Thomas Becon, Canon of Canterbury

THOMAS BECON, CANON OF CANTERBURY By H. B. THOMAS, O.B.E. THE GENTLEMEN OE KENT IT whl not eashy be beleued, after that the Kynges graces letters were deliuered now of late1 to certayne Gentil men in this Country of Kent for the preparacion of certayne men apte for the warres, how expeditly hys graces pleasure was accomphshed in euery condicion. The Gentil men (al other businesses laied aside) immediatly prouided theh tofore appoynted nomber of men, arraying them with decent martiaU armoures so that nothyng wanted, but aU thynges set at such a stay that they receiuing premonicion of uery litle tyme, were ready at all houres to bring forth theh men apte and ready for the warres THE COMMONS OE KENT Agayne the men, which wer prest to go unto the warres, it is almost incredible to see and perceaue what alacryte & quickenes of spirite was in them. They semed to be so deshous to defende theyr countrey, that they in a maner neglected theh domestical trauayles, theh priuate businesses, not much estemed theh dere wiues and swete chyldre, no nor yet theh own hues, so that they might in any point do good to the publique weale of Englande. Whan I saw thys valeaunt Courage in them, and perceyued theh unfayned affection and loue towarde theh countrey, Lord God, with how great admhacion and stupore was I affected and stryken. My joy was surely greater than I can here expresse, to see thys faythfull obedience in them towarde the Kynges graces majestie, thys feruent loue towarde theh countrey, thys harty affecte towarde the common weale of England T. Becon. The Polecy of wane—The Preface (1542) This stirring tribute—penned not in 1940 but when King Henry VIII's narrow realm was set about with enemies—coupled with the fact that the writer had many associations with, and spent his last years in, Kent, should be warrant for his inclusion in the roll of Kent 1 In 1642 Henry VIII was planning war against Scotland. It was necessary at the same time to secure his rear in Kent from attack across the Channel, where a threatening situation was developing. Musters were made all over England during the autumn months. The Scottish campaign ended with the rout at Solway Moss (November 25th, 1542). 159 THOMAS BECON, CANON OF CANTERBURY worthies. His children also were connected almost exclusively with Kent. Yet it is remarkable that none of theh names is to be found in the indexes to Archceologia Cantiana. Thomas Becon (1512-67), if one of the less prominent, was certainly among the most erudite and industrious artificers of the Protestant Reformation in England. In his day he was a considerable figure, in high repute pre-eminently as a propagandist and preacher, as is recognized by the generous length at which the Dictionary of National Biography sets out nearly all that has hitherto been known of his career. Nevertheless he has long been undeservedly neglected. Quite recently an admirable study by Dr. D. S. Bailey1 brings together much new material which calls for a re-writing of the D.N.B. account. In the present note I refrain for the most part from drawing attention to the differences between the D.N.B. and Dr. Bailey: for the latter sets out les ipreuves with scholarly precision, and for the student comparison whl be a simple matter, and whl at the same time reveal my debt to this source. Dr. Bailey does not fohow up Becon's famhy in Kent and here it is possible to supplement his account. Becon was " of Norfolk " perhaps of small farmer stock; but of his antecedents nothing is known. There is no record of his birth which may, however, be placed in 1512. He went up to Cambridge— a poor scholar—perhaps to St. John's College. Religious reform was in the air, and he came under the influence of Hugh Latimer, to whom Becon continued to give unwavering reverence and affection. They had much in common, for both had theh roots in the homely environment of the English countryside. Becon graduated B.A. in 1530-31, but does not seem to have proceeded further. Later portraits show him as " Sacrosanctae Theologiae Professor," but Venn (Alumni Cantabrigienses) does not record his receiving this degree at Cambridge. In 1532 he was ordained as exorcist and acolyte in the Norwich diocese. Thereupon he joined the College of St. John the Evangelist at Rushworth—now Rushford—near Thetford, where as praeceptor puerorum his work was the instruction of scholars on Lady Anne Wingfield's foundation. Perhaps as a local lad he had himself been one of " Dame Anny's children". He was " priested " in the following year but seems soon to have left the community. For some years he was probably engaged as a tutor in the family of one or other of the gentry of East Anglia, among whom he doubtless became known as an advocate of reform and a supporter of King Henry's rejeotion of the Papal Supremacy. 