Wednesday, May 1, 2019

Joseph Browne (1561-1633) – The Rector of Rusper

Joseph Browne was the eldest son of William Browne and his wife Magdalene, whose story I recounted last month. Like his father before him, he was educated at Cambridge University and became a member of the clergy.

As the story begins, Elizabeth I (r. 1558-1603) is the Queen of England. Since assuming the throne she has reversed actions begun by her half sister Mary Tudor and has established an English Protestant church, of which she is the Supreme Governor. (See “16th Century England” for full historical context.)

The place is the counties of Surrey and Sussex, in the south east part of England and due south of London. This map, which comes from the Doomsday Book of 1086, shows the ancient county of Middlesex where Greater London is today.

Thomas Gun [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

Joseph is most likely the Joseph Browne, son of William, who was baptized on 19 April 1561 in Lingfield, County of Surrey. 

A few months later, in June 1561 William became the Rector of Horley, the parish immediately to the west of Lingfield. It’s no stretch of the imagination to think that William began his pastoral career serving under the Rector in Lingfield Parish before being promoted to Rector.




The next record I found for Joseph is this entry in the Alumni records for Cambridge University:  

Browne, Joseph.
Matric. pens. from QUEENS', Easter, 1579.
Of Surrey. B.A. 1582-3. 

From this we learn that Joseph Browne, from Surrey, enrolled at Queens’ College at Easter in 1579. He graduated with a B.A. in 1582/83.

I can imagine Joseph and his fellow students sitting in the pews along each wall as they attended church services in the beautiful chapel at Queens’ College.

Cantab12 [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]


THE EARLY YEARS

After graduation, Joseph returned to Horley for it is here in St. Bartholomew’s Church that he married Margery Patching on 1 February 1584. Margery, the daughter of Richard Patching, had been baptized on 17 February 1565 in Horsham, a market town in the County of Sussex roughly 13 miles south of Horley. 



Over the next two years, Joseph and Margery’s family grew to include two sons: William, my 10th great grandfather, who was baptized on 5 December 1585 in St. Bartholomew’s Church and Stephen, who was baptized on 15 May 1588 in St. Swithun’s Church in East Grinstead, County of Sussex.

East Grinstead? Why was Stephen baptized there and not in Horley?

From this map we see that East Grinstead is about 9 miles southeast of Horley. Despite its close proximity, East Grinstead is in a different county, a different parish and a different diocese. 



Most clergy served as assistants to parish priests before taking up a lead post in a parish. Thus, it’s likely that Joseph was assistant priest in East Grinstead at the time of Stephen’s birth and baptism. 

Two years later, in 1590 Joseph was named Rector of the neighboring Parish of Rusper, which is also in the County of Sussex. The parish church, St. Mary Magdalene, is located in the village of Rusper which lies less than 8 miles southwest of Horley and 14 miles east of East Grinstead.


Here’s a map that will help you see the proximity of these various locations. St. Bartholomew’s Church in Horley is the red tag at the top. St. Swithun’s Church in East Grinstead is the blue tag to the right and St. Mary Magdalene in Rusper is the purple tag on the left.


https://drive.google.com/open?id=1X395aFH5uCXRQigZteFmts3oO8sMZA6-&usp=sharing


THE RECTOR AND HIS PARISH

There were three ordained levels in the Church of England: bishop, priest, and deacon. 

Bishops were responsible for oversight of a diocese, which is a collection of local parishes. 

Depending on the tithes they received, parish priests were rectors (receiving both the greater and lesser tithes) or vicars (receiving just the lesser tithes). Tithes were typically a local tax of one tenth of the year’s product of land and labor. It was levied on a parish basis to support the parish priest, maintain the fabric of the church and support the poor of the parish. Tithes were divided into greater tithes, the product of the arable fields and value of stock, and lesser tithes, raised from labor and minor produce i.e. the day laborers and cottagers.

A parish might also include a curate or a deacon. The curate functioned as an assistant rector or vicar while the deacon was a designated minister of charity in the church.

From this we know that Joseph would have received the greater and lesser tithes.

From the Rusper Church website we learn:

“The history of Rusper begins with the small settlement of Benedictine nuns in what was then a remote part of the Weald in the early thirteenth century. The name Rusper is unique; no other place in the British Isles has a similar name and it probably derives from the Old English ‘ruh spaer’ a rough enclosure. In this rough enclosure the church was founded, probably soon after the Nunnery became firmly established, but the first record of the church is not until 1287 with the appointment of a Rector.”

