Rosliston Derbyshire
St Mary's Church, Rosliston Derbyshire - There has been a church here since either late Saxon or early Norman times. The present building dates from the 14c and most of the tower including the doorway and steeple are from this period.
Restored in 1802 , the nave and chancel were rebuilt in 1819 using some of the original materials.
It’s hard to find a history of the church without mention of Rev John Vallancy (1843-1906), vicar here for 16 years at the end of the 19c .
In 1896 a former curate at St.Nicholas Church and nephew of the first vicar of Sutton parish, the Rev. John Vallancey (1842 - 1906), was convicted in a Derbyshire police court of 'indecent behaviour' in his Rosliston churchyard. Newspapers reported that Vallancey was fined £2 by magistrates for brawling and was also alleged to have threatened a man called Joseph Wright with a revolver, saying "I'll shoot you, I'll shoot you". The Times in their three reports published between August 1896 and April 1897 added that the cleric had also torn flowers from the grave and then had 'danced on it'.
The incident took place after a lengthy dispute over the tending of a grave that contained the remains of a Mrs. Veal. This had a grass mound instead of a headstone, upon which flowers were often placed by the deceased's sister. If Mrs. Veal's family had elected to have a headstone, then Rev. Vallancey would have been entitled to charge an additional fee. So when he discovered that the family were visiting the grave and placing flowers on the mound, he accused them of trespassing and unsuccessfully brought a court action for damages. Matters came to a head on June 13th 1896 when in the presence of the Veal family, Vallancey ordered his sexton to level the grass mound with a pickaxe. The bereaved family then alleged that the sexton taunted them and the vicar, who possessed a gun, made threats, which he denied and said “it was a large church key”.
Vallancy unsuccessfully appealed one of the grounds being that if a clergyman was convicted of such conduct, his parishioners might be deprived of his clerical services. to which the judge quipped that in this particular case "they would also be deprived of his revolver"!
Matters were to get worse.
The Derby Mercury reported on 13 May 1896:
“At the Swadlincote Petty Sessions on Tuesday before Mr. L Barber and a full bench of magistrates John Holden of Rosliston, appeared in answer to a summons taken out by the Rev. John Vallancy, perpetual curate of Rosliston, who complained that he was in bodily fear of the defendant, and asked that he should be bound over to keep the peace. Mr. Vallancy conducted his own case, and Mr. Capes represented the defendant. From the evidence, it appeared that on the 18th April the defendant went to the complainant’s house and asked Mr. Vallancy where the cross had gone that had been placed on his brother’s grave, and why it had been removed. Upon that the complainant ordered him off the premises, but defendant refused to go until he got the information required.
Complainant said that the defendant threatened to “do” for him, that he had “one wing broken” and that he would break the other. He also stated that the defendant threatened to strike him with a stick which he carried. Mr. Vallancy called 4 witnesses, whose evidence was most contradictory when under cross-examination. Mr. Capes submitted that there was no case for him to answer, but the Bench decided that he must proceed. Mr. Capes then addressed the Court, and called a witness and the defendant himself, who denied either threatening the complainant or using bad language. The Bench retired, and after a brief absence, Mr. Barber said they had come to the conclusion that the case must be dismissed for they did not think Mr. Vallancy was in need of any protection.”
With allegations pouring in including parishioners burning an effigy of their vicar outside , the church authorities had to act and the Bishop of Southwell summoned him to the consistory (church) courts in April 1897 under the Clergy Discipline Act of 1892 The Bishop noted that: “He has been cruel and wicked, utterly unworthy of his position and fatal to any usefulness in the parish of which he was at the present moment the incumbent”. Criticised for continuing to deny the allegations, he was suspended for 18 months and banned from residing within 20 miles of the parish .
Valency probably went to Devizes where his wife died in 1898, however he did return here to live at the vicarage where he died in 1906.
www.julianwhite.uk/rosliston-the-strange-case-of-john-val...
