Catholic Recusants in Barwick 1604 Back to the Main Historical Society page
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Catholic Recusants in Barwick 1604


from The Barwicker No.20



The following names of early seventeenth century Barwick inhabitants have been taken from 'A list of Roman Catholics in Yorkshire 1604' edited by E Peacock and published in 1672. The original list is preserved in a folio paper book in the Bodleian Library. The spelling has been retained but the spacing and punctuation have been altered for the sake of clarity.

John Gascoigne Esqr. of Barnebow.
Anne his wief.
Robert Lambert, his serving man.
Laurence Wilson, master of his Colemyns.
Edward Bennet, his milner at Hillome.
Elizabeth Harrison, a seruant.
Elen Ellys, a seruant there.
Kathleen 'Assam, a seruant.
Elizabeth Wortley, an antient seruant there. She is thought to be a dangerous recusant in persuading. Her surname is not certainly known.
Recusants reteyned

Mary Ellis, wief of John Ellys esq. a Recusant.
Thomas Thompson, Mr John Gascoigne his shepparde.
Joan his wife.
Maud ffeild, wife of Robert ffield, labourer.
Barbury, wief of John Robinson, seruant to Mr Gascoigne
Nicholas Harrison, a young man, a weaver.
Isabell Massie, an old woman.
Margaret Massie, wief of Cuthbert Massie.
Ellyn Vevers, wief to Richard Vevers, Mr Gascoyne Seruant.
John Slator, an old poore man.
Elizabeth Gilson, a poor widow.
Recusants for one year
Maude Gascoigne, mother of Mr John Gascoigne Esqr. a Recusant.
'Secret baptism. Mr John Gascoigne his children were all secretlye baptized & none of them came to ye church neither is it knowne where they were baptised.'

Skyrack returns 'Certefyd by Sir Thomas Bland & Henry ffarer'.

To understand the significance of the list, it must be put in its historical context. The English Reformation had begun in 1534 when Henry VIII replaced the Pope as head of the Church in England, allowing Protestant doctrines to be introduced. Four decades later, in Queen Elizabeth's reign, restrictions put on Catholics had reduced support for the old religion. The clergy were required to name known Catholic recusants, that is those people who broke the law by refusing to attend church. They are recorded in the Visitation Books of the Diocese and they indicate at this time that there was little evidence of a recusant problem in Yorkshire.

In 1578, however, there was not only an increase in the number of offenders but also in the nature of the offences. This can be explained by the activities of seminary priests and Jesuits. The former were Catholic secular clergy, who had received their education at colleges established abroad for the purpose of providing clergy for the English mission. Such institutions were set up at Douai in France, Rome, Seville, Madrid, Paris, Lisbon and other places. Seminary priests are distinguished from Jesuits and members of other orders who were employed in ministering to the spiritual needs of the English Catholics during times of persecution. The influence of these priests is shown in the increase in the number of cases of refusal to bring children to baptism and catechism, clandestine marriages and the harbouring of 'suspicious persons'.

Visitation returns in 1582 indicate further increase in recusant activity in Yorkshire. In this area, there were 27 reported offenders in Ledsham, 20 in Kippax and 19 in Garforth. By 1590, although the numbers in Yorkshire continued to increase there was a decline in these villages and only Kippax with 12 offenders showed any significant numbers.

In April 1604, the survey of Catholic recusant activity described above was carried out in Yorkshire, not by the clergy but by the Justices in each Wapentake. Who ordered this and who compiled the results are not known and no other county appears to have made a similar survey at this time. It seems to be a very full and reliable list of recusants and other offenders.

Readers of this Journal, who need no convincing of the special nature of this village, will not be surprised to learn that Barwick was an important centre of recusant activity at this time. Out of the 600 or so parishes in the county, there are only 22 with more names recorded than the 21 offenders in the Barwick list. One does not have to travel beyond the boundaries of Barwick parish to find most of the types of recusant activity which occurred in Yorkshire at that time.