In 1537, under King Henry VIII the Nunnery was disbanded along with all other monasteries and nunneries in England. The Nunnery buildings fell into private hands and eventually became a private home. The church continued as the parish church.

The St. Mary Magdalene church we see in this picture doesn’t look as it did when Joseph officiated there. The tower is medieval and remains virtually untouched while the rest of the building has been rebuilt.

By Colin Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14714495

Entrance to the church is made through a timber-framed porch, which is visible at the rear of the church. The porch was installed in the late 16th century, perhaps when Joseph was Rector. You can see a lovely image of the porch here.

Built in 1486, the Star Inn is just a short walk down the road. It is one of a handful of buildings to have survived. Always a pub, it was originally much smaller but has now expanded into neighboring cottages. 



HIS FAMILY

Joseph and Margery had 5 more children after moving to Rusper:  Joseph in 1590, Sarah in 1592, Susan in 1596, Phebe in 1601, and John in 1604. Sadly John died a few months after his birth.

Their eldest sons entered Cambridge university in 1604: William was admitted to Queens’ College and Stephen to Christ's College.

The following year, Margery, Joseph’s wife and the mother of his children, died at the age of 40. She was buried in the St. Mary Magdalene churchyard on 15 December 1605.

Less than two years later, Joseph married second to Elizabeth Stone, a widow, on 12 February 1607 in Rusper. 

Before they reached their 10th wedding anniversary, Elizabeth died and was buried at St. Mary Magdalene on 15 September 1616. 

THE FINAL CHAPTER

Joseph lived to see two of his sons, William and Stephen, ordained into the clergy. He also lived to see those children that reached adulthood marry and begin families of their own. 

Joseph died at the age of 72 and was buried at St. Mary Magdalene on 15 October 1633. He had served as Rector of Rusper for 43 years.

In his Will, dated 18 July 1633, we learn of the worldly comforts he’d acquired. We also learn that he was a charitable man who gave to the poor. And, we learn that he was a carrying man who in his last days thought not only of his heirs but also of those who worked for him.

A full transcript of the Will can be found here. I encourage you to read it, if for no other reason than to see the special bequest he made to one of his maids.

EPILOGUE

Five of Joseph’s children lived to adulthood, married and had families of their own. 

William married Jane Burgess, the widow of John Burgess, in Rusper. They had seven children and emigrated to America in 1645.

Stephen Browne married Elizabeth Kidder on 19 January 1612 in East Grinstead, Sussex. That same year he was appointed Rector of St Michaels Church in Southampton Parish in the County of Hampshire. He was not named in his father’s Will however his wife Elizabeth was so it is presumed that he died prior to 1633.

Sarah Browne was baptized on 22 October 1592 in Rusper. She firstly married William Lakeir on 29 October 1611 in Rusper. Then, as Sarah Laker, widow, she married secondly Arthur Fenner on 9 January 1615 in Rusper. Sarah and Arthur had seven children. Sarah died in April 1633 a few months prior to her father’s death. Arthur died in May 1640. Their children emigrated to America around 1646.

Susan Browne was baptized on 11 January 1596 in Rusper, Sussex. She married Thomas Leachford on 16 September 1619 in Horley. Susan and Thomas were the parents of eight children. The death dates for Susan and Thomas are not known. 

Phoebe/Phebe Browne was baptized on 12 July 1601 in Rusper. She married William Simons on 3 February 1625 in Horley. Phoebe and William were the parents of three daughters. The death dates for Phebe and William are not known. 


This concludes the story of Joseph. Next I’ll conclude the series on my Browne ancestors with the story of William, my 10th great grandfather.
_____________

How we’re related:

Joseph Browne/Margery Patching
|
William Browne/Jane Mills
|
Greenfield Larrabee/Phoebe Browne
|
Elizabeth Larrabee/Joshua Hempstead
|
Mary Hempstead/Green Plumb
|
Samuel Plumb/Ana Roe 
|
Justus Plumb/Margaret Sammis 
|
Anna Plumb/Louis J. Houlette 
|
James Dale Houlette/Agnes Smith Clarke
|
Anna Margaret Houlette/Levi Slinker
|
Agnes Emeline Slinker/Peter Alexander Creger
|
James Iver Creger/Gertrude Ethel Blayden 
|
Helen Pauline Creger/John Robert Nielsen
|
Me

_____________

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