presenting him. Thomas Kirkebird had resigned the rectory, receiving in exchange for it the living of Suldrop (No doubt, Souldrop in the county of Bedford, and then diocese of Lincoln), in Lincolnshire.
William Lawender is mentioned as parson of Milton, and, of course, as resident on his living, in the return of the gentry of the county, which certain commissioners were appointed to make in 1433 (Fuller’s Worthies of England, Vol. I. p. 247, edit. 1840). He was probably instituted in 1429, in which year a mandate to induct (without a name) on presentation of Lord Richard le Strange, lord of Knockin and Milton, was
issued.
Thomas Spake resigned the rectory in 1449.
John Pevey succeeded on the resignation of Thomas Spake.
Walter Luyton (Ruyton?) is said to have become rector in 1472.
James Strathberell or Streytberell occurs as rector in 1488 and 1493. Was he the rector instituted on the nomination of George Stanley, lord le Strange, 2nd June, 1484?
Richard Hownson was rector in 1506.
Richard Harrison was rector in 1516, and died in November, 1542. He was official to James Stanley, bishop of Ely, in 1507 and 1512, and acted in the Consistorial Court. He had the degree of Doctor of Decrees, and likewise of
Doctor of Laws (Bentham and Stevenson, Vol. II. p. 26. He is wrongly called Henrison in Athen. Cantab.).
Richard Johnes, chaplain, was presented, 31st January, 1542-3, by Edward, Earl of Derby, on the death of Richard Harrison. His being styled chaplain may have meant that he was chaplain of the manor chapel in Milton Church. His name occurs in connexion with the rectory in 1545 and 1551.
John Moodyer was instituted, 7th September, 1555, on the resignation of Richard J ohnes, and presentation of Edward, Earl of Derby., He still continued rector 9th June, 1561; or, perhaps he had from some circumstance or other himself resigned his preferment, and been again presented. For the rectory is stated to have been vacant in 1557, and other names are mentioned as holding it during about ten years from 1555, namely Richard Joups, John Wood, John Dryer,
and John Perys. William Gotobed was curate, both in February 1557-8, and January 1558-9.
James Whytfelld was rector in 1565. He is also placed among the vicars under that year, so that he must have held both offices, and been resident in a double capacity. He soon, however, gave up his living, since
John Taylor, A.M. was instituted, 5th June, 1568, on the resignation of James Whytfelld, and presentation of Edward, earl of Derby. John Taylor was still rector, 3rd November, 1595, and 2nd March, 1595-6, at which dates he was rated for his parsonage of Milton to raise one petronel furnished (“A small gun used by horsemen, with everything belonging to it.”).
Roger Goade was instituted about the year 1600. He was born at Horton in Buckinghamshire, and admitted of King’s College in 1555. He was at one time master of the free-school at Guildford, and succeeded Dr Philip Baker in the
provostship of his college, 19th March, 1569-70. Dr Baker had been deprived by Elizabeth’s commissioners, ‘because he was a papist himself; and a harbourer of notable papists,’ &c., and Roger Goade was recommended to the fellows through
the interest of Archbishop Grindal to be elected in his place. Roger Goade, ‘a grave, sage, and learned man,’ was evidently considered a good theologian and disputant, hence we find him in 1581 employed with Dr Fulke, master of Pembroke
College, to confer with Edmund Campion, the Jesuit, in the Tower. He was made in 1576 chancellor of the diocese of Wells, and chaplain to Ambrose Dudley, earl of Warwick. Dr Goade died 25th April, 1610, and was buried in the chapel
of his College (Harwood’s Alumni Etonenses, p. 43; Grindal’s Remains, pp. 308, 359; Fulke’s Defence, &c. Pref. p. xi. Park. Soc.; Pigot’s Hadleigh, p. 166; Cole’s MSS. Vol. XIV. pp. 96, &c).
