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HISTORY

OF THE

FLEET MARRIAGES,

WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF

THE PARSONS, AND THEIR REGISTERS :

TO WHICH ARE ADDED NOTICES OF THE

MAY FAIR, MINT, AND SAVOY CHAPELS,

AND
NUMEROUS EXTRACTS FROM THE REGISTERS:

BY JOHN SOUTHERDEN BURN,

AUTHOR OF THE HISTORY OF PARISH REGISTERS,
THE FOREIGN PROTESTANT REFUGEES IN ENGLAND, ETC.

Cl^itti iStiition*

LONDON :
LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, and LONGMANS.

MDCCCXLVI.

FLEET MARRIAGES

" Where lead my wand'ring footsteps now ? the Fleet
Presents her tatter'd sons in luxury's cause :
Here venerable Crape, and scarlet cheeks.
With nose of purple hue —

Here Cleric grave from Oxford, ready stands
Obsequious to conclude the Gordian knot,
Entwin'd beyond all dissolution sure ;
A Reg'lar this, from Cambridge ; both alike
In artful stratagem to tj'e the noose."

The Morning Walk, 1751.

881

PREFACE.

In collecting materials for his " History of Parish
Registers," published in 1829, the Authors attention
was first drawn to the registers of marriages solem-
nized in the Fleet and its vicinity, and of which he
afterwards made a very minute examination.

Until the publication of the first edition of this
work, few persons were aware of the existence of
those registers, or appreciated their value and impor-
tance. The Author's object was to present some of
the most curious particulars concerning the registers
and those parties connected with them. Without
discussing their validity as a public record, and with-
out attempting to place them upon the same footing
in respect to evidence as a Parish Register, it must be
allowed that they have been occasionally admitted
as evidence in the Courts of Nisi Prius ; and although
within the last forty years they have been genei ally
rejected, yet they unquestionably contain the record
of many thousands of marriages, of which no other
evidence is to be found.

These Registers have recently been removed from
the Bishop of London's Registry, and are now depo-
sited with the Registrar General under the provisions
of an Act of the 3rd and 4th Vict. (Cap. 92) which
however gives them no additional authenticity.

VI.

The rapid sale of the first edition, and the favour-
able notice of various reviews and literary journals,
has induced a belief that the subject matter is inter-
esting, and the author therefore ventures to submit
the work again to the public. It is no part of his
plan to enter into a discussion of the law of marriage,
and the necessity of compressing his matter within a
small volume precludes him from giving some ac-
comit of the different episcopal and dissenting chapels
where marriages were solemnized, and which were in
existence prior to the passing of the Marriage Act
in 1753. He has voluminous transcripts from the
registers of such chapels, and notes from licences
to marry, supplied by information obtained from an
examination of the affidavits made upon application
of the parties (which are preserved in the Registry
of the Bishop of London), and from notifications of
marriages in the public journals of the period, from
which he will be at all times happy to afford infor-
mation. A list of the principal of such chapels is
inserted in this edition, and from the circumstance
that, out of the eighty or ninety chapels in and about
London, only fourteen of the registers remain (some
of which are in private hands), these collections are
of considerable value.

Copthall Court, London, December, 1845.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

Of Clandestine Marriage. — St. James's Duke's Place, and Trinity
Minories. — The Fleet Prison. — Bishop's Visitation there. — Marriage
of the Honourable Henry Fox. — The Marriage Act of 1753. — Oppo-
sition to it. — Blackstone's Commentary upon it. . . 1

CHAPTER n.
The Fleet Prison, Wardens, and Chaplains . . . . 32

CHAPTER HI.

Clergymen who performed Marriages at the Fleet . . 49

CHAPTER IV.

The Fleet Books. — Their transmission to the custody of the Bishop
of London. — Extracts, &c., &c. . . . . . . . . 66

CHAPTER V.
The Fleet Registers not Evidence . . . . . . 127

CHAPTER VI.

Marriages at the King's Bench Prison, — Mint, — Savoy, — and
May Fair 137

A List of the Chapels in and about London at which Marriages
were perfonned, prior to the Marriage Act .. .. .. 151

FLEET MARRIAGES.

CHAPTER I.

OF CLANDESTINE MARRIAGE — ST. JAMES DUKE's PLACE AND
TRINITY MINORIES THE FLEET PRISON BISHOP's VISITA-
TION THERE MARRIAGE OF THE HONOURABLE HENRY FOX

THE MARRIAGE ACT OF 1753 OPPOSITION TO IT — BLACK-

STONe's COMMENTARY UPON IT.

It was not until the Council of Trent,^ that the inter-
vention of a priest, or other ecclesiastical functionary, was
deemed in Europe indispensable to a marriage. It was then
ascertained that the existence of the marriage contract as a
mere civil engagement, unhallowed by any spiritual sanction,
tended much to the formation of clandestine connexions, and
their concomitant evils. The celebrated Decree passed in
that Council interdicted any marriage otherwise than in the
presence of a priest and at least two witnesses. But in Eng-
land previous to 1754 the Common Law continued to regu-
late the Law of Marriage, the authority of the Council of
Trent not having been acknowledged in this country ; and
whilst, in virtue of domestic institutions, a form was enjoined
for the more solemn celebration of matrimony, and persons
departing from these regulations were liable to ecclesiastical
censure, still other and more private modes of contracting a
marriage were tolerated and acknowledged by Law.

Hence a contract per verba de prasenti, that is to say,
between persons entering into a present engagement to be-
come man and wife, or a promise per verba de futurOy which
was an agreeinent to become husband and wife at some future

' Sessio 24, 11th November 1563. — Doctrina de Saciamento Matrimonii.
The last General Council of Trent held its first session in December 1545, and
its last in December 1563.

time, if the promise were followed by consummation, consti-
tuted marriage without the intervention of a priest; for the
contract per verba de prcesenti was held to be a marriage com-
plete in substance, but deficient in ceremony.^ Although the
promise per verba de futiiro of itself was incomplete in both
points, yet the cohabitation of the parties after exchanging
the mutual promise, implied such a present consent at the
time of the sexual intercourse, as to perfect the marriage in
substance and give it equal validity with the contract de prc£-
seiiti, that is to say, the validity of an irregular marriage,
which could not be annulled by the Ecclesiastical Court,
though it might be censured for its informality, nor could
the vinculum be affected by a subsequent regular marriage.

Certain privileges have been allowed to those who solem-
nized their marriage according to the form prescribed by the
Ecclesiastical Law, which were denied to those who refused
to comply ; yet the marriage, although celebrated in a dif-
ferent manner, was indissoluble, it being considered of Divine
institution, to which only a full and free consent of the par-
ties was necessary. Before the time of Pope Innocent the
Third (1198), there was no solemnization of marriage in the

' " By the Civil Law whatsoever was given ca" sponsalilia largitate, betwixt them
that are promised, have a condition (for the most part silent) that it may be had
again if marriage ensue not. Si spo77sus dederit aliquid et aliquo casu iivpedianiur
miptia, donatio penilus rescinditnr nisi oscuhim intervenit ; but if he had a kiss
for his money, he loseth one half of that which he gave. But with the woman it is
otherwise ; for, kissing or not kissing, whatsoever she gave she may ask and have
it againe. This is but for gloves, rings, bracelets, and other small wares, and in
rehaving a woman hath greter favour in greater guifts than a man hath."' Spon.
Crud. 9, fo. 13.

The Author has many curious particulars relative to Espousals, which was the
contract per verba de fuluro ; the only entry, however, which he has observed
relating to Espousals, in a parish register, is the following in that of Boughton
Monchelsea, in Kent.

" INIichaelis.

" 1630 Sponsalia inter Gulielm' Maddox et Elizabetii' Grimestone inde bitrliuris
formi transacta 10 die Januarii."

This marriage was solemnized with the forms of the Cliurch three years after-
wards, as appears by tlie following entry in tlie same Register.

" Michaelis.

" 1633 Nuptim inter (iulielmu' ]\Iaddox et Elizabetha' Grimcstonvltimo Octobris."

churcli, but the man came to the house wliere the woman
resided, and led her home to his own house, which was all the
ceremony then used : hence the expression " uxorem ducere
et capere in virum.''''^

Banns were first directed to be published by Canon
Hubert Walter, No. 22 (1200); and the Constitution of
^yilliam la Zouch, No. 7 (1347) notices the performance of
clandestine marriages, and that " some contriving unlawful
" marriages, and affecting the dark, lest their deeds should
" be reproved, procure every day, in a damnable manner,
" marriages to be celebrated without publication of banns
" duly and lawfully made, by means of chaplains that have no
" regard to the fear of God and the prohibition of the laws."

These informal marriages appear to have been continued
in London notwithstanding the punishment denounced (and
sometimes inflicted) by the Ecclesiastical Law. Within a
few years previously to 1686, many thousands of clandes-
tine marriages were performed ; many of them in certain
churches and chapels exempted from the visitation of the
Ordinary, the ministers of which churches did usually marry
without licence or banns : these were called " Imvless
churches r for by such practices those laws which had been
made to prevent clandestine marriages were rendered in-
effectual.-

From the Bishop of London's Registry (1 Compton 95) it
appears that the Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Causes, on
the 17th of Feb. 1686, suspended for three years (ab officio et
heneficio) Adam Elliott, Rector of St. James Duke's Place,
for having married or suffered persons to be married at his
church without banns or licence.

This suspension is mentioned by Newcourt in his Reper-
torium, where are noticed the grounds of the " pretended
exemptions" of the church of St. James Duke's Place and
Trinity Minories. As to the former, the Mayor and Com-
monalty and Citizens of London, as lords of the manor and
patrons of the church, had then lately (1708) pretended an
exemption from the jurisdiction of the Bishop of London in

' Petersdorff's Lectures. ' Nelson's Rights of the Clergy.

matters ecclesiastical. And as to Trinity Minories, " the
cliurcli is in the gift of the Crown, and the Incumhent or
Curate thereof (for it is neither rectory nor vicarage insti-
tutive) holds the same by an instrument of donation, under
the Great Seal of England ; but of late these Curates have
pretended exemption from being subject to the Bishop of
London as Ordinary, on purpose to defend t/ieir marrying
without hanns or licence.''''

The suspension of the Rector of St. James Duke's Place
was relaxed on the 28th of May 1687, upon his petition to
the Commissioners ; and in the marriage register of Duke's
Place is the following entry in the year 1687 —

" There were no marriages from the tenth of March till y*
29 day of May."

after which, it appears, the Rector resumed his practice, and
married at the rate of sixteen couple per day.

The earliest marriage register in tlie parish chest com-
mences 1st Nov. 1664, but some of the first leaves in the
book are missing, it having been for some years without any
cover to protect it! It continues to 1691, occupying upwards
of 1000 pages. On some days there are between 30 and 40
marriages, and in this book alone are nearly 40,000 entries! !^
The 7iext book (also a large folio, but thinner than the first)
commences in 1692 and ends July 28, 1700; and the mar-
riages during this period continue very numerous. The
third book commences with 25 March 1700, and ends March
1754, during which period the number of marriages decreased.

The first register of marriages at Trinity Minories is of
parchment, commencing Jan. 1579, and ending 3 June 1644,
and is by no means singular on account of the number of

' Tom Brown in his works frequently notices the marriages at Duke's Place,
which, about 1586, was as noted a place for matrimony as ti>e Fleet became twenty
or thirty years afterwards.

" So he converts his sheep and other moveables into a purse of money, buys a
parcel of dates, and puts to sea; that is to say, furnishes him a iiouse, provides a
fine suit of cloathes, goes to Duke's Place, and mariics." — (Tom Brown's Ilorks,
vol. iv. p. 177, Edit, of 1774.)

" Thursday 24. — Six coui)le pair'd at Duke's Place, near ten [o'clock], repent
next mornino." \'o!. i. p. I U!.

marriages. No. 2 begins 9 June 1()44, and ends Feb. 1648;
the marriages now begin to increase, and in the month of
July 1C45 are 30 entries. No. 3 is a rough square book,
much out of condition, with a brown paper cover, commenc-
ing Feb. 1657, and ending 25 July 1659 (the book from
1648 to 1657 is missing). No. 4 is a long rough book, com-
mencing 2 Februai-y 1660, and ending 9 April 1663, (from
this date to 1676 is missing). No. 5 is a large folio newly
bound in vellum, commencing 26 March 1676 and ending
21 June 1683, and contains about 6000 entries. No. 6 is a
very large folio volume, commencing 24 June 1683 ; it conti-
nues to January 27, 1686, when it refers to another book, and
begins again with November 1692, and ends 17 March 1754.
In this book are about 9000 entries. The reg-ister which
comes in between the first and second part of the last volume
commences 26 January 1686,' and ends November 1692; it
is roughly written, and contains about 5 or 6000 entries.

The first mention met witii of a marriage at the Fleet, is
in a letter from Alderman Lowe to Lady Hickes in iSept.
1613, (Lansd. MSS. 93—17.)

" Now I am to enform you that an ancyentt acquayntance of
y" and myne is yesterday maryed in the Fleette, one Mr. Gorge
Lestor, and hath maryed M""'' Babbington Mr. Thomas Fanshawe
mother in lawe. Itt is sayed slie is a woman of good wealthe, so
as nowe the man wylle able to lyve and mayntayn hymself in
prison, for hether unto he hath byne in poor estate. I praye God
he be nott encoryged by his marige to do as Becher doth, I mene
to troble his frynds in Lawe, but I hope he wyll have a better con-
scyence and more honestye than the other men bathe."

The date of the earliest Fleet register now preserved in
tbe Bishop of London's Registry, is 1674, and there is no
reason to believe that the marriages there recorded were clan-

' The suspension of tlie Rector of Duke's Place took place about the time of
the commencement of this register, vvhicli may account for the discontinuance of
the regular register ; so tliat in case of a visit from the Commissioners, the register
would perhaps have been shewn as a proof that no marriages had been performed,
while in fact 5 or 6000 had been married, and entcied in another book.

destine. Upon referring to the dates of the Fleet registers,
it will be found that (with one exception) they commence
about the period of the Order of the Ecclesiastical Commis-
sioners ; ' and it may fairly be conjectured that when the prac-
tice of clandestine marriages at Duke's Place and Trinity
Minories was checked by this order and the suspension of
Mr. Elliott, it was taken up by certain real and pretended
clergymen in and about the prisons" — not, however, on ac-
count of any real privilege or exemption attaching to these
prisons, for the marriages were not even confined to the
Rules of the Fleet, but were performed sometimes at the
villages adjacent,^ but because these Fleet parsons were
generally prisoners enjoying the Rules of the Fleet, and had
neither liberty, money, nor credit to lose by any proceedings
the Bishop might institute against them.

Some of the acts passed for preventing these marriages
convey particulars of the system adopted to evade prior
enactments upon the subject. Thus the 7th and 8th Wm.
III. cap. 35, recites the 6th and 7th Wm. cap. 7. sec. 52, and
that it was passed for the better levying the duty of 5s. on
licences and certificates, but was found ineffectual, because
the penalty of 100/. was not extended to every offence of the
same parson, and because the parsons employed poor and
indigent ministers, without benefices or settled habitations,
and because many ministers being in prison for debt and
otherwise, married persons for lucre and gain.^

' Order against Clandestine ]Marriages. (1 Compton, 94.)

^ " The force and validity of a pretended marriage had or prophaned, at or near
May Fair, is now strongly contested at law, as being illegal and scandalous." —
General Advertiser, Dec. 17, 1747.

" Some of the persons that pretend to marry in the Fleet and the places adjacent
have been charged in the course of the law as not being in holy orders, by which
several unwary people have been great sufferers in the proof of their pretended
marriages." — General Advertiser, Dec. 12.

3 One of Mrs. Wigmore's advertisements of the Fleet registers mentions them to
contain the marriages " at all the different houses of the Fleet and other parts of
town and country.''

* Peregrine Pickle becomes acquainted in tlie Fleet with a clergyman " who
found means to enjoy a pretty considerable income by certain irregular practices in
the way of his function." — Vol. iv. p. Mil.

Of the iniquitous practices at tiie Fleet ample confirmation
is derived from the evidence of one of the Fleet parsons
themselves ; for sonie private memoranda made by Walter
Wyatt, in one of his pocket-books of 173G, are to the following
effect, showing that if there was not " some spark of grace
left," there were at least now and then some compunctions of
conscience.

" Give to every man his due, and learn y"= way of Truth.

" This advice cannot be taken by those that are concerned in
y* Fleet marriages ; not so mucli as y^ Priest can do y" thing y'
is just and right there, unless he designs to starve. For by lying,
bullying, and swearing, to extort money from the silly and un-
wary people, you advance your business and gets y* pelf, which
always wastes like snow in sun shiney day."

" The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The mar-
rying in the Fleet is the beginning of eternal woe."

" If a dark or plyer tells a lye, you must vouch it to be as true
as y*^ Gospel ; and if disputed, you must affirm with an oath to y*
truth of a downright damnable falsehood. — Virtus laudatur &
alget." 1

'-' May God forgive me what is past, and give me grace to for-
sake such a wicked place, where truth and virtue can't take place
unless you are resolved to starve."

Many of the early Fleet weddings were really performed
at the chapel of the Fleet;' but as the practice extended, it

* " On Saturday last a Fleet parson was convicted before Sir Ric. Brocas of forty-
three oaths, (on the information of a plyer for weddings there,) for which awarrant
was granted to levy 41. 6s. on the goods of the said parson .: but, upon application
to his Worship, he was pleased to remit U. per oath ; upon which the plyer swore
he would swear no more against any man upon the like occasion, finding he could
get nothing by it." — Grub Street Journal, 20 July 1732.

2 " One Mrs. Ann Leigh, an heiress of £200. per annum and £6000. ready cash.
having been decoyed away from her friends in Buckinghamshire, and married at the
Fleet chapel against lier consent ; we hear the Lord Chief Justice Pratt hath
issued out his warrant for appieiiending the authors of this contrivance, who liave
used tJie young lady so barbarously, that she now lyes speechless."— Orj^'nm^
fVeekly Journal, Sept. 26, 1719.

'< Captain Pealy, a half-pay officer, was apprehended and committed to the
Gate- House, for stealing one Mrs. Anne Leigh, as mentioned in our last."

was found more convenient to have other places within the
Rules of the Fleet, (added to which, the Warden was com-
pelled by the act of 10th Anne, cap. 18. sec. 192, not to suffer
them,) and thereupon many of the Fleet parsons and tavern-
keepers in the neighbourhood fitted up a room in their re-
spective lodgings or houses as a chapel. The parsons took
the fees, allowing a portion to the plyers, &c. ; ' and the
tavern-keepers, besides sharing in the fees, derived a profit
from the sale of liquors which the wedding party drank. In
some instances the tavern-keepers kept a parson on their
establishment at a weekly salary of twenty shillings ; while
otherS; upon a wedding party arriving, sent for any clergy-
man they might please to employ,^ and divided the fee with
him. Most of the taverns near the Fleet kept their own
registers, in which (as well as in their own books) the par-
sons entered the weddings.

The author has an engraving (published about 17-17,) re-
presenting " A Fleet Wedding between a brisk young Sailor
and his Landlady's Daughter at Rederiff ;" it represents the
old Fleet market and prison, with the sailor, landlady, and
daughter, just stepping from a hackney-coach, while two
Fleet parsons in canonicals are offering their services. The
lines inscribed below the print are as follow:

Scarce had the coach discharg'd its trusty fare,
But gaping crowds surround th' amorous pair ;
The busy Plyers make a mighty stir,
And whisp'ring cry, D'ye want the Parson, Sir ?
Pray step this way— just to the Pen in Hand,
The Doctor's ready there at your command :
This way, (another cries) Sir, I declare,
The true and ancient Register is here:

' Thus, on one occasion, ",Tlie Turnkey had I5. — Boyce Is. Clk— j« Plyer Is.,
and I had 3s. 8d." {Ed. ^shicell.)

' " Yesterday a cooper in St. John Street was seized and carried before .Justice
Robe, being charged with a r upon a certain young woman. The man, con-
sidering the danger lie was in, compounded llie affair by sending for a clergyman
from the I''leet, who married tliem at a tavern in Sinillitield, to tlie great joy of all
parlies."— P.'s/ Boy. 18 June 1730

Th' alarmed Parsons quickly hear the din,
And haste with soothing words t' invite 'em in :
In this confusion jostled to and fro,
Th' inaniour'd couple know not where to go ;
Till slow advancing from the coaches side,
Th' experienc'd matron came, (an artful guide,)
She led the way without regarding either,
And the first Parson splic'd 'em both together.

The companion to this en^ravint^' is " The Sailor's Fleet
Wedding Entertainment," which represents the party sit-
ting at table, round a bowl of punch, with pipes, &c. :
amongst other pictures on the wall is a representation of the
Skimmington.^ Under the print are the following lines :

Jack rich in prizes, now the knot is ty'd.
Sits pleas'd by her he thinks his maiden bride.
But tho' a modest look by Molly 's shewn.
She only .... known.

The b now from her daughter's charge reliev'd,

With pleasure smiles to think how he 's deceiv'd ;
Experienc'd in the trade^ and void of shame,
To her the Man in crape imparts his flame.

The Lawyer grins, and Peg, with wanton glance,
Seems much delighted with Tom's antic dance.
Kit kisses Kate, vows she shall be his wife,
While cat and dog resemble nuptial strife.
The Skimmington observe. Mirth to provoke,

Sam points the horns, with many a b joke.

For spouse's cloaths, the baily's crew are seen,
And change, oh sad mishap ! the jovial scene.

In 1702 the Bishop of London held a visitation at the
Fleet, as appears by a paper in the Registry of tlie Consistory
Court to the following effect : —

' A Skimmington is admirably described in Butler's Hudibras, (Lond. 1806-)
Vol. i. p. 467. — Ralpho describes it as —

a riding us'd of course,

When tlie grey mare 's the better horse :
When o'er the breeclies greedy women
Fight, to extend their vast dominion.

4'" Junii 1702 Cor' Reverend: &c.
Dno E'po London in Carcere vulgo
vocat' y"" Fleet in Civitate London,
p'sente Ed' Alexander
Neg"" Visitac'onis in Carcere vulgo )
vocat' y* Fleet London j

Comp' Mag' Jeronimus Alley Cl'ecus.
D^ E'pus monuit eum ad exhibend' D"" Cancellario ejus L'ras
Ordinum citra 24 diem Junii instan' & his LordsP ordered him
not to marry or perform any divine Office in y^ Chappell in y'
ffleet or in any place within y* Dioces untill he has exhibited
y' same.

M' Alley soon afterwards fled from y*^ s'' Prison & never exhi-
bited his orders.

Very little benefit was derived from this visitation except
the flight of Mr. Alley, who, however, left many behind in
the Fleet to supply his place.

An anonymous letter in the Bishop's Registry, written
some time between 1702 and 1714, contains some curious
particulars :
" Sir,

" I think it my Duty to God and y Queen to acquaint you
with y'' illegal practices of y* Ministers and Clark in y" Fleet Chap-
pell for marrying Clandestinely as they do som weeks fifty or sixty
couple. The Ministers that are there are as follows, M' Rob' El-
borough, he is an ancient man and is master of y* Chappie and mar-
ries but very few now without Banns or Licence, but under a
colour doth allow his Clark to do w* he pleases, his name is Barth :
Basset. There is there also one M' James Colton a Clergyman,
he lives in Leather Lane next door to y* Coach and horses, he
hath bin there these four years to marry, but no Prisoner, he
marries in Coffee-houses, in his own house, and in and about y^
Fleet gate and all y" Rules over, not excepting any part of city
and Suburbs. This Clark Basset aforesaid registers wherever
Colton marries in y* Fleet Register and gives him Certificates.
C-olton had a living in Essex till y^' Bishop of London deprived
him for this and other ill Practices. There is also one M' Nehe-
miah Rogers, he is a prisoner but goes at larg to his P. Living in
Essex, and all places else, he is a very wicked man as lives for
drinking whoring and swearing, he has struck and boxed y' bride-

groom in y' Cliapple and damned like any com'on souldier, he
marries both within and without y' Chappie like his brother Colton.
There was one Mr Alley, he was a Prisoner and y" benefit of wed-
dings, but is gone to some other preterm'. The abovesaid Basset
rents y^ sellers of y^ Fleet and pays for y* and two watchmen 100
and £20 p. ann. but he him pays but £20 per ann. for y" Clergy
pay all y" rest monthly, and if tliey do not they are threatened to
be confined or outed. This Clark hath bin sworn in D" Com-
mons not to marry any without Banns or Licence unless it be
such poor people as are recommended by y^ Justices in case of a
big belly, but have married since many hundreds as I and many
can testifie who are confined Prisoners. The chief days to marry
are Sundays Tuesdays and Saturdays, but evry day more or less.
The Clark Basset keeps a Register book, altho he told y* Bishop
of London he had none, he also antidates as he pleases as you
may see when you look over y* Registers, he hath another at his
sons, he does what he pleases and maintains a great family by
these ill practices. £200 p. ann. he hath at least. The Ministers
and Clark bribe one M' Shirley, I think him to be Collector for y^
Queen's Taxes. I hope Sir you will excuse me for concealing my
name, hoping y* you will inspect into these base practices.
For

D" Newton Chancell"'

to my Lord of London
at D" Commons
These.

Iq 1712 another act was passed (10 Ann. cap. 19-) ap-
parently for the purpose of punishing parsons who, being
already prisoners, were in the habit of performing marriages,
without fear of affecting their liberty any farther. After
reciting the loss of duties by clandestine marriages, it enacts
that such offenders should be removed to the county gaol.
Notwithstanding this additional penalty, and the conviction
in 1716 of one John Mottram for solemnizing two clandes-
tine marriages,^ tlie law failed to prevent a continuance of

'In 1717 "John Mottram, Clerk, was tryed for solemnizing clandestine and
unlawful marriages in the Fleet Prison, and of keeping fraudulent Registers,
whereby it appeai'd that he had dated several marriages seveial years before he en-
ter'd into orders, and that he kept no less than nine several Registers at different

the practice, and in 1718 a bill prepared by Mr. Brigstock
and Sir John Phillips for preventing clandestine marriages
was brought into tlie House of Commons, but dropped after
the second reading. In a hand-bill printed for distribution
about 1720, the reasons for the failure of the several acts in
preventing these marriages are described to be —

1. For that the penalty on the gaoler (which had ever

since deterred the Warden of the Fleet from suffering
any marriages there) was not extended to the owners of
taverns, alehouses, &c.

2. That the penalty on the clerk was too small and was not

extended to every person present at the marriage.

3. That the 10th Anne might be eluded by the offenders re-

moving themselves back to the Fleet by habeas corpus.

4. That every indigent clergyman that forfeits oClOO, de-

pending on the delay of a writ of error, carries on his

offences with impunity for a year and a half, in which

time his gain amounts to five times the sum of o£^100,

and then he runs away.

In 1735, another bill for preventing clandestine marriages

was introduced by Lord Gage and Mr. Pulteney, which passed

through a committee, and, with several amendments, was

agreed to by the House ; when upon the question being put,

that the Bill with the amendments be engrossed, it passed in

the negative.^

houses, which contained many scandalous frauds. It also appeared, that a marriage
was antedated because of pregnancy ; and to impose on the ignorant there was
written underneatli, this scrap of barbarous Latin, " Hi non nupti fueruut sed
obtinerunt Testimonium propter timorem parentum," meaning that tiiey vvere not
marryed but obtained this private Register for fear of their parents. It rather
appeared from evidence, that these sham marriages were solemnized in a room in
tlie Fleet they call tlie Lord Mayor's C'happel, which was furnished with chairs,
cushions, and proper conveniencies, and that a coal-heaver was generally set to ply
at the door to recommend all couples that had a mind to be marry 'd, to the Prisoner,
who would do it cheaper than any body. It farther appear'd, that one of the Regis-
ters only contained above 2200 entrys which had been made within the last year."
— Heeklij Juurnal, Feb. 13.

He was tried at (Juildiiall befoic Lord Chief Justice Parker, found guilly and
fined X'20().

' .lournals, vol. xxii. p. 676.

No other parliamentary measure was effecteil, and the prac-
tice continued to increase at the Fleet,' which was resorted
to by persons of all ranks and conditions in life, from the
nobleman to the chimney-sweeper, who desired to be married
with secrecy and despatch. It is not to be inferred that the
lower orders only resorted to the Fleet and its purlieus ;
very many of the middling classes of society, of respectability
and character, were married by Fleet parsons. Neither the
penalties of any of the before-mentioned acts, nor even ex-
communication,- had any effect in preventing these marriages,

' " From an inspection into the several registers for marriages kept at the several
alehouses, brandy shops, &c. within the Rules of the Fleet Prison, we find no less
than 32 couple joined together from Monday to Thursday last without licenses,
contrary to an express act of Parliament against Clandestine Marriages., that lays
a severe fine of £200 on the minister so offending, and £100 each on the persons
so marry'd, in contradiction to the said statute. Several of the above-mentioned
brandy men and victuallers keep clergymen in their houses at 20s. per week each,
hit or miss, but it's reported that one there will stoop to no such low conditions, but
makes at least £500 per annum of Divinity -jobs after that manner. 'Tis pleasant
to see certain fellows plying by Fleet Bridge to take poor sailors, &:c. into the noose
of matrimony, every day throughout the week, and their clocks at their offices for
that purpose still standing at the canonical hour, though perhaps the time of day
be six or seven in the afternoon." — IVeehly Journal, 1723, June 29.

" Margaret Prendergrass and Mary Henson, two Irishwomen, were convicted at
the Old Bailey Sessions for aiding and assisting one Russell an Irishman in forcibly
marrying and bedding with a young gentlewoman, the pretended maniage being
performed by a Fleet parson." — D. Post, 4 May 1728.

" We hear a person hath been committed to the Fleet Prison for lately advertizing
in the public papers, a reward of an £100 to any that should discover and prove
the supposed marriage of two persons, by reason it might be an encouragement to
subornation of perjury." — If'eekly Journal, 1720, /iug.

^ By the EcclesiasticaJ Law, all persons present at a clandestine marriage were
considered as thenceforth excommunicate. It was frequently necessary to prove
these marriages at Doctors' Commons, but the evidence of any witness present at
the ceremony was rejected until he or she had been absolved and had taken the
usual oath of absolution.

In the cause of Phillips v. Cross, Walter Wyatt (one of the most notorious of
the Fleet parsons) was offered as a witness, and was willing to take the usual oath
of a witness, but not the oath of absolution, and the Judge therefore refused him.
1754, May 24, William Faucit, Esq. John Grieison, Clerk, and William Bromley,
having incurred sentence of excommunication by having been present at a clandes-
tine marriage, were absolved. On the 28th, Susannah Faucit the wife was absolved.
(The Bishop's Assignations.)

which it was well known were valid and indissoluble, al-
though irregular.

The newspapers of the day frequently adverted to the sad
consequences of Fleet marriages, and for some years the follow-
ing paragraph appeared occasionally in the various periodicals :

" Whereas several inconsiderate and unwary persons consent
to be married at the Fleet, May Fair, and other places, by sham
licences, widiout any banns or legal authority, by which the par-
ties that think themselves properly married, are much difficulted
in the proof of their marriages and of the legitimacy of their
children — It is thought proper for the well being, peace and secu-
rity of such as intend to marry, to make it known, that, besides
the inconveniences before mentioned, there is an act of Parlia-
ment made in the 7 and 8 years of king William, cap. 35, by which
it is enacted, That every parson, vicar, &c." (here follows the
penal clause.)

In a number of the Grub Street Journal for 1735, is
a very long letter on the practices at the Fleet, which faith-
fully describes the treachery and low habits of the Fleet
parsons ; and the daily prints of that period constantly con-
tained paragraphs describing the disgraceful practices pre-
valent there.^ A walk past the Fleet Prison at that period,

' Sir — There is a very great evil in this tovt^n, and of dangerous consequence to
our sex, that has never been suppressed, to the great prejudice and ruin of many hun-
dreds of young people every year ; which I beg some of your learned heads to con-
sider of, and consult of proper ways and means to prevent for the future. I mean
the ruinous marriages that are practised in the liberty of the Fleet, and thereabouts,
by a sett of drunken swearing parsons, with their myrmidons, tliat wear black coats
and pretend to be clerks and registers to the Fleet, These ministers of wickedness
ply about Ludgate Hill pulling and forcing people to some pedling alehouse or
a brandy-shop to be married, even on a Sunday stopping them as they go to church
and almost tearing their cloaths ofl" their backs. To confirm the trutli of these facts,
I will give you a case or two whicli lately happened.

Since Midsummer last a young lady of birth and fortune was deluded and forced
from her friends, and by the assistance of a wry-necked swearing parson married
to an atheistical wretch, whose life is a continued practice of all manner of vice and
debauchery. And since the ruin of my relation, another lady of my acquaintance
had like to have been trepanned in the following manner. This lady had appointed
to meet a gentlewoman at the Old Playhouse in Drury-lane : but extraordinary bu-
siness prevented her coming. Being alone when the play was done, she bade a boy
call a coacji for the city. One dressed like a gentleman helps her into it, and

would appear to resemble a walk through Rag Fair at the
present day.

jumps in after her. " Madam," says he, " this coach was called for me, ami since

the weather is so bad and there is no -other, I beg leave to bear you company : 1 am

going into the city and will set you down wherever you please." The lady begged

to be excused ; but he bade the coachman drive on. lieing come to Lud^atc Hill,

he told her his sister who waited his coming, but five doors up the court, would go

with her in two minutes. He went, and returned with his pretended sister, who

asked her to step in one minute, and she would wait upon her in the coach. Deluded

with the assurance of having his sister's company, the poor lady foolishly followed

her into the house, when instantly the sister vanished ; and a tawny fellow in a

black coat and black wig appeared. " Madam, you are come in good time, the

Doctor was just a-going!" " The Doctor;" says she, horribly frighted, fearing it

was a madhouse : " What has the Doctor to do with me V " To marry you to that

gentleman : the Doctor has waited for you these three hours, and will be payed by

you or that gentleman before you go !" " That gentleman !" says she, recovering

herself, " is worthy a better fortune than mine," and begged hard to be gone. But

Doctor Wryneck swore she should be married ; or, if she would not, he would still

have his fee, and register the marriage from that night. The lady finding she could

not escape without money or a pledge, told them she liked the gentleman so well,

she would certainly meet him to-morrow night, and gave them a ring as a pledge :

which, says she, " was my mother's gift on her death-bed, injolning that, if ever I

married, it should be my wedding-ring." By which cunning contrivance she was

delivered from the black Doctor and his tawny crew. Some time after this I went

with this lady and her brother in a coach to Ludgate Hill in the day time, to see

the manner of their picking up people to be married. As soon as our coach stopt

near Fleet Bridge, up comesone of themyrmidons. " Madam," says he, "you want

a parson !" " Who are you V says I. " 1 am the clerk and register of the Fleet."

" Show me the chapel." At which comes a second, desiring me to go along with him-

Says he, " That fellow will carry you to a pedling alehoiise." Says a third, " Go

with me, he will carry you to a brandy-shop." In the interim comes the Doctor :

" Madam," says he, " I'll do your jobb for you presently !" " Well, gentlemen,"

says I, " since you can't agree, and I can't be married quietly, I'll put it off 'till

another time:" so drove away. Learned Sirs, I wrote this in regard to the honour

and safety of my own sex : and if for our sakes you will be so good as to publish

it, correcting the errors of a woman's pen, you will oblige our whole sex, and none

more than, Sir,

Your constant reader and admirer,

January I5th, 1734-5. Virtuous.

From the Grub Street Journal.

" The clergymen who perform marriages within the Rules of the Fleet Prison, are
under prosecution at the suit of the Crown, for not giving their certificates upon
stamp paper, pursuant to the statute in that case made and provided." — Grub
Street Journal, 1 August 1730.

" We hear the frequent clandestine marriages at the Fleet have given such dis-
trust that henceforth special licences will be granted to Commoners, whicli were

The marriage at the Fleet of the Hon. Henry Fox' with
Georgiana Caroline, eldest daughter of Charles second
Duke of Richmond, was in 1744 a subject of general
conversation; but it was not until 1753 that the law of
marriage was taken up with effect, when Lord Hard-
wicke brought in a Bill, (26 Geo. II. c. 33.) enacting that
any person solemnizing matrimony in any other than a
church or public chapel without banns or licence, should on
conviction be adjudged guilt tj of feloni/, and be transported
for fourteen years, and that all such marriages should be void.

Such an impediment to matrimony, which theretofore had
been validly contracted without even the presence of a cler-
gyman— such " an imiovation (to use the words of Black-
stone) upon our ancient Laws and Constitution,'''' could not
be expected to pass into a law without a violent opposition.
Mr. Fox's popularity was arrived at such a height from his
strenuous opposition to the Bill, that for several days his
chariot was dragged along the streets by the populace.^
Handbills (pro and con) were distributed ; those in favour of
the Bill urging that clandestine marriages had been the ruin
of many families, that the religious establishment of marriage

formerly allowed only to the nobility, to put a stop for the future to all scandalous
practices of that kind." — Daily Post, 15 April 1737.

" A gentleman near the middle of the Strand died last week possessed of a con-
siderable fortune, wliich he bequeathed into the hands of trustees to his wife, but
with this exception, that in case she married an Irishman, the trustees were to pay
her £10 10s. for a Fleet marriage, a dinner, a ring, &c., the remainder, which is
about 8000L to devolve to his nephew." — Daily Post, 1742.

In Pennant's History of London, 4to. 1791, 224, tlie author says of the Fleet,
" In walking along the street in my youth on the side next to this Prison, 1 have
often been tempted by the question, Sir, will you he pleased to walk in and be mar-
ried ? Along this most lawless space was hung up the frequent sign of a male and
female hand conjoined, with ' Marriages performed ivilhin' written beneath. A
dirty fellow invited you in. The parson was seen walking before his shop ; a squalid
prufligate figure, clad in a tattered plaid night-gown, witii a fiery face, and ready to
couple you for a dram of gin or roll of tobacco."

' He was second son of Sir Stephen Fox, and born 1705. Having been appointed
Surveyor of the Board of Works 1737 ; a Commissioner of the Treasury 1743 ; Se-
cretary at War, 1746 ; Secretary of Slate, 1755 ; he was at length created a Peer
in 17(i3 by the title of Haron Holland of FoxJey, county \\'ilts. She was born
March 1723, and created Ijaroncss Holland in 1762.

' Wilkinson's Memoirs.

Avas entirely subvertfcl, and the legal evidence ihereuf ren-
dered precarious ; while the others contended that the Bill
would discourage marriage, that it was brought in for the
protection of the fortunes of the noble and rich against alli-
ances with persons in more humble circumstances, and ad-
verted amongst other things to the Council of Trent as
having first annulled clandestine marriages^ and made the
presence of a priest necessary to every marriage, and that it
was after " that excellent precedent'''' that the Bill in question
was drawn.

Notwithstanding the zealous opposition- to the Bill, it

' This by the by was not so. " Dubitandum non est clandeslina malrimonia
libero contrahentium consensu facta rata et vera esse matrimonia. • * * Perinde
jure damnandi sunt, sicut et eos Sancta Synodus anathemate damnat, qui ea vei-a et
rata esse negant." — Con. Trid. De Matrimonio, Cap. I.

* In the correspondence of the Hon. Horace Walpole, M. P. for Castlerising,
(afterwards Earl of Oiford,) there are two letters in which the subject of this Bill
is mentioned ; and from which the following extracts are made. The first is a letter
dated Strawberry Hill, May 22, 1753, addressed to George Montagu, Esq-

" News, there is none to tell you. We liave had two days in the House of Com-
mons, that had something of the air of parliament ; there has been a marriage-bill,
invented by my Lord Bath, and cooked up by the Chancellor, which was warmly
opposed by the Duke of Bedford in the Lords, and with us by Fox and Nugent :
the latter made an admirable speech last week against it, and Charles Townshend
another very good one yesterday, when we sat till near ten o'clock, but were beat,'
We in minority, by 165 to 84." — See Correspondence, Vol. L 284.

The second is in a letter to the Hon. Henry Seymour Conway. Henry Seymour
Conway married, 1747, Caroline Campbell, only daughter of John fourth Duke of
Argyle, relict of Charles Bruce first Earl of Aylesbury.

" It is well you are married. How would my Lady Ailesbury have liked to be
asked in a parish church, for three Sundays running 1 I really believe she would
have worn her weeds for ever, rather than have passed through so impulent a cere-
mony ! What do you think 1 But you will want to know the interpretation of this
preamble. W'hy, there is a new Bill, which, under the notion of preventing clan-
destine marriages, has made such a general rummage and reform in the office of
matrimony, that every Strephon and Chloe every Dowager and her H***, will
have as many impediments and formalities to undergo as a treaty of peace. Lord
Bath invented this Bill, but had drawn it so ill, that the Chancellor^ was forced
to draw a new one ; and then grew so fond of his own creature, that he has cram-
med it down the throats of both Houses, though they gave many a gulp, before
they could swallow it. The Duke of Bedford attacked it first with great spirit and
mastery, but had little support, though the Duke of Newcastle did not vote.

"The lawyers were all ordered to nurse it through our House; but except the
■* Lord Hardwicke.
C

eventually passed into a law, and was to take effect from the
25tli of March 1754'. Mr. Fox is represented to have held

poor Attorney-General,' (who is nurse indeed, to all intents and purposes,
and did amply gossip over it,) not one of thera said a word. Nugent shone ex-
tremely in opposition to the Bill, and though every now and then on the pre-
cipice of absurdity, kept clear of it with great humour and wit and argument, and
was unanswered. Yet we were beat. Last Monday it came into the committee,
Charles Townshend acted a very good speech, with great cleverness, and drew a
picture of liis own story, and his father's tyranny, with at least as much parts as
modesty. Mr. Fox mumbled the Chancellor and his lawyers, and pinned the plan
of the Bill upon a pamphlet he had found of Dr. G ally's, where the Doctor, re-
commending the French scheme of matrimony, says, ' It was found that fathers
were too apt to forgive.' — ' The Gospel, I thought,' said Mr. Fox, ' enjoined
forgiveness, but pious Dr. Gaily thinks ' fathers are too apt to forgive.' Mr.
Pelliam, extremely in his opinion against the liill, and in his inclination too, was
forced to rivet it ; and, without speaking one word for it, taught the House to vole
foi it, and it was carried against the chairman's leaving the chair, by 165 to 84.
This is all the news I know, or at least was all when I came out of town ; for
I left the tinkering of the Bill, and came hither last Tuesday to my workmen."
—(24 May 1753.)

