Fabian Stedman
Fabian Stedman (1640–1713) was an English author and a leading figure in the early history of campanology, particularly in the field of method ringing.
He had a key role in publishing two books Tintinnalogia (1668 with Richard Duckworth) and Campanalogia (1677 – written solely by him) which are the first two publications on the subject.
[1] His father Francis Stedman was born in Aston Munslow, Shropshire in 1598, who took Holy Orders at Yarkhill in 1625.
It was said that he was appointed parish clerk to St Bene't's Church in Cambridge in 1670, and to have instructed the ringers,[2] but no clear evidence for these activities have been found.
[1] While in London, Fabian became a member of the Scholars of Cheapside, a society of ringing that practised at St Mary-le-Bow; the famous great bell of Bow from the nursery rhyme.
Fabian Stedman was the publisher of the first book on change ringing called Tintinnalogia, written by Richard Duckworth, most likely rector of St Martin's, Carfax, Oxford, and later Steeple Aston, Oxfordshire.
In describing cross-peals he introduced a shorthand notation, which meant the changes were not written out in full, but the rows occurring at the lead-ends (when the treble leads) were given instead.
[7] The publishing of ringing methods stimulated their use and development further, and in 1684 the College Youths rang three 720s, a total of 2,160 changes without standing their bells, at St Mary Overy.
Stedman Doubles to Cinques (5 to 11 bells) is rung in many parish churches in the islands of Britain and Ireland, and other countries which practise the English style of method ringing.
To take a very simple example, if a church has five bells in the key of C they will be numbered 1-2-3-4-5, 1, called the treble and having the highest note, (in this case G) and 5, the tenor, having the lowest – the keynote, C. If rung in order downwards they are said to be ringing "rounds."
Stedman's achievement was to develop methods – then known as "cross-changes" – which could relatively quickly produce an "extent" by changing more than one pair of bells at a time.
The aim of producing an extent without repeating a change apart from rounds at the start and finish could now be realised more artistically and with more interest for the ringers.
Nowadays many hundreds of methods are practised; all, in some degree, owe a debt to Stedman's pioneering work which has value as well in mathematics (group theory) as well as bell-ringing.
