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THE HOLY LAND
& EGYPT

A SELECT CONDUCTED PARTY will LEAVE LONDON on
FEBRUARY 15, vid Calais, Marseilles and Alexandria, to Cairo, The
Pyramids, etc., Jaffa, Jerusalem, Mount of Olives Bethany, Jericho, the Dead
Sea, the Jordan, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Tiberias, Damascus, Baalbec, etc.

CAMPING BY EASY STAGES FROM JERUSALEM
TO SEMAKH.

A SELECT PARTY will also LEAVE LONDON on MARCH 9,
spending Easter in Jerusalem.

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THE ROMAN CENTURIATION
IN THE MIDDLESEX DISTRICT

With Map

BY MONTAGU SHARPE

Chairman of Quarter Sessions and County Council, Middlesex

"The Centuriation of a district was its division into rectangular parcels
of a more or less uniform size, and was for the twofold purpose of
access by means of roads, and of convenient subdivision into estates.
Mr. Sharpe has found many traces of these divisions shown by existing
roads, lanes, hedges, and so on. The result is a most valuable contri-
bution to the early history of Middlesex." — The Home Counties Magazine.

THE BRENTFORD PRINTING AND PUBLISHING
COMPANY, LTD., ALBANY WORKS, BRENTFORD, W.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

TWO LORD MAYORS OF LONDON . i
THE HAMPSTEAD ASSEMBLY ROOMS

SOME FAMOUS LONDON WELLS . . .15

CHESFIELD AND ITS RUINED CHURCH . . 19

HAREFIELD 24

THE CULPEPERS IN KENT ... .32

EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX . . 38

SOME EAST KENT PARISH HISTORY . .44

THE KING'S OLD BARGEHOUSE . . . . .46

SHAKESPEARE'S GLOBE PLAYHOUSE

MEMORIAL 52

BRUCE CASTLE, TOTTENHAM . . . . 54
HOUGHTON CONQUEST . . . .- . . 60

AN UNEDITED FRAGMENT OF THE HISTORY

OF LINCOLN'S INN .65

THE CHRONICLE OF PAUL'S CROSS ... 68

NOTES AND QUERIES 73

REPLIES . . 74

REVIEWS . . . ... . . . . 76

NOTICES.

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for sale, and certain Blocks can also be purchased at moderate prices.

REYNELL & SON, 44 Chancery Lane, W.C.

THE HOME COUNTIES MAGAZINE
VOL. XI

THE

HOME COUNTIES

MAGAZINE

Devoted to the Topography of London,

Middlesex, Essex, Herts, Bucks,
<

Berks, Surrey, and Kent

EDITED BY W. PALEY BAILDON, F.S.A.

VOLUME XI, 1909

LONDON: GEORGE BELL AND SONS
YORK HOUSE, PORTUGAL STREET, W.C.

CHISWICK FRESS: CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO.
TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON.

Sir John Barnard.
From a mcxxotint by J. Faber, aftc'r Allan Ramsey.

TWO LORD MAYORS OF LONDON.
l?v \V. L. RUTTON, F.S.A.

[Continued from vol. x, p. 267.]

SIR JOHN BARNARD, KT.

OUR second portrait is that of one of the most eminent
and estimable of the Lord Mayors, the four hundred
and ninth. He was equally distinguished as mer-
chant, magistrate, politician, financier, and philan-
thropist. Of his parentage we only learn that his father and
mother were of Reading, members of the Society of Friends,
usually, though unhandsomely, called Quakers. The best traits
of that respected sect were preserved by him through life,
although as a thoughtful youth of eighteen he decided to adopt
the more expressive Established Church. When fifteen he
was placed in the wine business of his father, and by ability and
assiduity made rapid progress towards its management. Foi
some twenty years, however, his course, though prosperous,
was ordinary, and not until his thirty-sixth year does he seem
to have come into public notice as a strong and able man.
Then, in 1720, he was chosen by his fellow-merchants to
present a petition to the House of Lords against a bill which
had been passed by the Commons adversely affecting their
trade. His readiness of speech and argument on this occasion
formed his passport to public life, his fitness to represent them
in Parliament being made apparent to the citizens of London.
His election followed in 1722, and for nearly forty years he re-
presented the City, taking first rank as an authority in financial
matters, and boldly expressing his opinions when adverse to the
policy of the great Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole. By
his courage, independence, and eloquence, he commanded the
deference of the House, and what he had to say he determined
should be heard ; a litttle story to this effect, though oft told,
must be repeated. Once when speaking he observed the
Prime Minister whispering to the Speaker, who deferentially
leaned towards him on the arm of his chair. " Mr. Speaker !
Mr. Speaker ! " cried out Sir John, " I address myself to you
and not to your chair. I will be heard. I call that Right
VOL. XI. I B

TWO LORD MAYORS OF LONDON.

Honourable Gentleman to order." Whereon the Speaker
adjusted his position, begged pardon of the Member for
London, and desired him to proceed.

Bills presented by him had as their object better regulations
for merchant-seamen, the improvement of gaols, the relief of
poor debtors, the reformation of the London police. His chief
measure, perhaps, was one of finance, viz., the reduction of
interest on the National Debt from four to three per cent.,
which, although unsuccessful in 1737 — and even at that time
the cause of temporary unpopularity to Barnard — had, when
eventually carried, the effect of so much enhancing his reputa-
tion as a financier that, in 1746, the Chancellorship of the
Exchequer was offered to him. That high position, however,
he declined.

In the City his career was thus marked : Alderman ot
Dowgate Ward, 1728 ; Knighted by George II, 1732 ; Sheriff,
1735 ; Lord Mayor, 1737 ; " Father of the City " as Alderman
of Bridge Without, 1749. On attaining the latter dignity, the
London merchants, to testify their respect, erected his statue
in the Royal Exchange, an honour previously accorded only to
sovereigns, and one so inconsistent with his own modesty, that
ever after he transacted his business outside the building.1
This great distinction, meant to crown his noble public conduct,
had probably special reference to his high patriotism in 1745,
when, to avert panic in the City and a run on the Bank, caused
by the temporary success of the Pretender and his advance
from Scotland, Barnard headed a band of 1,600 merchants who
guaranteed the payment of the Bank's notes and obligations.

As a magistrate he was vigilant, just and humane. Always
religious and faithful to his early principles, he promoted the
observance of Sunday ; but his deference to the clergy was not
allowed to affect his constant impartiality. It is related that on
one occassion when a " reverend " offender brought before him
appealed for consideration in canonical garb, he was told that
the sanctity of his profession had aggravated his offence, and
the penalty should not be relaxed.

Lord Stanhope, in his History, describes Sir John Barnard
as the type of an honourable British Merchant. The Earl of
Chatham — when Mr. Pitt — called him " the great commoner," a

1 This statue doubtless perished in the fire of 1838. An existing picture
of it scarcely causes regret for its disappearance.

TWO LORD MAYORS OF LONDON.

soubriquet afterwards attached to the Earl's own son, the
illustrious Prime Minister. Sir Robert Walpole reckoned him
a doughty opponent in Parliament. Other Ministers, Granville
and Pulteney, sought his advice at Clapham. Lord Palmerston
(the first) sanctioned the marriage of his son with the daughter
of Sir John, who afterwards became the guardian of the son's
son, the second Vicount.

In 1754 was his last election by the City to Parliament; it
was urged upon him against his desire. He retained his seat
until 1761 ; but previously, in 1758, his age being seventy-
three, he resigned his civic duties, and in some degree sought
retirement in his home at Clapham. Here he lived kindly
and hospitably with his neighbours, chiefly fellow-merchants,
meeting them weekly at a club, riding out with them on
Saturdays and Mondays, and occasionally taking part in the
pastime of the bowling-green. And at times, as said above, he
was visited by distinguished politicians.

In his family he was exemplary. His wife was Jane,
daughter of John Godschall, a City merchant. He had the
misfortune to lose her in the year of his mayoralty, and it
appears that she died at his City residence, for it is recorded
that the funeral procession to Clapham was attended through
the City by the children [i.e., the Blue-coat Boys] of Christ's
Hospital, of which Sir John was many years President (A New
and Gen. Biog. Diet., 1767, vol. xii, 69). The remains, however,
were not finally deposited at Clapham, but (eleven days after
death) in Mortlake Church, as noted in the register: " Sep. I,
Dame Jane Barnard, Lady Mayoress of ye City of London was
buried." The choice of place just then seems rather curious,
for the daughter, Jane Barnard, was not yet married to the Hon.
Henry Temple, of East Sheen, in Mortlake. That marriage,
however, was celebrated so soon after as September I2th (Gent.
Mag.), and it connected Sir John with Mortlake. For his
son-in-law, Lord Palmerston's only son, died ere two years
were completed, and we readily imagine the father's visit to his
widowed daughter, who lived at East Sheen with her only son
(the future second Lord Palmerston), to whom Sir John was
guardian. This lady lived to see her grandson, the third
Viscount, who was to be famous as the Prime Minister of
Queen Victoria ; he was about four years old when his grand-
mother died on January 25th, 1789 (Annual Register). I here

TWO LORD MAYORS OF LONDON.

correct an error of date taken from Lodge in my Temple Grove
paper [vol. ix, p. 136]. She, too, was buried at Mortlake,
"The Honble Jane Temple," February 5th, 1789.

The elder of Sir John's two daughters was Sarah, the wife of
Sir Thomas Hankey, Kt., of London, and in their descendants
is now represented the venerated Lord Mayor of 1738, for John,
his only son — to whom we shall presently refer — left no issue.

Sir John Barnard died on August 28th, 1764. The con-
temporary record of the Gentleman's Magazine cannot be here
omitted : —

" At Clapham, in a very advanced age, Sir John Barnard, Knt.,
sometime Father of the City. He served the office of Lord Mayor
in 1737 [and 1738], represented the City in six Parliaments with
great honour to himself and with the highest approbation of his
constituents, and was ever justly revered and esteemed as a
gentleman of consummate abilities and inviolable integrity."

He was buried with his wife in Mortlake Church, September
4th, 1764. The simple entry in the register is the only
memorial there ; even his grave is now unknown. This we
regret, and think discreditable to those who should have pre-
served it. The words Humani Generis Decus were added to the
inscription on his statue in the Royal Exchange, but both
Exchange and statue perished in the fire of 1838.

Some details of his will, at Somerset House, may be interest-
ing. Very solemnly he commits his soul to God, and directs
that his body may be buried at Mortlake near the remains of
his dear wife, in a very private and inexpensive manner. His
only son, John, had already been equipped " for his advantage
in the world," and his two daughters, Dame Sarah Hankey and
the Hon. Mrs. Temple, had had their marriage portions ; they
have now further sums, and Dame Hankey having died her
share is to be divided between her six children. Thomas
Suttton, his grandson [? by Hankey marriage], has the money
arising from the sale of his [Sir John's] furniture in the house
in Broad Street ; this grandson has a further legacy, and each
grandchild is similarly benefited. There are bequests to nieces
Dowson and Mary Gofife, to cousins Hannah Thomas, Mary
Willes of Marlborough, and Dr. Thomas, to the Governors of
Christ's Hospital and of the Foundling Hospital, to his servants,
to the Rev. Mr. Stonehouse [afterwards Baronet], Rector of
Clapham, the Rev. Mr. Mapletoft, curate of same, and the

TWO LORD MAYORS OF LONDON.

assisting curate of Mortlake, five guineas each in lieu of
burying fees. The residue of his personal estate, his goods and
chattels, his freehold, copyhold, and leasehold lands and tene-
ments [not named] he leaves to his dear son John, who with his
worthy friend, John Small, of Clapham, are appointed executors
with special legacies. By a codicil there is a legacy to his son-
in-law, Sir Thomas Hankey, Knight, and bequests to the poor
of Clapham, Mortlake, and East Sheen. The will was made
April 24th, 1763, and proved September loth, 1764.

From Sir John's pen there is extant a little volume entitled :
A Present for an Apprentice, or a sure guide to gain both esteem
and an estate, by a late Lord Mayor of London ( 1 740) ; it is
described in Diet. Nat. Biog. as " a curious medley of Christian-
ity and Commerce." Also : Considerations on the Proposal for
reducing the Interest on the National Debt (1750), and, in his
retirement, The Nature and Government of the Christian Church
from the Word of God ( 1 76 1 ).

JOHN BARNARD, the son, lived, apparently unmarried,
as a rich man and collector of works of art, in Berkeley Square,
London. What we learn of him is derived from his will and
two notices in the Gentleman's Magazine, 1785 (pp. 64, 155),
written shortly after his death. Here he is referred to as " son
of the patriotic Sir J. Barnard, many years Father of the City
of London." A portion of his will is quoted. He is said to
have died worth ,£200,000, and that having no issue he left his
real and personal estate to his nephew, Thomas Hankey, Esq.

The will contains the names of many legatees, and some
interesting particulars. After pious committal of his soul, he
desires the burial of his body in the most private and inexpen-
sive manner possible, in woolen according to law, and where it
will occasion the least trouble. To his " cousin " Joshua
Payne, he leaves his estate called Playhatch, in the parish of
Sunning, Oxfordshire, and the other of his freehold and lease-
hold estates are left to his nephew, Thomas Hankey. To his
sister, the Hon. Jane Temple, he leaves £2,000 ; to his three
nephews, Henry, Lord Viscount Palmerston, John Hankey and
Robert Hankey, certain life annuities. Legacies to his " cousin,"
Jane Johnson, of Mortlake ; to Mrs. Godschall, his cousin [ot
his mother's family] ; to his good friend the Earl of Portmore ;
to his friend Isaac Pilleau, a clerk in the Bank of England ; to

TWO LORD MAYORS OF LONDON.

his friend William Baillie, Esq., Commissioner of the Stamp
Office ; to Captain Thomas Baillie, late Deputy Governor of
Greenwich Hospital [the bequest quoted in Gent. Mag.'] " as a
small token of my approbation of his worthy and disinterested
though ineffectual endeavours to rescue that noble national
charity from the rapacious hands of the basest and most wicked
of mankind " (not named). Legacies also to his friend John
Bertels, a native of Brussels, and one of the proprietors of the
auction room in King Street, St. James's Square ; to Mr. John
Greenwood, painter and auctioneer in the Haymarket ; to
Mr. Dominic Serres, of Warwick, painter of sea-views ; to Alice
Lewry, an old servant of my late father ; to his dear friend
Nathaniel, Lord Scarsdale, his picture of the "Holy Family," by
Simon Cantarini, " which I esteem one of the best of my
historical pictures, begging him to keep it as a small remem-
brance of the friendship and esteem I had for him " ; to his
worthy friend, John Kendrick, Esq., a1 Commissioner of the
Stamp Office, "all my entire collection of prints and books
of sculpture as they stand distinguished in my catalogue from
my other books, begging him, as they were collected by me
with great trouble and expense, that he will keep them entire
as long as he shall live, and leave them at his decease to such
as he thinks will be most likely to do the same. Charitable
bequests are made to the Marine Society for putting out poor
boys to sea ; to the Society for the discharge and relief of the
persons imprisoned for small debts in Craven Street in the
Strand ; to the Governors of the Lock Hospital, called the
Asylum, near Westminster Bridge ; to the poor of whatever
parish shall be the principal place of his residence at the time
of his decease ; and there are liberal bequests to his servants.
The rest and residue of his monies, government securities,
long annuities, and life annuities in the Exchequer, his goods,
chattels, and personal estate whatever, are left to his aforesaid
nephew, Thomas Hankey, whom he appoints his sole executor.
By codicil he leaves legacies to Mr. Joseph Nollekens, statuary
in Mortimer Street; to Mrs. Susannah Pilleau, sister to Mr. Isaac
Pilleau above mentioned ; to Mr. Simon Beauvais, miniature
painter in Market Street, St. James's ; to his worthy friend,
John Peachey, Esq., son of Sir John Peachey, Baronet, his
picture of the " Finding of Moses," by Paolo Veronese, desiring
him to accept it as a small token of the respect he had for him.

THE HAMPSTEAD ASSEMBLY ROOMS.

By a later codicil he makes a further handsome bequest to
his youngest nephew, Robert Hankey, in some compensation
for the great loss he had sustained in his trade and partnership.
He revokes the legacy to the Earl of Portmore, as he had
not found his friendship such as he had thought it.

And by a still later codicil he revokes his bequest to
Mr. Joseph Nollekens, and gives legacies to John and Dominic
Serres, the two sons of Mr. Dominic Serres, the painter of sea-
views mentioned in his will.

John Barnard died in Berkeley Square in November, 1784,
and on December 1st was buried in the vault under the chapel
of the burying-ground of his parish, St. George's, Hanover
Square, on the Uxbridge Road (Registers}. I have not found
any memorial. The will was proved by the executor, Thomas
Hankey, November 26th, 1784 (? before the deposit of the
remains in the vault). In the British Museum is found : A
catalogue of the superb and well known Cabinet oj Drawings of
John Barnard, Esq., late of Berkeley Square, deceased. To be
sold by auction by Mr. Greenwood in Leicester Square, February
1 6th, /7<5>7- The produce of the sale is noted on the catalogue
as £2,472 I $s. 6d.

Memoirs of Sir John Barnard were published in 1776, and these were
reprinted in 1855 by his great-great-grandson, Thomas Hankey, Esq., of
Portland Place, London, who wrote a Preface and included biographical
sketches from Orridge's Citizens of London and Their Rulers, Heath's
Grocer? Company, and Rees3 Cyclopcedia. Also Chalmers' General
Biographical Dictionary (1815), and, indeed, all works of that nature down
to the latest and greatest, the Dictionary of National Biography, record
and do honour to this noblest of Lord Mayors.

THE HAMPSTEAD ASSEMBLY ROOMS
IN WEATHERALL PLACE.

BY ALFRED STANLEY FOORD.

THE Hampstead Assembly Rooms in Weatherall Place
consisted of the " Long Room," which is contained in
Weatherall House, and the " Assembly Room " or " Ball
Room," now merged in Nos. 7 and 9 Well Walk.
During the hundred odd years in which they have been used as

THE HAMPSTEAD ASSEMBLY ROOMS.

private houses, many alterations, both external and internal,
have been made in them by different owners, but not so as to
obliterate all traces of the purpose for which they were original-
ly designed. Probably the very fact of their having passed
into private ownership -has contributed to their preservation,
and notwithstanding the lapse of time — some portions are
alleged to be of late seventeenth century age — few signs of
decay are apparent.

