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CHAPTER XII.
Persons of Note.
THE LEAKES.
The family which took its name from this village naturally claims first place in these notices.
It is not certain whether the Leakes were Saxons or Normans. The name does not appear in the list of those who came over with the Conqueror, and this suggests that the family were of Saxon, rather than Norman origin. The first allusion to the family in the manor history tends to the same conclusion, for Alan de Leca buys lands from Robert Earl Ferrers, grandson of the first Earl, and the land is described as having been “the said Alan’s Parents.” It is of course possible that these purchased the land from Earl Robert’s father or grandfather, but it seems more probable that the de Lecas were owners before the Conquest.
Cox1 says, that after some continuance here the Leakes migrated, some to Sutton-in-Scarsdale, in Derbyshire, and others to Stanton or Staunton, in Leicestershire. The latter branch changed their name to Staunton. Staunton Harold is so called from Harold de Leca who resided there. Another branch of the family settled at Hallam by Southwell, and were known as the Leekes of Hallam. It is doubtful if all the Leakes left the village which gave them their name. They certainly retained a connection with it for a long time, their names appear periodically as landowners there. As late as 1707 a Francis Leake of this place gave evidence at “The Nag’s Head,” Bradmore, in the matter of the value of Thorpe benefice.2
The pedigree of the Leakes is given in the Harleian Society’s accounts of the Heralds Visitation for the years 1569 and 1614.
Members of this family are found as Rectors of adjoining, or neighbouring parishes; but, strangely enough, no Leake was Rector of Leake.
Nicholas de Leyk was Rector of Keyworth in 1270,
Peter de Leyke (pbr) Rector of Gotham before 1303,
John de Leek, Rector of St. Michael’s, Sutton Bonington, up to 1358.
Roger Leke (pbr) was Rector of Costock in 1410, and
John Leke (pbr) Rector of Keyworth prior to 1420.
Among notable lay members of this family two may be mentioned, Sir John Leek, and Sir Francis Leek, afterwards Earl of Scarsdale.
Sir John Leek was a member of the Sutton branch of the family. He is first mentioned in 1513 as an Esquire, but soon afterward he received the honour of Knighthood. Sir John appears in the list of “the names of the Captayns and Pety Captayns .... of the Aremy and Vantgard of the Kyng’s Lefftenaunt entering in to France, the 16th day of June, in the 5th yer of the Reigne of Kynge Henry VIII, 1513.”3 A note is appended “The said Sir John mad Knyght at Lylle.”
On the 10th of September, 1522, Sir John made his will, and in it gave his reason for doing so—“being about to take the viage towards Scotland” in the King’s army. This march seems to have been in consequence of the alliance between the French King and the King of Scotland, Henry VIII being at that time in alliance with the Emperor. Henry’s army was sent to hold Scotland in check.
Sir John died on December 11th, 1522, just two months after he made his will. At his death he was found to be possessed of manors, lands, meadow, pasture, woods, and rent in various places, amongst which were Parva (Little) Leek, and Magna (Great) Leek. He left as heir a son, Francis, aged “13 years and upwards.” It is stated at the Inquisition which followed his death, that a marriage was to be arranged between this boy, and Elizabeth daughter of George Chaworth.4 Francis became a person of great prominence in Queen Elizabeth’s reign.
Sir Francis Leke a member of the Derbyshire branch of the family, is the best known of the Leakes. He stands 6th in the list of Baronets, his creation bearing date May 22nd, 1611. Thirteen years later, October 26th, 1624, he was made a Baron, with the style and title of Lord Deyncourt of Sutton. It is not often that we are able to trace the ways and means by which honours were given. In this case we are able to do so. By a strange oversight a letter from the Duke of Buckingham to King James I. has been preserved from destruction, in which the suggestion is made that Sir Francis Leake should be made a Baron. The Duke lived at Brookesby Hall, whence he wrote many of his letters to the King.
A postscript is attached to one of these letters, which commences “Dear dad and gossip,” and ends “Your Majesty’s most humble slave and dog, Stinie,” “Here is a gentleman, called Sir Francis Leake, who hath likewise a philosopher’s stone; ’tis worth but eight thousand; he will give it me, if you will make him a Baron. I will, if you command not the contrary have his patent ready for you to sign, when I come down ; he is of good religion, well-born, and hath a good estate. I pray you burn this letter.”5
The letter was not burnt, and we now know how Sir Francis was raised to the peerage.
