Final Stories · Story 3
Story 3
Henry Raymond (1606 – 1666)
Henry Raymond was a minister at Ringstead through some of the most turbulent periods of British history. In the time of Henry VIII, the Church of England had broken away from the Roman Catholic Church because of the Pope’s refusal to allow the divorce of Catherine by Henry. Underlying this, however, was the increasing belief of the Tudor monarchs that the Pope was an outside political power and that the crown should be the ultimate authority in England. As we have seen in the world over the last sixty years, once you remove an overarching authority from an area it tends to break up into bitter disputes between rival interpretations of religion and nationhood.
With each new monarch the imposed religious practices changed and at a local level the services and the interiors of the parish churches would also change. The Church of England had become part of the bureaucracy of state from 1537 when each parish had to keep, by law, Registers of Christenings, Weddings and Burials.
During the seventeenth century religious divisions widened leading in part to the English Civil War, the Commonwealth of Oliver Cromwell and then the Restoration of Charles II (which was not the end of the religious seesawing in the century).
Henry Raymond was a minister in Ringstead during this period of religious and civil turmoil.
He was born in 1606 (from his age at marriage), the oldest son of Francis Raymond of Dunmow in Essex and his first wife. In 1604 Francis had married Mary Eve of Maldon in Essex. They had three other children, John, Mary and Francis. After the death of Mary, Francis married Elizabeth Spilman and there were four further children, Hanna, Martha, Abigale and Francis.
In Easter 1623 Henry matriculated at, (became a member of), Emmanuel College Cambridge as a “pensioner” or “commoner” which meant that he had not gained a scholarship and so had to pay for his tuition and “commons” (board and lodging). At this time, with few exceptions students of Oxford and Cambridge had to be members of the Church of England and of the gentry. He gained his B.A in 1626-7 and his M.A. in 1630. Both awards were often largely a matter of payment and time rather than of any learning and examination.
Between these two awards he had been ordained as a deacon at Upton Chapel near Castor by Thomas Dove, Rector of Castor and Bishop of Peterborough, on September 3rd 1628 and a day later as a priest. The Doves owned most of the land in the Castor area before it was sold to the Fitzwilliams in the eighteenth century. Thomas was a noted preacher who had greatly impressed Elizabeth I. He died in 1630.
It seems that Henry became a curate at Ringstead in 1630 (or possibly 1628) and he was described as a Clerk from Ringstead on his marriage licence of May of that year, some five years after the accession of Charles I. The vicar of the joint parish of Denford with Ringstead was James Southwell (1617-38).
Charles the First began to reorder the church again, emphasising ritual rather than preaching. We cannot be sure how far each round of changes reached Ringstead but many churches prior to this had had a communion table lengthwise in the chancel with the seating around it on three sides. Charles, through Archbishop Laud particularly, had it moved back to under the East window as an altar and rails, communion wine, surplices etc., were reintroduced. They became more like churches before the split with Rome under Henry Vlll introduced changes, and to High Anglican churches today. In the Peterborough diocese these orders were rigorously enforced so it appears likely that the Ringstead Church would have undergone these changes. We get some sense that there was local resistance to this from an order given in 1631 to Ringstead Church to repair the chancel screen (which separated the clergy from the laity) and presumably Raymond replied by saying that the position of the pulpit had caused "inconveniences", (i.e., made this difficult to carry out).
James l had first issued a Declaration of Sports for Lancashire in 1617 and it was applied nationally in 1618. This had set down sports which were permitted on Sundays and holy days and those that were not. Those allowed included: archery, dancing, “leaping, vaulting, or any such harmless recreation” together with “May-games, Whitsun-ales and Morris-dances and the setting up of May-poles”. Recreations that were not permitted included Bear and Bull Baiting, “interludes” and bowling. On 18th October 1633 this Declaration was reissued by Charles with the addition of “wakes and ales” (countryside sports) to the list of sanctioned (allowed) sports. Although he denied it, the new Book of Sports was attributed to Archbishop Laud. Any parish priest who refused to read this declaration was to be deprived of his position.