When the original Long Room and Pump Room on the east
side of Well Walk were transformed into a place of worship in
1725, the inhabitants and their visitors found themselves for
the time being deprived of a suitable building in which they
could hold their dances and assemblies. It was not very long
before a fresh site was forthcoming, a little farther away from
the Heath in the same road, in that part of it which, until 1 800,
had no specific name. From that date until 1870, or perhaps
rather later, it was called Weatherall Place,1 and since then the
whole length of the road has been designated Well Walk.
There were buildings already existing here, (built in part in the
seventeenth century,) which, by adaptation, and with the
addition of new erections, provided all the accommodation
required for public entertainments.

The history of the property is very clearly set forth in an
admirable little book on Hampstead Wells,2 by Mr. George W.
Potter, who, in his capacity of a Trustee of the Wells and of the
Campden Charity, enjoyed the advantage of access to the local
and other archives. He says that the earliest mention of the
premises which he was able to find, occurs in the Manor Court
Rolls for 1727. In this document they are spoken of as "a
newly-erected building," which, it is pretty certain, is that now
standing and formerly known as the Long Room ; the term
" newly erected," Mr. Potter is careful to add, might be appli-
ed to a building some years old. The property is again men-
tioned, remarks the same author, in 1753, in connection with
the will of one Henry Vipont, (who was admitted to it in 1734,)
in these words ; " there had been erected upon the said premises

1 In the London Suburban Directory for 1868, Weatherall Place is men-
tioned, but in that for 1872, (they were issued every fourth year,) the name
had disappeared.

*Hampstead Wells; a short history of their rise and decline, by Geo. W.
Potter; 1904.

THE HAMPSTEAD ASSEMBLY ROOMS.

another messuage or tenement fronting the way leading from
Flask Walk to Hampstead Wells, and also a new room called
the Assembly Rooms." The language is not very explicit, but
there can be no doubt, from the situation indicated, that this
new messuage was the large Georgian Room, now incorporated
in Weatherall House, and that the new room was the block
now divided and numbered 7 and 9 Well Walk. The Long
Room is certainly of older date than 1753, having apparently
been only converted into a place of entertainment.

The entire group of buildings can be plainly made out in
the Hampstead section of Rocque's plan of London (1741-45);
also in the plan in Park's Topography of Hampstead (1814).
Copies of these, numbered I and 3, and lettered to correspond
with the large-scale plan, c. 1761, No. 2, accompany this article.
The fact that Park's plan is undated, having been compiled
from various surveys, which are not named, detracts somewhat
from its historic value. His description of the Weatherall
Place Rooms, from whatever source it was taken, (for he could
not himself have seen them before they were converted to
private use),1 is written with some minuteness of detail, and the
inference may be drawn from it that the assemblies were more
like a social club than a public resort. He says: — "Here the
gentry used formerly to meet every Monday Evening to play at
cards, and here they had likewise an assembly, beginning at
Whitsuntide and ending in October. The Ball Room [i.e. the
Long Room] was seventy-five feet long by thirty-three feet
wide, and adorned in a very elegant manner. On each side ot
the entrance were two small but neat rooms for tea and cards.
A guinea subscription admitted a gentleman and two ladies to
the Ball Room every other Monday. To non-subscribers
admittance was half-a-crown each night. The Master of the
Ceremonies had an annual benefit, when the tickets were five
shillings each ; on this occasion a concert usually commenced
the evening."

Towards the middle of the XVIII century a praiseworthy
effort appears to have been made to keep the society of Hamp-
stead as select as possible, " care being taken, (as Seymour
relates) to discourage the meaner sort from making it a place
of rendezvous, that it is now become, after Scarborough, Bath,

'Park was born in 1795, the Year m which Thomas Weatherall senior,
was admitted as tenant of the property, which included the Long Room.

THE HAMPSTEAD ASSEMBLY ROOMS,

and Tunbridge, one of the politest places in England.' l But
in whatever way the reform was brought about, the class of
persons patronising these later Assembly Rooms was very
different from that of most of the frequenters of the older
rooms in the Wells Walk. The poet Rogers2 testifies to this
when he says that in his youth (circa 1783), he used to go to
the Hampstead Assemblies, " which were frequented by a great
deal of good company," and that he himself danced four or
five minuets there in one evening. To these gatherings came
Mark Akenside, about 1760, during his residence at North
End, and here it was that Pope, Arbuthnot, and other literary
celebrities resorted. Dr. Johnson's wife came also, from " the
last house southward in Frognal " where she lodged in the
year 1748, indulging herself in country air and nice living, and
although the presence of the gifted man himself is not actually
recorded, it is more than probable that he went in his " bushy,
grayish wig, brown clothes, black stockings, and plain shirt," a
solecism among the beaux resplendent in lace ruffles and em-
broidery. Fanny Burney was here in the person of her heroine
Evelina, if not in her own ; indeed her description of the Long
Room seems too circumstantial to have been written merely
from hearsay. She writes of it probably as it appeared to her
before 1778: — "This room seems very well named, for I
believe it would be difficult to find any other epithet which
might, with propriety, distinguish it, as it is without ornament,
elegance, or any sort of singularity, and merely to be marked
by its length."3 This impression of the Long Room is quite at
variance with what Park says of it, as " adorned in a very
elegant manner." Perhaps the adornment, whatever it may
have been, was unnoticed by Miss Burney, who suffered from
short sight. She was, moreover, a closer observer of people
than of places, and consequently she gives very little more
actual description of such public resorts as the Marylebone
Gardens, Vauxhall, and Ranelagh, than of Hampstead.

After a public career of sixty years or more, this second set
of Assembly Rooms gradually declined in popularity, and
passing into other hands was, about 1800, converted into
private houses. When Mr. Charles Cooper came into posses-

'Robert Seymour: Survey of London and Westminster, 1734-35, Appendix.
'Samuel Rogers : Table Talk, Edited by A. Dyce, 1856.
3£velina, Edit. 1903, (Macmillan,), p. 268.

THE HAMPSTEAD ASSEMBLY ROOMS.

sion of the premises in 1810, they are described in the copy ot
Court Roll as " The Long Room with a large garden, the
Assembly Rooms, and also a new room called the Assembly
Room." This second Assembly Room is that adjoining the
Long Room, and is now used as the drawing room of Weather-
all House. Being on the garden side of the house, it is only
partly visible from the road.

The most interesting of the new Wells Assembly Rooms, from
its early associations, is, of course the Long Room. It was
originally a long, low, white structure of timber, brick and
mortar, but when the late Mr. Goodwin Rooth bought the
property in 1 876, he had it encased in red brick, making the
lower walls eighteen inches thick. The ground floor, before it
was turned into a private residence, consisted of an entire room,
with two small ante-rooms, one on either side of the entrance,
used tor tea and card parties. The great length of the Long
Room — seventy-five feet — is still easily discernible. It has been
sub-divided by wainscots into a dining room, hall and two
smaller rooms ; all fronting the road. Along the whole length of
these rooms, in the middle of the ceiling, run huge beams of oak,
cased in moulded timber. The whole of the front of the house
is believed to be of one date. The portion of the Long Room
now forming the central hall is supportd by six pillars ; the
walls, like those of the dining room, are panelled from floor to
ceiling. There was probably another entrance at the north
east end of the Long Room, some foundations having been dis-
covered when a window was put in by Mr. Rooth. The family
have a theory that at the end of the hall, opposite to the pre-
sent main entrance, was a musicians' gallery, open to the floor
above, where there is now a landing, reached by the staircase
built by Mr. Rooth : one of the evidences that a gallery existed,
is a large hook still fixed in the landing ceiling, such as might
be used to carry a chandelier, which would serve as an over-
head light for the orchestra. Over the greater part of the
Long Room were five card rooms, originally communicating
with one another by means of central doors. These rooms
were, about one hundred years back, converted into bed-rooms.
The old flight ol stairs, formerly outside the Long Room — a
4 lean-to,' but now roofed over — by which the guests gained
access to the upper rooms, has been preserved intact, as also
has the arched fan-light of the outer or street door. Mr. Rooth

THE HAMPSTEAD ASSEMBLY ROOMS.

had this stairway, which rises at the side of the passage on the
ground floor, where the great beams end, ' capped ' with wood
and the lower steps turned sideways into the passage : they
formerly ran straight up. The entrance gate stood a few yards
to the west of the present tradesmen's entrance — on the street.

It will be seen from the foregoing that when Mr. Rooth took
the house some thirty years ago, he carried out many structural
and other alterations, such as building a new staircase, inserting
a window, putting in a fireplace, and a number of other minor
changes. In fact the place underwent a thorough restoration
at his hands. Yet, with all this, he succeeded admirably in
preserving the characteristic features of the building as he
found them. The rare taste and judgment observable in the
fabric itself are equally manifest in the decorations of the in-
terior, and nothing could be more appropriate than the beau-
tiful antique furniture.

Near Weatherall House, at the corner of the road leading to
New End Square, is Burgh House. So far as is known, it
had no special connection with the Assembly Rooms, but being
included with them in the frequent references to the property
which occur in the Court Rolls, some description of it seemed
only proper. Unfortunately there is very little to relate. The
house stands back from the main thoroughfare, and has a
spacious quadrangle in front. The fa$ade is rather imposing,
overtopping the neighbouring houses. It was built in 1709,
but has not been called Burgh House for more than sixty years
at the most, being so named after the Reverend Allatson de
Burgh, (afterwards Burgh, the prefix " de " being dropped),
who in later years resided in it. He was Vicar of St. Laurence
Jewry, to which he was appointed in 1815, and held the living
till his death in 1857 at Hampstead. He was a musical
amateur of knowledge and skill, and built a large room for his
organ, which is now used as a library. This house was at one
time used for a Militia Barracks, at which time, (1863), two
projecting wings abutting upon the roadway were added to the
old mansion, and were used as an armoury and storehouse, the
officers occupying Burgh House itself, which now belongs to
Mr. Rooth, and is again a private residence.

Associated with the Long Room, and standing only a few
yards away from its north-eastern end, was an elongated
building, marked in Chatelaine's print of 1745 by a projecting

THE HAMPSTEAD ASSEMBLY ROOMS.

bay at each extremity, and having a mansard roof. This
building has been already alluded to in the quotation from
Henry Vipont's Will as "a new room called the Assembly
Rooms," which " new room " seems to answer to the one
referred to by Seymour in his Survey, published in 1734-35,
when he says, " to add to the entertainment of the Company,
there is, besides the Long Room, in which the Company meet
publicly on a Monday Evening to play at cards, etc., a new
Dancing Room, built this year — 1735 — by Mr. Vipand (sic), the
owner of the other, [i.e. the Long Room]. This room is sixty
feet long and thirty feet wide, well adorned with chandeliers, etc."
This Dancing or Assembly Room seems to have been that
portion of the building now known as No. 9 Well Walk, as the
title deeds of that house, in the possession of the Rooth family,
mention it as having been " converted out of a building
formerly known as the Assembly Room." But as the frontage
of Nos. 7 and 9 together measures 1 20 feet, there is a length of
60 feet still to be accounted for. The most probable explana-
tion seems to be that this was built after, and not before,
Vipont's Dancing Room, namely, some time between the years
1735 and 1745, in which latter years the entire block appears
in Chatelaine's drawing. The building originally consisted of
a lofty ground floor, with a top story, (which is still panelled),
and a basement ; the present middle floor was inserted in the
centre part of the block, but apparently not in the wings, when
it was transformed into a dwelling house.

The outward appearance of these semi-detached houses at
the present day does not differ materially from Chatelaine's
picture, except for the insertion of the front doors and rose
windows in the south bay of No. 7, put in by a late owner,
Mr. Henry Barrett-Lennard, who took the house some time
between 1876 and 1880. Some years previously, (certainly
before 1872), the southern half of the block — now No. 7, — was
subdivided into two houses, and numbered 3 and 5, some of
the steps leading up to the front door of the last mentioned
house being still in situ, and in the garden there are remains of
the dividing wall. No. 7, answering to the modern No. 9,
seems always to have been one house. In the Suburban
Directory for 1880, No. 3 only appears, Mr. Barrett-Lennard
having thrown the two houses — 3 and 5 — into one ; he also
made extensive alterations in the inside, among these being

THE HAMPSTEAD ASSEMBLY ROOMS.

the lengthening of the dining room, and the formation of a
passage leading to a large new room, which he built out at the
back of the house. The drawing room, which occupies the
southern bay, and is the largest room in the house, rests on
massive brick vaulting. It measures forty feet long by fourteen
feet wide, and has had the ceiling raised. The lighting is by a
window at each end, probably as at first planned, and above
each of these — front and back — is a rose window. The hall
and main staircase leading up to the first floor are panelled in
oak, and the bannisters are a good example of the carving of
the period. The older stairs leading down from the top rooms
have been closed. On the landing and in an upstairs room
there are unsuspected doors and cupboards, concealed by wall
paper, reminding one of the secret hiding places met with in
some old Tudor and Jacobean houses. No. 9 has been slightly
altered in front, where the bay, corresponding with that of
No. 7, instead of projecting, stands flush with the centre part
of the house. As seen from the back, however, the houses
seem to have retained most of the salient features of the old
Assembly Room.

The best, if not the only view extant, of the Long Room and
Assembly Rooms, is the print by Chatelaine, a copy of which,
taken from Lysons' Environs of London (1795-1800), serves
to illustrate this article. In her Life of Josiah Wedgwood
(1865-6), Miss Meteyard describes the service of china made
by him in 1773 for the Empress Catharine II of Russia, de-
corated with views of English scenes. Among them are no
fewer than twenty-one views of Hampstead and the vicinity,
bringing in the Long Roon, Assembly Rooms and Burgh House.
The collection is understood to be in the Hermitage Palace at
St. Petersburg. William Howitt also mentions the service in his
Northern Heights of London (1869), adding a list of pieces
containing the Hampstead views.

As these pages profess to deal only with the later Assembly
Rooms, it is unnecessary to describe that part of the plan of
1761 — No. 2 — which shows the original Wells Buildings.
Permission* to reproduce this plan from his History of Hamp-
stead Wells was kindly granted by Mr. G. W. Potter, and for
the reproduction of Chatelaine's print and the plans numbered
I and 3, by the Guildhall Library.

The writer, in conclusion, desires to express his special

SOME FAMOUS LONDON WELLS.

obligations for the kind assistance given him by Miss Rooth,
of Weatherall House, Mr. Ernest Wallis, of No. 7 Well Walk,
Mr. George W. Potter, formerly of Hampstead, and Dr.
Williamson, of Burgh House.

SOME FAMOUS LONDON WELLS.
BY J. F. LEASK.

THE encroachment of modern building on the environs oi
the former metropolis has caused many antiquarian
associations to be dropped into oblivion, and not the
least important and interesting amongst these deserving
special notice might very well be mentioned the numerous
wells which surrounded London.

To the antiquarian hunter and keen observer there are, how-
ever, still some land-marks which link the present to the past,
and cause us to stop a while and picture to ourselves the life
of the earlier inhabitants of London.

In dealing with this subject of wells, it must be borne in
mind that, although the modern Londoner is not greatly
interested in the sources of our water supply, yet in the not so
excessively remote past, when our present elaborate system of
water conduit had not sprung into being, it was necessary to a
great extent to resort for the water supply of the Metropolis to
surrounding springs and wells, some of which will be touched
upon. The present remarks, however, will more especially be
confined to those wells which were famous for their medicinal
qualities.

KlLBURN has become a byword to many in consequence
of the popularity of the motor omnibuses which were pioneer
in the field on the main thoroughfare of this district. Kilburn
was famous not only for its mineral wells, no remains of
which now exist, but also for its ancient Priory, which was
founded in the reign of Henry I by Godwin, the hermit, who
built the hermitage of Cuneburn, now Kilburn, which he after-
wards ceded to three nuns, Emma, Christena and Gunelda, and
hereafter the hermitage became a nunnery of the order of St.
Benedict. About the time of the dissolution, the possessions

SOME FAMOUS LONDON WELLS.

were valued at .£741 per annum, and the land was granted to
John, Earl of Warwick. There are now no visible relics of the
Priory, the occupants of which extended so much hospitality
to travellers, but its memory is perpetuated in the name of the
road which now occupies its site, namely, Priory Road.

The Kilburn Wells were situated near at hand to the Priory,
on the east side of Edgware Road, being, as the ancient records
tell us, " a morning's walk from the centre of the metropolis, two
miles from Oxford Street." The old site of the Wells is now
occupied by a Bank, standing a little to the north of the
Kilburn station on the L. & N. W. Railway, on the east side of
the road, and the only indication of the interesting association
is a tablet with inscription, on the wall of the Bank, as shown
in our illustration, reading, " This was the site of the Kilburn
Wells." From a newspaper cutting dated 1795, we learn that
at that time this well was famous on account of its purgative
qualities, and celebrated for its rural situation with extensive
prospects, and for the acknowledged efficacy of its waters, which
were more strongly impregnated with carbonic acid gas than any
known spring in England. Close by the well existed a house
set apart for the recreation and entertainment of people visiting
the Wells, and in the season numerous concerts and balls were
arranged.

Journeying across country a few miles to the east of Kilburn
upon a hill existed another well in equal favour as the one at
Kilburn, being known as the HAMPSTEAD WELLS. Hampstead
has now become a select residential quarter, and its picturesque
heath still draws crowds of holiday seekers as in former days,
when people journeyed out from London to this conspicuous
amongst health resorts, to recuperate and to enjoy quietly the
pure air of this high altitude, with its delightfully rural ap-
pearance ; and also to drink of its life-giving waters. This
Chalybeate Well was situated on a part of the heath which has
since been encroached upon and is now covered with houses ;
but the remembrance is still with us in the name Well Walk,
which lies on the west side of the heath. But there is also
another denoted in the shape of a fountain, which is situated
where Gainsborough Gardens runs into the Well Walk. The
water, which flows from this fountain from the side, as shown
in our illustration, is the only remains of the well, and is
forbidden to the public, having become contaminated. How-

Kilburn Wells.

Hampstead Wells.

SOME FAMOUS LONDON WELLS.

ever, one can still obtain a refreshing drink from another
fountain placed against and adjoined to the same erection, and
at the same time meditate on bygone times. It is interesting
to observe in passing how the present Gainsborough Gardens
derives its name. In the year 1698 the Earl of Gainsborough
vested, we are told, in trustees for the use of the poor of the
district, six acres of heath land, which was situated round
about the medicinal wells, and it is probable that Gainsborough
Gardens now occupies part of this land.

