Scrooby Separatist Church

THE BEGINNINGS OF THE SEPARATIST MOVEMENT

The Separatists were devout Christians who did not support some of the fundamental principles of the Established Church (Church of England), such as a hierarchy of clergy and the wearing of clerical vestments. Unlike the Puritans, who hoped to reform the Church from within, the Separatists believed that they could only bring about what they required by separating from the Established Church and reorganising themselves independently.

The Separatist movement gathered momentum from the 1570s, and while there was some opposition to it from the Established Church and the State during Elizabeth’s reign, with the imprisonment of some of its leaders, official attitudes hardened considerably after the accession of James I in 1603, and meetings had to be held in secret.

Most of the leading religious non-conformists of the later 16th century were graduates of Cambridge University, which at that time led the country in radical religious ideas. Many Cambridge graduates became priests, who were deprived of their livings and sometimes excommunicated for preaching views contrary to those of the Established Church, and for offences against canon law.

THE SCROOBY SEPARATIST CHURCH

The Act Books which record the proceedings of the church courts of the Archdeacon of Nottingham contain many entries relating to clerical misdemeanours within the Archdeaconry, particularly from the early 1590s onward. A succession of curates of Scrooby are recorded as being rebellious in matters of religion from 1591 until at least 1603, and their offences are described in some detail in the Act Books. After 1594, the curates of Scrooby were appointed by James Brewster, vicar of the mother church at Sutton-cum-Lound, brother of William Jun. of Scrooby, and well known to the court authorities for his rebellious attitude towards the Established Church. His curates were evidently chosen for their sympathy towards his principles, and it is therefore not surprising that their congregations progressed steadily towards Separatism from that time. So much so that William Brewster himself, together with other Scrooby Parishioners, was cited before the Archdeaconry court in 1598 for not attending his parish church regularly.

In the early years of the 17th century two local deprived priests, John Robinson and Richard Clyfton, became associated with the Scrooby Separatist movement.

Robinson was born at Stourton-le-Steeple in c. 1576 and in c. 1602 was connected with the Separatist church organised by John Smyth, at Gainsborough Old Hall, the home of the sympathetic Hickman family, and afterwards with the Scrooby Separatist church. Clyfton was rector of Babworth from 1596 to 1604, when he was forced to resign his living. He appears to have taken up refuge with William Brewster at Scrooby Manor House.

In c. 1606 William Brewster established the Scrooby Separatist Church at the Manor House, meeting in secret to avoid detection. Its principal members were Richard Clyfton (pastor), John Robinson (teacher), and Brewster as ruling elder, together with an indeterminate number of local followers from both middle class and labouring backgrounds. A youthful member of the church was William Bradford, baptised at nearby Austerfield church on 19th March 1589/90, the son of an Austerfield yeoman farmer. Orphaned at an early age, Bradford seems to have become the protégé of William Brewster.

The Scrooby church continued to meet at the Manor House until the autumn of 1607, when its activities became known to the Established Church authorities.

WILLIAM BREWSTER: PILGRIM FATHER

William Brewster, the Pilgrim Father, was the son of William Brewster Senior, resident in Scrooby in 1571 and from 1575-90 Baliff of the Archbishop of York’s estate at Scrooby and Master of the Queen’s Postes, living at Scrooby Manor House. The date and place of William’s (junior) birth are uncertain, but in Holland in 1609 he declared himself to be ‘aged about 42 years’, thereby establishing that he was born in c. 1566. On 3rd December 1580, William entered Peterhouse College, Cambridge as a pensioner (a student who paid for his lodgings). There is no record of his length of stay at Cambridge or his graduation.

Between c. 1583-88 he was in the service of William Davidson, Secretary of State to Queen Elizabeth I, and her representative in the Netherlands in 1585. He probably ranked as assistant or secretary to his master.

Following Davidson’s fall from power in 1587 over his involvement in the issuing of the warrant for the execution of Mary Queen of Scots, Brewster left the diplomatic service and returned to Scrooby, where he assisted his father until the latter’s death in the late spring of 1590.

A short time after his father’s death, William was appointed in his place. As ‘Master of the Postes’ his salary was 20d (8p) per day, increasing to 2s (10p) per day from 1603.

Brewster’s period of study at Cambridge, then a centre for radical religious ideas, followed by a spell in the Netherlands, long known for its toleration in matters of religion, evidently left its mark on him. In 1598 he was cited before the ecclesiastical court for irregular attendance at his parish church, and by that time he appeared to have commenced along the path of estrangement from the Established Church, leading eventually to Separatism.