1 Thomas Becon and the Reformation of the Church in England. By Derriok Sherwin Bailey, Ph.D. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1952. xv+165 pp., 15s. 160 THOMAS BECON, CANON OF CANTERBURY These were times of ferment and perplexity. Henry might disown the Pope's authority, but the Statute of Six Articles in 1539 indicated that he had no fancy for reformed doctrine. The attention of the authorities fell upon Becon. Towards the end of 1540-41 he was " presented " in London for heretical preaching. He duly submitted, but deemed it weU to rethe, before June, 1541, to seclusion in Kent, perhaps at the instance of his patrons in Norfolk and Suffolk, who were able to commend him to gentry in Kent with like sympathies towards the new thought, and with some of whom they were connected. One account after another of Becon's life repeats the claim that Becon having been ordained in 1538 was preferred to the hving of Brenzett, Kent. The evidence for this statement, almost certainly incorrect, cannot be traced. The succession of vicars of Brenzett is on record and leaves no place for him. He held no parish hving in Kent unth the days of Queen Ehzabeth. Becon's earhest works date from this period. To divert attention he adopted the pseudonym of Theodore Bashle, and under this name began to pour out material for the press. The prefaces of a number of his earher works are addressed to Kent notables. Such are Sh Thomas Nevhl (c. 1480-1542), of the Bergavenny famhy who entertained him at Mereworth; George WhetenhaU of East Peckham; Richard Scott of Scott's Hall; Thomas Royden of Fortune; and (later) Paul Johnson of Fordwich. It can be demonstrated that aU these were inter-related. Other dedications of Kentish interest were to the courtier-poet Sh Thomas Wyatt of Ahington (1503-42); Sh George Broke, Lord Cobham (c. 1497-1558); Lady Anne Grey, perhaps the widow of Sh Richard Clement of Ightham; and William Gybbes of Elmstone. These names indicate the extent and political complexion of the chcle in which Becon moved in Kent; whhe the wording of his prefaces bears witness to the remarkable phenomenon that despite Henry VIII's dubious conduct in not a few matters, opinion in England continued to give him a loyalty and support which Queen Mary later fahed to evoke. In Becon's view God's word was " that swearde of the sphite " which inspired the hearty affection of English men towards theh king and country. In later years he addressed The Booke of Matrimony (c. 1560) to Thomas Wotton of Boughton Malherbe (1521-87), who had been imprisoned in Marian times; and The Demandes of holy Scripture (1563) to the Mayor (Sh Matthew Mennes) and his Brethren of Sandwich, with the hope that it will " help forward some point of godly doctrine to be taught in your new-erected school "—to wit, the Sir Roger Manwood Grammar School at Sandwich. Not less than eight of Becon's works were pubhshed during these years 1541 to 1643 and Theodore Bashle became markedly popular as a writer. There came a stiffening of Henry's anti-protestant pohcy. 161 THOMAS BECON, CANON OF CANTERBURY • The agents of Gardiner and Bonner had httle difficulty in detecting the source of this stream of perverting hterature. Becon was arraigned and by a timely abjuration at Paul's Cross on July 8th, 1543, probably saved himself from the fate of the three victims who were burned in front of Windsor Castle three weeks later. Once more he sought safety in the provinces. After visiting his famhy in Norfolk, he moved on to Derbyshhe and passed the rest of Henry's reign among friends in the Midlands. He was poor, and supported himself by teaching, whhe continuing to write voluminously. Meanwhile the authorities had not forgotten him. In the proclamation against books of July 8th, 1546, thhteen named pubhcations of Theodore Bashle ahas Thomas Becon were ordered to be burnt. The death of Henry VIII in January, 1546/7, completely changed Becon's prospects. He was appointed to a chaplaincy in Protector Somerset's household; and Archbishop Cranmer made him a Six Preacher at