ST. CHAD'S WELL, though its surroundings were uninviting,
yet having an attraction all its own, was situated at the end of
Gray's Inn Road, near Battle Bridge, King's Cross, where the
present St. Chad's Lane lies, the only memory of the wells.
The wells were opened in 1772, and were in great esteem, being
visited not only by people of the district but by strangers.
They were accessible by descending from Holborn Bars to the
very bottom of Gray's Inn Lane, and their position was by the
side of a hill, on which, we are told, "were wont to climb and
brouse certain mountain goats." Curiously enough, this hill
consisted of an accumulation of ashes, it was the largest heap
of cinder dust in the neighbourhood or in London, and was
formed by an annual deposit of some 100 cart loads. It is not
generally known that this heap of cinder dust, after being
razed to the ground, was exported to Russia for making
bricks to rebuild Moscow after the burning of that city on the
entrance of Napoleon. Opposite to this unsightly hill, and on
the right hand side of the road, was an anglewise sign-board
bearing the inscription, " St. Chad's Wells," and underneath,
" Health restored and preserved." A poor wooden gate led
into a scene which an unaccustomed eye might take for the
pleasure ground of the " Giant Despair," for trees stood as
though it was not their nature to vegetate; hedges without
foliage, with numerous weeds straggling upon unlimited borders.
But the reassuring octagonal sign-board was not a mockery, for
St. Chad's, although with such a forbidding external, drew many
persons to drink the invigorating waters, one pint, it being said,
was sufficient, and many people in the neighbourhood who
would not otherwise stir themselves to breathe the fresh
morning air yet resorted to this spot for their health.

ST. AGNES LE CLARE, near Hoxton, so named from a spring
of water which was dedicated to that Saint. The spring was

VOL. XI. 17 C

SOME FAMOUS LONDON WELLS.

situated at the end of Pitfield Street in Old Street, City Road.
From the transparency and salubrity of its water it was de-
nominated St. Agnes Le Clare, or, vulgarised, " Anniseed Clear."
In the reign of Henry VIII it was thus named Fans voc'
Dame Agnes a Clere, and it is suggested that it had been used
to advantage by priests of former times. In a survey of the
possessions of the Prebendal estate of Halliwell, alias Finsbury,
it was called " Dame Agnes the Cleere," and by a previous
survey taken in 1650 it is mentioned as lying in waste land, the
owner of which was Charles Stuart, late King of England. The
neighbouring Charles Square is no doubt named after that
monarch. The waters were turned into a cold bath in 1774,
and were recommended for nervous complaints and for the cure
of rheumatism, etc. The bath, we are told, was thirty feet long
and twenty feet broad and four feet six inches deep, and the
water being continually running was capable of being rendered
higher or lower by a contrivance of sluices.

Not far from St. Agnes Le Clere existed the PEERLESS POOL,
and it is interesting to note the origin of the nomenclature of
the district, namely, Bath Street and City Road, and Peerless
Street and Old Street, for the square formed by these four roads
enclosed the site. The Peerless Pool, once known as the
Perilous Pool in consequence of its having been a source of danger
to the public, consisted of a spring which overflowed its banks
and caused the death of many persons by drowning. To
prevent these frequent accidents it was filled up in the year
1 743, and through the instrumentality of a Mr. Kemp was con-
verted into one of the completest swimming baths in the world
then, and it was the only one of its kind in Christendom, The
bath, we are told, was 170 feet long and over 100 feet broad
and five feet deep in the middle, and was descended to by a
grand staircase of marble steps. The bath was in the open air
and was surrounded by numerous dressing apartments, and
the ground in the immediate vicinity was laid out as a
garden with many fine lime trees. Besides the above men-
tioned swimming bath there was also a cold bath for gentlemen,
supposed to be the largest of its kind in England, being forty feet
long and twenty feet broad, with an approach of two flights of
marble steps, and a dressing room at the end. At four feet
depth was a bottom of lattice wood, under which was five feet
of water. To these the ingenious originator added a well-

' 18

CHESFIELD AND ITS RUINED CHURCH.

stocked fish-pond 320 feet long for the diversion of the sub-
scribers who were fond of angling. This was also surrounded
by terraces with stately lime trees, and at the end of the garden,
we are told, existed a genteel public house, adjacent to which
the son of the projector afterwards lived.

To the above might be added other wells surrounding
London, equally in repute in their time as places of amusement,
recreation, and as health resorts, such as the wells of Acton,
Richmond, Sydenham, Dulwich and the Beulah Spa, Norwood
etc., etc.; but in the above selection the writer has limited himself
to those wells which were in or near the main arteries to and
from London, and in consequence perhaps were the better
known and more frequented.

CHESFIELD AND ITS RUINED CHURCH.

BY CORNELIUS NICHOLLS.

NEAR to the town of Stevenage in Hertfordshire, and
east of the high road leading to Baldock, lie the ruins
of the ancient church of Chesfield, a parish which
although united with that of Gravely since the time of
Henry VI, in 1445, was formerly quite distinct. So ancient is
the manor of Chesfield that even the name under which it has
been known for centuries has, with regard to its origin, long
been a stumbling-block to local historians, who seem to have
failed in satisfactorily accounting for the name it now bears, and
in reconciling that with the name under which it figures in
Domesday Book. This, its manorial history, shows to have been
identical with " Escelveia " or " Scelva."

It will be found amusing, if not always convincing, to com-
pare the various attempts made to elucidate this matter, which
seem, in their extremes, to range between an engaging simpli-
city and what has been styled " a peremptory roundness of
assertion."

The earliest writer of a description of Hertfordshire, John
Norden, " Surveyor of His Majesty's Woods " to James I, and
author of the Historical and Chorographical Survey of Middlesex

CHESFIELD AND ITS RUINED CHURCH.

and Hertfordshire, gives, amongst other place-names, the
following curious derivation of Chesfield : " Chesfeyld, forte
Choisfeyld (ager delectus) for the rich scituation in so fertile a
corne soyle." This recalls a similar etymological triumph to be
found in the pages of Fabian's Chronicle, on the derivation of
Constantinople : " Then this Constantyne removed the em-
peryall see unto his cytie of Constantyne the noble : and there
for the more partye kepte his emperyall honoure ; and other
emperours in lyke wyse after hym. By reason whereof the
emperours were longe after called emperours of Constantyne
nobler

In quite another style is the assumption of Sir Henry
Chauncy, who, after tracing the manorial succession from
Domesday Survey to the time of Henry III, proceeds — "Then
these manors [Graveley andChesfield] came into the possession
of William de Chives, who erected a seat upon this hill and
called it by his own name to perpetuate the memory thereof to
posterity." The next paragraph however suddenly changes
this name into " William de Monte Caviso" ; thus quite rever-
sing the usual progression of place-names. Salmon's history of
the county, an abridgment and continuation of the former to
the year 1728, slightly modifies the foregoing statement, thus:
" In the reign of Henry III William de Monte Caviso united
these manors, and having built himself a seat upon the hill
called it by his name, Cavisefield, corrupted since to Chisfield,
dropping the old name of Escelveia."

It seems to have fallen to the lot of Clutterbuck, whose
history appeared in 1821, to call attention towards the various
errors in Chauncy's book. He speaks of Chauncy's frequent
digressions, total omission of many important particulars of
church history, defective genealogical sketches and numerous
errors in tracing the descent of property. One is not surprised,
therefore, to find that he differs entirely from the foregoing
statement, nor to hear that " The authorities quoted by Chauncy
prove his facts to have no connection with the manor." x His
own theory is that " Chesfield is a slight contraction of Chells-
field or Chillsfield ; Chells being the name of a small adjoining
lordship." This opinion is also adopted in the recently pub-
lished volume of the Victoria County History.

These later views on this subject certainly seem more con-

1 Clutterbuck's History of Herts, vol. ii, p. 297.

Chesfield Church.
Photographs by Arthur J. Shorter.

CHESFiELD AND ITS RUINED CHURCH.

vincing, though requiring some further support. This, we
believe, is afforded by the fact that " manors continued to be
created until the eighteenth year of Edward I, and numerous
parcels of land which now form manors of themselves, at the
time of Domesday Survey must have been parcels of other
manors still in existence." l In this way, out of a larger
Escelveia or Scelva, or from the original manor of Chells itself,
may have been created the separate manor of Chesfield, which
would then carry on the old name in its modified form.

Unsatisfactory as have been the efforts of local history to
account for the origin of Chesfield's name, it has preserved for
us some fragmentary account of Chesfield's ancient church
previous to its demolishment. This took place in 1750, under
a licence granted by the Bishop of Lincoln, in whose diocese
the church then was, upon the representation of the Rector and
Churchwardens, who alleged the ruinous and unsafe condition
of the building for worship. There seems to have been no
suggestion of repairing the fabric which had been the burial
place, and contained many memorials of former lords of the
manor. This Bishop was Dr. John Thomas, who, in 1753, was
also responsible for the pulling down of Shenley Church tower,
and the removal of the chancel and nave arches. And, again,
in 1757, for the abstraction of the XIV century glass from
the Churches of Stanstead Abbots and Eastwick, in order to
replace them by modern windows. Fortunately, perhaps, for
this diocese he was, in 1761, translated to Salisbury.

As late as the time of Sir Henry Chauncy's history, and up
to about the year 1728, the church was still used, though it had
suffered much during the rebellion of 1642, quaintly alluded to
as " the zeal of the times." According to both Salmon and
Chauncy there were in their time still existing, various monu-
ments and painted windows. Under the arch dividing the
chapel from the chancel, stood a tomb two feet high, supposed
to be that of the founder. In the chancel east window two
headless figures, one of them representing St. Edmund. On
the north side a Bishop, supposed to be Thomas a Beckett, with
his crozier in his hand, and some remains of coats of arms.
Another window showed the crest of the Barrington family,
who were for a long period lords of this manor. There was
also a memorial to John Hurst of Baldock, married to a

1 Ellis's Introduction to Domesday Survey, vol. i, p. 41.

CHESFIELD AND ITS RUINED CHURCH.

daughter of John Throckmorton ; and an old stone bearing the
inscription : —

Thomas de Blommule gist icy
Dieu de sa alme eit merci.
This old French form attests its antiquity.

Paintings, memorials, and " storied windows " have dis-
appeared ; Clutterbuck, writing in 1821, says — " What remains
of the church now is a miserable heap of ruins ; the roof is gone,
the walls are broken, not one of the windows is entire ; the arms
and inscriptions above mentioned are lost. The churchyard is
thrown open. The following inscription is the only one which
remains." This is, or rather was, on a stone, possibly the lid of
a stone coffin or tombstone : —

Uxores inter
Hie jacet Guli Goodwin
Patrice Prceceptor,
Ickleford et Purton
Villarum Pater ;
obiit xx Martii
sEtatis Ixxxi
MDCCXXXI
Sequi prapari.

At the present time but little of this remains, for the stone
has been recklessly broken. One silent witness of the past, not
previously alluded to, still exists. It is an old stone coffin
without lid, slightly sunk below the ground level, showing a
chiselled circular cavity for the head.

So remorselessly has all this demolishment been carried out,
that one could well imagine Talus himself had been set to
work, and had

" With his iron flale at it let flie."

" And all the hewen stones thereof defaced
That there mote be no hope of reparation
Nor memory thereof to any nation." x

Yet over this " shapeless mass of ruins " grows the kindly
ivy, hiding all deformity with its trailing grace.

In common with other churches, Chesfield was twice despoiled
of its goods by order of " Protector " Somerset, who, having
enriched himself and built Somerset House with the proceeds of
1 Faery Queen, Bk. v, c. 1 1.

CHESFIELD AND ITS RUINED CHURCH.

ecclesiastical property, was also eager for the State. After his
first Inquisition, in the second year of Edward VI, which still left
the church much property, these robberies soon spread beyond
his control. " Private men's halls were hung with altar-cloths ;
their tables and beds covered with copes instead of carpets and
coverlets. Many drank at their daily meals in chalices ; and no
wonder if in proportion it came to the share of their horses to
be watered in rich coffins of marble." l This state of things
roused Somerset and his Privy Council to send out another
Inquisition to fine and punish the offenders, and to sweep what
was still left into the Treasury. It was then found that some
portions were " utterly imbezeled, by some parties not detect-
able, so cunningly they carried their stealths ; seeing every one
who had nimmed a church bell did not ring it out for all to hear
the sound thereof."1

When the Commission came to Chesfield there was found
only " A Chalysse of Silver weighing x oz., a Vestymente of
Blewe Chamlett, an other Vestyment of White fuschien, an old
Cope of Stayned Clothe, Two Bellys in the Steple." 2 From
which meagre account there would seem to have been some
foundation here for the suspicion of " embezelment."

Before leaving this part of the subject it is interesting to
notice that near to the church and the old manor house of
Chesfield formerly stood one of the beacons of the county ;
others being placed at St. Peter's Church, St. Albans, Therfield
near Royston, Amwell, and Hertford Heath. This at Chesfield
must have been standing shortly before the beginning of the
XVIII century, and is clearly denoted on the map of Hertford-
shire appended to Chauncy's History r, who thus alludes to it :
" Near the manor house a fair beacon might have been lately
seen, which was wount by a light burning fire, to give notice to
all the inhabitants round about when any enemies were coming."

The population of this parish is now only about 450, in-
cluding the picturesque hamlet of Cory's Mill. In this hamlet,
lying on the boundary line of the town of Stevenage, there still
lingers a curious tradition of its having been the site of one of
the first paper mills established in the county ; a belief which
seems to find expression (under the head of " paper " in
Chambers' Encyclopedia.

1 Fuller's Church Hist., chap, vii, sec. n.
3 Cussans, vol. ii, p. 69.

HAREFIELD.

With regard to the charities of the parish, it is recorded by
Cussans l that " Edmund Jordane of Chisfield gave by will,
dated 12 June, 1626, an annual rent charge of four shillings for
the benefit of the poor. It is settled on an acre of land in
Graveley Bottom, abutting upon Span Mead." There was
another benefaction which now appears to be lost. It was
devised by Andrew Cater for the benefit of Sawbridgeworth.
This man was a Rector of Chesfield at the time of the Common-
wealth, being deprived in 1662, and is described as a "Sectary
and a great preacher who keeps conventicles on the Lord's-day."
By his will, dated 26 June, 1700, he gave five acres of land and
a cottage in Graveley-cum-Chesfield, the annual rent of which
was to be given to the poor of Sawbridgeworth. One half was
to be expended in teaching four poor children to read, and the
remainder in purchasing certain religious books, named by him,
for their benefit. This latter bequest seems -to have proved a
damnosa Juereditas, for, according to the same authority, " this
gift has long been lost to Sawbridgeworth, probably on account
of difficulty in obtaining copies of the books named," and also,
apparently, difficulty about the five acres.

HAREFIELD.

BY MARY F. A. TENCH, F.R.A.I.

THERE are few more interesting and picturesque places
to be found in the neighbourhood of London than
Harefield, lying about midway between Uxbridge and
Rickmansworth. Picturesque, with the soft wooded
beauty of a quiet English landscape ; interesting from its his-
torical, literary and antiquarian associations. The church,
though restored, and a not very impressive example of the
Decorated period, is of old foundation, as is proved by its many
brasses and monuments, for the most part in an excellent state
of preservation, of which a short account will be given later ;
but the historical records of the neighbourhood must first be
touched on.

Consulting the Domesday Book we find that at the date of its
1 Hist, of Herts, vol. ii, p. 70.

th(

gi
oi

HAREFIELD.

compilation Harefield belonged to the Earl of Briou, " Richard,
son of Gilbert, the Earl (of Briou) holdes Herefelle, which is
taxed at five hides .... there are three cottars and three
slaves, and two mills yielding 1 $s. rent, four fisheries yielding
i ,000 eels, meadow equal to one carucate, pasture for the cattle
of the manor, and pannage for a thousand hogs. The total
annual value is 1 2/. ; it was only 8/. when entered on by the
present owner ; in King Edward (the Confessor's) time being
then the property of the Countess Goda it was I4/."

From the Norman earl the property descended succes-
sively to the Bacheworths, Swanlands, and Newdigates, in
each case through marriage with an heiress. In the XVI
century the head of the last-named family exchanged his
heritage with that of another house, who sold it to the Lord
Keeper Egerton, the tomb of whose wife (she was daughter of
Sir John Spencer, of Althorpe, and widow of Ferdinando, Earl
of Derby) is to be seen in the south-east corner of the chancel of
the parish church, and is a heavy cumbrous structure, such as
was popular at the time of her death. Whilst the wife of Sir
Thomas Egerton she had the no doubt costly honour of twice
entertaining Queen Elizabeth, then nearing the end of her
reign. The first of these visits was paid in 1601, and amongst
the amusements provided for the royal guests was a " Lotterie
presented before ye Queene's Majestic." A " marriner," we are
told, with "a boxe" under his arm, came into the presence sing-
ing a song, which began : —

" Cynthia Queene of seas and lands,
That Fortune everie where commands."

Before the lottery took place the " marriner " addressed the
feminine portion of his audience in these words : " Come, ladies,
try your Fortunes, and if anie light vpon an vncomfortable
blanke, let her thinke that Fortune do but moke her in these
trifles, and meanes to pleasure her in great matters."

Indeed the motto attached to one of the " vncomfortable
blankes " was quite a cheery one running as follows : —
" Nothinge's your lot, this more than can be told
For nothinge is more precious than gold."

Amongst the treasures in the box we find a " plaine " gold
ring, a " paire of sizzers," a mirror, and other small articles.

All during this visit seems to have gone as merry as a
marriage bell ; but in the following year, when the Queen came

HAREFIELD.

again to " Harevile," we are told that it rained without ceasing
for the whole three days of her stay there.

Notwithstanding this unpleasant state of the weather the
brave old woman (for she was then about seventy years of age)
sat on horseback for hours at a stretch receiving the homage
and addresses of her subjects, and seems to have taken no hurt.
For Sir Fulke Greville, who was one of the party at Harefield
Place, says, in a letter to the Countess of Shrewsbury, " the beste
newes I can write your ladieship is of the Queene's health and
disposition of bodie, wch, I assure you, is excellent goode, and I
haue not scene her in euery way better disposed these manie
yeares."

