Introduction
The diocese of Lincoln in the middle ages stretched from the Humber to the
Thames, including the counties of Lincoln, Bedford, Buckingham, Huntingdon,
Leicester, Northampton, Oxford and Rutland. The reorganization of dioceses
after the dissolution of the monasteries took two areas out of this vast diocese to
form new dioceses. Peterborough, consisting of Northants and Rutland, and with
the former abbey church of Peterborough as its cathedral, was established in
1541. The diocese of Osney (later Oxford), founded in 1542, removed
Oxfordshire from the bishop of Lincoln's jurisdiction. After these creations,
Lincoln still remained a very large diocese, but the northern part was severed by
Peterborough diocese from the southern part. These changes reduced the number
of archdeacons from eight to six, as the archdeacons of Northampton and Oxford
were transferred to the new dioceses. The remaining ones were those of Lincoln,
Bedford, Buckingham, Huntingdon, Leicester and Stow (the north-west corner of
Lincolnshire). (fn. 1)
At Lincoln cathedral, the treasurership had lapsed in 1538 on the execution for
treason of the treasurer, and no further holders were appointed. This left the dean,
precentor, chancellor and subdean as the dignitaries. In 1541 there were fiftyeight prebends, but some disappeared during the next three centuries. During the
reign of Edward VI, the prebends of Banbury, Cropredy and Sutton-cumBuckingham passed to the duke of Somerset and later to the Crown, while the
prebend of Leighton Manor was alienated to the queen's master of the horse and
that of Thame was sold to Sir John Thynne. The prebend of Kilsby was reannexed to the precentorship in 1637 and that of Buckden was annexed to the
bishopric of Lincoln from 1715. Stoke was annexed to the chancellorship
throughout the period. All Saints in Hungate lapsed after 1670 because its value
was so slight, and the same fate nearly overtook St. Martin in Dernestall and
Thorngate, to which no appointments were made for almost one hundred years
before they were revived in the mid eighteenth century.
However small the value of a prebend, it provided status and the qualification
for the possible acquisition of a valuable residentiary canonry. Even the dean
needed to have a prebend in order to enter residence. The canons were
responsible for the administration of the cathedral and its lands, and were bound
to a certain number of weeks' residence each year. The total of canons fluctuated
at the beginning of the period covered by this volume, but was fixed at four in
1591. Normally, these were the dean, precentor, chancellor and subdean. (fn. 2)
The report of the royal commissioners appointed in 1832 to inquire into
ecclesiastical revenues and patronage produced figures of average incomes for
the three years to the end of 1831. The bishopric of Lincoln's average income
was £4,542, although 'a considerable diminution' was expected in the next few
years. This placed the bishopric of Lincoln eleventh out of twenty-six in order of
wealth, well below Canterbury and Durham, with £19,182 and £19, 066
respectively, and below the average of £5,936, although comfortably ahead of the
poverty-stricken sees of Rochester and Llandaff, with £1,459 and £924 each. The
cathedral corporation came eighth among cathedrals, with an average annual
income of £6,989, far below the £27,933 of Durham or the £15,982 of
Canterbury. The income of the deanery, including fines received on the renewal
of leases, amounted to £2,819, placing it fourth in value, after Salisbury (£6,273),
Durham (£6,248) and St. Paul's (£3,422). Of course, individual deans received
further income from their other benefices, as detailed in the report. Individual
residentiary canons received £1,740 by virtue of their canonry: the chancellor's
total income, however, was around £3,662, as he held the valuable rectory of
Wheathampstead.
Wide differences in value were displayed among the prebends, especially
when fines for the renewal of leases were taken into account. The prebends of
Marston St. Lawrence and Milton Manor yielded an average of £110 and £125,
but Langford Manor, worth £91, had made an average of £975 from fines.
Scamblesby, worth £30, had received £1,750 from fines. Most remarkable of all,
Welton Paynshall, with an average income of £6, had received £2,000 from fines.
By contrast, eleven prebends were worth under £10 per annum and had received
no fines for leases. Three prebends - Bedford Minor, Crackpole St. Mary and
Sanctae Crucis - yielded £2 each, while St. Martin in Dernestall had no revenue.
Thorngate was not listed. (fn. 4)
The series of acts of parliament which followed this report brought far-reaching
changes to Lincoln diocese and cathedral. The statute 6 & 7 Will. IV c. 77
addressed the question of the large size of the diocese by transferring the
archdeaconries of Bedford and Huntingdon to Ely diocese, Buckingham to
Oxford and Leicester to Peterborough. Hertfordshire, formerly under the
archdeacon of Huntingdon in Lincoln diocese, was transferred (with the county
of Essex) to the diocese of Rochester. This left Lincoln diocese as merely
Lincolnshire, with its two archdeaconries, but to this was added Nottinghamshire
with its archdeacon, formerly in the diocese of York.
