Entry for the Parish of
St Anne
's, Blackfriars
, 2 June 1606 , citing
Jonson
and his wife
for
recusancy, from
A Book of Corrections or
Presentments of the Consistory Court of London
. 'Stayed at
seal' at the end of the document means that 'no final decision was taken' (H&S,
9.223). The record occupies one page of the register.
Eugene Giddens
[fol. 334v]
BeniaminumIohnson
⎡et eius vxor
[Trans.: and his wife]
⎤
parochiae sainte
Anne
in le
blackfriers
329. a 1
23. b1
Presented
that he is by fame a seducer of youth to popishe Religion continuat in hunc diem
/ he was monished to appear to see farther proseding
herein he having denyed both the fact & the fame. / They are both to Certify of
their diligent & ordinarie going to Churche / he is to Certify how he is
satisfied in the scruple he made of his receyving the Communion by
them he was referred vnto to conferr
with.
Cintantur Gard et
Iohnson Dd proxime stayd at seale
Bibliography
H&S, 1.222
Fincham (1921), 103-39, no transcription
Stow, 320-21
Blackfriars was the former location of the Dominican foundation in London , south-west of St Paul's. It retained the right of sanctuary, and in the early seventeenth century was home to many fashionable people (including, for example, the earl and countess of Somerset , and Jonson 's patron and friend Esmè Stuart, Lord Aubigny), many of whom lived in converted monastic buildings. Two parts of the former monastery housed the first and second Blackfriars theatres, in 1577-1584 and 1596- respectively; a number of Jonson 's plays were first performed here by the resident boys' companies. Blackfriars was also known as a Puritan neighbourhood, with many of its Puritan residents being engaged in the trade of feathermaking.
Anne Lewis , here unnamed, is virtually invisible in Jonson 's life records, appearing only in the record of her marriage (L1594_10) and this and the two other related recusancy citations (L1606_20, L1606_30).