Canterbury and one of his Chaplains. On March 24th, 1547/8, he was presented by the Grocers' Company to the hving of St. Stephen Walbrook. He doubtless entered into the controversies which were agitating ecclesiastical chcles in England at this time—on such matters as clerical marriage, sitting or kneeling at Holy Communion; and he continued to write with enthusiasm upon the achievements of the Reformation. On July 6th, 1553, Edward VI died, and another sudden change befell. Within a few weeks Becon was committed to the Tower of London. At Canterbury he was declared contumacious and deprived of his preachership, and as a married priest he was in due course ejected from his London hving. In March, 1553/4, in circumstances which are obscure, he escaped from confinement, and, making his way to the Continent, reached Strasbourg;' and here and at Frankfurt and Marburg he spent the years of Queen Mary's reign. Groups of exiles gathered together. Among them was fierce doctrinal contention. Episcopacy or Calvinism were debated; Becon seems to have been a supporter of the middle-of-the-way party with some leanings to puritanism. He was sthl active with his pen, comforting the victims of Marian persecution and attacking theh persecutors. In his absence, by the proclamation of June 13th, 1555, his works were again proscribed. The accession of Ehzabeth in November, 1558, led to yet another reversal of his circumstances. He was soon back in England, and in 1559 was appointed a canon of Canterbury, where he followed the ardent Marian, Nicholas Harpsfield, in the Fourth Prebend. For a short time in 1560 he held the Rectory of Buckland, Herts. In March, 1560/1, he became Vicar of Christ Church, Newgate. For a few months in 1563 he reoccupied St. Stephen Walbrook, unth in August, 1563, he was instituted as Rector of St. Dionis Backchurch, which 162 THOMAS BECON, CANON OF CANTERBURY living together with that of Christ Church, Newgate, he held unth his death. His incumbency of Sturry, Kent, from 1562 to 1564 has often been overlooked. On his record of service to the reformed rehgion Becon was marked out for advancement in the Church.1 But perhaps infirmity, surely induced by overwork—his health was never robust— stood in the way. Perhaps doubts as to his orthodoxy militated against him. In his attacks on Queen Mary he had by implication enrohed her in John Knox's monstrous regiment of women, a circumstance which may have been regarded as compromising when the young Ehzabeth came to the throne. He continued to write and was particularly engaged on the revision and republication of his collected works; and he was an acceptable popular preacher. His latter years were spent at his prebendal house at Canterbury, and here he died on June 30th, 1567. His motto Vive memor lethi reflects the dangerous times through which he had lived. But he was not primarily a man of action. His chief contribution to the Reformation was made with his pen, and that not as a theologian but as a writer of what are, in essence, tracts. He had the very modern technique of proceeding not so much by reasoned argument as by repeated assertion, which he supported by an astonishing wealth of quotations from the Bible and patristic hterature. And herein perhaps lies the later neglect of his writings, for in the main they served the needs of his generation. Thomas Becon's hterary output was prodigious. He is credited with over sixty works some no longer extant, or known only by single copies. The bibliography of his works (as an appendix to Dr. Bailey's work demonstrates) is extremely complex and offers an intriguing study. His earher works in particular, having been twice proscribed, 1 Mr. W. G. Urry has kindly extracted from the Chapter Archives: Canterbury Letters, No. 36, the following, which indicates that Becon, who is referred to as vice-dean, was held in some esteem among his fellows. Dean Wotton and two others of the Chapter were evidently in London at the time. " After harty recommendacions. Wheras Sr John Armeerar (sc. at one time rector of Ivychurch), late parson of Saynt Denis of Barcke-church yn London is departed to godde: and therby the presentacion of that benefice now vacant aperteynith vnto vs: we thynke it shall be very well bestowede vpon Mr Becon our vicedeane. And therefore yf yow agree to the same, we ar contentid he be presentid vnto it, and that the presentacion be made and sealid accordinglye. And thus we wishe yow hartely well to fare from London the xixth of Marche 1562. Your lovers and freendes N. Wotton Hugo Turnbull Alexander Nowell (Addressed:) To our lovinge freendes the senyor prebendary and other the Chapitre of Christes Church yn Cantourbury. 