The Clergy of West Somerset (including Rev. Crosswell of St. Petrock's), photographed between the late Summer of 1876 and the Spring of 1886

The Clergy of West Somerset (including Rev. Crosswell of St. Petrock's), photographed between the late Summer of 1876 and the Spring of 1886

A photograph of nine West Somerset clergymen, all suited in their dark frock coats. They are gathered in front of an impressive, although unidentified (as yet) structure. A copy of the same photograph at the West Somerset Rural Life Museum was included in a collection of photographs, mostly taken in Minehead (although the gentlemen do not seem to be at the Church of St. Michael's). That version was labelled with eight surnames, which do not seem to have any real collaboration to the placement of the men in the photograph (as well as being one clergyman short).

One of the names was listed as "Mr. Cresswell", actually being Robert James Crosswell, the Vicar of St. Petrock's Church in Timberscombe. Rev. Crosswell can be seen in another photograph at SP-208, standing in the midst of his choir at the North Porch of St. Petrock's. An apparantly tall man, he certainly appears to be the fellow standing most to the left in the photograph. Hopefully the other clergymen can be more specifically identified but with their surnames revealed, those gentlemen could be placed within their respective churches and once it was established when they served (and when they overlapped with one another), it could be determined that this photograph was likely taken between the late summer of 1876 and the spring of 1886 .

The eight clergymen, whose surnames were known, are as follows:

REV. JAMES VIVIAN BULL, MA of THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY, LUCCOMBE- The Bishop of Baths and Wells instituted the Rev. James Vivian Bull to the Rectory of Luccombe in the summer of 1869 (1). Born to James and Henrietta (nee Tippet) Bull at St. Budock, Cornwall, c. 1920, James Vivian would be at least 56-years-old in this photograph. Details of his younger life are sketchy. Around the age of 20, he was still living with his parents in St. Budock (2) but in 1860 he has found his way to Bangalore, India where he married Charlotte Ann Whitlock (3). The daughter of Lt. General Sir George Cornish Whitlock, C. B. of Her Majesty's Army, Charlotte Ann was born in Devon in 1829 but by the age of two was living in India (4). Having earned an MA, presumably James Vivian Bull was a practising Clergyman by the time of his marriage. His older brother, John (who also officially went by "James") Bull, was a Captain in the Royal Navy (5) which might be related to the younger James being overseas. Regardless, Rev. Bull stayed on in India where his first three children, Mary Harriet, Percival George and Ethel Elizabeth were born between 1862 and 1865 (6). The last child of James and Charlotte Ann, Amy Charlotte, was born on the 29th of August 1868 at Huxham Church in Devon, where she may have been baptised by her father at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin (7), before the family relocated to the Church of St. Mary at Luccombe. As the new Vicar, James Vivian Bull presented to every householder in Doverhay (considered in modern times as part of Porlock but then was in the parish of Luccombe) a one hundred weight of coal (8). He served as Vicar until his passing on the 16th of April 1891, when Bull was described as in the newspapers as "greatly beloved" (9)--despite an incident in 1886 when a local farmer, Mr. Ethelreil, was charged as "assaulting the Vicar" and had to stand trial in Taunton (10)-- perhaps a professional hazard. Rev. Bull and his wife were buried together at St. Mary, where his service was administered by the Rev. Walter Hook (11)--also one of the men in this photograph.

