MORTLAKE PARISH RECORDS I

2397

MORTLAKE PARISH RECORDS I

1599 - 1969

The first deposit comprises most of the records in volume form including the parish registers for the parish church of St Mary and the chapels of ease of Christ Church, All Saints' (both in East Sheen) and St Andrew's, Clifford Avenue; the churchwardens' accounts 1652-1966; account books of the parish stock (charities), 1800-1894; overseers' accounts, 1615-1886; and surveyors' accounts, 1767-1829.

The second deposit comprises the remaining volumes, including Vestry Minute Books, 1578-1903 (the first volume also has churchwardens' accounts from 1577) and Parochial Church Council Minutes, 1921-1959; and a large number of nineteenth century parish papers relating to the activities of the parish officers, the Vestry, the churches' fabric and property and the numerous parochial charities, including schools.

The large number of deeds and papers relating to Mortlake Charities reveal a wealth of benefactions, including three almshouses, gifts of bread, clothing and coal for the poor and bequests to the charity schools. The earliest of these gifts was that made by Thomas Whitfield, lord of the manor of East Sheen and Westhall, in 1607, of lands for the upkeep of the parish church (see 2414/9/1-74). Some confusion existed as early as 1828 about the origins of various pieces of parish land and exchanges and changes of use further complicate the story.

The school records include papers relating to the setting up of a School of Industry, a school on Dr Bell's system, and school rules and regulations (2414/19/104-234).

In addition to the Charity School papers there are a number of references (2414/2/356-358) to Temple Grove School, a preparatory school for boys founded by the Rev Dr William Pearson (1767-1847) and moved to Temple Grove, the house of the Temple family, in 1811. Pearson was an astronomer, who lived at Observatory House, East Sheen, and was instrumental in founding the Astronomical Society of London. Temple Grove School was moved to Eastbourne in 1908, but the school chapel remained as the Edgar Memorial Hall until it was destroyed in 1944 (see 2414/2/358). A map of Pearson's estate at East Sheen in 1811 is also in Surrey Record Office (90/40/2).

The position of Mortlake on the route from Richmond to London made it vulnerable to the encroachments of various improvement bodies, and the conservative land-owning vestrymen paint themselves in reactionary colours by opposing just about everything that was not their idea in the first place, for example: the aqueduct to supply pure water for London, 1829 and 1830; the Richmond railway, 1837 (an 'unnecessary and hazardous speculation'); the improvement of the highways by the Kingston Highway Board, 1868; a drainage scheme, 1873; the Thames Valley Sewage Works, 1883; a tidal lock and weir at Isleworth, 1883; the erection of a hospital for infectious diseases, 1888; and a dust destructor, 1890.

The overseers' papers include the usual settlement examinations, removal orders etc. in abundance. Of particular interest is the case of the settlement of Mary Dornier, 1804 and 1805 (see 2414/6/351), disputed with Marlow, Bucks, as an example of the complexity of the law and the lengths to which a parish might go to avoid relieving a pauper. Also of interest are two documents which throw some light on the transport arrangements for removing paupers (see 2414/6/107 and 132). The first notes the cost to each parish passed through, 1784, and the second is an order to a contractor for conveying vagrants, 1798. Also of special interest in this section are the papers relating to the cholera and smallpox epidemics of 1832-1868 (see 2414/6/643-677), which reflect the appalling conditions of squalor under which many people lived and a genuine attempt to deal with it and to relieve the suffering.

<p>For other deposits relating to Mortlake see 215/11/1, 269/3/1, 241/2, 4/83, 1871/1/1-34, Acc 352, 2110/1, 2566 and 2608.</p>

English

140 files

Mortlake parish records were deposited by the Incumbent in two lots in November (2397) and December (2414) 1979.