Indeed, though this was within a few months of her death at
a good old age, Elizabeth seems to have been in a very light-
hearted frame of mind, for we read of a little prank played by
her which would have been more in keeping with a middle-class
schoolgirl, than with the elderly majesty of England. Noticing
that Lady Derby wore a miniature suspended from her throat
she demanded to be allowed to examine it. On her hostess
objecting she seized it. and having opened it and finding that
it contained a portrait of Mr. Secretary (though what the wife
of the Lord Keeper meant by wearing Cecil's picture on her
breast the chronicler does not state), she tied it in the first in-
stance to her shoe, and later, fastening it to her elbow, wore it
thus for the remainder of the day. In regard to this occurrence,
Cecil wrote and presented to his sovereign a flattering set of
verses, such as, notwithstanding her many masculine qualities
and lion heart, Elizabeth dearly loved. In fact, although to
quote some lines out of many written, about her visit " poor St.
S within now," dared " to show his cloudy brow," these three
days did not pass by any means drearily. On the occasion of
the Queen's departure there was a rustic ceremony, in which
" Herfel " was shown mourning for her departure, the rain
being attributed to the many tears which it shed at this sad
misfortune. During the visit a Morality Play was acted before
her Majesty by the Lord Chamberlain's players, brought down
specially from London for the occasion, and since Shakespeare
belonged to this company, it is thought that he may have been
amongst the actors, though there is no evidence that such was
the case.

But if the appearance at Harefield of England's and, indeed,

Brass of William Assheby and Jane his wife,
Harefield Church.

HAREFIELD.

the world's greatest dramatist is " not proven," it is at any rate
certain that another famous poet had a connection with the
spot, since, for a festivity held about thirty years later in
honour of the Dowager Countess of Derby, in which " some
noble persons of her family appeared in pastoral habits," the
Arcades of Milton was written. Part of this graceful poem
sounds to modern ears a little fulsome, as, for instance, these

lines : —

" And ye, the breathing roses of the wood,
Fair silver-buskin'd nymphs as great and good ;
I know this quest of yours and free intent,
Was all in honor and devotion meant,
To the great mistress of yon princely shrine,
Who with low reverence I adore as mine."

but this seeming exaggeration, we must recollect, was the fashion
of the time. Milton appears to have been an intimate at
Harefield Place during the five years, from 1632 till 1637, which
he spent at Uxbridge, only about three miles away.

The old home, which sheltered so many noble and at least
one royal guest, was burned down in 1660 through the careless-
ness of Sir Charles Sedley, a connection of the then owner.
Norden describes it as being in his day " a faire house standing
on the edge of a hill, the river Colne passing neere." Now
only a few mounds are left to show where this pleasant home-
stead stood. They are to be seen in a field close to the church,
and traces of the moat which once surrounded both buildings
are still visible, as well as the arches of a terrace walk, on which
no doubt Lady Derby, and perhaps even the Maiden Queen,
" took the air." These arches now form part of the boundary
of the garden of the house inhabited by the sextoness and her
husband, their dwelling being all that is left of% a XIII century
building, which was probably one of the out offices of Harefield
Place. The garden walls are very old, and of red brick mel-
lowed into most artistic tints. A noble cedar stands in what
was once the pleasance, and it is said that it dates from the
time when the place was a stately mansion, not a ruin covered
with mould and grass. The modern house, which belongs to
the Newdigates, the family having again become owners of the
property in the XVII century, lies not far from the road leading
from Harefield to Uxbridge, and is now let to strangers.

On the monuments in the church the name Newdigate is
spelled indifferently with an / or an *, and sometimes without

HAREFIELD.

either as Newdgate, and on one tablet all three forms are used.
But though their " faire house " is in ruins, another of ancient
date is to be seen in a field close to the road which leads
to Denham, and is still known as Moor or More Hall. It was
once the property of the Knights Hospitallers, being the gift
to them (by an undated deed) of Alice, daughter of Baldwin de
Clare, and " was no doubt a cell to the Priory of St. John at
Clerkenwell." It is now divided into three cottages, but retains
its old-world appearance. The rooms are low, the ceilings
having heavy beams supporting them, and in the central
division there is, in one of the upstairs bedrooms, a very
handsome oak mantelpiece, now somewhat broken. The early
English chapel, with its graceful lancet windows, stands close
beside the house, and is in a good state of preservation, though
quite empty and unused, having until lately been a storehouse
for farm produce.

Let us now turn to Harefield Church, a gothic structure
of flint and stone, consisting of a chancel, nave, and two aisles,
with at the east end a low embattled square tower. The
building is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and it, like More
Hall, was once the property of the Knights of St. John of
Jerusalem, having been presented to them by Beatrice de
Boilers, relict of Baldwin FitzGeoffrey. But at the dissolution
of the religious houses in the reign of the eighth Henry, the
rectory and advowson were granted to Robert Tirwhyt, and
have since passed through many hands. The church lies rather
in a hollow, being reached from Harefield village by means of
a short avenue shaded in one part by stately trees. On the
left hand side of the main entrance is to be seen a curious
mural monument placed there in the XVIII century by
William Ashby, of Breakspeare, another historic house in this
parish, and once it is said the home of a family from which
sprang the English Pope, Adrian IV. The tablet is in memory
of Mr. Ashby 's faithful servant, Robert Mossendew, who died in
1 744 ; it shows in bas-relief a gamekeeper and his dog, and
beneath them are the following lines : —

" In frost and snow, thro' hail and rain,

He scour'd the woods and trudg'd the plain ;

The steady pointer leads the way,

Stands at the scent and springs his prey ;

The tim'rous birds from stubble rise

With pinions stretch'd divide the skies ;
28

Hrass of George Assheby and Rose his wife,
Harefield Church.

HAREFIELD.

The scatter'd lead pursues the sight,
And death in thunder stops their flight ;
His spaniel of true English kind
With gratitude inflames his mind ;
This servant in an honest way,
In all his actions copied Tray."

The whole is a handsome tribute, not only to the worth of a
valued dependent, but also to the good qualities of man's
truest and most faithful friend, who here indeed seems to be
given the higher, not the lower place.

On entering the church let us first go to the chancel where is
the tomb of the Dowager Countess of Derby, who, though she
died at an advanced age, is here shown with the golden brown
hair of her youth flowing over her shoulders, and with a face
fair and unlined. She lies full length, clad in a crimson robe of
the fashion of the period, and with her head (encircled by
a coronet) resting on an embroidered cushion. In niches
underneath kneel her three daughters, Lady Chandos, and the
Countesses of Bridgewater and of Huntingdon, and all over the
tomb are to be found the arms blazoned of Stanley and
Spencer, of Egerton, Bridgewater and Hastings, the whole
effect though interesting being, to modern eyes, heavy and
indeed rather wanting in good taste. This " ladye of high
degree," was a notable personage in her day, being, according
to Harrington —

" Fruitful and faire and of so cleare a name,
That all this region marvell'd at her fame,"

and he adds that she —

" Took such sweet state vpon her,
All eares, eyes, tongues, heard, saw and spoke her honour."

Lady Derby appears to have been of a charitable disposition,
for she it was who founded, shortly before her death in 1637,
the picturesque almshouses for six old women, which stand
beside the road leading to Harefield village, endowing each
with £5 a year and £i for repairs, a larger sum in those days
than in these. She gave besides to the curate, whose stipend
only amounted to £6 i$s. ^d. per annum, a yearly sum of £5
and a house, on condition that he read prayers twice a week to
the poor almswomen.

Close to the imposing monument just mentioned is another
and more interesting one, an altar tomb without date to John
Newdigate and Anne his wife, who kneel opposite to each

HAREFIELD.

other, with behind them a train of thirteen sorrowing sons and
daughters. On the stone table in front are some helmets and
gauntlets of ancient date.

The south aisle, which is known as the Brackenburye Chapel,
so called from the family of de Brackenburgh, who, in the XIV
century, leased a messuage and lands in Harefield from the
de Swanlands, contains many interesting monuments of the old
and honourable house of Newdigate. In the north-east wall
is a XVI century table-tomb of one of its members and of
Amphilicia his wife, who were the parents of no less than
fourteen children. The brasses are in good preservation ; but,
unfortunately, are nearly entirely hidden by a modern stall
which is placed in front of the tomb. Very clear and perfect is
another brass which ornaments the south wall, and represents
Edetha, widow of William Newdigate, who died in 1444.
Richard Newdigate, commemorated in a very long Latin
inscription, lived in stirring and troublous times, Whitlock,
in his memorials, giving a vivid account of various passages in
his life. At the date of the execution of Charles I he was a
Serjeant-at-law, and was summoned with other barristers into
the presence of Cromwell, who announced his intention of
making them judges ; but they declined the honour, asserting
that they could not act under his commission. Upon this he
turned from them angrily, saying: " If you of the red robe will
not execute the law, my red coats shall," so they all cried out,
"make us judges, we will be judges." But Newdigate was
shortly after deprived of his post, for being sent on the northern
circuit at a time when many cavaliers were tried for bearing
arms in the cause of the Stuarts, he refused to sentence them,
saying that he " knew no law which made it high treason to
levy war against a Lord Protector." However, some years later
he became Chief Justice of the Upper Bench, and on the re-
storation received a baronetcy (the ordinary fees being remitted)
from Charles II, who was by no means so ungrateful as some
would have us believe, and also that monarch's warmest thanks
for kindness shown to his friends during " the worst of times."

Sir Richard, shortly before his death, which occurred in 1678,
purchased the house and lands of Harefield, which had been
exchanged by his grandfather for another property ; it was
at the time in possession of the heirs of the Dowager Countess
of Derby, and it has belonged to the Newdigate family ever since.

William Asshebv's Children.

George Asshebv's Children.
Harefield Church.

HAREFIELD.

It may be of interest to readers to recall that the father
of " George Eliot " was land agent to Francis Newdigate, Esq.,
at Arbury, in Warwickshire, which had been received in ex-
change for Harefield Place by his ancestor, John Newdigate,
and that the celebrated novelist was born at Arbury Farm.

Space does not permit of a notice of all the tombs to be
found in the Brackenburye Chapel, for the north aisle claims
our notice. In it are to be seen many monuments to the
family of Ashby of Brakespere or Braekspeare, though none
quite so old as the earliest of the memorials to the Newdigates,
already mentioned as bearing the date 1444. There are,
however, several brasses of the XVI and XVII centuries in a
capital state of preservation, notably those of George Asheby,
"Clerke of the Sygnet to Kynge " Henry VII, and also to
Henry VIII, to whom he was "Counseller" as well. The
tomb bears no date, but is said to have been placed in the
church in 1514. George Ashby 's wife, Rose, and their children
are also represented. Another very perfect memorial is that to
Willam Ashby and Jane his wife, the inscription, oddly enough,
being placed upside down. Close by are many other brasses,
the latest, which is to the memory of John Sheron, " surgeon,"
dating from 1755, and several mural monuments; whilst on the
west wall of the passage leading from the Ashby aisle to the nave,
may be seen one to the Rev. John Prichett, who, after serving
as Vicar of the parish for thirty years, was raised to the See of
Gloucester in 1672, dying in 1680.

The church has been lately whitewashed and otherwise
cleaned, which, though probably necessary and desirable, has
somewhat spoiled its old-world appearance, but this is a fault
which will no doubt be cured by time ; it is full of memories
of the past, which will endear it to the heart of the antiquary.

The information in regard to Harefield's past has been
principally drawn from two sources, The Progresses of Queen
Elizabeth, and An Historical Account of those Parishes in the
County of Middlesex, which are not described in the Environs of
London. My thanks are due to the Vicar of Harefield for
permission to take rubbings ; to Mr. Gustavus A. Handcock, of
the Public Record Office, and to Mr. George Watts, under
whose able ciceronage I first made the acquaintance of
Harefield, as well as to various residents in this charming and
most interesting spot.

THE CULPEPERS IN KENT.
BY A. LELAND NOEL.

NO genealogist," says the well-known archaeologist,
Mr. William Smith Ellis, in his Early Kentish
Armory, "has yet explained the origin of the name
and family of Culpeper. No such local name has
been met with either in England or Normandy. The pro-
bability seems to be that the Culpepers rose to their high
position by a wealthy alliance, and in that way acquired their
coat armour with their property, but through what channel is at
present unknown."

On this text I wish to make a few remarks. That it was a
remarkable family needs no demonstration, seeing that the
" high position " to which they attained is made evident by
Camden's remark that there were no less than twelve knights
and baronets of that name living in his time. And after his
time one branch of the family reached the peerage.

They first appear in the page of English history in the person
of Thomas de Colepeper, who was a judge of assize in the
reign of King John, that is about the year 1200. They dis-
appeared in the person of John Spencer Culpepper, who was
born December i8th, 1740, and died unmarried. There is not
known to be a single male descendant left in England. During
this period of five centuries and a half they were the owners of
six estates in Kent, one in Sussex and one in Rutland, together
with numerous manor houses in Kent, Sussex, Surrey,
Rutland, and Linconshire. And of them Dugdale says : " this
family has for many ages past flourisht with great esteem in
the counties of Kent and Sussex."

Their coat of arms is mentioned by the poet Drayton in his
Baron's Wars.

"And Colepeper, with silver arm inrailed,

Bore thereupon a bloody band engrailed."

In heraldic language this reads " Argent, a bend engrailed
gules."

These arms are first mentioned as borne by John Colepeper
in 1330. Dugdale informs us that they were set up at
Whitehall by Henry VIII for the valor of members of the
family at the battle of the Spurs. And Hasted tells us that
they were more than once carved on the roof of the cloisters of
Canterbury Cathedral.

Brass of Edith Xeudisiate, Harefield.

THE CULPEPERS IN KENT.

As regards the origin of the name : the earliest form in
which it appears is " Colepeper," with some ten after variations.
But none of these give us the needful hint how the name arose.
We find "Cole "in many combinations, e.g., "Cole Abbey";
while the second half " peper " is part of the name of a parish
in Surrey, " Peper- Harrow." But as this Peper in Peper-
Harrow is said to de derived from one Pipard, it does not help
us in the matter.

The family was best known as landed proprietors, though
among its members some were in the army, at the bar, and in
the Church. They had, however, no representative in litera-
ture, unless we can dignify with that name the strange book
published in 1653 under the title of Culpeper's Complete
Herbal. The book was republished as a curiosity in 1835, with
a portrait of the author showing the long hair, white collar, and
general dress of a Puritan, and with a picture of the house in
London in which he lived and died. There is a reference to it
in the Gentleman's Magazine of February, 1836. And it
appears to have been one of the books read by the youthful
Livingstone, as in his autobiographical sketch he refers to it
as "that extraordinary old book on Astrological Medicine,
CulpepeSs Herbair

The first property which came into the hands of the family,
of which mention is made, is that of Bayhall, in the parish of
Pepenbury (now Pembery, near Tonbridge Wells), which was
owned by Sir John Colepeper in the latter end of the XIII
century. Of him we know nothing. But his son, Sir Thomas,
was in 1 309 appointed Bailiff of Ashdown Forest. The Bailiff
had two sons. The elder, Thomas, who inherited Bayhall, was
Castellan of Leeds Castle, near Maidstone, for Lord Badlesmere,
and was beheaded in 1324 at Winchester for obeying his lord's
orders to refuse the admission to the castle of Queen Isabella,
wife of Edward II.

He was succeeded at Bayhall by his son, John, who was the
first to bear the family arms, as mentioned above ; which arms
are engraved on old Pembury Church, which he is supposed to
have built, and they can be seen there to-day.

He was followed at Bayhall by his son, another Sir Thomas,
who was one of the Commissioners for resisting the rebels under
Wat Tyler.

He, Thomas, married Joan, daughter of Sir Nicholas Green,

VOL. xi. 33 D

THE CULPEPERS IN KENT.

and in her right became possessed of Exton Park, Oakham, in
Rutland. He was succeeded at Exton by his son, Sir Thomas,
whose daughter, and only child, carried the estate to the
Haringtons, whose eventual heiress, Mabel Harington, married
Sir Andrew Noel, from whom descends the present holder of
Exton, the Earl of Gainsborough.

Sir Thomas, having inherited Exton, sold Bayhall about
1450, to Humphry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, from whom
it passed through several hands to Charles Browne, who died
there in 1753.

The second son of the Bailiff of Ashdown Forest, Walter,
was the owner of several manors round about Tonbridge,
amongst others of Fairlawn, now the property of Mr. William
Casalet.

Walter's eldest son, Thomas, appears as the first holder of
Preston Hall, near Aylesford, but as he left no children, the
estate passed to his brother, Sir Jeffery, who served as High
Sheriff of Kent in 1366 and again in 1374.

Jeffery's grandson, Sir John, was judge in the Court of
Common Pleas in 1406. From him through several genera-
tions Preston passed to Sir Richard, who had three danghters,
the second of whom, Joyce, married Lord Edward Howard, and
was the mother of Queen Catherine, fifth wife of Henry VIII.

Preston Hall passed to Sir Richard's younger brother,
William, and from him to his great-grandson, Thomas. This
Thomas was a man of varied parts. He figures as Chief
Bailiff and Park Keeper of the Manor of Tonbridge, whilst
it was held by the Duke of Buckingham ; and when the Duke
was attainted by Henry VIII, Thomas shared in his disgrace,
his offices being granted by the King in 1 542 to Ralph Fane.

Having become accustomed to the management of a park
when Thomas lost his position at Tonbridge he rented Knole
Park from John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, until 1553,
when the tenancy ceased on the sale of the property by the
Duke to King Edward VI.

On the accession of Queen Mary, Thomas, in company with
the sons of Lord Cobham, joined in the rebellion under Sir
Thomas Wyatt ; and in consequence his house, Preston Hall,
was handed over to Mr. Cartwright the Under-Sheriff, whilst he
himself was confined in the Tower of London. He had there
as a fellow prisoner Thomas Fane, who had married his cousin,

THE CULPEPERS IN KENT.

Elizabeth Culpeper. They appear to have been martyrs to
their Protestant principles, for Dugdale records that they cut
on the stone wall of the cell these words : " Be thou faithful to
the end and I will give you a crown of eternal life — 1554,
T. Fane, T. Culpeper, of Ailsford, Kent." We must pardon the
prisoners their somewhat hazy remembrance of Rev. ii, 10.

