Based on the following information, I would suggest giving him the title of "Curate" to clarify he was essentially a priest whose territory overlapped with Reverend Denton's around Halifax and Rochdale. Would the daughter of a priest marry a priest? That was the story of the preacher in my church when I was young.
From Clergy of the Church of England Database
http://db.theclergydatabase.org.uk/jsp/persons/CreatePersonFrames.j...
Person: Duerden, Thomas (1592 - 1592)
CCEd Person ID: 33930S
Comments: Clasisified in 1592 amongst 'no graduates, but preachers, honest men'.
APPOINTMENT EVENTS
Curate : Rochdale (00/00/1592 - 00/00/1592 )
TYPE: Libc
NAME: Duerden, Thomas
DATE: 00/00/1592
OFFICE: Curate
EVENT:
LOCATION: Rachdall
Liber Cleri Detail
CCEd Record ID: 46095
Linked to person: Duerden, Thomas 1592-1592
CLERIC DETAIL
Surname:Duerden
Forename: Thomas
Title:
Qualification:
EVENT TYPE
Date: _/_/1592
Office/Status: Curate
Location: Rachdall
OTHER INFORMATION
Source: LPL, CM XIII/47 (Clergy list)
Ordinary/Jurisdiction: Chaderton, William/Chester 1579-1595
Comment: no graduates, but preachers, honest men
http://db.theclergydatabase.org.uk/jsp/DisplayLibClDetail.jsp?CDBLi...
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Rochdale is shown by the CCEd as having several chapels:
Rochdale, Littleborough chapel
Rochdale, Milnrow chapel
Rochdale, Saddleworth chapel
Rochdale, Todmorden chapel
Rochdale, Whitworth chapel
http://db.theclergydatabase.org.uk/jsp/locations/index.jsp?locKey=5667
Thomas Duerden's name is not associated with any of them. Perhaps he rode the circuit as needed and served chapels of ease. During this period, Rochdale was considered part of the West Riding of Yorkshire.
Note that the CCEd spelled his surname the same as Maria Duerden's. In fact, none of the Durden surnames on my list of Rochdale Durdens is spelled this way. See the Deurden, Durdens of Rochdale 1580-1605 document on the sources tab.
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From The History of the Parish of Rochdale in the County of Lancaster, Henry Fishwick (1889), p. 449
The early Parish Register of Rochdale gives the baptisms of children of Thomas, James and Charles Deurden and others. Another of the name was Thomas Deurden, who was buried at Rochdale in 1622, and was described as clerk; his name often appears at the foot of local wills as the writer thereof; he does not appear to have held a benefice, and he certainly was not the rector of Bury, as has been stated. [fn. 1]
1. Baines (Hist. of Lanc.) puts a Thomas Dearden as rector of Bury in 1599, which is wrong, as Peter Shaw was rector 1570-1608, and was succeeded by Dr. Whatmough, who died 1623.
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The Latin word "Clerici" [Cl[er]icii] means "clerics" rather than "clerk." LatDict (an online Latin dictionary says):
clericus, clerici
noun
declension: 2nd declension
gender: masculine
Definitions:
clergyman, priest, cleric, clerk, scholar, student, scribe, secretary (Bee)
Age: Late, post-classical (3rd-5th centuries)
Area: Ecclesiastic, Biblical, Religious
Frequency: Very frequent, in all Elementry Latin books, top 1000+ words
Source: Lewis & Short, “A Latin Dictionary”, 1879 (Lewis & Short)
It seems to me Fishwick and Baines were wrong about Thomas Duerden who Fishwick said was buried at Rochdale in 1622. That Thomas Duerden was a cleric (not a clerk) who was appointed by the Church of England as a Curate of Rochdale, meaning he did indeed have a benefice. And, while he was not a Rector at Bury, he was a Curate at Rochdale, which may have included time at Todmorden Chapel, a couple of miles from Heptonstall where Maria Duerden was baptised in 1604.
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First name(s) Maria
Last name Durden
Gender Female
Baptism year 1604
Baptism date 14 Oct 1604
Place Heptonstall
County Yorkshire
Father's first name(s) Thome.
Father's last name Durden
Mother's first name(s) -
Mother's last name -
Record set England Births & Baptisms 1538-1975