163 THOMAS BECON, CANON OF CANTERBURY are extremely rare and are to-day collectors' pieces. Excluding reprints he must have penned httle short of two million words. His coUected works in three volumes, prepared under his own supervision, were issued in 1560-64 by the weU-known printer, John Day. The Parker Society1 printed most of Becon's works in three volumes (1843-44). These are admirably edited by the Rev. John Ayre, whose biographical notice of Becon is the foundation of the D.N.B. account. Both these are now superseded by Dr. Bailey's study. Although popular selections from Becon's works were included in publishers' hsts into the nineteenth century, most of his writings to-day give an impression of intolerable prolixity. They fall generaUy into three groups. In those written during the reign of Henry VIII (the earliest recorded is Newes out of Heaven in 1541), Becon shows himself a sincere but restrained advocate of reform of faith and manners. Such are A Christmas Bankette, A pleasaunte newe Nosegaye, David's harpe ful of armonie, The Governance of vertue, and An invectyve agenst swearing. Edward VI's reign permitted Becon to write openly in a manner which was perhaps most in tune with his temperament—devotional manuals, homely and hard-hitting, addressed to common folk " persuading to vhtue and dissuading from vice " often illustrated by contemporary catch-phrases and proverbs2 such are The Jewel of Joy, The Castell of Comforte, The Pomaunder of Prayer, and The Sick Man's Salve. This last was for many years a " best seller " and gained a mention in Ben Jonson's Silent Woman. He contributed An homily against whoredom to the First Book of Homhies of 1547: and he tried his hand at the englishing of psalms. None of these forms a part of the " Old Version " metrical psalter of Sternhold and Hopkins as first brought together in The Whole Booke of 1562. But, in succeeding editions (1564, 1565 (4to), 1565 (8vo)), versions of the 117th and 134th psalms foUow the 150th psalm under the title of " an exhortation unto the prayse of God to be song before Mornyng Prayer " and " . . . before Evening Prayer " and are attributed to " T. Becon " or " T.Be " by name. 1 Founded in 1840 " for the Publication of the Works of the Fathers and Early Writers of the Reformed English Church." There is an interesting reference to the origins of the Parker Society in Queen Victoria's letters. On February 2nd, 1841, Lord Melbourne suggested to the Queen that he should tell the Archbishop of Canterbury (Dr. Howley) that the absence of his name from the list of subscribers to the Society might give rise to comment, for " it is to some extent a party measure levelled against these new Oxford doctrines." 2 As an example of his style: in The Displayeng of the Popishe Masse, Becon, commenting on " why the priest at mass turneth his back to the people," exclaims " Look up, knock your breast, behold the apple-maker of Kent, and mark well him that Idlled thy father." Ayre, in editing Becon's works, is unable to offer any explanation of this allusion which is probably derived from some popular Kentish folk-story. 164 THOMAS BECON, CANON OF CANTERBURY But having experienced the Marian persecutions, Becon admits to have " more sharped my pen against antichrist and his Babylonical brood." From his exile he exhorted his harassed brethren with A Comfortable Epistle; and later, he launched out with full-blooded invective in such works as The Displayeng of the popishe Masse and Th?, Monstruous Marchandise of the Romish Bishops, in which in the robust sphit of the times, he borders on the scurrilous. In theh final shape The Booke of Matrimony and The Catechism appear in the Collected Works (1560-64). The latter is in the form of a dialogue between a father (Becon himself) and a son aged about six (presumably his eldest surviving son Theodore). It comprises many hundreds of pages of abstruse dialectics. From the modern reader heartfelt sympathy would go out to any child who was indeed subjected to catechizing on this scale. From The Catechism comes such immortality as derives from inclusion in The Oxford Book of Quotations (1941) " For when the wine is in, the wit is out." The Monstruous Marchandise, which