REV. ROBERT JAMES CROSSWELL, MA of ST. PETROCK'S CHURCH, TIMBERSCOMBE- Rev. Crosswell was the Vicar at St. Petrock's by the 31st of August 1876 when he began teaching "Classes in the Old Testament" at Timberscombe School (12)--the last of these clergymen to begin serving in this area of West Somerset, thus likely dating this photograph after his arrival. He would have been 38-years-old, born nearby in 1838 at North Petherton, Somerset, the son of the local Schoolmaster, Thomas Simmons Crosswell and Sarah (nee Deverell) Crosswell (13). Rev. Crosswell received his MA from Oriel College at Oxford and by the time he married Blanche Nicolette in South Petherton on 21 April 1868, he had served as Curate in the hamlet of Steeple (later merged with the village of Tyneham) in Dorset. In 1871, Rev. Crosswell held the same position at St. John the Baptist in Bridgwater (14). Succeeding the Rev. James Halls Croft, who died on the 30th of June 1876 (15), Robert James Crosswell became Vicar at St. Petrock's, moving into the Vicarage at Timberscombe (in modern times, the Old Vicarage, now housing flats) with his wife and two daughters, Flora Nicolette and Cicely Eveline (16). Crosswell served at St. Petrock's until his passing in 1900. Blanche Crosswell died in 1902, followed by their daughter, Cicely, in 1903. All three were buried together at St. Petrock's. Honouring his 24 years as their Vicar, in 1901 the parishioners of St. Petrock's erected a stained glass window on the north wall of the chancel, dedicated to Rev. Robert James Crosswell (17). It is seen as the second image above.

REV. PREB. WILLIAM WALTON HERRINGHAM, MA of ST. ANDREW'S CHURCH, OLD CLEEVE- Rev. Herringham was baptised 31 December 1824 at Borley, Essex , officiated by his father, the Rev. John Philip Herringham, alongside his mother, Susannah (nee Jackson) Herringham (18). William Walton Herringham attended St. Peter's College, Cambridge in 1848 and 1849, then was a curate beside his father at Borley until 1853, traveling to Hampshire on the 17th of April 1853 to marry Matilda Ann Parker, the daughter of Major General John Boteler Parker (19). Rev. Herringham continued on in that same year as Curate at Gosfield, Essex and then at St. Nicolas, Guildford until 1856, when he became the Rector at Chadwell, Essex (20). He stayed there another three years before relocating to St. Mary and All Saints at Hawksworth, Nottingham, from which he resigned in 1873 to come to St. Andrew's Church at Old Cleeve (21). In 1890, Rev. Herringham was named Prebendary of Wells and he retired from Old Cleeve in 1904 (22)--the only one of the pictured clergymen not to die while serving. He and Matilda had four children, the eldest becoming Major General Sir Wilmot Parker Herringham, a distinguished physician (23). Rev. William Walton Herringham died 22 April 1905 at his residence on St. James Square in Bath (24).

REV. PREB, WALTER HOOK, MA of THE CHURCH OF ST. DUBRICIUS, PORLOCK- Half of these clergymen were the sons of clergymen but likely none cast a shadow longer than the father of Rev. Walter Hook, being Rev. Walter Farguhar Hook (1798-1875). One of the most eminent of Victorian churchmen, Walter Farguhar Hook became the Dean of Chichester and the author of numerous Christian themed books after serving in Leeds, where his congregations became so huge a new church had to be built that could hold over 4,000 people. An imposing statue of the priest still stands at Leeds (25). The younger Walter Hook was born in Leeds, baptised the 22nd of September 1839 by his father and mother, Anna (nee Delicia) Hook (26). He began attending Oxford in 1861 and married Mary Dyke Troyte, the grand-daughter of Sir Thomas Dyke Acland (1787-1871), on the 20th of June 1864 (27). Before coming to Porlock, Walter Hook was Rector of the Parish of Graffham, Sussex (28). In February 1873, at the age of 34, Hook, became the Vicar at Porlock, inaugurating his occupancy by establishing Sunday evening services (29). He also became the area Diocesan Inspector, involving the inspection of schools. An example was his visit to Timberscombe School in the summer of 1877, where a newer and larger schoolroom was in the final stages of construction, writing "When the extra accommodation has been provided, there is no doubt the school will do well" (30). Rev. Hook also oversaw restorations at his own church, in 1884 rebuilding the spire and replacing the oak shingles on its distinctive tower and actually closing St. Dubricius for alterations in 1890. Classes were held in a schoolroom until a grand reopening by the Lord Bishop of the Diocese on the 26th of May 1891. Great pride was taken in that all the work was rendered by local men --and was paid for locally as well (31). Perhaps in the spirit of his book-writing father, Rev. Hook was also the author of "A History of the Ancient Church of Porlock", published in 1893 (32). Rev. Walter Hook died on the 27th of March 1899 and a window in the tower that he refurbished, was installed in his memory (33). Judging by the many images of his father, the tall younger man standing on the right end of the row is probably Walter Hook.

