III. And be it enacted that the said James Burton, and his heirs and assigns be empowered to nominate for the approval of the Bishop, a fit person, in Priest's orders, who shall have taken a University degree, to be licensed to the perpetual curacy; but on-failure of such nomination, for the space of six months, it shall lapse to the Bishop, and to the Metropolitan, and to the Crown, successively, according to Law in such cases of presentative benefices. And the right of Advowson, Patronage and Nomination to the said Chapel may be sued for, and the Incumbency thereof shall be determined as if the Curacy were a Presentative Benefice, but under the value of £6 18s. 4d. in the king’s books.
IV. And be it further enacted that the Minister shall on every Sunday morning and evening, and on every morning of Christmas Day, Good Friday and occasional Fasts and Festivals, read or cause to be read the prayers prescribed in the Book of Common Prayer or Liturgy of the Church of England; and also to preach or cause to be preached sermon; and at least eight times in the year administer or cause to be administered the Holy Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper; and shall administer Private Baptism according to the Rubric of the Church of England, when duly required.
V. And be it further enacted that it shall be lawful for the Minister to publish bans of matrimony and perform the rites of marriage, burial and baptism, as if the same were by the parish church of St. Leonards and St, Mary Magdalen, and to demand such fees as are payable within the parish of St. Mary-in-the-Castle, without prejudice, nevertheless, in the case of burials within the said chapel to the right of the said James Burton to sell catacombs, graves or vaults in the Burial ground.
VI. And be it enacted that all the marriages, christenings, and burials solemnized within the Chapel shall be registered in the Public Register Books to be provided by the Minister according to the laws in force for keeping registers in England.
VII. And be it further enacted that the said James Burton, his heirs and assigns, shall, together with the Bishop, or his Chancellor, set apart a pew contiguous to the pulpit, sufficient to hold six persons at least, for the use of the Minister; and shall also select fairly from all the pews a number containing 160 seats in the whole, such pews being marked C on the outside, and to remain for ever perpetually vested and transmissible to the minister for the time being, and a list and situation thereof be placed in the registry of the diocese; and the minister is authorized to let the same for any time not exceeding one year; so as the rent thereof be by half-yearly payments on the 24th of June and December. There shall also be set apart a number of pews, seats or benches sufficient for gratuitous accommodation of at least 200 persons, to be distinguished from the other pews by the words Free Seats to be marked thereon.
VIII. And be it further enacted that out of the rents and profits of the said pews, the minister shall provide bread and wine for the Holy Communion, and pay the salary and wages of the clerk and sexton, and shall retain the residue for his own use and maintenance.
IX. And be it further enacted that the freehold of the said Chapel, the site and burial-ground thereof, with the vaults and catacombs, shall be vested in the minister by virtue of this Act, and the free seats before mentioned, and the rents, profits and proceeds thereof, continue to be vested in and at the disposal of the said James Burton, his heirs and assigns.
X. And be it further enacted that it shall be lawful for James Burton and his heir from time to time to sell any of the pews, or seats, and the catacombs, vaults or places of burial to any person (except such pews as shall be vested in the minister), and that after payment of the purchase money, such seats, vaults, &., be vested in the person or persons so purchasing, and may be conveyed, leased, or otherwise alienated and disposed of by the proprietors thereof for the time being.
XI. And be it further enacted that all such pews, seats, catacombs, vaults, or places of burial so to be sold by James Burton, shall be conveyed as neatly as circumstances will permit in manner following.
Here follows the prescribed. form
XII. Be it further enacted that it shall be lawful for James Burton, and his heirs and assigns to appoint one proper person, and the minister to appoint another proper person to be wardens; also for the minister to appoint proper persons as clerk, sexton, organist, and other officers, the same to be removed from time to time by such as appointed them, subject to ecclesiastical consure(sic) and jurisdiction. And the said James Burton, the minister and other owner for the time being shall be subject to ecclesiastical censures for not keeping the Chapel and Burial-ground in repair.
XIII. And be it enacted that every person appointed and accepting the office of chapelwarden shall keep a true account of all moneys received and paid during their term of office, and their books to be open at any time for the inspection of the said James Burton, his heirs and assigns, or by any owner of a pew or seat in the same.
XIV. And be it further enacted that each of the chapelwardens shall, when required, render a true account in writing, upon oath of all receipts, payment and other matters committed to their charge, and shall, within 14 days pay to such as are entitled to receive the same the balance of accounts; and if any such chapelwarden neglect to render such account, it shall be lawful for any two Justices of the Peace to commit such chapelwardens to the common gaol of the county, there to remain without bail or mainprise until he render such account and pay such balance."
The Act of Parliament thus summarised contains ten other clauses, but which are here omitted as being less essential to an explanation of its general provisions.