" May 29.

" 1 am come to town for a day or two, and find that the RIarriage Bill has

not only lasted till now in the Committee, but has produced, or at least disclosed

extreme heats. Mr. Fox and Mr. Pelham have had very high word on every clause,

and the former has renewed his attacks on the Chancellor under the name of Dr.

Gaily The Speaker, who had spoken well against the clause, was so mis-'

represented by the Attorney-General, that there was danger of a Skimmington be-
tween the great wig and the coif, the former having given a flat lie to the latter."

There is another letter to George Montagu, Esq. dated June 11, in which Horace
Walpole says :

" The Commons abuse the Barons, and the Barons return'd it; in short, Mr.
Fox attacked the Chancellor violently on the Marriage Bill, and when it was sent
back to the Lords, the Chancellor made the most outrageous invective on Fox that
ever was heard. But what offends still more, I don't mean oflends Fox more, was
the Chancellor describing the chief persons who had opposed his Bill in the Com-
mons, and giving reasons why he excused them. As the Speaker was in the number
of the excused, the two maces are ready to come to blows. The town says, that
Mr. Fox is to be dismissed, but 1 can scarce think it will go so far.''

Ill the additional letters of Horace \\'alpole, recently published under the editor-
ship of the late lamented Loid Dover, (Vol. 111. p. 94, 8vo. Bentley. 1833,) the
following remarks occur in a letter addressed to Horace, afterwards Sir Horace
Mann, dated Strawberry Hill, June 12, 1753 :

" A Bill to prevent clandestine marriages,' so drawn by the judges as to clog all

Sir Dudley Ryder.

The noble editor has appended to this passage a note stating that this Bill con-

Lip the Bill with all the additions, alterations, and erasures
it had sustained, and, to the infinite amusement of the
House, to have pronounced a parody on Anthony's oration
over the mangled body of Caesar. It appears that tlie
amendments and alterations that had been made in the Bill
by the opposition, were designed to defeat its adoption,
when returned to the Lords ; their object, however, failed,
as the Lords, in order to out-manoeuvre the tactics of the
opposition in the Lower House, consented to pass the Bill,
even though it appeared before them like Banquo's ghost,
with twenty mortal murders on its head.^

The interval between the passing of the Bill and the time at
which it was to come into operation, was busily employed in
marrying both at the Fleet" and May Fair, (another noted

matrimony in general, was inadvertently espoused by the Chancellor, and havino
been strongly attacked in the House of Commons by Nugent, the Speaker, Mr.
Fox, and others, the last went very great lengths of severity on the whole body of
the law, and on its chieftain in particular, which, however, at the last reading, lie
softened and explained off extremely. This did not appease ; but on the return of
the liill to the House of Lords, where our amendments were to be read, the Chan-
cellor in the most personal terms harangued against Fox, and concluded with say-
ing, that ' he despised his scurrility as much as his adulation and recantation.' "

Horatio Walpole, son of Sir Edward VValpole, K. B., and brother of Robert
the father of Sir Robert Walpole, K. G. first Earl of Orford, and great uncle to
Horace Walpole the writer of these letters, was married at St. James Duke's Place,
26 March l(j91, to Anne daughter of Thomas Duke of Leeds, the relict of Robert
Coke of Holkham, in the county of Norfolk, Esq. — For an account of the marriat^es
solemnized at Duke's Place, see p. 4.

The history of the Marriage Act and tlie discussions to which it gave rise, are but
very imperfectly preserved. The best is that wliich Lord Orford has given in his
" Memoires of the last Ten Years of the reign of George the Second," and is printed
at length at the end of this chapter, from its immediate connection with the subject
here treated of : and it is more likely to become accessible in this little volume,
than in the ponderous quartos in which Mr. Murray has presented it to the public.

' Debrett, vol. iii. p. 180.

' This gave rise to the following satiiical paragraph in the Daily Advertiser of
21 Oct. 1753 :

tinued " in force till some years ago, and until the injustice of its provisions, and
tlie grievances resulting from them, became too great to be borne." It may be
inferred from this observation, that Lord Hardwicke's Act has been repealed, which
is not the case ; that act remains in full force.

c 2

place for marriages.) At the Fleet tliere appears by one
register book alone to have been on the 25th of March (the
day previous to the Act coming into operation) 217 n)ar-
riages ; wliich were the last of the Fleet Weddings}

" Whereas there will shortly be an end put to the marriages of the Fleet, this is

to infonn the public that Mr. late ticket-porter on Snow Hill, has undertaken

to marry and unmarry on very reasonable terms, so that all persons so inclined, for

farther satisfaction are desired to apply to at his office in Turn-again Lane,

Snow Hill, where constant attendance is given from one in the afternoon till six. —
Note, as 'tis presumed the applications will be made more by the married than the
unmarried, those parties are required to bring their certificates."

The following propositions upon the subject of marriage, which appeared in the
Grub Street Journal in the year 1733, were copied into the Scot's Magazine on the
agitation of the question in 1753 :

" Clauses proposed to be added to the late Act against Clandestine Marriages.

" When two young thoughtless fools, having no visible way to maintain them-
selves, nor any thing to begin the world with, resolve to marry and be -miserable :
let it be deemed petty larceny.

" If a younger brother marries an old woman purely for the sake of a mainte-
nance ; let it be called self-preservation.

" When a rich old fellow marries a young wench in her full bloom, it shall be
death without henejit of clergy.

" When two old creatures that can hardly hear one another speak, and cannot
propose the least comfort to themselves in the thing, yet marry together to be mise-
rable, they shall be deemed ?ion compos, and sent to a mad-house.

" When a lady marries her servant, or a gentleman his cook-maid (especially
if there are children by a former marriage), they both shall be transported for
fourteen years.

" When a man has had one bad wife and buried her, and yet will marry a second,
it shall be deemed /e/o de se, and he shall be buried in the highway accordingly.

" And when a man or woman marries to the disinheriting of their children, let
them suffer as in cases of High Treason."

' At the Savoy, however, clandestine marriages were continued till 1756, but
eventually ceased upon the conviction and transportation of the minister, Mr.
Wilkinson, and his curate, Mr. Grierson. I have a scarce etching of " The Rev.
Mr. Grierson, who was transported for marrying at the Savoy, contrary to Act of
Parliament, 1756." INIr. Wilkinson was the father of Tate Wilkinson the come-
dian, (See his Memoirs, 4 vols. 8vo. 1790)

A method of evading the enactments of the Marriage Act was soon discovered, for
in 1760 there were " at Southampton, vessels always ready to carry on the trade of
smucrgling weddings, which for the price of five guineas transport contraband goods
into the land of matrimony," (Guernsey.) — Gent. Mng. 1760, p. 30. In ]5athurst
and INlurray (8 Vesey, 74) the \\ ard of Court was taken to Guernsey to be married.
And we have still a species of Fleet parson left in the person of the Rev. David
Lavg, of Gretna Green, where clandestine weddings may still be solemnized, but
not at so small a charge !»s the cheap weddings of the Fleet.

On the subject of tliis act, Blackstone says, " Much may
be, and much has been said, both for and against this inno-
vation upon our antient laws and constitution. On the one
hand it prevents the clandestine marriages of minors, which
are often a terrible inconvenience to those private families
wherein they happen. On the other hand, restraints upon
marriages, especially among the lower class, are evidently
detrimental to the public, by hindering the increase of the
people; and to religion and morality, by encouraging licen-
tiousness and debauchery among the single of both sexes ;
and thereby destroying one end of society and government,
which is concuhitu prohibere vago. And of this last incon-
venience the Roman laws were so sensible, that at the same
time that the}^ forbad marriage without the consent of pa-
rents or guardians, they were less rigorous upon that very
account with regard to other restraints ; for, if a parent did
not provide a husband for his daughter by the time she
arrived at the age of twenty -five, and she afterwards made a
slip in her conduct, he was not allowed to disinherit her
upon that account ; (juia non sua culpa, sed parentum, id
commisisse cos^noscitur.'''"^

There have been several attempts in the House of Com-
mons to repeal Lord Hardwicke's Act : the first was in 1765,
when a Bill was introduced for its repeal, and also " to re-
move all doubts which may have arisen or may arise concern-
ing the validity of certain marriages solemnized since the
making of the said act, and for the regulating registers and
for preserving the evidence of pedigrees," which appears to
have passed and been sent up to the House of Lord?, who
never returned it.- In 1772 a second attempt was made — on
the 7th of April in that year, a motion was made that The
Marriage Act be read, which being done, a motion was then
made for leave to bring in a Bill to amend the said Act, which
was carried by a majority of one, the numbers being for leave
62, against 61. The Bill was accordingly brought in and passed
throuo-h a Committee, where it was amended, and on the 19th

' Commentaries, vol. i. p. 438. ' Journals, vol. 30. p. 104.

of May following, reported to the House and agreed to, but
on tlie question being put that the Bill be engrossed, it passed
in the negative, the numbers on a division being 34 for, and
92 against it.^ A third but unsuccessful attempt was made in
1781, when a Bill was brought in to amend it in the follow-
ing particulars :

" To repeal the clause requiring publication of banns.

" To repeal the clause enacting that no licence shall be
granted to marry in any other church, &c. than where one of
the parties lived.

" To repeal the clause enacting that all marriages so-
lemnized without publication of banns, or licence, should
be void.

" To make valid all marriages of English persons in
Scotland.

" To make void all marriages solemnized in any place not
being a parish church or chapel, (except by special licence.")
Journals of the House of Commons.

The Earl of Orford's account of the introduction of
the Marriage Bill, and the discussions which took place in
Parliament, extracted from his " Memoires of the last Ten
Years of the Reign of George the Second." — 2 vols. 4to.
Murray, 1822.

" The session of parliament was languishing towards a conclu-
sion, when a Bill sent down from the Lords to the Commons, and
which had passed almost without notice through the former House,
having heen carried by an hundred Lords against the Duke of
Bedford and eleven others, raised, or gave occasion to raise, ex-
traordinary heats. This was the famous Marriage Bill ; an act of
such notoriety, and on which so very much was said at the time,
and on which so much has been written since, that it would be
almost impossible, at least very wearisome, to particularize the de-
bates, and very unnecessary to enter much into the state of the
question. Some of the most particular passages, such as tend to

.'ouinals. ]). ()71 ami 67;5.

illustrate or explain the characters, the politics, and the factions of
the time, I shall, according to my custom, succinctly touch.

" The Bill had been originally moved by my Lord Bath, who
attending a Scotch cause, was struck with the hardship of a ma-
trimonial case, in which a man, after a marriage of thirty years,
was claimed by another woman on a praecontract. The judges
were ordered to frame a bill which should remedy so cruel a re-
trospect. They did ; but drew it so ill, and it was three times
printed so inaccurately, that the Chancellor was obliged to give it
ample correction. Whether from mere partiality to an ordinance
thus become his own, or whether in shaping a law, new views of
power opened to a mind fond of power, fond of dictating; so it
was that the Chancellor gave all his attention to a statute into
which he had breathed the very spirit of aristocracy and insolent
nobility. It was amazing, in a country where liberty gives choice,
where trade and money confer equality, and where facility of
marriage had alwaj's been supposed to produce populousness, it
was amazing to see a law promulged, that cramped inclination, that
discountenanced matrimony, and that seemed to annex as sacred
privileges to birth, as could be devised in the proudest, poorest
little Italian principality ; and as if the artificer had been a Teu-
tonic Margrave, not a little lawyer, who had raised himself by his
industry from the very lees of the people ; and who had matched
his own blood with the great house of Ke/it ! The abuse of prae-
contracts had occasioned the demand of a remedy — the physician
immediately prescribes rnedicines for every ailment to which the
ceremony of marriage was or could be supposed liable ! Publica-
tion of Banns was already an established ordinance, but totally in
disuse except amongst the inferior people, who did not blush to
obey the law. Persons of quality, who proclaimed every other
step of their conjugation by the most public parade, were ashamed
to have the intention of it notified, and were constantly married
by special licence. Unsuitable matches in a country where the
passions are not impetuous, and where it is neither easy nor cus-
tomary to tyrannize the inclinations of children, were by no means
frequent : the most disproportioned alliances, those contracted by
age, by dowagers, were without the scope of this Bill. Yet the new
Act set out with a falsehood, declaiming against clandestine mar-
riages, as if they had been a frequent evil. The greatest abuse
were the temporary weddings clapped up in the Fleet, and by one

Keith, who had constructed a very bishoprick for revenue in May
Fair, by performing that charitable function for a trifling sum,
which the poor successors of the Apostles are seldom humble
enough to perform out of duty. The new Bill enjoined indispens-
able publication of Banns, yet took away their validity, if parents,
nay, if even guardians, signified their dissent, where the parties
should be under age — a very novel power ! — but gua'-dians are a
limb of Chancery ! The Archbishop's licence was indeed reserved
to him. A more arbitrary spirit was still behind : persons solem-
nizing marriages, without these previous steps, were sentenced to
transportation, and the marriage was to be effectually null — so
close did congenial law clip the wings of the prostrate priesthood !
And as if such rigour did not sufficiently describe its fountain and
its destination, it was expressly specified, that where a mother
or a guardian should be non co^npos, resort might be had to the
Chancellor himself for licence. Contracts and prsecontracts, other
flowers of ecclesiastical prerogative, were to be totally invalid, and
their obligations abolished : and the gentle institution was wound
up with the penalty of death for all forgeries in breach of this
statute of modern Draco. Quakers, Jews, and the royal family
had the only toleration.

" May 14th. — The Bill came down to the Commons. Nugent
took it to pieces severely and sensibly, pointed out the impropriety
of it in a commercial nation, and the illnature and partiality of the
restrictions. He showed himself a great master of political dis-
quisitions, and it seemed that a desire of displaying that learning
was the sole cause of any opposition to the Bill. This was all
that passed material the first day, and the Bill was read on a ma-
jority of 116 to 55.

"21st. — A second adversary appeared against the Bill. This
was Charles Townshend, second son of my Lord Townshend, a
young man of unbounded ambition, of exceeding application, and,
as it now appeared, of abilities capable of satisfying that ambition,
and of not wanting that application : yet to such parts and such
industry he was fond of associating all the little arts and falsehood
that always depreciate, though so often thought necessary by, a
genius. He had been an early favourite of Lord Halifax, and had
alieady distinguished himself on affairs of trade, and in drawing
plans and papers for that province ; but not rising in proportion to
his ambition, he comlortcd himself with employing as many stra-

tagems, as had ever been imputed to the most successful states-
men. His figure was tall and advantageous, his action vehement,
his voice loud, his laugh louder. He had art enough to disguise
any thing but his vanity. He spoke long and with much wit, and
drew a picture, with much humour at least, if not with much
humility, of himself and of his own situation, as the younger son
oC a capricious father, who had already debarred him from an ad-
vantageous match : ' were new shackles to be forged to keep
young men of abilities from mounting to a level with their elder
brothers ?' Nugent had not shone with more parts the preceding
day; Nugent on no day discovered less modesty. What will be
their fates I know not ; but this Mr. Townshend and Mr. Conway
seemed marked by nature for leaders, perhaps for rivals in the
government of their country. The quickness of genius is emi-
nently with the first, and a superiority of application: the propriety
and amiableness of character with the latter. One grasps at for-
tune ; the other only seems pleased to accept fortune when it ad-
vances to him. The one foresees himself equal to every thing;
the other finds himself so, whenever he essays. Charles Towns-
hend seems to have no passion but ambition ; Harry Conway not
even to have that. The one is impetuous and unsteady; the other
cool and determined. Conway is indolent, but can be assiduous;
Charles Townshend can only be indefatigable. The latter would
govern mankind for his own sake ; the former for theirs.

" The speeches hitherto had only been flourishes in the air:
at last the real enemy came forth, Mr. Fox ; who neither spared
the Bill nor the author of it, as wherever he laid his finger, it was
not wont to be light. He was supported by Fazakerley and Sir
William Yonge. Mr. Pelham, the Attorney and Solicitor, Lord
Hilsborough, Hampden, and Lord Egmont supported the Bill, and
it was carried that day by 165 to 84.

" On the :23rd and 25th, the house sat late each day on the Bill,
Mr. Fox attacking and Mr. Pelham defending with eager peevish-
ness. The former repeated his censures on the Chancellor, which
old Horace Walpole reproved; Nugent was absurd; and the mea-
sure growing ministerial, the numbers against the Bill diminished.

"28th. —The Committee sat till half an hour past three in the
morning on the clause for annulling marriages that should be con-
tracted contrary to the inhibitions in the Bill. The churchmen
acquiesced in the legislature's assuming this power in spirituals;

as they had done in the single case of" the young king's marriage
ill the Regency Bill : but however commendable the moderation
of the clergy might be ; the pontific power arrogated by the head
of the law, and his obstinate persisting to enforce a statute, by no
means calculated or called for by general utility, was most in-
decent. The Speaker argued with great weight against the clause ;
Wilbraham, well for it. Mr. Fox at one in the morning spoke
against it for above an hour, and laid open the chicanery and
jargon of the lawyers, the pride of their Mufti, and the arbitrary
manner of enforcing the Bill. A motion for adjournment was
moved, but was rejected by above 80 to 40 odd.

"30th. — The Committee went upon the clause that gave unheard-
of power, in the first resort to parents and guardians, and then to
the chancery, on the marriages of minors. Fox spoke with increas-
ing spirit against this clause too ; and on Wilbraham's having said,
if you have a sore leg, will you not try gentle remedies first ? he
drew a most severe picture of the Chancellor, under the applica-
tion of the story of a gentlewoman at Salisbury, who having a sore
leg, sent for a country surgeon, who pronounced it must be cut
off. The gentlewoman, unwilling to submit to the operation, sent
for another, more merciful, who said he could save her leg, with-
out the least operation. The surgeons conferred: the ignorant
one said, ' 1 know it might be saved, but I have given my opinion ;
my character depends upon it, and we nmst carry it through' — the
leg was cut off. Charles Yorke, the Chancellor's son, took this
up with great anger, and yet with preciseness, beginning with
these words, ' It is new in parliament, it is new in politics, it is
new in ambition ;' and drew a lofty character of his father, and of
the height to which he had raised himself by his merit; conclud-
ing with telling Fox, how imprudent it was to attack such autho-
rity, and assuring him that he would feel it. Mr. Fox replied with
repeating the sententious words; 'Is it new in parliament to be
conscientious? 1 hope not! is it new in politics? I am afraid it
is ! is it new in ambition ? it certainly is, to attack such authori-
ty!' Mr. Pelham answered him well. Mr. Fox once more replied,
urging how cruel and absurd it was to force the Bill down : that
he knew he should not be heard by above one third of the house,
but would speak so loud, that he would be heard out of the house.
That from the beginning to the end of the Bill, one only view had
predominated, that of pride and aristocracy. There was much of

truth in this. At the very beginning, on the Duke of Newcastle's
dechning to vote in the Bill, the Chancellor told Mr. Pelhani, ' I
will be supported in this, or I never will speak for you again.' As
the opposition had at that time been inconsiderable, this breathed
a little more than a mere spirit of obstinacy, and foretold a Bill to
be framed not without an interested meaning : at least a legislator
is uncommonly zealous for the public good, who forgets the phi-
losophy of his character to drive on his honest ordinances by
political menaces !

" The next day the Committee finished without a division. Sir
Richard Lloyd, a lawyer, who had spoken against the Bill, voted
for it afterwards, without assigning any reasons for his change of
opinion. Captain Saunders, who had said that he would go and
vote against the Bill, for the sake of the sailors, having once given
forty of his crew leave to go on shore for an hour, and all returned
married, was compelled by Lord Anson, the Chancellor's son-in-
law and his patron, to vote for it. Henley and the Solicitor-
General declaring of the same words, the one, that they could not
be made clearer ; the other, that they were as clear as the sun at
noon day, though each gave a totally different interpretation of
them, were well ridiculed by Fox ; as a serious speech of Lord
Egmont was with much humour, and not a little indecence, by
Nugent.

" June L — The report was made of the Bill, and the house sat
till ten. On one clause only there was a division of 102 to 20.

" 2nd. — A new anti-ministerial paper appeared, called the Pro-
tester, supported at the expense of the Duke of Bedford and
Beckford, and written by Ralph, a dull author, originally a poet,
and satirized in the Dunciad : retained, after his pen had been re-
jected by Sir Robert Walpole, by Doddington and Waller ; but
much fitter to range the obscure ideas of the latter, than to dress
up the wit of the former : from them, he devolved to the Prince
of Wales in his second opposition, and laboured long in a paper
called the Remembrancer, which was more than once embolden-
ed, above the undertaker's pitch, by Lord Egmont and others.
Ralph's own turn seemed to be endeavouring to raise mobs by
speculative ideas of government; from whence his judgment at
least may be calculated. But he had the good fortune to be
bought off from his last journal, the Protestor, for the only paper
that he did not write in it.

" 4tl). — The Marriage Bill was read tor the last time. Charles
Townshend again opposed it with as much argument as before
with wit. Mr. Fox, with still more wit, ridiculed it for an hour
and half. Notwithstanding the Chancellor's obstinacy in maintain-
ing it, and the care he had bestowed upon it, it was still so incor-
rect and so rigorous, that its very bodyguards had been forced to
make or to submit to many amendments : these were inserted in
Mr. Fox's copy in red ink : the Solicitor-General, who sat near him
as he was speaking, said, ' How bloody it looks !' Fox took this
up with spirit, and said, ' Yes, but you cannot say I did it; look
ichat a rent the learned Casca. made, (this alluded to the Attorney,)
through this the well-beloved JBrutus stabbed T (Mr. Pelham) — How-
ever, he finished with earnest declarations of not having designed
to abuse the Chancellor, and with affirming that it was scandalous
to pass the Bill, — but it was passed by 125 votes to 56.

" 6th. — The Bill being returned to the Lords, the amendments
were read. The Duke of Bedford, who began to attack the whole
Bill, vvas obstructed by the Chancellor, who would have confined him
to the mere amendments : but the Duke appecvling to the House
whether he might not argue against the face of the whole Bill as
it now stood, the Chancellor seemed to acquiesce ; but the Duke,
not finding any disposition to support him, soon dropped the cause;
objecting chiefly to the last clause on not extending the Act to
foreign countries. The Chancellor replied, that he was sorry the
clause was there ; but the Bill was too good to be lost, and might
have much good engrafted on it hereafter.^ Lord Sandys de-
clared that he would agree to all the amendments made by the
House of Commons, against any that should be offered by any
body else. An absurd declaration, founded on the design of pro-
roguing the Parliament on the morrow, which would leave no time
for returning the Bill to the Conmions ; and a plain indication of
the indigested maimer in which a law of such importance was
hurried on. On its being urged that several women could not
write, the Bishop of Oxford, with a sophistry that would have dis-
tinguished h m in any church, replied, that the clergyman might
write to himself, and give it to the woman, and she to him again,
for that the Bill did not say, that when she gave her consent in
writing, it must be of her own writing ! Lord Bath said, the op-

' Yet no amendment was ever made in it, and all its clauses and faults sup-
ported by the utmost rigour ot tlic power of C1ihu( cry.

position had proceeded from faction and party. The Duke of
Bedford replied, that his opposition had arisen from conscience,
that he had not troubled himself about what the House of Com-
mons did ; yet he had perceived that the Bill had been crammed
down both Houses.

'• At last rose the Chancellor — not, as he has been represented '
in the figure of pitb/ic Wisdom speaking, but with all the acrimony
of wounded pride, of detected ambition, and insolent authorit}'.
He read his speech ; not that he had written it to guard himself
from indecency ; or that he had feared to forget his thread of ar-
gument in the heat of personality : he did not deign an argument,
he did not attempt to defend a Bill so criticized. He seemed only
to have methodized his malice, and noted down the passages where
he was to resent, where to threaten. He introduced himself with
just allowing conscience and candour to the Duke of Bedford ; but
what he had to complain of had passed without those walls, and in
another place. That, as to the young man, (Charles Townshend,)
youth and parts require beauty and riches, flesh and blood inspire
such thoughts, and therefore he excused him — but men of riper
years and graver had opposed; that the first, (the Speaker,) was
a good, well-meaning man, but had been abused by words — that
another (Fox,) dark, gloomy, and insidious genius, who was an
engine of personality and faction, had been making connexions,
and trying to form a party, but his designs had been seen through
and defeated. That in this country you must govern by force or
by law ; it was easy to know that person's principles, which were
to govern by arbitrary force. That the King speaks through the
Seals, and is represented by the Chancellor and the Judges in the
Courts, where the Majesty of the King resides; that such attacks
on the Chancellor and the law was flying in the face of the King;
that this behaviour was not liked ; that it had been taken up with
dignity,^ and that the incendiary had been properly reproved ; that
this was not the way to popularity or favour ; and that he could
take upon him to say, that person knows so by this time ; a beam
of light had broken in upon him ; but, (concluded he,) * I despise
his scurrility, as much as his adulation and retractation.' This
Philippic over, the Bill passed. Lord Granville, who had threatened
to oppose it, did not attend.

' An expressiou of Lord Lyttelton on Lord Hardwicke.
" Meaning by his son Charles Yorke.

" The prorogation of parliament prevented any farther open war.
Mr. Fox seemed wantonly and unnecessarily to have insulted the
Chancellor, and had even manifested some fear at having done so.
Indeed, he who had alwaj's been rash and resolute, now first dis-
covered some symptoms of irresolution ; and the time advanced
but too fast, when the provocation offered to Yorke, and the sus-
picion of his want of a determined spirit, were of essential detri-
ment to him. He could not but feel the Chancellor's haughty
scorn of the atonement he had offered ; yet, though he let slip
both sentences of resentment and indications of an ambition that
began to aspire higher, he soon yielded to a silent pacification.
Mr. Pelham affected to be rather ignorant of the heights to which
the rupture had openly been carried, and on the King's being told
that Mr. Fox's behaviour had been concerted with the Duke of Bed-
ford, Mr. Pelham protested to Fox, that he had assured the King
that the latter, on some proposal of union about elections from that
Duke, had refused any such connection while he should remain in
the King's service. For the storm between Fox and the Chan-
cellor, Mr. Pelham said it would blow over. ' Yet neither of
you,' said he to the former, will forgive.' Mr. Fox in return, who
gave no credit to this affected candour, reproached him in strong
terms with the Chancellor's (and, by necessary implication, with
the Duke of Newcastle's) treachery to Sir Robert Walpole. The
Duke's conversation on this occasion with Mr. Fox was remark-
able. ' The Chancellor meaned me,' said he, 'by arbitrary force.'
Mr. Fox thought not. ' Why,' said the Duke, ' do you think that
he imagines j'ou would govern by an army without me ?' ' Sir,'
said Fox, 'how will the King act on what has happened?' * The
King,' replied the Duke, ' would part with you, or even w ith me,
to satisfy them ; but if you can maintain yourself for six months,
he will like you the better for what has passed, for he thinks
you a man, and he knows none of the rest have the spirit of a
mouse.' Mr. Fox said, ' If they turn me out, I shall not acquit
Mr. Pelham, nor shall I spare him. Let him raise up Murray ;
Mr. Pelham knows he has betrayed him, but is willing to forget it.
I know he fears me still more ; he has often told me I w^as like
Mr. Pultney. It may be vanity, but if I am stronger than Murray,
I am ten times stronger than Mr. Pelham.' ' Mr. Pelham,' re-
plied the Duke, ' has neither candour, honour, nor sincerity. Fox,
how do you think I have been entertaining myself this morn-

ing? It was poor pleasure, but I had no better. The Duke of
Neweastle asked me how I would have the warrant for Cranborn'
drawn. I thanked him, but heard Mr. Pelham was uneasy that I
had not thanked him; so to-day I met them together, and thanked
the Duke of Newcastle again, and only asked t'other when he
went to Esher.' The Duke concluded with advising Fox to speak to
the King, and not let him brood on it. ' He will talk on the Bill,'
said the Duke, ' let him : and you, who could not be convinced in
the house, be convinced by him.' The King was civil to Fox at his
next levee : afterwards in his closet, Mr. Fox beginning to say,
' Sir, last Wednesday the Chancellor — .' The King interrupted,
' Oh ! sir, I believe you had given him cause ; it is now pretty
even !' Mr. Fox said, ' Sir, I shall only beg to be heard as to
there being any faction or intrigue in my behaviour : I give you
my honour it is not true.' ' The moment you give me your honour,'
replied the King, ' 1 believe you ; but I must tell you, as I am
no lyar, that you have been much suspected.' He then repeated
to him accusations of such low cabalings, of balls given at Holland
House to the Duchess of Bedford, to which Mr. Pelham's daugh-
ters had not been invited, of persons who were disagreeable to the
Pelhams being invited ; in short, accusations of such feminine
and peevish trifles, that if Mr. Pelham was not the whisperer of
them, and the Chancellor was, the latter had certainly very tender
sensations, when they could extend themselves to the dancing
disgusts of his friend's wife and daughters ! Mr. Fox answered
these cursorily, disclaimed any political connections with the
Bedfords, and repeated with emphasis, ' Such intrigues, Sir, would
be worse in me, while in your service, than in any man living,
as nobody blamed such intrigues in those who undermined Sir
Robert Walpole so much as I.' This dialogue ended so well,
that Mr. Fox asked for a little place for one of his dejiendents,
and obtained it."

' The King had just given Cranborn Lodge, in Windsor Forest, to the Duke.

CHAPTER II.

THE FLEET PRISON, WARDENS, AND CHAPLAINS.

The Wardenship of the Fleet and the custody of the pri-
soners there, together with the custody of Westminster Hall,
appears to have been vested in fee in Nathaniel Leveland, of
Leveland in the county of Kent, in the reign of Richard I.
and to have been in his ancestors from the time of the
Conquest ; it continued in the descendants of this Nathaniel
Leveland until the 5 and 6 Phil, and Mary. It was used for
the reception of the prisoners committed by the Court of the
Star Chamber. By a patent of the 3rd Eliz. recited in letters
patent of the 19 Car. II. it appears to have been called Pri-
sona Je la Fleet, alias T/ie Queens Gaol of the Fleet. It is
said to have been called the Fleet from the Fleet Ditch ad-
joining, which was so called from the fleet or swift running
of the water.'

After the 16 Car. II. the prison was used as a place of
confinement for debtors and for persons guilty of contempts
of the Courts of Chancery, Exchequer, and Common Pleas,
and fell under the same regulations as other gaols of the
kingdom. Charles the Second having by letters patent
granted the office of Warden of the Fleet and of the Keeper
of the Old Palace at Westminster, the shops in Westminster
Hall, certain tenements adjoining to the Fleet, and other
rents and profits belonging to the Warden, to Sir Jeremy
Whichcot and his heirs for ever; he, in considerati(m of
such grant, rebuilt the prison at his own expense.

The prison and the custody of the prisoners being thus a
freehold, and falling by descent or purchase into the hands
of persons incapable of executing the office of Warden, was
the occasion of great abuses and frequent complaints to Par-
liament, till at length (.5th Anne,) the patent was set aside,

' One of the significations given by Johnson to tlie word Fleet, is a creek — while
it has been snid to mean a shallow.

and Baldwyn Lei<rl)t<)n, Esq. having been at great pains and
expense in suing the patentees to a forfeiture, obtained a
patent for life; and he dying soon afterwards, John Hug-
gins Esq. by giving £5000 to Lord Clarendon, obtained
through his Lordship's interest a grant of the office for his
own and his son's life.

Mr. Huggins* getting advanced in years, and his son not
wishing to take the office upon him, he was for some years
negotiating the disposal of it, and in August 1727 concluded
a final treaty with Thomas Bambridge and Dougal Cuth-
bert. Esquires, and for J05000 engaged with them to sur-
render his patent for his own and his son's life, and to procure
a new patent for Bambridge and Cuthbert, and which he
accordingly obtained.^

In 1728 a Parliamentary Committee was appointed to en-
quire into the state of the prisons of the metropolis, who,
in their report in 1729, presented many grave charges against
Bambridge, in consequence of which an act passed to remove
him from his office, and render him incapable of ever holding
a place of profit under the Government, or of practising as an
attorney.^

' In May 1729 a true Bill was found against Mr. Huggins and his agent James
Barnes for the murder of Mr. Arne, a prisoner.

* Report of Committee.

3 Some verses in No. 84 of the Grub Street Journal have the following lines on
Bambridge :

" Find gaoler more and more uncivil,
And B ge nothing to the Devil."

In May 1729 he was tried for the murder of Mr. Robert Castell, a prisoner in
the Fleet, but acquitted for want of evidence. He died the 11th July 1741, at his
Chambers, No. 9 Paper Buildings, Temple. Mr.Castell was an architect, who died
in the Fleet on the 18th Dec. 1728, and, according to the newspapers of that period,
had just finished a translation of Vitruvius ; but the Author has been favoured with
the following note, by Joseph Gwilt, Es(i. the learned translator of the last Englisli
edition of the work of that celebrated architect.

Although the Bipont edition of Vitruvius, 8vo. {Argenloraii) 1708, gives as
published in 1730, the following among the English editions,
" 1730 The Architecture of M. Vitruvius I'oUio translated into English, with the

" Commentaries of Inigo Jones and otlieis, and the Latin text, by Robert Cas-

" tell, London, fob 2 vols."
such Book wras never published. The fact is, that Robert Castell in his ydlas of

About the niicldle of the year 1729 Mr. James Gambler
was appointed Warden upon the recommendation of Sir John
Eyles, Sir Gilbert Heathcoate, and other merchants of the
city. At the time of his appointment he was Solicitor to the
Trustees for the forfeited estates of the South Sea Directors.

WARDENS OF THE FLEET.

NATHANIEL DE LEVELAND.
ROBERT DE LEVELAND, his son.

These parties, in the 9th of Richard the First, (1198) fined in sixty
marks, to have the custody of the King's Houses at Westminster Sc
of the Flete Prison, which they stated had been their inheritance
ever since the Conquest. And that they might not be hindered
therein by the counter-fine of Osbert de Longchamp.'

And Osbert de Longshamp fined in D marks to have the King's
favour and seizin of all his lands and chattels whereof he was
disseized by the King's command. And to have seizin of the
custody of the Gaol of London, with the appurtenances, and of the
custody of the King's Houses at Westminster ; provided, that right
be done therein in the King's Court, according to the judgment
of the King's Court, in case any one would implead him for the
same.^

SIMON FITZ-ROBERT, ARCHDEACON OF WELLS.

Stow, in his History of London, vol. i. p. 733, mentions that in tlie
Srd of John, (1202) the King granted the Wardenship of the Fleet
and tlie wardship of the daughter and heir of Robert Leveland to
S. Arclideacon of Wells.

the Antienls, wliich he published in 1728, and which was dedicated to Richard Earl
of Burlington, professes that he undertook that treatise as a yreparalive to a trans-
lation of Vitruvius into the English language ; a work he had long entertained a
desire of performing. This intention of Robert Castell was mentioned in the Acta
Erudit. Lipsiae, 1731 ; hence it is j>robal)le the mistake of the Bipont Editor. Cas-
tell, however, never fulfilled his intention, which was probably prevented by his
premature death.

' RFadox Exthe<i. v. i. p. 514. ^ Mag. Rot. 10 R. I. Rot. 14, b. Kent.

• 35

ROBERT DE LEVELAND— 1-206-1 2 15,
was Warden in the 7tli, 9tli, and 16th of King John, as appears
by the Close Rolls, pp. 34, 87, and 175.'

MARGARET, Widow of ROBERT DE LEVELAND—
1217-1222
Appears by the Close Rolls to have been Warden in the 2nd
Henry III. a Warrant to the Barons of the Exchequer being in
that year issued to make her the same payment per day for the
custody of the King's Houses at Westminster as Robert de Leve-
land her husband had while he lived. She is also mentioned in an-
other entry on the Rolls, in the 7th year of the same reign (1222).

GILES DE BADLESMERE to 1258.

This individual was a justice itinerant in the early part of King
Henry the Illd's reign, and married Margaret de Leveland, a de-
scendant of Robert de Leveland, who fined in 9th Richard I. and
probably his daughter, the wardship of whom was granted to S.
Archdeacon of Wells, as above mentioned. He married her with-
out the King's licence, and only obtained his pardon in 40th Henry
III. He was slain in a battle against the Welch, in 1258, and left
no issue by his wife.^

FULCO LE PAYFORER to 1277,

was Warden in right of his wife Margaret, widow of Giles de
Badlesmere. He survived his said wife, by whom he had no
issue, and died 5th Edward I. ; by the Inquisition taken upon his
death,3 the jurors found that he held <' de haereditate Margeriaj
Uxoris su8e defunctaj secundum Legem Anglise Serjauntiam cus-
todiae palatii domini Regis Westminster et liberae prisona; de
Flete tanquam de haereditate predicta? Margeriae per legem An-
gliae," and that Ralph de Leveland was the heir of Margery.

RALPH DE GRENDON DE LYVELAUND (Leveland)—

1277 to 1280.

(So called from the manor of Levelond, in Kent, which he held of

the Archbishop of Canterbury, in capite,) succeeded Le Payforer.

' Close Rolls, vol. i. fol. 1834, Accurante Tho. Duffus Hardy, S.A.S.
* Philipot's Villaie Cantianum, p. 216.
^ Inq. p. m. Fulconis le Payfoicr, 5th Edward I, No. 17.

He took £18. 5s. 8(f. of the King's money by the hands of the
Sheriff of London for the custody of the Prison, and of the King's
manor of Westminster, and for repairing Fleet Bridge when ne-
cessary. He died 8th Edward I. (1280) and by the Inquisition
on his death,' the jurors found that Stephen de Leveland, his
brother, then aged thirty, was his heir.

STEPHEN DE LEVELAND— 1280 to 1287,

succeeded his brother in the Wardenship, and died 15th Edward L
By the Inquisition on his death the jurors found that Joane his
daughter was his heir, and that she was nine years old at the feast
of John the Baptist then last past. It appears by the Close Roll,
24th Edward I. that the marriage of this Joane de Leveland was by
the King granted to Elianor, his royal consort, who subsequently
granted the marriage of the said Joane to Martin Senche, who
married her to his brother John Sench ; and because the said
Martin did not produce the Queen's letters granting the marriage
of the said Joane, the Treasurer and Barons of the Exchequer
had taken into their own hands the Serjeancy of the Fleet, which
long had been granted " ut jus et ha^reditas" of the said Joane,
upon proof being made of her age, whereupon the King, being satis-
fied that his royal consort had so disposed of the marriage of the
said Joane, by his writ (20th January, 24th Edward I. 1295) com-
manded them, if it was seized for no other reason, to restore the
said Seijeancy, to be held by them as it was before the caption
thereof, with the proceeds thereof, Szc.

JOHN SHENCHE

became Warden by his marriage as above mentioned with Joan de
Leveland. He died in the lifetime of his wife, leaving issue by
her a son, named John.

EDMUND LE CHEYNE.

Upon the death of John Shenche, Joane his widow married Ed-
nmnd le Cheyne, who thereupon became Warden in right of his
wife. She died in 6th Edward IIL (1333).^ He continued Warden
until his death in 1340.

' liKj. p. 111. Kail: de Levelaiul, (iili Kilward I, \o. 16.
' I III]. J). 111. .tiuiiiiKv S. (itii lulu aril III, No. (S5.

By the Inquisition on his deatli,' the jurors found that he
held as of the lieritage of Joane formerly his wife, daughter and
heir of Stephen de Levelonde, a messuage, &c., called the Prison
of the Flete, held upon Serjeancy of keeping the prisoners and
repairing the Fleet Bridge ; also that a certain John, son of Jolni
Shenche and the aforesaid Joane (whom the said John Shenche
married), was the next heir of Joane, and that he was aged thirty.

JOHN SHENCHE

took the Wardenship as the son of Joane de Levelonde, by her
first husband John Shenche. He died 23rd Edward HI. (1350)^
leaving a daughter Margaret, then two years old.

ROGER DE SAPURTON— 1370 to 1412.

Margaret Shenche being under age, the Wardenship was granted
43rd Edward III , to Roger de Sapurton, her cousin and heir. She
died shortly afterwards, when he proved his age, and had livery
of his lands in London and Derby, and did homage for the same.
This Roger de Sapurton married Ellen, daughter of Robert Agas,
of Waltham,3 and died in 1412. The Inquisition on his death,
states that John Sapurton was his heir, who was then aged thirty
and upwards.

JOHN DE SAPURTON— 1412 to 1414,

Son of the above by Ellen his wife, succeeded his father. He
died on the 15th of March 1414, and by the Inquisition taken on
his death, the jurors found that Roger de Sapurton was his brother
and next heir, and was then aged thirty-six and upwards.'*

* Inq. p. m, Edmundi Cheyne, 13th Edward III, No. 19.

* Inq. p. m. 23rd Edward III.

' Inq. p. m. Rog. de Sapurton, 13th Henry IV, No. 35.

* Inq. p. m. Joh, de Sapurton, 2nd Henry V, No. 21. This Inquisition details
the profits and perquisites of the Warden as follows: — Dicunt etiam dicti Jur'
quod praedicta Mes' et officium tenentur de domino Rege in capite, videlicet per
officium custodiendi dictum palacium capiendo de eodem domino Rege per manus
A'ic' London* pro tempore existentium per diem vi'^. et etiam percipiendo et
habendo cum dominus Rex fuerit apud Westmonasterium infra clausum dicti
palaci] quolibet die quamdiu dominus Rex manserit in pane vino et servicia
fercul' coquine et candelis sicut unus servientum Regis percipit, capiendo etiaiii et
habendo in quolibet recessu ipslus Regis a dicto palacio quicquid remanserit in
eodem palatio de focali litera in cameris et feno in stabulo, acctiam capiendo et

ROGER DE SAPURTON— 1414 to 1434,

Brother of the abovenamed John, was the next inheritor. Upon
liis death, on the 7th June 1434,' his next heir was by Inquisition
found to be his daughter Ehzabeth, wife of William Venour, then
aged thirteen years and upwards.