REV. WILLIAM PHILIP MICHELL, BA, of THE CHURCH OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST, CARHAMPTON- William Philip Michell was the second son of Rev. Bennett Michell of Winsford, Somerset and Matilda Euphemia (nee Wilson) Michell. Born on the 13th of October 1833 , he was baptised by his father the following 3rd of November (34). William attended Emmanuel College at Cambridge, where he received his BA in 1856. He served as Curate at Drayton-Beauchamp, Bucks until 1858, when he transferred to St. Tudy, Cornwall (35). On 8 December1858, Rev. Michell married Elizabeth Ann Elson at Bodmin, Cornwall (36). In 1865, Michell and his wife arrived at Carhampton where he continued serving as Curate (37). After bearing four children, Elizabeth Ann Michell died in Carhampton at the age of 40 (38). Rev. Michell was promoted to Vicar of St. John the Baptist in 1872 and in October of 1874 married Kate Lingwood, originally from Cheltenham (39). Their wedding was at St. George in Dunster, officiated by the Rev. Richard Utter Todd (40), also pictured above. Rev Michell became a father seven more times with his second wife (41). The Rev. William Philip Michell died on the 3rd of December 1910 at the Carhampton Vicarage (42). He was buried at his church and The Lynch Gate to the churchyard at St. John the Baptist was erected in 1912 in his honour (43).

REV. PREB. CHARLES SAINSBURY, MA, of THE CHURCH OF ALL SAINTS, WOOTTON COURTENAY and then THE CHURCH OF ST. MICHAEL'S, MINEHEAD- Charles Sainsbury was born at Swainswick, Bath in 1837, the eldest son of a Wine Merchant, also named Charles and Alice (nee Whittington) Sainsbury (44). He entered Trinity College at Cambridge at the age of 19, earning a BA in 1860 and an MA in 1864 . By 1861, as Rev. Charles Sainsbury, he was working as a Curate at All Saints in Wootton Courtenay (45), known as "the little curate, beloved of all the village" and remembered for forming the first cricket club. The job of this young man may not have always been easy as the current Rector at All Saints was the formidable Bishop Chapman, determined to bring an end to the buying or selling of any liquors at any public event. This included Harvest Home festivals and perhaps cricket games, co-organised by his popular son-of-a-wine merchant Curate (46). By 1881, Sainsbury was boarding at the Sea View House on Station Road in Minehead and curating at St. Michael's in Minehead, where he remained for the next 34 years (47). Perhaps as a single man, Sainsbury remained in the role of a " Curate Assistant" or a "Clerk of Holy Orders" (48), yet in the final years of his life, he was awarded the honour of being named as a Prebendary of Bath and Wells (49). Rev. Charles Sainsbury died in 1915 and was buried in the Minehead Cemetery (50). On the 15th of May 1920, at the Luttrell Memorial Hospital, recently opened in Minehead, the children's ward was named the Sainsbury Ward after Rev. Charles Sainsbury (51).