Even in its abbreviated form the foregoing Act of Parliament is a lengthy document, but as it is one with which the public are not familiar, and as some of its provisions have been modified or set aside by a later Act, which was rendered necessary by the erection of other churches in St. Leonards and St. Mary Magdalen, it is well for the public to know what the original conditions were. When I first gave publicity to this legislative provision I promised to describe the changes effected by the above-mentioned Act, which was passed in the year 1868. It divided the two parishes of St. Leonards and St. Mary Magdalen into ecclesiastical districts or church parishes, in consequence of the erection of several newer churches within the said two parishes for which the older church was built and for which Mr. Burton’s Act of 1834 was obtained. By the Act of 1868 not only were certain districts appointed for St. Mary Magdalen, and the more recently built churches, but clauses were also inserted for legalizing marriages — past, present, and to come — in all the parishes, but especially in that of St. Mary Magdalen, where, previously to the passing of such Act, it was contended — and perhaps, rightly so — that the theretofore marriages were not strictly legal. Even at the old church (originally St. Leonards Chapel) it was doubtful if the first marriage would prove to be legitimate if its legality was at any time disputed.
As before stated, the church was not consecrated until the end of May, 1834, but between that date and the period of its erection, divine service was specially sanctioned by the Bishop. The first marriage, however, was on Dec. 24th, 1833. The bride on that occasion was Jessy, the youngest daughter of James Burton, the founder of ths town, and the bridegroom was John Peter Fearon, Esq., of the Inner Temple, London. That there might be no question of the validity of this matrimonial union, the marriage ceremony was repeated at Hollington Church. They were married by special license of the Bishop of Canterbury, the officiating minister being the Rev. H. Fearon. I did not see the wedding, but I have no doubt it was associated with a full flow of family festivities and a display of good feeling of the inhabitants.
The marriage rites were performed in the presence of James Burton (the brides father), Henry Burton, Alfred Burton, Septimus Burton, Decimus Burton (brothers), Eliza Burton (sister), Emily Jane Wood and Helen Wood (maids), Sarah Fearon, G. B. Greenough, Robt Trotter, P. Erle, W. Erle and J. L. Brown.
By the act of 1868, Mr. Burton's proprietory Chapel became legalised as the St. Leonards Parish Church, and its incumbent as rector. So of the other ecclesiastical parishes of St. Mary Magdalen, Christ Church, St. Matthew's, St. Paul's, and St. John's (Upper Maze hill), the ministers are called rectors. Old inhabitants, of course, need no reminding that the old parishes of St. Leonards and St. Mary Magdalen have not changed their boundaries as regards the civil functions of overseers, guardians of the poor &c., and that the inhabitants are still free to use what church they choose, the arrangements of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners notwithstanding. I mention this because, some years ago, I was told by a District Visitor that as my habitation was now included in a parish which she named, it was my duty to worship at the church of that parish and no other. I did not coincide with that lady's opinion, and although I essayed not to be unpolite, I ventured to reply that my naturally free spirit would not allow me to worship at any other place than that of my own choice, let ecclesiastical arrangements be whatsoever they might.
In a portion of this History it is shewn that the anciently original St. Leonards Church, as well as the St. Leonards town, was on a site westward and southward of the present town — a site which is now under the Channel water. The information is given in Bishop Praty's Register that in the year 1344 "several parishes at Hasting including St. Leonards and St. Margaret's, were destroyed by the sea and depopulated," or, in other words, in the Bishop's Register of 1440, it is stated that within a hundred years, St. Leonards, &c., had been depopulated and diminished by the inundation of the sea. There was also a St. Leonards Chapel, the site of which appears to have been from or near the spot where I am now Writing to or near the site of the present Wesleyan Chapel, in Norman road. It was a so-called Free Chapel, and as most of such chapels were built upon manors and ancient demesnes, the one in question was probably built on ground in the manor of Gensing, of which the present Norman road was a part. The said chapel was leased to J. and R. Keyme in 1546. In 1458, at the court of John Godfrey, Lord of the Manor of Gensing, T. Chalke, the parson of the Church or Chapel of St. Leonards, near Hasting, was distrained for manorial dues, and as late as 1667, the parish or Chapelry of St. Leonards was named for contribution to the relief of the poor of St. Clement. This apears to have been a solitary exaction as regards the parish of St. Leonards, but as affecting the other extra parochial parishes, a rate was levied once or twice a year, the claim for which was thus worded :—
“1692—On complaint of the overseers and churchwardens that St. Clement is overburdened with poor and not able to support themselves, it is ordered that the out parishes of Holy Trinity, St. Mary Magdalen, St. Andrew's and St. Michael's be rated for their relief by virtue of the statute of 43rd of Queen Elizabeth at vjds pound on abilities and equal pound rates on land.”
The levying of these rates on the out parishes appears to have continued till about 1707.
