St Luke's Church, Goostrey - Parish Records

Parish Records

The parish registers, which are well preserved, date back to 1561. They contain a few interesting notes, such as one in 1661 when Marie Worthington, the wife of the minister of Goostrey, died, and after the entry is written the word 'scould' in a different ink. Another note among the next year's burials tells that Mr Whishall 'married five wives,' and later, in 1674, when James Dean married Margaret Hall, we read that she was his third wife 'all within the year'. At the back of the volume, among a list of notices relating to collections made in the chapelry, are documented donations sent to towns like Ripon in Yorkshire or Bridgnorth in Shropshire, as well as one contribution sent to Hugh Evans 'having his house and his household goods burnt in the county of Salop'. The registers also document how everyone agreed to the appointment of Mr Henry Newcome as minister on 7 October 1648, and it seems that even into the eighteenth century the inhabitants had some say in which clergyman was given the living of Goostrey, even though the final decision must have rested then as now with the vicar of Sandbach.

Mr Newcome was a strict puritan, and forbade two of his most prominent parishioners from coming to Holy Communion for their frequent drinking. He left after eighteen months to become Rector of Gawsworth.

The Churchwarden's Accounts are preserved from 1638 and explain the economics of parish life in other days. For example in 1661, the font could be releaded for thirteen shillings, or a clock bought for two pounds three shillings and nine pence in 1658. Some things seem very cheap, as when the royal arms were painted and erected for two pounds three shillings and eight pence, and some very expensive, as when the book containing the new Communion Service of 1662, was purchased at a cost of twelve shillings, at a time when a labourer's weekly wage would not be much above half a crown. Sometimes information about the bill is scarce, as when the church was restored in 1711 at a cost of forty six pounds. Other account examples include 5000 bricks for two pounds five shillings in 1750.