Sign up for Genealogy Pointers »

In 1690, the recently installed Protestant King William initiated the policy of paying a bounty of 20 pounds to every Minister and Schoolmaster of the Church of England who was authorized to serve in British colonies in the Americas. Although the statutory origin of this policy is somewhat obscure, the historian Gerald Fothergill was able to piece together a list of some 1,200 prelates and teachers on whose behalf a warrant was issued from 1690 through 1811. Fothergill's list, which is reproduced in these pages, was compiled from a class of records housed at the Public Record Office known as Money Books, King's Warrant Books, Treasury Papers, and Exchequer of Receipt Papers. The ministers, and a far lesser number of schoolmasters, are arranged alphabetically here, and for each we are given his colony of destination, date of emigration, and the source. In about 15 percent of the entries, additional information--such as the prelate's date of birth, name of parent, date of death, school presided over, etc.--is also disclosed. A number of the qualifying ministers, it should be noted, were actually born in the colonies. Researchers hoping to find additional information on a particular priest, such as a person's removal from one colony to another, education, date returned to England, and so on, may wish to consult the rich reports of the Anglican Church's Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.