IV.—PRIESTS AND VICARS OF ST. HELEN, BISHOPSGATE
No vicarage was instituted in St. Helen's church before the Reformation. The church was served by a parish priest, generally referred to as the
parochial chaplain. The names of two are recorded in the 12th-century
visitations of the church (pp. 1–2 ante):
Alberic in c. 1160–81.
Ailnod in c. 1181–86.
The parochial chaplain is referred to, but not by name, in 1344 (fn. 1)
and again in 1374 in the will of Adam Francis. In both cases the context
makes it perfectly clear that the chaplain was quite distinct from the chantry
priests.
The following list of parish priests, vicars and rectors is taken from
Newcourt's Repertorium, ed. Hennessy, 1898, p. 210:—
1541. John Weste.
1571. Thomas.
1575. John Olivar.
1586. . . . Lewis.
1592. Nicholas Felton.
1600. Lewis Hughes.
1603. Richard Ball, S.T.B.
1613. Thomas Downing.
1618. Thomas Evans.
1619. William Laurence.
1621. Joseph Browne, A.M.
1635. Richard Maden, S.T.B.
1639. Matthias Milward.
1642. Thomas Edwards.
1645. Samuel Willis.
1647. Arthur Barham.
1663. John Sybbald, A.M.
1666. Thomas Horton, S.T.P.
1674. Edward Pelling, A.M.
1678. Henry Hesketh, A.M. (nominated Bishop of Killala, 1689).
1695. Thomas Willis, A.M.
1701. Samson Estwicke. S.T.B.
1713. William Butler, LL.B. (Prebendary of St. Pauls).
1773. John Naish.
1795. Robert Watts, M.A.
1799. James Blenkarne, M.A.
1835. Charles Mackenzie, M.A.
1847. John Thomas How Le Mesurier, M.A. (Archdeacon of
Gibraltar).
1849. John Edmund Cox, D.D.
RECTORS
1873. John Bathurst Dean, M.A.
1887. John Alfred Lumb Airey, M.A.
1909. Silvanus Taylor Hingston Saunders, M.A.