James Leonard Fish

“ In 1693 the nonjurors took steps to continue a succession of their bishops under the Suffragan Bishops Act of Henry VIII, which had not been in force since the reign of Queen Elizabeth (it had been contemplated to make use of it during the Commonwealth, when the number of the bishops was reduced to about nine, but the Restoration made such a step needless) . Dr. George Hickes [q. v.] went over to St. Germain in 1693 with a nominal list of most of the nonjurors, from which the king selected the names of Hickes himself and Wagstaffe for bishops. ”

“ In 1718 he was ordained deacon by Jeremy Collier, one of the nonjurors' bishops, and, by the same, priest in the following year. The ordinations took place in the chapel of Richard Lawrence, afterwards also a nonjurors' bishop, the author of ‘Lay Baptism Invalid,’ on College Hill, in the city of London. At that time Wagstaffe was keeper of the nonjurors' church registers, as appears from a manuscript note signed by the principal nonjurors in a copy of their prayer-book in the library of Sion College. ”

“ The service, doubtless for prudential reasons, was quite private, and the consecrations were for a long time unknown to some of the leading nonjurors. Even Hearne, who at Oxford was in frequent communication with Hickes and Wagstaffe, knew nothing of these consecrations as late as 1732. The only persons present were, besides the bishops, Lord Clarendon and a notary named Douglas. Wagstaffe joined with the former in attesting Hickes's deed of consecration, Hickes doing a like service for him. There is no record of Wagstaffe performing any episcopal duties. ”