Thomas Goade{-Thomas Goade, LL.D. nephew of Provost Collins, who in 1630
became Regius Professor of Civil Law, must have been a relative. – Bentham and Stevenson, Vol. II. pp. 10, 28; Lloyd’s Memoires, p. 594; Alumni Etonenses, p. 213.-}, of King’s College (Memorials of Cambridge, Vol. I. pp. 213, 222.), A.B. 1596, was instituted, 3rd September, 1610, on the presentation, according to the terms of his father’s will, of his elder brother Matthew Goade, of Shelfanger, in the county of Norfolk. Fuller (Worthies of England, Vol. I. p. 240) doubts, whether he was born at Cambridge or at Milton: the point is only so far interesting as bearing upon the fact of his father’s occasional residence upon his living. Like his father Thomas Goade was a Calvinist in his religious opinions. Becoming domestic chaplain to Archbishop Abbot, one of his father’s former pupils at Guildford, he was collated by him in
1618 to the rectory of Hadleigh in Suffolk. Soon after he was sent by James I. to the Synod of Dort, ‘a strong proof of the high estimation entertained of his theological learning.’ In 1623 he was engaged, as his father had been, in arguing with the Jesuits. There is a great deal about Thomas Goade and his odd notions of ecclesiastical decoration, in Pigot’s Hadleigh. As an Etonian he was very fond of making Latin verses, and continued the practice until his death, 8th August, 1638, at Hadleigh, ‘his most important living,’ where of late
he had chiefly resided, and where he was buried. In his will he remembered the poor of Milton, whom he had not forgotten during his life. He wrote Stimulas Orthodoxus sive Goadas Redivivus. A disputation partly theological, partly
metaphysical, concerning the necessity and contingency of events in the world, in respect of Gods eternal decree (Russe1l’s Memoirs of Bishop Lancelot Andrews, pp. 146, 455; Alumni Etonenses, p. 198).
Samuel Collins, of King’s College, B.A. 1595, succeeded to the rectory of Milton on the death of Thomas Goade, his being the first appointment made by the new patrons. He was an Etonian by birth, as well as by education. Roger
Goade caused him to be elected a fellow of his college ‘against six eminent competitors’ and at length, 25th April, 1615, he became provost. In 1611 he had been instituted to the vicarage of Braintree. In 1617 he was appointed Regius
Professor of Divinity, and a few months after was collated by Lancelot Andrews to a canonry at Ely. With his rectory of Milton he held the rectory of Fen Ditton. On account of his loyalty he was deprived in 1644 by the earl of Manchester of all his preferments, except his professorship and the rectory of this parish, both of which he was allowed to retain until his death, the latter, apparently, as a means of subsistence, the former ‘out of necessity,’ the finding of a successor to him being no easy matter. By connivance of his
successor he also continued to receive one-half of his income as provost (Tillotson’s 24th Sermon.). In 1646, however, he was offered the bishopric of Bristol, which he declined. He continued to live at Cambridge, where he died 16th September, 1651, and was buried in the College chapel. He was famed for his wit, memory, fluent Latinity and prodigious learning. A few controversial works remain to attest his skill as a theological disputant (Lloyd’s Memoires, pp. 452, &c.; Antiquarian Communications, C. A. S. Vol. II. p. 157, and Vol. III. pp. 25, &c.; Tillotson’s 24th Sermon; Russell’s Memoirs of Bishop Lancelot Andrews, pp. 361, 447; Alumni Etonenses, pp. 44, 61).
Benjamin Whichcote, of Emmanuel College, B.A. 1629, was born at Stoke in Shropshire. He was fellow and tutor of his college, and during his residence in Cambridge preached every Sunday afternoon in Trinity Church for several years with great reputation and success. In 1643 he obtained the rectory of North Cadbury in Somersetshire, and, in 1644, whilst residing on his living was selected by the Parliamentary Commissioners to be provost of King’s College
in the room of Samuel Collins, whom they had just ejected. On the death of his predecessor in the provostship, he succeeded him also four days after in the rectory of Milton. At the Restoration, though himself deprived of his provostship by particular order from the king, he contrived to retain his living, for, the new provost and fellows having presented him, he was instituted 13th November, 1660. Finding, however, that this did not give him legal possession, the right of presenting him having fallen by lapse of time to the Crown, he was again instituted, 30th December, on the presentation of the king. Benjamin Whichcote then resigned the rectory, 16th November, 1661, was a third time presented by the college, and instituted a fortnight afterwards. On ceasing to be provost he at once settled in London, being chosen in
1662 rector of S. Anne’s Blackfriars (In Alumni Etononsas, p. 202, is a short account of William Gouge, a former minister of the same church, which is well worth a perusal); but, on the destruction of his church in 1666, he ‘retired himself to a donative he had at Milton.’ There he continued about two years, when, being considered the best of the clergy and preachers of that
day, he succeeded Dr Wilkins, just made bishop of Chester, in the vicarage of S. Lawrence Jewry, and on his death, in May, 1683, was buried in his church. Dr Tillotson, then dean of Canterbury, preached his funeral sermon, in which he
mentions many things extremely creditable to him. Five volumes of his sermons were published at different times after his death (Tillotson’s 24th Sermon; Birch’s Life of Dr John Tillotson, pp. 6, 101 ; Memorials of Cambridge, Vol. I. p. 250 ; Burnet’s History of His Own Time, Vol. I. p. 321, and Vol. VI. p. 241, edit. 1823; Alumni Etonenses, pp. 45, 229).
