The Archdeaconry of Richmond was created in about 1088 and was endowed by
Thomas, Archbishop of York.[5] Originally it comprised the western parts of Yorkshire and Lancashire, as well as the greater portion of the counties of Cumberland and Westmorland and was the wealthiest and most extensive archdeaconry in England.[5] Its valuable
impropriations included
Easingwold,
Bolton,
Clapham and
Thornton Steward.[5] However in 1127 King
Henry I removed Allerdale and Cumberland from the Archdeaconry in order to form the new
See of Carlisle.[5] By way of compensation for this loss,
Thurstan,
Archbishop of York, conferred upon the Archdeacon all the privileges and prerogatives of a bishop, with the exception that he could not ordain, consecrate, or confirm.[5] The Archdeacon had his own
consistory court at Richmond in Yorkshire, where wills were
proved, licences and faculties granted, and all matters of ecclesiastical cognizance dealt with. He exercised the sole supervision of clergy within his jurisdiction, including institution to, and removal from, benefices.[5]
In 1541 King
Henry VIII established the
See of Chester in Lancashire, into which the office of Archdeacon of Richmond was incorporated, although its judicial powers were transferred to the
See of York.[5] Although its revenues suffered serious diminution and its position had become that of a commissary elected by the
Bishop of Chester, the Archdeacon continued to exercise the same authority, judicial and otherwise, as his predecessors[5] and retained his stall within the
choir of
York Minster.[5] However by 1805 the position was described as a mere "
sinecure".[6]
In 1836 the Archdeaconry of Richmond was transferred to the jurisdiction of the newly formed
See of Ripon[5] in Yorkshire, and in January 1838 the consistory court of Richmond was abolished, along with all its other
peculiars.[5]
On the creation of the
See of Leeds[7] in 2014, the Archdeaconry received the territory of the
Archdeaconry of Craven and was renamed the "Archdeaconry of Richmond and Craven".[8] It now forms the "
Ripon episcopal area".[9]
^Osbert does not occur with the title Archdeacon of Richmond; rather his territory can be deduced.
References
^Arms of Dalby: Gules, a chevron ermine between three round buckles or (Burke, Sir Bernard, The General Armory, London, 1884, p.257)
^Arthur Perceval Purey-Cust, Heraldry of York Minster, 1890-96, p.78
[1]: "At the south-west corner of the monument to Archbishop Savage (Archbishop of York 1501-1507) there is a figure of an angel holding a shield emblazoned with arms similar to those which were on Thomas Dalby's monumental tablet, viz., a garb impaling a chevron ermine between three buckles. The latter is the cognizance of Dalby, but it is difficult to identify the former accurately. Torre, in his MS. history of the Minster and its property, mentions this coat as existing in the prebendal house of Stillington, " in the hall window," " in the window" of the dining-room above stairs," and carved in stone on the chimney-piece of the same, with another shield containing a garb only. He thus labels them " Richmond Archdeaconry impaling Dalby." For want of more definite information I must accept his statement, but neither in the Diocesan Record Offices of York or Chester, nor in the British Museum, can I find any seal shewing what the device of the Archdeaconry of Richmond actually was."