Rectors of Thurcaston (and other notables)

In earlier times, Thurcaston parish was reputed to be the most desirable living (in terms of its income) in Leicestershire, and several of its Rectors later became Bishops. Here are notes on some of the most outstanding among those recorded on the list at the back of the Church, which starts from 1209.

ROGER MARTIVAL (c. 1250-1330) was appointed Rector in 1306, though he lived in Lincoln for 8 months of the year, so he would have been quite a stranger to his parishioners. He resigned the living when he was appointed Bishop of Salisbury and is buried there in a tomb on the north side of the presbytery.

JOHN DE MERSHDEN(?-1424/5) was presented to the parish by Richard II in 1391. He was probably responsible for the extensions to the nave at this time. He was appointed Canon of St. George’s Chapel in Windsor where he died, leaving instructions in this Will that he be buried at Thurcaston. His remains lie under the nave and the ledger stone there carries a remarkable brass inscribed canopied image of him that is still in place in the floor.

HUGH LATIMER (1470-1550) was never Rector of Thurcaston, but was the son of a local yeoman farmer and was possibly born in the thatched building on Anstey Lane now called Latimer’s House. An elaborate memorial to this martyr bishop was placed in the chancel of the church in 1843 by the then Rector RICHARD WATERFIELD.

BRUTUS BABINGTON (?-1661) was appointed Rector in 1583 and also held the Rectory of Cossington. The parish records show his son Edwin was baptised at Thurcaston in 1584. Unable to advance his position in the Church of England, he joined the Church of Ireland where he became the Bishop of Derry in 1610.

EZEKIEL WRIGHT (1604-1668) was for 15 years a Fellow of Emmanuel College, where he tutored a future Archbishop of Canterbury. He was Rector from 1641 to 1668, through the difficult Commonwealth years. A handsome black marble memorial to him in the nave extols (in Latin) his learning, piety and family connections. It was no doubt erected by his son SIR NATHAN WRIGHT (born in Thurcaston) who became Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England (Lord Chancellor) in 1700.

RICHARD HILL (1656-1732/3) became Rector in 1701. He and his wife donated a silver chalice, silver communion wine jug and large wafer plate to the church, but he is chiefly remembered for founding and endowing the Charity School and Schoolmaster’s house on glebe land opposite the church. The present day school still carries his name. Three ledger stones in the nave of the Church mark the places where he, his two wives and his two daughters are interred.

RICHARD HURD (1720-1808), another yeoman farmer’s son, was publishing writings on philosophy and religion after becoming Rector in 1756. He was elevated to the Bishopric of Coventry & Lichfield in 1774 and in 1781, George III chose him to be Bishop of Worcester (Thurcaston’s second!). However, when offered the Archbishopric of Canterbury in 1783, he declined. He was favourite of the Royal Family and his portrait painted by Gainsborough had pride of place in Queen Charlotte’s bedroom.

WILLIAM MASON (1725-1797), Divine, poet and famed Garden Designer knew Richard Hurd from their Cambridge days. They remained friends and while visiting Hurd at Thurcaston, Mason designed the layout of the Rectory Gardens (The Grange).

RICHARD WATERFIELD (1797-1864) became Rector in 1838. He was a great benefactor of the Church, paying for repairs to All Saints before funding the demolition and rebuilding in 1858 of St. Mary’s Anstey. A stained-glass window there commemorates his generosity. He also provided money for a new Rectory in Anstey on ground donated by the Earl of Stamford. He is buried in the graveyard.