Until the end of the 19th century, the parish clerk was an important character in the life of church and parish. He read the lessons, gave out the hymns, led the singing and the responses, served at the altar, gave out notices, kept the keys, and undertook a myriad of other duties. He has, however, disappeared from our churches, and is rarely mentioned by historians, even those who specialise In the history of the parish. The modern parish clerk, incidentally, performs quite a different and entirely secular role.

Parish clerks held an ancient office, first mentioned in 975. In the 12th century, a papal decretal required the parish priest to have ‘a fitting and honest clerk’ to assist him. Before the Reformation, he was regarded as a clergyman in minor orders, usually chosen by the priest from among his parishioners (although elected in some parishes). In the 13th century, most were adolescents, and many were preparing for ordination. By the 16th century, many held the position for life.

The medieval clerk served at mass, passed the pax around the congregation to be kissed, accompanied the priest on pastoral visits to the sick, distributed holy bread, and carried the holy water bucket. The latter duty led to him being described as the aquaebajalus – the water carrier. The term stuck, despite the fact that, after the Reformation, holy water ceased to be used.

Church services after the Reformation were focused much more on the congregation, and on the pulpit. Pulpits were frequently designed to provide a reading desk for the clerk as well as the preacher. The new pulpit erected at Great Budworth (Cheshire) in 1737 had ‘one reading desk for the parson & another for the clerk under or below the said pulpit’. Alternatively, an entirely separate reading desk might be provided. The clerk’s reading desk at Mildenhall (Wiltshire) is identical to the pulpit on the opposite side of the aisle. The Book of Common Prayer requires the minister to read the service, and the congregation to make set responses. But it is likely that many were illiterate, and unable to read the responses. It is likely too that there were insufficient books for everyone to have one. The clerk therefore had an important role to play in leading the responses. He also verbally lined out verses of psalms and hymns before they were sung.

After the Reformation
The post-Reformation clerk was usually (but not always) a layman. The 1603 canons specified that he had to be chosen by the priest (although a few parishes ignored this requirement), to be at least 20 years of age, and to be ‘of honest conversation’. In some dioceses, nominations were sent to the bishop. When Edward Chivers was appointed parish clerk of Avebury in 1811, he promised ‘to conduct myself soberly, honestly, and in the fear of God, particularly to take care to avoid falling into that evil habit destructive to worldly prosperity, reputation and morality, frequenting public houses’. The office was a respectable and coveted position. Edward Stanley, a young gentleman in the household of Sir Thomas Grey, was clerk of Chillingham (Northumberland) c.1577. Most clerks were yeomen or tradesmen rather than gentry, the sort of men who were influential in their parish, but not beyond it. Reuben Horsell, parish clerk of Avebury, Wiltshire was not of gentry status, but was described by William Stukeley, the antiquarian, as ‘a sensible man and lover of antiquities’, who had ‘a due veneration for these sacred remains’ (the prehistoric megaliths). The clerkship was sometimes held by the same family for generations. At nearby Swindon the Noad family held office for 150 years.

The canons of 1604 specified that the clerk had to be ‘sufficient for his reading writing and also for his competent skill in singing if it may be’. Given that clerks usually held office for life, their singing skills sometimes deteriorated. When Richard Bassett, the parish clerk of Buxted, Surrey was buried in 1666, the scribe of the burial register colourfully recorded that ‘his melody warbled forth as if he had been struck on the back by a stone’. He was probably better than another clerk whose singing was described as ‘squeakinge like a gelded pigg’!

Sometimes the clerk acted as sexton, and/or wrote the parish register (despite the legal requirement for incumbents to do so). In one Devizes (Wiltshire) parish, the clerk allowed his young son to use the register to practise his handwriting; consequently, the register now includes a ballad in praise of St George!

Other duties
Other intrusions into the duties of the incumbent were also made. In 1569, it was noted that at Westbere (Kent), ‘when the Parson is absent the parish clerk readeth the service’. Bishops sometimes authorised the clerk to perform other duties. When plague raged in Stepney in 1625–6, the mortality was so great that the vicar was unable to cope. His bishop therefore gave permission for the parish clerk to conduct funeral services.

In addition to his liturgical duties, the parish clerk might also be expected to wash the surplice and communion table linen, clean the plate, ring the bells, wind the clock and write the churchwardens’ accounts. Sometimes their duties as clerks extended into the secular sphere. In giving the notices, they might announce manorial courts, fairs, auction sales, and a wide range of other secular matters. Sometimes, like the clerk of Stretford in Lancashire, they stood in the churchyard after Sunday morning service to do so.

Clerks sometimes also had other employments. They could use their literacy to earn fees by writing for the many illiterate parishioners. Dr Johnson argued that ‘the parish clerk should be a man who is able to make a will, or write a letter for anybody in the parish’. Many taught school, either as part of their clerkly duties, or independently. Amor Oxley, clerk of Woodhorn (Northumberland) was described as ‘an eminent schoolmaster’.

Provisions
Parish clerks were servants of the parish, occupying a paid position. They were sometimes provided with a house, and usually wore a rochet or surplice provided by the churchwardens. In 1502–3, the linen for a new rochet cost the St Michael’s, Bath churchwardens 17d. A further 18d was spent to have it made.

Clerks usually received a wage from the churchwardens, plus various other perks. The clerk at Mere in Wiltshire was paid £8 per annum in the late 16th century. He did well; in Cornwall the average wage was £2 per annum. Some had to take collections from parishioners. The cottagers of St Neots (Cornwall) were expected to pay 2d each. At Hamstall Ridware in Staffordshire the clerk took some payments in kind, including two eggs at Easter from each of the larger farms. Many clerks were able to charge fees in addition to their wages. At Preshute, Wiltshire in 1783, the clerk received a wage of £2 per annum, but was also able to charge fees: 1s for reading banns, 4d for registering christenings, and 4s 6d for ringing the knells and digging a grave (or 3s 4d if a pauper). ‘Wealthy and well-disposed inhabitants’ were expected to give him a ‘benevolence’ at Easter.

In the medieval period, clerks’ wages were frequently raised by holding ‘clerk’s ales’. When the puritans put a stop to such events, compulsory church rates were substituted. Their abolition in 1868 cut off this source of funding. In most parishes, that led to the office lapsing, as no other funding was readily available.

Parish clerks can be traced in a variety of places. Nominations can be found among diocesan records. When they died, burial entries in parish registers are likely to record the fact that they held the office. So are wills. Sometimes clerks can be identified as scribes and/or witnesses of wills, and as appraisers of probate inventories. Their wages are recorded in churchwardens’ accounts. Glebe terriers, which record parish customs as well as the property of benefices, occasionally mention the emoluments of parish clerks.

Further reading
Legg, J. Wickham, ed. The Clerk’s Book of 1549. Henry Bradshaw Society, 1907.
Ditchfield, P.H. The Parish Clerk. Methuen & Co., 1907.