Memorials of the Church and Parish of Sonning ... Reprinted from the Parish Magazine, and revised, together with a memoir of the writer, by W. R. W. Stephens ... Illustrated by A. Y. Nutt

Front matter

■ I ■ I ■ ■ I I ■ I ■ I ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ i ■ H H ■ ■ ■ I Memorials OF THK Church and Parish of Sonning BY HUGH PEARSON, M.A., Late Vicar of Sonning, and Canon of Windsor, REPRINTED FROM THE PARISH MAGAZINE, AND REVISED, TOGETHER WITH A MEMOIR OF THE WRITER BY W. R. W. STEPHENS, M.A., Prebendary of Chichester, nrrd Rector of Woolbeding, Sussex. ILLUSTRATED BY A. Y. NUTT, ESQ. READING : EDWARD J. BLACKWELL, 20, LONDON STREET. 1890. EDITOR'S

Preface

. The Memorials of Sonning Church and Parish in this volume were originally put together by the late Vicar, Hugh Pearson, in the form of short papers for the Sonning Parish Magazine, in which they appeared, at intervals, from 1869 to 1879. I have now arranged them in chapters, with headings of the contents, and have inserted a few foot-notes signed [ Ed.] ; otherwise they are reprinted without any alteration. They are good specimens of parochial history, and show how much light may be thrown by such local records upon the ecclesiastical, constitutional, and social history of the nation. But for all who knew Hugh Pearson they will have a peculiar interest, as being his own memorials of his own Parish — of the place which was his home for forty years, with which his whole heart was bound up, and upon which he stamped in such a remarkable way the impress of his whole being.

Moreover, with the exception of his Sermons (which he expressly desired to be with-held from print), two biographical notices of his brothers, Charles and Henry, and his letters, which, if collected, would doubtless form an interesting volume, these Memorials are his only literary remains. They do not, indeed, adequately represent the

PREFACE.

. literary ability which he possessed, but they answer the purpose for which they were designed. It is no easy matter to compose a plain and simple narrative of events, long past, in language intelligible to readers of various ranks, and de grees of education. This is what the writer aimed at, and in this he certainly succeeded. The Memorials might have been made a complete and exhaustive history by a more extensive use of original authorities, and a more searching examination of original records, especially at Salisbury, but they would, probably, not have been then so acceptable to the various classes of readers for whom they were intended. And as far as they go they are thoroughly trustworthy. For information and advice respecting the early history of the Parish, especially that which relates to the Bishops of Sonning, the writer was mainly indebted to the late Rev. W. H. Jones, Vicar of Bradford-on-Avon, and Prebendary of Salisbury, and to the greatest living master of history, the present Bishop of Oxford.

The investigation of original documents, at Salis bury and elsewhere, was made by the writer's brother, the Rev. William Henley Jervis and his wife, Mrs. Jervis. The materials thus collected were put into shape by the Vicar of Sonning, and the narrative was for the most part written by an amanuensis at his dictation. These facts illustrate a feature in his character mentioned in the Memoir — a certain shrinking from severe or prolonged exertion, mental or bodily (the effect, perhaps, of some physical weakness), which, combined with great fastidiousness in the choice of

PREFACE.

. language, probably deterred him from undertaking the literary work which one so well-read, and gifted with such fine taste, might have been expected to produce. The Memoir placed at the beginning of this volume was originally written for the Sonning Parish Magazine, in which it appeared in July, 1882, about two months after Hugh Pearson's death. It has been carefully revised and slightly enlarged, especially by some account of the life at Windsor. My sincere thanks are due to many persons who have very kindly contributed their reminiscences, and informa tion of various kinds. Amongst those connected with Sonning I would name the present Vicar, the Venerable Archdeacon Pott ; the Rev. H. E. Hulton (formerly Vicar of Dunsden, and now of Great Waltham, Essex) ; the Rev. R. H. Hart-Davis, the present Vicar of Dunsden, who has been especially helpful in more ways than I can mention ; the Rev. E. A. Gray, Vicar of Woodley, and W. Gregory, Esq. For notices of the life at Windsor I am indebted to the Honourable Mrs. Wellesley, the Rev. Edmond Warre, D.D., Head Master of Eton College, Walter Durnford, Esq., Assistant Master of the same, the Rev. J. Swire, Rector of Peasemore, formerly Minor Canon of St. George's, and A. Y. Nutt, Esq., Chapter Surveyor, who has also most kindly designed the three illustrations with which this volume is embellished, and the initial letter H. with Hugh Pearson's arms and motto wrought into it.