Mortlake owes the survival of so many of its records partly to a resolution of the Vestry in 1855 to enter all the parish papers in a book and index them. According to a Vestry minute of 1856 this work was carried out by W G Chapman. The papers were numbered serially either by piece or by bundles and the numbers were entered in a register. This register is retained by the parish. Work on the records was continued in 1965 and 1966 by Miss Caroline Crimp, former chief librarian for Barnes, who continued the old numbering system to include the remaining and more recent papers. The present list does not closely follow the inherited arrangement as this appears to have been made without any overall plan. The parish numbers have, however, been retained, and can be easily related to the new numbers by means of the conversion table in Appendix I.

At the time of the continuation of the parish listing in 1966 some records, believed to be duplicates, were transferred to Richmond Library. These comprise bundles of 18th and 19th century vouchers, rough Vestry minute books 1839-54 and 1855-1870, Goodwin's books of extracts from the parish records and some Collectors' books (see 2414/1/213).

Mortlake is situated on the banks of a southward loop of the River Thames between Barnes and Putney to the east and Kew and Richmond to the west and includes the still desirable residential area of East Sheen, where most of the more important residents of the parish lived from the eighteenth century. A substantial part of the parish was taken into Richmond Park at the time of its inclosure by Charles I in 1637. The King's failure to compensate the parish is recorded on several occasions, but ultimately being able to number royalty among its parishioners was perhaps some payment. The present Queen Mother, as Duchess of York living at White Lodge, laid the foundation stone of All Saints' Church, East Sheen.

In spite of its position of importance Mortlake remained a perpetual curacy of the vicarage of Wimbledon until 1865. The manor of Mortlake belonged to the Archbishops of Canterbury from before the Conquest and the manor house, until about 1547, was the archiepiscopal residence on the banks of the Thames on the site of the present Ship Inn. It was held with Wimbledon and the parishes of Wimbledon, Putney and Mortlake were all peculiars of the diocese of Canterbury in the archdeaconry of Croydon. In 1846 Mortlake was taken into the diocese of London, archdeaconry of Middlesex; in 1877 it became part of the diocese of Rochester in the archdeaconry of Kingston and finally in 1905 it went into the new diocese of Southwark.

The church of Mortlake was founded in 1348 by a Licence in mortmain of Edward III to Archbishop Stratford (for copy see 2414/1/41) by which a site in Berecroft was to be assigned to Adomar, Parson of Wimbledon, for a chapel of ease for East Sheen and Mortlake. In 1536 Archbishop Cranmer exchanged the manors of Mortlake and Wimbledon with Henry VIII, who in 1546 granted the advowson of Wimbledon to the Dean and Chapter of Worcester. They covenanted to provide curates for the chapels of Putney and Mortlake with stipends of £6 13s 4d each (for copy see 2414/1/51). The old church was pulled down in 1543 and a new one built on the present site. The exact site of the original church is not known.

The Vestry minutes, churchwardens' accounts and papers in 2414/2 reveal the various additions, alterations and rebuildings which took place, until by 1905 the church had been entirely rebuilt with the exception of the lower part of the tower, the vestry room on the north side and the 1725 south aisle. The frequent rearrangement of seating which took place from the 18th century, accelerated after 1800, reflects the rapid increase in population which took place at that time, and culminated in the opening of Christ Church as a chapel of ease for East Sheen in 1864. The Vestry minutes for 15 May 1845 also record a resolution to form an open space for recreation because of the great increase in population especially of children, who were obliged to play in the road (2414/4/7 p.260).

The position of the incumbent of Mortlake as a perpetual curate with a fixed stipend, increased from the original £6 13s 4d to £40 at the request of Archbishop Laud (see 2414/1/44) gave rise to controversy about fees in 1784 (see 2414/1/62-64), and occasional requests to the Dean and Chapter of Worcester for augmentation who, however, having leased the tithes to Lord Spencer, Lord of the manor of Wimbledon, said they had no resources from which to respond.

It was stated that no man without private means could afford to be perpetual curate of Mortlake. Certainly the incumbent could have felt at a disadvantage among his wealthy parishioners.