Nicholas Bennett – författare

Diaries and account books provide rich evidence for daily life at the time - and the early years of Matthew Flinders, credited with naming Australia.Matthew Flinders, surgeon and apothecary of Donington, in south Lincolnshire, in the late eighteenth century, was the father of the Matthew Flinders, sailor, navigator and explorer, and one of the central figures in the early history of the Australian nation. His diaries, published here in full for the first time, reveal a wealth of detail about the home, the family and the village in which the future explorer grew up. The daily routine of business, socialising with neighbours, unusual events such as the beaching of a whale near Boston, or the visit to Donington of Mr Powell the famous fire-eater are recorded alongside family joys and sorrows, the births and deaths of children, thepassing of Flinders's beloved wife Susanna and his subsequent remarriage. The childhood and schooling of Matthew junior are a recurring theme, and the purchase of a two volume edition of Robinson Crusoe in 1782 gives a hint of things to come, though as the diaries reveal, his later career was a radical diversion from the original plan for him to follow in his father's path.

Burghersh revealed as conscientious diocesan; new light on his involvement in invasion of Isabella and Mortimer in 1326.Henry Burghersh, bishop of Lincoln from 1320 until 1340, has not been treated kindly by historians. The largely hostile view expressed by early fourteenth-century chroniclers gives us a portrait of a man promoted to the office ofbishop solely as a result of family influence and royal intervention, but who subsequently betrayed the monarch who had favoured him, lending support to the rebellion of Thomas of Lancaster in 1322 and plotting with Queen Isabellato overthrow her husband. This edition of Burghersh's episcopal register reveals a different character. The bishop emerges as a conscientious diocesan and an administrator of considerable ability, while the evidence of his itinerary throws new light on the question of his involvement in the invasion of Isabella and Mortimer in 1326. The volume includes the first part of Burghersh's institution register, comprising admissions of clergy to parochial benefices, appointments of heads of religious houses, and ordinations of vicarages and chantrys, in the archdeaconries of Lincoln, Stow and Leicester.Dr NICHOLAS BENNETT is Vice-Chancellor and Librarian of Lincoln Cathedral.

Burghersh revealed as conscientious diocesan; new light on his involvement in invasion of Isabella and Mortimer in 1326.Henry Burghersh, bishop of Lincoln from 1320 until 1340, has not been treated kindly by historians. The largely hostile view expressed by early fourteenth-century chroniclers gives us a portrait of a man promoted to the office ofbishop solely as a result of family influence and royal intervention, but who subsequently betrayed the monarch who had favoured him, lending support to the rebellion of Thomas of Lancaster in 1322 and plotting with Queen Isabellato overthrow her husband. This edition of Burghersh's episcopal register reveals a different character. The bishop emerges as a conscientious diocesan and an administrator of considerable ability, while the evidence of his itinerary throws new light on the question of his involvement in the invasion of Isabella and Mortimer in 1326. The volume includes the first part of Burghersh's institution register, comprising admissions of clergy to parochial benefices, appointments of heads of religious houses, and ordinations of vicarages and chantries in the archdeaconries Northampton, Oxford, Bedford, Buckingham and Huntingdon.Dr NICHOLAS BENNETT is Vice-Chancellor and Librarian of Lincoln Cathedral.

Diaries and account books provide rich evidence for daily life at the time - and the early years of Matthew Flinders, credited with naming Australia.This volume presents [and completes] the edition of the diary and account books of Matthew Flinders, surgeon and apothecary of Donington in south Lincolnshire. His son, also Matthew, who later won renown as the first circumnavigator of Australia, appears here as a schoolboy, choosing not to follow his father as an apothecary but pursuing instead a career at sea.The diary records the social life of Donington - magical deceptions at the Bull and the visit of a theatre company - and the joys and sorrows of family life. Flinders's success in business led to investments in land and government securities, yet his fear of poverty was never far away and his wish to sell up and retire was never realised. The war with France is a recurring theme, both in the ever-increasing taxes imposed to pay for it, and in the local patriotism evoked by Nelson's victory at the Nile, and that of the 'Glorious First of June' in which the young Matthew took part. Other national events shown to impinge on country life and mentioned in the diary include the king's recovery from madness in 1789 [celebrated by the illumination of the whole town]. Overall, it affords a rare glimpse into everyday life at the time.

The growth and development of the Lincoln Record Society in its first hundred years highlights the contribution of such organisations to historical life.In 2010 the Lincoln Record Society celebrates its centenary with the publication of the hundredth volume in its distinguished series. Local record societies, financed almost entirely from the subscriptions of their members, have made an important contribution to the study of English history by making accessible in printed form some of the key archival materials relating to their areas. The story of the Lincoln society illustrates the struggles and triumphsof such an enterprise. Founded by Charles Wilmer Foster, a local clergyman of remarkable enthusiasm, the LRS set new standards of meticulous scholarship in the editing of its volumes. Its growing reputation is traced here througha rich archive of correspondence with eminent historians, among them Alexander Hamilton Thompson and Frank Stenton. The difficulties with which Kathleen Major, Canon Foster's successor, contended to keep the Society alive duringthe dark days of the Second World War are vividly described. The range of volumes published has continued to expand, from the staple cartularies and episcopal registers to more unusual sources, Quaker minutes, records ofCourts of Sewers and seventeenth-century port books. While many of the best-known publications have dealt with the medieval period, notably the magnificent Registrum Antiquissimum of Lincoln Cathedral, there have also beeneditions of eighteenth-century correspondence, twentieth-century diaries, and pioneering railway photographs of the late Victorian era. This story shows the Lincoln Record Society to be in good heart and ready to begin its secondcentury with confidence.Nicholas Bennett is currently Vice-Chancellor and Librarian of Lincoln Cathedral.