In spite of their forebodings they appear to have been
pardoned, for Fane lived to be Sir Thomas Fane of Mereworth
Castle, and Culpeper became a Revenue Commissioner ; and in
1561 he was " Purveyor of Rochester Bridge." Preston Hall
seems to have been restored to him, for his grandson, Sir
William, is described as of Preston Hall.

This Sir William was created a baronet in 1627 — it is
noticeable that in the patent the name is spelt Colepepyr. He
was succeeded by his son Sir Richard as second baronet, whose
son, Sir Thomas, was third baronet. Sir Thomas died in 1723
without children, and he left the property to his sister Alice.
This Alice married four times. When the last baronet died
and left her the estate, she was the childless widow of his
cousin, Thomas Culpeper of Hollingbourne, and he doubtless
thought that, as there were no direct heirs, she would leave her
estate to her late husband's branch of the family.

But within six months of his death, that is, in October, 1723,
the wily Dr. Milner induced the old lady, then sixty-six years
of age, to accept him as her fourth husband, and to settle all
her property upon him. This done, Dr. Milner died the follow-
ing year, and bequeathed the estate to his brother Charles, also
an M.D. Charles Milner died at Preston Hall in 1771, leaving
the property to his nephew, the Rev. Joseph Butler, from whom
it passed to Henry Robert Milner, who held it in 1847. He, or
his heir, sold it to Mr. E. L. Bates, who sold it to Mr. Henry
Brassey. Mr. Brassey pulled down the old hall and erected the
present grand modern house.

The Sir Thomas Colepeper who through his wife Joan Green
became possessed of Exton, and whose eldest son inherited
Exton, had a second son, Walter, who served under Sir William
Bourchier at the siege of Harfleur in 1415. When the war
terminated at the battle of Agincourt, Walter returned to
England, married Agnes, daughter of Edmund Roper, of
!St. Dunstan's, Canterbury, and settled down as a country
gentleman at Goudhurst. But his fighting temper, untamed by

THE CULPEPERS IN KENT.

thirty-five years of peaceful life, led him, in company with his
sons, John and Richard, to join the rebels under Jack Cade in
1450. His eldest son John married Agnes, the heiress of
Bedgebury, and so came into possession of that property ; while
his second son, Richard, and his third son, Nicholas, became in
succession the owners of VVakehurst in Sussex.

By Agnes Bedgebury, of Bedgebury, this John was the father
of two sons, the eldest, Alexander, succeeding to Bedgebury ;
while the younger, Walter, through his marriage with Ann
Aucher, becoming owner of Losenham, in the parish of
Newenden.

We will first follow the line at Bedgebury, and then revert to
the line at Losenham.

Sir John (husband of Agnes) died in 1483, and was suc-
ceeded, as stated above, by his son Alexander. This
Alexander's son, Thomas, married twice, and both his wives
being heiresses, they brought a number of manors into the
family. By his first wife, Eliza Haute, he had two sons and
one daughter; the elder of the sons, Alexander by name,
followed him at Bedgebury ; while the daughter, Elizabeth,
married Thomas Fane (afterwards Sir Thomas Fane of Mere-
worth Castle) who was in the rebellion with Sir Thomas Wyatt
in 1553, as mentioned above. By his second wife, Helen
Somerset Hendley, he had a daughter, who married Christopher
Sackville, ancestor of the Duke of Dorset.

But, unsatisfied with having secured a number of properties
by his two wives, this Thomas Culpeper is notorious in history
as a barefaced trafficker in the manors of the dissolved
monasteries. No less than twenty-nine of these transactions
are on record. It would be wearisome to go into the details of
these grants, purchases, and sales of manors all over the county ;
but the result was that Thomas became perhaps the richest
squire in Kent.

He was buried at Goudhurst, and in the church there there
is a large monument commemorating " the eldest son of ould
Sir Alexander."

He was succeeded at Bedgebury by his eldest son, Sir
Alexander who entertained Queen Elizabeth at Bedgebury in

I573-

It was at this period, I think, that the family reached its
highest point as landed proprietors. For although they were

THE CULPEPERS IN KENT.

afterwards to obtain two baronetcies and a peerage, yet as a
family of squires they were, in 1 573, the owners of more estates
than at any time either before or after. There was a Thomas at
Crawley, a George at Balcombe, a William at Worth, a Richard
at Onstye, and a William at Hunton. Francis was living at
Greenway Court ; Sir John was the owner of Losenham, in
Kent, and of Wigsell, in Sussex ; Thomas was flourishing at
Preston Hall ; while Edward, of Wakehurst, was at that time a
boy of eleven, whose inherited property was accumulating
during his minority, so that in 1 590 he was able to rebuild
Wakehurst, and turn the modest home of his ancestors into
" one of the most stately houses in Sussex."

Sir Alexander, of Bedgebury, died in 1 599, and was succeeded
by his son, Sir Anthony.

This Sir Anthony began dissipating his father's large estate,
and his grandson, Thomas, sold Bedgebury and died childless.

The above Anthony's fourth son was Colonel Sir Thomas, who
in 1637 bought Place House. He married Lady Barbara
Sidney, daughter of the Earl of Leicester, and widow of
Viscount Strangford. By her he had a son, Thomas, who, in
1675, sold Place House to Edward Hales, whose great
grandson, Sir Edward Hales, Bart., pulled down the old house
and built the large one now in the occupation of the French
Jesuits.

We hear no more of this Thomas, and with him that branch
of the family appears to have died out.

We must now revert, as proposed, to Walter, the second son
/of Sir John of Bedgebury, who, as seen, became owner of
Losenham. Of his descendants the most prominent was Sir
John Culpeper, who, in 1644, was created by Charles I, Baron
Culpeper of Thoresway, Lincoln. His three sons, Thomas, John,
Cheney, were successively second, third, and fourth Barons.
The last-named died unmarried in 1725, and the title became
extinct.

There was another line at Greenway Court and Holl ing-
bourne, which manor was bought by Francis, second son of
William, of Losenham. The son of Francis, known as Sir
Thomas of Hollingbourne, bought Leeds Castle ; but, it seems,
continued to live at Hollingbourne Manor House. His three
daughters are known to fame as having embroidered the velvet
altar cloth of Hollingbourne Church, the colours of which,

EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX.

though the work is 250 years old, are still brilliant. The room
in which they did the work is known in the manor house to this
day as " The Needle Room." They were engaged upon it during
the days of the Commonwealth, but they did not dare present it
for public use until the Restoration. The subject of the em-
broidery is the twelve mystic fruits of the tree of life.

Sir Thomas died in 1661, and his great grandson, John
Spencer Culpeper, sold Greenway Court and all his property
at Hollingbourne.

This John Spencer, having got rid of all his family property,
took up his abode in 1739 at the Charterhouse in London
as Receiver.

He married in 1743 Ruth Webb, by whom he had one son,
John Spencer, his wife Ruth dying at her son's birth. In 1752
he married secondly Mary Webb, by whom he had one son,
Richard, who died unmarried. The second John Spencer died
unmarried, and with him the wide-spread family of Culpeper,
as regards male representatives, became finally extinct.

There are many families in English history who, after be-
coming prominent, have failed to leave male heirs to carry on
the name. But I do not think there is any family who occu-
pied so much land, and held so many public positions during a
period of five hundred years, who have been so entirely
obliterated as the descendants of Sir John Colepeper, who was
the owner of Bayhall at the end of the XIII century.

NOTES ON THE EARLY CHURCHES OF
SOUTH ESSEX.

BY C. W. FORBES, Member of the Essex Archaeological Society.

[Continued from vol. x, p. 260. ]

1 PROPOSE in this article to complete the series of
churches lying between Grays and Stanford-le-Hope,
vjz: — Grays Thurrock, Little or East Thurrock, West
and East Tilbury, all of them being churches of early
foundation.

Little Thurrock Church.

West Tilbury Church.
Photographs by C. W. Forbes.

EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX.

GRAYS THURROCK.

The church at Grays Thurrock, commonly called Grays, is
situated close to the railway station, a few yards to the south; it
is cruciform in shape, built of flint and chalk. The tower, with
its dwarf broached spire, is on the north side, and contains three
bells. There are two entrances : south door with porch, and a
plain north door. In 1846 the church was to a great extent
rebuilt and considerably enlarged, the portions lying to the
west of the south porch being new work. The interior contains
chancel, with a modern wooden screen of no particular merit,
dividing the altar from choir ; a nave of four bays, with north
and south chapels, one on each side of the chancel.

The east end of the church, the two chapels, and the lower
portion of the tower, also the octagonal font, are attributed to
the XIII century. So far as I have been able to learn there is
no trace of an earlier structure.

An Early English arch divides the north chapel from the aisle.
The chancel arch is round and rather low ; it is believed that a
similar XIII century one lies underneath, but covered in with
modern work. The south chapel also has a modern brick
division, the eastern portion being now used as a priest's vestry ;
the western end, forming a part of the choir, has a small
piscina and an aumbry.

The interior is very poor as regards monumental work, but
has one brass, circa 1510, to a civilian with two wives and
several children.

In digging the foundations for the station master's house
close by, a very fine tesselated Roman pavement was dis-
covered some few years back ; also portions of Roman
masonry. Doubtless the Romans had a settlement here close
to the river.

This pavement, in its entirety, now forms the floor of the
priest's vestry ; it is in very good preservation.

LITTLE THURROCK.

One mile to the east, on the the road to Tilbury Docks, is
the small church of East or Little Thurrock. The town of
Grays has grown rapidly the last few years, and practically
absorbed this small village.

The structure is a small one, dating from the XII century,
containing chancel and nave only, and an early XIII century

EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX.

door with porch on the north side, on the east side of the
interior wall of which is the remains of a Holy water stoup.
The south doorway on the opposite side of the church was
bricked up during the early part of the XVII century.

In the chancel is a small priest's door now fastened up.

There was originally a small wooden western spire which
was destroyed at the restoration in 1878, being replaced by the
present low stunted tower of no great beauty ; in fact it rather
mars the appearance of the church from the roadway.

On entering, we notice traces of a large arch on the south
wall, now built in No information is available as to what this
arch really was ; it is supposed to have been at one time
occupied by a tomb. This, however, is only conjecture.

The pulpit is very plain, dated 1700. The font to the west
of the north doorway is a plain octagonal one, and presumed to
be XIII century work.

The arch dividing the nave and chancel is a plain rounded
one, probably original XII century work. It is believed that at
one time another arch was placed in front of this, remains of
which can be seen at the present time on the south side.
These remains were uncovered at the late restoration, and
traces of a curious old fresco were discovered on them.

The best piece of work in the church is a handsome three-
seated sedilia, and a large trefoil -headed piscina with an ogee
ornamental top added. The sedilia has curious figure-heads
carved in the stone on the arches.

WEST TILBURY.

Continuing pn our journey towards the ferry, we next arrive
at West Tilbury. This church stands at the top of a hill. On
a clear day a very fine view of the river Thames and the county
of Kent can be seen from the top of the tower.

The renowned Archbishop Laud was at one time, circa 161$,
Rector of this parish. It is stated that owing to this fact the
building was despoiled, and partially destroyed by Lord
Fairfax and his troopers in 1648, when on their way to the
siege of Colchester. The building, like many others, was used
as stables for the horses of his troopers.

The present church, restored in 1883, contains a chancel and
nave, and an embattled western tower with clock and five of
the old bells, with dates 1621 to 1694. The early portions of

,e^

East Tilbury Church.
Photographs by C. \\'. Forbes.

EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX.

the structure, viz., the outer walls, north door, and some of the
windows, are XIII century.

A modern lychgate admits us to the churchyard. Built into
the first buttress, to the east of the north door, is the stone
framework of the remains of a trefoil-headed piscina ; this at
one time was doubtless in the chancel, thrown out during the
destruction in 1648, and at a later period inserted here to
preserve it.

The north doorway has the remains of a Holy-water stoup
plainly visible on the west side.

The interior has now little to interest the archaeologist ; the
present font dates from the restoration ; but outside in the
churchyard is an old pedestal font of the Georgian period. In
the chancel is a plain two-seated sedilia. There are no other
features of ancient work left worth mentioning.

The Communion plate has two chalices, dated 1762 and 1797,
and a flagon, circa 1800.

The registers date from 1 540.

EAST TILBURY.

We now pass to the last of the churches in this corner of
the county, situated about a mile and a half from what is called
Low Street, an ancient Roman road. This church, from the
point of view of the historian, is certainly the most interest-
ing in this part of Essex. It is quite close to the river, and
near what is called Coalhouse Fort, built by the illustrious
military hero, General Charles Gordon, while in command of
the Thames forts, 1866 to 1871.

The ancient parish of East Tilbury, and its church, may
really be regarded as possessions of national importance.
Tracing its history back to very early times, we read that A.D.
43, the Roman Emperor, Claudius, crossed the Thames by the
ferry here, and took command of the army of Aulus Plautius,
preparatory to his march upon, and capture of, Camelodunum
(or Colchester). Traces of the ancient causeway on the
opposite side of the river from Rochester to Higham, point
directly to East Tilbury as the site of the ancient Roman ferry.

Later we find the Venerable Bede referring to two centres of
St. Cedd's or Ceadda's spiritual work, viz., Ythancester and
Tilbury. The first-named place has been identified with the site
of the Roman fortress of Othona, which was situated near a

EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX.

small place called "Bradwell juxta mare," at the north-east
corner of the Hundred of Dengie. As regards Tilbury, at that
time called Tilaburg, Bede states that Cedd was, circa 655, at
the request of Segibert, King or chief of the Kingdom of Essex,
sent here to preach and baptize. He afterwards became the
third Bishop of London, and is credited with building the first
church here and a monastery, no traces of which are now in
existence. Later we find that, circa 1042-1066, temp. Edward
the Confessor, the parish was one manor subsequently divided
into five, one of which still exists under its ancient name of
Gobyons.

The church, down to the middle of the XVII century, con-
sisted of a nave, chancel, north and south aisles, and a lofty
western tower ; there was also a chantry attached, founded and
endowed, circa 1328, by Sir Thomas Gobyons, the then owner
of the manor ; some remains of this can still be seen.

In 1667 the Dutch fleet, under the celebrated De Ruyter,
sailed up the Thames and Medway and caused considerable
damage to the English fleet and dockyards at Sheerness and
Chatham during the battle between the English and Dutch
fleets, which took place in what is called the Lower Hope.
The fine and lofty tower and south aisle, also the Vicarage, were
fired on by the Dutch sailors and utterly wrecked. The foun-
dations are still clearly visible, and numerous cannon balls can
even now be picked up in the churchyard and surrounding fields.

Until the year 1893, when about £ 1,000 was spent on the
restoration, the church was simply a patched ruin, the roof was
open in many places to the sky, the water stood in pools in
the north aisle and nave after heavy rain, and the windows
were so shattered that it was necessary to fasten a covering
over them to keep out the wind and rain. After every firing of
the guns at the adjoining fort and battery, large portions of the
ceiling fell from the inside of the roof, and many tiles were
dislodged from the outside.

It is estimated that a further sum of at least £1,500 is
necessary to rebuild the tower, etc., on the original sites, and
complete the restoration.

The body of the church is Norman work dating from the
middle of the XII century. The walls, however, contain
portions of earlier ancient masonry, probably Saxon or pre-
Norman ; also fragments of Roman bricks and flanged roofing

EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX.

tiles. Additions and alterations were made in the XIV and
XV centuries.

The north doorway by which we enter is Early English with
an ancient porch.

There are three small lancet windows in the chancel, and one
larger one which is now bricked up ; also an early-pointed
priest's door. To the west of this is a low-side window of the
XIV century, with an additional square-topped one built over
it, forming a curious double window.

The nave on the north side has one small lancet window
similar to those in the chancel, the others being two and three
light windows in the Decorated style.

In the chancel is a trefoil-headed piscina with shelf and rose-
basin.

The north aisle is separated from the nave by three pillars,
two being round and the centre one octagonal. The orna-
mental carved stone work at the top of each pillar is different.

In the south wall are visible the remains of two arches which
formed part of the south aisle. The wall, however, and the
two windows in the Decorated style inserted in it, have been
built up very roughly out of the old materials and stone work.

The font is a fine octagonal one of the XIII century.

There are no monuments or brasses now left in the interior ;
but scattered about the western end are portions of two ancient
stone coffins and a number of pieces of stone work which
formed portions of early tombs which doubtless existed. The
pulpit is Jacobean.

In 1389 the living of East Tilbury was appropriated to Lord
Cobham's College in Kent by authority of a bull of Pope
Urban II.

The reputed stone coffin of St. Chad, circa 667, is said to be in
the churchyard, although I have not as yet been able to trace it.

Nearly all the churches along the river from London to
Shoebury had, it appears, originally strong stone towers, built
and used as means of defence. It was probably owing to the
tower at East Tilbury being used for this purpose that it was
fired upon by the Dutch.

Near by are remains of ancient earth works, also portions of
the embankment or sea wall, built by the Danes to prevent the
overflowing of the river.

[To be continued.]

SOME EAST KENT PARISH HISTORY.

BY PETER DE SANDWICH.

[Continued from vol. x, p. 275.]

BUCKLAND.

1580. [See under Badlesmere, vol. vii, p. 212.]

1605. We have a [Prayer] Book and a Bible, but we want
a book of Homilies. We say our carpet was lately stolen
away, and we will speedily provide another. We have not the
Ten Commandments as yet [set up in the church].

Our church is somewhat at reparations wanting tileing and
glazing, which hereafter shall shortly be repaired.

We have not yet a table of degrees [of marriages forbidden]
but will provide one.

We have not a pulpit cloth, for it was lately stolen away.—
(Fol. 3.)

That for the space of these five weeks we have had no
service in the forenoon in our parish church.

We have had no service on Wednesday and Fridays, and
seldom on holydays this twelvemonth.

He is beneficed and allowed preacher and preacheth every
Sunday, but not at Buckland.

We have no youth catechised in our parish this twelvemonth.

An answer to the presentments made against the Vicar of
Buckland by the churchwardens.

The Vicar saith that he only omitted to read prayers two
Sundays in the morning nor more as he thinketh, the reason
whereof was partly for that he was not in health. That there
is not a large Bible, with a surplice in the church, that divers
times he requested the churchwardens to provide one, but they
would not.

He saith that on Holy-days for the most part they have had
prayers, but for none come to the church.

