A tithe is a payment exacted from the inhabitants of a parish for the maintenance of the church and its
vicar. Originally it was levied as a 'tenth' of a year's profit and was payable in kind. In the nineteenth
century, a sum of money was substituted.
The lands around Newtown had all originally belonged to the Abbey of Holm Cultram. When the abbey
was dissolved in 1538, the right to collect the tithes was given to Gawen Borrowdale, the last abbot, who
then became rector. On Borrowdale's death in 1553, Queen Mary "granted the rectory of Holm Cultram
and all manner of rents, tithes oblations and offerings unto the Chancellor, Master and Scholars of the
University of Oxford" (Grainger & Collingwood: Register and Records of Holm Cultram, 1929).
The university leased the right to collect tithes to several people for various periods over the next hundred
years or so. These speculators, who had no interest in the parish beyond getting the best return for their
investment, tried, from time to time, to take advantage of the tenants. However, the men of Holm Cultram
were not to be imposed on, least of all those who were to become Quakers
The Friends refused to pay their tithes at all, believing it wrong to subsidise the established church and its
'hireling priests' in any way. In 1679, Thomas Ostle, William Longcake, William Saul and John Waite
were imprisoned at Carlisle for non-payment of tithes at the suite of William Dalston who, at that time,
had bought the right to collect them.
This may be the only case in the area where Friends were actually imprisoned for non-payment but many
had goods and property confiscated to raise the sum required to cover their tithes. According to Besse's
'Sufferings of the Quakers' "In 1680 and the four years next foregoing tithes taken in kind from Quakers
in the county (Cumberland) is £777.5s.3d."
There are many records of the Ostle family having crops and other goods seized. 1732 was a pretty typical
year according to the Monthly Meeting records:-
| Name | Tithes demanded |
Goods Confiscated |
| Thomas Ostle | 10/11d. |
£1.1s.7d. |
| John Ostle | 15/9d. |
£1.3s.9d. |
| Joseph Ostle | 5/11d. |
£1.2s.6d. |
| Daniel Ostle | 13/11d. |
£1.14s.4d. |
The church was forever in need of repairs and the wardens frequently levied extra tithes to cover the cost
of these. In 1731, Joseph Ostle had goods to the value of £1.3s.6d. confiscated to cover the "costs of
steeplehouse repairs."
These amounts may seem small but were among the highest tithes collected from any of the Quaker
families apart from the Sauls. By 1790, the sum collected had doubled when Joseph Ostle had
£2.14s.8d. recovered by the forced sale of some oats.
Distraint for tithes was still in force in the parish in the late nineteenth century. Almost the last entry in
the Holm Monthly Meeting Sufferings Book is for Dan Ostle of Cowgate who was still holding out against
payment in 1864.
Those inhabitants of the parish who belonged to the Church of England were almost as stubborn as the
Quakers in not paying their tithes. Various families were involved in court cases regarding tithes almost
continuously from 1580 until 1839. (Further details can be found in Grainger and Collingwood's book.)
However, there is not a single mention of an Ostle; obviously the family were convinced that the collection
of tithes from non-conformists was totally iniquitous and didn't need a judge to tell them so!
J.P. Ostle© MM.
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