WILLIAM VENOUR— 1434,

in right of his wife, late Elizabeth Sapurton. He died in

the lifetime of his wife, and the Wardenship of the Fleet, with
the custody of Westminster Hall, was, in 1467, conveyed by her
to trustees, with special limitations to her heirs, and the heirs of
Robert Babyngton, as appears by the Patent Roll of 6th Edward
IV. No. 18.

RICHARD BABYNGTON, Esq. to 1492,

died seized of the W^ardenship in 1492, leaving his brother Edward,
aged twenty -five, his next heir. (Esc. 9th Henry VII. p. 1, n.
133, V. 0.)

EDW^ARD BABYNGTON— 1492 to 1498,

died seized on the 30th June, 1498, leaving his brother William,
aged twenty-two, his next heir. (Esc. 13th Henry VII. No. 29.)

WILLIAM BABYNGTON— 1498 to 1537.

He appears to have executed the office in person, as in 16th
Henry VIII. he received the King's pardon for killing one Robert
W^olfe alias Vulpe, during the Christmas revels, in the Fleet Prison.

habendo quando Rex reparari faciei domos infra clausum dicti palacij -totum vetus
maeremium cooperiones novi raaeremij veteres cendulas et funes. Capiendo etiam
et habendo de quolibet mercatore tenente vel occupante stallum vel stabulum in
fjuibuscumque locis infra palacium piaedictura quolibet quarteiio anni xii**. et
qualibet septimana sedente curia Regis Ij**. et de quolibet mercatore stallum vel
stabulum non habente vel occupante et mercandisas ibidem portante quolibet quar-
terio anni 4''. et valet pricdictum nusuagiuiii cum proficuis custodia' prxxlicta' per
annum in omnibus exitibus ultra rcprisas XIO. Et dicunt Jur' quod idem .lolianncs
de Sapuitoii' obijt 14° die Marcij ultimo pra^tciito ct quod Rogeius dc Sapurton
esl fiatcr et liajres ejus propintiuior ct est aHaiis 36 annoruni et amplius.
' Inq. p. m. Roger de Sapuilon 12th Henry VI. No. 19.

Wolfe was exercising liis office of Master of Misrule, and some
disturbance arising, Babyngton stabbed liini in the belly with a
double-edged dagger.

THOMAS BABYNGTON, Esq. 1537 to

had livery by patent 29th Henry VHI. p. 3, as son and heir of the
abovenanied William. By patent (4 and 5 Philip and Mary, p. 11,
June 6,) licence was granted to this Thomas Babyngton and Wil-
liam his son, to alienate to John Heath, of London, Esq. and on
the 9th July (5 and 6 P. and M.) the Wardenship was conveyed to
Heath accordingly, in consideration of £2300. Claus. 5 and (»
Phil, and Mar. p. 1.

JOHN HEATH, Esq.' 1558.

Heath sold, in the 1st of Elizabeth, to Richard Tyrell, of Ashdon,
in the county of Essex, Esq. in consideration of 6000 marks, to
be paid by instalments.

RICHARD TYRRELL— 1358 to 1566.
He died 17 June (8th Elizabeth), leaving Edward Tyrrell, his son
and next heir, aged 8 years. Richard Tyrrell appears on the 10th
of March, previous to his death, to have granted a lease to his bro-
ther Henry Tyrrell for 15 years, at the yearly rent of £80.

EDWARD TYRRELL. Esq. — 1566-1594.
Edward Tyrrell appears to have granted a lease, dated lOtli No-
vember, (23 EHz.) to Robert Bacon for 21 years, for the better
maintenance of his wife if she should happen to survive him.
He died 26 February, 36th Eliz. (1594), leaving Robert, his son
andjaasJLheir, aged 13. ' , ,

(^In 1586jXhe prisoners in the Fleet petitioned the Lords of the
Council, in consequence of the Warden having underlet to John
Harvey and Thomas Newport, who were guilty of cruelty and
extortion ; and in that year a commission issued, which was ab-
breviated and explained by the Recorder Fleetwood. (ln_1593^
the prisoners preferred a Bill in Parliament for the reformation of
the Fleet, which Joachim Newton, the Deputy Warden, did all
he could to hinder.* The result of this Bill was an Enquiry, which
led to a presentment, of which the following is a copy.

^Buried at St. Giles's, Durham, (Register of St. Bride's, Fleet Street.) \^^

^^^-Slflw's London, vol i. p. 733. /? jj

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" 1. First, that it maye be lawfull for the said warden or his
deputie to appoynte so nianye of his houshold s'vaunts as to
either of them shall seeme good, to open or shutt the two utter
gates of the Fleete, at suche houres as the gates of Ludgate and
Newgate are accustomed to be opened and shutt, and the said
p'sons carry in their handes halberts, billes, or anye other wea-
pons as shall seeme goode unto the said warden or deputie, w"'in
his precyncte or lib'tye.

" 2. Item. — The warden to take such bondes of ev'y p'son that
shalbe brought into the Fleet prisoner as shall seeme to him
reasonable, at his discrec'on, and accordinge as the cause shall
require, aswell for the payment of all manner of duties, as also
to be true prisoners there, and of good behaviour towardes the
saide warden, and all others w"'in the precincte of the Fleete, in
suche manner and forme as heretofore hath bene used.

" 3. Item. — That it is and shalbe lawfull for the said warden and
his deputie to take order from tyme to tyme that no p'son com'inge
in there do carrye any weapon further then the porters lodge there,
be he straunger or other, unles they shalbe licenced so to do by
the discrec'on of suche as the same warden shall appointe to keepe
the gates there.

" 4. Item. — That no pryson' shall buy beare, ale, wyne or any
other victualls out of the saide house as longe as they maye there
have sufficient and good provided w"'in the same, in suche place as
shalbe there appoynted, at such reasonable pryces as the same
be com'onlie solde for w*in the cittye of London, except the
warden shall geve licence for any considerac'on as to him shall
seeme good.

" 5. Item. — That it male be lawfull for the warden to take of
every such pryson' as the saide warden maye lawfuUye licence to
goe abroade w*'' his keep' for the halfe daie, that is to saye, before
dynner or after, to the wardens box iiij'' ; and for the whole daie,
both before dynner and supper, viij"^ : and for his keep' that shalbe
w"* him, for the half daie, vj** ; and for the whole daie, xij''.

" 6. Item. — And if it should happen the Queenes Majesty and
her honorable housholde to be above two myles distant from
the cittie of London and Westm' or either of them, and that
anye prisoner shalbe sent for by the Counsell or anye other
havinge aucthoritye to com'aunde the saide prisoner to be brought
before them, that then the said prisoner shall beare al manner

of suche charges as shall thereunto apperteyne, be it either by
water or by lande, until! his retorne, aswell for himselfe or anye
other that shalbe appoynted his keep' for the tyme.

" 7. Item. — That the saide warden, by himselfe or his deputye,
shall and maie take and carrie downe w"' him into the countrey
anye suche prisoner as he maie lawfully licence to goe abroade
w"" his keep', at any tyme betwixte the termes, excepte there
shalbe expresse com'aundement to the contrarie by the Counsaile
or suche as shall com'ytt the p'yte thither.

" 8. Item. — That it maye be lawfuU for the saide warden or
his deputie, and so manye of his houshold as shalbe thought
needefull, to keepe watche in harnes or otherwise w"'in his pre-
cincte, at all tymes, as he shall see cause, for his better save-
garde, if he shall suspecte anye prisoner w*''in his custodie to
intende to make an escape.

" 9. Item. — That it maie be lawfuU to and for the saide warden
to take order at all tymes for suche money as shalbe gathered
at the boxe, or otherwyse generally geven to poore men there,
for the distribuc'on thereof amongest them, if any contenc'on shall
arise ; and that the saide poore shall alwaies keepe one key of the
said boxe, and another key to be at the wardens appoyntment.

" 10. Item. — That it maie and shalbe lawful for the warden,
if there shall at any tyme happen any person to be com'itted
that shall not be able to maynteyne nether the parlour com'ons
nor the hall com'ons, nor also will take p'te of the boxe, that
then the warden maie appointe a bedd and chamber for any suche
convenyentlye, the p'tye agreeinge w*"" the warden for the same
at his reasonable discrec'on.

" 11. Item. — That yf anye that will take p'te of the boxe will
have anye more ease then for the same is appoynted, that then it
maie be lawfull for the warden to appoynte any suche p'son or
p'sons a bedd or chamber, the p'tie agreeinge w"' the warden for
the same as shalbe thought reasonable.

" 12. Item. — That the said warden shall take of every man or
woman that shall sitt at the parlour com'ons ij' iiij'' weeklye for
his bedd and chamber, and of every man and woman that shall
sitt at the hall com'ons xiiij'' weekly for his bedd and chamber,
lyinge like prisoners, two in a bedd together.

" 13. Item. — Whereas by an auncyent custonii', tynic out of
memoric of man used in the said I'lectc, the warden or his

depiitie for tlic tyme being have used and dyd lycencc such
p'sons as be prisoners there, not beinge anyc condenipnac'on, or by
expresse com'aundement gyven to the contrarie by the Counsell
or suche p'sons as do com'ytte the said prisoners thither, to goe
abroade aboute theire necessarie busynes, or to their lerned coun-
sell, or suche like affaires, w"* a keep' ; Therefore it is and shalbe
lawfull to the same warden and his deputie for the tyme being to
lycence and p'mytte all suche p'sons as be there to go abroade
w**" a safe keep' about his or theire nedefuU busynes aforesaid ;
So alwaies that anie suche prisoner do not lye there uppon anye
condenipnac'on, or that express com'aundement by the Queenes
Ma*' Counsaile, or suche p'sons as doe com'ytte the same prisoner
thither, be geven or inhibited to the contrarie thereof.

" Will'm Petre, Edwarde Saunders,

*' Rob'te Catlyn, Thomas Seckford,

" Will'm Cordell, G. Gerrard,

" James Dyer, Rob'te Newell.

" Scene and allowed accordinge to the original!,

" John Puckeringe,

" Will'm Burleigh."

JOACHIM NEWTON,' 1594.
He had been Deputy Warden to the before-mentioned Edward
Tyrrell, and obtained from him, by purchase, a lease of the War-
denship for seven years, and afterwards a further demise. A Bill
in Chancery filed by him in October 1594, states that he had in-
terested Kath^ Mason, formerly " waiting woman on the Wife of
the s^ Edw'' Tyrrell, having credit with her said Master and
Mistress" to further his application for this lease. (Chancery
Proceedings temp. Eliz. N. n. 5. No. 27.)

SIR ROBERT TYRRELL, Knight— 1594-1612.

Sir Robert Tyrrell sold (9 Jac.) to Sir Henry Lello of London,
Knt., and John Eldred, Esq. in consideration of £11,000.

SIR HENRY LELLO, Knight, and JOHN ELDRED, Esq.

1612 to

By the will of Sir Henry Lcllo, of Ashdon, county Essex, dated

> Query, if not from 1588?

the 7th January 1629, he directs that in case he should die in
London he should be buried at St. Bride's London, where his pre-
decessors, Wardens of the Fleet, have been buried ; he recites
that he and John Eldred purchased the Fleet and keeping of the
palace of Westminster jointly to them and their heirs, since which
the said John for the consideration of £8000 had released his title
to the said office, &'C. ; bequeaths to his nephew Henry Hopkins,
all his manor or capital messuage called the Fleet, otherwise the
King^s_Gapl __o,f .the,Ele.et, with the office of Warden of the Fleet,
with all profits, &c. and also the keeping of the palace of West-
minster called the Old and New Palace, with all profits &c. arising
from shops and stalls in Westminster Hall, and without &c. with
all right &c. in as ample manner as he and said Mr. Eldred pur-
chased the same of Sir John Terrell, Knt. — Proved 18 January,
1629-30. Buried at St. Bride's, 16 Jan. 1630.

HENRY HOPKINS, Esq.'

EDWARD HOPKINS, Esq.

the brother of Henry Hopkins named in Sir Henry Lello's will,
in consideration of £4500, conveyed to Jeremy Whichcott, Esq. of
the Temple, subject to a proviso contained in an indenture of the
same date, and enrolled in Chancery, (Claus. 1655, p. 35, n. 27,)
that in case Hopkins survived Whichcott, and paid to his execu-
tors the sum of £4500 ; or in case Whichcott survived Hopkins,
and neglected to pay to Hopkins' executors the sum of £4500,
the deed to be void. Covenant to pay Hopkins a moiety of the
profits during their joint lives.

SIR JEREMY WHICHCOTT— 1655 to

Jeremy Whichcott, Esq. Barrister-at-Law and Solicitor-General to
the Prince Elector Palatine. At the request of King Charles II.
during his exile, he purchased the Wardenship, and by officiating
sometimes himself, sheltered the King's agents, and prevented a
treacherous design against his person, for which he was honoured
with the title of Baronet, by patent, dated at Brussels, 2d April,
12th Charles II. 1660. He died 22d June 1677, and lies buried
in Ilendon church,*

In the 19th of Charles II. a patent was granted whereby, after

' BuiiLd al St. Bride's, 5 Jan. 1654.

2 Collins' Baronetage, (1711,) vol. in. [>. 12.

reciting a commission of the 3(1 Elizabeth, and setting forth the
constitutions and orders newly made, together with the petition
of the Warden and prisoners to Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Keeper,
and also a table of fees, and also reciting that the prison was burnt
on the 4th of September last, and that Sir Jeremiah Whichcott,
the Warden, had purchased with his own money, a capital mes-
suage called Caroon House, and ten acres of land in South Lam-
beth,' for the safe keeping of the prisoners; the King appointed
Caroon House to be the prison of the Fleet (Pat. 19 Car. H.
p. l,n.9.)

By a decree inrolled in Chancery, it appears that Sir Jeremy
Whichcott, Bart, by indenture dated the 24th February, (23
Car. H.) granted the office to William Oakes for four lives, in
trust for the said Oakes and one Edward Peirce, who sold the
office of Clerk of the Fleet to William Meakin during their lives.
Oakes afterwards assigned the office to Hugh Pyers, who surren-
dered (25 Car. H.) to Whichcott, and Whichcott delivered the
office over to one William Duckenfeild, who during Meakin's ab-
sence attending the Seal at the Court of Chancery, broke open
his office and desk and dispossessed him. Meakin thereupon filed
his Bill, and obtained a decree. (Rot. Judic. 2 Div. p. 388, n. 21,
26 Car. IL)

RICHARD MANLOVE— 1689-1691.^

WILLIAM WEEDON FORD, Esq.— 1699-1707.

ANTHONY GRIND ALL, Esq.— 1708-1710.3

' By the proceedings against Richard Manlove during his Wardenship, it appears
that Sir Jeremy Whichcott had, without licence, removed the prison, to the old prison
called the Fleet, and that he and his son, Sir Paul Whichcott, had sold Caroon
House.

* In the 7 and 8 William III. an act was passed relating to the King's Bench
and Fleet Prisons, which directed that before the 24th June, 1697, all grants, con-
veyances, and mortgages of the inheritance of the Fleet Prison, and all leases
thereof, and the title of the W^arden thereto, should be enrolled in the Common
Pleas, as well also all future grants, &c. The act provided for the right of Anthony
Smith, mariner, to the office of W^arden, by virtue of two decrees in Chancery,
dated 22d June, 1683, and 26th January, 1685, whereby £425 was decreed to be
paid to him out of the said office (after a mortgage thereof made by Thomas Brom-
hall to Henry Norwood, Esq. dated 23d Nov. 1676.) Also for the right of John
Clements, of the Middle Temple, Gent, concerning a debt of ^^2299 and interest,
secured by a mortgage thereof, dated 3d May 1678.

^ " Anthony Grindall, Warden, and Robert Saunders, Register of the Marriages,
appear to have been guilty of forging books which, when produced to a committee
of the Commons, proved to be so ; besides, they were destitute of every particular
which makes a register valuable." — Malcolm's Lond. vol. i. 375.

BALDWYN LEKiHTON, Esq. (sometimes called Col. Leighton.)

The Wardenship falling into the hands of huproper persons, a
commission under tlie Great Seal, dated 21 May, 10 Wil. III. was
issued, and an Inquisition was returned into Chancery, whereupon,
by the judgment of the Court of King's Bench, the office of War-
den of the Fleet was seized into the King's hands.' All these
proceedings having been prosecuted by Col. Leighton at a great
expense, a grant was made to him (by patent 5 Anne, p. 1,
n. 22, March 7,) of the office of Warden, to hold, by himself or
deputy, for life. He was not, however, to enter upon the office
until certain claims, incumbrances, &c. were settled, and he was
to give security, to be approved of by the Lord Keeper, the Chief
Justice of the Common Pleas, and Chief Baron of the Exchequer.^

JOHN HUGGINS, Esq.^

By patent of 12 Anne, p. 4, n. 3, the Wardenship was granted on
the decease of Leighton to John Huggins, the elder, Esq. High
Bailiff of Westminster, for life, and the reversion of it to John
Huggins the younger. Mr. Huggins disposed of it as mentioned
in the preceding part of this chapter.

In Willis's Reports, p. 241, is a case, John Huggins v. Thomas
Bambridge. It was debt on bond, dated 28th September 1728,
conditioned for payment of £2300 and interest. The defendant
pleaded letters patent of 22d July, 12 Anne, whereby the War-
denship was granted to plaintiff for life, and after his death or
surrender to plaintiff's son (John Huggins) for life ; that plaintiff and
his son, by deed (enrolled of 14th August, 2 George II.) surren-

' The King and Queen v. iManlove, Warden of the Fleet (3 Levinz Rep. 288.)
In Chancery, Michas. 2 William and INIary.

It was found by Inquisition on a writ issued out of Chancery, that the Wardenship
of the Fleet was an ancient office ; that, on the 19th March 1689, Richard IMan-
love was Warden ; that he had committed several misdemeanours, and one Colonel
Leighton sought a forfeiture, and to have a grant of the office to himself, from
the King — that as Manlove had only an estate for life, and the fee was in
another, the Lord Keeper decided the forfeiture went to him in reversion and not
to the Crown.

* " Octr. 1718 — Died Mr. John Stone, Deputy Warden of the Fleet, a person
of great humanity to tlie prisoners."

' Mr. William Huggins, his son, was married in 1723, in Windsor Chapel, to
Mrs. Tylson.

dered the said office, and thereupon defendant executed tlie bond.
That the King, on the 30th September following, by letters patent,
granted the said office to defendant for life, and afterwards to
Dougall Cuthbert for life.

Judgment given for defendant, on the ground that the office was
one concerning the execution of justice, and the sale of it was
therefore void, by 5 and 6 Edward VI. cap. 16, the fee being in the
Crown. It would thus appear that Mr. Huggins lost his money.

THOMAS BAMBRIDGE and DOUGAL CUTHBERT, Esq.

These parties came into possession in the manner before stated.
In May 1729 Bambridge was tried for the murder of Mr. Robert
Castell, a prisoner in the Fleet, but acquitted for want of evi-
dence. " He was removed from the Wardenship by Act of Par-
liament, and died the 11th July 1741, at his chambers, No. 9,
Paper Buildings, Temple."

JAMES GAMBIER— 1729-May 1735.
Appointed in 1729, vice Bambridge.

CARBONNELL, (a Deputy Wadren only)— 1734.

JOHN GARTH, Esq.— 1736-1740.

Appointed on the surrender of Cuthbert and Gambier. Mr. Daniel
Hopkins, his Deputy.

JOHN EYLES, Esq.— 1740-1758.

JOHN EYLES, Esq.'— 1758-1820.

Son of the preceding. Nicholas Nixon, many years Deputy and
Clerk of the Papers. Robert Hiller, Deputy Keeper of West-
minster Hall, appointed 2d May, 1807.

NICHOLAS NIXON, Esq.— 1821-1822.
WILLIAM ROBERT HENRY BROWN, Esq.— 1822.
The present Warden. William Brown, Deputy and Clerk of the
Papers.

> Patent dated 32 Geo. II.
In several of the novels written about tiie middle of the last century, the Fleet
was chosen for the scenes described.

CHAPLAINS OF THE FLEET PRISON.

The destruction of all papers and documents at the Fleet
at the time of the riots in 1780, has precluded the Editor
from obtaining much information respecting the Chaplains to
the Prison.'

The earliest name which occurs of a Chaplain is that
of Mr. Haincks in 1698, who is noticed in the Register of
Lincoln^'s Inn Chapel. The next is Robert Elborough, who,
in the letter of 1702 before quoted, is called the " Master of
the Chapel," but the same letter mentions other ministers.

In 1714 Mr. John Taylor was Chaplain, and received a
salary as such, but he does not appear to have solemnized
matrimony at the Fleet.

In 1728 Dr. Franks, Dean of Bedford, was officiating
Chaplain, and was allow^ed forty guineas a-year, and forty
guineas a-year more, when there was a real Chaplain.

In the Report of the Parliamentary Committee in 1729, is
a Table of Fees ordered by the Judges to be paid by the
prisoners of the Fleet, from which the following is extracted :

" That there is due to the Minister who officiates and performs
divine service within the said prison for the time being, from every
prisoner within the walls of the said prison, or without the walls,
or within the Rules, four-pence per week, to be paid to the War-
den for the use of such Minister ; and that no such Minister or
any other Clergyman, being a Prisoner within the Walls or Rules
of the Fleet, do presume to marry any person without License
within the Prison or Rules of the Fleet; and that the Warden
and his Officers do use their utmost vigilance to prevent all such
marriages."

to 1797. Rev. Weldon Champneys, held the office

about 20 years,

1797-1815. Rev. John Manley Wood.

1815. Rev. John Jones, was Chajdain for a few months.

Rev. Richard Edwards, M. A. who is the present Chaplain.

' It has been the custom of the Warden upon a vacancy, to offer the Cliaplain-
cy to the Curate of St. ]5rides.

CHAPTER III.

CLERGYMEN WHO PERFORMED MARRIAGES AT THE FLEET.

JOHN GAYNAM, from about 1709 to 1740.

This man, famed for the number of his marriages, and
rivalled for notoriety of character, appears to have been
styled "Doctor Gaynam," and resided some time in Bride Lane.
The following evidence given at the Old Bailey on the trial
of Robert Hussey in 1733, for bigamy, will give some idea of
his character and pretensions :

Dr. Gainham. — The 9th of September 1733, I married a couple
at the Rainbow Coffee House the corner of Fleet Ditch, and en-
tered the marriage in my register, as fair a register as any church
in England can produce. I showed it last night to the foreman
of the jury, and my Lord Mayor's Clerk, at the I^ondon Punch
House.

Counsel. — Are you not ashamed to come and own a clandestine
marriage in the face of a Court of Justice?

Dr. Gainhaoi. — (bowing) Video meliora, deteriora sequor.

Q. — You are on your oath, I ask you whether you never enter
marriages in that book when there's no marriage at all ?

Gainham. — I never did in my life. I page my book so, that it
cannot be altered.

From the trial of Edmund Dangerfield, for bigamy, in
1736, the following is extracted.

Dr. Gainham. — 1 don't know the prisoner. I did marry a man
and woman of these names. Here, this is a true register : " Edmd.
Dangerfield of St. Mary Newington Butts, Batchelor, to Arabella
Fast." When I marry at any house I always set it down, for I
carry one of the books in my pocket, and when I go home I put
it in my great book.

Court. — Do you never make any alteration ?

Gainham. — Never, my Lord. These two were married at Mrs.
Ball's, at the Hand and Pen, by the Fleet Prison, and my name is
to her book.

Counsel. — 'Tis strange you should not remember the prisoner.

Gainham. — Can I remember persons? I have married 2000
since that time.

The prisoners defence. — " Arabella Fast said to me, ' There is a
minister, (naming his name,) who often lies with me, and if you'll
say you are my husband we may get some money out of him.' I
took a room for her, within a fortnight after; she told me the par-
son was come to London and now was the time to make him our
prize; ' Come into our room (says she) about 10 o'clock at night' —
I did, and found Arabella and he a-bed. ' Hey ! (says I,) how
came you a-bed with my spouse ?' ' Sir, (says he,) I only lay with
her to keep my back warm.' In the morning the gentle-
man said, ' I must make you a present if you can produce a certi-
ficate.' I knew not what to say. ' Sir, (says Arabella,) we were
married at the Fleet,' and says she to me, ' For a crown I can
get a certificate from the Fleet.' I gave her a crown, and in
half an hour she brings me a certificate." — The Prisoner was
acquitted.

It was Gaynam who was named " The Bishop of Hell," and
who is alluded to in the following examination at the trial of
Ruth Woodward, in 1737, for bigamy :

John Hall. — I saw her married at the Fleet to Robert Holmes ;
'twas at the Hand and Pen, a barber's shop.

Counsel. — And is it not a wedding-shop too ?

Hall. — Yes, I don't know the parson's name, but 'twas a man
that once belonged to Creed Church — a very lusty, jolly man.

Counsel. — Because there's a complaint lodged in a proper court,
against a Fleet parson, whom they cull The Bishop of Hell.

Among some loose papers, with the Fleet Registers, the
author has lately discovered a few leaves of a memorandum-
book, on one of which arc the following lines, which con-
firm his impression, that Gaynam was the Diocesan of the
Fleet:—

51
" THE FLEET PARSON;

A TALE,

By Anti Matrim of London.

Some errant Wags, as stories tell,
Assert the gloomy prince of Hell
In th' infernal Region has
His Officers of all degrees
Whose business is to propagate
On Earth, the interest of his State.
Ecclesiastics too are thought
To be subservient to him brought
And as their zeal his service prize
He never fails to make them rise
As Dignitaries in his Church
But often leaves them in the lurch;
For if their Fear surmount their zeal
[They] quickly his resentment feel
[Are] sure to meet with dire disgrace
[And] warmer Zealots fill their place
[To] make these Vacancies repleat

He borrows F ns from the Fleet.

Long has old G m with applause

Obeyed his Master's cursed Laws
Readily practis'd every Vice
And equall'd e'en the Devil for device
His faithful Services such favour gain'd

That he, first B p was of H — 1 ordain'd.

Dan W e [rose] next in Degree

And he obtained the Deanery.

Ned Ash 11 then came into grace

And he supplied th' Archdeacon's place.
But as the Devil when his ends
Are served, he leaves his truest friends
So fare'd it with this wretched three
Who lost their Lives and Dignity.

In one of the pocket-books used by the Fleet Clergymen
is the following :

Sept. 10, 1728, " Witness that tliey (Hutchis and Brown) saw
Walter Clumdler strike John Gaynam, Clergyman, with a stick,
several blows."

EDWARD ASHWELL, 1734-1743.

In the Lansdowne Manuscripts (841. 61) is preserved a
letter giving an account of this person :
Reverend Sir, June 21, 1725.

There was lately at Southam, in Warwickshire, one Edward
Ashwell, who in my absence got possession of our school and
preach'd in several churches in this neighbourhood. I take the
liberty to inform you, since 1 hear he is at Kettering, that he is a
most notorious rogue and impostor. I have now certificates on my
hand of his having two wives alive at this present time, and he was
very near marrying the third in this town, but the fear of a prosecu-
tion upon the discovery of the flaming and scandalous immoralities
of his life forc'd him away from us in a short time. Afterwards, in
a village not ftir from us, he attempted to ravish a woman, but was
prevented by a soldier then in the house. I can assure you he is in
no orders, though the audacious villain preaches when he can get
a pulpit. I have a whole packet of letters by me, all tending to
the same character, which 1 think exceeds for variety of all
manner of enormous practices what can be charg'd upon the very
scum of mankind. The accounts are from persons of integrity and
known reputation.

I prevented his preaching one day at Brawnston, Mr. Somes's
parish. It would be a very kind and Christian office to give some
information among the clergy, that they may not be impos'd
upon by him, particularly to Mr. Ileyrick, for 1 married Mr. Alli-
cock's sister of Loddington. 1 know you will pardon this trouble if
the fellow be amongst you. I am, your affectionate brother,

W. Hodgson.
Ashwell had a great deal of business at the Fleet, and was
one of the most notorious of the parsons. In one of his pocket-
books is :

" May 2''. 1740. C. sine matrimonio Wm. Wallby of Suson in
Waltham Ahby Parish Husb. and Mary V^ale Ditto Sp: Venit
nuper ad Dominu' B d."

Ashwell died in .January 1746, as appears by the follow-
ing notice of his death in the General Advertiser, for the
15th of that month :

" On Monday last died in the Rules of the Fleet, Doctor Ash-
well, the most noted operator in marriages since the death of the
never-to-be forgotten Dr. Gaynam."

WALTER WYATT, 1713-1730.

On the cover of one of the Registers is :

" Mr. Wyatt, Minister of the Fleet, is removed from the Two
Sawyers, the corner of Fleet Lane, (with all the Register Books)
to the Hand and Pen near Holborn Bridge, where marriages are
solemnized without imposition."

He had a great deal of business in this way,^ and by his
pocket-book for October 1748, it appears that he received for
weddings in that month £51 12s. dd. His last marriage was :

"3d March 1749, Hart Sam. Cord: of St. Paul's Debtford,
Bat. and Sarah Watson Sp."

In one of his pocket-books is entered :

" Sarah Wyatt — Mary Wyatt born 2 April 1717 — Baptized
May 2, 1717."

Wyatt appears from the following advertisements of Mr.
Keith (of May Fair notoriety) to have set up a marriage-house
in May Fair in opposition to Keith :

" The Fleet Parson (who very modestly calls himself Reverend)
married at the Fleet in Mr. L-yl's house, Mrs. Co-ks, at the Naked
Boy, and for Mr. W-yt, the Fleet Parson. And to show that he
is now only Mr. W-yt the Fleet Parson's deputy, the said W-yt
told one in May Fair that he intended to set up in opposition to
Mr. Keith, and send goods to furnish the house, and maintains
him and the men who ply some days at the Fleet, and at other
times at May Fair. But not to speak of the men, if he himself was
not a Fleet Parson, he could never stand in Piccadilly, and run
after coaches and foot people in so shameful a manner, and tell
them Mr. Keith's house is shut up, and there is no chapel but
theirs ; and to other people he says, their Fleet chapel is Mr.
Keith's chapel, and this he has said in the hearing of Mr. Keith's
clerk, and it is known to most of the people about May Fair, and
likewise Mr. Keith appeals to the generality of people about the
Fleet and May Fair, for proof of Mr. Reverend's being only Mr,
W-yts the Fleet parson's deputy." — August 27, 1748.

' It was his certificate of marriage that was rejected in the Saye and Sole case.

" The town being informed in this paper for some months past,
of a Fleet Parson that had open'd a chapel in May Fair in order to
supplant M. Keith, we think it not improper to acquaint the Public
that we shall not trouble them on that score for the future, he
having decamp'd on Thursday last, and returned to his own place,
the Fleet." — Craftsman, 26 November, 1748.

The following are Mr. Wyatt's' receipts for weddings for
a few weeks :

October

y« 1st 1748

At home

2 11

ab=

nil

8 to 15 .

. . 17

5 13

—

11 6

15 21 .

..10

2 15

—

16 0

21 27.

.. 6

—

10 0

28 31.

.. 5

5
6

1 5
10

nil

— 1

4 6

Total

£57

1 8

nil

Total

£17

19 3

He died 1 3th March 1750. By his Will proved at Doctors'
Commons, he appoints his brother William Wyatt guardian
to his children ; bequeaths to his son William his study of
books and sermons ; to his daughter Mary, wife of Thomas
Gorden, of Colebrook, five guineas, and his estate at Oxford ;
and notices his two other children Jemima and Kathei'ine.

PETER SYMSON, 1731-1754.
One of his hand-bills runs thus :

G. R.

At the true Chapel
at the old red Hand and Mitre, three doors from Fleet Lane

and next Door to the White Swan;
Marriages are performed by authority by the Reverend Mr.
Symson educated at the University of Cambridge, and late
Chaplain to the Earl of Rothes.

N. B. Without Imposition.

' Some memoranda made by this individual in liis pocket-book, have before been

noticed at pag:c 7. 2 .\i„„af^.

On a trial in 1751, for Bigamy, Synison was thus exunnned :

Q' — Why did you marry them without hcence?

Symson — Because somebody would have done it, if I had not.
I was ordained in Grosvenor Square Chapel by the Bishop of
Winchester the Bishop of Lincoln. Can't say I am a pri-
soner in the Fleet. Am 43 years old. Never had a benefice in my
life. I have had little petty curacies about £20 or £30 per year.
I don't do it for lucre or gain.

Court. — You might have exposed your person had you gone on
the highway, but you'd do less prejudice to your country a great
deal. You are a nuisance to the public ; and the gentlemen of
the jury, it is to be hoped, will give but little credit to you.

It appears by an entry in one of the May Fair Registers,
that he officiated at May Fair Chapel for Mr. Keith, in conse-
quence of the committal of the latter to the Fleet on his ex-
communication. There is a whole Register of May Fair Mar-
riages from 1750 to 1754, " Performed by the Reverend Mr.
Peter Symson and Mr. Fran^ Denevau, for Keith, May Fair."

WILLIAM DARE, 1732-1746.
He at one time resided at No. 12, Bell Court, Bow Church
Yard. He used to marry from 150 to 200 couple per month,
and kept a curate to assist him. In one of the Registers is:

" 1723, 14 April, Peter Kulett of St. Brides Fram Maker,
Mary Ann Paviour Sp: forged by Mr. Dare in 1741, who married
y° att Smiths att y* same time."

To a marriage by Mr. Dare in 1742 are these witnesses,
who were no doubt members of his family :

« Ehzabeth Dare — Anna Catherina Dee' — Sussex Dare."

JOHN FLOUD, 1709-1729.

He died suddenly 31 December 1729, " at his lodgings in

the liberty of the Fleet. He married both at the King's

Bench Prison and the Mint in 1725, having a back room"

at the latter place. He appears to have been a man of bad

' Qu. Dave.

character, and to have been several years a prisoner for debt.'
There is in one of the Registers the following memorandum in
Greek characters to a marriage in 1727:

" Paid five shillings, and one certificate, brought by Mrs. Blood,
Doctor Floud's mistress."

DANIEL WIGMORE, 1723-1754.

By his hand-writing, he appears to have been an elderly
man, and it will be seen in a subsequent chapter, that he
was addicted to the bottle.

" Yesterday Daniel Wigmore, one of the parsons noted for
marrying people within the Rules of the Fleet, was convicted be-
fore the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor, of selling spirituous
liquors contrary to law." — Daily Post, May 26, 17.38.

JOHN MOTTRAM, 1709-1725.

In 1716 he was convicted in the Consistory Court of Lon-
don for solemnizing clandestine marriages within the Liberty
of the Fleet Prison, and suspended from the execution of his
ministerial functions for three years."

An acount of his conviction in the Court of King's Bench,
in the same year, when he was fined ^^200, has been given at
p. 11. In one of his pocket-books he states the arms of the
family of Mottram, of Mottram, in the deanery of Maccles-
field, to be, S. a chev: Arg. charged with three roses between
three cross crosslets Or.

He left the Fleet prior to August 1727.

ROBERT ELBORROW, 1698-1702.

He is called in 1702, an ancient man, and master of the
chapel ; — that in 1702 he married but few without banns or
licence, " but under a colour doth allow his clerk, Bartho-
lomew Bassett, to do what he pleases.''^

' Post Boy, 8 January 1730.
' Clironolo'^ical l^egister, February 1717.

^ Qu. if tlie following is liis iiiairiagc at St. .lanies's, Dukt-'s IMace, in Ui30 :
" Rol)' ]'',ll)orrow, IV Avis Short, Sp"^. — Cornelius Lilly, l' ■"

ROBERT CUTHBERT, 1723-1730.

He appears to have married a great many, and to have
been pretty well oft' in the world, as various memoranda are
met with in his pocket-books for 1733, relating to his stud ;
thus, " My man came att ten pounds a-year ;" " my old
horse went out y* 26th ;" " my pad went out y* 8 Sept." —
" London, May y-^ 3, 1730 RecV'. of Mr. Rob*. Cuthbert the
sum of 6 guineas for a chesnutt stone hors for the use of Mrs.
Sarah Flood by W". Graham."— He died 4th August 1734,
aet. 42.

JEROME ALLEY, 1681-1707.

He was a prisoner at the Fleet ; he left the practice of
marrying there " for some other preferment."

JAMES STARKEYf 1718-1730.

In 1737, it was deposed upon a trial at the Old Bailey tiiat
he had run away into Scotland.

THOMAS CRAWFORD, 1723-1748.

The following Letter from the Grub Street Journal, June
10, 1736, mentions this individual :

" Gentlemen. — Having frequently heard of the many abo-
minable practices of the Fleet, I had the curiosity on Sunday,
May 23, to take a view of the place, as I accidentally was walk-
ing by.

" The first thing observable was one J L by trade a

carpenter, (whose brother, it is said, keeps the sign of the B

and G r,) cursing, swearing, and raving in the street in the

time of divine service, with a mob of people about him, calling one
of his fraternity, (J. E.) a Plyer for Weddings, an informing
rogue, for informing against one of their Ministers for profane
cursing and swearing, for which offence he paid three pounds odd
money : the hearing of which pleased me very well, since I could
find one in that notorious place, which had some spark of grace
left ; as was manifested by the dislike he shewed to the person
that was guilty of the prol'anation of God's s^^aeied name.

" When the mob was dispersed, I walked about some small time,
and saw a person exceeding well-dress'd in a flower'd morning
gown, a band, hat and wig, who appeared so clean that I took him
for some worthy divine, who might have accidentally come out of
the country by coach, and as accidentally be making the same re-
marks as myself; but upon inquiry was surpriz'd at being assured
that he was one T C a watchmaker, who goes in a Mi-
nister's dress, personating a Clergyman, and taking upon him the
name of Doctor, to the scandal of the sacred function. He may
be seen at any time at the Bull and Garter, or the Great Hand
and Pen and Star, with these words under written — ' TJie old and
true Register near the Rainbow CofFee-House. — T. S."

JAMES LANDO, 1737-1743.

I think he must be the person who, under the signature
and address of " Paul Crape," " from my abode not a mile
from Fleet Ditch," maintains a long controversy in the Gazet-
teer of 1737, on a commercial question ; especially as Paul
refers to his having been chaplain of a man-of-war. His op-
ponent, " Jack Bowline," is very severe upon him, and writes
thus :

" But your patron must be at his last shift, when reduc'd to the
necessity of hiring one of the most abandon'd of all wretches, a
Fleet Parson, to ridicule and confound some, and explain away
other Articles of Treaties, <S:c."

" But, reverend Sir, let us leave Divinity, 'tis indeed beyond the
reach of my lead-line. Yet along shore and in the shallows, my
sea-boots on, I '11 wet thern with you or any Fisherman in Eng-
land; and now for dabbling a little. True it is, the subject, as
you say, is invidious and unpopular, but more so, I '11 venture to
say, near the banks of a certain Canal west of Fleet Ditch, than
on any bank to the eastward of it in England ; and though at
present you can hope for no presentation from any West India
merchant, yet I doubt not but in due time you will become fully
intitled to the patronage of one merchant at least, very eminent in
the Viryinia Trade, who often has had it in his power to translate
many a worthy Gentleman who, before you, has liv'd within less
than a mile of Fleet Ditch ; but possibly your greater merit may

' Qu. riios. f 'lawfonl.

intitle you to higher preferment within less than a mile of Hyde
Park Corner."' — Daily Post, Oct. 31.

In his advertisements he styled himself " late Chaplain to
His Majesty's ship The Falkland, and the public are inform-
ed that the said Mr. Lando tcacheth Latin, French, 8tc.
Three times a AVeek."" He had a place he called St. John"'s
Chapel, in Half Moon Court, the first house joining to Lud-
gate, on Ludgate Hill.

" Marriages with a Licence, Certificate and a Crown Stamp, at
a Guinea, at the New Chapel, next door to the China Shop, near
Fleet Bridge, London, by a regular bred Clergyman, and not by a
Fleet Parson as is insinuated in the public papers ; and that the
Town may be freed mistakes, no Clergyman being a prisoner in
the Rules of the Fleet dare marry ; and to obviate all doubts, this
Chapel is not in the verge of the Fleet, but kept by a Gentleman
M'ho was lately Chaplain on board one of his Majesty's men-of-
war, and likewise has gloriously distinguished himself in defence
of his King and Country, and is above committing those little
mean actions that some men impose on people, being determined
to have every thing conducted with the utmost decency and regu-
larity, such as shall be always supported in law and equity." —
Daily Advertiser, 1749.

At the end of one of the Fleet Registers is the following,
supposed to be written by some opponent in the marrying
business :

" John Lando, a French Minister, in Church Street, Soho, oppo-
site att a French pastry or nasty cook's. His Landlord's name is
Jinkstone, a dirty chandler's shop : he is to be heard of in the first
flower next the skye."

It appears by the Books at the Adnjiralty that he was ap-
pointed to the Falkland on the 29th May 1744, and served
on board till the 17th Jan. 1746. He does not appear to
have been in employ afterwards.

James Wagstaffe . . 1689—1729

John Tarrant . . 1742—1750

Richard Sindrey . . 1722 — 1740

' Qy. Tyburn ?