In the troublous times which soon followed, Lord Deyncourt assisted King Charles with advice, supplies of money, and personal assistance. He was rewarded with an Earldom, and became Earl of Scarsdale. The patent conferring this dignity upon him bears date, November 11th, 21 Car. I, 1646, and was issued from Oxford, where the Court then was. The title became extinct through the failure of heirs male.
There have been ignoble, as well as noble members of this family. One, Thomas Leek, who was slain in Queen Elizabeth’s reign, by a man named Samon, left a natural son Thomas. This son is described as having been brought over from Ireland in the beginning of the Long Parliament, to witness against Thomas, Earl of Strafford. He “bangled away his Estate, and died an old man, in prison, 2 Charles II.”
JULIAN CROSBY.
Julian Crosby held the Rectory of Leake from April, 1517 to 1554. These dates are significant. Henry VIII had been on the throne about eight years when Mr. Crosby was instituted. The final conflict with the Pope, which ended in the Church of England regaining her freedom and independence, had not yet commenced. Mr. Crosby remained at Leake through all the changes and chances of the reigns of Henry and Edward VI. In spite of the temporary reaction Romewards in Mary’s reign, the Rector was left in undisturbed possession. In the second year of Queen Mary, the old Rector died.
It is easy to dismiss a man like this as a “Vicar of Bray,” but he was one of a large number who acted in the same way, and few will venture to say that “Vicars of Bray” were so numerous. It is fairer, and probably nearer the truth, to say that Mr. Crosby, as others, recognized that Catholicity did not depend on union with Rome, nor truth on Papal benediction. Men were quick to realize that the Reformation did not rob them of the essentials of doctrine and Church order.
The resident Curate at East Leake at this time—to whom the Commissioners of Church goods gave the custody of chalice, paten, and bells, in the reign of King Edward VI.— was Robert Watson.
EDWARD BIGLAND, S.T.B.
Edward Bigland was Rector of East and West Leake from 1620 to 1649, and was the second successive Fellow of Queen’s College, Cambridge, presented to the living by the patron, the Earl of Huntingdon. It is quite likely that he owed his nomination to his predecessor, John Davenant, then President of Queen’s College, Cambridge.
Mr. Bigland’s ministry coincided with the troublous times of the Civil War. When men were obliged to take sides, this Rector of Leake pronounced for the King. On the same side the majority of the neighbouring gentry ranged themselves. Among the minority was Gilbert Millington, of the adjoining parish of Sutton Bonnington, who afterwards was a member of the High Court of Justice, which sentenced King Charles to death.
We may fairly conclude that Gilbert Millington was at the bottom of Mr. Bigland’s troubles, which began so soon as the Parliament won the day. The septuagenarian Rector was seized by the emissaries of the Government, and dragged as a prisoner towards Nottingham. The journey was, for some reason, not accomplished in the day, and the old man was forced to lie in a wagon in the open field. As a result of this exposure, Mr. Bigland received so severe a chill that an attack of ague supervened, and he became palsied. This was by no means all his troubles, for he was ejected from the living which he held. It is not surprising to learn that he succumbed within a few months to this harsh treatment.
The ejection and death of this aged clergyman was not enough to satisfy Cromwell’s commissioners, for they proceeded to appropriate his personal estate, and placed his real estate for some years under sequestration. It is not unlikely that these troubles hastened the end of Mr. Bigland’s widow Eighteen months after her husband, Mary Bigland was laid to rest beside him in St. Helen’s Church, West Leake.
The tombstone of these martyrs for their King may be seen at the West end of the Church. The inscription on Mr. Bigland's memorial runs, “Hic jacet Ed Bigland Sacrae Theologiae Baccalaureus hujus Ecclesiae Rector, Qui obiit Aug 2 aetatis suae 75 Anno 1650," and that of Mrs. Bigland, “Here lieth Mary Bendish his wife, who died March 9, in the 68 year of her Age An 1652."
Across the two memorial slabs, which lie side by side, runs the inscription “Quos Christus junxit haud mors separavit," i.e., “They whom Christ joined death did not separate."
In their present position, in which they were placed at the restoration of the Church, these slabs speak falsely, for we learn from Thoroton that when he visited the Church (about 1677) they were in the chancel. It is to be hoped that some day they may be replaced in their original position.
“MASTER NEALE."