Samuel Thomas (Alias Redskinner, says Cole. Surely, this was merely a sobriquet), of Jesus College, B.A. 1667, was the successor of Benjamin Whichcote, 1st November, 1683. He as born in the parish of S. Martin, Cornwall, and died 3rd November, 1691, at Truro, where he had been preacher twenty-six years.
Charles Roderick, of King’s College, B.A. 1670, ‘a most pious and learned man (Alumni Etonenses, p. 246), born at Bunbury in Cheshire was
the next rector. He was made head-master of Eton in 1682, provost of his college in 1689, canon of Ely by the Crown in 1691, and dean of the same cathedral in 1708. Lord Townsend presented him to the rectory of Baynham in Norfolk, which living he vacated on obtaining the rectory of Milton, to which he was instituted, 12 April, 1692. Provost Hoderick died, 25 March, 1712, and was buried in his chapel (Bentham and Stevenson, Vol. I. pp. 237, 243; Alumni Etonenses, p. 48).
Richard Stephens, of King’s College, B.A. 1683-4, was instituted in succession to Provost Roderick, to the rectory of Milton, 20th September, 1712. He was the son of a physician, who resided at Truro. He voluntarily undertook the sole charge of his parish, and executed all the duties connected with it as
long as he lived. Two names are associated with the parish of Milton in 1720, John Blythe of Clare College, B.A. 1701-2, and William Dunne of St Peter’s College, B.A. 1708-9, but we must regard them as curates to Mr Stephens, rather than as vicars. Richard Stephens died at Milton, 5th August, 1727 (Cole MSS. Vol. XVI. p. 63. See the list of vicars, Alumni Etonenses, p. 266).
Adam Elliott, of King’s College, B.A. 1713-14, became successor to Richard Stephens, 27th January, 1727-8. He held also the vicarage by sequestration. He was an assistant-master at Eton, and died there in 1735 (Alumni Etonenses, p. 291). William Lemon, of Jesus College, B.A. 1700-1, was curate in 1728; so also was Benjamin Archer, of King’s College, B.A. 1718-9, in the following year (though Cole styles him vicar under the year
1731), and John Heath, of King’s College, B.A. 1722-3, in 1734 and 1738 (Alumni Etonenses, pp. 295, 300)
Willyam Willymot, of King’s College, B.A. 1697-8, was presented to the rectory of Milton in 1735 on the death of Adam Elliott. He was for many years an under-master at Eton; and subsequently an advocate in Doctors’ Commons. He died, 7th June, 1737, of apoplexy at Bedford (Alumni Etonenses, p. 277).
John Lane, of King’s College, B.A. 1725, followed William Willymot in the rectory of Milton. In 1744 he had held the vicarage by sequestration, like his predecessor, somewhat about a year. Previously to his removal hither he resided at Long Melford in Suffolk, as curate of the parish under Dr Okes. He held likewise the vicarage of Newport in Essex. George Towers, of King’s College, B.A. 1727-8, who styles himself minister in 1742, is described as curate in 1740. “John Lane was shot by some robbers in Epping Forest in October 1746 in attempting to make resistance against them. His money was found in his boots (Alumni Etonenses, pp. 302, 314).”
