Download - The Worshipful Company of Plumbers

The Plumbers’ Hall: The Case of the 16th Century Protestant Dissenters Within the religious history of Britain The Plumbers’ Company holds a remarkable and compelling record. When Elizabeth I became Queen in 1558 the Kingdom the new Regina inherited was menacing, unstable and tattered; not only was the Treasury laid bare by Mary’s ministers, but the realm had has its heart ripped apart by Protestant dissent, which threatened the authority of the Crown. Being raised a protestant, Elizabeth wisely, and often against her Catholic advisors such as Norfolk or the Bishops, chose the path of religious tolerance, wishing not to open ”windows into men’s souls”, for the sake of the Crown’s stability. Only when a religious faction threatened the Crown did Elizabeth act swiftly and brutally, as with the beheading of the Catholic Duke of Norfolk and the deaths of eleven Catholic Bishops, amongst others. Elizabeth formally established the Church of England in her reign in 1563 with The Thirty Nine Articles of Religion, with Protestant dogma; but a liturgy, rites and a church organisation which were essentially Catholic in form: a shrewd political move on Elizabeth’s behalf to appease all religious divisions. Within this complex web a group of protestant dissenters objected to the doctrines and the way in which the Church was organised. They sought a more Protestant radical approach which disconnected the Church and State and gave authority and decision making to the local church, as well as challenging, along with many other issues of devotion, the central Catholic faith of Transubstantiation -­‐ where the bread and wine become the very body and blood of Christ at Communion. These dissenters often met secretly in private houses and left no record of their activities and services were conducted by a Pastor or Minister. On 4 March, 1567, some 72 protestant dissenters met in secret at Plumbers’ Hall for a service. Some have commented that it was under the guise of a wedding. This meeting is regarded as the first recorded Protestant dissenter congregation of its kind in England since the Reformation and, significantly, formed the basis of Congregationalism. Little is known about this congregation other than a document recording all those present being arrested on that day by the Sheriffs of the City of London and being sent to Bridewell Prison, which had been operating as a prison since 1556, having originally been Henry VIII’s Palace. Among those arrested was the Minister, Richard Fitz. Others arrested included Lawrence Ryppleye (Aldgate), William Young (Thames Street), Elizabeth Langtone (Aldgate), Andrew Water House (Dowgate), William Tomlyne (Chaterhouse), Alice Appletaste (Southwark), Mark Goldinge (Smithfield) and so the list goes on, finishing with Katherine Hassellwode in Berebynder Lane. It is only a guess what happened to the above prisoners. But it is likely their religious beliefs were examined and were thus bound over by a promise, as was William Bonam, Preacher, on 22 April, 1569, to Thomas Hinck, Doctor of Law, and Vicar General to Edmund Bonner, Bishop of London, at his house in “poster woster Rowe [Paternoster Row?]”. It appears, then, a possible further separatists Congregation was held at Plumbers’ Hall and 24 members of this Plumbers’ Hall Congregation were discharged from Bridewell Prison on that date on behalf of a promise made by William Bonam on 1 May 1569: As follows:-­‐ /.... That I, William Bonam, do faithfully promise, that I will not at any time hereafter use any public preaching or open reading or expounding of the scriptures, nor cause, neither be present at any private Assemblies of prayer, or expounding of the scriptures or ministering the communion in any house, or other place, contrary to the state of religion now by public authority established, or contrary to the Laws of the Realm of England, neither will I invade [?] against any rites or ceremonies used or received by common authorities within this Realm. Also present at the reading was Thomas Jones, Deputy to “......Bedell, Queens Matestes [?] Commissioned for Causes Ecclesiastical”. To be a dissenter in Elizabethan England was fraught with danger and to court death. Sadly, very little documentary evidence exists which recorded these remarkable events at Plumbers’ Hall in the mid-­‐16th century and much of it remains a tantalising mystery. However, there are many questions left unanswered. How complicit were members of the Plumbers ‘ Company in providing the hall i.e. The Master, Upper Warden, Renter Warden or Court of Assistants privy to the secret dissenter’s meetings? If indeed, the structure of the company was so organised at that time. Surely, they must have known? Were those arrested and sent to Bridewell Prison Liverymen of the Company? Why choose Plumbers’ Hall and where was it located in 1569? It is likely that these questions will remain unanswered as the Company Court records commence in 1621. Also the Senior Archivist at The London Metropolitan Archives has searched the archives – Repertories of the Court of Alderman -­‐ for those dates and there is no reference to the incident. As for the Sheriffs allegedly making the arrest their records are scarce as these were regarded as the personal property of the individual Sheriffs. There is little doubt the significance of the Plumbers’ Hall being used by early English Protestant dissenters is not to be underestimated and remains enshrined in the ecclesiastical history of this country. These early secret meetings formed the foundation of Congregationalism and the Baptist Church. See: Champlin Burrage, (2010) The Early English Dissenters in the Light of Recent research (1550-­‐
1641) ISBN 9781140222651 . Peter T J Rumley Hon. History Group Secretary.