is not reprinted by Ayre, is notable for including an itemized list of relics existing at Christ Church, Canterbury, in 1315 in the time of Prior Henry of Eastry. This Becon copied from " an old written book," Memorale Multorum Henrici Prioris, then in the Cathedral Library. Some time in the early seventeenth century, this found its way into the Cotton collection, and is now in the British Museum (BM. MS. Cotton Galba E IV). The Latin text was printed, in mutilated form, in Dart's The History of . . . Canterbury (1726), but is now authoritatively transcribed in Wickham Legg and St. John Hope's Inventories of Christ Church, Canterbury (1902). Becon's free translation seems, however, to be the only English version in print. In The Reliques of Rome, Becon quotes at length from a treatise, apparently of the fourteenth century, of the Articles of the General Greater Curse, found " among other old bokes at Canterbury in the parish churche of S. Paule in the year 1562." Mr. W. G. Urry, the Cathedral archivist, informs me that some years ago he ransacked the parish chest in the hope of finding this but without avail; and Becon's translation may thus be the only record of it now extant. The reader looking for some hght relief may also regret that Ayre does not reprint An Invective against Whoredome. This consists of some three hundred four-line verses, some of which merit preservation as witness to the matter and manner of Becon's exhortations. Downe with the court of dame Venus And hyr pastimes voluptouse Downe with hyr trayne so mischeususe Let them al go downe a downe a 1 6 5 THOMAS BECON, CANON OF CANTERBURY Downe with cupide that wanton chylde Which of long time hath us beghde Downe with aU them that are so wild Let them al go downe a downe a Later stanzas decry " all this beastly kyssing," " Vayn halsing and cullying," " bawdy ballets," and " the whoryth rollinge of eyes." Thomas Becon is thought to have married shortly after the legalization of clerical marriage in 1549. Of his wife, who survived him, nothing has come to light, not even her name. Five chhdren, two of whom had died, are known to have been born before 1560; and since Becon was in exhe from 1553 to the end of 1558 it may be assumed that his wife accompanied him and that some of his chhdren were born on the Continent. His nuncupative whl, dated June 29th, 1567 (Cant. Consist. 30/495) made when he was " sicke of body " (he died next day) leaves all his property to his wife subject to earher reservations to his surviving chhdren who were a daughter Rachel and sons Theodore and Bash. Rachel married as his first wife William Beswicke of Spelmonden, who became Sheriff of Kent in 1616. She had died and he married again before Cooke's heraldic visitation of Kent in 1592. They had four daughters aU of whom married and a son William who died s.p.. Thus Arthur the heh of the Beswiekes, who married a Washington of Maidstone, was a son of William's second wife and was not of Becon blood (Phhipott, Visitation, 1619: Berry, Kent Genealogies; Hasted, "Horsmonden "). Venn (op. cit.) records details of the academic achievements of Theodore and Basil: and Cowper, Monumental Inscriptions of Canterbury Cathedral, gives an account—somewhat misleading—of the former. Theodore was bom, probably at Marburg, in 1555. At Cambridge he graduated in both arts and medicine, and became a feUow of his father's old college, St. John's. He was also incorporated M.A. and M.D. at Oxford. He married on October 31st, 1587, at St. Michael's, Cornhhl, to Dorcas Smythe: and perhaps then began to practise medicine in Canterbury. In a city subsidy roU, 4 Jan. 44 EUz. (1601/2), is an assessment of Theodore Becon, doctor in physicke . . . goodes vj h. xvi s. At some time he seems to have taken orders since, for a few months from March 24th, 1603/4 (his successor was appointed from October 14th, 1604), he was Rector of Toppesfield, Essex; but he did not continue in the church and for the rest of his hfe he was a " phisitian " in Canterbury. His wife Dorcas was buried at St. Peter's, 166 THOMAS BECON, CANON OF CANTERBURY Canterbury, June 7th, 1615. On July 2nd, 1619, a licence was granted for his second marriage at St. Mary Magdalene, Canterbury, to Clemencia Stroughill,1 but it seems clear that this did not take place; for on March 18th, 1619/20 he died, aged 65, and on February 13th, 1622, Clemence Stroughle was married to Thomas Everard at St. George's, Canterbury. He was buried in Canterbury Cathedral, where he and his elder daughter Ehzabeth are commemorated by an inscription (printed by Cowper). On this he is described as " Doctor of Phisick": Ehzabeth "his virgin daughter" died January 31st, 1629/30, aged 30. Theodore's whl, proved Aprh 1st, 1620 (Cant. Archd. 