The Puritans, who wanted to emphasise the keeping of Sunday "holy", led a Sabbatarian movement against this Declaration. Edmund Calamy, writing in the Eighteenth Century, stated that Henry Raymond was “an able Preacher and bold as a Lion” and Robert Woodford in his diary wrote that Henry Raymond “was a puritan divine who read a lecture at Ringstead sponsored by patrons from London in which he condemned the Laudian Book of Sports”. I am not sure when this lecture was read as obviously this has relevance to the bravery of his action.
In 1630, Henry Raymond, "Clerk of Ringstead, Northamptonshire", had married Susanna Eakins of Gumbley (Gumley near Foxton 5 mile north-west of Market Harborough) at Gumbley or Langton (St Peter’s Church, Langton is some five miles east) in Leicestershire. In the Marriage Licence transcription on the Findmypast website it states that Henry was 24, so born about 1606, and Susanna was 20. This seems to contradict the usual age of seventy given for his age at death. If the marriage transcription is correct, he was nearer to sixty.
Although, at her wedding, Susanna Ekins was said to be of “Gumbley” she was the “Susan daughter of Henrie Ekins” and his wife Susan (née Keyworth) christened at Ringstead on 12th February 1609. Henry was the son of Robert Ekins of Chelveston and Isabel, daughter of Alexander Travell of Weston Favell. His brother, Alexander Ekins, of Chelveston seems to have been the main heir. The country seat of the Ekins family was at Weston Favell, near Northampton (possibly through the Travells) with three generation of Alexander Ekins being the heads of the families in succession in the early 17th Century. [Looking at the family tree in The Visitations of Essex, Vol.13 I think there was a brief interlude from about 1638 to1642 when Robert Ekins was the head.].
Henry and Susan Ekins had three other daughters, Elizabeth, Elinor and Isabell. Elinor had married John French of Gumley and it seems most likely that Susanna was staying with her sister and brother-in-law at the time of her wedding. It still may seem a little odd to have been married away from both of the couple's homes but perhaps the birth of a child quite soon after the marriage may have been another factor. The first child of Henry, now the Ringstead curate, and Susanna was christened “Marie” at Ringstead on January 25th 1630 which confusingly was some seven months after their marriage in May 1630, as the old calendar ran from Lady Day (25th March).
There followed regular entries into the Ringstead Baptismal Register of Christenings for the couple. I have included a couple of christenings of the children of Henry and Susanna Hayman although you would think that the children of the curate would have the correct surname written in the Register: Henry James (29/09/1633); Susan Rayman (26/12/1636); Francis Hayman (06/01/1637);Thomas (16/09/1639); Rebecka Ramone “daughter of Henry” (1641); Hanna Raymond (03/10/1643); John Raymond is recorded as born at Weston [Favell?] at the end of April 1645 and buried there ** months later [incomplete]; Marie again (26//09/1647); John (06/10/1647); Elizabeth (06/10/1648); Elizabeth again (04/05/1651 ) Finally there was another Hannah but no details were given although it appears to have been after 1651. There is a gap in the Ringstead Burial Register from March 8th 1639 to February 24th 1665 so we cannot check for infant deaths. The Puritan “Commonwealth” was from 1649 to 1660 and before this there was a tendency for parishes to lean towards Puritan or Catholic beliefs, within the Church of England, and it seems that Ringstead would have been in the former camp with Henry as the minister. It may be, therefore, that the two later entries are for adult baptisms.
The Vicar of the joint parish, Arthur Leonard, had been “sequestered” (removed from office) in 1647. In an article in the History Review of the 30th March 1998 John Morrill wrote:
Between 1643 and 1647 the Church of England was destroyed, its system of government by 'archbishops, bishops, deans, archdeacons etc.' (as a canon of 1640 expressed it) was scrapped; the Book of Common Prayer was proscribed and its use made a criminal offence; the celebration of the major Christian festivals – Christmas, Easter, Whit etc. – was also prohibited.
The leaders of the church were all dead, in prison, in exile, or in hiding; the universities were ruthlessly purged; between a quarter and a third of the parish clergy were ejected from their homes and positions. Dioceses were replaced by county-wide ecclesiastical co-operatives, and cathedral churches were converted into prisons, shopping precincts, or large parish churches; and churchwardens and others were directed to remove all the 'monuments of idolatry and superstition' (stained glass, statues, carvings on fonts and other furnishings) which had survived the first reformation of images in the mid sixteenth century. The lands and revenues of the Bishops and of the Cathedral chapters were handed over to the creditors of the state.
