The North Yorkshire County Record Office holds a
book used by the Rudby Parochial Church Council as a Minute Book, which
had originally been used in the 19th century as a notebook by the Revd R
J Barlow.
The book opens with Mr Barlow's jotted "Notes on
Humbolts Cosmos Vol 1." (A few notes relating to 'Cosmos' also appear
in another of Mr Barlow's notebooks, in the possession of Hutton Rudby
Primary School). These extend over several pages. They are followed by
twelve pages of names and figures set out in columns, the first headings
being "Myshall", "Arrears May 1st 1833", and "half yearly".
These entries have hitherto been described as
"rental of an Irish estate (?). However, a comparison with the Tithe
Applotment Book for the townlands of the parish of Myshall in County
Carlow (1827) shows that the arrears in question are arrears of tithes.
(In case of inaccuracies in the following
transcription you are advise to consult the original)
The Revd R J Barlow's connection with County Carlow
The Revd Robert Joseph Barlow (ca1804-1878) was
born in Dublin and educated at Trinity College. He acquired by purchase
the living of Rudby-in-Cleveland (the principal township of the parish
being Hutton Rudby) and he was instituted vicar on 3 January 1831. He
remained in the parish until his death on 23 June 1878.
Mr Barlow's sister Nanny was the wife of the Revd
Hector Francis Vaughan, who was Rector of Myshall from 1825 until his
death aged 47 in March 1834. Nanny Vaughan later lived with her brother
Robert and two unmarried sisters. She was at Hutton Rudby vicarage for
the 1851 and 1861 censuses. She died on 26 October 1867 aged 66 and was
buried in Hutton Rudby Churchyard.
Barlow's (draft?) list was evidently drawn up after
the publication in English of Alexander von Humboldt's 'Cosmos'; an
English translation by Elizabeth Juliana Leeves was published in four
volumes between 1849 and 1858. At the side of one page Barlow left a
note of wages due for work in Hutton Rudby for the sixteen days
beginning Tuesday February 7 - a combination of date and day that
occurred in 1854, 1865 and 1871.
The year 1854 seems the most likely date for the
tithe arrears list. It is not clear whether this was an attempt to
claim tithes unpaid in the Tithe War, or whether they were to be claimed
from a later incumbent.
Robert Barlow's stipend was not large and he and
his sisters depended for their comfort on allowances made them by their
elder brother James, who had luckily inherited a fortune from a
childless cousin of their father. Unfortunately after James's death in
1843 (the result of an accident) it emerged that his estate was heavily
encumbered by mortgages. The annuities that would have replaced the
allowances could not be paid and Robert Barlow and his sisters lost a
major part of their income.
It seems likely that the household's financial
difficulties prompted the idea of claiming arrears of tithes due to Mrs
Vaughan, as the Revd Vaughan's sole heir and Executrix. It is not known
whether Mr Barlow actually attempted to make the claim; it seems
unlikely that he would succeed twenty years after the event.
The total arrears of tithe due to Mr Vaughan on 1
May 1833, according to Barlow's notes, amounted to £161-3s-4d. The
tithe applotment books show that the total rectorial composition was
£400-0s-1d annually. Most of the landholders in arrears seem to have
owed 18 months' tithes, though some owed more - for example, the Police
Office at Myshall owed 3 years' tithes.
It is evident that Mr Barlow worked from the
Applotment Book in producing his list of tithe arrears. Against the
names of the landholders or their successors, he listed in a first
column the arrears due on 1 May 1833, followed by a column of
abbreviations and notes, and lastly a column recording the half-yearly
amount due to the Rector.
Mr Barlow’s list is potentially a useful source of
information on Myshall parish. It reflects changes in occupancy between
1827 and 1833, and contains some additional notes. For example, against
the name Mary Ann Neil of Myshall, Mr Barlow noted "B Schoolmistress";
against John Neil of Coolnashegan, he wrote "Carrier"; and against the
entries for Knockbrack, he wrote "Sursfield Colclough holds Knockbrack
from the Doyles". However, the abbreviations used by Mr Barlow (eg. "Cor",
"B" and "C") await explanation.
Unfortunately Mr Barlow cannot be regarded as an
entirely reliable source. He seems to have been impatient of the
minutiae of administration and paperwork. The most obvious example of
this can be found in the errors of dates and names that have been
discovered in the parish registers throughout his incumbency. Indeed
for much of the 1840s he made few or no entries in the burials and
baptisms registers, and the paucity of entries in the marriages register
indicates that this may also be imcomplete. He did not send the
registers up to York for Bishops' Transcripts and was rather casual in
his replies to Archbishops' Visitations. It is therefore likely that
errors exist in his list of tithe arrears and this should be borne in
mind.
“We the
undersigned being appointed Commissioners for the parish of Myshall
and Diocese of Leighlin agreeably to an Act passed in the Fourth
year of his present Majesty George the fourth, Entitled an Act for
the Establishing of Compositions for Tithes in Ireland for a limitted time do certify that this Book contains a just true and
particular account of all lands, with their Valuations and
Compositions here unto annexed in said Parish and by whom payable
- Given under our
hands and seals this 18th day of Decr. 1827
- Adam B Feltus
- George James
- To the Revd Hector
F Vaughan Rector and Vicar of the Parish of Myshall
- And to Adam B
Feltus Esqr of Hollybrook and George James of Clonee Esqr
Commissioners of Composition in said Parish
A Survey of the PARISH OF MYSHALL containing 5692
acres Irish measure Excluding Roads and Rivers Amounting in the Grass or
Field value to £4,744-7-10 the Rectorial Composition £400 British. 342
Dwelling Houses and about 1880 Inhabitants Computing between 5 and 6 to
each habitation. Extending from Mount Leinster near the Bounds of the Co
of Wexford to Killane in the Parish of Kellistown – about five Miles.
And from the Parish of Dunleckney to the Parish of Darragh [Barragh?]
Above two miles. Situate in the County of Carlow and Diocese of
Leighlin
Surveyed from May to Decembr 1827 – By Richd
Griffith and Robt Mores”
[Transcribed from microfilm at
the Billingham Family History Centre)
|
The Book then lists in columns the Landholders’
names – the Total amount of land – Amount of first quality – Amount per
acre – Amount of second quality – Amount per acre – Amount of third
quality – Amount per acre – Total Amount of rent – Amount of Rectorial
Composition – Observations
For those unfamiliar with pre-decimal coinage:-
- 12 pence (12d) = 1 shilling (1s. or 1/-)
- 20 shillings (20s. or 20/-) = £1
- One pound and one shilling (£1-1s or £1/1/0) = 1 guinea (1 gn.)
- The penny was subdivided:-
- One-quarter of a penny (¼d) = 1 farthing
- Half a penny (½d) = one halfpenny
It was generally estimated at this time that a
yearly income of £150 was the bare minimum for middle-class life, and
that a family needed £300 to live respectably in a town, where expenses
were higher. A good urban artisan's wage in 1835 was round about a
pound a week. An income of £1,000 put a man at the top end of the
middle class.
Parts of the original are difficult to read; it can
be seen that in places Mr Barlow uses the long "s".
The full story behind the list of Tithe arrears drawn up by the
eccentric Dublin-born clergyman Robert Barlow can be found in Alice
Barrigan's book 'Remarkable, but still True: the story of the Revd R J
Barlow and Hutton Rudby in the time of the cholera', pub 2007, ISBN
9781905544066. Copies are available through her website at
www.jakesbarn.co.uk
Source: Alice Barrigan c2008 (
http://jakesbarn.co.uk/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=57
)
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