heraldryofyorkmi01custuoft

328 THE HERALDRY OF YORK MINSTER.
the repairs was obtained from the quarries of Huddlestone and Tadcaster,
"and also from the old quarry of Thievesdale, which was allowed to be
"freely used for the occasion by its late possessor,
"Vavasour, in addition to his donation of ,25."
the Hon. Sir Edward
What is remarkable, I think, is that only one member of the family
should have been buried in York Minster, viz., Henry, son of John Vavasour,
of Newton, who died December, 1522. And that, though there have
none of them should have risen to
been many ecclesiastics in the family,
high places in the Chapter. This, of course, would have been impossible
since the Reformation, but it might be reasonably anticipated during at
least the four preceding centuries. But the race of Vavasours have not
been left without their reward for the liberality of their ancestors, in
ancient days, to the interests of the Church of Christ. Having thus
largely provided for the worship of others, they have themselves enjoyed
the privilege of undisturbed worship in their own church. When the great
ecclesiastical reform burst upon the nation, under Henry VIII., no hand
was stretched out either to deprive them of, or to tamper with, what they
held dear. From the day when Edward gave the charter to St. Leonard's
Chapel to
the present time, the ritual and doctrine have remained, almost
if not quite unique in England, unaffected by any of the passing changes.
To the honour of the race be it spoken, the name of Vavasour never
appears amongst the names of the ruthless persecutors during Queen Mary's
reign; but with pain it must be admitted that during the bitter retaliation of
succeeding generations, more than one member of the family suffered fine,
imprisonment, and death, simply for conscience sake. Not even the worthless
informer, Robert Bolron who endeavoured in the north to follow
the example of the infamous Titus Gates in the south
ventured to accuse
them of more than this; no treasons or conspiracies were laid to their
charge; they suffered in patience; and the testimony of history to the
House of Vavasour, so far as I can decipher it, is expressed in the words
of the poet
"Along the cool, sequestered way of life,
They held the noiseless tenour of their way."
While beneath the pavement of, and in "God's acre" which surrounds, their
house of prayer, the bodies of successive generations lie awaiting the
resurrection of the dead. Their graves have never been disturbed, or
their sepulchres rifled. While the ashes of many have been scattered to
the winds, their bones still lie where loving kinsfolk and weeping friends
placed them. It seems as if a special providence had preserved
at least this haven of rest.
Who would wish it otherwise ? Who
to them
would demur to the justice of
such a recompense, at least, for a past liberality towards God, which has