Patrick Comerford
I imagine few parishioners in Stony Stratford give even a fleeting glance to the 18th century memorial tablet on the wall beneath the tower in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church commemorating a former vicar, Canon Leonard Sedgwick, who died in 1747, and erected by his son, the Revd William Sedgwick, a leading theologian and academic in Cambridge in the mid-18th century.
The bulging tablet was once at the east end of the south aisle, but is now on the south wall in the tower, almost hidden in a corner behind the entrance door. It is one of the few memorials to have survived in the disastrous fire in the church on 26 December 1964, and its wording paints a picture of a pious vicar who had a large family and exercised a lengthy ministry:
Near this place
rest the Remains
of the Reverend Leonard Sedgwick MA,
above 43 Years Minister of the Town.
He was likewise Rector of Thornton and Prebendary of Lincoln
Whilst his Health & Strength would permit
he was faithfull & diligent in the Discharge
of all the branches of his Pastoral Office:
He was charitable to the poor, affable & friendly to all
for which reasons he lived beloved & esteemed
by his Parishioners.
In the Relations of private Life, he was a dutifull Son,
an affectionate Brother, a most tender Husband,
and properly indulgent Parent.
By his wife Elizabeth
(a Woman of great Piety & many Virtues) he had nine Sons and four
Daughters all who (one excepted) died in his Life time without issue.
It pleased God to call him to the Reward of his Labours
April ye 17th in ye Year of our Lord 1747. his age 74.
The only surviving Son William B.D. Master
of Queens’ College in Cambridge erects this Monument
in testimony of his Piety & Gratitude
to the Memory of so good a Father.
Sedgwick appears to have been the son of the Revd Thomas Sedgwick, who was educated at Saint John’s College, Cambridge, and the Vicar of Church Brampton, Northamptonshire. The family originally came from Dent in West Yorkshire.
Leonard Sedgwick was probably educated at Cambridge, and was the Perpetual Curate or Vicar of Stony Stratford, Buckinghamshire, from 1703, Rector of Thornton, near Buckingham, from 1710 and Prebendary of Moreton and Whaddon in the Chapter of Lincoln Cathedral from 1728 until he died 1747.
The Mathematical Bridge at Queens’ College, Cambridge … William Sedgwick was the President of Queens’ College in 1732-1760 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)Three of Sedgwick’s sons – Charles, Thomas and William – were educated at Cambridge and were ordained in the Church of England, and one was a prominent Cambridge theologian and academic in his day.
The Revd Charles Sedgwick went from Eton to King’s College, Cambridge, as a scholar in 1715 and graduated BA (1720) and MA (1723), and became a Fellow of King’s College in 1719. He was ordained deacon in the Diocese of London in 1721 and priest in the Diocese of Norwich in 1722. But he died in London in December 1723, while his father was still living in Stony Stratford.
The Revd Thomas Sedgwick studied at Queens’ College, Cambridge, from 1724 and graduated BA (1728) and MA (1731). He was ordained deacon in the Diocese of Lincoln in 1730, and priest on Christmas Eve 24 December 1732. He was the curate in Cranfield, Bedfordshire , in 1731, but appears to have died while his father was still alive.
The Revd William Sedgwick, who erected the monument to his father that is now below the tower in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford, also went to Eton before studying at Queens’ College, Cambridge, from 1718. He graduated BA (1722), MA (1725) and BD (1732), and was a Fellow of Queens’ College from 1723 until he died in 1760.
William Sedgwick was ordained deacon by the Bishop of Ely in 1724 and priest in 1726. He was Dean of Chapel and Catechist in Queens’ College. The unusual title of one of the post held by William Sedgwick was that of Censor Philosophicus (Censor of Philosophy), an academic and administrative office at Queens’ College in the 17th and 18th centuries. The role was not a ‘censor’ in the modern sense of suppressing information; instead, the censor acted as a college examiner and moderator of philosophical disputes and educational instruction.
The position was an internal college office that typically rotated among the Fellowship on an annual basis. It was often held alongside other specialised titles such as Censor Theologicus (Censor of Theology), Hebrew Lecturer, Dean of Chapel, and Bursar. The primary duties involved mentoring undergraduate students, overseeing their progress in the classical curriculum, and ensuring the logical and academic rigour of philosophical disputations.
Several influential theologians and scholars held the office, including John Smith (1618-1652), a prominent Cambridge Platonist and mathematician who held the office in 1644. His philosophical teachings heavily integrated the works of René Descartes into the university curriculum.
Anthony Sparrow (1612-1685), a prominent theologian, was Censor Philosophicus in 1642-1643. He was also Dean and Bursar before being ejected during the Parliamentarian purges. After the Restoration he was President of the College until 1667 and Vice-Chancellor of the university in 1664-1665. He eventually became Bishop of Exeter and then Bishop of Norwich.
William Sedgwick went on to become the President of Queens’ College in 1732-1760. The monument in Stony Stratford incorrectly refers to him as the Master, and the heads of most colleges are called masters, but the head of Queens’ has been called the president since 1448. William Sedgwick was the Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University in 1741-1742, while his father was still living in Stony Stratford. During those years he was also the Vicar of Oakington, Cambridgeshire, and the Rector of Saint Clement’s, Eastcheap, in London (1738-1760). He died on 4 November 1760.
The monument to Canon Leonard Sedgwick is almost hidden in a corner behind the door into Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford. But had it not survived the fire in 1964 and been placed there, I might not have been reminded of these Cambridge theologians in the mid 18th century.