PREFACE.

. To the Right Honourable Lord Coleridge, the Lord Chief Justice, and to the Right Honourable Sir W. H. Gregory, of Coole Park, County Galway, I am indebted for some recollections of Hugh Pearson's School and College days, and for some general remarks upon his character. The only personal qualification for writing the Memoir to which I can lay claim is that I knew the subject of it intimately from my earliest childhood, and that I heartily loved him. And although, as time went on, I differed from him in opinions upon some of the most important subjects on which it is possible to differ, my affection for him never diminished ; nor can I ever forget how much I owed to him early in my life for moral influence and guidance, and for in spiring me with a love of literature, more especially of history, which has been an unfailing source of interesting work and delightful recreation.

Gladly would I requite the debt by helping, however slightly, to perpetuate the memory of a life so useful, a character so rare, so delicate, so loveable, as that which I have attempted to portray. " His saltern accumulem donis." W. R. W. Stephens. Woolbeding Rectory, January 20/h, 1S90. CONTENTS. PAGE MEMOIR OF HUGH PEARSON vi.— xiii. With Appendix. $avt X. MEMORIALS OF ST. ANDREW'S CHURCH, SONNING.

Appendix

I. A List of the Vicars of Sonning from the commencement of the 14TH Century to the present Time 223

APPENDIX.

II. Note on Passage in Page 191 228 Index UGH ;h Pearson, the fourth son of the Rev. Hugh Nicholas Pearson, and Sarah Maria his wife, was born on Wednesday, June 25th (the day after St. John Baptist's Day), 181 7, in St. Giles', Oxford, and nearly opposite St. John's College. His parents said that had he been born on the Saint's Day he would have been named John. Early in the following September his parents quitted Oxford for Brighton, where his father had been ap pointed to St. James' Chapel in St. James' Street. They had a numerous family : the brothers and sisters were all deeply attached to one another, and many of them were highly gifted. A memoir of the eldest, Mr. Charles Buchanan Pearson, appeared in the Sonning Parish Magazine, in February, 1881. It was written by his brother Hugh, who enlarges upon his " refined and cultivated taste, his varied and ample literary knowledge," and describes him "as the adviser and counsel lor to whom he had looked for help all through life."

The musical genius of Mr. Henry Hugo Pearson, and the literary A VI HUGH PEARSON. ability and learning of Mr. William Pearson, who aftenvards, under the will of his mother-in-law, took her name of Jervis, are well-known, and are alluded to here only for the purpose of showing that the childhood of Hugh Pearson was spent in an intellectual atmosphere. He himself however, as a young boy, was more remarkable for a singular sweetness of temper and amiability of disposition, than for any extra ordinary power or quickness of mind. The only incident of his childhood which I have to record, is one which he told me himself. His father was Domestic Chaplain to King George IV., and on one occasion (I do not know whether it was at Brighton, or at Windsor, nor indeed how it occurred), it so happened that the two brothers, Henry and Hugh, met the King coming down the staircase as they were going up.

The little boys were rather awe-stricken, but the King greeted them kindly, and said, "which of you two is the musician?" and having complimented Henry on the report he had heard of his talent, he turned to Hugh, and patting him on the cheek, said " Well ! if your brother plays, I'll be bound you dance to his playing." In 1823 his father was made Dean of Salisbury. Hugh was now six years old, and there can be little doubt that the intense love of architecture and music which distinguished him all his life, was early awakened by the services which he attended in the Cathedral, and by the constant contemplation of that venerable, stately, yet graceful and loveable building. His education, apart from what he received at home, began at a private school kept at Mitcham by a Mr. Roberts, a well-known Eton Tutor, who was an excellent scholar, and grounded his pupils well in Latin and Greek.

