History

THE HISTORY OF YOUR PARISH CHURCH Last month we commenced our inspection of the wall tablets which are to be found in our church. The first one told of the long life of Margaret Blackey who died aged 99 years, and according to the tablet in the year 1673. With the rector’s permission, I checked on this date in the ancient register of births, marriages, and deaths, and I was surprised to find that the entry of Margaret Blackey’s death was plainly in January 1674, she being buried on January 22 nd of that year. Was this an error? With further research I was able to clear up this little mystery, for I found that at this time the Church had a yearly system of its own which ran from the 25 th March until the following 24 th March. This was termed “in the style of the Church of England”. In the sixteenth century some registers began a new year on still other days. This system of over-lapping the yearly entries came to an end in 1752 when the Church began its entries with the correct calendar year. So although Margaret Blackey did in fact die in January 1674, she was entered in the Church of England year 1673. In that same year 1673-4, the register contains the names of nine other people who died and were buried at Blisworth, but it is regretted that in accordance with custom no ages were recorded, the exception being that of the tenth entry, Margaret Blackey, which carried her age (99) in brackets. Her age must have been outstanding. Of the seventeen entries for this period, the remaining ones are divided into six baptisms and only one marriage, which does not exactly constitute a good picture for the continuity of the population. The rector who officiated at all these ceremonies was Jonathen Yates A.M., who was incumbent from 1663 until his death in 1687.