Description

A membership certificate for the ancient archery order of The Woodmen of Arden for the Reverend William Gresley (1801 - 1876) , writer and Church of England clergyman. With original metal scroll case and Woodmen of Arden wax seal. In the left hand margin of the velum scroll is a hand coloured design of two gold bands on a navy background, indicating 'the mark of Revd. W. Gresley register'd in the rolls' to be painted on his arrows. His name and pedigree appear in the 'Records of the Woodmen of Arden'. The document reads as follows: "To all to whom these presents shall come greeting these are to certify that on the 25th day of June one thousand and eight hundred and twenty one. Revd. William Gresley ..... was duly elected a Woodman of the Forest of Arden". William Gresley was a prolific author, propagating his High-Church principles in theological treatises and numerous works of fiction. His title, "The Forest of Arden: a tale illustrative of the English Reformation" (1841). was one of his most popular works. He was father to William Nigel Gresley, ninth Baronet of Baronet of Gresley and Drakelow. The Gresleys were an ancient Norman family, descended from Nigel de Stafford, the son of Robert de Stafford, scion of one of the powerful Norman families in England. The Woodmen of Arden, a society of archers based in the Forest of Arden in Warwickshire, and was formed in 1785 at a meeting at the Bull's Head Inn in Meriden (still in existence), the society arranged itself in different ranks with annual archery competitions on the Packington Outwood, leased to the society by founder Heneage Finch, Fourth Earl of Aylesford (1751-1815). Also included in this sale are the following: .4 gold-plated waistcoat buttons from the official waistcoat worn by the Woodmen of Arden. .An original press photograph dated 1926 depicting an archery competition in Meriden between the Woodmen of Arden and the Royal Company of Archers. .A small newspaper cutting dated 1923 depicting a member of the Woodmen of Arden.