What's a recusant? The term derives from the Latin recusare, meaning to refuse. In English history it means someone who refused to attend Church of England services, usually a Roman Catholic. For almost 300 years English Catholics were deprived of many civil rights. There were railways in England by the time Catholics achieved emancipation.
Thames Valley Papists:
NEW paperback edition
A new 240 page A5 format paperback edition of Tony Hadland's book is
now available from Mapledurham House. It tells the story of how Roman
Catholicism survived in Berkshire and southern Oxfordshire during the
nearly 300 years between Henry VIII's break with Rome and the passing
of the Catholic Emancipation Act in 1829. The new edition has a
full-colour laminated cover, five maps and many line drawings and
monochrome photographs. The price is just £9.99 - buy at
Mapledurham House or contact them via their website.
Thames
Valley Papists: the online edition
The whole book, originally available only as a hardback. Now available
online with many additional illustrations.
Additional
Information and Corrections
For purchasers of the original 1992 hardback printed edition of Thames
Valley Papists, full text of a brief update, including
additional information and corrections. (The 2004 paperback edition -
see above - incorporates this material.)
Lady
Anastasia Moore's letter
All the way from Sacramento, California, a rare example of a surviving
letter from one of the recusants mentioned in Thames Valley Papists.
Strongholds of Catholic Recusancy in Oxfordshire
An article written in 2004 for the Oxfordshire
Family Historian magazine.
Catholics in Berkshire, 1767 - Map
A new map showing the distribution of Roman Catholics in 1767. This was
when Catholicism in England was at its lowest ebb, yet there were still
nearly 600 RCs in the county. The map will open in a separate window.
Catholics in Southern Oxfordshire, 1767 -
Map
Similar to the above map of Berkshire but covering southern
Oxfordshire, including the city of Oxford.
Oxfordshire
and North Berkshire Protestation Returns and Tax Assessments, 1641-42
Full text of an article written at the request of Catholic
Ancestor magazine.
The
Will of Lady Anastasia Mannock of Windsor
A full transcript of a will proved in 1814.
Two
Seventeenth-Century Catholic Books found in Oxfordshire
An article by Nigel H. Sinnott about two rare books he found in the mid
1950s.
More
about Two Seventeenth-Century Catholic Books
Nigel H. Sinnott continues the story of the two rare books. Has the
mystery been solved?