Oliver Naylor, of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, B.A. 1726, became rector on the death of John Lane, and also sequestrator of the vicarage. William Barford of King’s College, B.A. 1742, was his curate in 1752, and William Craven of St John’s College, BA. 1753, in 1770. He had been educated at Eton, and became eventually domestic chaplain to the earl of Carlisle, who gave him the rectory of Morpeth in Northumberland. Subsequently the rectory of Orton near Peterborough was offered to him, when his brother John Naylor (Nichols’ Illustrations of Literature, Vol. I. pp. 620, 656 ; Alumni Etonenses, p. 317), B.A. 1730, a fellow and bursar of King’s College, and ‘a managing person there,’ persuaded that society to present Oliver to the sinecure rectory of Milton, on condition that the rectory of Orton should be conferred on himself. John Naylor was curate to his brother at Milton in 1746. Oliver Naylor held likewise the non-residentiary prebend of Caistor in Lincoln Cathedral. He resided for about two or three years at a time alternately at Morpeth and Milton. He died, 18th February, 1775, and was followed, 4th July, by
Graham Jepson, of King’s College, BA. 1758. The next year Graham Jepson was made vicar of Fulham on the presentation of Samuel Knight, the sinecure rector of that parish, and resigned in his favour, by permission of the college, his rectory of Milton. He was D.D. 1775.
Samuel Knight, of Trinity College, BA. 1738-9, M.A. 1742, was inducted Sth July, 1776. He obtained a fellowship in his college, which, however, he soon resigned. Samuel Knight was domestic chaplain to Dr Sherlock, bishop of
London, and also rector of Stanwick in Northamptonshire. He resided in the manor house, and died 6th January, 1790 (Nichols’ Literary Anecdotes, Vol. V. pp. 360, &c. Vol. IX. p. 610; Bentham and Stevenson, Vol. II. p. 132).
Edward Reynolds, of King’s College, BA. 1768, M.A. 1771, succeeded, on the death of Dr Knight, to the rectory of Milton. He died in June 1796.
Thomas Key, of King’s College, B.A. 1778, was presented to the rectory in 1796 on the death of Edward Reynolds.
William George Freeman, of King’s College, BA. 1789, succeeded Thomas Key in 1812. He was an under master at Eton, and was accidentally killed in 1841.
John Chapman, of Kings College, B.A. 1827, M.A. 1830, was instituted to the rectory of Milton in 1841. Mr Champnes having vacated the vicarage in 1846, the rectory and the vicarage, by the operation of 3 and 4 Vict. 1839, cap. 113,
were then at length joined together, so that the living returned to the state in which it had originally been more than five hundred years ago, and Mr Chapman became the first of a new series of incumbents.
VICARS.
John de Borewell [Burwell] was vicar in November, 1348. We learn this fact from the records of the manor of Waterbeach cum Denney. John de Borewell Viccar of Middleton sheweth a writinge whereby he purchaseth one Tenemt and seaventeene acres of land with th’ appurtenances in Middleton of John de Littlebed (?) to hould to the said John de Borewell and his heires for ever, and thereupon doth fealtie. His name is likewise mentioned under February of the following year. An ancestor and namesake of his appears by
the Rotuli Hundredorum to have occupied land here in 1279. John de Borewell, as well as his rector, no doubt died of the plague which was then so fatal in England, and which carried of so many of the parochial clergy, since 26th June, 1349, he was succeeded by
Robert Rayson, on the nomination of John Scot, the rector, and John Rayson (Hist. of Landbeach, p. 105). Had the next presentation to the
vicarage been purchased? It seems very much as if this were the case. The Rayson family had held land in this parish, at least, from 1279.
Roger Blase resigned the vicarage of Milton in favour of John Alvene, on 11th December, 1394, and was therefore immediately instituted to the perpetual chantry in the church of Bourne lately founded for the souls of John Massyngham
and Roger Sergeant, on the presentation of Sir John de Ashwell, vicar of Bourne{-Notes upon Chantries and Free Chapels, by the Rev. E. Ventris,
M.A., in Antiquarian Communications, C. A. S. Vol. I. p. 207.-}. On the 24th February, 1400-1, Roger Blase was also instituted to the vicarage of Wyntworth (The great tithes of this parish had been appropriated by Bishop Northwold to the sacrist of the cathedral, but by 1446 this appropriation had been dissolved, so that the living was again a rectory. – Bentham and Stevenson, Vol. I. p. 127), having been presented thereto by the prior and convent of Ely Cathedral.
John Alvene became vicar of Milton, 11th December, 1394, by exchange with Roger Blase, who had just sent in his resignation.
John Hawforth, vicar, died in 1397. He was succeeded, 28th April, by
John Goodhyne, on the presentation of the rector, Philip Seneschal. Some mistake exists here. According to the list of rectors Philip Seneschal could not have presented any one before 1399. In 1401 John Goodhyne resigned the vicarage in favour of Richard Morys receiving in exchange Ben Valeye chantry in Corbeleye (Corley?) church in the diocese of Worcester.