The Curate of East Leake, for a portion of the time that Mr. Bigland held the Rectory, was a certain “Master Neale." He is saved from oblivion in a remarkable manner, and by an event unconnected with the parish which he served. In the year 1646, when the Civil War was raging, it was rumoured that the lake in Garendon had become blood. A pamphlet of the time—and it was a time of many pamphlets—says that “Beholders of all degrees and conditions came to dip their handkerchiefs in the bloody Pool." “For four days the concourse and commotion, the wonder and fear, were such as had never before been witnessed. 'The true narration' adds the chronicler of the times, ‘should be printed in its own rubrick. . . . . Knights, gentlemen, and ladies, and peasants and their families, stood all close together round about it, overcome with amazement.' The town of Loughborough had to bear the blame, ‘for the Lord of Loughborough, the great agent of the King, had done it by his wrongful deeds.' The world was coming to an end ! There could be no doubt of it, ‘and Master Neale, of Great Leake/ greatly enlightened people’s darkness by his learned disquisition on the phenomenon—‘the Judgement.' This sapient gentleman ‘did put spurs to his horse, who did fling back and snorted, and was unwilling to go the pond, for clots of congealed blood did rise up.' The reader will hardly require to be told that the explanation of the whole matter will be found in the little red worm often found in clusters at the bottom of our ponds and and brooks”—From T. R. Potter's “Rambles round Loughborough,” 1868.
MICHAEL STANHOPE, S.T.P.
Rector 1717—1737.
Michael Stanhope was the son of the Hon. Charles Stanhope, of Mansfield, and a scion of the Nottinghamshire family of that name, whose head was the Earl of Chesterfield, and whose family seat was at Shelford. He was nominated Rector of East and West Leake, by his mother, Frances Stanhope, who, it may be presumed, had purchased the next presentation from the patron or patroness for the time being.
Before Michael Stanhope became Rector of these parishes he had attained a position of note, for we find him preaching the Sermon at Whitehall, on the occasion of the Thanksgiving for the defeat of the Pretender and his French allies in 1708. While Rector of East and West Leake, in 1723, he preached before the House of Commons.
At the Archdeacon of Nottingham’s Visitation, in 1722, Mr. Stanhope was the preacher. When the sermon was ended, the Archdeacon6 rose, and entered an emphatic protest against the doctrines which had been set forth. This unusual course of action created no little sensation. Mr. Stanhope, with admirable self-control, made no reply at the time, but afterwards vindicated himself in dignified and restrained language, in a printed letter. This, together with several published sermons remain.
He was buried at Shelford, on July 20th, 1737.
THEOPHILUS HENRY HASTINGS, M.A.
Theophilus Henry Hastings, M.A., Rector of East and West Leake, from August 1795 to 1804, after the lapse of a century, is mentioned in village talk. He was appointed to the living7 by his relative, Francis Rawdon Hastings, Earl of Moira. It was during his rectorate that the Wesleyans built their first Chapel. The Rector plainly resented this, and in unmeasurable terms spoke his mind from the pulpits of the two Churches of East and West Leake. He was not content to speak, but published what he had preached. The title of the publication is as follows :—
EIGHT
SERMONS
Upon the 16th Chap, of the Revelation to St John
Preached in the
CONSOLIDATED CHURCHES OF WEST AND EAST LEKE,
To confute the
Methodists, Jacobins, and Atheists there
and confirm the Members
of the
ESTABLISHED CHURCH
in the Doctrines and Duties of Christianity,
by the
REV. THEOPHILUS HENRY HASTINGS, M.A.,
Rector,
And now sent forth for the good of the Public.
In Veritate Victoria.
To which are added an exact copy of a Letter, under the Nottingham Post Mark, from a Person unknown, who, as he says of himself is illiturate, or insane:—And a Libel stuck on the Gate of his stable yard, for the Discovery of The Writer, or Publisher of which, Five Guineas Reward will be given.
LOUGHBOROUGH:
Printed and Sold by Adams, Junr., Market Place.
Sold also
By TUPMAN, Nottingham ; Drewry, Derby; and Ireland and Son, Leicester.
1800.
Price—T wo-Shillings-and-Six-Pence.
The vigour of the Sermons, and the forcible character of the language, can best be understood by two extracts. At page six, we read “If a Methodist Preacher, whether he be old or young, whether he comes on horseback or on foot, whether it be in a licensed widow's house, or at the corner of a street that he vociferates Lord, Lord, it is still a private administration. He preaches without being sent; unless he is sent by the Devil, or necessity obliges him to quit his stocking frame, his awl, or his loom, his plow, his harrow, or his scuffler; or idleness prompts him to do it: or perhaps, nay I believe the truth is that with all the runagate itinerant preachers whether Church parsons, or Methodist parsons, with them gain is godliness; though with St. Paul, godliness is gain.”
