The following is taken from an essay written in 1994 and based on original research.
Introduction.
The Reverend Thomas Dickenson M.A. was vicar of Tarvin for almost the whole of the latter half of the eighteenth century; a time when the vicar held a prominent position in country life, alongside the squire. This essay draws together details about his life and his parish from local and other primary and secondary sources.

The richest source of material has been the Cheshire County and Diocesan Record Office, where many, mainly ecclesiastical, sources have been consulted. Thomas's will was obtained from the Public Record Office at Kew and an attempt was made to consult the Bishop's Registers at Lichfield for details of his ordination and career at Coventry . However, it seems that the bishop in question, Richard Smallbroke, did not keep a register.

Church evidence
The church itself contains evidence of its own history and that of its incumbents and there are a number of brass plates and other memorials commemorating past vicars, none more interesting than that for the aptly named, Sabbath Clarke, vicar from 1621 to 1680. However, only one, from the long list of previous vicars of Tarvin, has his name on five memorials.

On the floor of the sanctuary, to the south of the altar is a brass plate which reads:-

"Underneath sleep the remains of the Reverend Thomas Dickenson, A.M. Fifty years resident vicar of this parish who died the 12th of June 1796 in the 82nd year of his age."

To the north is a similar plate which claims :-

"Underneath sleep the remains of Charlotte Dickenson relict of the Reverend Thomas Dickenson A.M..."

However, set into the stone floor of the north aisle, is a white marble slab with an inscription which repeats, word for word, the legend on the brass plate to the north of the altar.

A second marble slab lies loose on the floor of the church which repeats, again word for word, the legend on Thomas's brass plate.

From the memorials alone we can deduce that Thomas Dickenson was born in the reign of King George the First, about 1714 and that he was installed at Tarvin in the reign of George the Second, in 1746. He was about twenty three years older than his wife who survived him by nineteen years although both died in the reign of George the Third.

Thus we have an octogenarian vicar with more than his fair share of memorials and a doubt about his real resting place.

The man
According to Alumni Cantabrigiensis ,Thomas Dickenson was born at Manchester in 1714. His baptism is not recorded in the IGI under either Lancashire or Cheshire. Fortunately, Manchester in the early eighteenth century, was not the sprawling conurbation it is today and of all the churches there are now, only the Cathedral appears to have been extant then. However, there is a gap in the Cathedral registers between 1711/12 and 1715 and much of what is available is indecipherable; nevertheless a search was made extending into 1717 but no record was found. It is unfortunate that no details of his father or mother have been found because Thomas held land in Manchester and it would be interesting to find out more about his family. In 1698 a new vicar, called Thomas Dickenson, was installed at Chorley, Lancashire and perhaps this was our Thomas's father but confirmation must wait for more extensive research on another occasion.

Cambridge
When he was sixteen, Thomas was admitted as a sizar to Clare College, Cambridge where he matriculated in 1733. Matriculation was official admittance to the University and 'Alumni Cantabigiensis' tells us that there was a "vague suggestion as to social status, afforded by the fact of matriculation as fellow-commoner, pensioner or sizar." Clearly sizars were the lowest of the three degrees and "in old times, sizars performed many menial services", tantalisingly, the author of this quotation does not define 'old times' and one is left wondering whether Thomas was required to perform menial services. He took his B.A. in 1736-7 and received his M.A. in 1740 and the Arch Deaconry of Chester, clergy call books for 1754 record that:-

"Thomas Dickenson Cl., M.A., Vicar, exhibited his Orders of Deacon by Richard (Smallbrooke), Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry : 25 September 1737 , Priest by the same Bishop; 24 September 1739 ."

Installed at Tarvin
He was installed at Tarvin 24 October 1746, aged 32, at the request of "Benjamin Marshall, M.A., prebendary of Terwyn alias Tarvin in the Cathedral Church of Lichfield" who humbly beseeched the Bishop of Chester "to order him (Thomas Dickenson) to be inducted into the same with all its Rights, Fruits, Members and Appurtenances." This petition is supported by a statement from three clergymen who have known Thomas for "the space of three years last past" and they claim that he

"has lived a Sober Virtuous and Religious life and has not to our knowledge held wrote or taught anything Contrary to the Doctrine or Discipline of the Church of England."

