The Speculum of Archbishop Thomas Secker: (Church of England Record Society)

The Speculumcompiled by Archbishop Thomas Secker (1758-68) is a major source for our understanding of the position of the Church of England in the mid-eighteenth century. A parish by parish digest of the returns submitted to the archbishop between 1758 and 1761, in the main for the diocese of Canterbury but including several others. It contains very full information on such matters as the size and social structure of the parishes; the names and qualifications of the clergy; their wealth; and their relations with Roman Catholics and protestant dissenters. Part of the significance of the Speculumis its witness of the pastoral pressure applied by Secker, allowing the historian to assess how far an energetic archbishop was ableto improve the standards of pastoral provision in the parishes under his care. This edition has attempted to preserve the spelling and capitalisation of the original, and editorial notes give biographical information on the large number of persons mentioned in the text, as well as identifying other textual allusions. JEREMY GREGORYis Lecturer in History at the University of Northumbria.

Table of Contents:
Archbishop Thomas Secker's Speculum and the state of the Church in the mid-18th century; editorial conventions; abbreviations used by Secker and his successors; abbreviations used in footnotes; note on the authors of the text; note on principal informants; note on dates; note on spelling of parishes; note on pagination; visitation articles issued by Archbishop Secker in 1758; Archbishop Secker's Speculum - places in the diocese of Canterbury, places in the diocese of Chichester, places in the diocese of Lincoln, places in the diocese of London, places in the diocese of Norwich, places in the diocese of Oxford, places in the diocese of Rochester, places in the diocese of Winchester, places in the diocese of Chichester, places in the diocese of Lincoln, places in the diocese of London, places in the diocese of Norwich, places in the diocese of Winchester, places in the diocese of Chester.

Review :
An extensive series of explanatory and bibliographic notes enlarge the scope of the text. The scholarship is exhaustive and extraordinary. The text will be useful for any scholar interested in the condition and operation of the church but also to those concerned about the economic and social life of mid-eighteenth-century England.