Although the persons named in
to have been the most notorious
to have married a great many ;
officiated there :

the foregoing pages appear
of the Fleet Parsons, and
the following persons also

John Becket

1748

Samuel Buckler

. 1732 to 1751

Samuel Brayfield

1754

Benjamin Bynes

. 1698— 1711

Michael Barrett'

1717 — 1738

James Col ton*

. 1681 — 1721

Joseph Callow

1752

Clayton

. 1720

Colteman

1688

Draper

. 1689 — 1716

Francis Denevau^

1747 — 1754

William Davis

. 1718

John Evans^

1689 — 1729

Ed. Evans

. 1727

John Farren

1688

Henry Gower

. 1689 — 1718

Thomas Hodgkins*

1674 — 1728

Anthony Hanson

. 1731 — 1732

John Jones

1718—1725

William Loveday

. 1750

Morton

1720

Edward Marston

. 1713—1714

John Marshall

1 750

D Murry

. 1719

Nodes

1753

Oswald

. 1712

' Barrett used to marry at tlie INIint and King's liench, at very low fees.

^ Colton lived in Leather Lane, next door to the Coach and Horses. He liad a
living in Essex till the Bishop of London deprived him for ill practices. In Sept.
1721 he lodged with Mr. Lee in Bare Alley, Fleet Ditch, at 3s. 6(/. per week.

' He assisted Keith at May Fair : see the account of Synison, page 55.

■• He used to marry at the Mint and King's Bench also.

* llodgkins appears to have been one of the earliest of the Fleet Clergy. In
one of the Fleet Books, commencing 1674, the marriages are "solemnised by
Dr. 'riio\iias llodgkins, Minister of tlie Fleet and Rules thcieoft"." — (^iicrv, If not
his \\iilow who kept ii niariiage-lioubC in Fleet Lane.

Oglesby

between 1728 aiul 1740

Thomas Privavaul

Patterson

1732

Thomas Ryder

. 1722 to 1743

Edward Roberts .

1698

E. Reynolds .

. 1749

Nehemiah Rogers'

1700 — 1703

Rali>h ShadwelP

. 1733 — 1734

James Shaw

1723

Edmund Stacy

. 1719

Anthony Shellburn'

1722 — . 1737

John Stainton »

. 1730

Anthony Simpson

1726 — 1754

Walter Stanhope

. 1711

Standly

1747 _ 1750

Nathaniel Skinner

. 1716

J. Town .

1754

John Tomkings

. 1740

John Tarrant

1688

Jacob Townshend

. 1754

Jo. Vice

1689—1713

J. Wise

. 1709

Wilkinson^ .

1740

Wm. Williams

Clem. Walker

1732 — 1735

Isa. Wodmore

. 1752

It is impossible to obtain partit

;ulars of all the Fleet Parsons

' Rogers was a prisoner in the Fleet, but went at large to his living in Essex,
and all places else ; " he is a very wicked man as lives for drinking, whoring, and
swearing." (See Letter at p. 10.) He was Rector of Ashingdon in Essex, 13
June 1687, and died in 1710. (See Morant's Essex.) On the cover of one of
the Fleet pocket-books is " Nehemiah Rogers, of Ashendon, Essex; Zachariah
Rogers, Tain, near Colchester ; Lydia Rogers."

^ Shadwell. This man was blind, at least so it appears by the following memo-
randum after one of his marriages: " Marr: and Clerk four shillings. No Certiri-
cate. This Parson was blind." See also the use made of a blind parson, page 65.

^ He died some years prior to 1740.

^ Query, If the Minister of the Savoy, who was transported in 1756 for mar-
rying contrary to the Marriage Act of 1753, and of whom an account is hereafter
given.

who married at the Fleet, for by the following paragraph
they appear to have been sometimes common beggars :

" On Friday last (19th,) was brought before Sir Joseph Hankey,
at Guildhall, a man in a Clergyman's habit, for begging, which he
made a common practice of: he was committed for further ex-
amination the next day, when it appeared he was a notorious idle
fellow, and common cheat, having made use of that habit only to
impose on the public; as also to perform the office of marrying
several persons at the Fleet Prison ; whereupon he was committed
to Bridewell to hard labour." — General Advertiser, Dec. 22, 1746.

THE NAMES OF SOME OF THE PERSONS WHO KEPT MAKRIAGE
HOUSES, AND ACTED AS CLERKS.

Bartholomew Bassett, 1699.'

Joshua Lilley, Hand and Pen, near Fleet Bridge.'

' Bassett rented, in 1702, the cellars of the Fleet Prison, at 100/. per annum.
By his ill practices at the Fleet, he maintained a large familj'. (See letter, p. 10.)
He was clerk of the Fleet Chapel.

On the trial of "Handsome'' Fielding in 1706 for marrying the Duchess of
Cleveland, a Fleet Register was produced to prove the person Fielding had first
married, was a married woman, and had been married at the Fleet. Elizabeth
Bassett deposed that her father-in-law was clerk of the Fleet Prison, and kept the
Register of the INIarriages there, but he having been sick, she had the Register in
her keeping ; and that about two or three months ago a woman came to the house
of deponent and said there was a marriage of one Lilly Bradly and Mary Wands-
worth, and offered deponent a piece of money if she would strike it out. The
entry being read, ]Mr. Roscorloe deposed that he went with Mr. Longford by the
Attorney-General's order, and searched the books in the Fleet and found no such
entry as that now produced, and deponent took particular notice of the blank where
this certificate was then entered. — Celebrated Trials, vol. iii. 540.

* Lilley. This man pretended to hold his appointment as Register of Marriages,
&c. at the Fleet, from the Lord Chancellor, and to have given lOOOZ. for it.

The following entry is made in one of the Registers by one of the parsons :

"June ye 13th, 1744, Whereas one Joshua Lilley, being a noted man for iiavino-
more marriages at his house than the generality of y= people could have, he the said
Joshua Lilley keeping several plyars, as they are call'd, to gett these weddings, I
have put his marriages down in a separate book, but finding ill-convenience arise
thereby, fro' this 13th instant do insert it wti> y* rest."

Ashwell has inserted in his pocket-book the following note of this man :

" N. B.— On Sunday, November y* 6, 1740, at y"-" hour of 9, in my house de-
clared that if he had not come home out of y country, being fled for punishment,
having cut of his hair (to prevent being known) y' y' indictment for marryino- James

John Lilley, Bull and Garter,'

John Burnford, lived, in 1742, at the upper end of Half- Moon
Court, at the Hand and Pen, and Noah's Ark, next Ludgate. He
acted as clerk, and kept a register of his own. He died about
July 1747.

William Bettell.

Thomas Bennett.

Thomas Cox, Hand and Pen, Ditch Side.

Thomas Hodgkins.

Sarah Barrett, Fleet Bridge, 1747 (many marriages appear to
have been solemnized at her house.)

Bethra Reynolds, 1743.

Mrs. Levy.

Ann Hodgkins,- Fleet Lane, kept a register.

Huney to Miss Herietta Arnold, he had been ruin'd but yt he swore it off and
y* attorney promis'd to defend him, and it cost him only a treat of 10s. ; had I

staid, says the s*" Joshua Lilley, where I was, viz , the indictment would have

stood good against me, but my taking y« side of the prosecutor, y'= young ladies,
I have got it safe off."

One of his handbills is as follows :

" J. Lilley, at ye' Hand and Pen, next door to the china shop, Fleet Brido-e,
London, will be perform'd the solemnization of marriages by a gentleman regularly
bred att one of our Universities, and lawfully ordain'd according the institutions
of the Church of England, and is ready to wait on any person in town or countrey."

' In 1717, John Lilley, Turnkey of the Fleet Prison, was found guilty and fined
51. as being clerk to a clandestine marriage in the Fleet. " This John Lilley keeps
an alehouse joyning to the Fleet Prison, and calls one room in it his chapel, which
he pretends to be tolerated by the Bishop of London, and gives out marriage certifi-
cates printed with the City arms, calling 'em (as was then proved) my Lord Mayor's
certificates." (Printed handbill.)

" On the trial of John Miller for bigamy, the following evidence was given :

Ann Hodgkins. " On the 11th March 1724-5, in the evening, the prisoner and
this woman Mary Moore were married at my house in Fleet Lane, by James
Starkey, a minister that lodged with me nine years. Mr. Ballantine gave her away,
and his wife was present at the same time.

Ballantine. " 1 never gave away Mary Moore to the prisoner, nor ever so much
as saw them together at Mrs. Hodgkins' house in my life ; but any body may have
a certificate at her house for half-a-crown, and have their names entered in her
book, for as long time past as they please.

Mrs. Ballantine. " I never saw the prisoner and Mary Moore married at Mrs.
Hodgkins' house, though I lodged there, nor ever knew of their being married at all.

An?i Glover. " Rlary Moore says she'll do my business for me. I went with
her to prove her marriage at Mrs. Hodgkins', and Mrs. Hodgkins said, for half-
a-guinea she'd enter her name in the Register, for a certificate would not do if the

Matthias Wilson, Hand and Pen, near Fleet Ditch, kept a
Register.

John Wheeler, (a great many marriages were performed " at
Wheeler's.")
John Connor.
James Crookes.

Isaac Ewell, the King's Head, Tm-nkey of the Fleet Prison, and
appears to have kept a Register.
John Smith.
M. Artridge.

Mr. Potter, Mr. Albone, 1743, Roger Griffin, Fountain Tavern.
Thomas Dawbykin.
Thomas Gibson.
Ed. Patty, (clerk in 1729.)
Mrs. Balls, Hand and Pen, 1736.

Mr. Crosier, Hoop and Bunch of Grapes, Holborn Bridge, 1740.
George Gillett, Swan, in Fleet Market, 1742.
Mr. Roberts, The Lamb, 1725.

William Wyatt, Walter Wyatt's Brother, a house in Sea Coal
Lane, 1746, the New Market House, Fleet I-ane.
King's Arms, Fleet Market.
Mr. Boyce, King's Head, in the Rules, 1714 to 1729.

Horse Shoe and Magpie, Fleet Market, 1753.
Wheatsheaf, Fleet Market, 1734-1749.
Hand and Pen, and Noah's Ark, next Ludgate.

The Bishop Blaze and the Two Sawyers, Fleet Lane.
Mrs. Francis, Queen's Head.

Rainbow Coffee House, Corner of Fleet Ditch.
Mrs. Johnson, Golden Lion Tavern, Old Bailey.
Samuel Pickering \

Thomas Owen, 1725.' >The Fighting Cocks, Fleet Lane.
Mr. Keen, 1739. )

marriage was not registered : her name was not in the book, and I saw Starkey the
parson interline' her name in the book five years backwards. The parson is now
run away into Scotland, and Mary Moore begg'd me not to appear at this trial.

Andrew Montgomery. " Mrs. Hodgkins offered me a marriage certificate for a
young woman that happened to be with child, and was hunted by the parish officers,
and she said, for half-a-guinea it might be entered backwards in tiie book, and would
skreen her from tlie anger of her friends." — Prisoner acquitted, and allowed a copy
of his indictment. *

' Upon the trial of Thomas Ileild, in 1756, for bigamy, this man dcjiosed that

Oat.es, >

Daniel Stebbings, Shepherd and Goat, near Fleet Bridge, 1748.
Mr. Crompton, and on his death, Mr. Green, the Cock and Acorn.
Mr. Demat, The Cock.

he had kept a public house in the Fleet, since 23 March 1754, and that one
Thomas Russel with Sarah Mills came there to have a marriage entered seven
years back, which he refused. Mills denied tliis, and the Court committed Owen
for perjury. (He had possession of many of the Fleet Registers, see p. 68.)

' On Tuesday, one Oates a plyer for and clerk to Weddings at the Bull and
Garter, by the Fleet Gate, was bound over to appear at the next Sessions, for hiring
one John Funuell, a poor boy, (for half-a-guinea,) that sells fruit on Fleet Bridge,
to personate one John Todd, and to marry a woman in his name, which lie accord-
ingly did ; and the better to accomplish this piece of villainy, the said Oates pro-
vided a blind parson for that purpose. (^Grub Street Journal, Sept. 1732.)

CHAPTER IV.

THE FLEET BOOKS. THEIR TRANSMISSION TO THE CUSTODY OF

THE BISHOP OF LONDON. EXTRACTS, ETC. ETC.

The Fleet Marriages having been performed at a great
number of houses in the neighbourhood of the Fleet, and
the proprietors of the houses being frequently the possessors
of the registers of marriages performed there, it is impossible
to trace all these books from their first use until their de-
posit in the registry of the Bishop of London.

There are, it is believed, several of the Fleet Registers
still in private hands ; two of them are in possession of Mr.
Philip Charles Moore in Doctors'" Commons ; the one com-
mencing 2nd Feb. 1716 and ending 31st Dec. 1722, containing
about three or four thousand marriages ;^ the other (indorsed
" John Lilley his book,"") commencing 14th October 1716
and ending 1719- — Another Register is in Ra\vlinson''s Col-
lection (marked B. 360.) in the Bodleian Library at Oxford ;
it commences 4th March 1725 and ends 16th March 1730:
on the first leaf is written the following title : " A True and
exact Register of Marriages at the Fleet, A.D. 1724-5," to
which John Locker, F.S A. the intimate fi'iend of Dr. Rawlin-
son, has added the following note, " \Vhich being produced on
a trial relating to the marriage of Francis Goulding, in Aug.
1726, came to the hands of Richard Woolfe, Esq. Register of
the Duchy, who gave it to Dr. Rawlinson, 2nd Feb. 1754.""

After much trouble and enquiry, however, the following is
the best account which can be collected.

By a printed bill pasted in one of the Fleet Registers, it

' The following Exhibit is written in tliis Book : " Phillips otherwise Delafield
otherwise Devall, against IJclafield otiierwise Devall. This Book was in the pos-
session of Ann Ilodgkiiis at the time of her examination in the above cause, the 19"*
of Juno 1733.— Edw-* Rubhworth No"-* Publ :'

appears tliat after 175 i-, tlie Clerk of tlio Ilcv. Mr. Lando
(one of the Fleet parsons) had the Ilogister Books of Dr.
Wigmore, Evans, Lando, Callow, Wodmor, Nodes, Bray-
field, and Townsend ; and that he had taken an office in
Half-Moon Court, Ludgate, where searches for marriages
might be made.

In another book are pasted the following advertisements :

This is to acquaint the Public,
To prevent the trouble and expense of searching at different
houses for Fleet Marriages,

That the Books of all the Marriages performed by D"^ Wigmore,
D"" Dare, and several other former clergymen, at all the different
houses of the Fleet, and other parts of Town and Country, are to
be seen at the Public Register-Office, the uppermost house but
one in Half-Moon Court, joining to Ludgate.

And that the Public may not be deceived, no person has the
originals but the Keeper of this Office, and no Certificates, but
from the same, are good at law. To be searched any day of the
week except Sunday.

Kept by the Widow of the said D"" Wigmore.

" N.B. These Registers mention the exact house where every
marriage was performed, both in the Liberties of the Fleet, &c."

Marriages'
Decently solemnized (as they are at May Fair,)
At the old original private Chapel of the Rev** Mr. Lando, late
Chaplain to His Majesty's ship the Falkland. St. John's Chapel
is in Half-Moon Court, the first bouse joining to Ludgate, on Lud-
gate Hill.

Where Marriages from the year 1700 maybe found of the Rev'^
D"^ Allen, D"^ Mortram, D"^ Bucklan, D"^ Ryder, D-^ Syndery, D'
Cuthbert, D'' Flood, D"" Gainham, D"" Ashwell, widi some of D""
Wyatt's, and all of D"" Evans and D"" Wigmore, to be searched
without imposition.

The Fleet Registers became a saleable article as early as

' This advertisement is headed with the King's Arms ia the centre, with the
device of a hand and pen on one side, and the ship Falkland on the otiier.

F 2

1732; for, on the trial of Elij?. Reader in 1741, Wm. Scape
deposed, that about eif^ht or nine years previously he bought
a Register Book, in which was the marriage in question,
but the person who owned it was dead; and on the trial of
Thomas Hurnell, in 1741, tiie following evidence was given:

Mrs. Barrett. — I knew Anthony Shellburn, he has been dead
some years. I live in Fleet Lane ; but the book this marriage is
in, belongs to Mr. Cox, at the Hand and Pen, at the Ditch Side.
I have got with me the Registers of my husband's Marriages. Mr.
Cox is dead, and the book went to Ms tvidow ; she has since sold it to
other persons.

When one of the Fleet Registers was taken to Shrewsbury,
on a trial there in 1794, a Mrs. Olivi^ gave the following
evidence on the subject :

" My first husband was Thos. Owens. I had the Register
Books of Fleet Marriages in my possession from my marriage in
1761, till I went to America eleven years ago. I then sold them
to Mr. Panton. My husband Owen died about 1773. My hus-
band made a will. I had the possession of the books myself, as
my husband had other business. I heard my husband say he pur-
chased these books. He had a Marriage Hou^e in Fleet Lane. I
used the books to grant certificates upon parish affairs."

By the Will of Thomas Owens, dated 18th Feb. 1775, and
proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, he bequeaths
to his wife Susan Owens, " Ail the Books of the Registrj/ of
the Fleet Marriages, now in my possession.''''

By a small copy-book among the Fleet Registers, it would

' Mrs. Olivi, or Olive, was originally a servant to a man named Lilly, who kept
a Marriage House near the corner of Fleet Street. She used to ply for Lilly, and
when he died, Owens succeeded to one of the Marriage Houses, and married this
Mrs Olivi. It is not improbable that Owens bought the books of Lilly's repre-
sentatives. Lilly was one of the most fortunate of the marriage-house keepers, and
had a very brisk trade.

The following advertisement shows Mr. Olive's residence :

" All thu original Register Books containing the marriages solemnized at the
Fleet, May Fair, and the Mint, for upwards of one hundred years past, may be
searched 'oy applying to George Olive, at the Wheat Sheaf, in NichoU's Square,
near Cripplcgate. The great utility of these Collections jjrevcnts any encomiums."

appear that some of the books were in the possession of
Elizabeth Parker and John Pridham from 1770 to 1775,
and this co|)y-b<K)k aj)pcars to have been used for entering
searches. ISome of the certificates inserted are signed " John
Pridham, at the Bull and Mouth, Bloomsbury Market."

By the evidence on the before-mentioned trial in 1794, it
appears that " The persons who kept the different Marriage
Houses were occasionally the Clerks ; if nobody was in the
way, any person executed the office as a Clerk. The man
that in general was their servant, he registered them.'"^

Five or six hundred of these books were purchased of
Mrs. Olivi, about 1783, by Mr. Benjamin Panton. Mr.
Puntou, in his evidence in the cause of Lloyd v. Passingham,
said they weighed more than a ton ; that he had been in the
habit of attending Courts of Justice with them, and never
knew them refused.-

About January 1805 Mr. Panton died, leaving a Will,
whereby he bequeathed these books to his daughter, M.
Panton, who possessed them until 1813, during which time
they were advertised by printed hand-bills as follows:—

" All the original Register Books of the Marriages in the Fleet,
May Fair, and the Mint, are now in the possession of M Panton
(Register Keeper), No. 50, Houndsditch, by whom they are ex-
amined and Certificates of Marriages granted." (Then follows a
list of the Fleet Clergy.)

*** " Enquiries by Letter (post paid) immediately answered."

In 1813 Miss Panton disposed of them to Mr. Wm. Cox.
Amongst the books is one used to contain an account of all

' In one of the Registers is a memorandum, " Here ends the Register kept by
my wife." — In Miss Scroope's reply to ]Mr. Cresswell's Narrative (publislied 1747),
she says, " He took nie up stairs (at the Fleet) where were a Clergyman and a
woman, who officiated as Clerk. These 1 found had been appointed several days
before. When the Ceremony was over, IMr. Cresswell paid them. The Clergy-
man took a book in his hand and demanded the fee for registering the Marriage.
He refused giving so much and offered a smaller price. This was not accepted ;
and i\Ir. Cresswell said, ' then it shall not be registered at all.' The Clergyman
then applied to ;ue, an I I, not knowing the consct[ueiice, readily declared my in-
difference."

- Short-hand notes taken at tlie trial.

searches made : it is headed, " This Book contains all the
searches found and not found from the year 178i to 1804
and 1813, that as been made by any of Mr. Panton's familly
since inn their possession, and is now going on by Mr. Wm.
Cox, 1813." 1

They were purchased of Mr. Cox by Government, in 1821 ;
and in one of the printed parliamentary estimates for that
year, entitled,

" An account showing how the sum of £280,000 granted by Par-
liament to provide for extraordinary expenses of a civil nature
was expended," is the following item.

" George Maule, Esq. Solicitor for the affairs of the Treasury, to
enable him to purchase for the use of the public a series of
Books containing the Entries of Marriages in the Fleet Prison
and the Rules thereof, from the year 1686 to the year 1734.

£260. 6*. 6d."

Having then become the property of the Government, they
were deposited at the office of the Registrar of the Consis-
tory Court of London," accompanied by the following letter
from the Secretary of State.

' By some entries made in one of the Fleet books, (No. 219.) it appears that in
1761 the writer received for Searclies and Extracts in and from the books in his pos-
session, £61. 14s. In 1762, £90. As. 8d. For a Certificate of the Marriage of

James Ford and Isabella Liscomb,

John Phillips and Mary Guss

Isaac Gouldin and Ann Willis

Tho^ Bassett and Jane M'Uoual

Jn° Baptiz Brozos and Rlary Potter

F^rancis Brovvnford for goin to Westm'^
And there is in the same book the following minute ; " Nov. 30, 1761, bought the
Books of M'*. Drummon."

A great many of the small memorandum books iiave the name of " Tho* Cope"
on the covers.

It is believed tlie following office, mentioned in the Law Lists for several years,
belonged to Mr. Panton. " Register containing iMarriages of the F'leet, iMay Fair,
and IMint, in Rutland-House, Charter-House Square."

^ It is to be wished that they were better arranged and indexed. There are
several very large indexes, which only require a little time and attention to ascertain
to what Registers they refer. The pocket-books also might bo bound together, and
preserved from dust and dirt; and if Government would give about £300, these
objects mi^ht be attained. It was a labour pf many months to i.'o through so many

£6.

6s,

.0(1.

Wliitoliall, Aiuil 25, 1821
" Sir,

" It having been jiu]<z;eil expedient t(» j)urclKi.se a set of books
containing the original Entries ot" Marriages solennii/ccl in the
Fleet Prison and Rules thereof, from the year IGHCi to the year
1754, I liave been honoured with His Majesty's connnands to de-
sire that you will receive the said books from Mr. Maule, the
Solicitor to the Treasury, and give him a receipt for the same, and
deposit them in tlie Registry of the Consistory Court of London.
" I have the honour to be. Sir,

" Your most obedient humble Servant,

" SiDMOUTIl."

" The Registrar of the Consistory
Court of London, or his Deputy." ^

It has been already mentioned, that the date of the earliest
Fleet Register now preserved in the Bishop's Registry is in
•IGT^ ; it is a small thin quarto, and in order to show the de-
scription of persons married, and the style of Entry, the first
four pages are subjoined : —

(Page 1.)
November y^ 6, 1674.

William Frenle}'^, Ship Carpenter, of St. John's, Wapping, s.d.
Batch", and Elizabeth Simons of the same 3 0

D' Tho' Hodgkins.
February y" 26, 1675.

John Hutchinson, Husbandman, of Rumford in Esex, s. d.
Batch', and Mary Pauley, Widow 2 6

D'. T. Hodgkins.

hundreds of dusty, dirty, and sometimes ragged books, to extract the materials for
this volume.

• The following paragraph appeared in the Cunrier at the time : —
" A very important discovery has a short time since been made of tlic orifinal
books of Registry of iNlaniagcs and liiiths which occurred in the Fleet I'rison and
its Rules from tlie year 1686 to 1754, together with those celebrated at tlie Mint and
fllay Fair Chapel : of the authenticity of these records no doubt is entertained ; and
they have, by an order from Lord SiJmouth, been lately deposited witli tlie Regis-
trar of the Uiocese of London, in Godliaian-strcet. The long period of doubt and
difficulty which obscured the union of the marriages and births of that era, before
the (late of the Warriage Act, will now be cleared, and the titles to estates during
that period lind a clear elucidation hitherto veiy much rccpiired." [Courier, 8 June
1821.)

April y* 10 1675.

Joseph Daniel, Lamplighter, Batch'', and Mary Steed, .v.

Widow S

D' T. Hodgkins.
July y^ 27 1675.
Thomas Procter, Weaver, of St. Olive, Widower, and Mar- s.

garet Gallway of the same, Spinster 6

D^ T. Hodgkins.

(Page 2.)
Aug^'. y' 5 1675. s.

John Cambert, of York City, and Elizabeth South 10

D' T. Hodgkins.
September y' 4.
Abel Wood, Labourer, of Borwell in Cambridgeshire, Wi- s. d.

dower, and Elizabeth Webb of the same, Spinster 2 6

October y' 9.

Joseph Rice, of Beton in Glostershire, and Elizabeth Hislop s.
of St. Georges in the East 13

D' T. Hodgkins.
October y* 10.

Richard Greneld, Husbandman, of Ridg, in Oxfordshire,
Widower, and Ann Green of Windall, in Norfolkshire, s.
Widow 5

D' T. Hodgkins.
(Page 3.)
October y^ 16 1675. s.

Jonathan Haslop, Gardner, of Edminton, and Agnes Russell 7

D' T. Hodgkins.

October y* 23.

John Crockman and Mary Barrett, fordcbottle of Roch- s.
ford in Esex 14

D' T. Hodgkins.
October y' 29.

John Freeman, of Hornchurch, in Esex, and Elizabeth «. d.
Loveday of the same 7 G

D-^ T. Hodgkins.
Nov' y* 6.

John Garret, Husbandman, of Drayton in Esex, Batch", and s
Sarah Young of the same, Spinster 3 6

D' T. Hodgkins.

7.3

(Page 4.)

November y"" 11 1G75. ,£ .?,

Peter Right CIia{)iTian of Shortly Bridge in Nortliuniber-
iand, Widower, and Mary Uucheson of truckucar in
Scotland, Spinster 1 1

D' T. Hodgkins.

November y*^ 18"'. s. d.

Henry Duck, Farmer, Batch', and Mary Serjeant, Spinster 4 6

D' T. Hodgkins.
November y* 27.

John Packwell, of Mitcham in Surry, Widovrer, and Ann s.
Phillips of the same 1 1

D' T. Hodgkins.

There are in this early Register nine more Entries in 1675 ;
seventy-four Entries in 1676; forty-seven in 1677; fortv-
two in 1678; forty-three in 1679, and eight to the 3rd of
Marcli 1680, which is the date of the last Entry in tlie Book.
Amongst some old covers, leaves, &c. &ec. connected with the
Fleet Registers, are six or eight leaves of an old Register
with the Entries purporting to be of the date of 1668, but
upon a close examination, it appears that tlie entries have
been originally dated 1698, but the tail of the nine has been
erased and it has been made into a six. This must have been
done at considerable trouble. The falsehood is also detected
by referring to the same matches in another Book, where
they are entered as of 1698.

^rtViUH from tlje Mr0t0ter0,

The following are extracts from the Fleet Registers, which
consist of about two or three hundred large Registers, and
a thousand or more of the rough Books, or, as they are called,
Pocket Books.

" November 5"' 1742 was married Benjamin Richards of the
parish of St. Martin in the Fields B' &- Judith Lance D'^ Sp —
at the Bull and Garter and gave g & for an antidate to March y*
11"' in the same year, which Lilley comply'd w"' & put 'em in his
Book accordingly, ^/^ere bcwf/ a vacauci/in the Booh sutahhto the time"

" On Tuesday Aprill the 20"' 1742 came a man (!v: woman to
the Bull & Garter the man pretended he would marry y'' woman
by w'ch pretence he gott money to pay for marrying & to buy a

ring, but left the woman by herself and never returned, upon
which J. Lilley takes the woman from the Bull & Garter to his
own house and gave her a Certifycate as if she had been married

to the man. The Maid a Welch Girl call'd brought me

a Guinea to change and told me the story."

" Jn° Ellis & Jane Davis, she being dead left a house in y""
Market Place in Ailsbury 2 Flower pots at y'' Door. Wanted by
y^ Soror & Wax Work a Sham C of y' Nupt Oct' 9'" 1739."

" June 10 1729 John Nelson of y'' Pa of St, George Hanover
Batchelor and Gardener & Mary Barns of y" same Sp: married

Jn" Floud Min"'
Cer: dated 5 November 1727 to please their parents."

" Wanted 18 years back."

" IS"' offered me 10^ 6" to fill up a blank in Mr. Flood's Name &
Books."

"John Thomas Briquett of the Pa of St Giles's Attorney at
Law and Sara Jarman of the Pa of St Anns Westm' W & Sp mar:
by me in Newgate some years since

in Major Barnardy's Room. Jn° Floud Cler."

" Aug'' 3P' 1738 James Clement Gent of St Edmund y" King
London B' & Eliz Taylor of St Pauls Covent Garden Sp"" at Far-
rells Bagnio in Long Acre — £3. 5. 0."

" 1728, Joseph South, of the parish of Deptford in Kent, and
Eliz. Durham of the same place Ba. and Sp. married at a Cook-
shop, next the Yorkshire Gray, at the house of John War-
minger."

" These wicked people came this day ; Peter Oliver of St.
Olaves Carpenter and Elisabeth Overton B. and W would have a
certificate dated in 1729, or would not be married if it was to be
dated to this time — went to Lilley 's and was married."

" This 3P' of May came a man and a wooman to be married at
M" Levi's. Gave M' Ashwell 2^ 6'^: he would have 3' 0" all ; but

they abusied him, and all pcrKons there, went to Bates or

M" Dare's, and gave ii" G'' and was married, which was nine shil-
lings, when they might been done cheaper."

" N.B. A coachman came and was half married, and wou'd give
bat 3' {)'' and went off."

" 1741, Walter Turner, of St. Ann's Soho, B', and Sarah
Sysani, appcar'd to be a vile design'd skeme, as I afterwards dis-
covered."

" September y" ll'^ 1745.
Edw'' '
and Elizab***

were married and would not let me know their names, y* man said
he was a weaver and liv'd in Bandylegwalk, in the Borough.

F E. Ashwell."

" 13 Sept. Edw'^ Emmet Gent, of Barkin in Essex B and Han-
nah Bowie D" Sp. Castle Tavern Paternoster Row, M"^ Burnford's
Weding. W. 2 guineas, M. 1 guinea, was to be secret for a month."

' Besides the Registers, there are in the Bishop's Registry a very great number
of small pocket-books used by the Fleet parsons, and which, it appears, they were
in the habit of carrying about with them to the different public-houses where Mar-
riages were to be done, and making the entries therein, and afterwards transcribing
them into the large Register. In case, however, the parties did not pay for regis-
tering, or if they wished the marriage to be secret, their surnames were not tran-
scribed into the large Register, so that these pocket-books are valuable as containing
particulars not to be met with in the larger Register.

After the entries of Marriages, the remarks of the clergyman are often to be met
with ; as a specimen of them, are the following —

" Jn" Todd of St. John's Wapping at King Edw<i* Staires waterman, a friendly
adviser and director to y'= Fleet for IVIarriages."

" N.B. they had liv'^ together 4 years as man and wife : they were so vile as to
ask for a Certifycate to be antidated."

" N.B. they wanted an antidate from 45 to 41."

" N.B. Both y* man and woman were exceedingly vile in their behaviour."

" N.B. the woman was big w"> child, and they wanted a Certifycate antidated ;
and because it was not comply'd with, they were abusive w* a Witness."

" N.B. the person belonging to y^ house aloud me only 2* out of 8*."

" 4 .0—2. .6— p'' 3..0 Waterman."

(About 4s. or 5s. appears to have been the clergyman's fee, and Is or 2s. the
clerk's. Out of these, an allowance was made to the persons who brought the par-
ties to be married.)

" Had a noise for foure hours about the money."

" N.B. Stole a silver spoon."

" 1740 Geo Grant & Ann Gordon B &c Sp. Stole my cloathes brush."

"' 1740 R'' Shears & Hannah Allen B & S. The person whoe was with tiiem
I believe knew it to be a made marriage."

" Davis and Wyatt brought the others, and were very abusive to M' Ashwell.
I absent, and went and left a pott of 4 penny to pay."

" Her eyes very black, and he beat about yc face very much."

" Annulus . . 0. 7. 0."

" Snuff Box left for is, 6J."

" Scpr the 6'^ John Fletcher of the Parish of St. Mary's,
Oxon. Da. and Gent., and Mary Gardner, of the Pa. of Fulham,
Hammersmith, Spinster, att the Goat, Phillips's, the 6"'.

John Flood.

*' This was a Gentleman, Gaynam refused to marry. By reason
of his being student att Oxford, and knowing his father."

"IMay y* G"^ 1740 James Wheeler Drum-^ of y*^ P* Ilegim* &
Catherine Smith W & W — At y* new Bawdy-house joyning
Grinley's."

" June the 21, 1741. Thomas Millis Butcher of Kingston-upon-
Theams B' & Mary Jarvis of S' Clement Dean Sp. M"^' Crooks. —
N.B. Madam Roberts the player who lives in Duke Street West-
minster came w"' them & a Barronight who keeps her came with
them."

"Jan'' 4, 1743-4. Thomas Brown of the first troop of Horse
Guards W^id"" & Mary Hope of St. Pancras — at the Shepherd &
Goat. — N.B. This s** Thomas Brown that took the Standard at
Dedingen."

"June, 2G. 1744 Nathaniel Gilbert Gent of St Andrews Hol-
born and Mary Lupton — at Oddy's. — N.B. There was 5 or 6 in
company, one amongst seem'd to me by his dress and behavi' to
be an Irishman. He pretended to be some Grand Officer in the
army. He y*" said Irish Gent told me before I saw y*^ woman y*
was to be married y* it was a poor Girl a going to be married to a
Common Soldier, but when I come to marry them I found myself
impos'd upon, and having a mistrust of some Irish roguery, I took
upon me to ask what y*^ Gentleman's name was, his age &c and
likewise the Lady's name & age — Answer was made me — What
was that to me G . . dam me if I did (not) immediately marry
them he would use me ill ; in short, apprehending it to be a con-
s{)iracy I found myself obliged to marry them in Terrorem — N.B.
some material part was omitted."

" 1742 May 24 A Soldier brought a Barber to the Cock who
I think said his name was JameS; Barber by Trade, was in part
married to Elizabeth, they said they were married enough."

" 1717 Feb 4 "i Cha Bowles of Soutluvark Merchant & Doro-
at his own House rthy Hunt of Lower Areley in Worstcrshirc.
Southwark ' W and Sp."

" I have put. a secret Wedding in my private Book of Memo-
randum on this day" (Nov. 5. 1742.)'

" The woman ran across Ludgate Ilill in her shift." ^

"Entered in Lilleys Book by an unknown liand — Dec' 1 1716
Dan Paul St James's Capt" in y"^ Horse Guards. EHzabeth Murray
B Sp."

" March y« 4"^ 1740 William •'' and Sarah

he dress'd in a gold waistcoat like an Officer, she a Beautifull young
Lady with 2 fine diamond Rings and a Black high Crown Hat &
very well dressed — at Boyce's."

" N.B. There was 4 or 5 young Irish Fellows, seem'd to me
after y* Marriage was over to have deluded y^ young woman — gave
d Clk y & :* N.B. behaved rogueshly. Broke the Coachman's
Glass."

" N.B. married at a Barbers Shop next Wilsons viz. one Ker-
rils for half a Guinea, after which it was extorted out of my
pocket and for fear of my life delivered."

In one of the Books for entering searches is the followinor :
" John Colebrook wd" weaver, Joyce Ireland Sp Sep 3"' about
the time that 2 Lords Beheaded on Tower Hill."

" 20 May 1737. Jn" Smith Gent of St. James Wesf Batch-- &
Eliz Huthall of St Giles's Sp' at Wilson's. By y* opinion after
matrimony my Clark judg'd they were both women, if y*^ person
by name John Smith be a man, he 's a little short fair thin man
not above 5 foot."

" After marriage I almost co'' prove y" both women, the one was
dress'd as a man thin pale face & wrinkled chin."

" Thomas Monk Sawyer & Marg* Lawson pawn'd to Mr. Lilley
a handkerchief & silver Buttons for 2^"

' A separate Book was kept for the purpose of insertlnfr Marriages which were
desired to be kept secret. Upon perusal of a private Book of this sort from 1748 to
1753, it appears that nearly all the contracting parties were of a superior station in
life, the additions being " Gent, and Sp."

* It was a vulgar error that a mm was not liable to the Bride's dei;ts if he took
her in no other app;irel than her shift. The Daily Journal of 8 Nov. 1725, men-
tions a similar exhibition at Lllcomb, in Kent.

^ In a great many instances the parties refused to tell their surnames.

■• Letters were used to denote the Sums received for fees, in the same way as they
are now used by 'i'radesmen for their j)rivate marks.

'< N.B. y^ woman was a Neighbour's Daught^jr, the Sister raised
a Mob and s'' my maid was my W "

No. 3. A large tliick volume of Marriages,- commencing in
1689, containing also many Baptisms, of which the fol-
lowing is one :

« 22 Aug. 1691. PhilHp Orrell, son of Benjamin and EHzabeth
Orrell, baptized.

Sponsors John Jones
Rich'' Stone
Ann Jackson,
Mary Ellis."
No. 5. A very large folio intituled " The Register of the
Fleet wherein is contained the severall marriages cele-
brated and performed In The New Chappie St Brides
beginning January 1751," ends July 1753.^

" Charles a Countryman & Lusey would not tell their names vil
Beaheaver. J.F." 24 Dec. 1751.

No. 24. A very large square folio, commencing Sept. 14,
1709, ending 18 Oct. 1715 (about 1200 entries.)

" Xmas 1714. John Caterwood in White Lyon Cort Cornhill
married to Mad* Wattgraves att Mr Lilleys — and her former hus-
band is Liveing. Married by Mr. John Mottram. Shee lodging att
Charles Street in Westminster."

No. 27. A thin folio of 40 pages, for the year 1744. The
initials of the Clergy man''s name and the fees paid are
added to the entries ; the amounts of fees paid for the
marriages registered on three pages are thus:
. 3 . 7. G

2. 6

3. 6

1. 1

2. 6

7. 6

2. 6.

5.
10. 6

"Jan: 13.1744.

John -
Mary -

1 W D 2. 6"

10.

' The Numbers here placed against the Books from which the Author's extracts
are made, are tliose in liis own manusciipt, not those of tlic Registers thcivisclves.

No. 30. " The Registry of the WetUlings at the King's
Arms Fleet Market by Sundry Parsons."

" 1740 Octo 24. Gwin Lloyd of Hendor Merionothshire Esq. &
Elizth Taylor of St. James's Westm-^ B & S. P^ W. Wyatt." '

No. 40. The Marriages in this Book performed by Mr. Floud
about 1725, have the Names of the Witnesses sub-
scribed.

No. 41. 1721-1727, " Register Book of Marriages by Sundry
Parsons. The Chappie Register."

" October 6, 1722. Thomas Hinkly, Mitcham, Husbandman.
Sarah Baker, Morton B. S. (Mott) no cer : under

£02. 2. 6 for cheating of me Matt. Wilson."

(At the end of the Book.) " At the sign of the Hand and Pen
on the ditch side London, where the Ancient Register Books of
Fleet Marriages are kept, persons may be married at their own
conveniency by a Minister of y^ Church of England."

No. 47. About 5000 entries, 1725-1736.

" N. B. that a Woman by the name of Martha Mathews came
here when Mr Lilley was out and said she was married to one
Rich^ Edwards. I enter'd it down by mistake in a Certificat but
no such marridge was ever in this Book Jobson."

" 1728-9 March 3. Henry and Ann, no other names.

Ja. Wagst."

" Novemb'" 1728, 4"'. Edward Euerret of St James Westmins"" &
Hannah Grady of y^ same, Batch"^ and Spins"^

not married."

"January 1728-9, 13'". Tho'^ Conden of St Margaretts West-
minster Shoemaker and Mary Jones Sp* of do.

" N.B. behav*^ very indecent and rude to all."

" 1729 June 15. Francis and Sarah thay went a way In hast But
married. P* Jos^ Lilley P" John Floud, Min'"

" 1734 December 1-5. John Mountford of St. Ann's Sohoe Tay-
lor B, Mary Cooper Ditto Sp.

suspected 2 Women, no Certif :"

' This was the entry in question in tlie case of Lloyd and Passingham,

}

«0

" 1 735 June 5"'. Dennis and Ann

Done at the Mitre at Brentford )

, , . . f P"^ J. Gaynam. '

would give no sirnames J •'

No. U. 1721-1733, about 1200 entries, with an Index.

"17:28 March 1. Christopher Martin of Hanover Sq: St.
Georges and Ruth Agar of Marribone married. J. Floud, Min"
Register'd on the 4 of August 1728 and the marriage done the
4 of August on Sunday." '

" 25 June 1729. W"" Kniht of the Pa of Hampstead Gard-
and Batchelor & Joanna Woodward of the parish of Wilsdon
Spinster, married. P"' Jn" Floud."

W™ Knight none to search but him-
or Joanna Woodward, Bride — no
month set on the Cer. only the
24"^ day W" Knight.

No. 46. 1731-1737.

" 1733-4, January 14. Cornehus Tho' of St Mary Rotherhithe
B' & Gent & Hester Green Sp'. Left a ring.— 0. 10. 6.

Rob* Cuthbert."

No. 51. 1727-1754, but has entries as early as 1700, with an
Index.

This is one of the most curious of the Books, as nearly
every entry has some observation annexed to it, written in
Greek characters, which illustrate the shameful practices of
the Fleet Clergymen.

"March 1729, 2". John Gordon Esq', of the liberty of Westm""
& Barbara Raynes of Greenwich in Kent B tt Sp.

P' Jn" Floud.

They were married at East Lane in Greenwich paid two
guineas, Clark five shillings & two parchment Certificates half a
guinea more. Doctor & self made an equal division (E^^j/aX Ai-
utfioy) of the whole. I had five guineas since for proving the
marriage."

" Robert King a Fisherman & Elizabeth Price, both of St. Giles
in the fields. B & Sp P' Jn" Evans.

' On tlie 4th August is an entry of the marriajje on that day, and in tlie margin
" the Ccitiliciile dated \f l*-" ol' Maicli 1728," so that there was an entry to agree
witli the ceitiflcule and another to aiiree witli the fact.

