Acts quoted:— page
7 Gul. IV, and 1 Vict., cap. 45, sec. 3 66
58 Geo. III, cap. 69 67
59 Geo. III, cap. 85, sec. 1 69
14 and 15 Vict., cap. 97, sec. 23 71
18 and 19 Vict., cap. 128, sec. 18 78
15 and 16 Vict., cap. 85, sec. 10 80
24 and 25 Vict., cap. 125, sec. 2 82
43 Geo. III, cap. 108 84
36 and 37 Vict., cap. 50 84
4 and 5 Vict., cap. 38; 7 and 8 Vict., cap. 37 85
Aggrieved Parishioners, how to deal with 58
Cemetery, how to be provided 32
Churchwarden:—
Origin of Office 1
Who qualified to act 3
Not to act except in concert with his colleague 9
Declaration to be made 10
Legality of Election, how ascertained 12
Vacancy, how filled 13
Canonical Duties 20
Duty in connection with New Incumbent 23
Duty in connection with Fabric, Churchyard, Church Goods, Insurance, Church Seats, Faculty Pews, Sequestration, Parish Documents 21, etc.
Churchyard, enlargement of 31
,, Closed, to be kept in order by Churchwardens at expense of Parish Council 30
Corporation. Churchwardens not a corporation except under special circumstances 94
Council, Parish—Powers of Vestry transferred to with certain exceptions 13, etc.
Custody of Keys of Church 53
,, Church Bells 54
,, Tithe Map 18
District Churches. Banns not to be asked or Marriages to be Solemnised in the Mother Church 39, etc.
Ratepayers residing in District have a vote in Vestry of the Mother Church 41
Music of Church, management of 53
Offertories, power over distribution of 54
Sidesmen, why so called 7
,, How elected 6
Trust deeds. How land and buildings for mission and other purposes should be conveyed 49
Vestry, Notice of, how to be signed 7
,, Incumbent Chairman of 8
,, How Votes taken 10
,, Select—abolished 10
Notices of First Edition 87

The Duties of Churchwardens.

I am so constantly asked in the course of my inspection of the Churches in the Archdeaconry of Winchester what are the duties and responsibilities of Churchwardens, that I have thought it might be useful to publish the following remarks, which were in substance delivered in my charge to the Clergy and Churchwardens of the Archdeaconry of Winchester in the Spring of 1889. Many requests were then made to me that I would publish my charge as a manual for Churchwardens, and it is in consequence of those requests that this publication has been put forth.

Let me first refer to the origin of the office. The name appears in connection with the ecclesiastical history of the fourth century.

St. Augustine refers to certain officers in the Church called seniores Ecclesiastici. These officers were not ordained persons, but yet had some concern in the care of the Church. They were entrusted with the treasure and management of the outward affairs of the Church. These persons may be looked upon as the ecclesiastical ancestors of our present race of Churchwardens. [2] In Lyndwood’s Provinciale there are allusions in some of the Provincial Constitutions of the fourteenth and fifteenth Centuries which seem to point to officers in connection with the Church corresponding to our present Churchwardens. It is not, however, until after the Reformation that we find their duties distinctly defined in successive Canons, as in 1571 (Cardwell’s Synodalia, I, 122), in 1597 (Cardwell’s Synodalia, I, 160), and in our own Canons of 1603.

It is not desirable on the present occasion to trace the variations in the duties of Churchwardens through successive centuries. Each

age has, of course, its own special features, and may require different treatment to its predecessor, but there is no doubt whatever as to the fact that ever since the Reformation Churchwardens have been recognised as officers of the Church, with their position and duties distinctly defined both by canon and statute law. Before particularising their duties I must point out what is the law as to their election.

Who, then are qualified to be Churchwardens?

Aliens, Roman Catholics, Jews, children under ten years of age, and persons who have been convicted of felony are absolutely disqualified.

The following cannot be compelled to serve the office if they personally object to do so: