Praying Aylmers
A number of Aylmers have made their careers in religion.
The question of Aylmer religious affiliations is an interesting one.
The English branch appears to be securely Protestant, and so presumably were the post-Cromwell land-owning Aylmers of Ireland -
in contradistinction to the rural labourers, but were these just English emigrants who got down on their luck?
But this is surmise on my part and if anyone knows better please tell me.
But as you will see below there are a couple of exceptions to the Protestant rule.
Two bishops and sundry others
The most influential praying Aylmer was undoubtedly Bishop John Aylmer, Bishop of London to Queen Elizabeth I,
about whom there is more information here.
He is not the only bishop though. In the pre-Norman 11th century,
Aylmer (or Aethelmaer) was (the last) Bishop of Elmham from 1047 to 1070, when he was deposed and later died.
(North) Elmham is in Norfolk;
Aethelmaer therefore is one of the first East Anglian connections that feature so heavily in the Aylmer name.
Abbot Aylmer (Giliani) of Piacenza, assuming he came from the town in what is now northern Italy,
was rather more remote from the known seat of Aylmerdom.
He rose to become the 12th master general of the influential Dominican order,
which he headed from 1304 to his resignation in 1311 over the suppression of the Knights Templar; he lived to 1327.
Other religious Aylmers include:
Samuel Aylmer, died 1636, Prebendary of Finsbury, St. Paul's, London, from 1581-1583;
Theophilus Aylmer, died 1626, also Prebendary of Finsbury, from 1583-1626, and Archdeacon of St. Paul's from 1591-1626;
Charles Aylmer (1786-1847), a leading Irish Jesuit who studied in Lancashire and Sicily.
By contrast, his brother was one of the best swordsmen in Austria;
John Aylmer, Canon of Bristol from 1750-1793; and
William Aylmer, vicar of St Peter's, Akaroa, New Zealand from 1851 to 1871,
and a founding father of the city of Christchurch - see below for more information.
Samuel and Theophilius were I believe sons of Bishop John.
Clearly not an Aylmer of direct lineage, but perhaps related, Henry Aylmer Skelton (1884-1959) was Bishop of Lincoln.
As notary public for Norwich, one Robert Aylmer acted for John Godesell in a heresy trial of 1429.
In the early 16th century, another John Aylmer is thought to have been one of the master masons of Westminster Abbey.
Rev William, an Anglican priest of the mid 19th century pictured left,
became one of the founding fathers of Christchurch in New Zealand.
He was the third son of Fenton, 7th Baronet of Donadea.
Maoris had lived in the Canterbury area for a thousand years until the first European landings in 1815,
and settlement 25 years later. Whaling ships were sailing from Lyttelton by 1850,
when the first organised groups of English settlers began to arrive, many in the 'four ships' of the Canterbury Association.
The Association planned to establish a Church of England settlement that would follow the model of Christ Church in Oxford,
church and scholarship at the heart of a community.
Now, a plaque in Christchurch Cathedral
(pictured right) commemorates him as one of the Association's founding members.
Aylmer left his Irish parish (in the care of a locum, in case of an early return)
having already purchased land including that now known as Aylmer's Valley at the south end of Akaroa.
He was "much horrified" on arrival at Lyttelton in September 1851,
but his early doubts soon disappeared and the following year commenced building the Akaroa home which still bears the name
Aylmer House.
The Burke manuscript,
a key source for the early history of Christchurch, lists Aylmer as one the first twelve councillors of Christchurch in 1853 or 1854,
describing him as 'a member of a well known Home family'.
Despite a plan of 1860 to go sheep farming, he remained as vicar of St Peter's from 1851 to 1871,
staying on as locum for two more years, and living at his house until his death in August 1883.
His oldest son Julian Aylmer became Akaroa's last resident magistrate,
and two streets in the town, Percy and William, are named after other sons.
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