P"* one shilling only, the Bridegroom a boy about eighteen ycai s
of age c"t the Bride about sixty five. They were brought in a coach
& attended by four Viv/npiyf/ Ulioptjc out of Urury Lane as
guests."'

" November 1735, G'\ John Fletcher a Butcher of St Clements
Danes & Ilannali Neelor of St Andrews Holbourn B & Sp.

J. Gaynam.

This couple had cohabited many years but upon a small legacy
being left they then thought proper to marry. I gave them an old
Certificate & antedated it to the 24th of Aug' 1734 sign'd Backler
for which I was to have had five shillings but marr seven & six
pence. They were brought by Mrs. Warner."

" May 1730, 28'\ William Tew Gent & Katherine Skeere both
of St Buttolphs Bishopsgate B S: Sp P"^ Robt. Cuthbert

married at the Globe Tavern Hatton Garden, myself had five
shillings as Clark & gave a Certificate on stampt paper (Hand-
somely entertained.)"

"June 1727, IP". William Whittingham Watchmaker & Ra-
chael Babington both of St Ollaves Silver St, B & Sp

P^ Jn« Floud
paid marr five shillings & two shillings CertifF: the said Rachel the
prettiest woman I ever saw."

' The immorality of some of these clandestine marriages is thus noticed by
M. I'Abbele Blanc, in his Observations on the Laws relating to Marriage previously
to the iMarriage Act. " They all have a tendency to favour even tlie most indecent
marriages ; they do not require by far enough of public solemnity. As the wedding
ceremony may here be transacted in any place whatever, I have heard that a clergy-
man who was in prison, to get a more tolerable subsistence, hung an advertisenient
at his window with these words ' IFeddings performed cheap here.'' They autlio-
rize all the acts of the common prostitute — their most common way is to intoxicate
the man whom they have d. design upon, and then such a creature who wants to be
the wife of a man who would perhaps be ashamed to own her for a mistress, pre-
vails upon him by her dangerous caresses, to own before witnesses that he takes her
for his wife. It often happens so, when he imagines he is only in jest or sport. But
all jesting in this affair becomes serious in England. The ' yes ' is always taken in
the strictest sense of the letter ; the woman perhaps has a chaplain ready, this
minister of the Gospel lends himself to the mystery of iniquity, and that which in
France would be only a farce, which the civil magistrate would be prepared to
chastise, becomes in England a serious act authorized by the Laws ; whence it fre-
quently happens that a man who went to bed very easy and very drunk, finds liim-
self at waking, married to a creature whom lie most heartily despises and abliors.

"November 1727,30"'. Richard Stokes, Shipwright &' Frances
Thompson both of St Giles's in the Fields. B & Sp

P"^ Jn" Floud
marriage seven shillings c^- six pence & four shillings bed &- certiff :
Bob Balls wife brought them and had them bedded.'"'

" Aug'' 12, 1729. Abraham Wells a Butcher of the Parish of
Tottenham in Mid'ex & Susannah Hewitt of Enfield W & W"

P" John Floud
p** five shillings per total. N. B. The 28'" of April! 1736 M" Wells
came and Earnestly entreated me to erase the marriage out of the
book, for that her husband had beat & abused her in a barbarous

manner, and she had much rather be esteemed his W that

she might have a proper recourse of Law against him. I made her
believe I did so for which I had half a guinea and she at the same
time delivered me up her Certificate, no person present (according
to her desire.")

« 1734 May 13"\ Samuel Stewart, a Chocolate Maker, & Mary
Nugent, both of St. M. Ludgate. B. & Sp.

P^ Ralph Shadwell.

Mr. Comings gave me half a guinea to find a Bridegroom, and
defray all expences. Parson two and sixpence — Husband D" —
and five and sixpence myself."

"July 1728, 22'". Josiah Welsh, a Cordwainer, and Elizabetli
Cutchey, of St. Giles's, Cambridge. W. & Sp. P' Jn" Floud

Brought by Mr. Ralf and Mr. Hargrove of the Guards, who paid
me two guineas to provide a Husband for Madam, and defray all
the subseqvient charges of the wedding, — viz. Docter 7^ 6^. Bride-

The other daj' a gentleman of Lincoln who had been unfortunate in this respect,
sliot himself through the head the next day, as soon as he understood the foolish
step he had taken." (Letters of a Frenchman, No. 10.)

' " Now I have promised him mountains, if in one of his mad fits lie will bring
you to him, in her stead, and get you married together and put to bed together, and
after consummation, Girl, there's no revoking." (Love for Love.)

In 1737, llichard Leaver was indicted for Bigamy, when the following evidence
was given.

Alice Allington. " On January 18, 1733-4, I was married to the prisoner, at
the Hand and Pen, in Fleet Lane, by the famous Doctor Gainham.

Frisoner. " 1 don't know that wonmn for my wife. 1 know nothing about tlie
wedding. I was fuddled over night, and next morning I found myself a-bed with a
strange woman, — 'And who are you? how came you here!' says T, — '() my
dear, says she, w'e were marry 'd last iiiglit at the Fleet.' {Sessions Papns.)

groom G". the rest to myself. For a further account of Mr. Welsh
vid. May 8, 1727, December the 11'" and 23"', 1727."

"December 1727, 11"'. Walter Janes, Cordwainer of St.
Martins Ludgate, and Mary Spreadbourough, of St. Giles in the
Fields. W. c'c Sp'. P' Jn° Floud.

Marriage five shillings — one D° Clerkship, and one D° CertifF.
Tiie man had five shillings for marrying her, of which I had one
and sixpence. N.B. The above said person marrj's in common."'

" 1727 December 23. Richard Armstrong, Cordwainer, and
Mary Roberts, of Shoreditch. Wr & Sp. P"" Jn° Floud.

paid one pound five shillings, viz. parson five shillings, and the

' Thus it clearly appears that Welsh, alias Janes, alias Armstrong, alias

married four women in fourteen months ; each time changing his name. The
object of the brides in paying for a husband to be found for them, was to enable
them to plead coverture to any action for debt, or to give them the means of show-
ing a certificate in case of their being eiiceinte. From an entry following one on
the 19"> Dec"^ 1728, the Bridegroom appears to have been paid two and sixpence
"for his trouble.''' — (See p. 82.)

" George Mackarly, a Soldier, & Bridget Marcan, of St. Giles in the fields,
W&W P'Jn" Floud.

p** eight shillings per total, viz. two & sixpence to the Bridegroom for his
trouble, the rest between Doctor and self."

Dr. Gaily, in his " Considerations on Clandestine Marriage," (1750,) observes,
" It is well known to be a common practice at the Fleet, and that there are men
provided there, who have each of them within the compass of a year married several
women for this wicked purpose."

Nov' 21, 1729, was tried a cause in the Court of King's Bench, between James
Hopman plaintiff, and Jane Hunter defendant, when Defendant proved she was
married to one Matterson, a soldier in the Foot Guards, at the time she contracted
the debt ; but it being proved on the other side that Matterson had a wife then
living, and that Defendant gave him half a guinea to marry her, to screen her from
paying her debts, the Jury found for the Plaintiff. — Daily Journal, 1729.

In one of the pocket-books are the following entries " This to be incrted 21 of
Feby 1739-40, Will Jones, Vintner, of Covent Garden, B. & Jennett Hunter, D".
Sp. (at Wheeler's.) They came first to Burnford's, and would give but 5s. she
dress'd very fine, and looked like a common woman, wanted a man to personate."

" Ocf 14 1732. John Blevvington, of Rippon, in Yorkshire, Bricklayer, B. &c
Sarah Barington, of Colchester, Wid'". N.B. This Barrington s* she had £40 pr
annum, had been confined for debt, and married Blewington to skreen her."

" 24 July 1737. Simon Parrott, Plasterer, of Swallow St., St. James's, & Ann
Pritchett, Wid^ & Wid''. When he had married her s"* he would never bed her,
he would marry any body. "

G 2

man five shillings, (vid: December 11"" ut supra,) and fifteen shil-
lings myself."

"July 1729, ir\ John Rogers, Gent, and Elizabeth Hussey,
(alias) Rebecka Mitchell, both of St. Margaret's, Westm . W &
W". P^ Jn° Floud.

p"* half a guinea per total. Mrs. Hussey, though a Quaker,
(none of the most scrupulous,) she could not comply with the cere-
monies of our church, yet would take the man to bed to her upon
the bare dependence of credit of a Fleet certificate ; she being
only personated by Beck Mitchell."

" Robert Draper, Gardiner, and Ann Osborn, both of Battersea,
married at Kit Linerells. I gave a certificate, for which I had
only a quartern of brandy."

"22 July 1728. Nicholas Richardson, invalid soldier in Chel-
sea Hospital, and Judith Taylor, of Chelsea. W & W. P' Jn°
Floud. ]Married at Chidleys. I gave a Certificate, and was paid
with a promise."

" 10 Dec. 1728. W" Salkeld, a Marriner, and Mary Jones,
both of St. Andrews, Holborn. B & Sp. P' Jn" Floud. Marr: ten
shillings, two and sixpence Clark; one D° Register, two and six-
pence Certificate. They were married at twelve at night, and lay
all night in bed in my house, for which had one shilling and six-
pence more."

" 22 March 1728. Tho* Stringer, a Brewer's Servant, and Ann
Criswell, both of St. Sepulchre's. B & Sp. P^ Jn" Floud. Paid
three shillings and sixpence. Certificate one and sixpence; it being
pretty late, they lay here, and paid me one shilling for bed, (a kind
girl.")

" Edmund Daviss, a Hatter, of St. George's, Bloomsbury, and
Mary Sprigg Martin, of St. Giles's in the Fields. B (S: Sp. P' Jn°
Floud. These couple were bedded about six minutes, and paid
only five shillings per total, being friends of Mary Hall. Vid.
Apr. 9, 1727."

" Patrick Fitzgerald, a Carter, of St. George's, Hanover Square,
and Grace Bennit, of St. Giles's in the Fields. B & Sp. P' Jn°
Floud. Marr: five shillings, certif. one do.; brought by Mr. Clark,
overseer of St. Giles's."

(After another Parish Wedding.)

" Paid three shillings, a Parish Wedding, and the people being

pretty remarkable, I believe there was a mob of three hundred
people after them."'

" ^9 Aug' 1729. John Wills, Distiller, of St. Dunstans in the
East, and Mary Mackarty, of St. Andrew's, Holborn. \V & W".
Marr: five shillings, and two do. Certif. Two most notorious
Thieves. P' Jn" Floud."

" 12 Dec. 1729. John Slater, Gent, of St. Andrew's Holborn,
and Frances Thompson, of St. Dunstan's in the West. B & Sp.
P' Jn° Floud. This Marriage upon Honour. Vid. the 30"' of Nov.
1727."

" 16 Dec. 1729. George Stewart, Gent, and Mary Hill, both •
of St. Dunstans in the West. B & W". P' Jn° Floud. Marr: viz.
per an o/d Licence^ one guinea and a half, the wedding halt a
guinea, and Certif. five shillings, performed at the Sun Tavern,
in Holbourn."

"23 Aug. 1732. John Cope, Gent, and Susannah Clark, both
of Clapham, in Surry. W' & Sp. P"^ Sam' Backler. P'' ten and
sixpence per total, being married before by proxy."

" 25 Aug* 1735. Matthew Medcalf, a Weaver, and Ann Hub-
bard, both of Whitechapel. B & W. D. Wigmore. Total three
and sixpence ; but honest Wigmore kept all the money ; so fare-
well him."

" 20 Nov' 1735. John Greentree, a Husbandman, and Eliza-
beth Seager, both of Wimbledon, in Surry. B & W". P' Walter
Wyatt. Total nineteen shillings, my Lord and self took them
from Brown, who was going into the next door with them."

" 27 April 1736. Cotton Bartlett, Apothycary, and Elizabeth
Sharp, both of St. Bride's. B & W. P"^ W. Wyatt. Total six
shillings. Brought by a Counsellor."

" 1 July 1728. Joseph Otway, Gent, and Deborah Smith. B ^'

' On Saturday last, the Churchwardens for a certain parish in the City, in order
to remove a load from their own Rhoulders, gave 40s. and p;iid the expense of a
Fleet marriage, to a miserable blind youth, known by the name of Ambrose Tally,
who plays on the violin in Rloorfiekls, in order to make a settlement on the wife
and future family in Shoreditcii parish. To secure their point tliey sent a parish
officer.to see the ceremony performed. One cannot but admire the ungenerous pro-
ceeding of this (Jity parish, as well as their unjustifiable abetting and encouraging
an irregularity so much and so justly complained of, as these Fleet matches. In-
vited and uninvited, were a great number of poor wretches, in order to spend the
bride's parish fortune. — Daily Post, 4 Julij 1741.

^ Perhaps a Licence from the Commons which had already been used

Sp. Married by the Doctor abroad, but upon his letter to me
for that purpose, registered here, and was paid one shilling."

" 12 July 1729. Thomas Whiting, a Coppersmith, and Dorothy
Todd, both of St. Bottolph's Aldgate. B & Sp. P' Jn" Floud.
Marr : ten shillings and sixpence, and two and sixpence Clark.
No certif. I had them married at Mrs. Johnson's, at the Golden
Lion Tavern, in the Old Bailey, January 30'\ 1731.' Mrs. Whiting
had a Certificate and paid me two and sixpence for it."

" 30 Dec. 1729. Joseph Payne, a Picture Frame Maker, and
Mary Hall, both of St. Dunstan's in the West. B & Sp. P' Jn°
Floud. Marr: eight shillings, one Clark and two certificate;
brought by Friend Pickett. I had not my share of the Wedding,
Doctor Floud being call'd home, taken ill, and dying the next
morning."

The following is the form in which the entries in this book
are made.

1735

October

Bay, Thomas, a Mealman, of Springfield, &

Rebecka Brown, of Much Baddah, in Essex

P' Jn° Floud.

28'
f^agg: V/gYjyi (d, 2*x

No. 50. A narrow folio, commencing 1730 to 1733, intituled
" Robt. Cuthbert's Marriages."

" 1731 May 8. Tho^ Rolte and Ann Calvert, Ba & Spinster,
Gent, of St. Giles's Camp's. She of St. Andrews, Holborn ; no-
body to see it. W™ Toone Father. An old Gentleman gave
£1. 1*. and a Gent, from my Lord Baltemore £2. 2*. he had cert:
20 day." *

" 1731 August 11. W"' Charlton and Mary Laneve, Ba &
Spinster, weaver, of Blackfriars, at my Ladyes,^ Fleet Lane."

' Althougli performed in 1731, entered as 12 July 1729.

* Thomas Rolte, of Sucombe, county Herts, died February 1754. She was Aim
daughter of Felix Calvert, of Nine Ashes, in Ilunsdon in said county, and died
\156.—{Clutlerhuck"s Herts, vol. ii.)

^ The Rev. Robt. Cuthbert was doubtless so occupied in tlie solemn duty of
marrying others, that he had no time to go through the ceremony for himself.
" My Ladye" might be supposed to mean Landlady, but after another entry of
marriage is a memorandum less equivocal, it runs thus,

" paid five shillings, and one ceititicatc, brought by Mrs. Blood, Doctor
Floud's M/s//fW."

(At the end of the book is) " Rob' Cuthbert, Minister of
the Fleet, niortiuis anno Doni: 1734. Quarto die Augustii
aetatis sui 42."

No. GO. A narrow folio, 1738 to 1740.

" Nov' 6, 1739. Richard Oliver, Gent, of St. Katherines, B' and
Eliz. Holloway, of St. Gregory's Sp'. Mar: upon Tick."

" March y« 30'" 1740. John James, B' and Eliz'" ; would not
tell their names, but paid £1. 10s."

No. 68. A Uirge narrow folio, 1739 to 1743.

" October y* 13, 1741. Denis Christopher, Bookbinder, Ches-
hani, Bucks, Wid", to Martha Townsend, of Ailsbury, D" Sp'. att
y* Cock. N.B. Married for nothing to obblige Mr. G older At-
torney-att-Law."

« Nov" y<^ 21, 1742. Akerman Rich*, Turner, of Christ Ch%
Bat', to Lidia Collet. — Mrs. Crooks. N.B. They behaved very
vilely, and attempted to run away with Mrs. Crooks Gold Ring."

" 28'". Smith Robert, Hosier, of St. Martin's in y-^ fields,

Wid', to Sarah Skett : appear'd a rogue."

No. 69. A long narrow folio, 1742 to 1743, intituled " Re-
gister Book of Marriages, by Mr. Dare."

" 2'' October 1742. James, son of Ephrahara and Mary Miller,
of White Fryers, in the parish of St. Bride's, half baptized at Bos,
by W. Dare, priest of the Church of England."

" 7 November 1742. Thomas Boadish, of St. Andrew Holborn,
Gent. Widower, and Carew Tate, of St. Pauls Covent Garden,
Spinster.

5 Elizabeth Dare,
_ . , Anna Catherina Dee,

( Sussex Dare.
" November 23'' 1742. George Wright, &c. &c. Ac."
" October 2" 1743. John Figg, of St. Johns the Evang', Gent,
a Widower, and Rebecca Woodward, of Ditto, Spinster, at y* same
time gave her y* Sacrament." '

' This is the only instance met with wlicic these Clergymen have added to their
infamy hy administering tlic Sacianient after marriage. They were, liowever,

88
No. 73. A long narrow folio, 1742 to 1744.

" 1744 Aug* y^ 20. John Newsam, Labourer, of St. James's
West, and Ann Laycock, D". Wid' & Wid". They run away with
the Scertifycate, and left a point of wine to pay for ; they are a
vile sort of people, and I will remember them of their vile usage
for a achample for the same."

No. 76. A narrow folio, 1742 to 1749.

" October 6, 1745. Mr. Francis Snead of Cheapside-\
his friend. Went to Roehampton, the persons Robert and Vl. I."
Mary. J

" Octo'21, 1745. Siff ^

Hannah, proceed no further then > M. D.
the ring. Wyatt." 3

No. 81.

"March 19, 1744. Church a Woman, Mrs. Dillion, Nurse iny'^
Herald's Office."

No. 101. A short folio, ending about 1719, and intituled
" The Register kept by Thomas Hodgkins, wherein is
contained y'^ several marriages celebrated and peYormed
within y'^ Rules of y" Fleett and Chappell thereoff by y^
Rever*^ John Vise, John Draper, James Colton, Henry
Gower, and y*" other Clergymen officiating there. Be-
ginning November y'= 4"" 1700."

"February 1717, 10"'. John Green, Batch. House Carpenter of

anxious to impose on the ignorant by as much attention to ' rites and ceremonies' as
was consistent with their own interests, thus :

On a trial for Bigamy, in 1731, Samuel Pickering deposed "the prisoner was
married at my house in the Fleet, to Wr. Humphreys, by Mr. Mortram a clergy-
man. I gave her away, and saw the ring put upon her hand, and broice the biscuit
over her head."

And on the trial of Robert Wilson, in 1737, for Bigamy, a witness deposed, " I
know the prisoner was married to Steel, I was present when that affair was trans-
acted. They were married at a brandy shop at the Fleet ; tiie ceremony was per-
formed by a man in a tiiuht gourt ; whether he was a parson or not, T can't tell."
(S'p.ss/o^s Papers.)

«9

St. Dunstans Stepney, and Elizabeth Fclton, Spinster, of St. Mary
White Cliappell.

not married because not agreeing with y*^ Doctor."

No. lOG. A short folio. On the first page, " Christnings
by D'^ Draper ;" on the second page, " Marridges in v*
year of our Lord 1714.""

"John Harrison, of St. Giles in the Fields, a Taylor, and Mary
Cunighani, Ditto. B. W. June y^ 4, 1723. These not niarr:
only names inserted."

"Memorandum. The 2r' day of August 1725, being Saturday
at night was assaulted by Samuel Pickering, at his own house the
signe of the Fighting Cocks, in Fleet Lane, and he throatled me
and most murdered me, as

Witness my Hand, John Evans, Minister."'

No. 110. A short folio, intituled, *•' Marriages at the Fleet
By Henry Glover, Clerk, November y" 1"' An" Do"'
1716."

" 1728 April 3. Michael Rebout & Ann Surgeirs, Both of St.
Clement's Deans. P. Jn" Floud Min"^.

N.B. The Certificate bears date 12 Sep'^ )^
1720, to satisfie Parents and friends." J

No. 118. A short narrow folio.

" January 20, 1729-30. John Pigott, of St. Martins Orgars,
London, Captain of a West Indian Merchant, Bachl' & Constantia
Maria Burgoyne, of the P**" of St. Martin'sin y"" fields, in y* County
of Middx, Spinster, married at Justice Webster's, in Castle Street,
over y* Mews, in St. Martin's afores**."

No. 119. A short thick folio, Sept. 1734 to Sept. 1736.

' The many opposition INIarriage-houses, the plying for custom, and scrambling
for fees, gave rise to repeated quarrels. The following is from the Grub Street
Journal, Dec. 12, 1734.

" On Wednesday two Fleet Parsons preferred against each other
Bills of indictment for assaults made by brother upon brother.
But they appearing aggressors and scholars alike famous,
The Jury returned both their bills ' Ignoramus.' "

" May y' 14, 17:3G. .Jolui Blackball, of St. Martin's in y' Fields,
Cloginaker, 6v: Hannah Cockerell, B & Widow at y' King's

Head Henry Charlton, Clark. — N Cert: under £2.

Wigmore being sent for, but was drunk, so I was a stop-gap."
"July 18, 1736. William Potts, of Allhallows, Barkin, Wine
Cooper & Mary Small, D° B & Sp' at Wilson's

a sham I believe as to his name, because
he told me another name first, and y* woman contradicted him."

No. 136. A short folio of Walter Wyatt's.

'• Lyonel B' & Jane, a Lady, B & Sp' at Webb's, Esq.

at Cornhill, in White Lyon Court.— Oct. 19, 1735.'

No. 14». A short folio.

" 1 Oct. 1747. John Ferren, Gent. Ser. of St. Andrew's, Hol-
born, B"^ & Deborah Nolan, D' Sp\ The supposed John Ferren
was discovered after y*" Ceremonie were over, to be in person a
woman."

" 27 Dec' 1747. Francis Harwood, Feltmaker, of St. Botolph
without Bishopsgate, B' & Mary Brockholes, Widow.

After marr : I perceived it to be a Hird Job} He a thin-jaw'd
mean-looking fellow, Irish or Scotch, she gravida'^ and very gent."

" May 30"" 1748. A genteel cuple married with a br' stamp,
enter'd in a parchment cover pocket-book with Pri on y^ Backs'*."'

" Edward Warner, Gent, of Crundal, Hants, & Mary Mitchell,
W— 3 Jan. 1749. £10. 10. 0 "

No. 156. A short folio, " W. Wyatt's Register Book of the
Fleet Marriages commencing June 25, 1751 to Mids'
1752." The entries are numbered, (1137 in all,) and
there is an index.

' See pages 82, 83, for other instances of hired Husbands.

* " Yesterday morning an odd affair happened in the Liberties of the Fleet,
where a young man and woman, (country people, and very well dressed,) came to
be marry'd ; but before the minister iiad half performed the ceremony, the woman
was delivered of a daughter. (This poor girl, though literally born in wedlock,
seems to be somewhat more than half a bastard,") — Gruh Street Journal, 1735.

•' These blank entries in the Registers make the small pocket-books valuable,
as without them tiic parties cotild not be known. — (See note at ]i. 76.)

470
1. 4i.

Nov' 11
1751.
Pri'

No. 158. On the cover of this Register are two entries
" never to be seen.""

Gent. & Mary at Georgia,

By jNP Wilkinson.

No. 161. A short folio, June 1745 to June 1747

" July 24, 1745. James
near Hanipstead.
5. 5. 0

5. 0 for a horse."
" April -23, 1746. Joseph

and Mary vide July 3'' Ult."^

" Aug* 22, 1746. Samuel & Eliz: He a tall man

about 40 years of age, she a fresh colour'd Poek fretten woman,
very well built."

No. 164. A small quarto, from 1700 to 1730, and at the
other end from 1715 to 1742.

" 1723, 14 April. Peter Hulett of St. Bride's, Fram Maker,
Mary Ann Paviour, Sp . forged by Mr. Dare, in 1741, who married
y'" att Smith's att y* same time."

No. 167. A small quarto.

" Nov' 28, 1 723. John James Jaxon & Mary Newell, both of
St. James's, West' B' & Sp'.

" Memorandum. Mr. Fairplay he called himselfe, would not say
* I will,' nor did she bee he did not — both afterwards comply'd,
& so were married, tho y^ man designed nothing but a little
w g & leaving y* woman in y* lurch."

No. 170. A small quarto, 1731 to 1732.

" May 15, 1732. John & Ann, Brought by one Willson, a

> See note 3, p. 90.

2 Upon looking back to the 3(1 of July, the following entry appears interlined,
and vviiich is, of course, a false entry.

" July 31, 1745. Joseph Garratt, Halter, of St. James, W , & Mary Jackson,

Limb of y*" Law, & married at Mr. Willson's by y'' Ditch Syde, &
never entered in any Booke, Refusing to pay Clarkship and y" Entry
Fees any Othcrways than by y" name of Jn" and Ann."

No. 209- A long narrow book, from 1738 to 1744-.

" Living near to one Joshua Lilley, and a person troublesome,
I agreed to marry none at home, upon condition I married all
y' came to his house " (Ash well.)

" 28 Ap' 1740. Henry Mercer, of Lusam, late of Abinger, in
Kent, Gent. Bat% &^ Jane Sparrow, Ditto, Wid'", at Crumpton's.
N.B. This last marriage was to be kept as a secret, the Lady
having a joynture during the time she continued Wid"."

No. 210. Ditto, from 1734 to 1738.

"Novby^24, 1733, att y^ Baptizd bed Tavern to go to Mr.
Gibbs for to marry him in y^ countrey. — Wife worth £18,000."

No. 212. Ditto, from 1744 to 1745.

" 22 Aug' 1744. Rob* Parker, Labourer, of Yocl, in Surry, &
Hannah Horton, of D"B' & Sp, at the Shepherd li- Goat.

N.B. The officers of the Parish took y^ fellow up by Warrant
to force him to marry her — vile behav'd,"

" Sept' 5, 1744. Andrew Mills, Gent, of the Temple, & Char-
lotte Gaillairdy, of St. Mildred, Poultry, at Mr. Boyce's, King's
Head. N.B. One gentleman came first in a merry manner to
make a bargain w*"" the Minister for the marriage, and immediately
came the parties themselves disguising their dress by contrivances
particularly buttning up the coat, because the rich wastecoat
should not be seen, (Src."

"2.5 September 1744. Thomas Games, Carpenter, of St. Mar-
tin's in the Fields, and Lucy Hern, D° B' & Sp.

N.B. I examined them strickly, seeing a dirty fellow w"" long
beard, and was afraid it was done as a skreen fr" Debt."

" December 4, 1744. Charlton Leighton, of the parish of Over-
burry, in Shropshire, Gent, (belonging to y* Hon*"'^ Collonel Cot-
terel's Reg') B', & Anna Maria Mytton, of Conouer, in y same
County, Gentlewoman, Spinster.

N.B. Two Gentlemen directed me to meet them at y^ Vine
Tavern, Upper Turn Stile, Holborn. After waiting 2 hours a foot-

man came S: call'd me to another house below, after very stict
examination, 1 proceeded to marry them as aj)[)ears.''

" May 2, 1745. Jolm Harrowson, of the Duke Man of War, &
Susainiah Lawson, Sp. at Burnford's.

this s'' Harrowson swore most bitterly, & was pleas'd to say
that he was fully determined to kill y^ Minister S:c. y' married him.
N.B. He came from Gravesend & was sober."

" 26 Feb. 1745. Rob' Tayler & Marg' came into

my own appartment, behav'd very rudely, swore sadly, oblig'd me
to marry them for what they pleas'd for fear of my life, late at
night, by the names above-mention'd "

"June y* 12"' 1745. Challen Miller, Gent, of y" parish of
Horsham, in Sussex, Batch', & Eiizab"" Parham, of the same.
Spinster. — N. B. A clerg}^man whose name was the Rev'' Mr.
Cheynell came to the Fountain Tavern, on Ludgate Hill, & wanted
a Minister to converse with, as then was pleas'd to say. — When
I came to him it was togoe with him to the Royal Oak, near Vaux-
hall, to marry a couple, viz. Miller, which he said he would have
done it himself but was apprehensive he might offend some
Friends, he himself living in y' neighbourhood, but he would stand
Father, and accordingly did do so."

EXTRACTS FROM SOME OF THE POCKET-BOOKS.

" Nov"" 1741, 5"". John King, of St. Paul's, Covent Garden, Car-
penter, B. Diana Nicholson, Do. Sp. — Done at his house, Maiden
Lane, she sick in bed."

1737. Temple W^est, Gent. & Frances Balchen, "not to be
registered in y" yearly Book."

"April 14, 1737. W'" Evrett & Sarah Brunell, ' at my Slioe-
makers.' "

"Aug. 14, 1718. Offer'd 5 guineas to enter Walter Borthwick,
of Waltham Stone, Gent: Ann Sharpless, D°. B. Sp. — Feb. 4,
1714."

" Hary Porter, Higler at Leadenhall Market, married by a rong
name to draw him."

"April 18, 1745. R** Humphris, of St. James's, Grosvenor Sq.
B. & Eliz"' Greenwood, of St. James's, Clerkenwell, Wd".
in a cellar under the Fountain." J. G.

" Ganderwaine, of Woolwich, a man of note, and brings wedings
to the Fleet, Sailors, &c."

NAMES OF SOME OF THE PERSONS MARRIED AT THE FLEET,
EXTRACTED FROM THE REGISTERS.

B. Baclielor. — S. Spinster. — \V. Widower, Widow. — Ditto, same parisli as tiie

Husband.

22 May 1722. James Abernethy, Esq. St. Margarets, Westminster,
& Anne Rachael Nicholas, Maidstone, B. & S.
G May 1724. Right Hon. Edward Lord Abergavenny,^ and Cath.
Tatton, B. and S.

17 Ap. 1740. John Acton, Furnivalls Inn, Gent, and Ann Barker,
St. Andrew's Holborn, S.

2 Feb. 1747. Thomas Adams, Gt. Aldingham, Herts, and Sarah

Howard, W. and W.
G Feb. 1714. Matthew Addams, Gt. and E!iz. Warberton, St.

Giles's, B. and S.
14 Mar. 1730. John Addams, Gt. St. Giles's Fields, and Jane Row-

lett, St. Martin's Fields, W. and W.
30 Jan. 1718. John Adams, Attorney, St. Dunstan's, and Phillis

York, Whitefriars, B. and S.
25 Mar. 1754. Phil. Adams, Gt. Covent Garden, and Eliz. Upton,

St. Margarets, B. and S.

14 Oct. 1750. Lewis Augustus Alexander, Tooting, Gt. and Anne

Dines, Ditto, B. and S.

21 Ap. 1726. Harley Allen, Croydon, & Mary Newbury, Ditto.
IG Aug. 1721. Michael Alphe, Surgeon, Berwick-on-Tweed, and

Anne Bennett, Cath. Cree Church, W. and S.

3 Feb. 1734. Peter Annett, Gt. and Eliz. Mobs.

15 July 1732. Matt. Appleford, Gent. Duke of Bolton's Horse, and

Jane Lee, Aylesbury, B. and S.

4 Oct. 1719. Joseph Aram, Surgeon, Tunbridge, and Ann Har-

butt, Ditto, B. and W.

22 June 1746. James Archibald, Gt. Waltham Abbey, and Mary

King, B. and S.
15 Feb. 1735. John Arnold, Gt. St. Martin's Fields, & Eliz. Bow-

yer. Ditto, B. and S.
14 Feb. 1722. Allen Ascough, Esq. Hayes, & Eliz. Merick, Ditto,

W. and S.

' Obiit 9th October, same year, and slio afterwards re -married his cousin and
successor, William Lord Abergavenny.

1 Nov. 1740. Peter Aslienliurst, Gent. 1st Regt. Foot, and Eliz.

Ishani, Aldgate, B. and W.

6 Mar. 1735. John Aspe)>wall, Gt. St. Giles's, and Ann Johnson,

Do. B. and S.

2 Ap. 1752. John Atwood, Gt Abchurch, & Ami Bowler, B. <!v S.
10 June 1735. Phillip Avery, St. Bride's, and Ann Ayres, Holborn,

B. and S. (Licence.)
14 May 1G94. Joshua Aylworth, Aylworth, Glouc: and Dorcas
Cook, B. and S.

22 June 1690. Wm. Badham, Gent. St. James's, and Sus. Longdon,

B. and S.

7 Ap. 1736. Wm. Bainbrigg, St. John's Westminster, Gent, and

Joana Taylor, St. Giles's Fields, B. and S.

4 Dec. 1735, Wm. Balfour, Gent. Holborn, and Alice Covvdcry,

Benfield, Essex, B. and S.
7 Oct. 1718. John Balfore, Gent. St. Margaret's, and Mary Price,
Ditto, B. and W.
30 Aug. 1738. John Ballard, Gent. St. Alban's, and Eliz. Buss,
South Mimms, W. and W.

23 May 1742. Francis Bailey, Gent. St. James's, and Eliz. Farrer,

Ditto, B. and S.
9 Jan. 1748. John Bailly Gt. St. George's Hanover Square, and

Ann Standrod, B. and S.
25 Mar. 1754. Chas. Bailey, Gt. St. Martin's Fields, & Ann Rives,

B. and S.
22 Sept. 1743. Thomas Bamfield, Esq. Chelsea, and Eliz. Copple-

stone, Old Windsor, B. and S.
28 Ap. 1736. Joseph Bampton, Gent. Cheney Bucks, and Mary

Combs, W. and W.

5 June 1733. Fs. Barrs, Gt. Epping, & Cath, Wentworth, W. & W.
30 Nov. 1735. John Bartram, Gent, and Mary Starkey, St. John's,

Westminster, W. and W.
18 Mar. 1747. Wm. Bartley, Gent. & Susannah Church, B. & S.
18 Feb. 1728. Chris. Barker, St. Geo. Hanover Square, and Mary

Fox, St. James's, B. and S.

20 Jan. 1731. Daniel Barker, Lewston, Bedfordshire, Gt. t'v- Ann

Barker, Ditto, B. and S.

3 Oct. 1748. Thomas Bartlett, Gt. Reading, & My. Peel, B. t-v- W.

21 Ap. 1741. Rd. Thomas Barrington, Herts, and Esther Rigway,

Stafport, Cheshire, B. & W.

3 July 1720. Stephen Batemaii, Gent. St. Margaret's, and Mar-
garet Francis Blainville, Ditto, I), and S.

5 July 1742. Chambers Bate, Gent. Foston, Derbyshire, and Ann

Trye, Anmey, Gloucestershire, S.
3 Feb. 1749. TEneas Baynes, Gent. St. James's, & Isabella Elwes,
B. and S.

19 Nov. 1736. Isaac Beaufills, Gent. St. Antholins, and llache De-

la-cart, B. and S.

6 Ap. 1741. David Becellor, Surgeon, Holborn, & Sarah Parker,

Ditto, S.
29 June 1735. Isaac Beeke, Gt. St. George's Hanover Square, and

Christian Walker, B. and S.
31 Oct. 1729. Grosvenor Bedford Gt. St. Mary-le-Strand, & Jane

Fox, ditto, S.

25 July, 1742. Wm. Beech, Apoth. St. Martin's Fields, and Eliz.

Warrilow, Allhallows, London Wall, B. and S.

20 Jan. 1734. James Beltile, Gt. Chelsea, and Anne Sadler, St.

Giles's, B. and W.
12 Oct. 1735. Ephraim Bell, Gt. Inner Temple, and Frs. Harrison,

B. and S.
16 Aug. 1743. Thomas Bellamy, Gt. Kingston, Surrey, and Ann

Lomax, St. Alban's, B. and S.
20 Sept. 1722. Stringer Belcher, Gt. Soho, and Sarah Champneis,

Ditto, B. and S.

26 Jan. 1 734. John Benson, Gt. East Grinstead, and Eliz. Groom-

bridge, Horsham, B. and S.

24 Mar. 1733. John Bennett, Surgeon, St. Martin's Fields, and

Anne Hartell, W, and W.

10 Mar. 1754. Montague Berman, Gent. Cornhill, and Eliz. Short,

Hampstead, B. and S.

25 Mar. 1715. John Berkeley, Gt St. Martin's, and Eliz. Bridges,

St. Clement's, B. and S.

1 1 Feb. 1 734. Robert Berry, Gt. Holborn, & Mary Johnson, B. &W.
19 Oct. 1742. Capell Berrow, Clk. Aldcrsgate,& Eliz. Smith, B. c>v- S.
25 May 1737. John Evans, Bewley, St. Clement Danes, and Eliz.

Miller, St. Giles's Fields, B. and W.
9 Jan. 1745. Thomas Biggs, Gt. Horse Guards, and Eliz. Roden,
B. and W.

12 June 1735. Edmund Billings, Gent. St. Martin's, Ironmonger

Lane, and Eliz. Johnson, St. James's, B. and W.

JO Aug. 1745. Kobert Bird, Gent. Bloomsbury, and Eliz. Roberts,

Ditto, B. and S.
7 June 1734. Geo. Bishop, Atty. Holborn, & Ann Evans, B. & S.
13 June 1749. Joseph Bissell, Gent. St. Peter's, Oxon, and Sarah

Covvper, Worcestershire, B. and S.
26 Oct. 1733. W. Bland, Gt. St. Albans, & Mary Chester, B. & S.
15 June 1742. Phillip Blinch, Gent. Bidiford, Devon, and Eliz.

Gery, Northampton, B. and S.

26 Dec. 1744. Sir John Bloy, St. Gregory's, Feltmaker, B. and

Anne Moore, St. Olave's, Surrey.
7 Nov. 1742. Thomas Boadish, Gent. Holborn, and Carew Tate,
St. Paul, Covent Garden, W. and S.

27 Sept. 1736. Robert Bonnass, Gent. Marylebone, and Elizabeth

Chessall, Ditto, B. and W.

10 Aug. 1742. Don Dominicus Bonaventura, Baron of Spitcrii,

Abbot of St. Mary in Praeto Notary, Chaplain

of Hon. to the King of the Two Sicilies,

and Knight of the Order of St. Salvator, St.

James's, and Martha Alexander, Ditto, B. & S.

4 Dec. 1734. Richard Bond, Gt. St. Saviour's, and Mary Dearing,

Ditto, B. and W.

26 July 1746. Jos. Bonquett, Gt. Aldgate, and Eliz. Elves, B. & S.

9 Oct. 1718. Robert Booth, Gent. Westminster, and Christian

Knight, Ditto, W. and S.
4 Oct. 1734. Edward Botterell, Gent. Aldgate, and Eliz. Pres-

grave. Ditto, B. and S.
9 Feb. 1746. Jessup Boughton, Gent. Huntingdon, and Eliz.
Wlx, St. James's, B. and S.
20 Jan. 1729. "The Honourable John Bourke, Esq."' of Great

Ormond Street, and Cath. Hamilton, W.
10 June 1722. Lewis Bowen, Gent. St. Margaret's, and Anne

Knowlis, St. Lawrence, B. and W.
13 June 1751. Geprge Bowles, Gent. St. James's, and Mary Van-

dryck, Kensington, B. and S.
4 Oct. 1742. William Bowers, Gent. Sherbarne, Oxon, and Sarah
Holt, B. and S.

» Afterwards John, eighth Viscount Mayo, to whicli title lie succeeded in 1743,
and died in 1767. She was the daughter and heir of Major Whitgift vVylmer,

and widow of Hamilton, of the county of Galway.

G July 1735. Dominick Boyle, Ireland, and Ann Malian, Ditto.

5 April 1741. Robert Brabant, Gent. Blandford, Dorset, and Eliz.

Lawrence, Buckland in Ditto, B. and S.
2 Dec. 1741. Thos. Bradley, Gent. Horse Grenadiers, and Mary
Bedford, Hemel Hempstead, B. and S.

6 June 1722. Radcllff Bradley, Gent. St. Margaret's, & Winifred

Clark, Ditto, W. and W. " private."
22 June 1736. Silas Bradshaw, Gent, and Mary Fere, St. Marga-
ret's, Westminster, W. and S.

26 April 1733. Joseph Bradshaw, Gent, and Sarah Barton, B.&S.
2 Feb. 1737. William Bray, Gent. St. Ann's Blackfriars, and

Hannah Ward, St. James's.

30 Mar. 1725. Robert Bray, Gent. St. Martin's Fields, and Sarah

Grey, Ditto, B. and S.
24 Oct. 1720. John Bretorius, M.D. St. James's, and Eliz.

Vaughan, St. Ann's Westminster, W. and W.
18 Feb. 1728. Phillip Brien, Gent. St. Giles's, and Barbara Salvell,

Ditto, W. and W.

27 Nov. 1720. Nathaniel Bridgman, Attorney, St. Ann's, and Eliz.

Blackbrow, Ditto, W. and W.

7 Nov. 1721. George Bridges, Gent. Whitechapel, and Barbara

Brignall, Ditto.

31 Aug. 1739. John Brook, Gent. Norwich, and Cath. Watson,

Ashby, Leicester, B. and S.
6 July 1724. John Brooke,' Gent. St. Peter's, Norwich, and Cath.

Watson, of Ashley, Leicester, B. and S.
31 Oct. 1740. Peter Brooke, Gent. Cobham, Surrey, and Mary

Godson, B. and S.
29 June 1735. Isaac Brooke, Gent. St. George's Hanover Square,

and Christian Walker, B. and S.
17 July 1751. Edward Broom, Gent. Middle Temple, and Mary

Maria Joyce, Ditto. S.
2 Aug. 1721. Richard Brocas, Gent. Westminster, and Eliz.

