OF CONGREGATIONALISM AND Memorials of the Churches IN NORFOLK AND SUFFOLK. BY JOHN BROWNE, B.A., Congregational Minister at Wrentham. Diest April 4. 1886 PREFACE. THIS book owes its origin to the generosity of MR. D. H. GODDARD, late of Newcastle, now of Chester-le-Street, who, at the meeting of the Congregational Union at Ipswich in 1872, offered a premium for the production of a History of Congregationalism in Norfolk and Suffolk. The execution of the work was, without solicitation on my part, confided to me. Living at a distance from libraries, I have to a great extent been dependent on my own collection of MSS., books, sermons, and tracts; almost all those which are quoted, except otherwise indicated, being in my own possession: but, whilst the work has been passing through the press, I have made considerable additions of interesting and important matter from the Record Office, and the British Museum. I am indebted to S. W. Rix, Esq., of Beccles, for the use of his collections illustrative of the history of Congregationalism in these two counties, and for the encouragement he has, for many years, given me to attempt such a work as the present; to the Rev. Geo. Gould, of Norwich, for the use of MSS. which have been very helpful to me; and to the Rev. T. W. Davids, of Upton, for contributions and counsels which have been of great value. My best thanks are also due to the Rev. T. Hunter, for affording me facilities for consulting books and MSS. in Dr. Williams' Library; and to those pastors of churches who have allowed me to copy, or make extracts from, their several church books. I have taken these, rather than any existing descriptions of the churches, as the basis of this history. The history of the Baptist Churches is more of a fragment than I desired; it is nearly complete to the close of last century, but sufficient information with regard to many later formed churches has not been supplied. The facts here carefully gathered together may hereafter furnish occasion for a more general view of East Anglian Congregationalism, which the limits of this volume prevent me from adding. With all its defects, and no one is more conscious of them than I am, I hope this book may prove a monument to the memory of deservedly honoured men long since gone to their rest and their reward; a faithful record of effort, toil, and suffering in a great and good cause; a stimulus to the present generation of Congregationalists, urging them to conduct worthy of their forefathers; a witness to the world that Congregationalism is not an impracticable theory, but a form of Christian life and effort, rich in blessing to any neighbourhood which entertains it, because it is the embodiment of Christian liberty in its largest possible corporate manifestation. To God, whose truth I have endeavoured to maintain; to Christ, the image of whose church is here reflected; and to the Holy Spirit, who alone can quicken the truth, the church, and the hearts of men, I reverently commend my book. Wrentham, December 1st, 1877. J. B. HISTORY OF CONGREGATIONALISM AND MEMORIALS OF THE CHURCHES IN NORFOLK AND SUFFOLK. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. NORFOLK and Suffolk have long been distinguished by the zeal for Protestantism cherished and manifested in their towns and villages. "One of the first sparks of the glorious Reformation of the Church which has enlightened all Europe, as well as many other parts of the world, was struck at the small village of Stradbrook in Suffolk; for Dr. Grosthead, afterwards Bishop of Lincoln, a divine of great courage, learning, and piety, and who was contemporary with Wycliffe, and assisted him in his writings against the reigning superstitions and corruptions of the Romish Church, was a native of that parish."* One of the first victims of the Writ "De hæretico comburendo"t was a Norfolk man. Gillingwater's "Bury," pp. 125, 6. "The Archbishop, or Bishop of every diocese, had power to convict any for heresy ; this is by the common law." But it was "by the Writ De hæretico comburendo, granted out of chancery upon a certificate of such conviction that heretics were burnt."-Jacob's Law Dictionary. It was not till after the death of Wycliffe that "our history was stained with the record of any violence offered to a man in his civil interests for the freedom of his judgment in matters relating to faith and worship; for there was no burning statute yet in being. But the clergy, finding their power endangered, and the blind reverence paid to them much lessened by the spreading of these new opinions, were concerned to represent them as damnable as they could, and wheedled that weak prince Richard II. to give assent to B |