He is ready and willing to catechise the youth of the parish,
but have none come to the church before evening prayer. —
(Vol. 1604-5, f°l' 2I4-)

1637. We present Robert Clegat and his wife for that
they have often neglected to come to our parish church on
Sundays and Holydays to hear divine service ; and especially

SOME EAST KENT PARISH HISTORY.

for their absence from church on the feast day of the Purification
of the Blessed Virgin Mary ; and on the feast day of St.Mathias,
1636; and on Sunday, 2 April, 1637; and Sunday, 23 April;
and on St. Mark's day.

Also we present Robert Clegat for that he suffereth his mill
to go on Sundays and Holydays, albeit he hath been often
warned to the contrary, to the great disturbance of the minister
and people, especially on St. Matthew's day and on St. Mark's
day.

Also we present Robert Clegat and Sarah, his wife, and
Elisabeth Thomas, his maid-servant, for not receiving the Holy
Communion at Easter last.

On 23 November, Robert Clegat appeared in Court and
said : — That by the necessary affairs of his calling he is often
occasioned to be absent from home both Sundays and week
days, sometimes a whole quarter of a year together, but at
such times as he is at home he duly keeps his church upon
Sundays, but for Holy-days it is the generality of the parish
that is to blame as well as he for not keeping their church
those days.

That his mill never goeth in prayer time on the Sundays,
nor that he permits on Holydays ; nor, indeed, on the Sundays
from morning till toward evening.

That he and his wife were from home the last Easter and
abode here at Canterbury at his father's in St. Andrew's parish ;
but shortly after, she being at Newcastle, received the Com-
munion there, as appears by a certificate under the minister's
hand. But he received it in his own parish church of Buckland
last Whitsuntide, and had received it there with his wife and
maid-servant on Low Sunday ; but because there were no more
in the parish to receive but only they, not a convenient number
to communicate alone, their Pastor refused to call or hold a
Communion for them. — (Vol. 1636-39, fol. 113.)

1 640. We do present Whittingham Fogge l of the parish
of Buckland, gent., for not paying his cess for the reparation of
our church, which sum is ten shillings upon hin cessed the 7
May, 1639, for 120 acres of land lying in our parish, at one
penny an acre. — (Vol. 1639-66, fol. 51.)

[To be continued.]

1 See Archaologia Cantiana, vol. v, for the Fogge Pedigree, etc.

THE KING'S OLD BARGEHOUSE.
BY ETHEL LEGA-WEEKES.

[Continued from vol. x, page 304.]

THE plot of land, which, in the last Ordnance Survey Map
(London, five feet scale, Sheet VI T, No 74) is marked
" Site of the King's Old Bargehouse," T appears to me, as
I have said, to lie too far to the west to coincide with the
actual site of the building in question. For, although it is on
the east side of the " Parlimentary Borough Boundary " between
Southwark and Lambeth, indicated in the 1875 O.S. and other
modern maps, it is distinctly on the west side of the original
boundary, as shown in earlier maps, down to 1768.

The fact that this plot is in the possession of the Duchy of
Cornwall would, moreover, seem to indicate that it was anciently
within the manor of Kennington and parish of Lambeth, whereas
the actual site of the King's Bargehouse, as stated in the
Cromwellian Survey, and as established by the old Court Rolls,
was "within the parish of St. Saviour's"

The obvious geographical boundary was the wide ditch
which is so conspicuous a landmark in the early views, running
north, or, more correctly, north-west, from St. George's Fields
into the Thames, and which must have been of very ancient
construction, if, as I gather from a passage in Allen's Lambeth
(P- 357)> it coincided with part of the so-called "Canute's
Trench."

In most of the Elizabethan maps, e.g., the Guildhall origi-
nal, 1 562,2 Braun 1572, and Norden 1593, and in the Manorial
Plan of 1627, its entire length is exposed to sight ; but in most
of the later ones its northern end — beyond Narrow Wall —
disappears from view, though it presumably pursued its straight
course subterraneously, as it does, I am informed, at the present
day, in the guise of a sewer. In one " Plan of the City in the
time of Elizabeth " (reproduced in Besant's London Under the
Tudors, p. 1 88) its upper end deviates to the westward, forming

1 The lettering on this sheet, I may mention, covers a space having about
loo feet river-frontage, but is no doubt meant to apply only to the narrow
strip on which the same title is inscribed in the 1875 O.S.

2 This map has generally been attributed to Agas ; but Overall, in the
preface to the reproduction, contends that the date ascribed to it by Vertue,
1560, is too early for it to have been by Agas, and appears to be of opinion
that it is probably "the carde of London" entered on Gyles Godhead's
list, 1562 ; and that if by Agas, it cannot have been made before 1591.

THE KING'S OLD BARGEHOUSE.

a sharp loop suggesting the curvature of the modern Parlia-
mentary boundary, but I think that this must be a faulty
modification of Van de Keere's,1 where — as in other and more
modern maps — two branches turn off to the left, bordering
Narrow Wall, while the remainder of the main ditch is not
delineated. The same bend to the westward appears in
Faithorne's map, but here we plainly see the main ditch de-
bouching close to the Bargehouse. In Bray's " Ancient Plan "
(the date of which is unknown), the main ditch, with its western
off-shoots and its straight continuation into the Thames, are
most distinctly shown. The discrepancies between the divers
representations of the minor ditches are too numerous and too
complicated for discussion here. That the old parochial
boundary coincided with this main ditch may be seen in the
Ogilby-Morgan map of 1677, where the dotted line bordering
the ditch,2 as far as that is visible, is produced thence direct to
the river. The same line is followed by the dotted (? manorial)
boundary in the Survey by R. Summersell, 1768, at the Office
of the Duchy.

In the 1627 plan of the Manor of Paris Garden, the ditch is
exposed, and runs straight, its full length ; and that it was
then the proprietary boundary seems implied by the fact that
none of the land to westward of it is tinted.

Nevertheless, a piece of ground on the Lambeth side of the
ditch must have belonged, in some sort, to the Manor of Paris
Garden ; for, among schedules of Copies of Court Roll deeds 3
concerning copyhold lands held of that manor, I find in Sched.
VI, No. i : — 20 Jan., 1st Edw. VI, Indenture of Lease, whereby
Martin Bowes, junior, Goldsmith, of London, and Frances, his
wife, one of the heirs of Robert Amadas, late Goldsmith of
London (according to the grant of a licence dated 23 Oct., 36
Hen. VIII, by Henry Marwood, deputy to Sir Richard Long,
High Steward of the King's manor of Paris Garden), demised to
Robert Mott, Blacksmith, " all that messuage some time called

1 Drawn 1 593 for Norden's Speculum Britannia.

3 Along its western edge.

3 At the office of Messrs. Lethbridge Money & Prior, Abingdon St.,
Westminster, who hold them for Edward G. Baron Lethbridge, Esq., of
Tregeare, Egloskerry, Cornwall, the owner of part of the manor of Paris
Garden, formerly possessed by the Baron family ; this property having
descended to Mr. Baron Lethbridge through the marriage of his grand-
father to Miss Baron, of Egloskerry.

THE KING'S OLD BARGEHOUSE.

a mill, within the manor of P.G., and all the herbage upon the
banks round about the said manor, also one acre of meadow in
Lambeth Marsh, and one acre of pasture in St. George's Fields."
The same is probably refered to in Sched. (i ?) No. 3 (4 Eliz.),
when Bryan Stapleton, Esq., surrendered at a Court of the
Manor of P.G., among other holdings .... "one acre of
Customary land lying in the Parish of Lambeth^ which premises
were late the estate of one Robert Amadas, Citizen of London."
No. 4 (8 Eliz.) also mentions " I acre of meadow on Lambeth
Marsh."

In 1542, Henry VIII1 had granted to William Basely of
Paris Garden, Gentleman, for the remainder of a term (of
twenty-one years ?) all that messuage or farm called Paris
Garden, with all buildings, all closes, fields, gardens, etc., in-
cluding "the Bolyng Alyes," and with thirty-four acres of
meadow and marsh, parcel of the Manor of Kennington^ late in
the tenure of Robert Drueston ; all which farm and other
premises, etc., were parcel of the possessions of the late dissolved
Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem.

I must, however, repeat that the wide ditch was the recog-
nised proprietary as well as parochial boundary ; for, apart
from maps, there is authoritative verbal evidence on this point.
At the Office of the Duchy of Cornwall is a survey made
by John Norden,2 in 1615, of the Manor of Kennington, which
he divides into two parts ; the second — corresponding, I think,
to the Prince's Mead — being thus defined : —

" Incipiendum juxta fluvium Thamesis ad os cujusdam aque cur-
sus qui dividit manerium de Parres Garden et manerium istud de
Kenington ; et, ab ore dicti aque cursus, per fossatum aquaticum
subtiis Murum Viridum tendens a Paries Garden, versus Campum
Sancti Georgii, usque ad alium fossatum aquaticum secundum a
dicto campo ; et per dictum fossatum versus Austrum usque ad
viridem venellam \Marginal Note : — Medietatem istius viride ven-
ellae pertinere manerio de Kenington existimo] quae ducit a villa de
Lambeth Marshe, usque ad mariscum de Lambeth bori-occiden-
taliter, et per venellam illam usque ad Rivulum Tamisie, ad
emissarium sive locum cognitum per nomen de le Sluse ; et inde
per littus fluvii, usque ad os sive exitus communis aquae cursus qui
dividit maneria de Paries Garden et Kennington, ut supradictum est.'>

1 Exchequer Augmentation Office, Misc. Book, 214, page 34 b. See also
Calendar of State Papers, Domestic, 1542, p. 700.

9 Mr. Peacock informs me that the text shown me was the original, and
that no plans or drawings in connection with it exist at the Office, or are
known to have existed.

THE KING'S OLD BARGEHOUSE.

That" is to say/beginning'by the River Thames, at the mouth
of a certain water-course*which \divides the Manor of Parres
Garden and the Manor of Kenington ; and from the mouth of
the said water-course by a ditch of water under the Green
Wall,1 leading from Paries Garden towards St. George's Field,
to another ditch of water hard by the said field ; and by the
said ditch, towards the south, to the Green Lane (half of which
Green Lane belongs to the Manor of Kenington), which leads
from the village of Lambeth Marsh to the marshes of Lambeth,
north-west ; and by that lane, to the River Thames, to an
outlet or place known by the name of the Sluice ; and thence
by the river-side to the mouth or issue of the common water-
course which divides the manors of Parres Garden and
Kennington, as stated above.

This may be compared with the Parliamentary Survey of
i6492, in which we find, under "Particulars of all such lands
and tenements belonging to the Manor of Kennington as are
under demise or grant" : — "The Prince's Mead, containing 22
acres, Mr Daniel Goodersay, under-tenant ; now divided into
two several closes, adjoining unto the common or highway
[i.e., Broad Wall], leading from the Bankside unto St. George's
Fields on the east, unto Lambeth Marsh on the south, unto the
Earl of Arundel's Garden on the west, and unto the River
Thames on the north. . . . There are standing upon the said
closes, called the Prince's Meadow, 37 willow trees, which wee
valew to be worth £3 14^. od"

This portion of the Manor of Kennington intervened between
the Liberty of Paris Garden and the Church Manor of Lambeth,
the boundaries of which are given in the following Parliamentary
Survey of 1652 : — 3

" The Manor of Lambeth, late belonging to the Archbishop
of Canterbury, hath on ye west side ye River of Thames, and
extends towards the King's Bargehouse by the Thames side to
ye shore (i.e., ditch) eastward ; and there, leaving a peece of
meadow of the Prince's Manner on the east, it turneth south-
east by the ditch of the Prince's said Meadow, to the Bancke

1 Another name for the Broad Wall, as stated on a map accompanying
Middleton's Survey.

* Record Office, Surveys and Rentals, Surrey, No. 33.

3 Parliamentary Survey, Surrey, 49. Printed in the Collections of the
Surrey Archceolo^ical Society, vol. xii, p. 35).

VOL. XI. 49 ' E

THE KING'S OLD BARGEHOUSE.

that goeth from the King's Bargehouse to St. George's Fields ;
and thence, along by St. George's Fields, to the Lord Mayor's
Stone by the Royall Forte." '

There is an apparent discrepancy between the above and that
which Nicholson, in his New Survey of London? sets down thus: —

"The bounds or circuit of Lambeth Palace, as I had it from
Mr Gennaway,3 the only person I can hear of who perfectly
knows it, is as follows : —

" From the landing-place, northward and eastward along the
water-side to the old Bargehouse, and thence to the corner of
St. George's Fields ; and so, on the westerly side of the ditch,
to the Lord Mayor's Stone by the * Dog and Duck,' . . . ." etc.

The difficulty, however, disappears, if for " Bargehouse " in
the last account we read Bargehouses; for the premises so-
called (being timber-yards, etc.) occupied the northern border
of the tract which, in Nichols' Lambeth, 1786 (p. 25), is styled
the WALL LIBERTY ; />., the Narrow Wall, from the King's
Old Bargehouse to Cupar's Gardens, and the distinction ob-
served by Nichols between the "Wall Liberty" and the
" Prince's Liberty," or " Prince's Mead," apparently did not
exist as early as 1649, since the "Prince's Mead" in the
Parliamentary Survey of that date, is described as " bounded on
the north by the Thames." Indeed, the Prince's Mead, accord-
ing to its boundaries, must have included " the Bargehouses,"
though these are separately specified.

The " Shore " with its " Sluice," mentioned in the foregoing
surveys, is the one — conspicuous on old maps'* — that debouched
close to Cupar's Stairs, just where the triangular northern
extremity of Cupar's Garden touched the river ; and this, again,
accords with the specification of the Earl of Arundel's Garden
as the western boundary of the Mead.

For the Garden that in 1636 was the freehold of Thomas
Howard, Earl of Arundel,s was afterwards kept as a public

1 There was one fort near the junction of Dirty Lane with Blackman
Street, and not far from the windmill at the north-east angle of St.
George's Fields. Others stood near the " Dog and Duck " and Vauxhall
Gardens.

a Published in 1708 ; vol. ii, p. 386.

3 Lambeth Burial Reg. : — 1671, Feb. 6, Eliza, dau. of Wm Gennaway.

4 See Ogilby- Morgan, 1677, and Strype's Stow, 1720.

5 Ducarel also tells us that the Earl also occupied the Prince's Meadow
adjoining, and Allen states that in 1636 he had a house on Prince's

THE KING'S OLD BARGEHOUSE.

pleasure resort hy his tenant and former gardener, Boydell
Cupar, whence it became known as " Cupar's," and later as
" Cupid's Garden," or " Cupid's Bowling Green," as marked on
an undated map at the Duchy of Cornwall Office. It was
suppressed in 1753, and its site is said to be covered by the
timber wharves of Belvedere Road, near the approach to
Waterloo Bridge.

Among inhabitants of the " Prence's Leberty " who paid
Hearth Tax in 1662, I find " Boyden Cooper1 — 6 hearths."

The embanked way bordered by ditches, called Narrow Wall,
that followed the course of the river round to Lambeth Palace,
and that the topographers tell us was a work of great antiquity,
is marked on Bray's " Ancient Plan," " The Waye leading to
Lambeth." I am not sure that I have found it called " Narrow
Wall " in any map before Roque's ; but in Lambeth Burial
Registers I have noted the entries: "1655, Feb. 25, Thos.
Atkins from the Narrow Wall " ; " 1673, Oct. 16, Fulke Morris,2
from the Narrow Wall," and other instances.

A part of " Upper Ground," also, would appear to have
belonged to the parish of Lambeth, if we might accredit with
accuracy the terms of a deed of endowment cited by Ducarel
whereby it is stipulated that the overseers of a certain school in
the Marsh Liberty, founded by Major Richard Lawrence, are to
be " four able men in Lambeth Marsh and Upper Ground within
the jtf/V/[Lambeth]/<7f7>^. In the Lambeth Burial Register I
note: "1659, Ap. II, Richard Arthur, from the Upper
Ground."

[To be continued.]

Meadow ; while my extracts show that he was tenant of a large amount
of land within the manor of Paris Garden.

1 The Lambeth Registers contain the following extracts : — 1652, June
29, Bur. Jacob, the sonne of Boyden Cuper ; 1659, June 4, Bapt. Sarah,
the dau. of Abraham Cuper ; 1674, May 8, Bur. Abraham, son of Bodwin
Cuper.

2 In 1662, Folck Morris paid tax on 5 hearths, in the Prince's Liberty, in
the parish of Lambeth.

SHAKESPEARE'S GLOBE PLAYHOUSE
MEMORIAL.

AN appeal has been made by The Shakespeare Reading
Society of London for funds, whereby the site of the
Globe Playhouse of Shakespeare may be worthily com-
memorated. The site is covered by the brewery of
Barclay, Perkins and Co., Ltd., Park Street, Southwark, who
have given permission for the erection of a tablet upon their
premises, which face the public thoroughfare. A view of the
tablet as it appears in the full-size plaster model is shown here-
with. The model has been executed by Professor Lanteri of
the Royal College of Art, South Kensington, from a design of
Dr. William Martin, F.S.A., and will be cast in bronze, its di-
mensions being five feet six inches in length and three feet six
inches in breadth. The view depicts, in relief, Bankside, South-
wark, in the time of Shakespeare, with the " Globe " in the fore-
ground, a medallion-bust of the poet appearing in one corner.
A suitable incription is also added.

The view is largely based upon the Norden map of London
of 1 593, in which a playhouse, probably the " Rose," and the
Bear-garden are shown on opposite sides of a ditch (see H.C.M.,
vol. ix, p. 85). Other map-views and prints of the time have
been drawn upon for detail. As regards the shape of the
Globe, a cylindrical playhouse is shown in an inset to a map
of Great Britain in Speed's Theatre of Great Britain, 1611,
the map bearing the name of Hondius with the date 1610, no
name, however, appearing on the inset. It is assumed that the
cylindrical playhouse represents the Globe. A similarly shaped
structure may be seen in other views, e.g.t that by Delaram, and
on the title-page of Baker's Chronicles (H.C.M., vol. ix, p. 81
and p. 201).

There is no evidence that the Globe, which was burnt down
in 1613, was polygonal in shape, as is so often represented to
be the case ; the polygonal building occurring in the map-views
of later date, would represent the theatre as re-erected.