Grice, Ditto, B. and S.
20 Sept. 1735. Francis Brown, Gent. St. Clement Danes, and

Martha Izard, Ditto.
9 April 1735. William Brown, Gent. Aldermanbury, and Jane

Brown, Widow of John Brown, Gent, of Ditto.

' Query. If this marriage was not performed in 1739, and registered under
that date, as well as under 1724 ? See note at page 80, on the practice of
antedating.

2 April 1752. Christopher Browne, Esq. B. and Lydia Knight, S.

12 July 1721. Cheync Brownjohn, Gent. Harrow, and Eli/. Par-

tridge, Ditto, B. and S.
10 April 1736. Walter Bruce, Gent. Chatham, and Ann Short,
Ditto, B. and S.

3 April 1728. William Brummell, Gent. St. Bride's, and Sarah

Clark, Ditto, S.

25 Mar. 1754. John Bruere, Gent. Holhorn, and Rosalinda Black-

bourne, Soho, S.

21 July 1733. Wm. Buckle, Gent. Holborn, and Eliz. Collier, Hen-
don, W. and W.

30 July 1753. Wm. Buchanan, Gent. St. Margaret's, and Margaret
Sutherland, Ditto, B. and W.

13 Aug. 1736. John Buchanan, Gent. Woolwich, and Mary Hose,

Ditto, W. and W.

12 May 1742. Jno. Burdett, Gt. St. Luke's, & My. Planner,B.& W.

10 Aug. 1735. Wm.Bullock, Gent.Coleman Street, and Eliz. Good-
win, B. and S.

26 Aug. 1702. Fras. Burghill and Grace Corney, daughter of Leo-

nard Williams, Esq. of Halton Halgate, Lin-
coln, B. and W.
— Nov. 1732. William Burbidge, Gent. Tumby, Lincolnshire, and

Eliz. Burrows, S.
18 Sept. 1722. Richard Burridge, Gent. St. Margaret's, and Chry-

silla Stevenson, St. Clement's, W. and W.
23 Aug. 1713. William Burgon, Gent, and Ann Johnson, Covent

Garden, B. and S.
2 Sept. 1735. Richard Burgoyne, Gent. Cornwall, and Ursula

Eades, W. and S.
1744. John Burch, Gent. St. George's, Southwark, and

Ann Rowland, Ditto, B. and S.
22 Feb. 1744. William Burnee, Gent. St. Martin's, and Susannah

Stanley, B. and S.
17 June 1730. Charles Burton, Gent. St. George's, and Ann

Cooper, Ditto, B. and W.

6 Dec. 1742. Richard Butler, Surgeon, Eastry, Kent, and Anne

Wood, Woodnesborough, B. and W.

7 April 1732. Thomas Butler, Attorney, St. Dunstan's, and Eliz.

Eaton, B. and S.
20 Oct. 1 740. Dan. Byrne, Gt. St. James's, & Mary Woolley, W. & S.

H 2

100

22 June 1733, Richard Calcott, Gent. St Giles's, and EHz, Sutton,
B. and W.

12 Nov. 1716. Richard Doidge Callington, Esq. and Mary Mana-
ton, South Hill, B. and S.

22 June 1747. Andrew Cameron, Gent. Furness, and Sarah Mc-
Duggan, B. and W.
2 Aug. 1748. Charles Campbell, Gent. Suttonbenjar, Wilts, and
Sarah Toms, B. and S.

18 Feb. 1750. John Carey, Gent. St. Martin's Fields, and Katha-
rine Douglas, W. and S.

16 Feb. 1719. George Carey, Gent. Aldersgate, and Eliz. Reason,
St. James's, B. and W.

16 Jan. 1746. William Carney, Gent. Hanover Square, and Jane
Lincoln, Ditto, B. and S.
4 Nov. 1727, William Carrington, Gent. St. James's, and Honor
Hillman, W. and S.

21 Mar. 1754. William Carrington, Gent. Teverton, Salop, and
Francis Holt, B. and W.
8 Feb. 1719. Moses Cendell, Gent. St. Giles's, and Mary Daw-
son, St. Ann's, W. and W.

12 June 1728. Henry Champante, Gent. Gray's Inn, and Juditha

Maria Troughton, Holborn, B. and S,

13 Nov. 1735, William Chancellor, Gent. St. ?.jargaret*s West-

minster, and Elizabeth Kennedy, W. and S.
6 Dec, 1720, Geo. Chapman, Gent. St, Margaret's, Westminster,
and Ann Park, Ditto, B. and W.

8 Jan. 1721. Solomon Chelwood, Attorney, St. Andrew's, and

Susannah Parker, Islington, B. and S.

24 Aug. 1738. John Chester, St. Paul's, Covent Garden, and Eli-

zabeth Chester,' Ditto, B. and S.

25 Feb. 1744. John Chetwood, Gent. Wellington, Somerset, and

Susannah Kettleby, W. and W.
16 Jan. 1733. John Church, Chemist, Lambeth, and Mary Faith-
full, St. Clement Danes, W. and S.

9 Feb. 1708. Walter Cicil, Gent, and Lucy Greenlcaf, B. and S.
8 Oct, 1738. James Clayton, Gent, Chichester, and Ann Parker,

Ditto, B. and S.

' Dorn 17 August 1719, one of the daughters and coheirs of Sir William Ches-
ter, of Chicheley, co. Bucks, Part.

101

4 Mar. 1744. John Clayton, Estj. Must, Berks, and Sarah Brown-

ing, St. Lawrence, Walthani, B. and S.

5 Sept. 1734, White Clayton, Gent. St. Clement Danes, and

Hannah (jrissell. Ditto, B. and S.
27 Dec. 1747. Robert Coker, Gent. Cripplegate, and Ann Fowler,
B. and S.

10 Sept. 1739. John Coleman, Gent. Holborn, and Mary Terry,

Chigwell, B. and S.

11 Aug. 1736. Henry Collins, Chirurgeon, Chatham, and Mary

Hollingsbery, Ditto, W. and W.
29 April 1742. George Coles, Gent. Kinlat, Salop, and Sarah
Williams, Sedbury, B. and VV.

29 July 1720. Francis Colman, Esq. St. James's, and Sarah Gum-

ley, Ditto, B. and S.
19 May 1740. Edward Compton, Gent. St. Luke's, Middlesex,
and Mary Young, Ditto, W. and S.

30 July 1735. Barnard Compton, Gent. St. Bride's, and Margaret

Morris, Ditto.

13 May 1718. Col. Thomas Condon, P' Reg'. Guards, and Eliza-

beth Mellish, St, James's, B. and S.

19 Jan. 1737, John Conningham, Gent. St. James's, and Mary

Crafts, Ditto, B. and S.
30 July 1743, John Conyer, Gent. St. James's, and Sarah Wood,

St. Andrew's Holborn, B, and S.
23 Feb, 1749. Peirce Cook, Gent. St. James's, and Sarah Wood,

Holborn, B. and S.
17 May 1735. William Cook, Gent, St. George's Hanover Square,

and Ann Hook, B. and S.

12 Mar. 1754. Richard Cooper, Gent. Beaconsfield, and Eliz.

Shank, B. and S.
23 Aug. 1732. John Cope, Gent, and Susannah Clarke, both of

Clapham, W. and S.
10 June 1750. John Copley, Gent. St. Dunstan's East, and Hannah

Simkins, B. and S.

20 Feb. 1721. Roger Copin, Gent. St. Andrew's, and Eliz. Linley,

Ditto, B. and S.

14 Jan. 1734. Thomas Cornelius, Gent Rotherhithe, and Hester

Green, B. and S.
4 Sept. 1734. James Corbet, Gent. St. Paul's Covent Garden, and
Eliz. Weit, St. Ann's Westminster, W. and S.

102

23 April 1751. Archelaus Courtany, Gent. Chelsea, and Grace
Annett, W.

28 Jan. 1 73-. Hercules Courteney, Esq. St. James's, and Margaret
Drysdale, Ditto, S.

25 Aug. 1734. Tayler Courtman, Gent. St. Mary-le-Strand, and
Hannah Powney, Ditto, B. and S.
4 Jan. 1738. Samuel Cox, Gent. St. George's Hanover Square,
and Rosamond Friend, B. and S.

18 May 1720. Charles Crofton, Gent. Newport, Bucks, and Bar-
bara Benn, Covent Garden.

25 Aug. 1735. William Crony, Gent. St. James's, and Mary Ran-

dall, St. Botolph's Aldgate, W. and W.
16 Sept. 1730. William Crotty, Gent. St. James's, and MaryFitz-
garet. Ditto, B. and S.

10 July 1733. George Crowder, Gent. Clerkenwell, and Eliz. Lis-

ter, B. and S.

11 Aug. 1746. James Crumpton, Gent. Light Horse, and Mary

Caruthers, Iver, B. and S.
9 Jan. 1738. John Cullen, Gt. St. Peter's Canterbury, and Ann

Morgan, St. Andrew's Ditto, B. and S.
14 April 1736. Tempest CuUiford, Gent. Chelsea, and Eliz. Day,

B. and S.
3l May 1733. Robert Cuningham, 2"^ Reg' Guards, and Sarah

Montgomery, B. and S.

10 Feb. 1719. Alexander Cunison, Gent. St. Martin's, and Jane

Quint, Ditto, B. and S.

1 1 June 1 737. William Cundell, Gent. St. Bride's, and Sarah Bathe,

St. Martin's Fields, W. and S.
11 Feb. 1748. Alexander Currie, Gent. St. James's, and Eliz.
Edwards, W. and S.

8 July 1736. Charles Dairy mplc, Apoth. St. George's Hanover
Square, and Elizabeth Prince, Ditto, B. and S.

13 Feb. 1719. Jas.Daly,Gt. St. Clem.& Eliz. Readmell, Do.B.c^- S.

1 1 Jan. 1734. Charles Daniel, Gent. St. Martin's Fields, and Sarah
Warner, B. and S.

27 Sept. 1743. George Daniel, Gt. Westm. & Sarah Jones, B. & S.

21 Aug. 1738. Nicholas Urbain Guillou Darmenonville, Gent. St.
Ann's W^est. and Marsanne Conche, Do. B. & S.

26 Oct. 1743. Abraham Davis, Gent. Falmouth, and Grace Lewis,

B. and S.

103

28 July 1753. George Davis, (Jlcnt. Chelsea, and Sarah Nash, St.

James's, W. and W.

18 Feb. 1735. John Davis, Gt. St. James's, and Mary (ireen, Do.
9 Aug. 174:2. Francis Davison, Gent Lisbon, and Elizabeth Tich-

borne, Uotherhithe, 13. and W.

16 April 1727. Andrew Davison, Gent. Kirk Newton, co. North-

umberland, and Rachel Mason, St. Saviour's
Southwark, B. and S.
1 Jan. 1721. Robt. Daven, Gent. Maidstone, and Grace How,
Ditto, B. and S.

22 Jan. 1732. Sherrington Davenport, Esq. Davenport House,

Salop, and Gratiana Rodd, Hereford, S.
9 Sept. 1749. Thomas Davidson, Gent. Ealing, and Sarah Fisher,
Bloomsbury, B. and S.

17 April 1752. John Dawes, Esq. Tunbridge Wells, and Lydia

Clarke, B. and S.
7 April 1752. Sam. Day, Surg. Whitech. & Esther Turner, Do. S.

29 Aug. 1733. Lewis Deane, Gt. Clerkenwell, & Mary Lee, B. & S.
10 Mar. 1729. Anthony Deane, Gent. St. Clement's, and Mary

Hindrick, St. Sepulchre's, B. and S.
5 Feb. 1721. Wm. Dear, Gt. St. Margt's.& Esth. Jones, Do. B.& S.
12 Feb. 1730. Peter De Grout, Merchant, Bristow, Somerset, and
Isa. Warde, of Porringdon, " in pr. diet." B. & W.

19 Mar. 1718. Robert Delafontaine, Gent. St. Giles's, and Mary

Lacy, Ditto, B. and S.
7 Mar. 1740. Peter De St. Remye, Gent, St. Ann's Westminster,

and Anna Hatfield, Ditto, B. and S.
26 July 1735. Martin De La Garde, Gent. Bloomsbury, and Betty

Moore, St. Margaret's, B. and S.
29 Oct. 1744. Elias Phillip Delaporte, Gent. St. Andrew's, and

Catherine Deveil, B. and S.

23 July 1743, John Baptist Delacormetiere, Gent. Walthamstow,

and Jane Neftell, B. and W.
23 Aug. 1736. Dr. Franciscus Alius Delamar, St. Anne's West-
minster, and Mary June, Ditto, B. and S.
4 Nov. 1742. John Christr. Vequetin Delutz, Gent. St. James's,
and Rose Cath. Roquln, Ditto, B. and S.

18 April 1737. John James Delone, Surgeon, Canterbury, & Judith

Frimoult, Ditto, B. and S.
14 April 1734. Thomas Denison, Apothecary, St. James's, and
Katherine Street, Marylebone, B. and S.

104.

14 Jan. 1737. Benjamin Denby, Surgeon, Walton on Thames, and
Elizabeth Fenn, Ditto, B. and S.

31 Aug. 1733. Emilius Depau, Surgeon, Woolwich, and Ann Rey-
nolds, W. and S.

18 Sept. 1751. George Devenport, Esq. and Salle Knight, S.

3 July 1750. Jas. Devenport, Deptford, & Margt. Allison, B. & S.
30 July 1718. " Thomas Deverocks" Esq. and the Lady Elizabeth

Johnes, B. and S.

oc T TTo/- /'Andrew Dillon, Gent. St. Martin's Fields, and

25 June 1736. i ' '

) Ann Corbs, St. Giles's Fields, B. and W.

rk i Andrew Dillon, Gent. St. Martin's Fields, and

Do. Do. ( Hellen Carless, St. Giles's, B. and S.

21 Nov. 1747. Thomas Dison, Gent. Marylebone, and Mary

Holmes, B. and S.
10 Dec. 1734. John Dodd, Gent. St. Dunstan, and Frances Bate-
man, Holborn, W. and S.
8 Jan. 1721. Chas. Douglas, Esq. St. Martin's Fields, & Jacabee
Moody, St. Margaret's, W. and S.

6 Jan. 1754. John Down, China Merchant, St. Paul's, Benet's

Wharf, and Sarah W^oodley, S.

7 Oct. 1753. Chas. Drummond, Gent. Covent Garden, and Mary

Cloyde, Ditto, B. and S.
16 Sept. 1717. John Duer, Esq. St. James's, and Elizabeth Eyre,
St. Clement's, B. and S.

8 Mar. 1721. John Duffield, Gent. St. Giles's, and Mary Warbur-

ton, Ditto, B. and W.

29 May 1716. Jn° DufF, Gent. St. Dunst. & Eliz. Hassard, B. & S.
20 Feb. 1734. Charles Duglis, Gent, and Elizabeth Hawley, St.

Martin's Fields, B. and S.

30 Jan. 1730. John Dumergue, French Master, Holborn, and Maria

Anna Avuray, St. Ann's, Westminster, B. & S.

4 Sept. 1734. William Dunn, Gent. AUiiallows Barking, and Eliza-

beth Ashen, Mile-End, B. and W.
2 June 1721. Cornelius Dutry, Escj. Haflen, Holland, and Ger-
trude Dutry, Amsterdam, B. and S.

26 Mar. 1736. James Eclilin, Cient. 3rd Troop of Horse Guards,

and Ann Murphy, St. Martin's Fields, S.
\ April 1719. Nathaniel Edglcy, Chirurgeon, Stepney, and Eliza-
beth Watkins, Ditto, B. and S.
12 May 1732. Peter Edwards, Gt. St. Mart. \ Sarah Coope, B. & S.

105

1734. Edward Edwards, (ient. liermondsey, and Constant
Wliite, Ditto, W. and J?.
4 July 1735. Alexander Elpliinston, Gent. St. James's, and Mary
Waring, B. and S.

11 Aug. 1742. John Elrington, Gent. Holborn, and Mary Calla-

ghan, Ditto, B. and S.

12 Feb. 1736. Edward Elliott, Clarke, St. James's, and Frances

Carey, Ditto, B. and S.
26 Aug. 1742. Carey Elwes, Gent. Isleworth, and Esther Ewer,

Richmond, B. and S. (£7. lis. 6d.)
19 Mar. 1754. Wm. English, Gent. St. Margaret's West, and Ann

Saunders, St. George's Hanover Sq. B. and S.
18 June 1736. John Emmott, Gent. St. George's Hanover Square,

and Sarah Clarke, W. and W.
30 Mar. 1729. James Esmead, Gent. St. Margaret's, and Elizabeth

Smith, Ditto, B. and W.

13 Oct. 1735. John Evans, Gent. St. George's Hanover Square,

and Mary Thompson, Ditto, W. and S.

11 May 1736. Robert Fabian, Gent. Westm. and Sarah Edwards.
15 Mar. 1 747. Rd. Fanshire, Gt. St. Giles's, &: Ann Poynton, B. & S.

14 July 1742. John Farran, Surgeon, St. Matthew's Friday Street,

and Sarah Lupton, Ditto, B. and S.

11 Sept. 1743. James Farquharson, Gent. Marylebone, and Susan-
nah Watts, St. James's, B. and W.
6 July 1736. Chamberlain Fawsett, Gent. High Wickham, and
Sarah Day, B. and W.

13 Mar. 1743. Thomas Fazakerley, Gent, and Eliz. Marshall, S.

18 Nov. 1737. William Field, Gent. Windsor, and Mary Under-
wood, Ditto, B. and S.

24 Sept. 1743. Edward Finch, Gent. Watford, and Sarah Clark,
Ditto, B. and S.

24 May 1737. John Finch, Gent. Brampton, Hunts, and Anne
Amey, Caxon, co. Cambridge, B. and S.

1 1 Aug. 1720. Charles Filmer, Gent. East Sutton, Kent, and Alicia
Mills, Maidstone, B. and S.

28 April 1728. Naylor Fisher, Gent. St. Margaret's, and Elizabeth
Collins, Ditto, B. and S.

21 Sept. 1722. John Fitzpatrick, Gent. & Eliz. Lovett, B. c^- S.

10 Aug. 1718. Maurice Fitzgerald, Gent. St. James's, and Mary
Whitfield, St. Martin's, B. and S.

106

17 April 1749. Garret Fitzgerald, Gent. St. Andrew's, and Mary

Stillingfleet, B. and W.
31 Jan. 1734. Edward Fleming, Gent. Line: Inn, and Elizabeth

Bunbury, St. Dunstan's, B. and W.
30 Jan. 1740. Robert Fosbrooke, Gent. Westminster, and Savan-
nah Perry, St. Giles's, B. and W.
3 May 1744. The Hon. H. Fox & Lady Caroline Lenox, B. cS: S.'
3 Sept. 1736. Nicholas Ambrose French, Gent. Covent Garden,

and Mary Tonman, Ditto, B. and W.
7 Feb. 1730. Nathaniel French, Merchant, St. Clement Danes, &
Margaret Street, Jun. St. Dunstan's, W. & S.

3 Nov. 1743. Alex. Gardener, M. A., Corpus Chris ti College, Ox.
& Sarah Norman, St. Geo.'s Han. Sq. W. & S.

18 June 1735. Thos. Gardner, Gt. & Sus''. Drillingsworth, B. & S.
30 Dec. 1721. Wm. Gaa, Gent. Whitechapel, and Hannah Founds,

Stepney.

21 Aug. 1730. Wm. Garth, Clerk, Savoy, and Eliz, King.

14 Mar. 1734. Arthur Gibson, Gent. Holborn, and Mary Baylis,

B. and W.
30 Mar. 1718. John Gilbert, Esq. Abergavenny, and Susannah
Gower, Ditto, W. and S.

19 April 1720. Malcolm Gillies, Gent. St. Martin's Fields, and

Mary Jenks, Ditto, W. and S.

15 Oct. 1743. Archibald Gillon, Gent. St. James's, and Ruth

Jackson, Ditto, B. and S.

22 Mar. 1754. Henry Gold, Gent. Ashford, Kent, and Mary Bark,

W. and W.
1 Oct. 1745. Thomas Godfrey, Gent. Great Parndon, Essex,

and Sarah Benton, Epping, B. and S.
5 June 1721. Robinson Glyn, Surgeon, Trinity Minories, and

Marg*. TrewoUer, St. Law: Jewry, B. and S.

1 April 1741. Samuel Gordon, Surgeon, St, James's, and Eliza-

beth Bradford, Ditto, S.

2 Mar. 1729. John Gordon, Esq. Westminster, and Barbara

Raynes, Greenwich, B. and S."
14 July 1735. George Gordon, Chirurgeon, Galloway, N. B. and

Betty Batchelor, Marylcbone
10 Jan. 1730. James Gordon, Gent. Islington, and Susannah

Poyner, Ditto, B. and S.

' See p. 16. => See p. 80.

107

24 July 1722. Bcvill Granville, Gent. 8t. James's, and Mary Rose,
Weedon, Bucks.
7 Mar. 1734. Edmund Grantham, Gent. Harrow-on-the-Hill, and

Rebecca Annesley, Ditto, B. and S.
1 June 1751. Daniel Grant, Gent. Newington Butts, and Jane
Grant, Ditto, B. and W.
14 Jan. 1742. William Gray, Gent. St. James's, and Mary Wat-
son, B. and S.
22 Aug. 1735. Geo. Gray, Gent. Richmond, Surrey, and Susan-
nah Morgan, Ditto, B. and W.
27 Nov. 1724. Marmaduke Gresham, Knight and Baronet, of

Limpfield, and '

5 Aug. 1721. Thomas Green, Gent. Lambeth, and Catherine Fo-
rescue, Ditto, B. and S.

1740. The Hon. John Gray don and Kasandra Tahourdin.

10 Sept. 1717. Walter Griffith, Bachelor of Laws, and Euphany

St. John, St. James's, B. and S.
12 Mar. 1746. Alexander Grimaldi,'^ Painter, and Esther Barton,
W. and S.
1 July 1751. Samuel Grove, Gent. Norwich, and Mary Carpen-
ter, Attelborough, B. and S.
5 Sept. 1717. Marmaduke Gwinne, Gent. Glamorganshire, and
Elizabeth Jones, Breconshire, B. and S.
17 Feb. 1734. Richard Gyles, Gent. St Martin's Fields, and Ann
Howitt, St. Margaret's, B. and S.

29 Feb. 1744. Abraham Hagneus, Gent. Ley den, Holland, and
Anna Christiana Frederica Van Renesse, B. & S.

17 Sept. 1734. Francis Hall, Esq. Middle Temple, and Rebecca
Strong, Allhallows the Great, B. and S.

16 Aug. 1729. William Halam, Gent. Highgate, and Mary Evans
Ditto, B. and S.

' Sir Marmaduke Gresham, of Limpsfield and of Titsey, co. Surrey, Bart, died
2nd January 1741, at. 41. His wife was Anne, daughter of William Hoskyns,
of Barrow Green near Godston. The title became extinct in 1801.

^ This marriage was for many years sought for in vain ; the author's examination
of these Registers accidentally discovered it. Mr. Grimaldi was the grandfather of
Stacey Grimaldi, Esq. F.S.A. author of the " Origines Genealogicae." He was an
artist, and died in 1800, aged 86. See Pedigree in the College of Arms. Register
12 D. 14.

108

2 Jan. 174:2. Neliemiah Hammond, Gent. Wilsdon, and Phillis

Hyde, W. and W.
9 Aug. 1742. Jolni Hampton, Gent, and Mary Tipping.

1 Nov. 1721. Richard Hanley, Gent. St. Margaret's, and Jane

Arnold, Ditto, B. and W.

9 Feb. 1746. John Harmston, Gent. St. Clement Danes, and

Mary Lisle, Ditto, B. and S.
6 Jan. 1742. James Hart, Winglesham, Surrey, and Ann Pusey,
B, and S.

18 Sept. 1751. Jacob Hartman, Bart, and Eliz. Hollis, S.

14 Aug. 1734. George Harrison, Gent. St. Dunstan's West, and
Susan Meggett, Christchurch, Surrey.

20 Dec. 1733. Thomas Harrison, Esq. Holborn, and Eliz. Turner,

Ditto, B. and S.
17 May 1737. William Rice Harris, Gent. St. Sepulchre's, and
Eliz. Martin, St. Martin Outwich, W. and S.

21 Apr. 1722. Richard Hargrave, Gent. St. Dunstan's West, and

Anne Lamb, St. Bride's, B. and S.

19 Aug. 1714. Ben. Harpur, Gent, St. Johns Westminster, and

Cath. Hale, B. and W.

22 Mar. 1752. Samuel Harness, Apothecary, Ludgate, and Eliz.

Thorp, Ditto, B. and S.

2 Jan. 1727. William Hastings, Gent. St. Margaret's, and Eliz,

Stevenson, Ditto, B. and S.
2 Feb. 1734. Hyde Hatch, Gent. St. Dunstan's West, and Ann
Stock, B. and S.
30 Mar. 1742. William Hayward, Gent. Marylebone, and Penelope
Hughes, B. and S.

10 Oct. 1747. John Hedges, Gent, from Wilts, and Doiothy But-

ler, B. and S.

11 Feb. 172H. Anthony Henley,' Esq, St. Giles's, and Lady Eliz.

Berkley, St, James's, B. and S.
22 Nov. 1745. Aaron Henshaw, St. Margaret's, and Eliz. Arnold,
B. and S.
5 May 1724. John Hele, Esq. Middle Temple, and Philippa
Jordan, Charlvvood, B. and S.

10 Mar. 1744. James Hering, Gent. St. Margaret's, and Mary

Wilson, Ditto, S.

He was of the Grange, co. Hants, and elder brollier of Robert Earl of Nortli-
inglon, Lord High Chancellor of Great Jhituiu. She was daughter of .l;mies tiiinl
iCail of ik'rkeley, and died 1745.

109

27 Sept. 1748. Robert Hills, Gent. Shoreham, Kent, and Hannah

Sunnix, B. and S.

28 Mar. 1736. Charles Hoar, Gent. St. Ann's, Westminster, and

Susannah Lane, Lothbury, B. and S.
17 June 1736. Price Ilolloway, Gent. St. Dunstan's West, and
Rachael Periam, Ditto, B. and S.
1 Sept. 1718. John Holywell, Gent. St. James's, and Anne Uf-

ford, Shoreditch, B. and S.
5 Jan. 1746. William Hollistar, Gent. Bloomsbury, and Love

Golledge, B. and S.
7 April 1730. William Horton, Gent. St. Clement's, and Eliz.
Wade, B. and S.
10 Mar. 1721. William Horton, Gent. Covent Garden, and Mary

Chester, Ditto, B. and S.
3 Jan. 1741. Wheeler Holt, Gent. Cambrose, Pembrokeshire,

and Frances Ward, St. James's, B. and S.
3 June 1738. Francis Hopkins, Gent. Stevenson, Berks, and Sarah
Leaky, Woolwich, B, and W.

25 Mar. 1754. Philip Home, Gent, St. Margaret's and Anne Tur-

ner, B. and S.
28 Dec. 1732. Collin Hossack, M.D. St. James's, and Abigail
Abbett, St. Clement Danes, B. and S.

26 Aug. 1734. John Howard, Gent. St. Martin le Grand, and Anne

Reason, Ditto, B. and S.
3 May 1751. John Howard, Gent. St. James's, and Eliz. Frevil,
Ditto, W.
28 April 1 749. Benjamin Howes, Gent. Chalbury, Oxon, and Eliz.
Gardiner, B. and W.

27 Nov. 1741. John Hewlett, Gent. St. James's, and Hannah Wal-

ton, B. and S.

22 Nov. 1720. Captain John Hoyle, Gent. Holborn, and Eliz. Cun-

ningham, Ditto, \V. and W.
9 Feb. 1737. William Hume, Gent. Holborn, and Sarah Davis,
Ditto, W. and W.
24 Dec. 1753. John Humphrys, Gent. St. Clement Danes, and
Eliz. Monson, B. and S.

23 May 1735. John Hunt, Gent. Eaton upon Wilmores, Salop, and

Catherine Roberts, B. and S.
14 June 1742. Thomas Hunter, Attorney, Holborn, and Eliz.
Stainsby, St. James's, B. and S.

110

8 June 1733. Sam. Huron, Gt. St. Pancras, S: Mary Soley, Do. S.

9 Nov. 1742. Sumner Hutton, Gent. Deptford, and Ann Mead,

B. and S.

3 July 1721. John Ingoldsby, Gent. St. Martin's Fields, and
Mary Porter, St. James's, B. and S

14 April 1736. James Inns, Gent. Andover, & Eliz. Kemm, B. & S.
17 Sept. 1729, John Ivye, Gent. Mitcheldever, Hants, and Mary

Hitterley, Cripplegate, B. and W.

6 June 1719. " Joseph Jackson, Clergyman, &c." and Esther

Curtis, B. and W.
5 Feb. 1722. Joshua Jackson, Gent. St. Martin's Fields, and Mary
Cooper, Walbrook, W. and S. " a secret."
23 July 1735. Leonard Jackson, Gent. St. George Martyr, and

Mary Green, B. and S.
12 May 1734. James Lewis James, St. Kanthavy Crairs, Cardi-
gan, & Susannah Lloyd, Istrad, Ditto, B. & S.

15 Dec. 1744. Noah James, Esq. St. George's Hanover Square,

and Eliz. Bearcroft, Ditto, VV. and S.
1 Jan. 1734. Brian Jamson, St. Margaret's, and Lucy Askew, St.
James's.

8 Feb. 1720. John Frederic Jales, Gent, and Mary Reynalds,

Bishopsgate, B. and S.
27 Mar. 1747. Richard Jenkinson, Attorney, St, Mary Alder-

mary, and Eleanor Dean, Ditto, B. and S.
25 Feb. 1735. Edmund Johnson, Gent. St. John's Westminster,

and Jane Rogers, Ditto, S.
20 May 1721. John Johnson, Gent. Hexham, and Martha Carter,

Hesson, B. and W.

9 April 1752. Thomas Johnson, Gent. St. James's, and Mary

Whetley, St. Clement's, B. and S.
20 Nov. 1715. Wm. Johnston,' Lord Marquess of Annandale, and
Charlotta Vanlore Vanden Bempden, W. and S.
4 Sept. 1717. Charles Jones, Esq. Hatfield, and Anna Maria
Gower, St. James's, B. and S.

• Second Marquess of Annandale. This was his second wife. She was daugliter
and sole heir of John Vanden Bempde', of Pall Mall, Escj. He died in Feb. 1721-2,
and she re-married Lieut.-Col. John Johnson, who died at the siege of Carthagena
in 1741. She survived till Noveinher 1762.

Ill

18 Sept. 1737. John Jones, (ient. and Eliz. Fotliergill, both of

Barking, Essex, H. and S.
17 May 1733. Thomas Jones, Gent. Holborn, and Elizabeth El-
mer, B. and S.
2 Mar. 1734. James Jones, Student in the Temple, of Kolt,

Denbighshire, and Ann Eeles, B. and S.
1 Oct. 1728. Walter Jordan, Gent. St. James's, and Ann Pitch-
ford, St. Martin's, B. and S.
17 Feb. 173G. William Judge, Gent. St. Clement Danes, and
Hannah Rose, Ditto, W. and W.

5 Nov. 1735. John Kelley, Esq. Inner Temple, and Mary Bou-
cher, W. and W.

4 Sept. 1720. Edward Kelly, Gent. St. Clement's, and Mary

Woodcock, Ditto, B. and W.

5 Oct. 1734, John Kelshaw, Gent. St. George's Hanover Square,

and Ruth JJead, Hackney, B. and S.

23 Sept. 1720. James Kerford, Gent. St. Martin's Fields, and Eliz.

Wentworth, Holborn, B. and S.

— 1746. Abel Johnson Kettlebey,' Esq. St. Dunstan's West,

& Margaretta Farquharson, St. Martin's, B. & S.
14 Nov. 1720. William Keen, Gent. Southwark, and Eliz. Rose,
Ditto, B. and S.

19 Oct. 1709. Wm. Kinaston, Inner Temple, Barrister, and Doro-

thy Taylour, Holborn, B. and S.
17 Mar. 1747. William King, Gent. Bishopgate, and Catherine

Meads, B. and S.
21 June 1677. George King, Gent. St. George Martyr, and Ann

Fenwick, B. and S.

24 June 1727. William Kingsley, Esq. Maidstone, and Jane Lit-

tleton, North Uckington, Essex, B. and S.
13 June 1721. Nathaniel Kingsland, Gent. St. James's, and Eliz.
Anderson, Ditto, W. and S.

— 1713. James Kite, General Officer, and Margaret Shoot,

Westminster.
8 Nov. 1 735, John Kyrwood, Esq. Hanover Square, and Constant
Walpole, B. and W.

' Of Ludlow, Bitterly, and of Stepple Hall, co. Salop, Esq. He died in 1756.
She was the only daughter of John Farquharson, Physician to the King of Den-
mark, and died in 1775. The only issue of this marriage was Maria-Statira Eliza-
beth Farquharson Johnston, who married Thomas Ilundell, of Bath, Surgeon.

112

27 Dec. 1 7.50. John Ladyman, Gent. St. .James's, and Margaret
Atkinson, B. and S.
1 June 1736. Peter La Font, Gent. Soho, and Rlary Sandham,

St. Paul's Covent Garden, B. and S.
6 July 1721. Thomas Lane, Gent. Bentley Hall, Staffordshire,

and Anne Austin.
12 Aug. 1745. Thomas Langley, Esq. Upton, Bucks, and Mary
Wright, W. and S.

16 May 1742. Francis Law ley, Surgeon, St. Martin's Fields, and

Eliz. Crisp, Strand, W. and S.

17 July 1748. Samuel Featherstone Leigh, Gent. Packwood,

Warwickshire, and Jane Vivian, St. Luke's,

B. & W.
16 May 1733. Sir John Leigh, of Addington in Surrey, and Eliz.

Vade, of Bromley in Kent, W. and S. — in Long

Acre.'
14 Aug. 1736. Thomas Leigh, Gent. St. Clement Danes, and Ann

Kennedy, B. and S.
4 Dec. 1744. Charlton Leighton, Gent. Overbury, Salop, (Colo-

nells Regt.) and Anna Maria Mytton, Conover,

B. and S.
23 April 1726. Edward Lee, Gent. St. Sepulchre's, and Hannah

Devonport, Ditto, S.

18 Sept. 1737. William Lemmon, Gent. St. James's, and Anna

Maria Garetta Brett, Ditto, B. and S.

' This marriage was one which strongly evinced llie lamentable consequences en-
suing from the facility of Fleet marriages, which afforded to the artful and designing
the means of effecting their objects. Sir John Leigh, by this marriage, was placed
entirely under the influence of William Vade, the father of the bride, who obtained
the control over his estates, and procured the execution of a will, which was sub-
sequently disputed in Chancery, and eventually the question was carried to the
House of Lords.

From the Appeal Case (Jasper Jones and wife, appellants, John ]3ennett and
Mary his wife and others, respondents,) of the respondent the following is extracted :

" Respondent Vade now having it in his power to do as he pleased with Sir John,
got him to London under pretence of a christening ; and having discharged Sir
John's servants from attending, and having made him drunk, carried him away in a
hackney coach to a lodging provided for tliat purpose ; and at midnight procured
a Fleet parson to marry Sir John, then between fifty and sixty years of age, to his
the said respondent Vade's own daughter, a girl about sixteen or seventeen years
old, without any fortune, whom Sir John had scarce ever seen before."

113

28 Dec. 173]. Paul Letlicllicr, Haberdasher, Aldgate, and Sarali

Wriglit, Ditto, S.
5 Jan. 1746. Thomas Lever, Gent. Bolton, Lancashire, and INIar-

garet Lathon, W. and W.
12 Mar. 1721. Joseph Lewis, Gent. St. Margaret's, and Charlotte

Hathaway, St. Martin's, B. and VV.
8 Aug. 1736. Thomas Lewis, Gent. St. Paul Covent Garden, and

Margaret Johnson, Ditto, B. and S.
14 Oct. 1722. Jenkin Lewis, Attorney, Carter Lane, and Esther

Edghill, St. Dunstan s, B. and S.

28 Jan. 1722. George Lewis, Gent. St. Martin's Fields, and ftlar-

garet Burningham, Ditto, B. and W.

29 Jan. 1735. Frederic Lightenson, Gent. Richmond, and Eliz.

Salt, St. Paul, Covent Garden.
19 May 1717. William Littill, Gent. St. James's, and Winifred
Vaughan, St. George's Hanover Square, B. & S.

8 July 1 720. Edward Lilly, Attorney, St. Matthew Friday Street,

and Anne Ward, Ditto, B. and S.
17 Mar. 1751. Robert Linely, Gent. Bloomsbury, and Eliz. Por-
teus, B. and S.

9 July 1738. Thomas Littleton, Gent St. Margaret's, and Fran-

cisca Maria Aangier, Ditto, B. and S.
24 Oct. 1740. "Gwin Lloyd of Hendor, Merinothshire, Esq., and
Elizabeth Taylor, of St. James's Westminster,
B. and S.'"

11 April 1736. Charles Lodwich, Gent. Holborn, and Mary

Phillips, Ditto, B. and S.

30 April 1728. James Loggan, Gent. St. James's, and Mary Gen-

tile, Lambeth, B. and S.
16 Nov. 1740. George Long, Gent. Westham, Essex, and Mary
Staymaker, Ditto, B. and W.

12 July 1734. Ferrick Lowther, Merchant, St. Margaret's, and

Elizabeth Bennett, B. and S.
27 Aug. 1733. Francis Lowther, Gent. Poultry, and Katherine

Haynes, Ditto, B. and S.
30 July 1718. Robert Lowthorp, Gent. Chelsea, and Jane Davis,

Allhallows, B. and S.
12 Jan. 1744. Nicholas Low, Gent. Strand, and Grace Cramar,

Hanover Square, B. and S.

' Chap. V. contains an account of the Trials to which this entry gave rise.

114

2 Feb. 1754. Samuel Luke, Oent. Lincoln's Inn, and Mary Jones,

Ditto, B. and S.
27 Aug. 1736. Stephen Lusliington, Gent. Sittingborne, Kent, and

Mary Marsh, B. and S.
25 Jan. 1737. Edward Lutwidge, Gent. 4th Guards, and Mary

Mellish, Bramley, Surrey, W. and S.
11 Nov. 1751. Benjamin Lynn, Gent. Richmond, Yorkshire, and

Margaret FelqueroUes, Ashly, Suffolk, B. & W.

10 Jan. 1744. William Berkeley Lyon, Gent. St. George's Hanover

Square, and Catherine Bridges,' Ditto, B. & S.

7 Aug. 1742. William Macbean, Gent. Marylebone, and Margaret
Robinson, B. and S.
31 July 1742. Daniel Macbean, Gent, of the Guards, and Mary

Lyon, B. and W.
19 July 1736. Jn°. Manninge, Gt. Oundle, & Sarah Franks, B. & S.

1740. Honourable Capt. Fras. Martin, and Mary Bruce.
5 Feb. 1743. John Martin, Apothecary, Maidstone, and Margaret
Daylins, Ditto, B. and W.

11 Aug. 1742. Edmund Martin, Gent. Covent Garden, and Eliza-

beth Fitzgerald, B. and S.

3 Mar. 1743. Robert Martin, Gent. Oxford, and Ann Berty, St.

James's, B. and S.
31 May 1723. Rich. Martin, Gent. Dulwich, and Fras. Thomson,

Ditto, B. and S.
29 Mar. 1752. James Martin, Surgeon, Hanover Square, and Ann

Loon, St. Gregory's, S.
22 Aug. 1742. Gaston Martineau, Gent. St. George's Middlesex,

and Mary lies, B. and W.
20 Aug. 1749. Samuel May, Gent; Shoreham, Kent, and Sarah

Russell, B. and S.
27 Mar. 1733. Baptist May,Gt. St. Margt.'s & Ann Hawley, B. & S.
16 Aug. 1742. Joseph Mazelier, Gent. St. James's, and Anna

Duportail, B. and S.
1 Jan. 1730. Matthew Mead, Gent. Aldgate, and Christian Ham-

bleton, Ditto, W. and W.

' She was eldest daughter and co-heir of John Bridges, commonly called Mar-
quis of Carnarvon, son of James Duke of Chandos, and she remarried Edwyn
Francis Stanhope, Esq., Gent. Usher to the Queen, who died in 1807, and was
father of Sii Henry Kdwyn Stanhope, created a Baronet in lfi07.

115

23 Oct. 1722. Whitney Mecane, Gent. St. James's, and Elenor

Fergus, Ditto, B. and S.
4 July 1742. Daniel M'Kenzie, Gent. St. Giles's, and Jane Leg,

Ditto, W. and W.
16 July 1735. William Mellish, Surgeon, Uxbridge, and Hannah

Howard, Guilford, W. and S.
27 Feb. 1734. William Mellish, Gent. Lincoln's Inn, and Katherine

Da Costa Villa Real, Budge Row.'
27 Mar. 1737. William Merrick, Gent. St. Martin's, and Catherine

Capper, Ditto, S.
12 June 1722. William Meredith, Clergyman, and Maria Pickup^

St. James's, W. and S.
19 June 1742. Henry Meytheu, Gent. Covent Garden, and Sarah

Goodshaw, Ditto, B. and S.

12 Oct. 1732. John Mills, Attorney, and Margaret Lawley, both

of St. Dunstan's West, B. and W.

19 Oct. 1722. Geo. Miller, Gent. St. Giles's, and Bridget Cook,

Ditto, B. and S.
27 May 1735. John Miles, Gent. St. Margaret's, and Isabella

Fairley, Ditto, B. and S.
23 Mar. 1735. William Mitchell, Surgeon, Coleman-street, and

Mary FVazier, St. James's, B. and S.

3 April 1735. Right Hon. Robt. Lord Montagu,' Grosv. Square,

& Miss Hart. Dunch. St. Mart. Fields, B. & S.

20 April 1721. John Montgomery, Gent. St. Dunstan's, and Mary

Cox, Low Layton, B. and S.

