The Scrooby Congregation were English Protestant separatists who lived near Scrooby, on the outskirts of Bawtry, a small market town at the border of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire. In 1607/8 the Congregation emigrated to the Netherlands in search of the freedom to worship as they chose. They founded the "English separatist church at Leiden", one of several English separatist groups in the Netherlands at the time.
Richard Clyfton was rector of All Saints' Church, Babworth, near Retford, from 1586. He lost his position as rector of Babworth through deprivation in 1605 [1] under suspicion of nonconformity. Suspended, he continued to preach at Bawtry, near Scrooby though over the county boundary in Yorkshire. From 1606 the congregation around Clyfton met in the house of William Brewster. This manor house has been identified as on the site of the old Scrooby Palace of the archbishops of York, though much of the older building had been demolished by then. [2] In 1607 Clyfton was excommunicated; at this time he had already met William Bradford. [3] [4]
John Robinson from Sturton le Steeple, also in northern Nottinghamshire, had lost his pulpit for his views and returned home by about the end of 1604; he made contact with separatist groups in Gainsborough, just over the eastern county boundary in Lincolnshire, as well as Scrooby. The minister at Gainsborough was John Smyth. In this way the two separatist churches were drawn together, with Robinson assuming authority in the Scrooby congregation alongside Clyfton after a process of ordination. [5]
From the end of 1607 and into 1608 the Gainsborough-Scrooby separatist group emigrated to Holland, in waves. An important organiser of the move was Thomas Helwys of Smyth's congregation, who had moved away to Basford, Nottinghamshire before coming to attention for not taking communion. [6] The emigrants went to Amsterdam and Leiden. [7]
After arriving at Holland they realised that as foreigners, they could only take unskilled jobs and were exempt from working organisations. The congregation also noticed that their children were growing up more Dutch than English. The congregation decided to emigrate to the Americas, where their children could be English, and they could worship freely.[ citation needed ]
The exact significance of Scrooby for the Pilgrim group is still debated. The first research on the congregation was published by the antiquarian Joseph Hunter in 1849. It was followed in 1853 by a popular book from William Henry Bartlett, a topographical artist. Henry Morton Dexter wrote the authoritative account The England and Holland of the Pilgrims (1905). Further documentary evidence was found by Walter Herbert Burgess (1867–1943) and Ronald Marchant. [8] See also Sandra Goodall, "Beyond Bradford's Journal: The Scrooby Puritans in Context," Ph.D. Dissertation, August 2015, Arizona State University.
William Bradford was an English Puritan Separatist originally from the West Riding of Yorkshire in Northern England. He moved to Leiden in Holland in order to escape persecution from King James I of England, and then emigrated to the Plymouth Colony on the Mayflower in 1620. He was a signatory to the Mayflower Compact and went on to serve as Governor of the Plymouth Colony intermittently for about 30 years between 1621 and 1657. He served as a commissioner of the United Colonies of New England on multiple occasions and served twice as president. His journal Of Plymouth Plantation covered the years from 1620 to 1646 in Plymouth.
Bawtry is a market town and civil parish in the City of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. It lies 8 miles (13 km) south-east of Doncaster, 10 miles (16 km) west of Gainsborough and 8 miles (13 km) north-west of Retford, on the border with Nottinghamshire and close to Lincolnshire. The town was historically divided between the West Riding of Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire. Its population of 3,204 in the 2001 UK census increased to 3,573 in 2011, and was put at 3,519 in 2019. Nearby settlements include Austerfield, Everton, Scrooby, Blyth, Bircotes and Tickhill.
The Rye House Plot of 1683 was a plan to assassinate King Charles II of England and his brother James, Duke of York. The royal party went from Westminster to Newmarket to see horse races and were expected to make the return journey on 1 April 1683, but because there was a major fire in Newmarket on 22 March, the races were cancelled, and the King and the Duke returned to London early. As a result, the planned attack never took place.
Scrooby is a small village on the River Ryton in north Nottinghamshire, England, near Bawtry in South Yorkshire. At the time of the 2001 census it had a population of 329, in 2011 the count was 315 and by the 2021 census this had fallen further to 307 residents. Until 1766, it was on the Great North Road so became a stopping-off point for numerous important figures including Queen Elizabeth I and Cardinal Wolsey on their journeys. The latter stayed at the Manor House briefly, after his fall from favour.
John Smyth was an English Anglican, Baptist, then Mennonite minister and a defender of the principle of religious liberty.
Thomas Helwys, an English minister, was one of the joint founders, with John Smyth, of the General Baptist denomination. In the early 17th century, Helwys was the principal formulator of a demand that the church and the state be kept separate in matters of law, so that individuals might have a freedom of religious conscience. He was an advocate of religious liberty at a time when to hold to such views could be dangerous. He died in prison as a consequence of the religious persecution of Protestant Dissenters under King James I.
John Robinson (1576–1625) was the pastor of the "Pilgrim Fathers" before they left on the Mayflower. He became one of the early leaders of the English Separatists called Brownists, and is regarded as one of the founders of the Congregational Church.
Sir Griffin Markham was an English soldier.
Dudley Carleton, 1st Viscount Dorchester was an English art collector, diplomat and Secretary of State.
Richard Clyfton was an English Separatist minister, at Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, and then in Amsterdam. Clyfton is known for his connection with the Pilgrims – the early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts, USA.
Richard Bernard (1568–1641) was an English Puritan clergyman and writer.
John Paget was an English nonconforming clergyman, who became pastor at the English Reformed Church, Amsterdam. He was a steadfast defender of Presbyterianism and orthodox Calvinism in numerous controversies with English exiles in the Dutch Republic.
The Lieutenant of the Tower of London serves directly under the Constable of the Tower. The office has been appointed at least since the 13th century. There were formerly many privileges, immunities and perquisites attached to the office. Like the Constable, the Lieutenant was usually appointed by letters patent, either for life or during the King's pleasure.
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