Researching an Anglican clergyman

This guide describes the main sources useful for tracing the career of a clergyman in the Diocese of Norwich, or for compiling a list of Norfolk parish incumbents.

Most sources are held by the Norfolk Record Office (NRO) and/or the Norfolk Heritage Centre (NHC).

General biographical works

The Church of England Clergy database gives information about the careers of Anglican clergy from 1540 to 1835. You can search the database by place or by name.

It includes details of ordinations, appointments to livings and (sometimes) educational qualifications. Dates of birth and death are occasionally given.

The database also includes details of the appointments of unbeneficed clergymen, curates, preachers and some schoolteachers.

The Dictionary of National Biography (DNB) includes biographical details and sources for the more notable Norfolk churchmen.

You can see the online version of the DNB at the NRO, NHC and at Norfolk libraries. If you are a Norfolk Library member, you can also see it at home via the Library Service's online subscriptions service.

Nearly all Anglican clergy had attended an Oxford or Cambridge college by 1700 at the latest. Lists of graduates are published in:

• A B Emden, Biographical Register of the University of Oxford to AD 1500 (available at NHC)
• A B Emden, Biographical Register of the University of Cambridge to 1500 (NHC)
• J Foster, Alumni Oxonienses (NHC)
• J and J A Venn, Alumni Cantabrigienses (NHC)

Alumni Oxonienses and Alumni Cantabrigienses are available to search online at Ancestry. This is a subscription website, but can be accessed free of charge at the NRO, NHC and King's Lynn Borough Archives.

Entries generally provide educational and career details, including dates of ordination and the name of the ordaining bishop. These are very useful for tracing ordination papers: see below.

Often a father's name is given and, very rarely, a place and date of birth.

For the period 1643-1660, see A G Matthews' books Walker's Sufferings Revised and Calamy Revised.

These contain biographies for Anglican clergy persecuted in 1642-60 and the Puritan clergy ejected from their livings in 1660-2 respectively. Please note these books are not held by NRO or NHC.

For local history publications about individual churches and clergy, visit the NHC.

At the NRO we also have a small collection of local history publications available on our searchroom shelves.

The bishop's registers of institutions (appointments of clergy) survive from 1299 onwards (see list DN/REG).

They record the institutions made by the Bishop of Norwich, giving:

• The date and place of institution
• The benefice
• The name of the clergy and patron

Later registers often note the cause of the vacancy, such as the death or resignation of the previous incumbent.

The registers, 1299-1608, (except 1425-45) are indexed by parish and subject in DN/REG 17.

An index of institutions (c1299-c1725) arranged by archdeaconry, deanery and then by parish was compiled by Dr Thomas Tanner, who was chancellor of the diocese from 1700-31. See DN/REG 30-31.

This also includes a list of archdeacons and of priors and deans of Norwich, but it is not complete for every parish.

Tanner's index was used by F Blomefield in his Topographical History of Norfolk (NRO and NHC), to which there is a personal names index.

T H Bryant's Norfolk Churches (NRO and NHC) includes incumbents overlooked by Blomefield.

E H Carter's Norfolk Incumbents for the Period 1660-1720, corrects and adds to Blomefield and Bryant. 

For the period 1643-60, see:

• Walker's Sufferings Revised and Calamy Revised by A G Matthews (mentioned in the previous section)
• The Catalogue of Ecclesiastical Records of the Commonwealth 1643-60 (Lambeth Palace Library)
• E H Carter, The Norwich Subscription Books (NRO and NHC), which also lists clergy not mentioned in Blomefield and Bryant

The Diocese Book takes Tanner's index up to about 1968 (see DN/REG 35). It is arranged by archdeaconry, deanery and parish, but has a parish index.

There is also an accompanying personal names index for incumbents and curates (see DN/REG 36).

Unfortunately the Diocese Book does not always overlap with the end of Tanner's index and there is sometimes a gap between c1700-c1770. You can fill this gap by consulting the original bishop's registers, each of which contains a parish index.

Later incumbents can also be found in:

• Dawson Turner, List of Norfolk Benefices, (NRO and NHC) which covers c1730-c1847
• The Clergy List (NHC) first published in 1841
• Crockford's Clerical Directory (NHC), 1855 to the present
• The Norwich Diocesan Directory (NHC), 1858 to the present

These all contain lists of incumbents and parishes. The Clergy List and Crockford's cover the whole of the Anglican Communion and make it possible to trace a clergyman's career outside Norfolk.

Curates' licences

Curates are licensed, not instituted, by the bishop and do not appear in the bishop's registers.

