Clergy 18th century

[AH]

Hi
I have several members of the clergy in my family tree each moving through a few parishes that are relatively close by during their careers. I have one exception & I can’t quite understand how it would have worked

Thomas Edmondson/Edmundson was ordained in Durham in 1748. Initially he was a curate at Egglingham then curate at Threlkeld/Crosthwaite near Keswick (Cumbria) from about 1770 until his death in 1797. Where it gets a bit odd is that at the same time he was Vicar of Rodmersham in Kent (ie 1776 - 1797).

This is from the CCed database so my first thought was “must be someone else”, but no, he has a memorial plaque in Crosthwaite stating curate of Crosthwaite & vicar of Rodmersham.

I noted from the CCed database that a James Stephen Lushington was vicar of Crosthwaite whilst Thomas Edmondson was curate (1770-1782), and I noticed that James Stephen Lushington was the Patron of Thomas Edmondson at Rodmersham...so that might explain how Thomas even heard of Rodmersham in Kent!

What I can’t get my head around is how on earth did that work. It would be one heck of a commute today let alone in the 18th century. Was this normal/common? Has anyone come across this in other parishes? I would welcome any thoughts

[stanmapstone]

Thomas Edmondson, (1748 - 1798) was Curate : Eglingham (30/10/1748 - 24/07/1751 ) and
Vicar : Rodmersham (21/10/1776 - 01/03/1798 ) according to https://theclergydatabase.org.uk

Stan

[AH]

Indeed he was....he was also curate at Threlkeld/Crosthwaite and vicar at Rodmersham (on clergy database as 2 individuals Edmondson and Edmundson). I know they are the same thanks to letters I have plus the memorial plaque in the church (https://co-curate.ncl.ac.uk/resources/view/99919/)

What I find difficult is how can a priest work in 2 places, one in Cumbria the other in Kent, at the same time? Could a person be vicar of a parish and just not be there...sort of like an honorary title?

[stanmapstone]

Is he John Edmondson or Thomas Edmondson,?

This was posted before the original post was edited, which had

John Edmondson/Edmundson was ordained in Durham in 1748. Initially he was a curate at Egglingham then curate at Threlkeld/Crosthwaite near Keswick (Cumbria) from about 1770 until his death in 1797. Where it gets a bit odd is that at the same time he was Vicar of Rodmersham in Kent (ie 1776 - 1797).
Stan

[AH]

He’s Thomas
Thomas Edmundson 1770-1795 CCEd person id 5913
Thomas Edmondson 1748-1798 CCEd person id 136264

The link I posted was to a plaque in the church which says
“Sacred to the memory of Thomas Edmondson Vicar of Rodmersham Co of Kent and Curate of Threlkeld who died Oct 3rd 1797 aged 79yrs”

Which just strikes me as odd 

[StevieSteve]

I've a vicar in my tree who apparently used to ride to the top of a ridge past his church and if the churchwarden or whoever didn't signal him, he'd ride on again.

So, yes, I think you can get away with not being present, at least not all the time.

[AH]

Might explain why weddings & burials never happen immediately....wait for letter from Kent to arrive in the Lake District...get on coach to London then another coach to Rodmersham...would take a few days

[arthurk]

I haven't been following exactly who was minister where and when, but Pluralism was a recognised feature (and problem) of the Church of England, whereby clergy drew an income from several parishes and paid others to do their duty there.

There's probably quite a bit about it online if you look; for starters, see this from Wikipedia, especially section 2.2 - Pluralism in England:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benefice

[AH]

Thank you so much for that! It certainly would go some way to explaining what’s going on. I will have a hunt round pluralism to see what else I can find. It’s such a help knowing what the correct term is...otherwise it’s really hard to know where to begin.