History Book.

Well I managed to get to my local history library to start reading :-
History and traditions of Darwen and its people by J.G. Shaw published in 1889.
It is the original book and is in rather a sorry state but that all adds to the experience of reading it. I find it rather odd that people in 1889 were interested in local history and I wonder what people will be saying about us in 2089. I went twice. The first day I skimmed through the whole book to get a feel for it and on Friday I went and concentrated on the chapter about churches. Yes Jimmy, I know you will appreciate the irony. I am very confused about the church records of Darwen and to try to decide how they fit together I think it is necessary to understand what was happening in Darwen to the peoples faith - well I'm not much wiser I must say.
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I find it quite difficult to appreciate just how much relevance to the understanding of our ancestors lives depends on looking at the impact of religion. I am picking up little bits of information rather ad hoc as I am doing research and so it is a bit like an electric light bulb going off in my head - ohhhhh so that's what that means, or now there's an interesting thought. People did not have a choice back in history - so marrying in the parish church in the 1800s did not mean necessarily they themselves were religious. I read somewhere that many people during the Victorian era went to Church because that was the main venue for social events at the time. I was also ignorant of the struggles people went to in this country for their faith in particular the Quakers. I did not realise ordinary people struggled for the right to practise their faith risking loss of property and imprisonment. Largely a quiet struggle their names are not remembered but their fight has (I believe) resulted in much of our freedom today. The trouble is I need a 'simple' book to explain these things to me. As I understand it originally people had no choice the country was Roman Catholic and the church was an establishment of much power over peoples lives - indeed controlling both spiritual and economic worlds. The Protestant movement developed on the back of disatisfaction with the corruption within the establishment and the development of printed material which led to the spread of 'ideas'. The Church could also be seen as the forerunner of local government.
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Now back to Darwen - on a simple level this is what I think I have gleaned so far.
In 'Chapels' (an area in Darwen) there are three chapels. The Higher and Lower Chapels and Yates Chapel. The first reference in history 1577 is to a Darwent Chappell. This was a daughter chapel to the mother church (The Parish Church) in Blackburn. It would have been built by the people of Darwen and not the established church and a visiting curate from Blackburn would occasionally come to preach. This would save the people having to traipse all the way to Blackburn for services but they were required to travel to St Marys to marry. By 1650 money had been raised by the people of Darwen who wanted their own resident minister. A Josiah Barnards (or Bernard) a Presbyterian was ordained at the Chapel of Over Darwen in 1649. It is unclear what happened to him, he may have remained until 1660 when he possibly emigrated to America or he may have been the Josuha Barnet later ordained by the Presbytery at Tockholes.
The Chapel seems to have fallen into a state of disrepair. In 1672-3 a License was granted to use a house as a Presbyterian meeting place.
The year 1687 was a critical year. The nonconformists of Darwen who had changed from being Presbyterian to Congregational applied for a new licence from the King. They believed this gave them the right to use the old Darwen Chapel and asked for the keys held by the Vicar of Blackburn who refused to give them saying the license referred to the meeting house of 1672. The nonconformist reacted by breaking into the chapel and establishing the Congregational church there. However a Magisterial order restored the chapel to the Vicar of Blackburn and the Chapel has remained Church of England ever since. The Vicar wanted to repair the chapel and raised money from the people of Darwen. (But there appears to have been resistance?? not too sure about my understanding of this bit) The old Darwen Chapel was pulled down and the Church of St James built about 1722-3 nearby because vaults had been built beneath the old Chapel for burial purposes. (This was another eyeopener, whilst in Ingleton over the summer I found that people there were buried inside the church, when it had to be rebuilt they found hundreds of skulls within the church. I knew rich people paid for the privilege of being buried close to the alter but did not realise ordinary people were interred there.). In 1851-3 St James was restored. This Church has had several names ; St James of Over Darwen, the Chapel, Higher Chapel, Darwen Chapel, Upper Darwen Chapel.
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I had not expected to find any information about the Cooper family in Darwen but in this section found three references to Cooper. There is NO suggestion that these Coopers belong to you. But are included here as a note of interest. A Richard Cooper made his mark as a churchwarden witnessing a document (he probably was from Blackburn).
In 1719 there is a list of people subscribing towards the rebuilding of Darwen Chapel. John Cooper gave £5 and Thurston Cooper £1. In 1733 a donation of £200 was given by Henry Feilden, Thomas Whalley and J. Cooper, gents.