Deopham History

Rev. William Cullyer

Contents

  1. Biography
  2. Family
  3. Residence
  4. Death
  5. Edingthorpe
  6. Navigation

Biography

Vicar of Deopham 1657-1713

The above dates for the Rev. Cullyer’s ministry in Deopham are taken from Blomefield.

The “Clergy of the Church of England” lists have the following data, not all of it consistent:-

  • 26/6/1657 Licensed as a public preacher in Deopham “on the approbation of the commissioners”;
  • 17/8/1660 Ordained priest by the Bishop of Chichester, Henry King;
  • 12/8/1662 A subscription book indicates he was already in Deopham;
  • 27/3/1663 Appointed Rector of Hackford;
  • 9/4/1663 Instituted as Rector of Hackford. Hackford was “united with Deepeham by a personal union on the same day”;
  • 1666 Appointed to Edingthorpe;
  • 1678 Reference to him as vicar of Deepeham;

Family

The Deopham Register recorded that on January 1st 1690 his daughter was married:

    The Deopham Register also recorded that he had to bury two of his own children, although curiously there is no record of their baptisms:

    YearSurnameForenameRelationshipDate
    1682CULLYERWillyamSon of Willyam (Clerk) & Dorothy his wife
    An affidavit
    November 23rd
    1685CULLYERElizabethDaughter of William (Clerk) & Dorothy his wife
    An affidavit
    June 15th

    In total, there were 316 burials at which the Rev. William Cullyer officiated.

    Residence

    There is an undated letter from William Cullyer to the “Dean and Prebends of Canterbury” in which he described the unsatisfactory arrangement whereby he had taken on the lease for the Manor of Deopham on unfavourable terms. He asks for a lease to be agreed between himself and Canterbury.

    In 1676 William Cullyer and Augustine Cullyer agreed a lease for the Manor of Deopham with the Dean & Chapter of Canterbury.

    Death

    The Church of England Clergy Database shows some confusion as to the date of William Cullyer’s death:

    • 3/2/1711 His death in Edingthorpe is recorded;
    • 28/2/1711 His death in “Hackforth” is recorded;
    • 30/7/1713 His death in Deopham is recorded;
      there is also notice of a “personal union established with the Rectory of Colton, Norfolk”.

    It could be that the discrepancies arise because the dates of death have been assumed from the dates the successors started in each location, without allowing for any inter regnum.

    William Cullyer’s signature from a document of 1708:

    The parish registers record his burial on January 7th 1710, which does not match any of the dates shown above from the Clergy Database:-

    The Deopham church register shows that his wife Dorothy was buried in the middle of the chancel on December 27th 1719:

    Edingthorpe

    Depositions held at the Norfolk Record Office report that after William Cullyer’s death in 1712 the chancel, bakehouse, parsonage house, barn, and stable belonging to Edingthorpe rectory were in decay due to the neglect of the previous incumbent, William Cullyer.

    DateChange
    11/1/26Links to lease documents
    24/8/23Further data from the church register
    8/12/22Published