As regards the site of the Globe, the so-called " Ryther " map
in the Crace Collection of date later than 1612 (H.C.M., vol. ix,
p. 81), seems correctly to indicate where the theatre stood, viz.,
in the angle formed by what is now known as Park Street and
the thoroughfare which, now no longer existent, bore the
name of Bandy Leg Walk. The site was more accurately

SHAKESPEARE'S GLOBE PLAYHOUSE MEMORIAL.

determined by the late Dr. Rendle from certain Sacrament
Token Books of the early years of the XVII century, which
are preserved in Southward Cathedral. These books contain
lists of the inhabitants of the parish, arranged in order of their
residence, and also contain incidental mention of the Globe
in such a way that the situation was calculated. Although no
view would appear to be known in which the round Globe, as
opposed to the later polygonal Globe, and the Bear-garden, are
shown along with the Rose, yet the Rose is known to have been
contemporary with the Globe. The three structures are re-
presented in the tablet. The bust is an adaptation of the
Droeshout Portrait from the First Folio of the Plays, it will be
seen that Professor Lanteri has invested the portrait with the
intelligence which the Dutch original somewhat lacks.

The project for commemorating the Globe has been approved
on all sides. Surprise has been expressed that in these days
of mural tablets, no indication has yet appeared upon the site ot
what the late Halliwell-Phillipps characterised as " the most
celebrated theatre the world has ever seen."

The tablet will be vested in trustees on behalf of the public.
To enable the unveiling to take place on Shakespeare Day,
April 23rd, 1909, the executive committee desires it to be
known that donations should be forwarded at an early date.
The subscription list is open both for small and large amounts.
The fear is expressed that the numerous admirers of the Poet
have delayed subscribing under the impression that the neces-
sary fund will easily be raised, with the result that the donation
list has suffered. To produce the tablet and to provide a fund
for maintenance and cleaning, the sum of about .£300 will be
required. Donations should be sent to the Honorary Treasurer,
Mr. Cecil F. J. Jennings, 27 VValbrook, E.C.; or to the Honorary
Secretary, Miss Gardner, I York Gate, Regent's Park, N.W.

BRUCE CASTLE, TOTTENHAM.
By C. EDGAR THOMAS.

BRUCE CASTLE, Tottenham, is, at the present day, like
many more once handsome edifices, only a relic of what
it originally was. That is from the point of view of a
fashionable, aristocratic residence, for the structure, like
many more belonging to the good old times, is still in excellent
preservation. From being a splendid nobleman's estate with
all its requisite grandeur, it has, through the ravages of time,
lost all its former fame and brilliancy, and gradually sunk
down into ignominous decadence. Thomas Robinson, the
historian of Tottenham, thus mourns its altered state in his
History of Tottenham : — " And thus, in the compass of a few
short years, a mansion which had for so many centuries opened
its portals only to nobles, princes, and kings, sunk for ever
from its proud splendour and magnificent hospitality, and
became lost in the long extended list of country houses, to
which undistinguished, though opulent individuals retire after
the fatigues of business." But still, a short account of its
origin, former extent and splendour, its many distinguished
owners and varied vicissitudes may not be altogether without
interest. The mansion is pleasantly situated among a cluster
of noble trees ; in fact very little of it is visible until one is in
the grounds, and once through the little gateway the castle is
displayed in all its glory, with its large windows and old-
fashioned shutters, its picturesque gables, and other innumerable
architectural peculiarities of old houses which cannot perish,
although the surroundings may. If it were not for the modern
park which the estate has been converted into, one would
imagine they were back in the period to which the historic old
building belongs. One can picture the jolting canter of a
cavalcade of royalty and nobility coming up the drive, and the
smiling, genial host on the steps welcoming them to ;< my
humble dwelling," and beseeching them to partake of "my poor
hospitality." But, alas ! we awake from this charming revery,
and, with a sigh, painfully remember that the days that saw
such picturesque gallantry and chivalry are no more, and that
we are in the enlightened twentieth century, which, unfortu-
nately, does not cater for such happenings.

Bruce Castle, as its name implies, was intimately associated
with the illustrious Bruce family ; but the intimacy did not

BRUCE CASTLE, TOTTENHAM.

extend, as is often erroneously supposed, to the present build-
ing. There is a tradition that the foundation of the mansion
was laid by Earl Waltheof, the celebrated warrior who married
Judith, niece to William the Conqueror, and who was ultimately
executed A.D. 1076 for conspiring against the life of the King.
At any rate, according to the Domesday Book, the manor of
Tottenham was part of the possessions of Earl Waltheof in
the reign of King Edward the Confessor. After the death
of Waltheof, the manor came into the possession of his wife,
Judith, who was also heiress to Huntingdon, and ultimately
into the hands of their only child, Matilda or Maud. She
married a Norman nobleman, by name Simon St. Liz, and on
his decease, in the reign of Henry I, she took for her second
husband, David, King of Scotland. Her first husband, Simon,
left two sons, from one of whom, Simon, the King took the
Earldom of Huntingdon and gave it to David, the King of
Scotland, husband of Maud (?). She died in 1 1 30, leaving a son,
Henry, who was the possessor of Huntingdon until his death,
which occurred in 1153, and his family still retained possession
of it until about 1 1 74. King Henry 1 1 then ordered an army
to besiege Huntingdon, and to return it to the family of Simon
St. Liz, the rightful owners from whom it had been taken. The
Castle soon capitulated, but on doing so there ensued such a
scene of animosity between William, the descendant of Maud,
who then owned it, and Simon St. Liz, that the King, who was
present, declared that neither should have it, and ordered it to
be destroyed. His wrath, however, seems to have soon abated,
for some time after he confirmed the Earldom to Simon, and on
his death without issue returned it to William. Isabel, second
daughter of David, Earl of Huntingdon, married Robert Bruce,
great grandfather of the celebrated King Robert Bruce ol
Scotland. Thus the property at Tottenham came into the
possession of the eminent Bruce family. She also brought to
her husband, in England, the manors of Writtle and Hatfield ;
also those of Conington and Huntingdon, Exton in Rutland,
and Jarioch in Scotland. Their son was Robert Bruce, com-
monly known as the " Competitor." He succeeded to the
lordship of Annandale on the death of his father in 1245, an<^
married Isabel, daughter of Gilburt de Clare, Earl of Gloucester.
Being involved a great deal in Scottish affairs, consequently his
active career was distributed between the two kingdoms. In

BRUCE CASTLE, TOTTENHAM.

1 290 he was one of the aspirants for the throne of Scotland ;
but, unfortunately for him, he had a rival in this respect in the
person of John Baliol, his cousin. On Baliol being adjudged
the rightful heir, and ultimately crowned King, Bruce retired
from Scotland, and settled on the estates of his father at
Tottenham. He improved and repaired his property, and gave
it his own name. Dying at Lochmaben, his castle, in 1294, he
was buried in the family burial-place, Guisborough, in Cleveland.
His son, Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick, distinguished himself
at the Crusades, and on his return in 1270 married Marjory,
Countess of Carrick, and their son eventually become the
distinguished King Robert, of Scotland. He died 1303-4, and
was buried at Holmecultram in Cumberland. Bruce Castle
remained in the possession of Robert Bruce for a very short
time, for the property was forfeited to the crown on his asserting
the throne of Scotland in 1 306. From that time to the great
epoch in its history, that dawned with the accession of the
Comptons as owners, Bruce Castle had been granted to and
possessed by numerous individuals. A description of all of
them is utterly impossible ; consequently, the most important
are briefly recounted. Edward I granted to John de Brettigny
the castle, town, and manors of Tottenham. These manors for-
merly comprised Pembrokes, Bruses — Bruce Castle, D'Awbenys,
Mockings, and Dovecotes, and the owner was Lord of the
manor of Tottenham. Roger de Waterville, in 1326, had com-
mitted to him by Edward II the custody of the manor of
Tottenham. Edward III gave to Richard Spigurnal one third
of the manor of Tottenham, and this was declared by writ of privy
seal at York, October I2th, 1335. It appears that Walter de
Shepedon had it for some time, for at the suit of Thomas
de Hethe, in 1340, Edward III granted to him the reversion of
all the lands and tenements in Tottenham, forfeited by Robert
Bruce, and lately held for term of life by Walter de Shepedon.
Thomas de Hethe, not content with what had already been
granted to him, claimed the third portion of the property that
had been before granted to Spigurnal. There is every reason
to believe that the Spigurnals lived long about Tottenham and
in Essex. The property seems to have come into the hands of
John de Bello Monte, for, in 1343, he died possessed of the
manors of Tottenham and Greenfield. Some time later
Richard II granted to Robert de Cheshunte, " the manors called

BRUCE CASTLE, TOTTENHAM,

Le Bruses in Tottenham." In the reign of Henry V, to be
exact, 1421, "Alice, the wife of Elmungus Legett, died seised
of a manor in Tottenham, called Bruses." Still a few years
later, 1426, Elmungus Legett, the husband of this lady, pos-
sessed sixty-nine acres of land in Tottenham, being part of the
manor of Bruses. In 1455, John Teynton granted to Joan
Gedeney, widow of John Gedeney, Alderman of London, the
reversion of all the manors of Pembrokes and Bruses in
Tottenham. Richard Turnant — Joan Gedeney's son by a
former husband — inherited the property through his mother,
and on his son-in-law, Sir John Risley, dying without issue, the
manor escheated to the crown. John Stockton, Alderman of
London, in 1466, remitted to the Bishop of Winchester his
right in the manor of Bruses. About 1474, in the reign of
Edward IV, Richard Cumberton held one third of the manor
of Tottenham.

In 1514 Bruce Castle came into the hands of Sir William
Compton, a clever soldier and Groom of the Bedchamber. It
was granted to him by Henry VIII. Sir William was the son
of Edmund Compton, of Compton, in Warwickshire, and at his
father's death, he then being about eleven years of age, Henry
VII appointed him to wait on his son Henry, Duke of York —
afterwards Henry VIII — whose special favour he had acquired.
He remained in personal attendance on the King from 1 509 to
1523, and occupied the position of absentee Chancellor of
Ireland, as well as that of Keeper of the Privy Purse, and during
the latter part of his life he distinguished himself in the Scottish
war, taking part in the Earl of Surrey's expedition. He owned
three seats or manor-houses : — Bruce Castle, in the church of
which his daughter Margaret lies buried, 1517; Battishorne,
near Windsor ; and Compton in Warwickshire. So great was
his favour with Henry VIII that the great Cardinal Wolsey
became jealous and suspicious lest he might endanger his own,
and on this account, he contrived to send him away ; but he
was soon recalled. Whilst Bruce Castle was in his possession
extensive alterations were made, and he practically rebuilt it,
and two years after it had been granted to him, 1516, it is
recorded : — " On Saturday after Ascension Day in that year,
King Henry VIII met his sister Margaret, Queen of Scots, at
Maister Compton's house beside Tottnam." When the Castle
came by inheritance into the possession of Henry Compton,

BRUCE CASTLE, TOTTENHAM.

grandson of Sir William, it was honoured by a visit from " Good
Queen Bess." This happened in the spring of 1578. It will
thus be seen that Bruce Castle could boast of a fair amount of
royalty among its guests.

Sir William Compton married Werburgh, daughter of Sir
John Brereton, and left one son, Peter, at his death, which
occurred in 1528, in the forty-seventh year of his age. If
he had lived longer he would in all probability have been
raised to the peerage, for at the time of his death he was in
nomination to be elected a Knight of the Garter. His son, Peter,
married Anne Talbot, daughter of the Earl of Shrewsbury, and
had one son, Henry, created Baron Compton, who owned the
Castle when Elizabeth paid a visit to it. Henry had a son by
his first wife, William, who was created Earl of Northampton,
by James I in 1618. Henry, Baron Compton, took for his
second wife Anne, daughter and heiress of Sir John Spencer.
She survived him, ultimately marrying Robert Sackville, Earl
of Dorset, and living at Tottenham until her death in 1618.
She left to William, her first husband's son by a former wife,
the manors of Tottenham. It appears that he either sold or
mortgaged them to Thomas Sutton and Thomas Wheller.
The last that can be traced of the illustrious Comptons in
relation to the property is that William Compton, Earl of
Northampton, held the manor of Mockings, and died in 1630.
In later years the Compton family — probably the last-named
William — assumed as a crest a fire beacon with the legend,
" Nisi Dominus"

During the latter part of the XVII century, Bruce Castle
was owned by the Hare family, coming into the possession of
Henry Hare, second Lord Coleraine, though whether by in-
heritance or purchase is very problematical. Hugh Hare, the
founder of the house of Coleraine, was created, at the early age
of nineteen, Lord Coleraine by Charles I. He married Lucy
Montague, second daughter of the first Earl of Manchester, and
from them descended the Lords Coleraine. He is chiefly re-
membered as a celebrated but eccentric Royalist, who supplied
the King with funds amounting to considerably over ,£40,000.
His son Henry, second Lord Coleraine, rebuilt the edifice,
and his lady, Sarah, Dowager Duchess of Somerset, founded
Tottenham Grammar School, and at her death left a large sum
for improving it. Naturally Lord Coleraine removed the arms

BRUCE CASTLE, TOTTENHAM.

of the Compton family from their position over the old portico,
when the property came into his possession, but out of respect
for the eminent Comptons, he placed them elsewhere in the
house. In front of the mansion there used to stand a detached
brick tower, and the Comptons are credited with having been
the erectors of this. Henry died in 1708. He built, in 1696,
" with great expence and difficulty," a vestry at the east end of
the north aisle of All Hallows, the parish church, and also a
vault for his family. Being interested in antiquarian topics, he
corresponded a great deal with Dr. John Woodward, the anti-
quary. He was succeeded in the property by his grandson,
Henry Hare, third and last Lord Coleraine. He was born
at East Betch worth, in Surrey, in 1693, and was the son of
Hugh Hare, son of the second Lord Coleraine, who died in
1708. He was a renowned antiquary, and there is no doubt
that he carried out many of his antiquarian researches at his
estate at Tottenham. Being a good classic, and well versed in
civil and ecclesiastical law and history, he was admitted a
gentleman commoner of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He
was Lord of the manor of Tottenham, Bruce Castle being then
known as the manor-house. Henry Hare attained some fame
as a writer, being the author of an account of the " History and
antiquities of the town and church of Tottenham," which was
unearthed from his MSS. in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, and
printed in the second edition of Dyson's Tottenham^ 1792.
He was a member of the Republica Letteraria di Arcadia, and
became acquainted with the Marquis Scipio Maffei, who
renewed the intimacy at Bruce Castle. After his first wife,
Anne Hatcher, left him owing to domestic troubles, he entered
into a solemn engagement with Rosa Duplessis, the daughter
of Francois Duplessis, a French clergyman, and to their only
child Henrietta jRosa Peregrina, born in Italy, he bequeathed
Bruce Castle, in his will dated 1 746, and executed at Rotterdam.
His valuable library was purchased at his death by Thomas
Osborne, the bookseller, who appropriated many private deeds
and papers secreted in presses behind the bookcases. Lord
Coleraine died in 1749, and Mrs. Duplessis, on behalf of her
daughter, entered on the estates. The Lords of the Treasury,
however, filed a petition against Rosa Duplessis inheriting them,
on account of her being an alien ; it was appealed against in
1752, and subsequently dismissed through the instrumentality of

HOUGHTON CONQUEST.

Chauncy Townsend, Esq., who was intimately associated with
the then Lord Holland. Rosa Duplessis, or Hare, married
James, son of Chauncy Townsend, Esq., and a grant was made
of the estates to Mr. and Mrs. Townsend, and this was later
confirmed by an Act of Parliament.

[To be continued.]

HOUGHTON CONQUEST.
By CONSTANCE ISHERWOOD.

THIS picturesque village, two miles from Ampthill, nestling
at the foot of a high ridge of hills that cross the centre
of Bedfordshire, and command a very fine and extensive
view of the Vale of Bedford, possesses a most interesting
history on account of its literary and antiquarian associations,
which invest the place with a romantic glamour. From time
immemorial this parish had been separated into two parts, one
of which was called Houghton Franchise (Free), and the other
Houghton Gildable (Taxed). There were also two rectories
(but only one church) which were united during the period
when Dr. Archer, a famous cleric in his day, was the Rector,
1589-1620. When the two rectories were united the names
Franchise and Gildable were dropped, and the name Conquest
was substituted, after the ancient family of the Conquests, who
possessed the manor of Houghton in the XII and XIII centuries,
and who resided at Conquest Bury, a noble mansion, built on a
plateau on the slope of the hill overlooking the village. Of this
lordly mansion, with its "eves, curiously carved," no trace
remains, the site alone being marked by a clump of fir trees.
Fragments of the house, however, are still to be seen, having
been built into some of the farmhouses and cottages in the
neighbourhood. The homestead near the site is called the
Bury Farm, which preserves the ancient name. Sir John
Conquest was one of the Knights of Bedfordshire who served
in the army of King Henry III, and members of the Conquest
family are interred in the beautiful church of All Saints.
Houghton Park, formerly the property of the ancient and noble

HOUGHTON CONQUEST.

family of St. Amand, who owned much valuable property in
this county in the XIII and XIV centuries, was occupied by Sir
Edmund Conquest, as Keeper and a lessee under the Crown.
In the year 1605 his Royal Master, King James I, honoured
him with a visit at his mansion, Conquest Bury, and his Majesty
was attended on this occasion by a retinue of noblemen, in-
cluding the Duke of Lennox, the Earls of Northampton,
Suffolk, Salisbury, Devonshire and Pembroke ; Lords Knolles,
Wootton and Stanhope, and his Almoner, Dr. Watson, Bishop
of Chichester. On July 28th, 1605, "being our town feast
day," the Sunday after St. James' Day (July 25th), his
Majesty attended Divine Service at the parish church, in state,
accompanied by his retinue. The Rector of Houghton Conquest,
the celebrated Dr. Thomas Archer officiated, and the sermon
was preached by Mr. Baly, Chaplain to the Earl of Suffolk.
The King joined the Queen at Haynes Park, the residence of
Sir R. Newdegate, the following day, and on the Tuesday Dr.
Archer preached the sermon at the service at the Church of St.
Mary, Haynes, taking for his text " Take us the foxes, the little
foxes, that spoil the vines ; for our vines have tender grapes."
(Cant, ii, 15, '• Song of Solomon"), which bore allusion to the
Gunpowder Plot in the previous November. The King was so
pleased with the sermon that the very same day he commanded
Dr. Archer to be " sworn and admitted one of his chaplains-in-
ordinary " (Haynes Park is about six miles from Houghton
Conquest). Nor was this the last time that he preached before
the King and Queen, for when their Majesties visited Tod-
dington, three years later, in 1608, he preached the sermon at
Divine Service in the Church of St. George, on July 24th,
taking for his text : " Seek those things that are above ; " and,
four years later, in 1612, during the visit of their Majesties at
Bletsoe, he preached the sermon, on July 26th. This worthy
Rector appears to have not only preached himself into the
King's good graces, but also into the Rectory of Meppershall
(about eight miles from Houghton Conquest), which, in those
days, was a valuable living. This, in conjunction with the
united rectories of Houghton Conquest, must have brought
in to Dr. Archer a good income, so that he ought to have been
a wealthy man. In the Archer MSS., which are preserved at
Houghton Conquest Rectory, the following extraordinary entry
is to be found : — " Died — Master Richard Reynar, Rector of

HOUGHTON CONQUEST.

