Timothy Garthwaite Free Space Page

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Date: 25 Apr 2023 to 26 Apr 2023
Location: [unknown]
Surname/tag: Garthwaite

Profile manager: Cynthia Melton

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Timothy Garthwaite will enter history at a specific time and place that will define his life and his work.

A quick review of the English Reformation will be helpful in understanding Elizabethan England, the time during which Timothy practiced his vocation as a bookseller.

Martin Luther, a German Roman Catholic Priest, presented his Ninety-five Theses, in 1517 in an attempt to reform corrupt practices in the Catholic Church, such as indulgences. Luther was excommunicated, after which he organized Lutheran Church.^[1]

Luther translated the bible into the German language, which was then translated into English by William Tyndale and published by 1535^[2]

The movable-type printing press, discovered in Germany, in 1440, by Johannes Gutenberg, arrived in Westminster, London in 1475, at the hands of William Caxton. ^[3]

The press would make the Reformation possible. The ability to print and distribute the Bible into the language of the English public to read for themselves will trigger a clash of ideas that would set Europe aflame by 1588.

The English Reformation began in 1532 when Henry VIII asserted royal supremacy over the English Church and severed his obedience to the Roman Catholic Church. This allowed him to divorce his Queen and marry Ann Boleyn. ^[4]

At Henry's death, Mary Tudor, the only child of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, became Queen of England from July 1553 to her death in 1558. She attempted to reverse the English Reformation, which had begun during her father's reign, and place England, once again, under the authority of the Catholic Church.

During the Marian Persecutions, of Catholics, over 300 religious dissenters were burned at the stake earning her the name, Bloody Mary.^[5]

In 1557, Queen Mary granted The Stationers’ Company, one of London's older livery companies that regulated the printing industry, a formal charter and a monopoly on printing in London. Only members of the Stationers could publish anything and the Queen ordered that they were to censor publications. Unauthorized Protestant leaflets were to be destroyed and the printer was to be arrested. ^[6]

Queen Elizabeth I, Mary's younger half-sister came to the throne of England after Mary's death in 1558. Queen Elizabeth reversed Mary's attempt to re-establishment Roman Catholicism.

Acts and Monuments of these Latter and Perillous Days, Touching Matters of the Church, by John Foxe, popularly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs, was first published by Stationer John Day in 1563. It was an ambitious work, both in historical scope and technical accomplishment, containing over sixty woodcut illustrations, many of them containing a fine degree of lurid detail. The book recounted the horrors of the "Marian Persecutions" and made Foxe a literary hero. ^[7]

In 1603, King James I of England, established, by letters patent, the company of English Stock, a Joint Stock company. Administered from Stationers’ Hall, English Stock published religious works and almanacs, much in demand by the reading public. Profits from their sales, especially of almanacs made English Stock wealthy and influential.

"At the outset of Elizabeth's reign, the most pressing religious need was a clear, well-reasoned defense of the Church of England'. It was a time of muscle flexing for the Elizabethan Church, especially in the opening decades, a time when anti-Catholicism was particularly vehement. Consistently throughout the period, when Queen and country were threatened by Catholic intrigues and conspiracies, literature of exceptional virulence was published against Catholicism.

Uninterrupted for forty-five years, from 1558 to 1603, Protestants in England were able to use the printing press to disseminate Protestant ideology. It was a period long enough for Protestantism to root itself deeply in the life of the nation and to accumulate its own distinctive literature." ^[8]

Into this caldron of progress, Timothy Garthwaite enters history.

King's Head, St. Paul's Churchyard, London, England

By 1664, Timothy had been established 12 years at the King's Head book shop at St. Paul's Churchyard, London. His wife, Mary, worked with her husband at their bookshops, being well capable of doing so because of her experience in her father's bookshops.

"Outside of London City was St. Giles-in-the-Fields London’s largest outer parish. Close to the capital’s burgeoning playhouses, it was a dirty, disorganized, and poverty-stricken suburb of ramshackle tenements (just under 2000 households in total) and narrow streets, containing inns, brothels, butchers, watchmakers, booksellers, beltmakers, justices of the peace and nobility. At its center was the parish church of St Giles in the Fields".^[9]

In the spring of 1665, in St. Giles-in-the-Fields Parish, an illness began claiming the lives of Londoners. The bubonic plague had erupted and the death rate accelerated during the summer months, claiming thousands of lives. The wealthier Londoners, like John Milton, the Poet, left town.