REV. RICHARD UTTEN TODD, MA of THE PRIORY CHURCH OF ST. GEORGE, DUNSTER- Richard Utten Todd was born in London in 1838 to Richard James Surrey Todd, a West India Merchant and Mary Ann (nee Hedges) Todd. He was baptised on 18 April 1838 at St. Mary's Abbots Church of Kensington and Chelsea (52). At the onset of his clerical career, Todd would have known Charles Sainsbury as they both entered Trinity College at Cambridge in 1856, where they earned, around the same time, their BA and MA. By 1862, Rev. Todd was Curate of Broad Clyst in Exeter, where he married Magdalena Whitehead four years later (53). In 1872, Rev. Todd became the Vicar at St. George in Dunster, where he served the next 15 years (54). In 1874, Richard James Utten Todd, the first child of Rev. and Magdalena Todd was born, followed by four daughters and another son, Killingworth Arthur Todd, born in 1882 (55). Both boys became clergymen and Richard James was serving as an "Assistant Priest"to his father at St. George when Richard Utten Todd died at the age of 48 (56). Rev. Todd had baptised a baby on the 2nd of May 1886, yet on the 9th of May, his son, Richard James, had to step in and perform the next baptism in place of his ill father (57). Rev. Richard Utten Todd died the 23rd of May 1886 and was buried at St. George with Rev. Charles Sainsbury coming over from St. Michael's to officiate (58). Sadly, Magdalena was pregnant with the youngest child of herself and her late husband. When Margaret Lucy Utten Todd was baptised at St. George on the 22nd of September 1886, her father was listed as "Late Rector of Dunster" and the ceremony was performed by her 14-year-old brother, Richard James, recorded as "Priest in Charge" (59). When he was 16, Richard James Todd became Curate at St. Michaels, later serving at Woolverstone, Ipswich, Suffolk, were he died in 1962 (60). His brother, Killingworth, initially went to Wringdon, Bristol as Curate but returned to Alcombe to serve, where he too died young, aged 33 (61). The third image, seen above, is the imposing stained glass window erected at St. George in August 1887 "by his parishioners and other frIends", in the memory of their father, Rev. Richard Utten Todd (62).

REV. PREB. JOHN RICHARD VERNON, MA of ST. AUDRIES CHURCH, WEST QUANTOXHEAD- John Richard Vernon can be identified above as the first seated gentleman on the left, based on a photograph shared by Nicola McQuaid in 2022 at Ancestry. com (63). Rev. Vernon was born in Lincolnshire, the son of Rev. William Hardy Vernon, the Vicar of the district of Epsom, at Sutton in Surrey and Eleanora Elizabeth (nee Snee) Vernon (64). In 1856, John Richard Vernon entered Magdalen Hall, Oxford, receiving his BA in 1859 (65). He married Augusta Champneys Bockett in 1861, whose father was also a Vicar at Epsom (66). Vernon earned his MA at Hertford College, Oxford in 1863 (67). Between 1860 and 1874, Rev. and Mrs. Vernon, their son, Cyril (who later entered the Clergy) and their two daughters, Maud and Violet, travelled to and from various curacies, including Sellindge, Cheriton and Newington in Kent, Streatham in London and Stogumber at Somerset (68), the latter getting the family closer to St. Audries (also known as the Church of St. Etheldreda), where he became Rector in 1874 --and where their last child, Harold, was born (69). By 1897, Vernon was awarded a Prebendary (70). He passed away at the St. Audries Rectory in 1902, remembered by his congregation with an elegant golden plaque in the shape of a cross placed on the right chancel wall of St. Audries (71). Throughout the Victorian era, Rev. Vernon would have probably been the most famous of the gentlemen pictured here--not so much as a vicar but as an author. Among many hymns he wrote, "There's Peace and Rest in Paradise" was included in the 1889 collection of "Hymns, Ancient and Modern" (72) and Rev. Vernon was known nationally for a series of devotional books released by the Religious Tract Society. With titles including, "The Harvest of a Quiet Eye : Leisure Thoughts for Busy Minds" and "Random Truths in Common Things: Occasional Papers From My Study Chair", the books were mostly reassuring musings and meditations of the Reverend, inspired by everyday miracles of life, such as walks and the changes of seasons (73). Although certainly dated by the 1920s, nevertheless the books were handsomely bound in leather and filled with illustrations done in the period style evident in the fourth image (which seems to depict Rev. John Richard Vernon--indeed looking as he does in the photograph-- seated in the aforementioned study chair). The books were very successful and remain quite collectable and indeed "Random Truths in Common Things" was reprinted (in paperback and a Kindle version ), including this illustration, by Hard Press in 2018.

