A late 18th century manuscript assessment of the income of the Churches of England and Wales deriving from its cathedrals, deaneries and parishes. Written more than 200 years after the pioneering valuation, Valor Ecclesiasticus, this manuscript seems likely to have played a role in the attempt to resolve with certainty the church’s actual income during this period, which culminated in the full Church Commissioner’s report of 1835, Liber Ecclesiasticus.
This meticulously presented manuscript from the final decades of the 18th century begins with a list of Bishoprics and Royal Patronages that is followed by an assessment diocese by diocese for England, beginning with the preeminent Canterbury (‘Preferment in the Patronage of the Archbishop of Canterbury’ and the ‘County of Kent’) with three hand ruled lines close to the foreedge allowing for figures to be entered in pounds, shillings and pence. These figures account for the ‘First Fruits’ tax and other revenues. The manuscript continues alphabetically to the Diocese of Warwick, then transfers to Wales, from St Asaph to Cardigan before reverting to English dioceses, notably York and followed by dukedoms such as the ‘Patronage of the Duke of Devonshire’ and ‘Dignities in the Royal Patronage’. The manuscript ends with two pages of ‘Additions and Corrections of Mistakes’.
It is notable how tiny are the payments from certain pre industrial area, notably the ‘Deanery of Manchester, Rochdale - [£]11 04 09’ whereas huge payments come from, say, the ‘Preferment in the Patronage of the Bishop of Bath & Wells’ including a payment for the ‘Cathedral Church of Wells - [£]729 03 04’. ‘Eaton [Eton] College’ merits additional explanatory annotation (p19).
DESCRIPTION: Small quarto bound in quarter calf over marbled boards; ‘Pro patria’ Britannia watermarked paper with horizontal chainlines; paginated to p221 with two preliminary and two final unpaginated leaves of manuscripts plus c30 terminal blanks.
