In our Catalogue of Catholic Books in English printed abroad or secretly in England, 1558-1640, we made many factual statements about the authorship, printing and dating of anonymous Recusant books, without giving the evidence. This was unavoidable if the catalogue was to be kept to a manageable size. The evidence for some of these statements has already appeared in miscellaneous articles and notes in Recusant History, and we propose to publish the rest gradually in two parallel series, Series A dealing with authors and translators, Series B with printers and presses, contributions to each series being numbered consecutively. Not all these contributions will necessarily be complete or exhaustive; in some instances we shall simply set out the evidence we have so far found. Occasionally we shall correct statements made in the catalogue in the light of more recent research. Our object is to make public the evidence on which the attributions were based, but not to imply that there is no further work to be done.

The Fairfaxes were a definitely Catholic family from 1636 and it is difficult to think that they had no chaplain in the 1630's and 1640's. The considerable donation by Abigail, wife of the 5th Viscount to the funds of the Northern District may indicate that the first chaplains were secular priests. It may also be significant that the first Fairfaxes to go abroad to school went to St. Omer (apparently) and Douai and none to St. Gregory's Douai, before the 1670's. The 2nd Viscount and his wife made no gifts to Benedictines. In 1690 Charles Fairfax of York was trustee of many secular clergy funds. (Leeds Dioc. MSS Hogarth MS.) The extant Yorkshire secular clergy records seem to contain, however, no evidence of a regular secular Gilling or Walton mission or fund.

In July 1614 the York High Commission issued a warrant to bring before them William Reyner and John Leminge, then in Ripon gaol, charged with printing Papist literature. With them were to be brought their printing press and tools and Papist books and ‘cartulae’ found in their possession at Ripon or elsewhere. On July 29th they appeared at Bishopthorpe Palace before Toby Mathew, Archbishop of York, the Bishop of Bristol, Sir Thomas Posthumous Hoby, Sir John Jackson, William Ellis Esq., all of the king's Council in the North Parts, and William Ingram LL.D., Phineas Hodson S.T.P. and iour others, oi the York Ecclesiastical Commissioners.