Canterbury Cathedral Library
The seventeenth-century Donors Book
Identifications and dating10 June 2009; last revision
David J. Shaw
IN PROGRESS
Lit. MS E40
Translation, commentary and dating
Link to the Transcription of the original document.
Click on the folio numbers (e.g. f.102r) to go directly to the equivalent page of the transcription.
The pages of the Donors' Book are clearly not in their original order. It is possible that they were kept at some point as loose sheets and bound at some later date, or else that the original book was damaged and the pages rescued and rebound. The entries are presented here in the order in which they are currently found. The original chronology of the entries can be deduced from the numbering of the hands and from the dates (some tentative) which are given in the right-hand column.
The hands are numbered from I to V in chronological order.
Please send corrections and additional information to David Shaw.
folio hand transcription and translation identification notes date of gift III Lady Anne Palmer, daughter of Dean Isaac Bargrave Dean Isaac Bargrave died in 1643.
Sir Henry Palmer (1611–1659) was the son of Sir Henry Palmer of Howletts (1582–1644) [ODNB].
A Lady Anne Palmer was living in St Martins, Canterbury, in 1666 (National Archives U1107/C39)mid-1660s? II Sir Nathaniel Brent, LL.D. (1573–1652) Brent was knighted in 1629 and made a Freeman of Canterbury in 1630.
He was Warden of Merton College, Oxford, in addition to his rôle as commissary of the diocese of Canterbury and vicar-general to the archbishop.c. 1640? III Thomas Fidge, alderman and mayor of Canterbury (fl. 1670–1675) Donor inscription in New Testament dated 1674.
Thomas Fidge had been Mayor of Canterbury in 1671.
Another(?) Thomas Fidge was a minor canon of Rochester Cathedral, 1676–1700 (CCEd)1674 III Thomas Enfield, alderman and chamberlain of Canterbury Enfield was Chamberlain of Canterbury in the 1670s and 1680s and an alderman. He was a lessee of the Cathedral. c.1670/1680 II Archbishop William Laud (1573–1645) The book in question was printed in 1639 (STC 15298). c.1639/1640 III John Reading John Reading occupied Stall VIII from 1660 to his death in 1667. He had previously been vicar of St Mary's, Dover, 1616–1645, rector of Cheriton in 1644 (CCEd), rector of Chartham from 1660 (Hasted, 1798, vol. 7, 297-319). c. 1665 II Sir Norton Knatchbull (c.1602–1685) Knatchbull was created baronet in 1641. c. 1640? II Sir [ ] Ratcliffe A Sir John Ratcliffe is recorded as a member of the Virginia Company earlier in the century.
The writer of the entry was clearly uncertain of the first name of this donor, possibly one of the Dean and Chapter's lessees in Cambridgeshire.c. 1640? II Edward Meetkirke (1590–1657) Edward Meetkirke (or Meetkerke) was educated at King's School, Canterbury (King's Scholar, 1603-1604 [CCA DCc Treasurer's Book]), and then at Westminster School, where he was taught Hebrew by Adrian Saravia (ODNB). He was Regius Professor of Hebrew at Oxford from 1621 to 1626 and occupied Stall VI at Winchester from 1631. He died in 1657 (Le Neve, Fasti, III, iii, 98).
c. 1640? II William Harrison of Woodnesborough [not traced] [c. 1640?] II William Bray (d. 1643) William Bray occupied Stall I from 1637/38 until his death. He had been a prebendary of St Paul's from 1632 (Le Neve, Fasti, II, i, 42) and was a chaplain to Archbishop Laud. (Cambridge Alumni Database, ref. BRY613W; ODNB). c. 1640 II Thomas Blechynden Blechynden occupied Stall II from 1633 to the early 1660s (Le Neve, Fasti, III, iii, 19). He was dead by mid-1661 (CCA-DCc-ChChLet/III/32).
