Recusancy was the practice, especially on the part of Roman Catholics, of non-attendance at the services
of the Church of England.
The Act of Uniformity of 1558 had imposed fines on all non-attenders of a parish church.
But not until the excommunication of Queen Elizabeth in 1570 did recusancy amongst Catholics become common.
Roman Catholics were the specific target of the Act against Popish Recusants of 1592, and subsequent acts through
the 17th century imposed heavy penalties, including imprisonment, on Catholic recusants, the exaction of which
persisted up to the Second Relief Act of 1791.
Of Southwark's five prisons, only two, the Clink and the Counter, lay within the bounds of St Saviour parish.
But they all — those two plus the Marshalsea, the Kings Bench, and the White Lion —
housed recusants.
The extracts below are only of recusants identified as 'of St Saviour', or noted as imprisoned in the Clink
or the Counter.
But prisoners — especially those imprisoned for recusancy — were often not imprisoned where they lived,
so many of the prisoners in the Clink or Counter were likely not from St Saviour.
Information about recusant prisoners on this page is taken primarily from the published volumes of the Catholic Record
Society (Record Series), referenced as 'CRS' followed by a volume and page number.
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