After spending a short time at this school he was moved to Harrow. The Head Master of Harrow at that time was Dr. Longley, who became successively Bishop of Ripon and of Durham, Arch bishop of York, and Archbishop of Canterbury. It may interest some of our readers to know that Mr. Richard Palmer, late of Holme Park, Sonning, was a school-fellow with Dr. Longley at Westminster, and he used to say that the future Archbishop was distinguished at school for the most irreproachable conduct, good scholarship, a melodious voice, extraordinary agility, and exceeding hardness of fist, on which account he used to be taken in the school-boat down the river, in order to fight any of the " roughs " who might insult the boys from the bank. This he did merely as a matter of duty, for his natural disposition was most gentle, and his amiability and humble piety were the qualities which more specially endeared him to the late Vicar of Sonning.

Dr. Longley in his turn appreciated the character of his scholar at its true value : for it was at Harrow that Hugh Pearson's remarkable powers began to display themselves. To great aptitude for scholarship, and good taste in literature and art, he united exemplary conduct, tact, and sound practical judgment. He gradually rose to be captain of the school, and in this position displayed a wisdom and firmness beyond his years under trying circumstances, for in spite of Dr. Longley's personal goodness, the school was not in a satisfactory state under his administration, and he was grateful to a pupil, who by his force of character helped to elevate it. One of his most intimate school friends has said " He was always merry and full of fun, but gentle, obliging, and one of the purest minded boys I ever met.

Nothing would have induced me to retail to him any coarse joke which might have been circulating through our house." From Harrow he went to Oxford, and matriculated as a Commoner at Balliol in the year 1835 or 1836. Rarely has Oxford been more full of intellectual life than it was at that period. Men were no longer content to work in the narrow grooves of old-fashioned scholarship and logic. Reading and thought were beginning to take a much wider range in all departments, especially in philosophy, theology, and history. The Tractarian movement as it was called, was in full vigour, and the almost magical influence of John Henry Newman's character, and of the matchless sermons which he preached week by week at St. Mary's was at its height ; while on the other hand, there was a growing school of men who came to be distinguished as Broad Churchmen of an advanced type.

Like most religious-minded men of his day at Oxford, Hugh Pearson was deeply moved by the power — the indefinable, almost mysterious power — of Newman's preaching, but he never became a disciple of the Tractarian school ; nor did he adhere to the Evangelical school to which his father belonged. He had, indeed, that fine critical perception which enabled him to discern what was really good and valuable in all men, and he had a breadth and force of human sympathy which enabled him to make friends amongst all parties, without being himself tied to any. He has been called "the most popular man in Oxford ; " and the bare mention of a few of his more intimate acquaintances will suffice to show how various they were in character, opinions, and attainments ; while it may be observed that many, if not most of them, have risen to high eminence.

Among those who were a little senior to him, may be named Mr. Donkin, afterwards Savilian Professor of Astronomy ; Mr. Church, the present I )ean of St. Paul's; and Mr. Wickens, who became a distinguished Equity Judge. More exactly contemporary were Mr. Kent, stepson of Bishop Blomfield ; Mr. Stanley, the late Dean of Westminster ; Mr. Goulburn, the late Dean of Norwich ; Mr. Fraser, the late Bishop of Manchester ; and Mr. Jowett, the Master of Balliol. A little junior to him were Mr. Arthur Clough and the brothers Mr. Oliver, and Mr. Thomas, (now Sir Thomas) Farrer ; Mr. Wynne and Mr. Pollen who seceded to the Church of Rome ; and amongst other Oxford men of distinction with whom he early became acquainted, although several years senior to them, may be named Mr. Goldwin Smith, Mr. Matthew Arnold, and Mr. John Duke Coleridge, the present Lord Chief Justice of England.