Anonymous /
Tom Sperling /
Tom Sperling /
Anonymous (possibly Noel Humphreys, Harrison Weir, Wimpens Pritchett or Miss Edwards, illustrators of other John Richard Vernon Books)

between 1876 and 1886

English

nine clergyman of West Somerset, photographed at an unknown location between 1876 and 1886, with eight of them identified

2023

Gift

PEOPLE: Named / including Timberscombe and Wootton Courtenay
PEOPLE: Occupations / including Timberscombe and Wootton Courtenay
PLACES: Churches and Chapels / including Timberscombe and Wootton Courtenay
PLACES

Good

entered by Tom Sperling

2023

W X L

cm

13 X 20 (PHOTOGRAPHS)
21 X 14 (PHOTOGRAPHS)
14 X 9 (ARTWORK)
21 X 16.5 (PHOTOGRAPHS)
14.5 X 11.5 (ARTWORK)
14 X 14 (PHOTOGRAPHS)
12. 5 X 12.5 (ARTWORK)

St. Petrock's History Group

(1) Find My Past.com, The Diocese of Bath and Wells, The Western Gazette, 23 July 1869 (2) 1842 England Census (3) 1871 England Census and India, Select Marriages, 1792-1948 (4) 1871 England Census (which indicates the younger siblings of Charlotte Ann Whitlock were born in India, including a brother two years younger than herself) (5) Web, UK Royal Naval Officers Service Records Index, 1756-1931 and England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations) 1861-1941 (6) 1871 England Census (7) 1939 England and Wales Register and hartstongue.co.uk (8) The Week in the News, amgouldsomersetauthor.com (9) The Taunton Courier and Western Advertisers, 22 April 1889 (10) The West Somerset Free Press, January 1886 (11) UK and Ireland, Find A Grave Index, 1300s-Current and Somerset, England, Church of England, Burials, 1813-1914 (12) Timberscombe School LOG BOOK, 8 March 1872-31 August 1892, page 61 (13) England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915 (14) UK, Poll Books and Electoral Register, 1538-1893, Somerset, England, Marriage Registers, Bonds and Allegations, 1754-1914 and UK Clergy List, 1897 (15) Timberscombe School LOG BOOK, 8 March 1872-31 August, 1892, pages 59 and 60 (16) 1881 England Census (17) England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915 and "St. Petrock's Church Timberscombe", church pamphlet written in 2017 by Marion Jeffrey (18) England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 and Essex, England, Church of England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1921 (19) Hampshire , England, Church of England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1914, England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915 and the peerage.com (20) UK Clergy List, 1897 (21) Southwell & Nottingham Church History Project, Hawksworth and St. Mary and All Saints, southwellchurches.nottingham.ac,uk (22) Cambridge University Alumni, 1261-1900, Somersetshire, Archaeological and National History Society, Officers, Members and Rules, 1900, sahns.org, 1873-1904 (23) the guardian .newspapers.com (24) England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations) 1858-1995 and Alumni Cantabrigierises, A Biographical List of all Known Students and Graduates by John Venn, Cambridge University Press, September 2011 (25) Dictionary of National Biographies, 1885-1920, Hook, Walter Farguhar (26) 1881 England Census and England & Wales, Church of England, Baptisms, 1813-1914 (27) 1861 England Census, the peerage.com and Geneant Community, Tree Index, Ancestry.com (28) 1871 England Census (29) The Week in the News, amgouldsomersetauthor.com (30) Timberscombe School LOG BOOK, 8 March 1872-31 August 1892, pages 84 and 97 (31) "PORLOCK IN THOSE DAYS" by Dennis Corner, Rare Books and Berry, High Street, Porlock, 2009. originally published in 1992 by Exmoor Books, page 19 (32) Biblio.co.uk (33) UK