Rosliston Derbyshire
St Mary's Church, Rosliston Derbyshire - There has been a church here since either late Saxon or early Norman times. The present building dates from the 14c and most of the tower including the doorway and steeple are from this period.
Restored in 1802 , the nave and chancel were rebuilt in 1819 using some of the original materials.
It’s hard to find a history of the church without mention of Rev John Vallancy (1843-1906), vicar here for 16 years at the end of the 19c .
In 1896 a former curate at St.Nicholas Church and nephew of the first vicar of Sutton parish, the Rev. John Vallancey (1842 - 1906), was convicted in a Derbyshire police court of 'indecent behaviour' in his Rosliston churchyard. Newspapers reported that Vallancey was fined £2 by magistrates for brawling and was also alleged to have threatened a man called Joseph Wright with a revolver, saying "I'll shoot you, I'll shoot you". The Times in their three reports published between August 1896 and April 1897 added that the cleric had also torn flowers from the grave and then had 'danced on it'.
The incident took place after a lengthy dispute over the tending of a grave that contained the remains of a Mrs. Veal. This had a grass mound instead of a headstone, upon which flowers were often placed by the deceased's sister. If Mrs. Veal's family had elected to have a headstone, then Rev. Vallancey would have been entitled to charge an additional fee. So when he discovered that the family were visiting the grave and placing flowers on the mound, he accused them of trespassing and unsuccessfully brought a court action for damages. Matters came to a head on June 13th 1896 when in the presence of the Veal family, Vallancey ordered his sexton to level the grass mound with a pickaxe. The bereaved family then alleged that the sexton taunted them and the vicar, who possessed a gun, made threats, which he denied and said “it was a large church key”.
Vallancy unsuccessfully appealed one of the grounds being that if a clergyman was convicted of such conduct, his parishioners might be deprived of his clerical services. to which the judge quipped that in this particular case "they would also be deprived of his revolver"!
Matters were to get worse.
The Derby Mercury reported on 13 May 1896:
“At the Swadlincote Petty Sessions on Tuesday before Mr. L Barber and a full bench of magistrates John Holden of Rosliston, appeared in answer to a summons taken out by the Rev. John Vallancy, perpetual curate of Rosliston, who complained that he was in bodily fear of the defendant, and asked that he should be bound over to keep the peace. Mr. Vallancy conducted his own case, and Mr. Capes represented the defendant. From the evidence, it appeared that on the 18th April the defendant went to the complainant’s house and asked Mr. Vallancy where the cross had gone that had been placed on his brother’s grave, and why it had been removed. Upon that the complainant ordered him off the premises, but defendant refused to go until he got the information required.
Complainant said that the defendant threatened to “do” for him, that he had “one wing broken” and that he would break the other. He also stated that the defendant threatened to strike him with a stick which he carried. Mr. Vallancy called 4 witnesses, whose evidence was most contradictory when under cross-examination. Mr. Capes submitted that there was no case for him to answer, but the Bench decided that he must proceed. Mr. Capes then addressed the Court, and called a witness and the defendant himself, who denied either threatening the complainant or using bad language. The Bench retired, and after a brief absence, Mr. Barber said they had come to the conclusion that the case must be dismissed for they did not think Mr. Vallancy was in need of any protection.”
With allegations pouring in including parishioners burning an effigy of their vicar outside , the church authorities had to act and the Bishop of Southwell summoned him to the consistory (church) courts in April 1897 under the Clergy Discipline Act of 1892 The Bishop noted that: “He has been cruel and wicked, utterly unworthy of his position and fatal to any usefulness in the parish of which he was at the present moment the incumbent”. Criticised for continuing to deny the allegations, he was suspended for 18 months and banned from residing within 20 miles of the parish .
Valency probably went to Devizes where his wife died in 1898, however he did return here to live at the vicarage where he died in 1906.
www.julianwhite.uk/rosliston-the-strange-case-of-john-val...