He was a very extensive reader, but not a laborious stu dent, partly perhaps from a lack of ambition, partly from the natural habit of his mind, which was inclined to move rapidly from subject to subject, and author to author, extracting the sweets from each, as the bee does from flowers, and then passing on. It was said of him that although Thucydides or Aristotle might be open on his table, the novel or poem of the day was always to be found underneath. The consequence of this was that he only obtained a third class in the final classical school, but there were probably few men of his day who left Oxford possessed of such a well cultivated taste, such a rich store of literary knowledge, or such a large circle of friends. Out of the whole list of friends mentioned above, there were three with whom he formed, and retained as long as they lived (for he survived them all), a more than common intimacy.

These three were Mr. Kent, Mr. Wickens, and Mr. Stanley, and if I were to add a fourth, it would be Mr. Jowett, the Master of Balliol. Mr. Kent was remarkable, I believe, for X HUGH PEARSON. good literary taste, and for clever epigrammatic sayings, Mr. Wickens had a fund of quaint humour peculiar to himself, and an uncommonly extensive knowledge of English literature, especially in unexplored regions of poetry and fiction. But the friend who exercised the most constant and powerful influence upon Hugh Pearson's sentiments and opinions was unquestionably the late Dean of Westminster. The close and affectionate intimacy however between them dated I believe not so much from their intercourse at College, as from a casual meeting abroad. Stanley had gone on a tour into Greece about the year 1840, with Mr. (afterwards Dean) Goulburn.

The latter injured his leg by falling into the hold of a vessel when crossing the Ægœan Sea, and was laid up at Athens so long that Stanley was reluctantly compelled to leave him there, in order to return to his duties in Oxford as Fellow and Tutor of University College. About the same time, Hugh Pearson, having recently taken his degree, had travelled to Italy as one of a party of four. This party, from a curious variety of causes, had broken up, and the consequence was that he was left alone in Naples. In this forlorn plight, whilst roaming through the museum, he sud denly lighted upon Stanley, who also had been travelling for several days in solitude ; and the delight of meeting was mutual and intense. They journeyed to England together, stopping at Rome on the way, and were so much charmed with each other's company, that they resolved to travel to gether again on the first opportunity.

This led to a series of tours taken almost annually during a long period, in the course of which the two friends, who were generally accom panied by Mr. Stanley's sister, and his mother as long as she lived, must have travelled over nearly one half of Europe, and the rich stores of information, and of amusing anecdotes derived from recollections of these journeys, and related as he only could relate them, constituted some of the most instructive and delightful materials of Hugh Pearson's con versation. In 1841 he was ordained Deacon by Dr. Shuttleworth, Bishop of Chichester, and in the same year the Vicarage of Sonning became vacant by the resignation of Mr. Howman. The living was at that time in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of Salisbury, who presented Pearson to it. He was then acting as Curate of Withyham near Tunbridge Wells, where his Rector was Mr. Reginald West, the late Earl Delawarr.

He remained in this Curacy for a year, till he was ordained Priest, after which he was instituted to Sonning, and early in the year 1842 he came to reside at the Vicarage. A curious incident occurred in connexion with his arrival. A fly had been ordered to meet him at Twyford, and when he got there he was asked if he would allow a lady, who was also bound for Sonning, to share the fly with him, as it was the only conveyance at hand, and she was very anxious to reach her destination as quickly as possible. He of course assented, and on the way she informed him that she was going to nurse a relation who was dangerously ill of scarlet fever in Sonning, and that her own name was Miss Death ! Thus the new Vicar made his first entrance into his parish, as he used to observe, in the company of Death.

It is obvious what omens might have been drawn by the superstitious from this incident ; and it is curious that the new Vicar did as a matter of fact very nearly lose his life soon after he came to Sonning. On the 2 nd of June he had ridden on horseback to visit HUGH PEARSON. some parishioners in the hamlet of Woodley. It was a hot day and as he was returning slowly homewards, he took off his hat and fanned his face, just after crossing one of the bridges over the Great Western Railway, which had been recently opened. At the same moment a train passed through the cutting, the engine made a shrill whistle, the Vicar's horse, startled by the noise, which was a strange one in those days, made a sudden bound forwards, and the rider unprepared for it, fell heavily backwards to the ground. One of his feet being caught in the stirrup, he was dragged for a considerable distance down the lane, called Pound lane, leading from the high road to the village.

