[Bell Historians] Peculiars

[John Camp]

At 11:28 on 11 January 2007, Andrew Wilby wrote:


> When the Registrar General in London heard of it he challenged the 
> Legality of the Bishops action stating that according to his records the
> island had for centuries been held to be an Extra Parochial Place both 
> for Civil and Ecclesiastical purposes.

> The Bishop did not back down it appears but neither did the Registrar. 
> However from 13 August 1912 the church was licensed under the 
> Extra-Parochial Places Act 1857 and a Parish register commenced.

<snip>

> The Diocese of Exeter act on the assumption that the island is under 
> their jurisdiction based on the exercise of their administration over a 
> number of years. However whilst Lundy was incorporated into the County 
> of Devon I do not believe that it has ever been incorporated into the 
> Diocese of Exeter.

When Andrew says that the church was 'licensed' under the 1857 Act, I
assume he means authorised as a place where banns can be called an a
marriage register kept (which are the only references in the Act to any
activity akin to licensing). The trouble is that the only person who can
authorise a church in this way is the diocesan bishop. And if Lundy
isn't in a diocese, then there's no-one who could have done the
authorising.

The Diocese of Exeter certainly regards Lundy as an extra-parochial
place within the diocese, in the Archdeaconry of Barnstaple.  As it is
extra-parochial, some of the normal rules won't apply, but this doesn't
make it a peculiar.


John Camp