1701 Wakefield Quarter Sessions

 I came across this entry in the Wakefield County Court Quarter Sessions records stating that on 17/7/1701 a Timothy Bankroft [spelt with a 'K' as was common in these times] of Warley near Halifax, which stated that his home was recorded as a place of 'Religious Worship'. This statement got me thinking about why such a situation would be required. 

There have always been times in history when various religious denominations, particularly of the none-conformist faiths, were persecuted and therefore had to meet secretly as a groups in an individuals private homes or as I think in this case where there was not a local Church or Chapel where they could gather to worship. This situation was not uncommon in the early days of Wesleyan and Baptist faiths, so what do we know about Timothy from Warley? 

 The baptist movement emerged at the beginning of the 17th century, but its members suffered persecution until the Act of Tolerance in 1689 granted freedom of religion to all faiths (apart from Roman Catholicism, which had to wait another hundred years). 

 Not much is known about Timothy other than the facts that he looks to have been baptised in December 1654 at St John's, Halifax.

Timothy's baptism record - Halifax

 

 He married Sara Scofield at St John's Halifax, At the Time he was living in Warley and Grace was living at Sowerby.

Timothy's marriage

 

 [Sorry, all the copies of the records are difficult to decipher!] 

Sadly we may never know why Timothy set his home up as a place of 'Religious Worship'