Wateringbury Group Prosecuted for not Going to Church (1588)

Post date: Jul 04, 2011 8:37:39 AM

On 22 February 1588 Margaret Delahaye, wife of George Delahaye, gent, Thomas Garland,yeoman, Anne Smythe and Agnes Herringe of Wateringbury (together with a group of 4 people from Norton) were indicted for recusancy at Sevenoaks assizes. The verdict is not known and on 1st July the same year they (less Anne Smythe) were indicted indicted at Rochester Assizes where they were 'proclaimed according to statute'.

Recusancy was the offence of not attending Church. Legislation in 1581 had raised the penalty for recusancy to £20 per month, a very large sum. The 1581 Act had required proof of monthly absence from church and not merely absence on a particular Sunday so it was difficult to prove. In 1587 a new Act simplified the procedure for prosecution, shifting proof after an initial successful prosecution onto the recusant to prove he/she was now attending church or the fines automatically continued. Despite the Privy Council being very keen to secure convictions, enforcement was in practice sporadic and half hearted.

The recusancy legislation applied to all who did not attend church, but it mainly affected Roman Catholics. 1588, the year of the Wateringbury prosecutions, was the year of the Spanish Armada, the height of the Roman Catholic threat to Queen Elizabeth.

Margaret Delahaye's husband, George, was the owner of Wateringbury Place and the wealthiest person in the village. He would later be prosecuted himself in 1596 for 'riotous assembly and unlawful entry' (see post 'Warlike riot in Wateringbury').