On Sunday, 2 September 1666, shortly after midnight, a fire broke out in a bakery on Pudding Lane and spread rapidly within the city walls. Londoners moved their possessions away from the fire but remained within the walls. By late Monday, Londoners began to flee the city through eight narrow gates in the wall surrounding London. Traffic gridlock impeded firefighting efforts and panic set in within the escaping population.

The Great Fire of London stopped the advancing plague, however, the inferno burned a quarter of London to the ground, including, St. Paul’s and the timber book shops that stood close together around St. Paul’s.

"The Great Fire burned down Abergavenny House, the Hall of The Stationers’ Company, and much of its property, including books valued at around £40,000. One clerk removes much of the Company's records to his house in Clerkenwell so that all is not lost. Forty-three other Livery Company Halls were also destroyed". Great Fire (accessed 20 Mar 2023)

Will

Following is a transcription of the will of Timothy Garthwaite.

In the name of God Amen.

This second day of November, Annio Domini 1669 in the xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxx year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord. xxxxxx of God, King of England, Scotland xxxxxxxxxxxx and xxxxxxxxx xxx of xx xxxxx xxxx Tymothe Garthwaite citizen and stationer of London being weak in body but of good and perfect mind and memory xxxxx be God, life I do make and declare by last will testament xxxx xxx xxxxx following that is to say First I commend my soul into the hands of Almighty God my Saviour hoping to obtain full and fair remission of all my sins and to enjoy eternal rest and happiness in his Heavenly Kingdom only Saviour and Redeemer Jesus Christ my mortal body I xxxx to this forth in hope of a Joyful resurrection, wish to be buried at the disgresion of my And xxxxx and xxxxx of such goods and chattles as it hath pleased God to provide in this world, I bequeath the sums as follows, that is to say, First I would that all such debts and I shall [crossed out or not deciferable] of my xxxx shall be paid according to equity and [crossed out or not decipherable] And after my debts and funeral paid and discharged [crossed out] will that all the remainder of my goods chattals debts xxxxx is to xxxxx or xxxxxx be divided into three equall parts and shares according to this xxxxxxx of the officer of London our of xxx parts and shares I give and bequeath to Mary my dear and loving wife, and officer of the said parts and shares I give and bequeath to my four children, Susan Hester Mary and Ann Garthwaite between them equallly to be divided and the other of the said parts and shares I give as followeth ;that is to say give to my xxxx loving mother Mrs June Garthwaite five pounds of lawful money of England Item: I give to the said Mary my wife five pounds of law full money of England and I give to my daughter, Susan Garthwaite fifty pounds of lawful money of England Item: I give to the Mary My wife the profits of my eighty pounds share which is in the stock belonging to the Company of Stationers London according to this xxxxx and orders of the same Company of Stationers, All the rest and residue of my goods, chattles, debts and estate whatsoever to me belonging after my debts and funeral paid and xxxx discharged I give and bequeath to my said former daughters, Susan, Esther, Mary and Ann Garthwaite between them equally to be divided and if any of my children die before they do attain to the age of twenty and one years or be married. That then the gifts and xxxx of her or them for dying I will should be equally divided xxxx the survivors of my such children parts and parts alike. And I do hereby make and ordain the said Mary, my wife the sole representative of this my last will and testament and I xxxx Josephe Clarke my xxx servant to be overseer of this my will and to be xxxx and xxxxx be my representative in the performance thereof. And I give to this said Joseph Clark twenty shillings to buy him a ring. And I hereby revoke all former wills by me heretofore made. For witness whereof I this xx Timothy Garthwaite the dictator of my last will and testatment shares of [not deciferable] about written Timothy Garthwaite signed sealed published and to be the last will and testament of the above mentioned Timothy Garthwaite in the presents of Roger Morton, Joseph St. John, Andrew servant to William Gibbs xxxxx. Will Page 1. [1] Will Page 2. [2]