Rev Nathaniel Jackson (1598 to 1662)
Nathaniel Jackson KZHT-X7Q was a Yorkshire man – born c.1598 to Reverend John Jackson and his wife (name unknown). He was the youngest of three boys – his brothers being Timothy and John, both of whom were also ordained ministers.
Nathaniel Jackson’s clerical career was profoundly shaped by the turbulence of the English Civil War and its aftermath: in 1645 he was appointed to the rectory at Halsall in Lancashire, filling a vacancy created by the expulsion of a Royalist sympathiser, yet by 1660 he himself was ejected from his living at Barwick in Elmet for his Puritan convictions following the Restoration.
He matriculated into Christ’s College, Cambridge in 1616, gaining a BA in 1620. After studying 3 years for his Masters, he graduated in 1623. That same year he was ordained deacon and, six months later, priest. His first appointment was as vicar of Hunsingore, a small village in Yorkshire.
In 1629 he took up the position of rector at the 8th century Stonegrave Minster in Yorkshire around the same time he met his future wife, Anne Nightingale G89Z-R8W and they were married on 25th June 1631 at St. Cuthbert’s church in York. Children followed – Timothy born 1632, Phineas born 1633 and Elizabeth born 1637; all of their children were baptised at Stonegrave Minster.
The family stayed in Yorkshire until mid 1645 when they ventured ‘over the border’ to Lancashire, more specifically to the rectory at St. Cuthbert’s church, Halsall. The vacancy of rector at Halsall had arisen because of the expulsion of Reverend Peter Travers PQG2-D8D, who was accused of being ‘disaffected to the parliament and the proceedings thereof’ according to the Record Society of Lancashire & Cheshire, vol. 28 (pages. 3,12,14 & 59) For more background information regarding the Royalists and the Parliamentarians follow the link English Civil War – Wikipedia
However, the Jacksons’ time in Halsall was a very short-lived affair. Reverend Thomas Johnson replaced Nathaniel Jackson less than 6 months later in December 1645. Reverend Nathaniel Jackson returned to Yorkshire where he was appointed rector of Barwick in Elmet in 1647. He remained there until he was ejected in 1660 for being a Puritan minister Puritans – Wikipedia and replaced by his successor on 2nd November that same year.
The ‘Great Ejection’ as it was known is explained in more detail in Arnold Gwynne Matthews, ‘Calamy revised: being a revision of Edmund Calamy’s account of the ministers and others ejected and silenced, 1660-62’ (1934 edition). This can be accessed via the Internet Archive (free registration) This 1934 edition being a revision of Edmund Calamy’s original account from 1713.
A briefer explanation can be viewed on Wikipedia Great Ejection – Wikipedia
Reverend Jackson, retired to York at this point in time. Sadly, he died two years later and was buried on 1st November 1662 at All Saints’ Church, Pavement, York.