In the country areas of Yorkshire, the houses of Catholic aristocracy and gentry provided shelter and support for adherents to the old religion. Barnbow Hall, the home of John and Anne Gascoigne, formerly stood on the crest of the ridge overlooking the valley of the Cock Beck to the south. It was sufficiently isolated to provide a safe comfortable haven where a visiting priest could say mass and take other services, not only for the Gascoigne family but for household retainers and the tenants and workers on the estate, hence the term 'recusants reteyned'.



John (later Sir John) Gascoigne, from a portrait in Lotherton Hall, taken from Colman's 'History of the Parish of Barwick-in-Elmet'.


The compilers of the list were asked to provide information about the duration of a person's recusancy. The ten people listed as recusants for one year only are of particular significance as their offence began only after the death of Queen Elizabeth. They were expecting that the new sovereign, James I, would be more tolerant and that the penal laws would be relaxed.

Two other features of Yorkshire recusancy are illustrated by the Barwick list. The offenders come from all social levels; from the gentry to the poorest of their retainers and tenants. Women exceed the men in number, in Barwick and in the rest of the shire. One suggested reason for this is that, although recusant men were liable to forfeit two thirds of their land in addition to heavy fines, there were no financial penalties (until 1607) for recusant wives. Mary Ellis's husband John owned a considerable amount of land at Kiddal and elsewhere at that time.

Although Barwick must be considered an important centre of resistance to the established church, the 21 offenders form only a small proportion of the total population of the parish, which numbered about 500 adults at that time. The compilers of the list were asked for the names of any recusant considered particularly dangerous, hence the comments on Elizabeth Wortley. Pointing hands are drawn in the list opposite the name of Laurence Wilson and the secret baptisms of the Gascoignes, a sign used in only a handful of cases throughout the shire, but for what purpose is not known.

The above baptisms exemplify another offence noted by the authorities. John Gascoigne's children proclaimed their support for the Catholic cause in very positive ways. Of the younger sons, John became Abbot of Lamspringe in Saxony, Francis a secular priest and Michael a monk. One daughter Katherine became Abbess of Cambrai, where another daughter Margaret became a nun. Thomas Thwenge, the son of another daughter, Anne, became a priest and was executed for his activities in 1680.

In Sherburn, a 'Resort of Semynaries' is noted, where recusants provided shelter for seminary priests and there were reports of priestly clothing, books, etc. found by servants in barns. In Leeds there is a secret marriage recorded.

There are more people in the Barwick list than for any other parish in the Skyrack wapentake The list below includes all the parishes in the wapentake which have any offenders and also the details of some other local places. One important feature of the survey does not appear in the Barwick list. The compilers were asked to include 'non-communicants', that is people who attended church for matins and evensong, thus avoiding being fined, but who refused to attend communion.

       

                

 		 
 Total 
Since 1603
   
Recusants 
Non-Recusants
Recusants
Non-Recusants
Skyrack Wapentake
        
 
Barwick        
21
0
10
0
 
Kippax 
        
1
2
0
2
 
Swillington 
2
3
0
3
 
Aberford 
4
0
1
0
 
Ilkley 
4
0
4
0
 
Otley
 
2
3
1
3
 
Adel
 
1
0
0
0
 
Leeds
10
4
0
0
Other local places
 		       
 
Saxton
7
4
0
0
 
Ledsham
8
2
0
0
 
Fenton parish
5
4
3
3
 
Cawood
2
1
0
0
 
Sherburn
10
0
5
0


In the shire as a whole the list records 1839 recusants and 622 non-communicants. A total of 569 recusants and non-communicants had become offenders since 1603. This is a very small proportion of the total adult population of about 200,000.

In the first year or two of James's reign, financial punishment of recusants was relaxed somewhat but perhaps John Gascoigne saw the writing on the wall when, in 1604, he settled some of his land for the benefit of his wife, daughters and younger sons to avoid possible confiscation, Persecution of the adherants to the old faith was re-imposed following the discovery in the following year of a plot to assassinate the King, led by that other well-known Yorkshireman Guy Fawkes.

ARTHUR BANTOFT


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