60/133), mentions his only son Anthony who died s.p. before the daughter Ehzabeth made her whl (Cant. Consist. 49/187). Another daughter Sybilla married John Bigge of Maidstone at Otham on September 17th, 1634. This male line thus became extinct. Theodore bequeathed to St. John's College, Cambridge, a " colledge pot -" of 16 ounces of shver engraved with his arms and the words Theodorus Beaconus in medicinis doctor quondam socius hujus collegii dedit quod debet quod potuit non quod voluit. The senior Bursar of St. John's CoUege has recently been good enough to note that " the piece of plate duly came to the College, but is no longer in its possession. On August 8th, 1642, the Master and Seniors agreed to send a total of 2065| ounces ' Grocer's weight' of College Plate to King Charles I. There is a record in summary form of the Plate sent, and the list includes the following—' Pots with two ears, Clippesley, Crew, Theodore Beacon, John Lucat (?), Thomas Wentworth, etc. Number 22, weight 559| unc' So far as I can trace, no further description of the pot, or of the inscription or arms upon it, survives." The facts and relevant documents are printed in History of the College of St. John the Evangelist, Cambridge, by Thomas Baker, edited by John E. B. Mayor, Cambridge University Press, 1869. He also left to his brother Basil 20 shillings " to make him a ring with our arms ingraven uppon it." What were these famhy arms? Although the CoUege of Arms has no record of arms being granted or allowed to the famhy of Becon or Beacon, the answer is perhaps furnished by Harris, History of Kent, 1719, where the arms of Beacon of Canterbury are given as, Argent two pales sable on each two palmer's staves or. No more appropriate charge could have been assumed by theh father, the hard-bitten Reformer, who could indeed claim to have 1 In the Canterbury Marriage Licences as printed by Cowper, he is described as Mus.Doo. This fact leads Cowper (Monumental Inscriptions) to suggest that there may have been a son also of the name of Theodore. Mr. Urry has been good enough to inspect the original register of licences and is satisfied that the entry, in which there is a blot or scratch, m fact reads Med.Doc. Theodore had but one son, Anthony, who was the sole executor of his will. 167 THOMAS BECON, CANON OF CANTERBURY made, in sphit, the pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre.1 The seal sthl attached to Theodore's whl in the Kent Record Office, though very indistinct, shows a shield which is seemingly parted palewise. " BasseU Becon son of Thomas Becon which was parson of St. Stephens " was baptized at St. Stephen Walbrook on January 14th, 1558/9. His parents must have hastened back from exile on the accession of Queen Ehzabeth. Venn (op. cit.), however, records that Bash Beacon, a King's Scholar (1574) from Eton was admitted scholar at King's College, Cambridge, on August 27th, 1579, aged 17, which would advance his bhth to 1562. It may be that the first " BasseU " died, and that a later child, whose baptism has not been traced, was so named ; early matriculation registers are not, however, infallible. He graduated and was a fellow of his college from 1582 to 1587, when he left Cambridge to be instituted to the rectory of Warehorne on February 21st, 1587-8. His marriage to Anne Coale at St. Michael's, Cornhhl, foUowed on October 2nd, 1588. Thereafter his life was that of a country parson, bringing up a large famhy and becoming a landowner in a modest way. He held four other Kent livings, but the tale of his incumbencies is confused. Venn gives the impression that he vacated Warehorne for Snave in 1597: but all the evidence points to his having held Warehorne without interruption unth 1626 (when Henry Curtise was instituted), his other cures being held in plurality. There is no record of an institution to Warehorne between these dates: children of Basil were baptized at Warehorne in 1589, 1592/3, 1596, 1600, 1604/5, 1610.2 The Warehorne transcripts for 1600 to 1604, 1606, and 1608, now at Canterbury (the registers are missing), are signed by him: and in a Court Book at Lambeth Palace he signs in 1610 as Rector of