Richard Morys was instituted, 23rd July, 1401, in the place of John Goodhyne. He did not long retain his preferment: in 1404 he exchanged it for the rectory of Gresham in Norfolk with
John Hawkere, who having been presented by Thomas Kirkbirde, the rector, was instituted 9th December of the same year.
John Greene resigned the vicarage in 1446 to
Eudo Quey (John Quey was rector of Downham in the Isle in 1379). He was instituted, 28th September, on the presentation of the rector, who could only have been Thomas Spake. In 4 Edw. IV. [1464] Eudo Quey was still clerke,
also in 1472.
Edward Why died in 1489, and was followed by
William Haryest or Hayhurst, who was instituted 6th April in that year. He held the vicarage four years, and died himself in 1493, when he had for his successor
John Wade, who was instituted, 4th July, on the presentation of the rector, James Streytberell. He held the vicarage but a very few months, for
Richard Streytberell, MA. was instituted, 16th December, 1493, on his resignation. The same rector as before, no doubt a relative, presented him.
Henry Holland, for some reason now unknown, was canonically deprived of his preferment, and, as it seems, late in the year 1516. Cole wished to make out, but without success, that the original word was intended to mean promotion,
not deprivation. Was Henry Holland a protestant before the time?
Richard Alanson (Alyson), bachelor of Decrees, was presented by Richard Harreson, the rector, in succession to Henry Holland, and instituted 10th January, 1516-7. He was connected with the parish earlier, in the character of
chaplain, perhaps. That hardly agrees however with the title of curate, which is given him by William Rosse’s will in October 1515, though it does with “priest,” which is added to his name a few months later. Henry Holland died, 28th June, 1529, and was, as we have already seen, buried in the chancel. The signature of
John Crispe, vicar, occurs among the witnesses to several wills between 1538 and 1544. He styles himself at the same time both vicar and curate.
Thomas Hyssam signs, as vicar, 4th August, 1552, the inventory then taken of “Church Goods.”
Henry Colly became vicar of Milton, 7th October, 1555, on the presentation of John Moodyer. By 1557 he must have given up his preferment, for in that year the vicarage, like the rectory, was not, it is stated, in the charge of any one. The vicarage was also vacant in 1561. Possibly, John
Moodyer then did the whole duty of the parish himself.
William Kellam was instituted to the vicarage, 10th November, 1604. He kept his living some years, and was buried at Milton, 19th October, 1620. During his incumbency the copies of the entries in the parish register annually
sent in to the registrar of the diocese were signed by him.
Thomas Barnham, M.A., whose name is also found appended to the above-mentioned annual returns, followed William Kellam. Dr Thomas Goade must have presented him.
Edward Johnson signs similar returns for the first time in 1631. He, as well as his predecessors, resided on his cure. At length, 7th November, 1644, when he had a wife and four children, these articles were exhibited against him to the parliamentary commissioners, – that at Christide last he was drunk amongst the Papists at Milton, and that he is often so – that he is a Practicer of innovations and ceremonies – that he liveth very unquietly with his wife, sometimes beating her – and is given to swearing and cursing. Whereupon by the
Earl of Manchester’s warrant, dated 7th January, 1644-5, he was ejected and sequestrated (Walker’s Sufferings of the Clergy, Part 2, p. 279. MS. Baker XLII. fo. 248-9). Dr Thomas Goade left by his will to the vicar, (and that vicar could be none other than Edward Johnson,) “a gowne, a cassocke, a cloake, a suite of under apparrell, such as my Executor shall thinke fitt to
allott him out of mine.”
John Radcliffe, fellow of Magdalen College, M.A. 1661, B.D. 1668 signed as vicar the annual returns for 1664. He had been instituted 31st October on the presentation of Benjamin Whichcote. Permission was also granted him by the bishop to preach in his church, in accordance with the canons of 1604.
John Bilton, fellow of Magdalen College, B.A. 1663-4, M.A. 1667, appears, from his signing of the annual returns, to have been vicar in 1669 and 1671. In 1670, however,
William Crosse fellow of Sidney Sussex College, B.A. 1667-8, M.A. 1671, B.D. 1678, would seem for the same reason to have been in possession of the vicarage.
