SERGISON, CHARLES (1654–1732), commissioner of the navy, born in 1654, entered the service of the crown as a dockyard clerk in July 1671. In 1675 he became clerk to the clerk of the acts, whose office was then held jointly by Thomas Hayter and John Pepys, a younger brother of Samuel Pepys [q. v.] John Pepys died in 1677 and was succeeded by James Sotherne, who, after March 1680, held the office by himself till 25 Dec. 1689. Sergison was then appointed in Sotherne's room, and remained clerk of the acts for thirty years, for the most part single-handed, but from 1701 to 1706 jointly with Samuel Atkins, formerly clerk of Samuel Pepys. During this period, which included the war of the Spanish succession, as well as the little war of 1718, the work of the navy board was excessively heavy, and Sergison won the highest opinion of the several administrations with whom he acted. The emoluments of the office were large, though rather by perquisites and fees than by pay, and in 1691 Sergison was able to purchase Cuckfield Park in Sussex. During the reign of Anne he more than once asked for permission to retire, but was told that he could not be spared. Afterwards, when he was superseded at the age of 65, in 1719, he seems to have felt it as an undeserved insult. During the rest of his life he lived at Cuckfield Place, and there he died on 26 Nov. 1732. He was buried in Cuckfield church, where there is a tablet to his memory. Sergison married Anne, daughter of Mr. Crawley of the navy office; she predeceased him; and on his death without children the estate passed to his grand-nephew, Thomas Warden, who took the name of Sergison. He also died, leaving no children, and was succeeded by his brother Michael, who assumed the name of Sergison. In his family the estate still remains.
Sergison formed a large collection of manuscripts relating to the navy; and though many of these have been dispersed, many are still at Cuckfield Place. He had also a fine collection of models, which has been preserved entire and in beautiful condition.
[Sussex Archæological Collections, xxv. 62–84; Duckett's Naval Commissioners.]
SERLE, AMBROSE (1742–1812), Calvinistic writer, was born on 30 Aug. 1742, and entered the navy, in which by 1795 he had attained the rank of captain (Ann. Reg.) When William Legge, second earl of Dartmouth [q. v.], became secretary of state for the colonies in 1772, Serle was appointed one of his under-secretaries, and in January 1776 he was made clerk of reports. He went to America in 1774, accompanied the British army from 1776 to 1778, and during part of that time had control of the press in New York. His knowledge of American affairs was considerable, and his letters throw much light upon the course of events (cf. Hist. MSS. Comm. 14th Rep. App. x. passim). On returning from America in 1780 he settled at Heckfield, Hampshire. In 1795 the latter was a commissioner of ‘the transport service and the care of prisoners of war,’ and was reappointed in 1803 and 1809. He died on 1 Aug. 1812, and was buried in the churchyard at Broadwater, near Worthing. He was married, and a daughter Jane (1780–1792) was Mrs. Romaine's goddaughter.
In 1764, while living in or near London, Serle became a friend of William Romaine [q. v.] Other friends were John Thornton, John Newton, Toplady, and Legh Richmond. Soon after 1780 he published his ‘Horæ Solitariæ’ (2nd edit. 1787) and the ‘Christian Remembrancer’ (1787). A series of letters from Romaine (Works, vol. viii.) shows the deep affection and entire accord in religious matters which subsisted between him and Serle. Nowhere does the conviction of the vital importance of Calvinism as of the essence of the gospel appear more strongly than in Serle's books. The ‘Horæ Solitariæ’ and the ‘Christian Remembrancer’ passed through many editions. Romaine circulated them broadcast. Other works by Serle are: 1. ‘Christian Husbandry,’ 1789. 2. ‘The Christian Parent,’ 1793, often reprinted. 3. ‘Charis,’ 1803. 4. ‘The Secret Thoughts of a departed Friend,’ written while the author was suffering from paralysis in 1812, and designed for posthumous publication, 1813. 5. ‘The Church of God,’ 1814.
[Gent. Mag. 1812, ii. 193; Life of Hannah More, 1835, passim; Serle's Works; Brit. Mus. Cat.]
SERLO, called Grammaticus (1109–1207?), monk of Fountains, born in 1109, was brother of Ralph, abbot of Louth Park in Lincolnshire. Though he was present when the monks of St. Mary's, York, left that house to found the abbey at Fountains, and was related to some of them, he did not himself enter Fountains till 1138, when he was twenty-nine (Walbran, Memorials of Fountains, I. viii. 57; but cf. Leland, De Script. Brit. i. 159; and Pits, De Illustr. Angl. Script. p. 223). From Fountains he was sent in 1147 to assist in founding Kirkstall, near Leeds, where he spent the rest of his long life. It was Serlo who in his ninety-ninth year gave Hugh of Kirkstall the infor-