At page ninety-eight, the preacher says “This is the great day of God Almighty, on which these worldly and wicked men, these Methodists, Jacobins and Atheists, these branches of Popery, these popish and pagan princes with all their power, and all their forces, and armies they are able to muster, Gebal and Ammon and Amalek, the Philistines also and them that dwell at Tyre, Great Leke, Little Leke will come forth against the Lord Jesus and against those Christian Kings and princes who have been serious and studious in the profession and practice of the Christian religion; and exerted all their powers to dry up those streams of corruption; Popery, Methodism, Jacobinism and Atheism.”
The letter alluded to in the title page is a curious and amusing production. One of the raciest bits is the following :
“I wish to come over to Little Leak In about a Month’s Time to hear you preach. I long to hear you for I’m told you schould in your Sermons and call the Jacobins Alto Pieces and as I profess to be a true and Lyol Man to the King and Constitution of Great Brittan I hope you will send me Word When you can make a good scoulding Sermon for I’m told you Scould in your Sermons. But kind Sir dont scould me for I’ve had my pennyworths I think with my poor Silly Wife and if you had been scoulded as much as I have been you would not follow That Womanly Practice.”
MR. THOS. COOPER ANGRAVE.
A story is told of Mr. Hastings which bears the stamp of truth. Mr. Thomas Cooper Angrave, in his capacity as parish Constable, demanded from the Rector payment of a certain due. He refused to pay this, and in consequence a writ was obtained. Mr. Hastings being met with in the fields, refused to accept service, and, the brook being in flood, walked deliberately into the water to evade it. Mr. Angrave, not to be outdone, followed him and there served the writ.
One more story survives, and is recorded by the late Mr. T. R. Potter.8 Mr. Hastings resolved to take to himself a wife in his old age, and published his own banns in the following unusual manner:—“I publish the banns of marriage between Theophilus Hastings—meaning myself—and Betty —meaning my housekeeper. If any of you know cause, etc.” This marriage appears to have been the solution of a difficulty which Mr. Hastings put thus—“Betty, I dont know what to do with you; but I dont know what to do without you.”9
With all his eccentricities, Mr. Potter tells us that he was still remembered in 1840 as a kind-hearted man.
A monument to his memory in West Leake Church, on the East wall of the chancel reads thus:—“To the Memory of The Revd T. H. Hastings, M.A., late Rector of this Parish. In his Deportment he was a finished Gentleman; in Honour, Honesty, and Truth he was Princely; Rich in the possession of the most liberal Heart; and the greatest distress he laboured under, was the want of Abilities to relieve the distresses of others. He was born October the 18th 1728 and died April 2nd 1804. In veritate victoria.”
His grave is outside the chancel. At the head of it is a simple slate head-stone with the inscription—“Beneath are the Remains of the Revd T. H. Hastings, M.A. late Rector of this Parish.—Let no one be Buried in the Church.”
This inscription savours of Mr. Hastings himself. His common sense injunction might well be universally obeyed.
The West Leake Terrier of 1809 describes the Rectory as being left by Mr. Hastings in a very ruinous state, and the Rector as dying insolvent.
(1) Magna Britannia.
(2) Godfrey—Churches of Rushclifte.
(3) Cottonian MS. Cleopatra Chap. 5.
(4) Inquis. post mortem (Thoroton Society Publication pp. 127, 128).
(5) “Memorials and Letters relating to the History of Britain, in the Reign of James the First,” 1762; published by David Dalrymple, Glasgow. Quoted by T. R. Potter—“ Rambles round Loughborough.”
(6) Robert Marsden, Rector of Rempstone, whose tomb is in the old Churchyard of Rempstone.
(7) He appears to have been the Theophilus Hastings who acted as Curate of the parishes, under Mr. Wheler, from 1755 to 1763. This is the more likely inasmuch as the Baptist records tell of a conflict with the Clergy at that time.
(8) “ Walks round Loughborough” 1840, p. 90.
(9) The marriage is registered at West Leake. The entry reads, Theophilus Henry Hastings and Elizabeth Warner both of this parish were married in this Church by Banns this twenty fifth Day of April one Thousand seven Hundred and ninety seven." The marriage was solemnized by T. Needham, Curate, and was witnessed by Joseph Vickors and Elizabeth Toone.