Shelford St Peter and St Paul

List of Incumbents

There is no list in Shelford church, nor has J T Godfrey compiled one. James Torre (c1692) gives only the names of priors, and indicates that when the church was appropriated to Shelford Priory ‘it was without an incumbent’. There is evidence that the priory used the parish church, despite having a small church on its own site, but there are no references to clerics who were independent of the priory in the medieval bishops’ registers published by the Surtees Society. It therefore seems likely that the parish church was without incumbents from at least the early fourteenth century until the dissolution of the priory in 1536. The living became a permanent curacy until modern times, although the earlier incumbents are sometimes referred to as vicars.

The following list is largely based on the Archdeaconry Call Books from 1610 to 1859 held by the University of Nottingham. In addition parish registers, bishops’ transcripts, a Parliamentary commissioners’ report of 1650 in Godfrey, Crockford’s Clerical Directories, notes by Miss Florence Mee of Shelford and current knowledge have been used. Inevitably, there are gaps and uncertainties.

Richard Hutt presbyter d. 1442

Both Thoroton and Torre refer to the will of the above in which he requests that he should be buried in Shelford church. It has sometimes been assumed that he was therefore an incumbent, but this seems doubtful.

Seventeenth Century onwards

William Dracot 1610
Mr Lawe 1612
Matthias Watson 1617-1622
Humphrey Saunders by 1624-1630
Henry Pratt 1630-1638
William Evatt 1638-9
Ralph Browne 1640-1642 at least
Gap in documentation
Robert Heath by 1650-1667
Mr Ouslay 1667-1668
Joseph Hawkins 1669-1711
Edward Hawkins 1711-1716
William Vardin assistant curate 1713-1716
Thomas Price 1716-1725
Gabriel Wayne 1726-1771
William Kirkby 1772-1782
Thomas Bigsby 1783-1811
James Hewes assistant curate 1787-1809
John Davenport assistant curate 1810-1811
John Davenport 1812-1827
Thomas Thomas assistant curate 1822
Edward Palling assistant curate 1825-1826
John Rolleston assistant curate 1826-1827
John Rolleston 1828-1854
Thomas Hassall assistant curate 1853-1854
Thomas Hassall 1854-1856
Vacancy 1857-1858
Henry Alexander 1859-1874
Henry Wallis Tibbs assistant curate 1859-1862
Francis Howson assistant curate 1863-1871?
William H Fox assistant curate 1867-1870
William James Bethell Wynn Roberts 1875-1877
Herbert Guilford Sprigg 1878-1880
Christopher Rodwell 1880-1882
Edward St John Morse 1882-1940

Dispensation to hold benefice with Radcliffe-on-Trent 1940

Herbert Victor Turner (Archdeacon) 1941-1944
William Wheeler curate 1944-1946
Roger Plumpton Wilson (Archdeacon) 1946-1949
Albert Boultby curate 1946-1948
Arthur Elwin curate 1948-1951
John H L Phillips (Archdeacon) 1949-1957
Noel King curate 1953-1955
Thomas Warner Richardson 1957-1965
George John Halsey 1966-1968
Stephen Chaloner 1969-1973
Gerald Nettleton Pearce 1973-1984

Union of benefices of Radcliffe-on-Trent and Shelford with Holme Pierrepont and Adbolton 1985

Kenneth H. Newcombe 1984-1997
Canon Frank Worwood (assisting) 1989-2002
Neil Weston 1998-2009
Graeme Anderson 2009-