Thomas Morse (c 1550-1597) 52 Ancestors #19 Theme: "There's a Way"

Although he died 400 years before I ever heard of  him, my 10X great grandfather Thomas Morse is largely responsible for my obsession with genealogy. In the spring of 1997, we had 3 significant deaths in our family just weeks apart. When my husband went to Suffolk, England to attend a funeral, I stayed home and tried some early internet searches, inputting names from the family tree compiled by my uncle Bob Anderson in the 1970's. The earliest information I had at that time on my mother's line was Samuel Bullen marrying Mary Morse in Massachusetts in 1641. To my amazement, dozens of results showed up on the computer! I learned that Mary Morse had come to New England with her parents Samuel Morse and Elizabeth Jasper and that Samuel's father was named Thomas Morse and had come from the Hinderclay area of Suffolk, England. When I checked a map of England and discovered that my husband was just a few miles from Hinderclay, I asked him to go there and take photographs to bring home.

He called back the next day to tell me about his discoveries: not only had he gone to visit the church at Hinderclay, but he had found my ancestor Thomas Morse listed in the names of the rectors there.

Rectors of Hinderclay - See Thomas Morse left hand column, third from the bottom:

"1583 Thomas Morse (deprived 1595)"

"Deprived 1595?" Apparently Thomas had lost his job. But under what circumstances? What had happened to him and how did he find a way out of this dilemma?

It didn't take long to realize that this time frame would have been during the religious upheavals following King Henry VIII's break with the Roman Catholic Church. After Henry's death in 1547, there were the short but bloody reigns of Edward VI and then Catholic Queen Mary I, followed by the long reign of Elizabeth I from 1558-1603 during which the Protestant Church of England was struggling to define itself. It would have been during Elizabeth's reign that Thomas was deprived of his benefice in 1595. During this time, it must have been very difficult to keep ahead of the tide of religious change, especially for clergymen. Although Elizabeth I was a Protestant supporter, she apparently believed that, next to the Roman Catholics, Puritans were her greatest religious challenge. Protestants in the Church of England at the time continued to wear vestments and retained other "popish" aspects of the Catholic Church. The Puritans wanted to simplify or purify the church even further. Had Thomas found himself on the wrong side of some church issue in 1595?

To begin at the beginning: Thomas Morse was born in about 1550 in Stoke By Nayland, Suffolk, England to Thomas and Agnes Morse. The Morses go back in Stoke By Nayland until around 1492 when Thomas's great grandfather Robert Morse was baptised there. Robert's parents and grandparents are associated with the nearby village of Stratford St Mary so the Morse name was found in this area near the Suffolk/Essex border for many generations.

Stoke By Nayland Church

In 1573 he was presented to the nearby vicarage of Boxted, Suffolk of which the Bishop of London was patron. Thomas married Margaret King there that same year.

However, things did not go smoothly for Thomas in this parish. He had become a part of a secret conference of nonconformist clergymen who met on a monthly basis in and around Dedham, Essex, to discuss matters of local and national interest. He was "called into consistory" by the church on 8 November 1576 and ordered to wear the surplice; he refused on grounds that it would offend his parishioners and hinder his ministry among them. It turned out that Thomas was suspended at Boxted too! Oh, Thomas! On condition that he conform, he was restored on 8 February 1577 by special mandate from the Bishop of London. But later that year, he was again summoned for a personal interview during the primary visitation of John Aylmer and was again suspended. He resigned his position at Boxted on 26 May 1579. Not listed at all in the London diocese in 1580, he was quite possibly preaching privately to fellow non-conformists. It appears that he continued to live at Boxted until 1583 since all four of his and Margaret's children (including my 9X great grandfather Samuel) were baptised there.

Church at Boxted, Suffolk

On 5 March 1583, he was the speaker at the clandestine Dedham conference meeting at Boxted, but nevertheless became rector at Hinderclay, Suffolk on 14 July 1583. The very next year found him among the Suffolk clergy suspended for refusing to comply with Church of England requirements. After the death of wife Margaret, he returned to Boxted where he was described as "mynyster of Hinderclaye" when he married Margery Boggass on 24 November 1585 (and went on to father 5 more children). 

Hinderclay Church

Interior of Hinderclay Church, Hinderclay, Suffolk, England

In the 1880's more than 50 Suffolk ministers were suspended for refusing to conform to the official Protestant Church of England teachings. Many refused to wear the surplice, which was a simplification of the Catholic vestments but still not simple enough for these Puritans who wanted more extreme reform.

In later years, Thomas's eldest son John trained at Cambridge Emmanuel College to follow in his father's footsteps as a clergyman. This college was well-known at the time for being a hotbed of Puritan sentiment. Thomas's son Samuel and other family members moved to Massachusetts as acknowledged Puritans. It isn't hard to determine the religious predilection of the family.

 Entrance at Hinderclay church

His non-conforming ways finally led to his deprivation of his post at Hinderclay in 1595. Deprived of his ability to make a living and with a wife and children to support. What to do?

By the 1590's Puritanism was so prevalent that about 1/3 of the Suffolk clergy had been reported for refusing to wear the surplice. When they lost their positions, they were often fortunate enough to find a Puritan patron for a livelihood at a different church. At first, I thought perhaps this was how Thomas had found a way out of his dilemma since in the same year that he was deprived at Hinderclay, he took up a post as rector of Foxearth, Essex on 28 August 1595.

There was, however, to be no easy way out for Thomas. The same day that he became rector at Foxearth, he appeared before Edward Stanhope "in consistory" and was ordered specifically to subscribe to the 39 Articles. There was to be a follow-up meeting in Braintree on 20 September where Thomas was to show letters of orders and letters dismissory. He was further ordered always to use the prayer book at Foxearth, to wear the surplice, to administer the sacraments to himself kneeling and not to administer the sacraments to anyone who did not kneel, to use the sign of the cross in baptism, to use the ring in marriage and to observe all church requirements strictly. He was required to bring in church wardens' certificates that he had followed all of this and he was required to state under oath that he had adhered to all required church policies. After satisfying all of these requirements, Thomas was finally granted a preaching license. He had found a way but, unfortunately, did not live happily ever after. He was rector there only a few short months until March 1596/7.

List of Rectors Posted Inside Foxearth Church
"Thomas Morse 1595" 3rd from bottom

He wrote his will 10 November 1596 and died 28 October 1597 at Foxearth at the age of only 47. There is no indication of the cause of death - perhaps the religious turmoil of the 16th century had taken its toll.

Church at Foxearth Essex

In his will, he left 20 pounds to each of his 9 living children, his books to his oldest son and "Bybles" to the eight youngest children. The residue of the estate was left to his wife "and she is to bring up my children in learning".

Sources:

• Roberts, Gary Boyd,  "English Origins of New England Families" from New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 1st series, 1984
• Collinson, Craig and Usher, "Conferences and Combination Lectures in the Elizabethan Church: Dedham and Bury St Edmunds 1582-1590", pages 231-232 accessed online 3 May 2015
• New England Historical and Genealogical Register, volume 19, p 264 (Will of Thomas Morse of Foxearth, County of Essex, England, copied by Horatio G Sombersby) accessed online at Google Books on 3 May 2015