We have mentioned that the Glovers became very much reduced in pecuniary means; when the Rev. Robert Merony Glover, died in 1838, he left the church, vicarage, and farmstead adjoining, almost in ruins; and we think it should not go unrecorded, that the Rev. Charles Pratt Terrot, who succeeded him, declined to accept any compensation for these dilapidations, as the Glover family were so poor.
An ancient font was placed in the church, June 2nd, 1841, having been removed from the ruins of an oratory in the garden of Poolham Hall. This is now the font in the church of Woodhall St. Margaret, being placed there by the vicar, the present writer. It is supported by 4 columns of serpentine, the gift of the Rev. J. A. Penny, of Wispington.
The register dates from 1662. Some of the entries are peculiar. From 1662 to 1667, the entries of baptisms regularly alternate between children of William Azlack, clerk, and Mary, his wife, and those of Robert Phillips, Esq., and Mary, his wife; vicar and squire thus running each other “neck and neck” in their progeny, a competition which curiously is terminated by the demise of the vicar’s wife, buried May 10th, 1668, and that of Mr. Robert Phillips, six weeks later, who was buried June 26th, 1668.
On “Oct. 18th, 1682, Mr. Philip Ormston, rector of Skremby, was buried” here. Why he was brought to Wispington for burial does not appear, unless his Christian name indicates relationship to the Phillips family.
On Oct. 27th, 1692, is registered the marriage of “John Spennly, weaver, and Isabel Hawstead, spinster.” The latter, doubtless derived her name from the neighbouring hamlet of Halstead, in Stixwould, still pronounced “Haw-stead.” The addition of “weaver” to the husband’s name is interesting, as evidence of a bygone craft. Weaving and spinning were at that time a common occupation of the humbler classes. [243] The epithet “spinster” we still retain, of the woman to be married, but the term “weaver” for the man is now obsolete. The Rev. J. A. Penny has part of a blanket, which was woven by the great grandmother of a parishioner in Wispington, now 60 years of age.
In 1792, we find “Bartho (Bartholomew) Goe” signing as curate; a patronymic which, until recently, survived in the neighbourhood. Among a list of the Vicars of Boston, Bartholomew Goe is given as appointed in 1817 (Thomson’s “Boston,” p. 86). It may also be noticed that on “July 16th, 1788, John Martinson, vicar, was buried”; the next entry recording the burials of his posthumous son, John, aged 8 weeks, on March 17th, 1789; while the next entry again records the burial of his relict, Mary Martinson, Sept. 21st, 1791.
On Nov. 2nd, 1710, “William Peascodd of this parish, and Amy Todd of ye parish of Bardney, were married”; in connection with which entry, we may mention, that there is in Boston Church, within the altar rails, on the north side, a fine brass of “Walter Peascod, merchant, 1398.”
Opposite several of the names in the register, both in the 17th and 18th centuries, are appended curious “hieroglyphic” signs, the meaning of which is, at the least, obscure.
Of the communion plate, the cup and paten are dated 1712, presented by John Phillips, Esq.
A group of trees in this parish is named “Barrow Plantation.” Whether there existed formerly a sepulchral barrow, which gave rise to the name, is not known; the explanation given by the modern bucolic mind is that the spot is haunted by a spectral wheelbarrow.