The document is signed by Edward Jackson, Rector of John the Baptist, Thomas Edwards, Vicar of St Michael's and John Mackler, Vicar of Holy Trinity all of the City of Coventry.

Marries
Twenty years later, now 52, Thomas was married to Charlotte Henchman, aged 29 and daughter of Charles Henchman a clergyman at Chester Cathedral. Thomas and Charlotte were married at St Oswald's which is, in fact, the south transcept of the Cathedral. The original St. Oswald's was a separate church on the south west side of what is now St Werburgh St., Chester; the church today is part of a row of shops having had a career as a music hall at one time. Charlotte 's father was a precentor of the Cathedral and vicar of St. Oswald's although he did not perform the marriage ceremony for his daughter and Thomas, leaving this to one, James Richardson. However, Charles' brother Humphrey, was a witness. The Henchman family were part of the Cathedral's history, Charles and his brother Humphrey were former pupils of The King's School, then part of the Cathedral, when their father, also called Charles, was headmaster. This Charles was a prebend of the Cathedral and is described by Dr Cowper as:-

"a gentleman of great knowledge and learning and an admirer of antiquity, well noted and esteemed for a generous public spirit."

An earlier relative, Dr Humphrey Henchman had been Bishop of London.

No children
Thomas and Charlotte do not appear to have had any children. The parish registers for Tarvin church have been searched for a record of the couple's children but none was found. Bearing in mind their links with the Cathedral, a search of the Cathedral registers was made but again no record was found. Both the Tarvin and Cathedral records were searched from 1766, the year of the marriage until 1787, the year Charlotte was fifty. In theory it is possible that Charlotte had a child after this age but it is unlikely and since there is no mention of children in Thomas's will it seems reasonable to say that there were none.

At this point, apart from death, the major landmarks in any life have been examined for Thomas but this is not the end of the record of his existence and the following miscellaneous examples cover some of what has been found.

His house
In 1759 Thomas produced a terrier of his parish at the request of the Bishop, Edmund Keene D.D. This says that the vicar had an old house

"consisting of two parlours, one study, one large kitchen, one small one, a buttery, brewhouse, besides a cellar, closets and passages below stairs, above are six chambers."

An earlier terrier, dated 1733, describes the same 'old house' but the terrier for 1814 describes a new house, built by the then vicar, John Oldershaw. This last house still stands near the church although the current vicar lives in yet another vicarage built in 1991. Also near the church is a timber framed house known as 'Church House' and there is local speculation that this is the "old house" referred to by Thomas Dickenson in his terrier. All three are substantial properties reflecting the vicar's standing in the community. (There are pictures of the two older houses elsewhere on this site)

A local will
The will of Peter Ravenscroft, a local benefactor, includes Thomas as one of the executors The will reads:-

"I leave and bequeath one hundred pounds to pious charitable use to be disposed of in such a manner as the Reverend Mr. Dickenson, Vicar of Tarvin, the Reverend Mr. Filpott Minister of Hargreave, Mr. Whishaw of Chester, Mr. Widdens of Manley, Mr. Wright of Tarvin and my executors shall think proper...."

Mr Ravenscroft also leaves two hundred pounds in case a hospital is established locally and if this is not the case then the money is to be disposed of by the executors in the same way as the one hundred pounds already mentioned. There does not seem to be a record of how this money was disposed of but in 1786 Thomas Dickenson invested "two hundred pounds of lawful money of Great Britain " with the Chester-Northop Turnpike Trust. On the back of the mortgage deed, a note, dated 8th February 1848 , reads:-

"Received from Messrs Williams & Co. the treasurers of the trustees of the Chester and Northop Turnpike road the sum of twentysix pounds five shillings and seven pence in part payment of the principle sum secured by the within written mortgage being money belonging to the poor of Tarvin parish."