Newly-edited documents, showing the activity and ability of one of the foremost clergymen at the time.The abilities of Henry Burghersh as an administrator were recognised in his tenure of some of the highest offices in the government of King Edward III: Treasurer, Chancellor, and subsequently a diplomatic envoy overseas. The register of his memoranda as bishop of Lincoln from 1320 to 1340 reveals the exercise of his talent in an ecclesiastical sphere. The huge quantity of business relating to the clergy and people of the most populous diocese in the country prompted the division of the register into classified sections, of which the first five are included here. There are dispensations under the papal constitution Cum ex eo, permitting rectors of parishes to be absent from their duties while studying at a university. There are licences allowing incumbents to be non-resident for other reasons: to go on pilgrimage, to seek recreation, or to serve in the household of a great lord. There are commissionsdealing with testamentary business, to grant probate, audit the accounts of executors, or protect the interests of minors. Among these are six copies of wills, the earliest to be preserved in the Lincoln registers, providing a wealth of incidental detail of medieval life. There is a lengthy series of letters dimissory, permitting clerks from the diocese to be ordained by bishops elsewhere. A short section interpolated into this deals with the issue of licences granted to those permitted to hear confessions, an issue that aroused not a little ill-feeling between the friars and the secular clergy.The documents here are presented with elucidatory notes and other material.Dr Nicholas Bennett is Vice-Chancellor and Librarian of Lincoln Cathedral.

The first volume in what will be a complete biographical record of all parish priests in Lincolnshire.The parish churches of Lincolnshire are justly celebrated. The spires of Grantham and Louth, and the famous Boston Stump, provide a focal point from the surrounding landscape of fen, wold and marsh. The charms of remote country churches along the byways of the county have been extolled in prose and verse by writers such as Henry Thorold and Sir John Betjeman. Their architecture, their stained glass and sculpture, furniture and fabric, have all been carefully recorded. Yet little is known of the people who served these churches, the rectors and vicars who, in word and sacrament, taught the Christian faith to successive generations of parishioners.This volume forms the first part of a much-needed survey of Lincolnshire parish clergy. The starting point is 1214, when Bishop Hugh of Wells introduced the earliest system of episcopal registration in Western Europe. The magnificent series of Lincoln bishop'sregisters provides a framework for the parish lists, setting out the succession of rectors or vicars for each church. Brief biographical sketches demonstrate the rich variety of the county's parsons - pastors, scholars, travellers and writers, soldiers and schoolmasters; while some, like John Wycliffe, achieved a wider fame. This biographical register gives to each of them their place in the history of Lincolnshire.Dr Nicholas Bennett is General Editor of the Lincoln Record Society. Prior to retirement, he was Vice-Chancellor and Librarian of Lincoln Cathedral, where he was responsible for the historic collections of books and manuscripts.

This volume completes the edition of the register of Bishop Fleming. The general memoranda include licences and dispensations familiar in such registers: letters dimissory permitting clerks to seek ordination in other dioceses; licences to clergy to celebrate anniversaries, to preach or to be non-resident, usually for the purpose of study; licences for oratories in private chapels; licences to hear confessions. Some clergy are reprimanded: the vicar of North Mimms is deprived for non-residence; a chaplain of Dingley is reported to have buried a suicide in consecrated ground. Wills and other probate documents are transcribed in full. There are commissions appointing vicars-general when the bishop was absent overseas. On four occasions the bishop ordered special prayers to be said in all archdeaconries: for the king and his army at war overseas, for the soul of King Henry V, for the soul of the bishop's sister and for the bishop's journey overseas on the king's business.

The second volume in what will be a complete biographical record of all parish priests in Lincolnshire.The parish churches of Lincolnshire are justly celebrated. The spires of Grantham and Louth, and the famous Boston Stump, provide a focal point from the surrounding landscape of fen, wold and marsh. The charms of remote country churches along the byways of the county have been extolled in prose and verse by writers such as Henry Thorold and Sir John Betjeman. Their architecture, their stained glass and sculpture, furniture and fabric, have all been carefully recorded. Yet little is known of the people who served these churches, the rectors and vicars who, in word and sacrament, taught the Christian faith to successive generations of parishioners.This volume forms the second part of a much-needed survey of Lincolnshire parish clergy. It covers the deaneries of Beltisloe, comprising twenty-one parishes clustered around Colsterworth and Corby, and of Bolingbroke, with twenty-five parishes centred on Spilsby. Starting from 1214, when Bishop Hugh of Wells introduced the earliest system of episcopal registration in Western Europe, the parish lists set out the succession of rectors or vicars for each church. Brief biographical sketches demonstrate the rich variety of the county's parsons - pastors, scholars, athletes, travellers and writers, soldiers and schoolmasters. This register gives to each of them his place in the history of Lincolnshire.DrNicholas Bennett is Visiting Senior Fellow of the University of Lincoln.