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Rural Religion and the Politeness of Parsons: The Church of England in South Warwickshire, C.1689–C.1820

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2016

Colin Haydon*
Affiliation:
University of Winchester

Extract

Joseph Arch, the agricultural trade unionist, was born in 1826 at Barford in south Warwickshire. In his autobiography, he recalled, as a boy, witnessing the Eucharist in the village church:

First, up walked the squire to the communion rails; the farmers went up next; then up went the tradesmen, the shopkeepers, the wheelwright, and the blacksmith; and then, the very last of all, went the poor agricultural labourers … [N]obody else knelt with them … ‘[N]ever for me!‘,

vowed Arch.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Ecclesiastical History Society 2006

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References

1 The Autobiography of Joseph Arch, ed. John Gerard O’Leary (London, 1966), 25–6.

2 Unless otherwise stated, information about specific parishes derives from Worcester, Worcestershire Record Office [hereafter: Worcestershire RO], BA 2289, Ref. 807.

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