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Ancestry Daily News
4/9/2002 - Archive
What's A Sequestrian?
Sequestration -- sounds nasty, so I concluded it might get your
attention. In actual fact the term relates to money matters, debt, and legal
proceedings; but read on, because finding one of these in the parish of your
ancestors could lead to useful information.
You'll find the word in the list of sources that make up the Gloucestershire,
Wiltshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Worcestershire CD (http://www.ancestry.com/rd/prodredir.asp?sourceid=831&key=P2463):
for the last of these counties there are "Wills and Administrations in the Court
of the Bishop of Worcestershire, also Marriage Licences and Sequestrations."
What this contains is an index to names, a date, and one or two words to define
the type of court action, and a good many are sequestrations.
Doverdale parish Sequestration for Delapidations to Rectory 13 July 1568 Churchehill,
M. Colles late incumbent Sequestration 20 March 1565 St. Peter's Worcester vacancy
Sequestration 2 April 1569
Sequestration can be defined broadly or within the confines of Church of England
courts. In general terms it means to confiscate or take possession by force;
or to remove property temporarily from the possession of the owner and hold
against a debt. You will see the word used in Scottish courts and in connection
with the records of the English Civil War period, 1643 to 1660. Both sides sequestered;
for example, Parliament took the estates of Royalists to gain the revenue; and,
after the Restoration, ministers who refused to conform lost their parishes.
In American research the word appears in connection with the confiscation of
Loyalist property at the time of the Revolution, and in Civil War records.
Here, the subject is sequestration in the courts of the Church of England, where
it was a legal procedure used primarily when a parish was without a minister,
due to the death or suspension of the incumbent. The bishop was concerned with
the condition of church property and collection of revenue. Individuals, usually
the churchwardens, were designated to rectify any problems.
Long before this period it was accepted that the appointed minister of a church
was responsible for maintenance of the chancel and the parishioners for the
repairs to the rest of the building (i.e., walls, roof, floor). Records of the
1500s show that churches were suffering from neglect, and that local people
were loathe to pay for fixing them. When a minister died or the post became
vacant, an effort would be made to insure all funds due were brought up to date
in order to turn the parish over to a new minister with a clean balance sheet.
Sometimes the problem was the fault of the minister. He got into personal debt,
and then failed to forward to the diocese collections from tithes, Easter offerings,
etc.. He may also have been suspended for behavior unbecoming to his office.
Whatever the reason, his sudden departure often meant 'sequestrators' had to
be appointed.
Where records of sequestration survive, they can include reasons for it, lists
of those from whom tithes and debts were collected, as well as general information
about the parsonage and the parish. This social snapshot is useful and sometimes
revealing. The records may contain such things as the state of the church buildings
and glebe lands, the degree of support for the church, even the character of
the minister. In rural parishes the vicar frequently lived much as his parishioners,
in a modest home and farming the church fields.
How do you follow through on a relevant sequestration? Find out whether the
actual court records survive. In this case visit the website for the Worcestershire
Record Office, then select A to Z listing and 'R' to find the record office
site. This is a good point for a reminder about finding websites of county record
offices - there are two routes, through Archives Online (ARCHON) at the Historic
Manuscripts Commission, and through Genuki
where you look for the county page.
The best book on Church of England courts is by Anne Tarver, Church Court
Records: An Introduction for family and local historians. Phillimore, 1995.
Sherry Irvine, CGRS, FSA (Scot) has been researching her British ancestry for
thirty years. She is an instructor and study tour leader for Samford University's
IGHR, and teaches for the online family history program of Vermont
College. She is President of the Association of Professional Genealogists.
You can e-mail Sherry with suggestions for future British genealogy articles
at: mailto:sherryirvine55@myfamily.com.
She will not be able to send personal replies, but will feature some questions
in upcoming issues of the Ancestry Daily News. Sherry also regrets that
she is unable to assist with personal research. Sherry is also the author of:
Your
Scottish Ancestry: A Guide for North Americans
Your
English Ancestry: A Guide for North Americans
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