13 June 1738. Anthony Morgan, Gent. St. Clement's, and Lettice

Evans, Ditto, B. and S.
23 July 1721. Robert More, Gent. Kingington, and Mary Damsell,
St. Mary Magdalen, B. and S.

4 Oct. 1737. John Buridge Morton, Gent. St. Catherine's, and

Sarah Johnson, Ditto, B. and S.

' " N.B. Married at Madam Mellish's own house in Great Russell Street,
Bloomsbury." He was of Blyth, co. York, Receiver General of Customs, and died
1791. She, who died 1747, was daughter of Joseph Da Costa, and relict of Joseph
Da Costa Villa Real, of College Hill, in the parish of St. Michael Royal, in the
city of London, who died 1731, and by whom she was mother of Elizabeth, who in
1747 married William Monckton, Esq. after Viscount Galway.

' He was son of Charles first Duke of Manchester ; was himself third Duke of
Manchester, and died 10th May 1762.

I 2

116

1 1 Sept. 1742. Slaney Moieton, Gent. Birmingham, and Eliz. Bran-
wood, B. and S.

4 Nov. 1742. George Morison, Esq. Inner Temple, and Christian

Stewart, S.

20 A^ig. 1709, Charles Murrey, Capt. in Col. Hamilton's Regt. and

Anna Maria Norah Calvert, St. Dunstan's West,
B. and W.
2 Feb. 1729. John Murrey, Gent. St. George's Hanover Square,
and Eliz. Burges, Elverton, Hants, S.

7 Dec. 1749. William Myers, Gent. Stapleford Abbott, and Ann

Goodin, B. and W.

30 Aug. 1746. David Nash, Gent. Horse Guards, and Sarah Wil-
lett, St. James's, B. and S.

1 Jan. 1725. Hugh Naish, Gent. St. Martin's Fields, and Mary

Williams, Ditto, B. and S.
14 Aug. 1721. Joseph Neame, Attorney, Bow, and Eliz. Spratt,
Sandwich, B. and S.

8 Mar. 1736. Gregory Nicholls, Gent. St. Fancras, and Eliz.

Green, Ditto, B. and S.

5 May 1718. ^Egidius Nosemans, Esq. Bishopsgate, and Maria

Van Duijve, B. and S.

2 Sept. 1735. James O'Bryan, Gent. Bloomsbury, and Ann

Staples, B and S,

21 Nov. 1727. Adam Ogilvy, Gent. St. Martin's Fields, and Elinor

Collins, St. James's, B. and S.

18 Aug. 1735. John George Ogilvie,i Lord Banff, St. James's, and

Mary Ogilvie, B. and S.
2 Jan. 1721. Patrick O'Hara, Gent. St. Ann's, and Eliz. Mer-
rett. Ditto, B. and W.

21 Dec. William Okeden, Esq. St. James's, and Mary Ver-
non, Ditto, B. and S.

14 Sept. 1737. Nl. O'Neal, Gt. St. Giles's, & Mary Marshall, B.&W.
4 Nov. 1730. Wm. Orquhart,'- 3rd Regiment, and Grissel Ous-
worth, B. and W.

' He was fifth Lord Banff, and unfortunately drowned 29th July 1738. She was

daughter of Captain James Ogilvy and remarried Rev. Kemp.

' Query, Ur(]uhart.

117

26 May 172-J. Thomas Palnier,i Knt. and Bart. M.P. for Roches-
ter, and EHz. Markham, Cov. Gar. W. and S.

15 Feb. 1686. Christr. Parr, St. James's, & Ann Watts, W. & S.

15 Mar. 1730. Hyde Parker, Gent. St. Paul Covent Garden, and
Ehz. Beaver, Ditto, B. and S.

13 Dec. 1737. Charles Parsons, Gent. South Harting, Sussex, and
Mary Edes, B. and S.

29 Feb. 1736. Thos. Pasmore, Gt. Holb. & Isabella , W. & W.

1 Dec. 1716. Daniel Paul, Capt. Horse Guards, and Eliz. Murray,

B. and S.
1 April 1734. Henry Payne, Chirurgeon, Mitcham, and Rebecca
Bowles, Whitechapel, W. and W.

17 Feb. 1739. Wm. Peache, Gent, Shipton, Gloucester, and Mary
Baldwin, Ditto, B. and S.

22 Jan. 1734. Thomas Peacock, Gent. Feltbone, Essex, and Mary
Smith, B. and W.

26 April 1735. James Peden, Gent. St. Martin's Fields, and Eliz.
Geddings, Ditto, B. and S.
3 Mar. 1720. William Peirs, Esq. M.P. for Wells, and Mary Ives,
St. Martin's Fields, W. and S.

26 Dec. 1741. Peter Pelle, Gent. St. George's Hanover Square,
and Jemima Zinnnerman, B. and S.

17 June 1736. George Pennaliggen, Gent. Holborn, and Rebecca
Houghton, B. and W.

20 May 1721. Thomas Perry, Gent. St Giles's, and Osbaston So-
phia Newman, St. Clement's, B. and S.

19 Jan. 1737. Thomas Pett, Gent. Wye, Kent, and Mary Finmore,
North Hincksey, Berks, B. and S.

26 Jan. 1739. Craven Peyton, Gent. Nutfield, Surrey, and Eliza-
beth Farncombe, S.

26 Feb. 1723. Henry Peyton, Gent. St. Martin's Fields, and Amey
Westbury, Ditto, B. and S.
7 Oct. 1753. Thomas Phillips, Gent. Holb. and Catherine Litton,
St. Paul's, Covent Garden, B. and S.

25 Sept. 1718. William Phipps,^ Esq. Holborn, and Lady Catherine
Annisley, Stoke Pogis, Bucks, B. and S.

' Of Wingham, co. Kent, died 1723, S.P. M. She was his third wife.

^ He died 1st February 1730. He was father of Constantine first Baron iMul-
grave. Lady Catherine Annesly was daughter and heir of James fourth Earl of
Anglesea, by Lady Catherine Darnley, natural daughter of King James IL

118

20 Jan. 1730. John Pigott, St. Martin Orgars, and Constantia

Mar^ Burgoyne, St. Martin's Fields, S.

25 Nov. 1736. Rd. Pinnock, Gent. Windsor, and Ann Hardwick,

St. Margaret's, B. and S.

19 Nov. 1733. Abm. Plumb, Gent. St. Dunstan's West, and Lucy

Cooper, B. and S.
24 April 1720. Michael Plunkett, Gent. St. Margaret's, and Alice
Holmes, Ditto, B. and S.
9 Jan. 1736. John Ponsalby, Gent. Holborn, and Hester Powle,

St. James's, B. and W.
5 Jan. 1746. John Porter, Gent. Hackney, and Mary Tubb,

Ditto, B, and S.
14 July 1748. Rd. Pottinger, Esq. Chertsey, and Ann Weaver,
Odiam.

21 Aug. 1734. Francis Poultney, Gent. St. Paul's Covent Garden,

and Jane Griffiths, St. Martin's Fields, B. & S.

18 June 1735. Samuel Henry Poul, Gent, and Mary Bolt, B. & S.

5 Nov. 1750. Russell Caleb Powell, Gent. Holborn, and Sarah

Mortimer, B. and S.
28 Nov. 1729. John Powell, Gent. St. Ann's Westminster, and

Mary Lloyd, Ditto, B. and S.
4 Dec. 1735. Josiah Poynton, Gent. St. Giles's, and Eliz. lies,

Cripplegate, B. and W.
14 Aug. 1733. John Pratt, Gent, and Mary Bitter, both of St. Bo-

tolph Aldgate, W. and W.

20 Oct. 1727. John Pretty, Gent. Crondall, co. Southampton, and

Sarah Smither, Ditto, B. and S.

30 Sept. 1738. Thomas Prendergast, Bart, and Ann Williams, Hol-
born, B. and S.

18 Sept. 1735. John Price, Gent. St. Asaph, Wales, and Eliz.
Smart, B. and S.

14 July 1718. Wm. Price, Esq. Aldg. & Francis Conolly, B. & S.

27 Mar. 1736. Rd. Prior, Gent. Ripley, and Mary Smith, Hammer-
smith, B. and W.
4 Nov. 1722. William Proby, Gent. St. James's, and Annabella
Cantrell, Ditto, B. and S.

26 Oct. 1724. George Purdon, Esq. St. Clement Danes, and Mary

Pardon, St. Giles's, S.

20 April 1748. Rowland Sherman Quarrington, Gent. Emsted,
GIouc. and Julian Parker, St. James's, B. & S.

119

14 Oct. 1731. JoJin Rands, Gent. St. Margaret's, and Mary Green,

Ditto, B. and S.
31 Mar. 1752. Tliomas Ravenscroft, Gent. Devenham, Cheshire,

and Margaret Broady, Rosthrew, W. and S.

11 Sept. 1748. Edward Read, Clerk of Alfrick, Worcestershire, and

Mary Parsons, W. and W.
8 Jan. 1729. William Reed, St. Edmund's New Sarum, and of
3rd Guards, B. and Dorothy Harbert, Mile End
Old Town.

12 Nov. 1694. Thos. Redfernie, Gent. & Margt. Williams, B. & S.
7 June 1751. Thomas Redshaw, Gent. Knarcsborough, Yorkshire,

and Martha Gould, St. Margaret's, W. and S.

28 Mar. 1733. Price Rice, Chemist, St. Clement Danes, and Jane

Nelson, B. and S.

1 Sept. 1734. John Rigg, Gent. St. Martin's Fields, B. and Thom-

lisson Waters, St. Paul's Covent Garden.

31 Jan. 1730. John Rimirs, Gent. St. Clement's Dane, and Ann
Barrett, Ditto, B. and S.
1734. Robert Roach, Gent. St. Clement's Dane, and Su-
sannah Dean, B. and S.

18 April 1743. George Roberts, Gent. Nottinghamshire, and Mary
Worth, B. and W.

11 Sept. 1717. Christr. Rodd, Esq. Sutton, Herts, and Catherine

Powell, Cripplegate, B. and W.

2 July 1718. Thomas Roffe, Gent. Speldhurst, Kent, and Anne

Becket, Baster, Surrey, B. and S.

7 July' 1742. Edward Rogers, Gent. & Mary Dunsler, B. & S.

8 May 1731. Thomas Rolte, Gent. St. Giles's, and Ann Calvert,

Holborn, B. and S.'

29 Oct. 1722. Langham Rokeby, Gent. Holborn, and Catherine

Morgan, Ditto, B. and S.
6 Aug. 1744. John Rose, Esq. Kingston, Surrey, and Sarah
Curtis, Maltsey, B. and S.

12 Mar. 1721. Thomas Rosendale, Gent. St. Martin's Fields, and

Elizabeth Piccarsgill, Ditto, B. and W.
10 Mar. 1729. Rd. Roundell, Gent. Kerby-malzeed co. York, and

Jane Jones, Burton upon Trent.
27 Nov. 1736. William Russell, Gent. St. Martin's, and Elizabeth

Dormore, W. and W.

> Vide p. 86.

120

6 Jan. 1734. Rd. Russell, Gent. Guilibrd, & Cath. Gates, B. S: W.
15 June 1733. AUin Rutledge, Merchant, St. Ebbs, Oxon, and
Jane Middleton, B. and S.
6 June 1747. Samuel Ryder, Gent. St. Margaret's, and Ann
Edwards, B. and S.

30 July 1734. Calvert Ryder, Clerk, Lincoln's Inn, and Martha

Wharton.

18 Sept. 1737. William Sacheverell, Esq. and Ann Robinson, both

of St. John's Westminster, B. and S.

4 Aug. 1725. " George Sacdancore,' Viscount Slygo, Middle

Temple, and Robyna Rebecca Clara Cararoe,
St. James's."
25 May 1725. Thomas Salt, Stafford Town, Burgess, and EHzabeth
Parry, B. and S.
Nov. 1732. William Saltmash, Gent. St. Margaret's, and Han-
nah Honour, Ditto, W. and S.

5 Sept. 1742. William Sandys, Gent. Holb. & Ann Long, W. & S.

1 Nov. 1733. Phillip Scudamore, Weaver, & Mary Fulion, Stepney.
28 June 1723. James Scott, Gent. St. Margaret's, and Elizabeth

Waldegrave, St. Julian's, Norwich.
12 Mar. 1720. William Shaw, Esq. Cheshunt, and EHz. Blandy,
of Inglewood, Parish of Kinsbury, Berks, B. & S.

31 July 1733. James Sheils, Gent. Marylebone, and Jane Lemon,

B. and S.

6 Oct. 1721. Daniel Shelley, Gent. St. James's, and Eliz. Davis,

Ditto, B. and W.
3 June 1736. William Shepherd, Gent. St. George's Hanover Sq.
and Ann Tomson, Ditto, W. and S.

20 Nov. 1745. Rd. Shillitoe, Gent. Holborn, and Frances Benson,

St. James's, B. and S.
24 Aug. 1726. Thomas Shute, Gent, and Martha Lovelock.

19 Aug. 1736. Henry Sidney, Gent. St. Margaret's, and Ann Bel-

li ngham. Ditto, B. and W.

21 Aug. 1702. Lawrence Sidney, St. James's, and Mary Marbow,

Lombard-street.

2 Oct. 1736. Rd. Silvester, Gent. Greenhithe, Swanscombe, Kent,

and Anna Maria Pawlet, St. Martin's in the
Fields, B. and W.

' Query, Scudamore.

121

17 Jail. 1744. Ralph Simpson, Gent. St. James's, and Sarah Ko-

berts, B. and W.
22 Sept. 1753. Redmond Simpson, Gent, of St. Ann's Westminster,

and EHzabeth Dubourg, Ditto, B. and S.
26 Jan. 1737. William Simpson, Gent. 1st Guards, and Sarah

Howard, Holborn, W. and W.

29 Feb. 1736. Denham Skeat, Gent. Whitechapel, and Katherine

Poole, Holborn, B. and S.
19 Aug. 1744. Arthur Skiffington, Gent. St. George's Hanover Sq.
and Frances Wilson, Ditto, B. and S.

10 July 1752, George Skipton, Gent. Woolwich, and Jude Davidge,

Ditto, B. and S.

30 May 1731. George Slinger, Apothecary, North AUerton, York,

& Isabella Hawkins, St. Martin's Fds. W. & S.
26 July 1746. Robert Sloane, Gent, of the " Horse of Legonier's
Regiment," and Hannah Mason, B. and S.

13 Nov. 1727. William Sloper, Esq. St. James's, and Katherine

Hunter, Downing-street, B. and S.
7 Mar. 1 744. Leonard Smelt, Gent. Kirby, York, and Jane Camp-
bell, B. and S.

11 Jan. 1731. Robert Smith, Gent. Egham, and Eliz. Clemson,

Ditto, B. and S.

31 Oct. 1740, William Smith, Gent. Mary-le-bow, and Jane Smith,

of Knowle, Warwickshire, B. and S.

18 April 1721. William Soley, Gent. Savoy, and Ann Taylor, St.

Clement's, B. and S.
7 May 1720. Alexander Speedyman, Gent. St. Ann's, Westmin-
ster, and Sarah Roche, Ditto, B. and W.

11 Sept. 1735. Stratford Spenser, Gent. St. Martin's, B. and Mar-
garet Alexander, Ditto.

21 Jan. 1737. Thomas Stackhouse, Gent. St. James's, and Cathe-
rine Spelman, Ditto, B. and S.

14 Jan. 1737. Francis John Stanley, " an Indian Gent." St. Bride's,

& Ellianor Evans, Gracechurch-street, B. & S.

15 Dec, 1678. Rd. Stanley, St. George's Hanover Square, and

Priscilla Bryant, Ditto, B. and S.
14 Feb. 1729, Abraham St. Clear, Gent. St. Gregory's, and Sarah

Sunderland, Ditto, W.and S.
17 Oct 1718. Thomas Stevens, Gent. Long Ditton, and Jane

Russell, Thames Ditton, B. and S.

122

21 April 1721. James Stewart, Gent. St. Bride's, and Margaret

Cantrell, Ditto, B. and W.
25 July 1738. Abell Stibbs, Gent. Inner Temple, and Sarah

Waller, St. George Queen Square, W. and S.
28 Nov. 1718. James St. John, Esq. St. James's, and Anna Magda-

lena Rockwell, Ditto, W. and S.
21 Dec. 1718. Andrew St. John, Esq. Worcester, and Elizabeth

Maxsdon, Ditto, W. and W.
13 July 1717. William St. John, Gent. Wilts, and Mary Atkinson,

Gloucester, B. and S.
15 Nov. 1717. Christr. St. John, Esq. Gloucestershire, and Anne

Stephens, St. James's, B. and S.
19 May 1742. James Stonehouse, Gent. Coventry, and Ann Neale,

B. and S.
2 Dec. 1739. George Stoole, Gent, of the Life Guards, and Mary

Gill, of St. James's, S.
30 Nov. 1738. Benjamin Storey, Gent. Horse Guards, and Frances

Verycuk, Marylebone, B. and W.
21 Sept. 1733. Hugh Street, Gent, and Hannah Polland, both of

Clerkenwell, W. and S.
28 June 1719. Andrew Sturt, " Lawyer," St. Giles's, and Elizabeth

Cummings, Ditto, B. and S.
12 Jan. 1740. Rd. Styles, Esq. Hampstead, and Mary Tury, Ditto,

B. and W.
30 Mar. 1747. John Sutton, Gent. St. James's, and Jane Gierke,

B. and S.

11 June 1724. Thomas Talmash, Gent. St. Martin's, and Catherine
Neiurn, of same.
G Aug. 1736. Thomas Tayler, Gent. St. James's, and Mary Fur-
rier, DittOj B. and S.
23 Sept. 1731. John Taylor, St. Andrew's Undershaft, and Mary

Green, Ditto, 13. and S.
19 Sept. 1729. John Taylor, "Doctor and Surgeon," Southwark,
and Hester Waters, St. Giles's, W.
7 April 1736. William Tassel, Gent. Holborn, and Susannah De-
velley, W. and W.
28 May 1730. William Tew, Gent. St. Botolph's Bishopsgate, and
Catherine Skeere, Ditto, B. and S.
6 Dec. 1720. Edward Thayer, Gent. Lothbury, and Martha
Wignally, Ditto, B. and S.

123

3 Jan. 1744. William Thomas, Gent. St. Lawrence, and Eliza-

beth Corbit, B. and S.
12 June 1735. Thomas Thompson, Gent. St. Margaret's, and

Susannah Pedley, St. Martin's, B. and S.
9 June 1718. Dr. Benjamin Thornhill, and Elizabeth Collyer of

St. Pulchre's.
16 Sept. 1734. George Thornley, Gent. Aldgate, and Lucy Gal-
lard, St. Giles's, B. and S.
21 Feb. 1721. Rd. Tilden, Gent. St. Dunstan's East, and Alice

Thorp, St. Sepulchre's, B. and S.
7 Dec. 1718. Michael Tipton, Gent. Westminster, and Jane

Whitehead, Ditto, B. and S.
24 July 1720. Jemison Toft, Gent. St. Margaret's, and Thamar

Young, St. Ann's Westminster, B. and W.
27 Jan. 167G. James Tooth, Wharfinger and Lighterman, St.

Margaret's, & Martha Gamon, Ditto, B. & S.
5 April 1716. George Toriano, Gent. Westminster, and Dorothy

Tatnall, B. and S.
1 Sept. 1746. Henry Tounge, Gent, of the Horse, and Dorothy

Oaks, B. and S.
24 July 1751. George Townsend, Gent. Rochester, and Sarah

Bright, Ditto, B. and S.
10 Aug. 1721. George Henry Torneman, Gent. St. James's, and

Elizabeth Dorothea Husteden, Ditto, B. & W.
12 Jan. 1743. Thomas Treffry, Gent. Fowey, Cornwall, and Anna

Marshall, W. and W.
23 Jan. 1733. Charles Trewit, Gent, and Christian Moody, both

of St. Giles in the Fields, B. and W.
7 June 1735. John William Tripp, Esq. Cornhill, and Catherine

Grey, Ditto, B. and S.

7 Jan. 1721. Henry Rodgers Trubshaw, Gent. St. Dunstan, and

Esther Webb, Holborn, B. and S.

8 Sept. 1734. Edward Turner, Surgeon, Southwark, and Elizabeth

Haynes, Ditto, B. and S.

4 Aug, 1734. James Twinton, Gent. & Martha Warren, B. & S.
30 Dec. 1733. John Twisleton,' of St. James's, and Ann Gardner,

B. and S.

' John Twisleton, of Broughton, co. Oxon, ob. 1763, married Ann, daughter
of William Gardner, of Little Bourton, co. Oxon, and died 1769. Their
son Thomas became Baron Say and Sele in 1781, as heir general of Sir Richard
Fenys, and this marriage became subject of discussion in the House of Lords,
see Chap. V.

124

6 Aug. 1751. Lyonel Vane, Gent. St. George's Hanover Square,

and Jane Ashbury, W. and S.
22 Aug. 1733. Charles Vandam, Gent St. James's, and Marhat

Ludgate, B. and S.
26 Sept. 1736. Dirk Vanbackell, Gent. St. James's, and Rebecca

Waller, St. Clement's Dane, B. and S.

28 Nov. 1737. John Jacob Vanzuker, Gent, and Margaret Leva

Grotriaus, B. and W.

29 July 1736. William Vaughan, Gent. Camberwell, and Bethia

Butler, Ditto, B. and S.

19 Jan. 1722. John Vaughan, Gent. Holborn, and Dorothy Bunt-
ing, St. Clement's, B. and S.

11 April 1744. Antos. Pizolato des Venetys, Gent. New York, and
Susannah Micklesfield, Aldgate, B. and S.

16 Dec. 1739. John Vernon, Gent. St. Clement's Dane, and Mary

Hodgson, St. Dunstan's West, B. and S.
8 May 1718. John Vernon, Esq. St. James's, and Anne Lysson,
of Hodsdon, B. and S.
26 July 1736. John Violet, Gent. Enfield, and Jane Wright, Ditto,
B. and S.

30 June 1738. William Vivian, Gent. Camberwell, and Jane Ward,

Ditto, B. and W.

]0 May 1742. Robert Wadeson, Gent. Barnard's Inn, and Eva
Weyman, Holborn, B. and S.

25 Oct. 1748. John Wall, Gent. Epping, & Mary West, W. & W.
13 June 1753. Thomas Walmsley, Gent. St. Helen's Bishopsgate,

and Rachel Lane, Dowgate Hill, W. and W.

18 Nov 1729. Robert Waller, Esq. Ensign and Adjutant 1st

Guards, Covent Garden, and Elizabeth Dodd,
Plaistow, B. and S.

26 Aug. 1720. Rd, Waller, Gent. Thistleworth, and Eliz. Holland,

Ditto, B. and S.

17 June 1727. Edward W^arr, Barber Surgeon, St. Margaret's,

and Ann Bell, Ditto, W.
3 Jan. 1749. Edward Warner, Gent. Crundal, Hants, and Mary
Mitchell, B. and W. (£10 10.)

19 Oct. 1718. Thomas Wate, Gent. Avington, and Rachel Brock,

Berks, B. and W.

27 Oct. 1734. Edmund Watson, Attorney, Nevvington Butts, and

Thomazin Austen, St Giles's.

1S5

18 Nov. 1718. Jonatlian Watson, Esq. St. James's, and Susanna
Holland, St. Martin's Fields, W. and S.
3 Dec. 1721. Lewis Way, Esq. Inner Temple, and Sophia Page,
Christcluirch Parish, B. and S.

31 Oct. 1722. James Weirsdale, Gent. St. Giles's, and Anne
Wickham, Ditto, B. and S.

11 Mar. 1718. William Wells, Gent. St. Giles's, and Mary Woods,
St. Ann's, B. and S.
7 June 1719. John Welch, Gent. St. James's, and Catherine

Shepherd, Ditto, B. and W.
6 June 1737. Temple West, St. Martin's Fields, and Frances
Balchen, St. Luke's, S.

26 Jan. 1744. Thomas Wharton, Gent. St. Andrew's, and Chris-
tian Harvey, W. and S.

20 Jan. 1741. John Wheeler, Surgeon, Bridport, and Leonora
Bingham, Sargeant's Inn, Fleet-street, B. & S.

9 Dec. 1734. Decimus Wheel, Gent. Stepney, and Patience

Grove, Whitechapel, B. and S.
14 Nov. 1743. John Whitby, Counsellor, and Ann Northey, St.

Ann's Soho.
31 Mar. 1735. Anthony Whiting, Farmer, Addington, Kent, and

Eliz. Luck, Banstead, Kent, B. and S.

22 Dec. 1748. Richard Whitingham, Gent. St. George's Grosvenor

Square, and Mary Bludrick, W. and W.
14 Mar. 1734. Edmund White, Gent. Limehouse, and Mary Monk,

Ditto, W. and S.
28 April 1730. William White, Gent. Horsham, and Bathia Waller,

Ditto, S. (" private.")
24 April 1733. Henry Whitfield, Gent, and Lydia Marshall,

B. and S.

23 June 1737. James Whittaker, Gent. St. Ann's Westminster, and

Margaret Cranmer, Ditto, B. and W.
30 Dec. 1741. Sherley Wild, Gent. St. Matthew's, and Elizabeth

Sheley, B. and S.
5 Aug. 1751. Jonathan Wilde, Gent. Islington, and Sarah Young,

Ditto, B. and S.
23 Dec. 1687. Robert Wildman, Gent. Newington, and Margaret

Kirk.

10 June 1746. Edward Willett, Gent. Whittingham, Sussex, and

Mary Camfield, Speldhurst, Kent, B. and S.

126

13 July 1717. Marmaduke Williams, Esq. London, and Penelope

Mansfield, Putney, B. and S.
30 June 1730. William Williams, Esq. and Mary Sedgwick, St.

Dunstan's West, B. and S.
3 Aug. 1720. William Wilmer, Esq. Sywell, Northamptonshire,

and the Right Honourable the Lady Mary

Benet,' St. Martin's Fields, B. and S.
12 Mar. 1754. John Wilson, Gent. St. James's, & Amy Brown, S.

16 Mar. 1734. Edmund Winbush, Gent. St. Martin's, and Harbur

Jane Manship, Hampstead, B. and S.

19 Feb. 1733. Thomas Winn, Gent. St. James's, and Eliz. Batter-

wright, B. and S.

7 April 1727. James Winton, Gt. Chelsea, & Mary Burt, Do. S.

10 Aug. 1716. Stephen Woodhouse, Gent. St. James's, and Anna

Maria Glover, Ditto, B. and S.

20 Feb. 1677. John Woodard, St. Margaret's, and Eleanor Chand-

ler, Ditto, W. and W. *

17 April 1739. John Woolfe, Gent. St. Bride's, and Mary Camp-

bell, St. Martin's Fields, B. and W.
25 Dec. 1736. John Woolastone, Gent. Greenwich, and Elizabeth

Jones, B. and S.
28 Sept. 1751. Edward Woolstoncroft, Esq. St. Botolph's, and

Mary Bird, Ditto, W. and S.
23 Dec. 1735. Robert Wright,* Esq. Doctors' Commons, and Alice

Roberts, B. and W.

11 June 1737. Thomas Wright, Doctors' Commons, Gent, and

Alice Wright, Ditto, B. and W.
15 Sept. 1751. William Wyatt, Esq. Pool, and Anne Maria Day, S.
27 Oct. 1746. William Wynne, Gent. St. George's Hanover Sq.

and Isabella Walpood, Ditto, B. and S.

8 July 1739. Florence Young, St. Giles's, and Charity Jackson,

B. and S.

' She was daughter of Charles Bennet first Earl of Tankerville, and died 1729.
* Died 1737, and by his will, dated April 1736, he declares he was married by
" the Rev. Walter Wyatt, of Turnagain, London."

127

CHAPTER V.

THE FLEET REGISTERS NOT EVIDENCE.

During the period in which marriages were solemnized in
the Fleet and its purlieus, there occurred frequent Indict-
ments for Bigamy ; the temptations of expedition, and the
arts employed to entrap the unwary, inducing the commission
of that crime to a great degree.

In nearly the whole of these indictments, the proof of mar-
riage was not only by production of the Fleet books, but by
collateral evidence. If in the absence of a register credible
evidence was adduced of a marriage at the Fleet, such evi-
dence was accepted, and the circumstance of its being a
Fleet marriage was no objection. The objections, as will
presently be seen, were to the disreputable witnesses who
were continually offered to prove the marriage, and from the
notorious practice which existed of making false entries in
the Registers. At a later period, however, exception was
taken to the Registers themselves, as not being (even if cor-
rectly and honestly kept) any moi*e than private memoranda
by a person without authority. This seems to be a warrant-
able exception, since these Registers were kept at a time
when a mere acknowledgment and declaration, before wit-
nesses, were sufficient to constitute a marriage, without the
intervention of a religious ceremony ; and these books were
clearly not to be taken on the same footing as a parish regis-
ter, containing an entry of marriage made in facie Ecclesia,
and recorded by an authorized clergyman, as an act of reli-
gious ceremony and not of civil contract.

In one or two instances the books were altogether refused,
even as collateral evidence. In the case of Mary Lutwich,
indicted in 1740 for bigamy, the following is reported to have
taken place.

" Mr. Crosier. — I keep tlie Hoop and Bunch of Grapes, Holborn

128

Bridge ; we have had many a score of marriages at our house in a
year. (Produces the book.) Here is the Book, the Minister put
it down." — The Court would not allow the book to be read, it
being a Fleet Register.

In 1732 a cause was decided in Doctors'' Commons, where
the Court decreed a party to have died a bachelor, although
the parson who married the party swore to the fact, and the
book containing the entry was produced.^

It is recorded that on the trial at York, in 1780, of the
cause of Twisleton v. Cockshutt, Mr. Justice Willes received
a Fleet Register as evidence : It appears, however, by the
recitals in Col. Twisleton's case (claiming the Barony of Say
and Sele in 1781) respecting that trial at York, that evidence
by many other witnesses, as to repute and acknowledgment,
was also given and received.

In the cause of Lawrence v. Dixon, tried on the 7th
July 1792, the plaintiffs, amongst other evidence, produced
(by a witness, who said he had purchased them,) the Fleet
Books, where the marriage of Daniel Hall and Elizabeth
Lawrence was entered to have been celebrated on the 7th
May 1737. Lord Kenyon said he received this evidence
with great doubt : there was a tradition in Westminster
Hall, that when the books were produced before Lord Hard-

' This cause was between Mrs. Mary Storer, wife of Mr. .luJe Storer, and sister
of Mr. James Luff, a brewer at Westminster, deceased, and Mrs. Hannah Green,
calling herself Luff, pretending to be the wife of the deceased, and that they were
married in the Fleet. " Their marriage appeared upon the Register, pretended
to be kept in that place ; the clergyman by whom it was pretended they had been
married, swore that he had actually married them, and a woman swore that she
was present at the marriage ; but the Register books appearing to be very irregu-
larly kept, and the witnesses disagreeing in some circumstances of their evidence,
the Court did not think proper to give any credit to the proofs of the marriage, and
therefore pronounced the deceased to have died a bachelor, and decreed Letters of
Administration to the deceased's sister, he having died intestate. Which decree, it
is to be hoped, will put a stop to that scandalous custom of people's going to the
Fleet to be married. It is indeed seldom practised by persons of any character,
unless it be when one of the parties has a settled purpose of betraying tlie other into
a villainous snare, and therefore such marriages ought never to be supported by law
but upon the most clear and convincing proofs." — Political Slate of Great Britain
for 1732.

1-29

wicke, he woukl not receive them in evidence, but cut tlieiu
to pieces in Court. After so great an autliority had declared
against them, his Lordshij) said he could not receive them
without some hesitation, but that he was inclined to think that
in a PEDIGREE CASE thetj ivere adtnissible, though by no
means such evidence as ought to be favourably received. —
Peake's N. P. Cases, 185.

In 1794 the cause of Roe on dem. of Passingham v. Lloyd
and others, was tried at Shrewsbury, before Mr. Justice
Heath. On which occasion Benjamin Panton, the proprietor
of the Fleet Registers, proved his having been in the habit of
attending Courts of Justice with these books, and that he
never knew them refused. Mr. Justice Heath received the
Fleet Registers in evidence of the marriage of Gwyn Lloyd
and Elizabeth Taylor, but he was in some measure led to do
so by the circumstance of the Pancras Register containing
the baptism of Elizabeth Taylor's daughter as " the daugh-
ter of Gwyn and Elizabeth Lloyd," and also containing the
burial of the mother by the name of Elizabeth Lloyd ; it
has been since proved that those two entries tvere forged.
Upon the two subsequent trials of this question in 1826 and
1827, this forgery of the Pancras Register was clearly
proved,^ and the Fleet Register thereby lost its chief sup-
port, but had it been otherwise, the entry would not have
been received in evidence.

A very few days after the admission of the Fleet books by
Mr. Justice Heath at Shrewsbury, in 1794, the cause of Doe
ex dem. Orrell v. Madox was tried at Maidstone, before Lord
Chief Justice Kenyon. In this case a Register of Fleet
marriages was udmilted in evidence, but under the following
protest. Lord Kenyon said he had admitted it, because
other Judges had done so, but he desired that his having
done so, should not be understood as thereby sanctioning

' It is said that a man named Hendry forged this book. He was pursued in
1806, but escaped to America. Revett the officer found he had embarked from
Bristol a fortnight before his arrival. Hendry's wife told the plaintiff's attorney
that the book was burnt.

130

their admission, nor should his authority be cited for the
purpose in future, as he was of opinion that they were liable
to many objections, that their authority was very doubtful,
and therefore as a species of evidence of a suspicious and
exceptionable nature, he thought they ought not to be
allowed. '^

In December in the same year the cause of Reed v. Passer
and others was tried in the Court of King's Bench, when Lord
Kenyon said, " that in a case on the Home Circuit last sum-
mer, he had admitted such Registers as evidence; that though
he had not then made up his mind concerning their admissi-
bility, he then thought them a species of evidence of a very
doubtful and dangerous nature ; and had, in summing up,
observed to that effect to the Jury. That in a late case at
the last Shrewsbury assizes, they had been admitted by Mr-
Justice Heath ; but notwithstanding his respect for that
learned Judge''s opinion, he thought himself bound to dissent,
and to give it as his settled opinion that they were a species
of evidence which ought never to be admitted. In a case be-
fore Lord Hardwicke, where a book such as the present was
offered in evidence, he tore the book, and said such evidence
should never be admitted in a Court of Justice. That Lord
Chief Justice De Grey had been of the same opinion. With
respect to the entries in the books themselves, (continued
Lord Kenyon,) they could be taken in no other point of
view than as private memoranda, which were not evidence;
that these entries were of less authority even than the private
memoranda of third persons, inasmuch as they were made
not only by third persons, but by persons who knew while
they were doing them that they were illegal, and for which
they were liable to punishment by the canons of the church."
His Lordship therefore totalli/ rejected them, as a species of
evidence completely inadmissible. — {Peake's Nisi Prius Cases,
23L) The Times of Dec. 3rd 1794-, contains the following-
additional observations of his Lordship on this Case: — " It

• Tuesday, 12 Aug. 1794. (Esp. Nisi Prius Cases.)

131

lias been observed this evidence has been received in the
House of Lords ;' I bow with ojreat respect to the evidence
received by that House wlien they sit as a court of dernier
resort. But now and then, upon other occasions, that great
and august assembly may receive rather suspicious evidence.
I wish the Fleet Registers were all ordered to be committed

' In the printed Case of Col. Thos. Twisleton claiming tlie Barony of Say and Sele,
in 1781, which is the case here alluded to, it was stated that John Twisleton, the
claimant's father, was married to Ann Gardner, the claimant's mother, in 1733, at
the Fleet prison, where marriages were at that time frequently celebrated. In that
case a certificate of the marriage, in the hand-writing and signed by the then officiat-
ing Minister of the Fleet, was offered in evidence ; but it does not appear whether it
was admitted or not. The marriage was however allowed to be good. — (Cruise on
Dignities, 273.) From an examination of the Minutes of the Committee of Privileges,
it appears that the certificate of this marriage by Walter Wyatt, minister of the
Fleet, was tendered ; but there is not any statement to show that it was admitted ; and
it is clear that the Committee went into the examination of witnesses to prove the de-
claration of the parties, their cohabitation and reception in society as man and wife,
the education of the children of the marriage, and their reputed legitimacy. It
would therefore seem that the marriage was established by evidence of reputation,
public declaration, the avowal of the parties themselves, and other corroborating
circumstances.

In volume I. of the miscellaneous collection of Pedigrees by Francis Townsend,
Esq. Windsor Herald, in the library of the College of Arms, p. 36, are to be found
the notes made by him at the hearing before the Committee of Privileges on the 21st
of June 1781 , whereby it appears that it was upon the evidence of witnesses, Susan
Delafield, the Earl of Guilford, and the Rev, Mr. Marsy, and certain corroborating
circumstances that the marriage was established. The Lord Chancellor (Thurlow)
in summing up recapitulated the proofs, and said " though the certificate of the Fleet
marriage and the acknowledgment of that marriage in the will of Mr. Twisleton
might possibly be forgeries, and indeed of themselves could not he admitted as suffi-
cient evidence of the fact, yet the corroborating circumstances were so strong as not
to leave a doubt on his Lordship's mind, with respect to its having really taken
place," and therefore he moved —

That the Committee should report to the House, that the claimant Col. Thomas
Twisleton had made out his claim to the Barony of Say and Sele, which was agreed
to and ordered accordingly.

In addition to this note of Mr. Townsend's, the editor, moreover, has been favour-
ed with the sight of a printed copy of the case of Col. Twisleton, on his claim in
1781, amongst some collections of the late Sir Isaac Heard, Garter, who as well as
Mr. Townsend was professionally engaged in the case, and present at the hearing
before the Committee, on the back of which case he has made short notes of the
evidence produced, where amongst others the following occurs : —

" Wyatt Min' of Fleet, certificate of marriage cannot be admitted in any Court
of Justice."

132

to the flames.' Questions of this sort are of the hist

importance. By the 2Gth Geo. II. the evidence of tlie fact of
marriage is more easily obtained than it was before, when
people wandered up and down the country marrying wher-
ever they pleased. From that circumstance the evidence of
marriage often became very obscure, and if evidence arising
from cohabitation and reputation had not been received, hard
would have been the condition of many respectable people.
By the Marriage Act, it is not essential to the legality of a
marriage that it should be registered, though the act makes
it penal in any clergyman to neglect it, and I hope it is very
seldom omitted, as it adds to the solemnity of that important
contract ; cohabitation and reputation, however, are still evi-
dence of marriage."

The cause of Cooke and another v. Lloyd was tried at the
Salop Summer assizes in 1803, before Mr. Justice Le Blanc.
The Fleet books were offered to prove the marriage of John
Phillips and Mary Guess, on the 28th May 1747, and on
Justice Le Blanc saying they were no evidence whatever, the
defendant called a witness, who said that there being a ques-
tion in the year 1761 as to this marriage, he examined these
books, then in the possession of a man who said he was clerk
to Mr. Dare, and that the entry then stood in the books, in

From the notes here referred to, made by Mr. Townsend and Sir Isaac Heard,
it would seem clear tliat the Fleet Register was not received ; but that tlie fact of
marriage was inferred from the strong corroborating circumstances, supported by
diflerent witnesses, and the general reputation in society that ]\Ir. and Mrs. Twisle-
ton were man and wife. The proof of a marriage by means of a register not being
indispensably necessary, as Mr. Cruise, at p. 273 of his work already referred to,
observes : —

" It has always been held that direct and positive proof of the fact of marriage is
not necessary in cases of pedigree, but that the acknowledgment of the parties,
their reception by ttieir families as married persons, their cohabitation, public repu-
tation, and various other circumstances are admissible, as evidence of marriage."

' It would have been a very unjustifiable and lamentable act to liave destroyed
the evidence (such as it is) of one or two hundred thousand marriages, together
with a great number of baptisms, which are dispersed throughout the Fleet Regis-
ters ; and the lawyer and antiquary cannot but commend the government which at
length purchased and deposited them in safe custody.

133

tlic same state as it was now. Justice Le Blanc, — " This
evidence carries the case IK) further; the witness had no know-
ledge of the fact but such as he derived from the books, which
were no more evidence then than they are noiv. The entry is
nothing more than a private memorandum, made by some-
body who had no authority to make it, and who might put
down anything he pleased whether true or false." — Peake's
Evidence, Appendix 80.

In the cause of Lloyd and Passingham, in 1809, (16 Ves.
59) Lord Chancellor Kldon said, " I give no opinion that
the Fleet Register is evidence, as a Register. But I am not
prepared to say it may not be received as evidence of a fact,
and I can suppose a case in which such evidence might be
received. Upon a question of pedigree, would not that en-
try be admitted, not as a Register, but as a declaration,
under the hand of a party ; or upon an indictment for biga-
my, the first marriage alleged to have been in the Fleet,
and evidence produced that uniformly an entry of marriage
was made, would not the production or non-existence of such
entry be evidence to the other fact .?"

In 1826 the cause of Lloyd and Passingham was tried at
Shrewsbury, before Mr. Justice Burrough and a special
Jury. Mr. Taunton, in opening this case to the Jury, said,
" There are curious anecdotes in all professions, and it is a
curious circumstance that upon the occasion of the verdict in
1794, many weeks had not elapsed before a directly contrary
decision from that which Mr. Justice Heath had made in
this cause at Shrewsbury, took place. I believe it was al-
most in the same week, the one cause was tried upon the
Monday, and the other, I am told, was tried upon the Thurs-
day in the same week, and the same Counsel were present ;
but it so happened that my Lord Kenyon, on the Home cir-
cuit, on the very Thursday afterwards, in a cause in which
the then Mr. Erskine and the then Mr. Garrovv were Counsel
again on opposite sides before his Lordship, and on which
occasion the same evidence of one of these supposed Fleet
Registers was oft'ered — my Lord Kenyon instantly rejected

134

it." The Attorney General, (after noticing the admission of
the books by Mr. Justice Heath,) observed " that they were
received by another high and enlightened individual, rarely
equalled in point of legal knowledge, never at any period
surpassed. I mean by the celebrated Lord Hardwicke,' Lord
Chief Justice, and afterwards Chancellor of this country.
They were about the same period over and over again re-
ceived upon the different circuits in this country." Mr.
Justice Biirroiigh told the Jury, that although it appeared
the Fleet books were received in evidence on the former trial,
he was of opinion, that they must not consider those books
as evidence for their consideration now, for that in his judg-
ment they were not admissible in evidence.