The statute 1 & 2 Vic. c. 106 aimed to limit the holding of benefices in
plurality and to make better provision for the residence of the clergy. To this end,
it enacted that no person holding cathedral preferment should in future hold more
than one other benefice and this must be within ten miles of the cathedral. The
archbishop of Canterbury's licence was necessary in order to hold any two
benefices together. By contrast, at the time of the 1835 report, Thomas MannersSutton was holding two benefices in Kent together with the subdeanery of
Lincoln, Precentor Richard Pretyman held rectories in Oxfordshire and Northants
and a sinecure rectory in Wiltshire, while Chancellor George Thomas Pretyman
held two rectories in Hertfordshire.
The statute 3 & 4 Vic. c. 113 made all the prebends honorary, with their former
revenues vested in the ecclesiastical commissioners and their patronage
remaining with the bishop. The revenues of the prebends annexed to the
precentorship and chancellorship at Lincoln passed likewise to the
commissioners. A fourth canon was added to the dean and three others who
previously formed the chapter, and this canonry was conferred by the bishop on
the archdeacon of Lincoln. Residence requirements were standardized in all
cathedrals to a minimum of eight months in each year for the dean and at least
three months for every canon. By the Act 4 & 5 Vic. c. 39 it became unnecessary
for any dean to hold a prebend to qualify for residence, while the Act 13 & 14
Vic. c. 94 prevented any dean from holding a benefice not situated in the
cathedral city. These provisions, enforced by Orders in Council, came gradually
into effect at Lincoln as holders of offices died and were replaced. The changes
in relation to the chapter were not fully implemented until after the deaths of the
long-lived Pretyman brothers in 1859 and 1866. Subsequently, the prebends of
Stoke and Kilsby were held independently of the chancellorship and
precentorship, and the prebend of All Saints in Hungate was revived after 200
years. The Act 36 & 37 Vic. c. 64 decreed that no bishopric should have a
benefice attached to it, and as a result a collation was made to the prebend of
Buckden in 1874. The salaries of the dean and canons, paid by the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners, became fixed at £2,000 and £1,000 respectively, while the
bishopric was worth £5,000. (fn. 5)
John Le Neve, in his Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae published in 1716, provided
lists of the bishops, dignitaries and archdeacons, but none of the prebends. Dates
of installations are given with reference to 'Reg. Linc.', though with no further
details or folios. He is familiar with the registers of the archbishops of
Canterbury and he cites printed works, such as Lloyd's Memoires, Walker's
Sufferings of the Clergy, Anthony à Wood's Athenae Oxonienses and Historia
Universitatis Oxoniensis, Rymer's Foedera and Newcourt's Repertorium. (fn. 6) He
acknowledges the help of William Wake, bishop of Lincoln, who condescended
'to peruse and correct so much of it as relates to the Bishops', and White
Kennett, dean of Peterborough, who put his historical collections at Le Neve's
disposal.
Thomas Duffus Hardy, who published his revision and extension of Le Neve in
1854, was more ambitious in that his work provides lists of all the prebends in
addition. His information comes from sources in the Public Records, of which he
was Assistant Keeper, but he gives no more specific detail than 'Bishops'
Certificates' or 'Church Book, Home Office', and pages pass without even this
minimal reference. Apparently he did not consult any of the Lincoln records,
episcopal or chapter.
The present work is based on Lincoln sources of all kinds, the registers of the
archbishops of Canterbury, the Public Records, together with wills and parish
registers from all over the country, printed lists of monumental inscriptions, and
contemporary journals and newspapers.
In contrast to the marvellous sequence of medieval Lincoln bishops' registers,
the act books of the bishops for most of the period 1547-1660 have been lost or
are incomplete. However, the bishops' certificates of institutions at the Public
Record Office make good some of this deficiency. The chapter act books are
generally well kept, and there is a wealth of other diocesan and chapter material,
such as presentation deeds, installation mandates, chapter accounts and
resignation deeds. With a few exceptions in the sixteenth and early seventeenth
centuries the succession in each office is well established. A list is also given of
the residentiary canons, to indicate the men who were actually running the
cathedral's affairs.
A consolidated index of all the higher clergy in the nine volumes so far published
in the series 1541-1857, with the offices held by each man, may be consulted on
the Institute of Historical Research's website, History (www.ihrinfo.ac.uk).