Puritans at the Font
J. Leslie Nightingale describes how, during the 17th century, Puritanism spread into English villages, with the twelve sons of Jacob and all the major and minor prophets to be found on the village greens. Names after the Christian graces and virtues—Patience, Honour, Faith, Hope, Charity—were also widely bestowed at Puritan baptisms.
Everyone has heard of the Barebones Parliament, and Macaulay’s schoolboy, at any rate, would know that it owed its name to Praise-God Barbon the leather-seller. An examination of the list of members of that Parliament, however, reveals that only Barbon had such a scriptural Christian name. Sir Walter Scott’s Nehemiah Holdenough and Ben Jonson’s Zeal-of-the-Land-Busy and Tribulation-Wholesome are alike fiction.
For many years it has been accepted that the number of scriptural names bestowed at the font in the period of Puritan dominance has been exaggerated. In 1880 the Rev. C. W. Bardsley wrote an account of his researches in parish registers and, as the 1897 edition has long been out of print, it may be of interest to record some of his findings.
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