Rev. William Cullyer

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;

The Deopham Register records:-

• 1/1/1690 His daughter was married:

All rights reserved by Norfolk Record Office who hold the original; their ref is NRO PD 485-2

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

Year	Surname	Forename	Relationship	Date
1682	CULLYER	Willyam	Son of Willyam (Clerk) & Dorothy his wife An affidavit	November 23rd
1685	CULLYER	Elizabeth	Daughter of William (Clerk) & Dorothy his wife An affidavit	June 15th

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

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:

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.

Date	Change
24/8/23	Further data from the church register
8/12/22	Published