In the early years of the 17th century, Brewster seems to have been a member of Richard Clayton’s congregation at Babworth, and following Clayton’s ejection from the incumbency there in 1604, joined John Smyth’s Separatist church at Gainsborough. When Smyth left for Holland, Brewster’s home, Scrooby Manor House, became the meeting place for the Separatist Church.

On 30th September 1607, Brewster resigned his official positions at Scrooby and became outlawed for his Separatist views.

Early in 1608, Brewster suffered a period of imprisonment at Boston with other leading members of the Scrooby Church, but eventually reached Amsterdam and joined the members of John Smyth’s Church.

In 1609, he left Amsterdam with other members of the Scrooby Church and was accepted into the University city of Leyden. He became a respected citizen of Leyden.

In 1620, Brewster left England on board Mayflower as the elder of the separatist Church members, later to be known as the Pilgrim fathers, who were the founders of Plymouth colony in New England. Brewster died at Plymouth on 10th April 1644, aged about 78.

THE BREAK-UP OF THE SCROOBY CHURCH

On 30th September 1607, William Brewster resigned from his position as Baliff and Postmaster, and on 1st December, he was cited, with others, before the High Court of Commission, for disobedience in matters of religion. He did not appear, and was fined £20 in his absence, and a warrant issued for his arrest. A fortnight later, the court officer certified that he could not find Brewster or any of the other defendants, nor knew where they were.

THE FLIGHT TO HOLLAND

In this climate of persecution, it was decided to leave the country secretly for Holland, where there was greater religious toleration, and where there already were a number of exiled English Separatists, including John Smyth and his Gainsborough Church.

The first attempt at departure took place during the winter of 1607-8. The Scrooby Church Members made their way overland to Boston, where they had secretly made arrangements with the master of a small vessel to convey them across the North Sea. Reaching Boston, and having embarked, they found that the master had betrayed them to the authorities. They were taken into the town, where some were imprisoned for a month before being released. Several of the leaders were detained to be dealt with at the next assize court. In the Spring of 1608, another attempt at departure was made, this time from a deserted point on the Lincolnshire side of the Humber. The women and children made their way secretly by river to the assigned place, probably along the Idle, which was navigable from Bawtry, and into the Trent. The menfolk walked overland. Arrangements had been made with the captain of a Dutch vessel to take them off in his ship. The women and children arrived first and took refuge in the creek. The next morning, the ship arrived and began to take the men on board. During this operation, a large number of armed men were seen approaching, and the Dutch captain, frightened by this new development, weighed anchor and set sail, leaving the women and children, in full view of their helpless menfolk, to be taken into custody. After 14 days at sea, during which the ship was caught in a gale and blown almost to the coast of Norway, the men reached Holland. The women and children were in pitiful circumstances. They were an embarrassment to the authorities, having no homes to go to, and were passed from one magistrate to another until they were allowed to leave for Holland to join their menfolk.

By the late summer of 1608, the members of the Scrooby Church had all reached Amsterdam, where they joined the members of John Smyth’s Gainsborough Church.

THE MOVE TO LEYDEN

After about a year in Amsterdam, the Scrooby Church members, dissatisfied with the teaching of John Smyth and with the morals of some of his church members, sought to move from Amsterdam and re-establish themselves as an independent church elsewhere in Holland.

The town they chose to move to was Leyden, the university city, whose authorities agreed to accept them into their community. The move to Leyden was accomplished during 1609.

LIFE IN LEYDEN

The Scrooby Church established itself in one of the poorer parts of the city and its members became involved in various artisan trades. As time passed, some of the group were admitted as citizens of Leyden, and John Robinson and William Brewster taught at the university.

After 1617, the group, although accepted as members of the Leyden community, began to realise that their children were growing up as strangers in a foreign land. This feeling led them to seek a new life elsewhere, where they could organise themselves quite independently. They chose to obtain permission to settle in one of the British colonies in North America. After protracted negotiations, they obtained royal approval to settle within the area of the recently established colony of Virginia, and took steps to acquire a vessel on which an advance group could make the Atlantic voyage.

The vessel selected was the Speedwell, a 60 ton burden boat, which was purchased and equipped in Holland. The Speedwell, containing the Leyden group, set sail for Southampton to rendezvous with the larger ship, the Mayflower, which the group, sponsored by a syndicate of London merchants, had chartered to make the Atlantic crossing. The remainder of the story is well known and cannot be detailed here, except to say that it was the Mayflower alone which eventually made the historic crossing in the autumn of 1620, its passengers settling at what is now Plymouth, Mass.