(It would occupy a volume to give even a selection of the Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials that have since taken place.)
The original books, previous to the year 1696, are all lost; and the parishioners are indebted to the industry of Lord Cheyne for the preservation of many of these historical fragments. The following few extracts from the early dates, taken from amongst many others, are singular:—
1595. Of Richard Munden, wch he gained to the Church by the Wheel of Fortune, xxix_s._ viii_d._ 1697. Gave a poore man by the College, having just buried his wife and left with 3 small children, and in great agony and dispair, fearing he would with himself make away, 1s.
Payd for a truss of straw to put in the Cage, for a poore woman to lye on, and gave her two pence, 8d.
Payd Mr. Tuley for cureing Charles Matthews’s toes of a mortification, £2 5s.
Gave Stacey, for shaving a child’s head, 6d. 1707. Ordered, in Vestry, that the weekly pensioners shall wear badges, according to the Act of Parliament, or else be excluded from the said weekly pension. 1782. Resolved to employ a number of labourers to cut off all the little twigs, in order to destroy certain insects which appear everywhere in our trees and hedges; and from which the most dreadful consequences are apprehended if they are suffered to remain. 1795. Resolved, that a bounty of twenty guineas be offered and paid to eight men, agreeably to Act of Parliament, for the service of his Majesty’s navy; and, if not sufficient, the churchwardens to have power to augment the same. 1796. Resolved to make a rate of 4d. in the pound to defray the necessary expenses of raising eleven men for the service of his Majesty’s navy.
As the population increased the records of the parish naturally became more voluminous, and for many years past the proceedings of the vestrymen, and also of the Board of Guardians, are kept in the most admirable manner. This, it is true, is the effect of the improved state of society, the passing of the Metropolis Local Management Act, 1855, and the introduction of better Laws for the relief and maintenance of the poor.
These schools are situated at the east side of the Cemetery. The pointed style was adopted on account of the contiguity of the building to the Parish Church. It consists of a centre, with low wings. The wings are occupied by the schools, and the centre as residences intended for the master and mistress; a large pointed arch connects the two divisions. The first stone was laid on the 18th of June, 1824, by the Hon. and Rev. Dr. Wellesley, rector, with the customary formalities, at which there were present the late Rev. Henry Blunt, and several other clergymen, besides a vast number of the parishioners, including many ladies. In 1826 the entire building was finished, and the children were admitted.