From Jacobean ‘nonconformity’ to Restoration Nonconformity: three rectors, one parish, and English Church turmoil in a nutshell

The parish of Ashton-under-Lyne near Manchester had only three rectors for nearly the whole of the seventeenth century: Henry Fairfax from 1619 to 1643; John Harrison from 1643 to 1662; and Thomas Ellison from 1662 until his death in 1700. Key moments during their tenures reveal the parish as a microcosm of the changing ecclesial situation across England, from aspects of Jacobean and Caroline ‘godly’ nonconformity to the politico-religious divide between ‘Presbyterians’ and ‘Independents’ during the 1640s and 50s and post-Restoration Nonconformity. Nevertheless, local issues and relationships are often as significant as wider events, pointing to the ways in which studies of individual parishes complicate as well as confirm our understanding of national issues. In addition, a previously unremarked archival source resolves uncertainties surrounding Fairfax’s departure, debunking the myth that he was ejected as a Royalist, and that Harrison was imposed on the parish by Parliamentarian soldiers.