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Catholic Recusants in Barwick 1627


from The Barwicker No.22
June 1991



In a previous article (see 'Barwick pays its Taxes' in 'The Barwicker' No. 1
March 19866), it was shown that in 1524, Barwick paid more in taxes for the King's wars and had more taxpayers than any of the other 44 townships in the Skyrack wapentake, except for Leeds. The taxes were paid on land, goods and wages.

A century later, money was still required by the King, now Charles I, from Barwick and elsewhere. Parliament granted him five yearly subsidies on land and goods. The subsidy list for the Skyrack wapentake for the year 1627 is preserved in the Public Record Office. It was transcribed by John Stansfield of Leeds and reproduced in the Thoresby Society publication No.2. of 1891. The subsidy was levied on land or goods, but all the taxpayers of Barwick paid tax on land only. The Barwick list is shown below.

Assessment Tax paid
£ £
John Gascoigne, recusant 13.6.8. 5.6.8.
Richard Vevers 2.0.0. 40.8.0.
John Taylor 1.10.0. 0.6 0.
Thomas Rawson 1.0.0. 0.4.0.
William Wavers 1.0.0. 0.4.0.
John Hardcastle 2.0.0. 0.8.0.
Robert Sayner 1.0.0. 0.4.0.
Martin Cloughe 1.0.0. 0.4.0.
Richard Potter, sen. 1.0.0. 0.4.0.
John Layton, gent. 1.0.0. 0.4.0.
William Roydhouse 1.0.0. 0.4.0.
Richard Potter, jun. 1.0.0. 0.4.0.
Thomas Tailer 1.0.0. 0.4.0.
John Haighe 1.0.0. 0.4.0.
John Daniell 1.0.0. 0.4.0.
Willam Briggs 1.0.0. 0.4.0.
Robert Greenwood 1.0.0. 0.4.0.
Sum 9.0.8.


The total sum paid was still the highest in the wapentake but Bingley now had more taxpayers with a total of 26. The tax levied land was 4s. in the L. The biggest landowner in the township, a Gascoigne, however, was taxed at double this rate as he was a recusant, a Roman Catholic who refused to attend Church of England vices. He was the only taxpayer in the wapentake to be so penalised. In a previous article (see 'Catholic Recusants in Barwick 1604' in 'The Barwicker No.22), it was seen that Barwick was an important centre for recusancy in 1604 and that John Gascoigne was the leader of this form of dissent. 23 years on, despite the harsh laws and their severe financial consequences, he alone of the landowners of the wapentake maintained his faith in the old religion. He was not an isolated figure in Barwick, however, where some of his neighbours, retainers and tenants gave him their support and were penalised accordingly. The 1627 subsidy, in addition to the normal taxpayers, gives the names of all the adult recusants of the township. It shows that a charge of 8d per head was levied on all of them, men and women alike. The returns show the importance of Barwick in local recusancy, listing 31 offenders (including John Gascoigne) out of a total for the whole wapentake of only 51. The Barwick list is:

           Recusants:

Thomas Ellis
Widow Ellis
Marmaduke Beckwith and his wife 
The wife of James Marshall

Lasingcroft
Widow Oglethorpe

Barnbow
The wife of John Gascoigne
Thomas Gascoigne and his wife
Matthew Bywater and Peter Slater, servants of John Gascoigne
Edward Bennett and Grace his wife 
Thomas Stuthard and his wife 
Nicholas Shippen and his wife 
The wife of Cuthbert Massey
Widow Daniell
Henry Brame and his wife and his son Samuel Brame

Shippen
Richard Clarkson and his wife 
Robert Johnson and his wife 
Widow Hunt
Widow Harrison
Widow ffield
Widow Tompson

Sum	20s. 8d


The numbers given are in stark contrast to the rest of the wapentake where recusancy had been almost eliminated. Despite several decades of social, legal and financial penalties, John Gascoigne had maintained his allegiance to the old faith and had gathered about him a small group of like-minded men and women. It seems likely that the four recusants in Garforth and the five in Parlington were also under his influence and protection. The only other recusants in the wapentake were three in Chapel Allerton, three in Shadwell and five in Potter Newton.

The Widow Ellis included was the Mary Ellis who appeared in the 1604 list of recusants. She was the widow of John Ellis, who held the Kiddal estates until his death in 1627, the year of the subsidy, when he was succeeded by his eldest son, also John Ellis. Why the latter did not appear in the subsidy list is not clear. Apart from Mary Ellis, the only member of the family who is registered as a recusant is Thomas Ellis, her eighth son. The names show the tenacity with which these local offenders against the norms of contemporary Barwick society clung to their beliefs. It seems likely that of the 21 recusants named in the 1604 list, eight are included in the 1627 list and others would have died in the meantime. In addition, Thomas Gascoigne, eldest son and heir of John and only a child in 1604, takes his place with his wife in 1627, as does Edward Bennett's wife.

As previously noted, women were a powerful farce in the retention of the old beliefs. Wives supported their husbands in this respect and they were not shaken in their faith by their eventual widowhood. One cannot note the large proportion of widows in the list, especially at Shippen, without speculating on the possibility that John Gascoigne made some special provision for their accommodation there.



John Gascoigne, Abbot of Lamspringe (left) and Sir Thomas Gascoigne
From a portrait at Lotherton Hall taken form
Colman's "History of the Parish of Barwick-in-Elmet".


John Gascoigne despite his recusancy was made a Knight of Nova Scotia in 1635, when the King prevailed upon him to part with a considerable sum in exchange for land in Canada which proved worthless to him. After his death in 1637, his heir Sir Thomas Gascoigne continued to be persecuted for his allegiance to the old religion. Despite this, he supported the King in the Civil War and had his lands confiscated by the parliamentarians. After the war, his request for re-instatement was turned down because of his recusancy. In 1680, he was accused of conspiring to kill the King in what became known as the Barnbow Plot. He was acquitted, but retired to the Monastery of Lamspringe in Saxony where his brother John was Abbot and he died there in 1688.

ARTHUR BANTOFT


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