Henry became Vicar of the joint parish of Denford with Ringstead in 1647 which Edward Calamy stated was worth some 40 to 50 pounds a year. During Henry’s time as Vicar, witch trials were happening all over the country. Malcom Gaskill has written of John Stearne, the “Witchfinder” who worked with Matthew Hopkins, the self-styled “Witchfinder General” to find and see executed witches, both men and women. According to Stearne, a young man of Denford, ‘who suffered for Witchery”, confessed among other things to sending imps to kill the cattle of one Cockes (probably churchwarden Thomas Cox) of Denford.
The English Civil War had started in 1642 and 1647 was a brief pause before a short second conflict which culminated in the execution of Charles I in 1649. The Commonwealth lasted until 1660 when the monarch was “restored” and Charles ll returned to England in what is usually termed the Restoration. Much of the old church practices and ritual were again reinstated and in 1662 a slightly revised Book of Common Prayer was issued. Every incumbent of church office had to take an oath of loyalty both to the new Prayer Book and to the monarchy. Two thousand ministers refused and were ejected from their livings. In 1665 the Five Mile Act forbade the ejected clergy to come within five miles of the place where they had held a living. Arthur Leonard was reinstated as Vicar of the joint parish.
It appears that Henry was one of the “2000 Worthies” who were ejected from their posts in 1660. In Robert Woodford’s Diary he records that “Alexander Eakins of Weston Favell, whose servants were accused of brawling in the belfry of St. Peter’s Church in Northampton in 1634 “died in Ringstead in 1666 where his family owned property”. He left money to his kinsman, Henry Raymond, a puritan divine. If this date is correct the bequest did not do Henry much good as, it appears that he may also have died at about this time. His burial does not appear in the Ringstead Burial Register and I have not yet found it definitely elsewhere. During the chaos of this period much of the recording was not carried out and there are only three burials listed in the Ringstead Register between 1665 and 1668. Surely some must have gone unrecorded.
Henry would have been a lesser member of the landed gentry and Susanna also had strong connections to the landowning class. The Hearth Tax return for Ringstead taken on 30th September 1662 records that Henry Raymond had a house with three hearths (Mr. Ekins had 6 and Alexander Ekins 4).
After Henry’s death, in 1666 his widow still had three hearths (so presumably in the same house), the widow of Alexander Ekins had four and Mr. Ekins six.
On November 21st 1665 Henry had made his Will and it was proved on October 15th 1666. It detailed his various bequests with his wife Susanna as his executrix:
To wife Susanna house and homestead with all land &c., in Ringstead, and all goods remaining after wife's decease to son Henry and his heirs; to son Francis 40/= [£2]; son Thomas £10; dau. Susanna Raymond, house, &c., bought of Rich. Lileman, paying to her brother Henry's children £10 a child at 21, that is to say, to his son Joseph, his dau. Mary, his dau. Susanna £10 each. To daughter Susanna R. my silver tankard; 2nd dau. Rebecca R. £80; dau. Hanna £80; dau Mary land in Ringstead bought of Anthony Aborne; dau. Elizabeth R. that little close I bought of Robert Gilbert in R. [Ringstead] and £50. To son Francis's son£10; my 4 youngest daus. a silver spoon each; to dau. Raymond wife of Henry 10/=; cosen Samuel Ekins and his wife Mr.Hilderssham's book upon the 4th of St. John and the 51 Psalme; Poor of R. [Ringstead] 20/= [£1]; wife Susanna exec.
Inventory taken 29th April 1666, £220 4s. 6d. including his library £14 0s 0d.
The Inventory itself does fill in a little detail to the house and lands of Henry. It does not include the houses and lands:
£ s d His wearing apparrell 06 13 04 His Library 14 00 00 All the goods in the Hall 01 10 00 All the goods in the Parlour 04 10 00 The goods in the Milk House 01 03 06 The goods in the Buttery 00 10 06 The goods in the two Chambers over the hall 04 06 08 The goods in the Parlour Chamber with the Linnin 04 15 04 The grain and the goods in the kitchen and milk house chamber 02 05 06 The Cowes 06 10 06 The grain in the field 08 04 06 The hoggs pullen [chickens?] Mannard [Mallard?] in the yard 01 12 04 The debts 160 00 00 Total 220 04 06
Henry also had a licence for a "birden piece" (a small-bore gun used for shooting birds) so we see that he would have probably enjoyed the hunting and fishing as many country gentlemen of the time. One of the sporting parsons caricatured and derided by later generations. Nevertheless, he made a stand and was one of the two thousand “Worthies” and it seems that after his ejectment he never preached again.
