2: The Archdeaconry of Huntingdon
The Archdeaconry was founded in eleventh-century by Bishop Remigius of Lincoln. It originally covered Huntingdonshire, Cambridgeshire and part of Hertfordshire, often known as the Hitchin Division. Cambridgeshire left the Archdeaconry in 1109 and the Hitchin Division in 1609. In 1837 the entire Archdeaconry was transferred from the Diocese of Lincoln to the Diocese of Ely.
Before 1852 the parishes of Brampton, Buckden, Leighton Bromswold and Stow Longa were separate "peculiar jurisdictions": although these parishes were part of the old county of Huntingdonshire, they were exempt from the normal jurisdiction of the Archdeacon. They were granted to Prebends, usually by the King or Bishop, who then held exercised or farmed out the duties and privileges that were held by the Archdeacon in the other parishes of the Archdeaconry.
The Records of the Archdeaconry
Most of the records in the collection were transferred to Huntingdonshire Archives from the Archdeaconry Library and include a wide range of documents created by the Archdeacon and the other officers of the Archdeaconry. The Library was established by Archdeacon Vesey in 1890 as a resource for clergymen of the Archdeaconry until its closure in 1971. It is believed that most of the archive received from the Library had been previously held at the Bishop of Lincoln’s palace at Buckden, although there is no hard evidence for this. Some of the records, including the wills, were never in the Archdeaconry Library, but were transferred to civil probate registries in 1858.
In the past the Archdeacon ran his own court — often referred to as the “bawdy court” because of the largely sexual nature of the offences tried. Like the case of James and Mary Howell of Kimbolton who were brought before the court in 1701 for “incontinency together before marriage”. The records of this court include court books, which record the proceedings of the cases tried and the penances; a document sent to the parish of those who had been found guilty of immorality detailing their penance - usually standing in front of the congregation holding a stick and wearing a white sheet.
Many of the records give an insight into the lives of the clergymen of the Archdeaconry, including mandates for induction, licences for non-residency and visitation papers. It is still one of the functions of the Archdeacon that he regularly makes visitations to his parishes to check up on church property and to give the churchwardens a chance to report on the incumbent. Certificates were also issued to school masters, surgeons and midwives. The surgeons and midwives in order to ensure that they were spiritually fit and sufficently orthodox to be able to perform emergency baptisms.