Near the Pound, from which the lane derives its name, the horse was stopped by some workmen, and by a merciful coincidence Mr. Arnold, the village doctor, was passing at the time. The Vicar had not lost consciousness : if he had, he would in the opinion of the doctors, probably never have recovered it, but he was in such an agony of pain that he entreated the men to refrain from touching him, and to leave him to die where he was. The doctor, however, instructed the men how to carry him, and conveyed him to his own home, which was much nearer than the Vicarage, and indeed is the first house to be reached by anyone entering the village by that road. It had once been occupied by Sydney Smith, whose residence there is recorded in his biography by Lady Holland. Here, then, the Vicar was brought, and here he lay for many weeks.

The internal injuries and hemorrhage were very severe, and for a long time he seemed to hover between life and death. Sir Benjamin Brodie, who was called in, said that instances of recovery from such injuries were extremely rare, and that the Vicar owed his life mainly to an exceptionally sound and Xlll. strong constitution, aided by the constant and skilful care of the village doctor. Mentally and physically the event left its mark upon him. One evidence of the lasting impression made on his mind was his custom, invariably observed, of visiting the doctor's house on the anniversary of the accident, and touching the gate through which he had been carried on that terrible day, and from which he did not then expect to go out again alive. And those who knew him well were aware of the deep conviction which he felt that the life which had so nearly been lost, should be spent more devotedly in the service of God by whose mercy it had been preserved.

Physically, it is probable, that he never was so strong as he had been : there was one side on which he never could lie with complete comfort, and a slight deflection of his figure to the left was noticeable when he walked. He was also liable at times to overpowering headaches. Soon after the Vicar's accident my parents came to live at Earley Court, and the image of him left upon my mind, from my childish recollec tions of him, is that of an exceedingly thin, pale, delicate looking man, with furrowed cheeks. Naturally as a young child I thought him quite an old man, but he probably did look much older then than he really was. For a man who was not strong, the Parish of Sonning was at that time an onerous charge. It was eleven miles long from Sonning Common in Oxfordshire to Lower Earley in Berkshire.

The Church of All Saints on the Oxfordshire hills, built by the Miss Palmers, and endowed by Mr. Robert Palmer of Holme Park, was completed in 1842, soon after the Vicar's accident ; but the Church of St. Peter in Earley was not finished till 1844. The old Parish Church was like what so many Churches were then, and what so few are now. HUGH PEARSON. I can recall its appearance very distinctly : a gallery on the north side, another gallery at the west end, in which was a barrel organ, and outside which was hung a slate with the number of the hymn to be sung chalked upon it, a wooden screen dividing the nave from the choir, and all over the body of the Church large high pews, many of them square, in one of which we sat, and where I could see nothing but the people in the galleries (except when I stood on the seat during the hymn singing — a delightful post of observation), and the Vicar when he was in the pulpit.

Of course I can recollect nothing about his preaching at that time, except that his deep soft melodious voice was pleasant to the ear, and I noticed that when he had got to a certain point in his sermon, he always turned his leaves back, and read from the beginning of the manuscript again. I always watched carefully for this proceeding, because it was a sign that the ser mon was about half finished. I only mention the fact here as an illustration of one of his characteristics which was, that he hardly ever departed from a custom which he had once adopted. He used to laugh at me for saying "you can only do things in one way," but acknowledged that it was true. He could with difficulty have written a sermon anywhere but in his own study, and on the paper which he was in the habit of using. Some of the last sermons he ever preached, which I have by me at this moment, are written on precisely the same plan as these earliest ; one side of each page was covered first, and then he went back and wrote on the other, filling altogether about twenty pages.