• Grants of licences to curates were sometimes recorded in other registers and survive for 1516-33, 1586-7 and 1768-1810: see DN/SUN 2a; NCC administration act books, 1586-1588 and DN/DIS 1/2 respectively
• Curates' licences are filed from 1782 onwards (see list DN/CUR) and are indexed for 1809-1938 in DN/CUR 1/2
• Curates are also entered in the Diocese Book and are included in the index volume to it: see above
• Records of ordinations indicate the parish where a perpetual curate first served: see lists DN/ORR and DN/ORD, described in the Ordinations section below

Visitations

The consignation books, 1555 onwards, were used at bishop's visitations and sometimes include information about clergy who appeared at the visitation (see lists DN/VIS and DN/VSC).

The books may record the date of ordination, the name of the ordaining bishop (useful for tracing ordination papers - see below) and the date of institution or licence, as well as noting benefices held in plurality (ie, parishes where the clergyman served more than one parish).

The episcopal visitation was held every few years. In the intervening years, the archdecons visited their own jurisdictions and their consignation books survive for various dates from the 16th century onwards - see lists ANF (Archdeaconry of Norfolk) and ANW (Archdeaconry of Norwich).

For (incomplete) lists of clergy compiled for various reasons and at various dates, see the following:

• DN/VAL 2-3
• DN/VAL 4/1
• DN/VIS ¼
• DN/VIS 3/3
• DN/VIS 9/3
• DN/VIS 17/3
• Series DN/VSM

Appointments

Appointments of archdeacons and deans are recorded in the bishop's registers, mentioned above.

• For other diocesan officials, such as the chancellor, registrar or steward and other members of the bishop's household, see list DN/ADR 19
• These appointments were not entered in the bishop's registers, but were often confirmed by the Dean and Chapter and recorded in the patent books, 1541 onwards: see DCN 93 and microfilm MF/RO 198/1
• Appointments of cathedral officials are entered in the Dean and Chapter ledger books, 1538 onwards, and recorded in the Chapter act books: see lists DCN 47 and DCN 24, respectively
• For a list of bishops, archdeacons and other dignitaries see John Le Neve, Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1541-1857: VII (NRO and NHC), compiled by Joyce M Horn

The medieval church had several orders of clergy, the most important of which were priest, deacon, sub-deacon, acolyte and sub-acolyte.

After the Reformation, only the positions of priest and deacon were retained.

Only a bishop or his suffragan could ordain, but before proceeding, the bishop had to satisfy himself of a candidate's literacy, good character and possession of a title (ie, that he had a post in which he could fulfil the duties of his new order). A deacon had to wait a year before he could be ordained priest.

A candidate for holy orders could be ordained by any bishop regardless of his 'home' diocese. Any records relating to his ordination should be found with the archives of the ordaining bishop.

Sources for finding the name of the ordaining bishop are given in the biographical works and institutions sections above. Ordinations by the Bishop of Norwich, or his suffragan, are recorded in various registers, books and rolls in the Norwich diocesan archives and survive from 1413 onwards, though there are gaps: see list DN/ORR.

All entries record the date and place of ordination and the name of the ordaining bishop. The examination of literacy, testimonials and title are included haphazardly.

Ordination notices, which state the candidate's age, place of birth, college and title, are entered in the subscription books, 1662-1728: see list DN/SUB.

From 1738 onwards, the ordination registers systematically record a candidate's age, testimonials and title and, from 1762, his place and date of birth: see list DN/ORR.

Ordination papers survive from 1713: see list DN/ORD. Until about 1748, they consist largely of letters of testimonial. Thereafter, the papers usually consist of five documents:

• A signification, giving the candidate's name and place of abode
• A si quis, or notice of application for ordination, which usually includes a reference to his parish of residence
• Proof of age, usually a baptism certificate
• Letters of testimonial from a college and persons in, or near, his parish of residence
• Proof of title

Such documents can be useful when trying to trace the whereabouts of a deacon during the year prior to his ordination as a priest.

Parish church records

Some parish church collections include papers of clergy, or you may find that some of the parish records either mention, or were compiled by, incumbents.

To see a list of the parish records belonging to a particular church, go to our online catalogue. Follow the link 'Ecclesiastical Parish Records - find a Church of England parish collection' from the catalogue homepage.

Incumbents are very rarely listed in parish registers. A signed entry in the register or in a bishop's or archdeacon's transcript indicates only who the officiating minister was; he may not necessarily have been the incumbent.

Non-residence returns to the Privy Council

These survive, 1814-1922; see list DN/PCS. They are arranged by parish and include information such as:

• The name of the incumbent
• Name of the curate (if applicable)
• Place of residence
• The reason for non-residence
• The stipend
• The names of any other parishes served by the incumbent or curate

Clergymen's personal papers

The NRO holds the personal papers for a minority of clergymen only.
To find out if we hold papers for a particular priest, search the online catalogue for the clergyman's name.