His will, dated 7 March 1649, proved on 23 February 1663 (CCA-U101/I/J/32), makes gifts of Bibles in Hebrew, Greek, French, Dutch and English to his daughters and his eldest son, and a psalter and New Testament to his executors, Norton Knatchbull and his brother John.c. 1640? III Sir Eliab Harvey This entry in the Donors Book, dated 1666, records that Harvey gave £25.00 for the purchase of a Biblia maxima in 19 volumes [Paris, 1660].
Another volume in the Library has an inscription with his name and the date 1668.1666 II William Steele [not yet traced] [1640s?] III William Sancroft (1617–1693) Sancroft was Dean of St Paul's from 1664 to 1678; he was Archdeacon of Canterbury from 1668 to 1670 (Le Neve, Fasti, III, i. 6; III, iii. 16) late 1660s? IV Sancroft was Archbishop from 1678 until his suspension in 1690. c. 1680–1690? I Isaac Bargrave (1586–1643) Isaac Bargrave was Dean from 1625 to 1643. He was responsible for the decision to start a Donors' Book. c.1630? III Thomas Turner (1591–1672) Turner was Dean from 1643 to 1672.
The latest volume of the set of the Corpus Historiae Byzantinae which he presented was published in 1664.c. 1664 I Sir John Wilde The Cathedral's Auditor and Steward, Sir John Wilde of Dargate (died 1635) (Hasted, vol. 7, 19–28; Ramsay 379). c. 1630 II Thomas Westley Westley occupied Stall VII from 1630 until his death in 1639 1639 II and IIB Meric Casaubon, 1599–1671 Casaubon occupied Stall IX from 1628 to 1671.
Many of the entries in the second part of his list of donations are in a later version of the hand; many of these books were not published until after the suppression of the Cathedrals and some after the Restoration.1640? and 1670? II William Jervis, d. 1660 Gervace (or Jervis or Jarvis) had been vicar of Sturry from 1622 to 1642 (CCEd). He was appointed a Six Preacher in 22 December 1660 (CCA-DCc-MAND/SP/1660/5) but is recorded as dying the same year (Ingram-Hill, p.65). c. 1640 II John Sanford, d. 1629 Sanford held Stall VI from 1615 to his death in September 1629 (Le Neve, Fasti, III, iii, 27). c.1628 II George Abbot, 1552–1633 Archbishop Abbot left 25 books to the Cathedral Library in his will (Ramsay, p. 379). c. 1629? II Alexander Chapman, 1576 or 1577 – 1629 Chapman occupied Stall IX from 1618 to his death in 1629 and made a bequest to the Library in his will. 1629 II Richard Clerke, d. 1634 Clerk was a Six Preacher from 1602 to 1633. He died in 1634 and left a bequest to the Library in his will.
He was also Vicar of Minster and of Monkton.1634 II William Barker, d. 1669 Barker occupied Stall XII from 1660 until his death in 1669. He left money in his will to purchase books for the Library. c. 1670 II William Kingsley, d. 1691 Apparently the son of Archdeacon William Kingsley (Archdeacon of Canterbury 1619–1648). He received the freedom of Canterbury by gift in 1661 ("William Kingsley, of the Precincts of Christ Church, Cant., Esquire", Cowper, Roll, col. 320). He married the daughter of Canon Fotherby in 1667 (CCA U101/I/A/2) and died in 1691 (PROB/11/403). c. 1665–1670 II Maurice Barrowe of Barningham Maurice Barrowe was the Dean and Chapter's Suffolk Receiver in the period before the Commonwealth and after the Restoration. He was a member of Parliament in 1643 (Parliamentary or Constitutional History of England, 1762, p. 235). c. 1665? III John Smith John Smith's uncle had died in 1658 (KAS, Wickhambreaux, no. 27), so this entry will have been made after the Restoration at the time of the reconstruction of the Library. c. 1665? III John Somner The building work on the Library was complete by late 1664; Bishop Warner's gift of bookshelves was in 1666 (Sparks, p. 122). c. 1666? III William Somner, 1598–1669 The date for this entry is the same as for his brother John, above. c. 1666 III Leonard Browne Leonard Browne was a notary public; he was bedel of the Cathedral's London properties in 1661 and was appointed collector of the Canterbury rents in 1669 (CCA) c. 1669