In an interesting clause in his will, Peter Ravenscroft leaves "two guineas apiece" to his executors "to buy each a ring."

Turnpike investment
Thomas also invested, first four hundred pounds and later one hundred pounds more, of what must be assumed to be his own money, in the Tarvin Turnpike Trust; the mortgage was sealed 24 June 1769 . One of the trustees was Hugh Wishaw who was a fellow executor of Peter Ravenscroft's will and in fact he appears again, when Thomas is named as a witness to his will. The mortgage deed for this investment is interesting; the first meeting of the trustees took place "at the house of Margaret Whitby, known as the sign of the White Horse in Tarvin," (it is not known now where this was) the trustees include Trafford Barnston Esq. and Sir Robert Comberbach, Bart and one of the witnesses is Charles Potts Junior. This latter name crops up again in the Chester-Northop Turnpike Trust investment mortgage and it seems likely that he was a forerunner of the present day firm of Potts & Co., Solicitors, of Whitefriars Chester. In 1782, Thomas disposed of his interest in the Tarvin Turnpike Trust to a Miss Maria Linbury who transferred it in 1789, to John Forbes Esq., Captain of Her Majesty's 40th Regiment of Foot "being the settlement made in contemplation of the marriage of the said Maria Linbury and the said John Forbes." The mortgage is paid off to the couple's heir in 1867 and the payment record is signed by C W Potts, presumably a new member of the firm.

Thomas dies and leaves a will
The "Chester Chronicle or Commercial Intelligencer" of Friday 17th June 1796 records that:_

"Sunday died, in the 82nd year of his age, the Reverend Thomas Dickenson, vicar of Tarvin and one of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace for this county."

Thomas left a will which gives some further insight into his financial status and in my view, an idea of the sort of man he was. The will says first :-

" I give and bequeath unto my wife Charlotte Dickenson all my household goods, plate, china, linen, woollen and furniture with my chaise and all my horses with the harness and furniture to and for her own use."

Charlotte then gets "the produce of two hundred pounds lately laid out in the trusts tontine." T V H FitzHugh in his "Dictionary of Genealogy" defines a tontine as a form of annuity, in which the interest is shared amongst the surviving members and mentions government schemes of 1793, 1773, 1775, 1777 and 1789. He also mentions that the registers for these tontines are available at the public record office at Kew , another line of investigation to be tried. It appears also that some towns had their own tontines, did Chester ?

Thomas leaves money to his niece, Henrietta Henchman and in a codicil, adds a further five hundred pounds but he makes especial provision for his sisters-in-law, Anne and Elizabeth Henchman. The arrangements for these two ladies are very complicated and seem to assume that they will be totally incapable of managing their affairs and must be protected against their own profligacy.

His executors were Charles Henchman, his brother-in-law and Willam Hall "of the City of Chester , gentleman" who receive upon trust "all my messuages, lands, tenaments (sic), fee farm rents and hereditaments, whereof I am siezed." These are not listed but he refers later to "certain lands, hereditaments and premises situated in Manchester " which appear to be additional. The property is for the benefit of Samuel Worthington, his nephew, who also gets £100 "to buy him mourning." This is in stark contrast to the annuity of £5 left to his servant John Beckett.

In addition to money bequests, Thomas leaves his law books to his brother-in-law, Charles Henchman, and his Calnett's (sic) Dictionary to Dr Smallbrooke of Wem. Dr Smallbrooke was the prebend of Tarvin and its Rector and probably related to Bishop Richard Smallbroke of Coventry and Lichfield , the bishop who failed to keep a register. This bequest was more generous than it appears at first sight in that the book was an expensive item; Chester Cathedral paid £3 for a copy in 1746. Although the present day Canon Librarian was unable to trace this copy, he was able to say that the book was in three volumes. He added that the book was by Augustine Calmet; a learned Benedictine of the College of St. Vannes and was translated into English under the title "Historical,biographical, critical, chronological and etymological dictionary of the Holy Bible."

Thomas's name and affairs are referred to in other documents but these refer to the
church or the parish rather than the man and they are saved for the following pages.

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