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- William was churchwarden[1] of St. Peters in Berkhamsted after 1610. He was a Justice of the Peace, Member of Parliament, Agent for the Duchy of Cornwall (belonging to the King) in Berkhamsted about 1612. This was the beginning of enclosures[2] in Berkhamsted, in which he was involved with the Duchy lands.
He was deputed [to ask someone to act or speak for you] to select 30 acres "lying west upon the former inclosed grounds (Colharbour Farm), north uppon a highway leading from the great heath towards Aldbury, east uppon the open Frith (Commons) and south uppon the old fence of the Parke", for the purpose.
Receipt in the accounts to the vestry[3] includes 3/4d from him for the burial of his son George, in the church. Elected Sidesman[4] in 1612 and signed the vestry proceedings that year. Presented on 9 Apr 1613 in which he contributes another 3/4 d for his child Martha's grave.
In 1613 a levy for repairs to the Church reveals that William's rank was the 6th highest in the Parish based on holding 23 acres arable, 2.5 acres meadow, and other wealth. He was one of the first "Gentlemen" of 12 new Capital Burgesses when King James I granted the town a new Charter on 18 Jul 1618. Elected churchwarden on 26 Apr 1622. In 1625 he paid 6/8d for Mrs. Mason's grave (his mother in law?).
In 1625 more enclosure was called for by Charles I in order to raise money, even though no more division had been promised by the King's father. Behind the scenes bargaining was made with Berkhamsted for loss of grazing on 400 acres, for 100 acres for the town's poor. Fences were raised, probably under William's order, and torn down by North church farmers on an Aug 1640 night. They prevailed and it wasn't for another 220 years that Lord Brownlow who owned the Duchy rights enclosed the same 400 acres. This enclosure also did not prevail, however.
He was a Bailiff[5] in 1625. He was called Mr. Pitkin after 1627. He paid 6/8d for his wife Jane's grave in Apr 1628; she had died in childbirth (with daughter Jane). He was Chief Burgess in 1628. He signed minutes of Vestry meetings in 1631 where problems about Church dissention and other activities were noted. In 1632 he was assessed on 196 acres, the second largest in the parish. He took office as an Overseer of the Poor in 1633 and he sold the Church wardens some timber, that year.
He became Headmaster of Berkhamsted Grammar School 8 Aug 1636 and elected Overseer of the Poor in 1642.
He died in January 1644/45 and was probably buried in the St. Peter's Church churchyard.
[1] A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish or congregation of the Anglican Communion, usually working as a part-time volunteer. Holders of these positions are ex officio members of the parish board, usually called a vestry, parochial church council, or in the case of a Cathedral parish the chapter.
[2] Enclosure (sometimes inclosure) was the legal process in England of enclosing a number of small landholdings to create one larger farm. Once enclosed, use of the land became restricted to the owner, and it ceased to be common land for communal use. In England and Wales the term is also used for the process that ended the ancient system of arable farming in open fields. Under enclosure, such land is fenced (enclosed) and deeded or entitled to one or more owners. The process of enclosure began to be a widespread feature of the English agricultural landscape during the 16th century. By the 19th century, unenclosed commons had become largely restricted to rough pasture in mountainous areas and to relatively small parts of the lowlands. - Wikipedia
[3] Colloquial: A "vestry" was the committee for the secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England and Wales which met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church. A vestry is a room in a church, especially one in which priests and the group of people who sing in church put on the special clothes they wear for church ceremonies, and in which things used in church ceremonies are sometimes kept.
[4] A sidesperson, also known as a sidesman or usher, in the Anglican Church is responsible for greeting members of the congregation, overseeing seating arrangements in church, and for taking the collection. In England they are usually appointed by the Annual Parochial Church Meeting and receive guidance in their duties from the churchwardens.
[5] *Bailiff was the term used by the Normans for what the Saxons had called a reeve: the officer responsible for executing the decisions of a court. The duty of the bailiff would thus include serving summonses and orders, and executing all warrants issued out of the corresponding court. The district within which the bailiff operated was called his bailiwick, even to the present day. Bailiffs were outsiders and free men, that is, they were not usually from the bailiwick for which they were responsible. Primarily, bailiff referred to the officer executing the decisions of manorial courts, and the hundred courts. [1]
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Abt 1580 - Abt 1645 (~ 65 years)
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