Of course however, though the outward form was always the same, the style of his sermons altered as time went on, with increase of age, experience and learning, and I have heard my mother say that she never knew a young man, who in the course of a few years, improved so much alike in the substance and manner of his preaching. After the service, in those early days, my parents generally had some talk with the Vicar in the Churchyard, when he would commonly pat my cheek or pinch my ear, and say, " I saw you sitting like a little owl in the corner." As he was very fond of children, so he was particularly attractive to them, and I cannot remember the time when I did not con sider it a privilege and pleasure to be noticed by him. This was not only on account of his bright playful manner, and his hearty ringing laugh, but rather I think, because with all this, he did not treat one like a mere baby, or toy, or fool, but as a reasonable being, and as a friend, however young, whom by his affectionate sympathising manner, partly pater nal, partly brotherly, he seemed to take into his confidence.

After the opening of Earley Church he often walked over there on Sunday afternoons, generally accompanied by Miss Caroline Palmer, sister of Mr. Robert Palmer, then Squire of Sonning, and took the service, the Curate of Earley taking his place at Sonning. What I chiefly recollect about him on these occasions, is the low deep tone in which he began to read the service, especially on hot summer days, as if he was wearied with his walk, and how it swelled in volume and power as he went on. His reading of the Prayers was deeply devotional, and to listen to it was like listening to soft, solemn music. He seemed absorbed in what he read ; I never knew him make a mistake or omission in reading, and, if any other person did so, he never failed to detect it. Such a voice and manner did justice to the stately and beautiful language of the English Liturgy and of the English Bible.

I HUGH PEARSON. never read, or hear read, the magnificent lessons of the Song of Deborah, or Elijah's sacrifice on Mount Carmel, or of the Raising of Lazarus (which was one of his favourite lessons), without thinking of him, and fancying that I can hear his voice. It would be impossible within the limits of this sketch to trace in any detail his ministerial career in Sonning. He was heartily supported in all his undertakings for the welfare of the people by the family of Palmer at Holme Park, especially by Miss Caroline Palmer, of whom he wrote after her death, "She was the best person I have ever known in my passage through life." Her intimate knowledge of the people was invaluable to him when he first, as a young and inexpe rienced man, took charge of the Parish ; and to the last he relied very much upon her sound practical wisdom and judgment.

Without the aid of the wealthy and generous family at Holme Park, much of the material work done in his time — the restoration of the Parish Church in 1852, the building of the Churches for the three Liberties, Dunsden, in 1842, Earley in 1844, and Woodley in 1873, the erection of the Schools in these hamlets, and of a new Boys' School in Sonning, could not have been accomplished. At the same time he supplied much of the energy and spirit which are necessary, both to originate and carry through works of this description. And there was work of another and more im portant kind which was wholly his own. Although differing widely in many respects from the theological views of his Diocesan, Bishop Wilberforce, and sometimes severely criti cising defects in his character and methods of action, he heartily appreciated and admired his extraordinary ability and zeal, and there were few parishes in which Special Services in Lent and Holy Week, Festival Services, Night Schools, and other agencies for good, which became so general through out the Diocese, under the active administration of Bishop Wilberforce, were adopted earlier than they were in Sonning.

He regarded architecture and other arts as the handmaids of religion, and always upheld the true principle that whatever was bestowed on the House of God should be the best which available resources could supply. Neither the building nor anything in it was to be common, niggardly, or mean ; hence the costly and careful restoration of the Parish Church in 1852 ; hence the music was gradually brought up to a pitch of excellence rarely attained in Village Churches ; hence the furniture and ornaments were all of the handsomest kind. One peculiarity of his influence over his people was that, with the exception of his sermons, it was exercised almost wholly through personal private intercourse with individuals. He formed no religious guilds or associations, he never taught by means of classes, and he scarcely ever entered the Schools for the purpose of giving formal instruction, yet he was intimately acquainted with the characters of all the young people in his parish, and in preparing them for Confirmation, which he did most carefully, he saw them all separately, and in the evening before the day of Confirmation, he had a Spe cial Service for them in the Church, and addressed to them such words of plain, practical, fatherly advice, as they were not likely to forget.