Warehorne and Vicar of Waltham. Bash can have held Snave for but a short time. This he exchanged for the vicarage of Hawkinge (inducted January 28th, 1596/7), which he resigned, his successor being collated on June 23rd, 1599. In 1605 he became Vicar of HernhhT and, having effected another exchange, was collated to Waltham May 11th, 1610. There is evidence that even then 1 A. remarkable confirmation that these are indeed the family arms borne by other Becons hailing as did Thomas from Norfolk is contained in a note by Miss Margaret Toynbee, "The Becon Arms," in Notes and Queries, N.S., Vol. 2, No. 9, September, 1955, p. 381. John Becon (d. 1587) was chancellor of Norwich, of about the same generation as Theodore though no relationship is known. His daughter, Elizabeth, was the mother of Sir Robert Stone (c. 1605-c. 68). An extant portrait of Sir Robert dated 1637 shows his arms, of which the third quarter would be those of his mother. These are now identified as "Argent two pales sable each charged with phree palmer's staves or palewise." • 2 ' Baptisms of other children are on record at Hawkinge (1698), Hernhill (1606)- and Waltham (1613). 168 THOMAS BECON, CANON OF CANTERBURY he was not permanently resident at Waltham: for on July 14th, 1623, a' Canterbury licence was granted to James Harris of Waltham, yeoman and Joan White of the same parish to marry " at Petham, because Mr. Beacon, who is minister of the parish of Waltham is not at home, neither hath he left any minister to marry them there." From 1626 he doubtless lived at Waltham where " Mr Bassil Beacon " was buried, November 6th, 1638. With this record of continuous service in Kentish livings it is difficult to reconcile a footnote' by Hasted when listing Vicars of Hernhill, that Basil Beacon " resigned for the vicarage of Silkeston in co. Bbor," a statement which is repeated by Venn. Enquiry has yielded no trace of his presence in Yorkshire, nor was the vicarage of Silkstone vacant at the relevant period.1 It is unlikely that the source of Hasted's information can now be identified, but it seems wise to reject it as erroneous. In his whl made September 10th, 1638 (Cant. Archd. 70/431), Basil remembered the poor of his five Kent parishes. He seems to have been the father of eleven chhdren, but only two of six sons survived him. To the younger of these, another Bash, he left his house and grounds at " Mersham apud Southstoure." Robert of Mersham, husbandman, licenced to marry at St. Margaret's, Canterbury, May 9th, 1665, was his son, but this line seems soon to have failed. The elder surviving son, Thomas Beacon the elder, gentleman of Waltham (1596-1659) succeeded to the remaining lands at Mersham: but he had probably been provided for in his father's lifetime. For he was assessed for subsidy at Waltham in 1628, probably in respect of the small manor of Whetacre (known in Hasted's time as Walnut Tree Farm), which was still in Beacon hands in 1659 (Philipott's Villare and Hasted). This Thomas married three times and had fourteen children: and from this stock came a number of Beacon families scattered in East Kent during the next 150 years, some of which can still be identified. William Beacon (1665-1720), jurat and four times Mayor of Tenterden (1703, -08, -15, -16), was a great-grandson of the Rev. Basil. He had a large family, his eldest son being Wilham Beacon of Charing, surgeon, baptized at Ivychurch, August 27th, 1692, who was buried at Charing, November 30th, 1721, s.p. The eighteenth century yeomen family of Beken of Biddenden is placed in descent from the youngest son of Thomas the elder by his thhd wife and relict, Ann. The names of Theodore and Basil continue to recur. Mr. Theodore Beacon, yeoman, was buried at Boughton Malherbe, April 24th, 1702. There was a large family at Lenham where Basil Beacon or Beakon, cordwainer, was buried, July 25th, 1739. His son, BasseU, was bap- 1 See The History and Topography of the Parish of Silkestone, by Rev. J. F. Paine. Penistone. 1922. 169 THOMAS BECON, CANON OP CANTERBURY tized, December 13th, 1702, and, as Bozwell Beacon, was buried there, January 12th, 1789, aged 86. In 1863 the Beacon Charity for the poor of Lenham was established by the grant to trustees of property at Egerton by George Beacon, gentleman, of Gravesend. It seems safe to assume that he was descended from the Lenham branch of a famhy for which can thus be claimed over 300 years of continuous connection with Kent. 170