The clergy of the deaneries of Rochester and mailing in the diocese of Rochester, c. 1770 – 1870

Abstract

This is a study of the concerns and life - style of the clergy of the established Church in two Kent Deaneries throughout the hundred year period, 1770 -1870. How far, it is considered, were episcopal hopes, which were expressed in the Charges of Bishop and Archdeacon, fulfilled in the parishes, especially in the matters of residence and education. The extent of non-residence is deduced from. such evidence as is available for the earlier part of the period and after 1830 from Visitation and other returns. The provision of Sunday Schools is used as an example of clerical response to a diocesan policy in the field of education. The exercise of patronage, residence, plurality, the length ofincumbencies, the employment of curates and their prospects, are looked at throughout the period. The provision of new churches, agrarian unrest, tithe and clerical emoluments, church rate, relationship with dissent, worship provision , the visitation process, the clergyman's role in society, the differing demands of town ministry and rural ministry are examined as events bring them to the fore . The priorities of successive bishops are noted and the lives of sample clergymen are taken for each period, both to flesh-out the statistics and to illustrate the evolving pattern of ministry.