and Ireland, Find A Grave Index, 1300s-Current (34) devon-michells, co.uk, 1841 England Census and Somerset, England, Church of England, Baptisms, 1813-1914 (35) Cambridge University Alumni, 1261-1900 (36) England, Select Marriages, 1538-1973 (37) UK Clergy List, 1897 (38) England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915 and Somerset England, Church of England, Burials, 1813-1914 (39) devon-michells.co.uk and Cambridge University Alumni, 1261-1900 (40) Somerset, England, Marriage Registers, Bonds and Allegations, 1754-1914 (41) 1881, 1891 and 1901 England Censuses and devon-michells.co.uk (42) England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 (43) Somerset, England, Church of England, Burials, 1813-1914 and Martin/Hewitt/ Kirkwood, Tree Search, William Philip Michell, 1833-1910, Ancestry. com (44) 1851 England Census (45) Cambridge University Alumni, 1216-1900 and UK, Crockford's Clerical Directories, 1868 (46) "WOOTTON COURTENAY" by Dorothy Ball, published by Peter Ball, 25 Sunningdale Avenue, Ayr, UK, 2007. pages 117 and 125 and Timberscombe School LOG BOOK, 8 March 1872-31 August, 1892, Page 1 (47) 1881 England Census (48) 1881, 1891, 1901 and 1911 England Censuses (49) Western Gazette, Friday, 8 January 1915 (50) England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915 and UK and Ireland, Find A Grave Index, 1300's-Current (51) The West Somerset Free Press.co.uk/news/ from long ago-501 650 / 100years (52) 1851 England Census and London, England, Church of England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1923 (53) Belfast, Northern Ireland Newsletter (Birth, Marriage and Death Notices), 1738-1915 (54) The Essex Standard, Essex, England, 24 May 1872 and Cambridge University Alumni, 1216-1900 (55) 1881 and 1891 England Censuses (56) 1911 England Census and as recorded on a golden plaque on the left wall of the nave of St. Michael's Church, Minehead (57) Somerset, England, Church of England, Baptisms, 1813-1914 (58) Somerset, England, Church of England, Burials, 1813-1914 (59) Somerset, England, Church of England, Baptisms, 1813-1914 (60) as recorded on a golden plaque on the west wall of the nave of St. Michael's Church and England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations) 1858-1995 (61) England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 and England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915 (62) The West Somerset Free Press, Minehead, Somerset, 06 August 1887 (63) Trees, A70C9562-B5C7-4357-959B-1216-1900, as entered by Nicola McQuaid, 24 March 2022, linked to John Richard Vernon, Ancestry.com (64) 1851 England Census and Sutton, Surrey, England, Church of England, Deaths and Burials, 1813-1985 (65) Oxford University Alumni, 1500-1886 (66) Surrey, England, Church of England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1937 and 1881 England Census (67) Oxford University Alumni, 1500-1886 (68) The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology, hymnology,hymnsam.co. ,ak/j/ohn-richard-vernon (69) Oxford Alumni, 1500-1886 (70) Church of St. Etheldreda, West Quantoxhead facts for kids, kids.kiddle.co.uk (71) as seen by Thomas Sperling on Monday 4 September 2023 at St. Andries (72) HymnTime. com (73) Amazon.co uk (selling a 2018 reprint of "Random Truths in Common Things" by Hard Press), Tim Whittingham's Quantock Items, John Richard Vernon, wittingham.me.uk./quantock-poets/john-vernon and The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology, hymnology.co.uk/j/john-richard-vernon

St. Petrock's History Group Archives

2023

St. Petrock's History Group PHOTOGRAPHS
St. Petrock's History Group ARTWORK

SP-209

Copies