Richard Newcourt (died 1716) was an English

notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is distin ...

and historian, author of the ''Repertorium Ecclesiasticum Parochiale Londinense'', a history of the

diocese of London The Diocese of London forms part of the Church of England's Province of Canterbury in England. It lies directly north of the Thames, covering and all or part of 17 London boroughs. This corresponds almost exactly to the historic county of ...

Life

Newcourt was the son of a topographical draughtsman, also called Richard Newcourt, who owned an estate at Somerton, Somerset. He attended

Wadham College Wadham College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy Wadham, a ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, where he matriculated on 9 December 1653, but did not graduate. After university he became a

notary public A notary public ( notary or public notary; notaries public) of the common law is a public officer constituted by law to serve the public in non-contentious matters usually concerned with general financial transactions, estates, deeds, powers- ...

, and a clerk at the

Court of Arches The Arches Court or Court of Arches, presided over by the Dean of Arches, is an ecclesiastical court of the Church of England covering the Province of Canterbury. Its equivalent in the Province of York is the Chancery Court. It takes its name fr ...

in London, the main

consistory court A consistory court is a type of ecclesiastical court, especially within the Church of England where they were originally established pursuant to a charter of King William the Conqueror, and still exist today, although since about the middle of th ...

of the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

, becoming a Proctor-General of the court in (according to his own account) 1668. In 1669 he became principal registrar of the diocese of London, a post he held until 1696. Using the records in his custody and other documents, Newcourt compiled a history of the

, which was published in two volumes in 1708 and 1710, under the title ''Repertorium Ecclesiasticum Parochiale Londinense: An Ecclesiastical Parochial History of the Diocese of London''. The work recounts the history of

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

, of the

bishops A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

and deans of London, and of the parishes in the diocese. His sources of information included the London Registers, which were begun in 1306, and registers kept by individual bishops. The incomes of the parishes were taken from a return made in 1636, the manuscript of which was then at

Sion College Sion College, in London, is an institution founded by royal charter in 1630 as a college, guild of parochial clergy and almshouse, under the 1623 will of Thomas White (benefactor), Thomas White, vicar of St Dunstan's in the West. The clergy who ...

. He also wrote a history of the bishops of England, which was not published. He spent the last years of his life at

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

, and was buried at the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

in February 1716. His wife had been interred there the previous month. He left his property to his sister, Mary Spicer. A collection of Newcourt's papers, including drafts and notes for the first volume of the ''Repertorium Ecclesiasticum Parochiale Londinense'' was donated to the Guildhall Library in 1939, and is now in the

London Metropolitan Archives The London Archives (previously known as the Greater London Record Office 1965–1997, and London Metropolitan Archives 1997–2024) is the principal local government archive repository for the Greater London area, including the City of London ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Newcourt, Richard 18th-century English historians Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford Year of birth missing 1716 deaths British notaries