ST. MARY, ROTHERHITHE.
Eft. Mary, Rotherhithe. By Edward Joscelyn Beck, M.A. (Cambridge University Press. 10s. net.)—Mr. Beck, who has been rector of St. Mary's for nearly forty years, modestly entitles his volume "Memorials to Serve for a History of the Parish." These memorials and materials have been collected with much care and industry, and Mr. Beck has every reason to be proud of the result. It is not for every rector or vicar to tell the story of his parish; when it can be done it is certainly the fulfilment of a duty. Corporate Church life is greatly strengthened by these records, while the individual parish receives a benefit which cannot be overrated. Rotherhithe in early times was largely influenced by a Benedictine Foundation in the neighbouring parish of Bermondsey. In 1127 this house, then forty-five years old, became possessed of a moiety of the manor, the other moiety being in the possession of Robert, Earl of Gloucester. It is now a busy place with a life of its own. Its growth during the last three centuries and a half may be seen from the registers, which are happily complete from the year of their beginning, 1555. In 1556 there were eleven baptisms and fifty-six deaths (it may well be doubted whether all the baptisms were registered or all the children born baptised). In the period March, 1844— January, 1851, there were two thousand four hundred burials. Shortly after the latter date the urban churchyards were closed. There are many interesting narratives in the volume, the " Shipbreakers" being one, and the story of Prince Leboo another.
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