One of them was a learned professor
of a college and an author of repute, and the other was attended by his
father in the same manner as Dr. Kennicott was by his.
Sometimes our failures are the stepping-stones to success in life. The
celebrated Dr. Prideaux, Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford and
Bishop of Worcester in 1641, was the son of poor parents at Harford,
near Totnes. He applied for the post of parish clerk at Ugborough, but
failed to obtain the appointment. He was much disappointed, and in
despair wandered to Oxford, where he became a servitor at Exeter
College, and ultimately attained to the position of rector or head of
his college. When he became bishop, he was accustomed to say, "If I
could have been clerk of Ugborough, I had never been bishop of
Worcester."
The history of the clerks of Barnstaple (1500-1900) has been traced by
the Rev. J.F. Chanter[95], and the record is remarkable as showing their
important status, and how some were raised to the diaconate, and in
difficult times rendered good service to the Church and the incumbents.
The first clerk of whom any trace can be found was Thomas Hunt
(1540-68). He appears in the register books as _clericus de hoc opido_,
and in the churchwardens' accounts for 1564 there is an entry, "Item to
Hunt the clerke paid for lights 2 s.
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