fleet parson

1 definition found

fleet parson - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Fleet \Fleet\, n. [AS. fle['o]t a place where vessels float,
     bay, river; akin to D. vliet rill, brook, G. fliess. See
     Fleet, v. i.]
     1. A flood; a creek or inlet; a bay or estuary; a river; --
        obsolete, except as a place name, -- as Fleet Street in
        London.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Together wove we nets to entrap the fish
              In floods and sedgy fleets.           --Matthewes.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A former prison in London, which originally stood near a
        stream, the Fleet (now filled up).
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Fleet parson, a clergyman of low character, in, or in the
        vicinity of, the Fleet prison, who was ready to unite
        persons in marriage (called Fleet marriage) at any hour,
        without public notice, witnesses, or consent of parents.
        [1913 Webster]