The local church was now irrevocably split and the Baptists of Ringstead and Raunds trekked each Sunday to Rowell
(Rothwell) and back to hear another ejected priest from Desborough preach. In 1714 the Ringstead Baptist Church was established.
Meanwhile we know that two of Henry’s sons, Henry and Thomas, had gone into the ministry and both “conformed” and stayed within the Church of England. Interestingly both are shown as being educated at Ringstead. Was there a private school at Ringstead at this date or were they educated at home, perhaps by Henry himself or by a tutor? The eldest son, Henry was first at Little Oakley but spent most of his career as Rector of Warkton, where he was buried. The third son, Thomas, spent most of his working life as Rector of Hardwick in Northamptonshire. In 1668 Susanna Raymond of Ringstead married Abraham Syannon [?] of Kettering. Is this Henry's widow or, more likely, his daughter? The following year Abraham Green of Moulton married Mary Raymond. Abraham is recorded as being a husbandman "of Warkton”, parish of brother Henry.
Postscript
The Tuttle (various spellings) family of Ringstead are known as one of the early families who migrated to America. Originally, they came from Woodford but in 1896 Symon Tuttle had bought a large property in Queen’s Way in December 1596 We see in the Ringstead Baptismal Register the christenings of the children of his sons, John and Richard and William from 1623 to 1634. It seems probable that Henry Raymond, curate at Ringstead from 1630, officiated at the later ones of these and possibly at the burial of Symon on June 15th 1630.
John Tuttle had been set up in the mercery business (which included linens, silks etc.) in St Albans by his father and, in 1640 the Will of Francis Raymond of Danbury (father or brother of Henry?), was described as a "Linen Draper". Was this just coincidence? In 1634/5 Thomas, was the last of William and Elizabeth’s children to be christened in Ringstead. The family sold their properties to John Bellamy and Richard, William and families, together with their widowed mother Isobel, joined brother John in St Albans. In 1635, aboard The Planter, they sailed for Boston in America. They were not a family escaping poverty so probably it was their religion that played an important part in their decision to take the dangerous voyage to this Puritan settlement. Did the preaching of Henry have anything to do with this? Certainly, one wonders if Richard and Anne Tuttle talked about their plans with Henry.
There seems some evidence that Richard Raymond and others of Henry’s extended family from Dunmow also emigrated in the Seventeenth Century, but this needs more investigation.
References
My thanks to James Tuttle for his help with the Tuttle Postscript.
Ringstead and Hardwick Parish Registers; Marriage licences 1570-1729: Cambridge University Alumni 1261-1900. www.ancestry.co.uk.
A Continuation of the Account of the Ministers, Lecturers, Masters and Fellows of Colleges and Schoolmasters who were Ejected or Silenced after the Restoration in 1660 (1729). Edmund Calamy.
The Diary of Robert Woodford 1637-1641 (note p.127): Alumni Cantabrigiensis: A Biographical List of all Known Students etc Vol.1 428-9 www.googlebooks.com.
East Anglia and the Hopkins Trails: 1645-7: A County Guide. .
The Church of the Holy Trinity, Denford Church Guide by Stephen Swales 1990 updated 2003: Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Ringstead Guide by K.M. Watson 1980.
Leicestershire Marriage Licences 1604-1891 Transcription www.findmypast.co.uk.
CCEd. Northamptonshire and Rutland Clergy Vol. 11. Northamptonshire Record Office.
Raymonds of Ringstead family tree: The Visitation of Essex 1634: The Visitation of Northamptonshire: 1618-19 Appendix. Walter C. Metcalfe 1887 (HER/11 N R O).
Inventory of Will of Henry Raymond April 1666 Northamptonshire Record Office.
The Notorious Elizabeth Tuttle. Ava Chamberlain. (NYU Press 2012).
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