We have seen that the parish clerks of London were in great request on account of their musical abilities.  In 1610 the masters and wardens were called upon to examine all those who wished to be admitted into the honourable company, as to whether they could read the Psalms of David according to the usual tunes used in the parish churches.  The finest singers chanted Mass in pre-Reformation times in the Guildhall at the election of the Lord Mayor.  In order to improve themselves in this part of their duties, the parish clerks soon after the Restoration of the monarchy, in 1660, provided themselves with an organ in order to perfect themselves in the art of chanting.  The minute book of the company tells that it was acquired “the better to enable them to perform a service incumbent upon them before the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of the City on Michaelmas Day, and also the better to enable them who already are, or hereafter shall be, parish clerks of the City in performing their duties in the several parishes to which they stand related.”  Here the clerks used to meet on Tuesday afternoons for a regular weekly practice in music, and for many years an organist was appointed by the company to assist the brethren in their cultivation of psalmody.  The selection of psalms specially suited for each Sunday in the year was made by the company and set forth in The Parish Clerks’ Guide, in order that the special teaching of the Sunday, as set forth in the Collect, Epistle, and Gospel, might be duly followed in the Psalms.

Another important duty which the parish clerks of London, and also in some provincial towns, discharged was the publishing of the bills of mortality for the City.  This duty is enjoined in their charter of 1610.  The corporation required from them returns of the deaths of freemen in their respective parishes, and also returns of the number of deaths and christenings.  The records of the City of London contain a copy of the agreement, made in 1545-6 between the Lord Mayor and the Parish Clerks’ Company, which provides that “They shall cause all clerks of the City to present to the common crier the name and surname of any freeman that shall die having any children under the age of 21 years.”  The Chamberlain was instructed to pay to the company 13 s. 4 d. yearly for their services.  The custody of all orphans, with that of their lands and goods, had been entrusted to the City by the charter of Richard III, and this agreement was made in order to enable the “City Fathers” to faithfully discharge their duties in looking after children of deceased freemen.  In spite of many difficulties, especially after the Great Fire which rendered thousands homeless and scattered the population, the clerks continued to perform this duty, though not always to the satisfaction of their employers, until the beginning of the eighteenth century, when the custom seems to have lapsed.

[Illustration:  A PAGE OF AN EARLY BILL OF MORTALITY PRESERVED AT THE HALL OF THE PARISH CLERKS COMPANY]