Hello List Being from Canada I find I am not familiar with this term "The Living" I have seen it referred to in other statements. Could someone explain please. E.g.: in this paragraph "GODNEY, a hamlet in the parish of Meare, hundred of Glaston- Twelve- Hides, county Somerset, 5 miles N.W. of Glastonbury, its post town. It is situated on the river Brue. The manor, which consists of above 3,000 acres, was part of the demesne of Glastonbury Abbey. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Bath and Wells, value £55. The church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, was erected in 1838 upon the site of a more ancient edifice." From The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) Transcribed by Colin Hinson © 2003 Thanks, Ann

Ann 'The living' means the position of the vicar or rector and his income or property - it's the position of being rector of parish X or vicar of parish Y with being the person who receives the income related - from tithes or land rents or from the rectory if that is a lay one - I think we had a discussion about lay rectories not very long ago so searching the archives should give you that. So in Jane Austen or novels of the 19th century you get conversation about whether a clergyman has a 'rich living' or 'good living' etc which means how well off does their postion make them. Parishes where the living was a perpetual curacy usually meant the incumbent was poor because someone else is taking the bulk of the income and paying a curate to provide 'the cure' - performing the rites etc of Christianity. Lyn B