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Home January 29, 1796 letter from Edward Kilvington to Thomas Haweis

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January 29, 1796 letter from Edward Kilvington to Thomas Haweis

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Title	January 29, 1796 letter from Edward Kilvington to Thomas Haweis
Post Date	January 29, 1796
Author	Kilvington, Edward (fl. 1793)
Recipient	Haweis, Thomas (1734-1820)
Date	1796-01-29
Physical Description	4 pp. total; 3 pp. text; 1 p. address
Dimensions	37.6 x 23.1 cm
Location (Box, Folder)	Box 2, File 11
Address To	Bath, Somersetshire
Country To	England
Address From	Fenstanton, Cambridgeshire
Country From	England
Transcriber	Gareth Lloyd
Plain Text Transcription	From Edward Kilvington at Fenstanton near St Ives, Huntingdonshire, to T.H. at Bath, Somerset. Since the time of their former correspondence, he has been in a state of constant trouble and unease over his continuation in the Fenstanton curacy. ‘The coming of the Vicar [John Cook] to residency in consequence of the suit commenced against him, so far from tending to the furtherance of the Gospel in this place, has had an effect directly contrary [and] has been the means of bringing forth the hidden enmity of his heart against God and of precipitating him into the hand of the very man who has all along been my principal and most determined adversary…for the sake of removing me and with me the preaching of the Gospel, which he [Cook] found in many respects disagreeable to him, he is at once shifted the voice of conscience, given up his own present interest, and dissatisfied in the highest degree the great body of his people. He sometime since desired me to let his tithes for him in order to procure him an increase in income; 3 of the farmers…out of love to me undertook to hire them at the rate of £165 – the living had never before brought in £75. Our enemies however persuaded him that our plan would expose him to endless law suits and the leesees offered to take the risk of law upon themselves, he came to a fixed determination to demand nothing but the old composition and to cast himself upon the mercy of the parishioners for any sum which might be raised in the way of voluntary contribution…the serious persons though poor, the richest of them in very moderate circumstances, met together and and nine of them generously agreed to contribute £40 a year in addition to the former income of the Vicarage, provided I were continued in the curacy.’ The Vicar expressed doubt about this arrangement, especially in the event of Kilvington moving on as a matter of free will. The parishioners therefore improved the offer by drawing up a bond promising to to pay him £40 annually during his life, or so long as Kilvington continued as curate. In the event of his moving on of his own volition, the arrangement would stand as long as Kilvington nominated his own successor. The Vicar decided that opinion in the parish might be against Kilvington and he therefore decided to seek a local majority opinion – Kilvington was absent in Cambridge one day and a night and his enemies took this opportunity to canvass the parish with no advance warning given to the other side. Despite this subterfuge, only 12 householders could be persuaded to sign Mr Cowling’s petition, while 102 householders signed the list drawn up by Kilvington’s friends and a further 26, while they refused to sign ether petition expressed themselves satisfied with his ministry. Regardless of the above majority sentiment, the Vicar has given Kilvington six months notice to quit the parish, with no reason given for the dismissal. Also, the Vicar has wrtten to the Bishop of Lincoln [George Pretyman Tomline], who has ordered Kilvington to quit not only the parish but the diocese also. The only accusation that has been laid against him is that he is an ‘enthusiast’ - nevertheless a flame has been lit here that cannot be extinguished. His poor aged parents are therefore to experience another removal. If anything permanent (in other words, a vicar's appointment as opposed to a curacy) could be procured for him, even at a small value, he would most thankfully accept. He would not welcome taking another curacy on the ground that this kind of thing might happen again. (1 sheet, 4p.) 29 January 1796
Digital Resources Type	Image
Digitization Date	Digitized: 2012
Digitization Process	Digitization process: Derivatives resized at 4030 pixels in height or width
Digital Publisher	Bridwell Library, Special Collections; Perkins School of Theology; Southern Methodist University
Rights	Permission to publish materials must be obtained from the Head of Special Collections of the Bridwell Library
Decade	1790-1799