The 1552 Book of Common Prayer of the English church would have been the prayerbook (BCP)
in effect at the time in dispute (1628). There is no stated age re: churchwardens, but
the services of ordination for Bishops, Priests and Deacons states that no man may be
ordained a deacon before the age of 21, and no deacon ordained a priest before the age of
24. The various editions of the BCP can be found here:
http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/bcp.htm
As the average life span was 45-50 years, I would doubt that ONLY men of considerable
years would be appointed churchwardens. Also,there are typically 2 wardens, a senior
warden and a junior warden. In the Church nowadays, the titles senior and junior warden
are still utililized, but the distinction has nothing to do with age: it has to do with
the traditional and canonical roles assigned to those titles. A junior warden, whether 25
or 75, generally manages issues about the church building and property itself. The Senior
warden, whether 25 or 75, is more of the secular executive officer. These are
non-ordained and volunteer positions.
The questions raised by the earlier discussion of the Wiltshire Glebe Terriers entry
regarding the Shalbourne vicarge appear to include:
1. Did the order of the names indicate the status of the wardens (i.e., was John Tallmage
the senior warden because his name was listed first?) If so, did the same rolls apply to
the churchwardens of 1628 as they do today?
2. Were any actual signatures required? Was this a document that was renewed every year
to continue to legally bless the continuing use of parish lands, or was this something
that had changed recently or perhaps had the vicar changed? It may have been something
that required only the 1628 equivalent of a checkmark or initials to indicate acceptance
or agreement.
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I offer this only as speculation, as I'm still stuck at 1820 with my Carpenter
ancestor, who apparently appeared as Adam did, without obvious parentage, in TN or NC. I
have no opinion on the identity of the Shalbourne churchwarden & whether or not he was
a Carpenter or of Reheboth. Barring finding someone's doctorate thesis on
churchwardens of Wiltshire (it could be out there--- I found one on the age & status
of deacons in 15th century Durham), I think that the evidence found would have to be
deemed inconclusive.
Pat H.