Page:History and characteristics of Bishop Auckland.djvu/99

 76 HISTORY OF BISHOP AUCKLAND. Now the Percies' crescent is set in blood, And the northern boll his flight has taen ; And the sheaf of arrows are keen and bright. And Barnard's walls are hard to gain. The sun shone bright, and the birds sung sweet, The day we left the North Countrie ; But cold is the wind, and sharp is the sleet, That beat on the exile over the sea. A mural monument under the tower of St Andrew's, now nearly obliterated, bears an inscription to Francis Farrer. In the floor of the north aisle are inscriptions belonging to the Baines and the MetcaJfes. A stone in the floor of the chancel bears a large brass figure, apparently an ecclesiastic, beside which we find the following record of the wife of one of the Bishops of Durham : — Hie sepulta jacet Fridesmonda Barnes ez illustri ac generosa GifiiEffdozum familia oziunda casaiflriTna co^juz Bichardi Bamesii epi Dunelmen — ^victrix casta fides. S April, An Dni 1581. Fridesmonda vale. On a slab : — Septdchrum Bichardi Bowser, gen., qui obiit mm" Martij mdclxxxi. Bichardus Bowser, Ar. Filiiis ejus primogenitus Obiit i Octobris mdglxxt°. On a wood tablet on the south wall : — Here lyeth ye body of Mrs, Gkurtrude Wren, nobler by vertue than by birth, and yet daughter of Sir Charles Wren, of Binchester, Knt. ; in piety to Qod fervent, in charity to the poor blessedly prodigall, and inferior to none in sweat respects to all, she lived the wonder of many, the delight of most, and dyed the glory of her sex, a virgin espoused to Christ. Obiit 9 Januarij, 1637. Prom the great number of entries in the registers, the Wrens appear to have been a very numerous family, branches of which lived at Binchester, Newton Cap, and Henknowle, as well as in the town of Auckland, further mention of whom will be made when writing of those places. On a monument of white marble, fixed to the south wall of the chancel, is the following : — 8.R.Y.M. Near this place lies interred Anne Belt, eldest daughter of Richard Bowser, late of Bishop's Auckland, gent., and wife of the Rev. Thomas Belt, formerly minister of this parish : by whom he had issue a daughter, which dyed an infant. He dyed in the year of our Lord 1677, and she his widow, 9th of August, 1735, set 91. Henricus Baufser pronepos ejusdem Annas Belt hoc manner desiderium sui posuit. On a white marble against the north wall : — Near this place lieth the body of Francis Pewterer, who was auditor and keeper of Auckland Castle to Nathaniel Crewe, William and Edward, Lords Bishops of Durham. He died April 1 3th, 1738, aged 54. Also Anne, his dear wife, who died October 25th, 1732, aged 43 years ; and also Francis, his son, who died Sept. 29th, 1716, aged 2 years. Having noticed the principal monuments and inscriptions, we now proceed to give a few extracts from the old registers, prefacing them by stating that the introduction of parochial registers into England was in consequence of the injunctions of Thomas Lord Cromwell, which, according to HoUingshed, were set forth in September, 1588 (30 Henry VIIL), but not much attended to until the reign of Queen Elizabeth, who issued injunctions concerning them in the first, seventh, and thirty-ninth years of her reign. Many of these old registers are most beautiful specimens of penmanship, and go far to prove that the Parish Clerks (who were usuafly registrars in those eaaiy times, when learning was possessed by few), must have been selected from the most highly-educated inhabitants of the parish. In a fly leaf of the second volume of those of St Andrew's we find the following entry : — Memorandum. — ^That Joseph Lax, off the Deanery in the Parish off Andrew Auckland, was chosen Parish Registrar by the consent off the Parish, and sworn according to the said Act of Parliament, the 4th day off January, 1653, before me, Fbakcis Wsen. Digitized by Google