The cause of Lloyd v. Evans was tried at Shrewsbury in
1827, before Mr. Baron Vaughan. Mr. Serjeant Russell, —
" I believe at this moment there is no decision of the Court
in Banc upon the subject ; but there are Nisi Prius deci-
sions, in which learned Judges have refused to receive them,
though I am still at a loss to understand the ground why
they are to be refused altogether. I can understand why
they should be refused to be received as a Register, with all
the authenticity of a Parish Register. I am and ought to be
entitled to give it in evidence as corroborative writing, to
support the fact I am about to establish by other evidence.''
Mr. Baron Vaughan, — " It is now clearly established, I
take it, that these Registers are not evidence to authenticate
any such marriage ; it is known they have been the vehicles
of fraud and abuse ; they were never made with the same
degree of care that the other documents were, but they were
made by persons who assumed authority to second these
transactions, and being made a very ill use of, and getting
into very bad odour, the Judges of the land seem to have
come unanimously of late to the conclusion that they are not
even receivable in evidence, to say nothing of the question
whether they should be submitted to a Jury for their consi-

' This is very improbable, for it was Lord Hardwicke who brouglil in ihe Mar-
riage Act, and it was for some lime called by his name ; and it was Lord Hardwicke
who even tore to pieces a Fleet Register, which was ofl'ercd in evidence.

135

deration to determine upon their validity or not. It was
said the Marriage Act was introduced by Lord Hardwicke
and the aristocracy of the time, to prevent young men upon
a short acquaintance getting suddenly married ; and I recol-
lect one of Mr. Fox's great efforts on the Marriage Act was
in the part he took upon the debate, opposing the restrictions
which by that Bill were imposed ; he said,

taedae quoque jure coissent,

Sed vetuere patres, quod non potuere vetare :
Ex aequo captis ardebant mentibus ambo :
lines likely to be quoted upon that occasion ; it was a matter
of great controversy, but the Bill passed."

From the current of opinions here expressed by Lord Chief
Justice De Grey, by Lord Chief Justice Kenyon, Mr. Justice
Le Blanc, Mr. Justice Burrough, and Mr. Baron Vaughan,
it seems now to be clearly established that the books usually
denominated the Fleet Registers are not receivable in evidence
as registers^ and that when tendered they will be rejected.
The Cases wherein these Registers were admitted by Mr.
Justice Willes in 1780, and by Mr. Justice Heath in 1794,
cannot, in the face of subsequent and uniformly adverse deci-
sions, be urged in their support; in the former case, moreover,
in addition to the Register, evidence of repute and acknow-
ledgment was given and received. Their rejection seems
founded upon sound principles of law and reason, since it is
manifest that the Legislature had no control over the Fleet
parsons, who made the entries when and as they pleased:
sometimes inserting marriages which were solemnized under
false dates, and sometimes recording entries of marriages which
they never solemnized at all.

Still, however, the Fleet Registers do not appear deprived
of ever^ degree of authority, since Lord Kenyon was inclin-
ed to think that in a Pedigree Case^ they were admissible;

' This inclination of opinion iu favour of a Pedigree Case appears rather at
variance with the prior decisions. The use to be made of these Registers is for
proof of the fact of Marriage, a proof which might be requisite either in the case of
a party claiming property of the father as his legitimate son, or in the case of a parly
claiming it in a remote degree througii a long pedigree, and il is difficult to con-
ceive how these Registers could be used, except for the proof of marriage.

136

and Lord Eldon was of opinion that in a Pedigree Case, or
in an indictment for bigamy, they might be received, not as
Registers, but as Declarations. If to this be added their
utility, to the genealogist, in a point of view not strictly
legal, they will yet remain records, (extending over a period
of nearly a century,) of considerable use and importance.

A general index to these Registers would be of infinite
use, and the government would render a public service by
devoting a sum of money, adequate to the purpose of remu-
nerating some individual, who would be competent to under-
take the task. The subject is not unworthy the attention of
the Commissioners for Public Records.

137

CHAPTER VI.

MARRIAGES AT THE KING's BENCH PRISON — MINT — SAVOY,
AND MAY FAIR.

The same causes which induced people to marry clan-
destinely at the Fleet prison, no doubt operated witii those
who married at the King's Bench prison, althou<>;h from
the latter prison being situated in the suburbs of London,
but comparatively few marriages were performed there. In
the neighbourhood of the King''s Bench was a part of the
Borough called " The Mint," a place of refuge for thieves
and malefactors of the worst description ; which, with Wliite
Friars,^ (Sir Walter Scott's Alsatia,) the Savoy, and other
places about London, claimed certain privileges, and held
out the advantages of a Sanctuary to all debtors, thieves, and
malefactors.- At this place marriages were performed, and

' By the 8 and 9th William III. Cap. 26, the pretended privileges of White
Friars, the Savoy, Salisbury Court, Ram Alley, Mitre Court, Fuller's Rents,
Baldwin's Gardens, Montague Close, the Minories, Mint, Clink, or Deadman's
Place, were taken away.

^ " On Tuesday seven-night last, one Isaac Briand, an Irishman, was fined
£2000 by the Court of Lord Mayor and Aldermen, for marrying Elizabeth Watson
Aston, an orphan, of about 13 years of age, without the leave of the Court, and
was committed to the Gaol of Newgate, there to remain until he shall have paid
the said fine. It appeared the said orphan was decoyed from Westminster, where
she lodged, to a house near the Fighting Cocks, in the Mint, in Southwark, and
there married to the said Briand by one Parson Smith ; and the Court of Aldermen
have thereupon ordered Warrants to be obtained for apprehending the said parson
and others concerned, in order to their being prosecuted for the same. The Certi-
ficate of this marriage given by Parson Smith being very singular, an exact copy of
it follows for the entertainment of the public, viz.: —

Feb. 26, 1715.

These are, therefore, whom it may concern, that Isaac Briand and Watson Anne
Astone were joined together in the Holy Stale of Matrimony, (Nemine Contra-
dicenle,) the day and year above written, according to the Rites and Ceremonies
of the Church of Great Britain. Witness my hand. Jos. Smith, Cler."

138

amongst the Fleet Registers are three Registers of King's
Bench and Mint marriages.

The first is a small quarto, (containing also some Fleet
marriages,) and at page 48 these marriages commence, headed
" Mint Marriages, Anno ITIS."" It ends at page 242, with
the 11th Jan. 1726.

The second Register is a short folio commencing 20 May
1725, and ending 9 Oct. 1726. It contains the entries of
mai'riages by John Floyd, " at the King's Bench and Liber-
ties."" They are worded at some length, and signed by the
clergyman and one, two, or three witnesses ; thus, —

" Oct. 14th, 1725, John RadclifF, of the Parish of Thames Dit-

ton, and Jane Puflet, of the Parish of Yowill, both of, and in the,

County of Surrey, were married at the King's Bench, London.

Witnesses Jno Floyd, Cler.

JoHx Darby, Over against the Goat and

James Rootsey. Crown, five doors within

Mint Gate, near St. George's
Church."

"March 24th, 1725, Thomas Panks, of the Parish of Hodsden,
and Mary Munk of the Parish of Tirring, in Sussex, married.
This was a Certificate granted without a marriage."

" On the 2 day of August 1726, on the oath of Catherine Cane
Senor, I gave a Certificate of her daughter's, Alee Cane, marriage.
One of Thomas Bennett's Certificate. Certificate dated on the
22 day of June 1723.

" Sign'd J. E. MiNS."

There are about 360 marriages in this book, and at
the end are some old Law entries of the reign of Queen
Elizabeth.

The third King's Bench Register is a short thick folio,
containing marriages at the Fleet also. At page 3 it is in-
tituled " INIarriages in Southwark," commencing with 20tli
Nov. 1736. At page 6 begin " Fleet Marriages."

There is another Register which is considered to be a
King's Bench or Mint Register, as the parties married arc
chiefly from Kent and Surrey. It is intituled,

139

" A Register of Christenings and Marriages, commencing
March 13, 1732-3, by the Rev. Mich. Barrett."

It ends Aug. 14th 1751, and has about 500 marriages.
The following are a few of the marriages at the Mint : —

1725 Sept. 27. Wm. Bayley, Hawkhurst, and Ann Compion,

Croydon.
1724 Mar. 12. Christ" Burningham, of Rely, and Mary Anderson,

of Salsbury.
1724 May 4. Ab" Clegg, Rochester, and Mary Taylor, Ditto.

1718 Oct. 6. Edward Cook, Coodham, and Ann Phillips, S. Ditto.

1726 Jan. 11. Jn" Douglas, Sutton, Surrey, and Fra* Moore,

1722 July 14. Martin Joseph Manvell Kelly and Joannah Bing.

1719 Jan. 7. Joseph Lancaster, Sundridge, and Eliz. Stinham, Do.
1718 Nov. 9. Robt. Long, Gent. St. Bride's, and Anna Maria

Rugly, Ditto.

1720 Aug. 17. John Mandavill and Mary Martin.

1724 Mar. 22. R'' Pierce, Tunbridge, and Sarah Cooper, Ditto.
1720 Jan. 17. Wm. Reynolds and Hannah Burleigh.
1720 April 13. Thos. Samirell and Mary Twisden.

1723 Mar. 27. Tho' Wolfe and Isabella Lamb.

THE SAVOY.

Although the Savoy was one of those places with pretend-
ed privileges, there does not appear to have been any clan-
destine marriages there until after the passing of the Mar-
riage Act ; the number of marriages for a few years before
and after that period being as follows : —
1752 . . 15

—3

—4

342

—5

1190),
63)

-6

—7

—8

On the passing of the Marriage Act, the Rev. John Wil-

' On the trial of Mr. Wilkinson, his Cleik deposed that of these 900 came out
of the country enceinte.

140

kinson^ began to exercise his supposed rights as Minister
of the Savoy, considering himself authorised to grant licences
as a privilege annexed to the Savoy, as being extra parochial,
and because Dr. Killegrew and other of his predecessors had
granted them. The Savoy, therefore, soon became known
as a place for easy matrimony, and his marriages brought
him " a profusion of cash, and instead of thinking of a rainy
day, all was rat tat tat at the street door, and a variety of
company. Easter-day was crowded from 8 till 12. So
many pairs were for the indissoluble knot being tied, that he
might have made a fortune had he been blessed with patience
and prudence, and been contented with publishing the banns
of marriage only. Many persons came out of curiosity to
hear such a long list of Spinsters announced. "-

Mr. Wilkinson had hints from Government of the conse-
(pience likely to ensue from these practices; at length pro-
ceedings were taken against him, and he was accustomed to
make his escape over the leads at the Savoy, through the
kitchen of the prison, (which was tlien there,) to a private
door into the chapel, to evade those who were set to watch him.

One Sunday morning an alarm was given, that the officers
were in the church ; a general panic ensued in his family ; he
sent word that he was taken suddenly ill, and could not read
prayers, and made his way down the garden to a gate that
opened on the Thames, reached Somerset Stairs, where he
took a boat and got into Kent. Having arrived there, he
engaged Mr. Grierson to perform the marriages as his curate ;
but the licences he granted himself, thinking that jNIr. Grier-
son could not suffer for what he, in his authority as Minister
of the Savoy, was to be responsible for.

' The Register describes him as " His Majesty's Chaplain of the Savoy, Chap-
lain to his late Royal Highness Frederick Prince of Wales, Rector of Easlwell,
Kent, and Curate of Wye ;" in 1732 he is described as Rector of C'oyley, in the
County of Glamorgan, and Stipendiary Curate of Wye. He was educated at St.
Kees, in Cumberland, and finished his studies at Oxford. He came to the Savoy in
1725, and was married there on the 26tli April 1731, to Grace, daughter of Alder-
man Tale, of Carlisle.

- W ilkinson's JMeraoirs.

141

Veiy shortly after this, Mr. Vcrnoii, of Driiry Lane
Theatre, was married by Mr. (iriersoii, to Miss Porticr.
Garrick insisted on seeing the certificate, which Mr. Vernon
obtained from Mr. Grierson, and gave to Garrick, who
handed it over to Mr. Carrington, the King's Messenger.
Mr. Grierson was thereupon taken up and tried for having
married the parties ; was convicted, and transported for
fourteen years. ^ In his defence he said he was not aware of
the illegality of the marrying at the Savoy, as he had married
his own son there.

After the connnittal of Mr. Grierson, Mr. Wilkinson en-
oao-ed the Rev. Mr. Brooks as his curate, and continued to
derive great profits from his marriages. Considering him-
self certain of an acquittal, he determined to surrender him-
self and take his trial, which he accordingly did on the 11th
July 1756 : he was tried on the l6th ; convicted, and sen-
tenced to fourteen years' transportation. The vessel which
was to take him to America sailed early in March 1757; but
by stress of weather was driven to Plymouth, where Mr.
Wilkinson died from an attack of the gout. His widow died
in 1763. He left an only child, Tate Wilkinson, the cele-
brated Comedian.

MAY FAIR.

May Fair stands next to the Fleet in notoriety, and per-
haps pre-eminently, so far as regards the number of fashion-
able clandestine marriages.

' " It is said he had married 1400 couple in the same manner and place, whose
marriages by this verdict are null and void, and the issue of them illegitimate."
(Gent's Mag.) He had a large family, whicli accompanied him on his transporta-
tion ; but it is believed he died on his passage. In the announcement of his con-
viction he is called " a nonjuring Clergyman," and in the Daily Advertiser of Dec.
24, 1755, is an advertisement of his, dated from Newgate, where he defends his
conduct and principles, and concludes with an appeal to the public for their bene-
ficence towards the support of his wife, children, and grand-cliild. He had been
tried in 1748, " for marrying Jonathan Brooks to Miss INIary Redding, Spinster,
in an empty house, against her will."

One or two Acts have been passed for legalizing marriages solemnized in
churches and chapels where banns had not been " theretofore usually published."
— See Burn's History of Parish Registers, 1829, 8v(). p. 33. Su'er, Cheapside.

142

The chapel was built about 1730, in consequence of the
increase of new Squares and Streets in that neighbourhood,
and the person chosen to officiate there was the Renowned
and Rev. Alexander Keith, who began to marry ad libitum,
and to advertize in the papers the advantages of a wedding
at May Fair, where Lord Orford describes him to have con-
structed a very Bishopric of revenue. These practices gave
offence to Dr. Trebeck, then Rector of St. George's, Hanover
Square, who commenced a suit at Doctors' Commons against
Mr. Keith, to which he appeared personally, and defended
himself at considerable length ;^ not, however, with success,
for on the 27th Oct. 1742, he was decreed excommunicated,'^
and on the 24th of January following a significavit was de-
creed for his apprehension.

In April 1743 he was committed to the Fleet ;3 but the
weddings nevertheless continued* at May Fair,^ where he
fitted up a house as a chapel, as will appear by the following
advertisement : —

" To prevent mistakes, the little new chapel in May Fair, near
Hyde Park corner, is in the corner house opposite to the City side

' In his allegations he stated that he had been ordained priest by the Bishop of
Norwich, by Letters Dimissory from the Bisliop of London, about the 13th of June
1731. That he was appointed one of the preachers by an Instrument under the
hands and seals of the major part of the proprietors of the chapel. That at the
time of his nomination he was Reader at the Rolls' Chapel.

* Keith hereupon retaliated, and had the impudence to excommunicate at his
chapel Bishop Gibson, Dr. Andrews, Judge of the Court, and Dr. Trebeck.

^ The Daily Post says, " to Newgate, for contempt of the Holy and Mother
Church."

'' Horace Walpole in a letter to Mr. afterwards Sir Horace Mann, dated Ar-
lington Street, Feb. 27, 1752, says, " The event which has made most noise since
my last is the extempore wedding of the youngest of tiie two Gunnings," and then
describes an assembly at Lord Chesterfield's, where the Duke of Hamilton made
love to Miss Gunning, and then proceeds, " However, two nights afterwards being
left alone with her whilst her mother and sister were at Bedford House, he found
himself so impatient that he sent for a parson. The Doctor refused to perforin the
ceremony without licence and ring. The Duke swore he would send for the Arch-
bishop ; at last they were married with a ring of the bed-curtain, at half an hour
past twelve at night, at May Fair chapel." — Vol. iii. p. 51.

•'■ " We hear that a Bill will be presented to Parliament for the suppression of
the chapel in May Fair." — General Atlverlifer, Jan, 1750.

143

of the great cliapel, and within ten yards of it, and the Minister
and Clerk Hve in the same corner house, where the httle chapel
is, and the License on a Crown Stamp, Minister and Clerk's fees,
together with the Certificate, amount to one guinea as heretofore
at any hour till four in the afternoon. And that it may be the
better known, there is a porch at the door like a country church
porch." — Daily Post, July 20, 1744.

Various reports were circulated after his imprisonment;
one was, that he had a Little Chapel in the Fleet, where in
one year he married thousands, while the Rector of St. Anns,
a large and populous parish, married but fifty within the same
pei'iod ;^ and in the case of Morris v. Miller, (Easter Term
1767,) it was stated that Keith who had married the parties
was transported, and the clerk dead. No marriages of
Keith's have been met with in the Fleet, nor has it been
found that he was ever transported, but he died in the Fleet
Prison on the 13th December 1758.2

He appears to have employed as his curates at his Little
Chapel in May Fair, the Rev. Peter Symson, and Francis
Denevau, who were also Fleet Clergymen, and of whom

' Gentleman's Magazine.

' Four of liis sons were buried at Norwood in Middlesex. His wife died in

1749, while he was in the Fleet, upon which he had her corpse embalmed and kept
it unburied many months, which seems to have been done to excite public curiosity
and inquiry, for one of his advertisements in the Daily Advertiser of 23d January

1750, is as follows : —

" We are informed that I\Irs. Keith's corpse was removed from her Husband's
House in May Fair the middle of October last to an Apothecary's in South Audley
St. where she lies in a room hung with mourning, and is to continue there till Mr.
Keith can attend the Funeral. The way to Mr. Keith's Chapel is through Picca-
dilly by the end of St. James's Street and down Clarges Street, and turn on the left
hand. The marriages (together with a licence on a five shilling stamp and certifi-
cate) are carried on for a guinea as usual, any time till four in the afternoon, by
another regular clergyman at Mr. Keith's little Chapel in Rlay Fair near Hyde
Park Corner, opposite the great Chapel and within ten yards of it ; there is a porch
at the door like a country church porch."

In 1748, another of his sons dying, he had the corpse carried on a bier by two
men from the Fleet to Covent Garden church yard. In their progress they made
several halts, and crowds of people assembled to read the inscription which referred
to the father's persecution. — Craftsman, Angnst 6th 1748.

144

particulars have been already given, also the Rev. John
Grierson, and Mr. Walker.^

Keith appears to have been in prison fifteen years. In
1753 he publislied a pamphlet intituled " Observations on
the Act for preventing Clandestine Marriages," pp. 32 ; to
whicli is prefixed an engraving of him as " The Rev. Mr.
Keith, D.D." A few of his remarks, as connected with the
subject of these pages, are as follow : — " Happy is the wooing
that is not long a-doing ; is an old proverb and a very true
one, but we shall have no occasion for it after the 25th day
of March next, when we are commanded to read it back-
wards and from that period (fatal indeed to Old England !)
we must date the declension of the numbers of the inhabit-
ants of England." " As I have married many thousands,
and consequently have on those occasions seen the humour
of the lower class of people, I have often asked the married
pair how long they had been acquainted ; they would reply,
some more, some less, but the generality did not exceed the
acquaintance of a week, some only of a day, half a day, Sic."
" Another inconveniency which will arise from this Act will
be, that the ex pence of being married will be so great, that
few of the lower class of people can afford ; for I have often
heard a Flete-parson say, that many have come to be mar-
ried when they have had but half-a-crown in their pockets,
and sixpence to buy a pot of beer, and for which they have
pawned some of their cloaths." " I remember once on a
time, I was at a public house at RadclifF, which then was
full of sailors and their girls, there there was fiddling, piping,
jigging, and eating ; at length, one of the tars starts up,
and says ' D — m ye. Jack, Fll be married just now ; I will
have my partner, and ' TItc joke took , and in less

' In 1746, Thomas Brown being indicted for Bigamy, the first marriage was
proved to have taken place at May Fair, and the second at the Anchor and Crown
Fleet Ditch, and the following evidence was given : —

Diumviovd. — " Mr. Keith has a person to olficiate for him, one Mr. Walker
marries, and 1 carry the licences to Mr. Keith and he registers them."

John Prichard. — " I acted as clerk, I am a carver by trade and keep a public
house."

145

thcan two hours ten couple set out for the Flete. I staid their
return. They returned in coaches ; five women in each
coach ; the tars, some running before, others riding on the
coach-box, and otliers behind. The cavalcade being over,
the couples went up into an upper room, where they con-
cluded the evening with great jollity. The next time I went
that way, I called on my landlord and asked him concerning
this marriage adventure : he at first stared at me, but recol-
lecting, he said those things were so frequent, that he hardly
took any notice of them ; for added he, it is a common thing
when a fleet comes in, to have two or three hundred mar-
riages in a week's time, among the sailors." He humorously
concludes — " If the present Act in the form it now stands
should (which I am sure is impossible) be of service to my
country, I shall then have the satisfaction of having been
the occasion of it, because the compilers thereof have done
it with a pure design of suppressing my Chapel, which makes
me the most celebrated man in this kingdom, though not the
greatest."

The passing of the Marriage Act put a stop to the mar-
riages at May Fair ; but the day before the Act came into
operation, (Lady Day 1754,)' sixty-one couple were married
there.-

' In a letter to George Montagu, Esq. dated July 17, 1753, Horace VValpole
says :—

" Lady Anne Paulett's daughter is elcped with a country clergyman. The
Duchess of Aig)le harangues against the i\Iairiage Bill not taking place iinnie-
diately, and is persuaded that all the girls will go off before next Lady-day."

^ In a letter to George Montagu, Esq. from Horace Walpole, is the following

notice of Keith : —

Strawberry Hill, 11th June. 1753.

" I shall only tell you a Ion mot of Keith's the marriage-broker, and conclude :

" Ci — d d — n the Bishops!" said he, (1 beg Miss Montagu's pardon) so they

will hinder my marrying. Well, let 'em, but I'll be revenged : I'll buy two or

three acres of ground, and by G — d I'll under-bury them all." — Vol, i. p. 292.

And in No. 38 of the Connoisseur (October 1754) are some satirical remarks on

the effect of the iNIarriage Act on Mr. Keith's Chapel ; the writer says, " I received

a scheme from my good friend Mr. Keith, whose Chapel, the late Marriage Act has

rendered useless on its original principles. The reverend gentleman seeing that

all husbands and wives are heuceforv. ard to be put up on sale, proposes shortly to

146

THE MAY FAIR REGISTERS.

These Registers are divided, some being at the Church of
St. George's Hanover Square, and the others at the Regis-
try of the Bishop of London, but several of the latter appear
to be du})licates, and contain the same entries as the Registers
at St. George''s.

Those at St. George''s are three in number, marked re-
spectively A. B. and C. In two of these is an affidavit sworn
in 1780, by James Frith senior, stating, that being employed
to look over the effects of Mr. Keith, he had found these
three books and brought them from the Fleet ; and that up
to 1743 or 4 the marriages were performed in May Fair
chapel, but afterwards in a house near the chapel.

open his chapel on a more new and fashionable plan. As the ingenious Messrs.
Ilenson and Bever have lately opened in different quarters of the town repositories
for all horses to be sold by auction, Mr. Keith intends setting up a Repository for
all young males and females to be disposed of in marriage. From these studs (as
tlie Doctor himself expresses it) a lady of beauty may be coupled to a man of for-
tune, and an old gentleman who has a colt's tooth remaining, may match himself
with a tight young filly. The Doctor makes no doubt but liis chapel will turn out
even more to his advantage on this new plan, than on its first institution, provided
he can secure his scheme to himself and reap the benefits of it without interhipers
from the Fleet. To prevent his design being pirated he intends petitioning tiie
Parliament, that as he has been so great a sufferer by the Marriage Act, the sole
right of opening a Repository of this sort may be vested in him, and that his place
of residence in May Fair may still continue the grand mart for marriages."

" Catalogue of Males and Females to be disposed of in Marriage to the best
bidder, at Mr. Keith's Repository, in ]\Iay Fair.

A young lady of £100,000 fortune — to be bid for by none under the degree of
peers, or a commoner of at least treble the income.

A homely thing who can read, write, cast accounts, and make an excellent pud-
ding. This lot to be bid for by none but country parsons.

A very pretty young woman, but a good deal in debt — would be glad to mairy a
member of parliament, or a Jew.

A blood of the first-rate, very wild, and lias run loose all liis life, but is now
broke, and will prove very tractable.

Five Templars — all Irish — No one to bid for these lots of less than £10,000
fortune.

Wanted four do^en of young fellows, and one doicn of youni,' womem, willing to
luarry to advantage — to go to Nova Scotia."

147

Book A commences ^1 February 1735 and ends 27 July
1744. It is intituled " An Account or Register of Mar-
riages at St. George''s Chapel Hyde Park Corner in tlie
Liberty of Westminster."" The entries are numbered and
amount to 1020, and are nearly all signed by Mr. Keith.
At the other end of the book are baptisms from 2G March
1740 to 7 April 1753.

Book B commences 28 July 1744 and ends 30 Sept. 1749,
the numbering begins with 1021 and continues to 3529, when
the entries cease to be numbered. There are about 5000
entries in this book.

Book C commences 30 Sept. 1749, and ends 25 March
1754 : from Oct. 1753 to 25 March 1754 are 1136 entries.
On the 2d January 1751 is the following entry, —

« W" Thomas and Sarah Snow of St. Maries Overy Soutliwark"
" Memo" she being surprised by meeting two gentlemen of her
acquaintance as she was going into the chapel, gave her mother's
name (Snow) instead of her father's sirname, Yates."

The books at the Bishop's Registry are seven in number.
No. 1. A short folio commencing 19 March 1729 and
ending 31 May 1731, intituled " Dr. Keith's Regestar Rook
of Marriages, No. 3, May Fair." It contains about 1300
entries, and has an index.

No. 2. A thin short folio, commencing 29 Sept. 1747,
ending 28 Sept. 1749, intituled, " The Register Book of
Marriages performed by John Grierson, Minister, at May
Fair Chapel," and indorsed " No. 2. Register of Marriages,
1747, 1748, 1749. May Fair." It contains 2403 entries, and
at the other end are Baptisms from 1747 to 1752, several of
which are of the Peterborough family.

No. 3. A short thick folio, commencing 29 Sept. 1749,
ending SI Oct. 1753, indorsed " No. 3. Register for Mar-
riages May Fair." It contains 6258 entries.

No. 4. A short folio of Fleet marriages, at one end of
which are " INIarriages performed by Mr. Symson at ^lay
Fair in 1748." It commences 12 April 1748 and contains 86
entries, after which is added " No. 86, all married by Mr.
Symson at May Fair."

148

No. 5. A folio, intituled " The Register Book of Mar-
riages begun April 9, 1748, at the New Chapel May Fair."
The marriages are all by Mr. Symson, but many of them
appear to be Fleet marriages. It has an index.

No. 6. A small quarto, commencing 9 Dec. 1750, ending
25 March 1754, intituled, " The Register Book of Mar-
riages performed by the Reverend Mr. Peter Symson, Mr.
Fran^ Denevau, for Keith May Fair."

No. 7. A thin folio, ending 25 March 1754, indorsed
*' No. 1. Dr. Keith's Book. The Register for Marriages,

I November 1753, 1754, May Fair." It has an index.

THE FOLLOWING ARE SOME OF THE MARRIAGES AT MAY FAIR.

31 Oct. 1729. John Bayley, Student, Middle Temple, and Mary

Meredith, St. Clement's Danse, B. and S.
29 June 1753. Lord George Bentinck and Mary Davies, Hanwell.

II Aug. 1729. Morgan Brignal, Gent. Harrietsham, Kent, and

Betty Puxty, Ditto, W. and S.
13 May 1752. Richard Brooke, Esq. and Frances Croft.

15 Mar. 1730. John Campfield, Esq. St. George's Hanover Square,

and Harriet Doyne, Ditto.
25 June 1749. George Cardale, Rector of Wanlip, Leicester, and
Eliz. Morris.

23 Mar. 1748. Honble. George Carpenter' and Frances Clifton.

19 May 1748. Charles Chauncey, Esq. St. Clement's, and Eliz.
Lloyd, Lothbury.

24 Oct. 1747. Capt. Charles Cockburn, St. James's, and Margaret

Holford, Hanwell.
10 May 1731. Thomas Collier, Gent. Richmond, and Alice Toon,

Ditto, B. and S.
6 July 1750. John Coppendale, Minister of Monkton, co. York,

and Elizabeth Preston, of Ditto.
8 Sept. 1729. Simon Darby, Gent. St. Martin's Fields, and Mary

Pindergrass, Ditto, B. and S.

16 Oct. 1752. Edward D'Oyley, Gent, and Mary D'Oyley.

' yVftcrwartls third Lord Carpenter, created Earl of Tyrconnel 1761, ol). 176'2.
She was daughter and heir of 8ir Robert Clifton of Clifton, co. \otls. IJaronct.

149

14 Feb. 1752. James Duke of Hamilton and £liz. Gunning.'

17 April 1753. Stanhope llerries and Millicent Constable, St.
George's, South vvark.

15 April 1729. Charles JefFryson, Gent. Covent Garden, and Sarah

Thomson, Ditto, B. and S.

14 Sept. 1749. Wm. Earl of Kensington &Rachel Hill, Hempstead.
12 Oct. 1729. John Lavington, Gent. St. Bride's, and Sarah Jen-
nings, Bermondsey, B. and S.

6 Oct. 1747. Alexander Lennox and Barbara Ramsey, St. Ann's

Westminster.
26 Feb. 1754. Rev. Edmund Lodge' & Mary Garrard, Carshalton.

8 Feb. 1750. John Markett, Esq. and Eliz. Temple, B. and S.
31 Aug. 1749. William Montague & Gertrude Turner, St. James's.
31 Aug. 1753. George Montague Martin and Eliz, Berkeley, St.

George's Hanover Square.
21 July 1751. Edward Wortley Montague and Eliz. Ashe, St.

Martin's fields.
21 Oct. 1747. John Luke Nicoll, Esq. Mountfield, Sussex, and

Eliz. Gray, St. George's Hanover Square.

15 Mar. 1730. Hyde Parker, Gent, and Elizabeth Beaver, B. & S.

16 April 1749. Geo. Parkyns, Esq. & Anne Levett of Bunny, Notts.'

17 July 1748, Rd. Petenger, Esq. Chertsey, and Ann Weaver,

Odiham.

7 May 1752. Harry Powlett and Mary Nunn, Eltham.

26 July 1753. Edmund Powlett, Gent, and Sarah Jones, Chelsea.
30 June 1752. Bysshe Shelley and Mary Cath. Michell, Horsham."

' She was second daughter of John Gunning of Castle Coote, co. Roscom-
mon, hy Bridget, daughter of Theobald sixth Viscount JNIayo. The Duke dying
1758, she married secondly the 3rd March 1759, John Campbell fifth Duke of
Argylle, and on the 20th Maj 1776 was created a Peeress of Great Britain by
the title of Baroness Hamilton of Hameldon, co, Leicester. Maria Gunning,
the eldest daughter, married 5th March 1752, George William sixth Earl of Coven-
try, and died 1760, These ladies were celebrated as the most distinguished
beauties of the day.

2 Instituted Rector of Carshalton, co. Surrey, 5th December 1738. Edmund
Lodge, Esq. Norroy, K. H., a gentleman distinguished in the literary world by his
" Illustrious Portraits," is the son of this marriage.

' George Parkyns, an officer in the 15th or King's Light Dragoons, brother of Sii
Thos. Parkyns, of Bunny, co. Notts. Baronet. Ann, daughter and co-hcirof Ellon
Levett, of Nottingham, M.D.

* Of Castle Goring, co. Sussex, died 1815. Mary Catherine, only child and
heir of Rev. Theobald Michell, of Horsham, died November 1760.

150

25 May 1751. Honourable Sewallis Sliirley' and Margaret Countess

of Orford.
24 Sept. 1748. William Scudamore and Jane Ravenhill.
7 Mar. 1753. Wra. Shirley, Esq. and Madalane Julie le Blanc, St.

Margaret's.
12 April 1753. Andrew Sproule, Esq. and Catherine Moucher.
15 Mar. 1753. James Stewart Stewart and Catherine Holloway, of

St. Matthew's, Friday Street.
7 Mar. 1749. Cecil Trafford & Elizabeth Short, St. Martin's Fields.
15 June 1752. Henry Trelawney, Esq. and Mary Dormer, St.

Margaret's.
14 Nov. 1729. William Yeats, Gent. S"^ Guards, and Catherine

Jordan, Westr. W. and W.

' Fourth son of Robert Earl Ferrers, died 1763. She was daughter and heir of
Samuel Rolle of Heanton, co. Devon, and widow of Robert Walpole second Earl
of Orford, and died at Pisa 1781.

151

A LIST OF SOME OF THE CHAPELS IN AND AIJOUT LONDON AT

wiircii marria{;es weke perfohmed, prior to the mar-

UIAGE act.

Those marked thus
*Ask's Hospital Chapel.
*Berwick-street Chapel.
*Bridewell Chapel.

Chelsea College Chapel.
■^Charter House Chapel.

Conduit-street Chapel.
"Duke-street Chapel, Westm"^'

Dulvvich College Chapel.

Devonshire Square Meeting.

Ely House Chapel.
*Gray's Inn Chapel.

Great Queen- street Chapel,
Lincoln's Inn Fields.

Grosvenor Square Chapel.

Guildhall Chapel.
*Highgate Chapel.*^

Hampton Court Chapel.

Kensington Palace Chapel.

Kentish Town Chapel.

King-street Chapel, Regent-st.

Knightsbridge Chapel.

Lambe Chapel.
•Lincoln's Inn Chapel.

Long Acre Chapel.

London House Chapel.
*]\Iercer's Chapel.'

" have a Register.

Morden College Chapel.

New Chapel, Westminster.

Newgate Prison Chapel.

New-street Chapel, St. Giles's.

Northall Chapel.

Oxenden Chapel.
*Oxford Chapel.-*

Poplar Chapel.
*Queen Square Chapel.

Ram's Chapel, Homerton.
♦Rolls' Chapel.

Russell Court Chapel, Drury
Lane.
*St. James's Palace Chapel.'
*St. John's Chapel, Clerkenwell.

St. John's Chapel, Bedford Row.

Serjeant's Inn Chapel.
*Somerset House Chapel.^
*Southgate Chapel.

Spring Garden Chapel.
*Temple Church.

Trinity Chapel, Mile End.
*Wheeler's Chapel, Spitalfields.'
*Whitehall Chapel.'

Wapping Chapel.

* This Register was for some time the private property of Mr. Vincent, Chapter
C lerk of Westminster, but is now placed with the Registers of Westminster Abbey.

* This Register is now removed to the new Church.

^ At the instance of the author of this work this Register was neatly copied on
parchment and bound in russia, and sent to the Registry of the Bishop of London.
■* This Register is with those of Marylebone.

* One of these is in the liishop of London's Registry, the others at the Bishop's
house in St. James's Square.

® This Register was purchased by Sir Thomas Phillipps, of Middle Hill, Baronet,
at a sale some years since. He has had extracts from it printed.
' This is in the hands of the Trustees of the Cliapel.
^ This is at the Bishop of London's Registry.

INDEX.

Acts of Parlinment, 6, 11, 16.
Alley, Jerome, 10.
Ashwell, Edward, 62.

Bagnio, marriage at a, 74.
Banns, first directed, 3.
Bassett, Bartholomew, 10, 62.
B — y House, marriage at, 76.
Biscuit, broken, a ceremony, 88.

Castell, Robert, 33.
Caroon House, temporary prison, 45.
Ceremony — see Biwuit liroken.
Certificate, antedated, 73, 74, 75, 80.
Churclies, lawless, described, 3.
Chapels, where marriages performed

prior to 1754, 151.
Christian names only registered, 75, 76,

77, 87, 88, 90.
Clerk, at Fleet Weddings, 69.
Colton, James, 10, 60.
Contracts, per verba de prajsenti, 1 .
Cooke V. Lloyd, 132.
Crawford, Thomas, 57.
Cuthbert, Robert, 57.

Dare, William, 55.

Klborrow, Uobort, 10, 56.
Espousals, entry of, in Register, 2.

. customs relating to, ih.

Excomnmnication for daiKlestine mar-
riage, 13.

Fielding, Handsome, and Duchess of

Cleveland, 62.
Fleet, origin of marriages at, 5.
Parson, convicted of forty-two

oaths, 7.

selling liquors, 56.

marrying in a night-gown,

■ drunk, 90.

a beggar, 62.

— Parsons, list of, 49.

an heiress married at, against her

will, 7.
wedding, engraving of, 8.

Bishop's Visitation at, 9.

Practices in the reign of Queen

Ann, 10.

in 1723, 13.

in 1735, 14.

Marriage, legacy for, 16.

Prison^ 32.

removed to South Lambeth, 45.

Wardens of, 34.

Chaplains, 48.

INIarriages noticed by M TAbbe

le Blanc, 81.

Registers, the earliest, 71.

_^-^ account of, 66.

purchased by Govern-
ment, 70.

extracts from, 73.

not evidence, 127.

■ Indexes wanted, 136.

naines of persons married there,

94.

Floud, John, 55.

Fox, Hon. Henry, his marriage at the
Fleet, 16.

his opposition to

Marriage Act, 16, 18, 19, 25.

INDEX.

153

Gaynam, Dr. 49.

■ verses on, 51.

Grierson, Rev. John, transported, 141.
Guernsey, the land of matrimony, 20.

Hamilton, Duke of, married at May

Fair, 142.
Husband, hired, 82, 83, 90, 92.

Jurisdiction, see Privileged Places.

King's Bench Prison, Registers, 138.

marriages at, 137.

Keith, Alex., the famous, 142.

his excommunication, 142.

his retaliation, ih.

^—^— imprisonment, ib.

— ^— his pamphlet on the Mar-
riage Act, 144.

family, 143.

— • death, ib.

his catalogue of sale, 146.

Lando, James, 58, 67.
Lawrance v. Dixon, 128.
Legitimate, a child half so, 90.
Lilly, Joshua, 62.

John, 63.

Lloyd V. Passingham, 133.
V. Evans, 134.

Marriage, Clandestine, 1.

Act, the Earl of Orford's ac-
count of the introduction and pass-
ing, 22.

— Blackstone's Commentary on,

21.

. attempts to repeal, 21.

■ of two women, 77, 79, 90.

• ceremonies at the Fleet, 88.
. in bed, 93.

■ houses, keepers of, 62.
in terrorem, 76, 93.

• as far as the ring, 88.

■ in part, 74, 76.
antedated, 73, 74, 75, 80.

■ at a cook-shop, 74.
bagnio, 74.

Marriage at a b— dy house, 76.
shoemaker's, 93.

' at Newgate, 74.

• of woman in a shift, 77.

May Fair marriages, 141.

Duke of Hamilton married

therewith a curtain ring, 142.
some of the persons married

there, 148.

■ Registers, 146.

Mint, marriages at, 137.

Registers, 138.

names of some persons married

there, 139.
Misrule, Master of, killed in the Fleet, 39.
Mottram, John, his conviction, 11, 56.

Olive, Mrs. 68.
Onell, V. Madox, 129.
Owen, Thomas, 64, 68.

Panton, Benjamin, 69.

Parson, blind, 61. 65.

Parsons, Fleet, List of, 49.

Passingham v. Lloyd, 129.

Personate, Men and Women hired to,

65. 77.
Pocket Books of the Fleet Parsons, 75,

90.
Privileged Places, 137.

Quaker married at the Fleet, 84.

Reedv. Passer, 130.
Rogers, Nehemiah, 10, 61.

Sacrament after a Fleet Wedding, 87.

St. James's, Duke's Place, pretended,
exemption, 3.

Rector sus-
pended, 3.

Savoy, JNIarriages at, 20, 139.

Minister and Curate transported.

141.

— practices at, 139 — 141.

S.iy and Sele, case of, 131.
Scroope's, Miss, account of her marriage
at the Fleet, 69.

X54 INDEX.

Shadwell, Ralph, a blind Parson, 61.

Sham Certificates, 74.
Shellburn, Anthony, 61, 68.
Shift, aiarriage in a, 77.
Skimmington described, 9.
Starkey, James, 57.
Symson, Peter, 54.

Trinity, Minories, pretended exemption,

3.
■ — Register, 4.

Twisleton, v. Cockshutt,128.
Lord Say and Sele, 131.

W.
Weddings, Parish, 84, 92.

Private, 75, 77, 90, 91, 92.

Wigmore, Daniel, 56.

Wilkinson, Rev. John, of the Savoy, 9,

140.
Wyatt, Walter, 53.

his curious memoranda, 7.

Wardens of the Fleet, 34.
Wardenship, tenure of, 36.

THE END.

LONDON :
PRINTCU BY SAUUEL BBNTLKY,

Dorset Street, Fleet Street.

BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

REGISTRUM ECCLESIiE PAROCHIALIS.

The History of Parish Registers in England ; also of the Registers
of Scotland, Ireland, the East and West Indies, &c. with Obser-
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Full text of "The history of the Fleet marriages [electronic resource] : with some account of the wardens of the prison, the parsons, and their registers : to which are added notices of the May Fair, Mint, and Savoy chapels, and numerous extracts from the registers"

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