John Maulyverer fellow of Magdalen College, B.A. 1666-7, M.A. 1670, signed the returns in 1672 as vicar. In 1683 his name appears as a magistrate for this district before whom depositions were made respecting burials in woollen, thus showing, we may well conclude, that he was still vicar of Milton.
James Bernard fellow of King’s College, B.A. 1673-4, M.A. 1677, was vicar when Samuel Thomas was rector; and it seems probable in succession to John Maulyverer. He was born at Sandall Kirk in Yorkshire, and ultimately became
rector of Tormarton in Gloucestershire (Alumni Etonenses, p. 259).
Richard Stephens, he who afterwards resided as rector, took depositions in 1686, and, surely, because he was the vicar. In 1692 his name is found subjoined to the annual returns, and then he distinctly so styles himself.
Samuel Noyes fellow of King’s College, B.A. 1683-4, M.A. 1687, B.D. 1709, signs the annual returns as vicar in 1699. He was born at Reading. In 1689 he became chaplain to the duke of Bolton, and in 1692 to Lord Orkney’s
regiment in Flanders. Queen Anne presented him to the rectory of North Church or Berkhampstead S. Mary, where he wainscotted the chancel at his own expense. In 1731 Samuel Noyes was a canon of Winchester cathedral, and died 8th April, 1740 (Alumni Etonenses, p. 265).
William Bond fellow of Caius College, B.A. 1766, M.A. 1769, was sequestrator in 1781.
Samuel Vince, of Caius College, B.A. 1775, of Sidney, M.A. 1778, became sequestrator of the vicarage of Milton in 1789. He did not reside in the parish, but walked over from Cambridge every Sunday morning, to perform his weekly duty. Samuel Vince died in 1822, having, a few years before, vacated his parochial charge. His native county was Norfolk, and he was remarkable, as well for his very simple manners, as for his strong provincial dialect. He had been
senior wrangler of his year, and on account of his high reputation for mathematics, was made in 1796 Plumian Professor of Astronomy. Samuel Vince is described in a note to the Pursuits of Literature (P. 349, edit. 1808), as a very learned, diligent, and useful Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy at Cambridge. His name is thus introduced:-
There liv’d a scholar late, of London fame,
A Doctor, and Morosophos his name:
From all the pains of study freed long since,
Far from a Newton, and not quite a Vince.
Besides his university honours, Samuel Vince was made by the bishop of Lincoln archdeacon of Bedford.
James Slade fellow of Emmanuel College, B.A. 1804, M.A. 1807, became sequestrator of the vicarage in 1813 in succession to Samuel Vince: he was about the same time rector of Teversham. The bishop of Chester collated him
to a canonry in that cathedral in 1816: in 1817 he became vicar of Bolton-le-Moors, having effected an exchange of his rectory of Teversham with John Brocklebank, B.D. of Pembroke College, who was then vicar thereof: whilst in 1829 the dean and chapter of Chester presented him to the rectory of West Kirby. He published An Explanation of the Psalms as read in the Liturgy of the Church.
William Sharpe, of Trinity College, B.A. 1807, M.A. 1810, succeeded James Slade on his resignation, in 1817, and had for his curate Alldersley Dicken, who eventually followed him in the vicarage on his own resignation of that preferment.
Alldersey Dicken, of Sidney Sussex College, B.A. 1815, fellow of Peterhouse, M.A. 1818, D.D. 1831, became vicar in July 1821. Dr Dicken now holds the college living of Norton in Suffolk, to which he was presented in 1831. He gained the Seatonian prize poem in 1818: in 1823 he published his Sermons preached before the University of Cambridge, and in 1847, some Remarks on the Marginal Notes and References of the Bible. Littleton Charles Powys, fellow of Corpus Christi College, B.A. 1813, M.A. 1816, B.D. 1824, now rector of Stalbridge, Dorsetshire, was curate from 1823. On Dr Dicken’s resignation in 1837
Charles John Champnes, of St Alban’s hall, Oxford, B.A. 1834, M.A. 1841, D.C.L. 1847, succeeded to the vicarage. In 1846 Mr Champnes himself vacated his charge, and thus put an end to the double tenure of the living, which henceforth became again only a rectory. He died, aged 36, on 15 Jan. 1850, as curate of St Giles’ Durham. He had also been head master of the collegiate school of Glasgow. (Gent. Mag. March 1850.)