Meppershall, in County Bedford, 19 Sept., 1613, Service there
held by me, Thomas Archer. Text i, col. ix, 24, ' So run,
that ye may obtain.' In whose place I succeeded Parson,
presented thereunto by our Sovereign Lord, King James, my
most gracious Lord, and I his most unworthy Chaplain, and I
was instituted into the Rectory of Meppershall in Nov., A.D.
1613." Dr. Archer continued to reside at Houghton Conquest,
and employed a Curate to attend to the spiritual needs of his
parishioners at Meppershall. The fine Rectory house, which
he built, was surrounded by a moat (now filled in). The
approach is both beautiful and dignified. A magnificent
avenue of lime trees, that meet overhead, leads up to the front
door, with its flight of stone steps, forming a very charming
coupe rioeil.

Another famous Rector ot Houghton Conquest was Dr.
Zachary Grey, the editor of Hudibras, whose prolific pen pour-
trayed such a wide range of subjects. He was instituted to
the living of Houghton Conquest in 1725, and subsequently
became Vicar of the Church of SS. Peter and Giles, Cambridge,
which living he held in conjunction with the former, so that it
will be seen that the Rectors of Houghton Conquest were
notorious pluralists. Notwithstanding his clerical duties,
which must have heavy, Dr. Zachary Grey, contrived to
accomplish much literary work, and also to carry on a
voluminous correspondence with other learned men. The
list of his writings is a long and interesting one, and, with the
exception of Hudibras and the attacks on Neal, are anonymous :

1 I ) A Vindication of the Church of England, by a Presbyter of
the Church of England (in answer to James Peirce), 1720;

(2) Presbyterian Prejudice Displayed, 1722 ; (3) A Pair of
Clean Shoes for a Dirty Baronet ; or, an Answer to Sir Richard
Cox, 1722 ; (4) The Knight of Dumbleton, Foiled at his own
Weapon by a Gentleman and no Knight, 1723; (5) A Century of
Presbyterian Preachers, 1723 (a collection from sermons preached
before Parliament in the Civil Wars) ; (6) A Letter of Thanks
to Mr. Benjamin Bennet, a mere Pretender to History and
Criticism, by a Lover of History, 1724, etc. Number twenty-
four on the list is the celebrated Hudibras, in three parts,
" written in the time of the late Civil Wars, corrected and
amended ; with large annotations and a preface, adorned with a
new set of cuts by Hogarth," which was published by subscrip-

HOUGHTON CONQUEST.

tion in 1744, and is said to have produced .£1,500. A second
edition of Hudibras appeared in 1/64, and a " Supplement " in
1752. Dr. Grey's knowledge of Puritan literature enabled him
to illustrate his author by profuse quotations from contem-
porary authors, a method comparatively new. Fielding, in the
preface to his Voyage to Lisbon^ calls it the " single book extant
in which above 500 authors are quoted, not one of which could
be found in the collection of the late Dr. Mead." Dr. Grey,
through the medium of their mutual friend, James Tunstall, the
Public Orator at Cambridge, borrowed some notes from
Warburton, who said that he gave them expressly to oblige
Tunstall. Although Dr. Grey " made proper acknowledgments
in his preface," Warburton took umbrage at some supposed
slight or omission, and gave vent to his feelings in the preface
to his Shakespeare (1747), by saying that he doubted whether
so "execrable a heap of nonsense had ever appeared in any
learned language as Grey's commentaries on Hudibras" Dr.
Grey, who was born at Burniston, Yorkshire, May 6th, 1688, is
said by Cole to have possessed a charming and genial person-
ality, and a sweet, communicative disposition. He was " ad-
mitted a pensioner at Jesus College, Cambridge, loth April,
1704, but migrated to Trinity Hall, where he was elected a
scholar, 6th Jan., 1706-7. He took his LL.B. degree in 1709,
and his LL.D. degree in 1720, but never obtained a Fellowship."
He was twice married, his first wife being a Miss Tooley ; and
his second wife, Miss Susanna Mass, a relative of Dean Mass, by
whom he had one son, who died in 1726, and two daughters, one
of whom married the Rev. William Cole, of Ely ; and the other
to the Rev. M. Lepipre, Rector of Aspley Guise, Beds. Dr.
Zachery Grey died on November 25th, 1766, aged seventy-
eight years, and was interred in Houghton Conquest parish
church, where a mural tablet was erected to his memory.

Before describing the church, we must note the curious fact
that, though dedicated to All Saints, the Dedication Festival is
celebrated on St. James' Day, July 25th, and the village feast is
" kept " on that day.

The exterior of this beautiful and ancient church is built of red
sandstone (which rich-coloured material is so largely used in
this county for the building of churches, as it is both
durable and picturesque) faced with bath stone. The tower,
which is embattled, has an octagonal angle turret, and

HOUGHTON CONQUEST.

is supported by massive buttresses. A double row of battle-
ments adorns the nave, and a single row ornaments the
chancel ; while Greek crosses of various design surmount
the gables of the nave, chancel, and transepts. The porch,
which is also embattled, is surmounted by a Greek cross
below which is a niche, richly ornamented with crockets
with a statue sculptured therein, evidently intended to repre-
sent our Lord. Sculptured at the angle of the cornice, which
is decorated with a design of roses, are angels bearing shields ;
while grotesque gargoyles are carved in the stonework at the
junction of the cornice with the wall of the nave. The arch
moulding terminates in two corbels, one being the head of a
king wearing a crown, and the other that of a bishop wearing a
mitre.

The corbels of the arch mouldings of the windows of the
church are very quaint and curious. A notable feature of the
south wall of the chancel is an altar tomb, surmounted by a
canopy which is built of stone, and projects slightly from the
surface of the wall, being protected by the buttress at the angle
at the east end.

Roughly inscribed on a slab above the tomb are the words :
" Thomas Awdley, January 22, 1531." This tomb was repaired
in 1624 by a descendant and namesake of this gentleman, who
must have been a benefactor to this church for his tomb to
have been placed in this position, embedded in the outer wall
of the sanctuary. There was also a monumental brass of
Thomas Awdley and his lady, with one son and two daughters,
in the church ; but this has long since been removed. The
interior of the church, which is both beautiful and spacious,
possesses many features of antiquarian interest, which are, for
the most part, in an excellent state of preservation.

[To be continued.]

AN UNEDITED FRAGMENT OF THE
HISTORY OF LINCOLN'S INN.

BY W. C. HOLLAND.

THE Black Books of Lincoln's Inn are the official records
of the proceedings of the Benchers, the governing body
of the Inn. The still extant ones go back as far as
1422 ; and there were undoubtedly earlier ones which
have perished. I have had reason to wish more than once that
in supplement of these minutes of the Bencher's meetings — for
that is what the Black Books amount to — it had been some-
body's duty through the centuries that have gone by since
Lincoln's Inn came into being to keep a log-book of events
happening in the Inn which never came under the purview of
the Benchers in formal meeting assembled. I am inclined to
think that the interest of such a chronicle to students of the
times would have been little, if any, less than that of the Black
Books themselves, and we should certainly have had preserved
to us many a fact which we should now be glad to possess, and
many a valuable sidelight on the manners and customs of our
predecessors. It is one of these little fragments of the Inn's
history, of which the Black Books take no notice, but which
such a log-book or journal as I have hinted at would have
chronicled, that I wish to record here. My knowledge of it
comes from the old newspapers of the time. There is no other
memorial of it, so far as I know. For several months during
1682, almost every county and municipal authority and other
organized societies considered it their duty to send to
Charles II addresses of protest against and dissent from "the
Association," found, or alleged to have been found, among Lord
Shaftesbury's papers. The effect of this Association would
have been, says Bishop Burnet, that " the King, if it had taken
place, would have reigned only at the discretion of the party " ;
but the Bishop is clearly of opinion that Shaftesbury had
nothing to do with it. If any one wants, by the way, to com-
pile a complete glossary of all the terms of abuse known to
our forefathers of 1682 he can scarcely do better than get
together as many of these " Loyal Addresses " as possible,
and then extract from them the adjectives applied to the
" Association."

The Inns of Court, to be in the fashion, set about preparing
and forwarding Loyal Addresses. There seems to have been

VOL. xi. 65 F

FRAGMENT OF THE HISTORY OF LINCOLN'S INN.

no hitch or trouble about the matter so far as the two Societies
of the Temple and Gray's Inn were concerned. But at
Lincoln's Inn things did not go quite so smoothly, for it
happened that Lord Shaftesbury was a Lincoln's Inn man
himself; and he apparently had sufficient friends there to make
something of a fight for him — so, at least, we gather from the
following extract from The Loyal Protestant and True Domestick
Intelligence of May 27, 1682.

" Lincoln' s-Inn, May 25. This day an abhorrence of that
most detestable Association found in the E. of S.'s Closet, was
brought into the Hall of this Honourable Society and debated ;
and the Gentlemen who promoted it desiring a Poll, the
Opposers (doubting of their strength) thought it convenient to
withdraw at that time. Two of the Benchers, and almost 100
Worthy Gentlemen of that Society, have already subscrib'd it,
and very speedily a Council of the Benchers will be call'd.
to take it into further consideration ; it being not in the
least doubted but this good work will be carried by the
majority, there being not above 160 Chambers in the whole
House."

This extract from the old newspaper is of interest from
another point of view, as it gives us the approximate number of
chambers in the Inn in 1682. Apparently only tenants of
chambers were allowed to vote. There is no record in the
Black Books of the Council of Benchers announced by The
Loyal Protestant^ and so, presumably, it did not take place.
Somehow or other, however, the Address was drafted and
adopted, and the London Gazette tells us that it was presented,
with several others, to the King at Windsor on the 6th of June,
and gives us the text of it. It runs as follows : —

" To the King's most excellent Majesty.

"We, your Majesties most loyal and dutiful Subjects, the
Benchers, Barristers, and Students of the Society of Lincoln's-
Inn, whose names are hereunto subscribed ; Observing your
Majesties unparall'd Justice, Mercy and Goodness ; and being
Partakers of that Great Liberty, Peace and Happiness which
your Majesties Subjects have always enjoyed since your
Majesties happy Restauration ; the like whereof no People in
the World did ever pretend, or can hope to enjoy : And also
remembering that great and particular Honour your Majesty
was pleas'd to do our Society by your gracious Condescension

FRAGMENT OF THE HISTORY OF LINCOLN'S INN.

in Recording your Royal Name amongst us.1 We of all People
did think our selves under such high Obligations of Loyalty,
Duty and Obedience, that to make any publick Profession
thereof might give an unnecessary trouble to your Majesty,
and seem in some measure to draw into question that which we
thought no person could doubt : But being convinced (by that
Treasonable Paper, and Hellish Project of Rebellion lately
produced at the Proceedings against the Earl of Shaftesbury, a
member of this Society, and which was then by good, and
unquestionable Witness positively sworn to be found in his
Lordship's Closet) that no Obligations can be sufficient to keep
and detain some Men in their Duties : We therefore humbly
claim leave to assure your Majesty, that we utterly Abhor,
Detest and Abominate all such Base Ingratitude and Villainous
Treasons, resolving to Defend your most Sacred Majesty, and
your most Excellent Government as it is now Establish'd, your
Heirs and Lawful Successors, with our Lives and Fortunes
against all such Conspiracies and Associations, the Contrivers
and Abettors of the same."

The Loyal Protestant gives us the further information that
this " Address in Abhorrence of the Damnable and Treasonable
Association " was carried to Windsor by Sir James Butler and
several other Persons of Quality. Sir James Butler, K.C., was
successively the Queen's Solicitor and Attorney General. He
was elected Treasurer of the Inn in 1673, and he again rilled
that office from June 24th to November 28th, 1703, the
Treasurer for the year, Mr. John Weddell, having died during
his term of office. As I cannot find that the " Loyal Addresses "
have been preserved at the Public Record Office, I am unable
to say anything as to the number and names of those who
subscribed the Address from Lincoln's Inn.

1 When, accompanied by the Duke of York, Prince Rupert, and a
distinguished suite of peers and gentlemen, he visited the Inn in 1671.

THE CHRONICLE OF PAUL'S CROSS.

BY W. PALEY BAILDON, F.S.A.

[Continued from vol. x, p. 314.]

1538, December 22. "Allso this yere, the Sonday afore
Christmas Daye, Henry Daunce, bricklayer, which did use to
preach in his house this sommer past, bare a fagott at Faults
Crosse for heresye, and two persons more with him, one beinge
a preist, for heresy allso." — (Wriothesley's Chronicle, vol. i, p. 93.)

The same authority tells us that " this yeare [1538], in June
and July, a bricklayer, called Henry Daunce, in White Chappell
parishe without Algate in London, used to preach the Worde
of God in his owne house in his garden, where he sett a tub to
a tree, and therein he preached divers Sondayes and other
dayes early in the morninge and at 6 of the clocke at night, and
had great audience of people, both spirituall and temporall ;
which sayd parson [person] had noe learninge of his booke,
neither in Englishe nor other tongue, and yet he declared
Scripture as well as [if] he had studyed at the Universities.
But at the last, the Bishops had such indignation at him, by
reason [that] the people followed him, that they sent for him to
my Lord of Canterbury [Cranmer], where he was demaunded
many questions ; but they coulde laye nothinge to his charge,
but did inhibite him for [from] preachinge, because of the great
resorte of people that drue to his sermons." — (Ibid., p. 82.)

Circa, 1538. Among the "Reminiscences of John Louthe."
" Ther ys a lytle paryshe (I thynke called St. Margaret) in
the ende of Estchepe, in the wych served a curate of as good
religione as lyvyng, for bothe were sterke nowght, as any man
by wych folowyth may judge, si homo ex fructibus. ... A
commandement was gyven that all curattes (what so ever)
should not be at sermones nor servyce longer than ix of the
clocke, that then the curattes with the paryshes myght come to
Poles Crosse and here the prechers. To this sayd this good
curatt — ' I wyll (quod he) make an ende of service at the
proscribed hower gladly, seing I muste needes so doo. But so
longe as any of these heretykes preche at the Crosse as nowe
adayes thei do, I wyll never here them, for I wyll not come
there. I will rather hange.'" — (Camden Soc., vol. 77, p. 23.)

1539, July 6. Thomas Warley to Lord Lisle : — " My dewty
moste humbly rememberyd both to yor good Lordschip and to

THE CHRONICLE OF PAUL'S CROSS.

my synguler good Lady, Pleasith it yor Lordschippe to be
advertysed of the newes here currant ; this ys to sertefy the
same. . . . Allso this day one George, a prest, bare a fagot at
Powlles Crosse, whos opynyon was that Chryst nor any creatur
had any meryt by his Passion, and allso that exorsysyng of
holly water or holly bred wer execrable and detestable before
God. And after the sermond was ended, he deliveryd the
fagot and cast it to the Somer [Sumner], whiche he shuld have
caryed where he recevid it, but he wold not for any thyng they
could do. . . . Written in hast at London, the vj day of July,
wl the rude hand of yor most humble and faithfull servant

to my poer

Thomas Warley.

To the Right Honorable and my synguler good Lord and Mr,
the Vicount Lyssle, at Calleis." — (Lisle Papers, vol. viii,
No. 41.)

1539, July 23. John Hilsey, Bishop of Rochester, to
Cromwell : — " Gracia Dei tecum. Ryght Honorable and my
syngular good Lorde. Thes be to put yor Lordshyppe yn
remembrans off my sute unto you for an ordre to be taken for
sermons att ye Crosse\ for, sens ye Parleamentt, I cowd nott
gett own [one] to preache a sermon there, savynge myselfe or
own off my chaplens ; except own day only y1 Doctor Byrde,
at long sute, prechyd one sermon. I promysyd to wrete a
booke to yor Lordshyppe for ye sayd sermons, the wch I have
sent here wythe thys bylle, and yff hytt please yor Lordshyppe
to subscrybe hytt and commawnde hytt to ye Bysshoppe off
London [Stokesley], for he can make provysyon for prechurs
bettre then onny els (as hys chaplens reportythe) and as I
yndeade thynke, for mennye doothe refreyne to preache there
because yl he hathe nott ye ordre theroff; and off the oyr
[other] syde, when I or onny off myn preache there, we ar soe
untrewely reporttyd, y1 we dare nott wythowt fere to preche
onny more there. For whereas a chaplen off myn prechyd a
Sonday last att ye Crosse, nowe he ys a cytyd to apere afore ye
Bysshoppe off London a Fryday next ; but I trust he hathe
nothynge prechyd agenst Godes lawys nor ye Kynges ; and a
Sondey next, for lacke off own to preache, I must preache
there myselfe, wythe more fere then ever I dyd yn my lyff.
Nottwythstandyng, the mattre thys brokyn, yor Lordshyppe

THE CHRONICLE OF PAUL'S CROSS.

shall commaunde and ordre me, nott only yn thys matters, but
yn alle thynges, as yor Lordshyppe shall thynke best, as longe
as my lyff shall endure ; and therwyth shall alsoe pray to God
for yor prosperyte off body and sowle. \Vretyn yn Lambhethe
Marshe, ye xxiij day off July.

Yor Lordshyppys humble Oratour,

J. Roffen.

To hys Ryght honorable and especyall good Lord, my Lord
Privye Scale, thys be yevyn." — {Letters and Papers, Henry
VIII, vol. 152, fo. 207.)

1539, August 4. "This yere, the 4th day of August, dyed
the Bishopp of Rochester [John Hilsey],1 which sometyme was
a Blacke Fryer, and came from Bristowe [Bristol], and was
Pryor of the Blacke Fryers in London, and was one of them
that was a great setter forth of the syncerity of Scripture, and
had occupied preachinge most at Pawles Crosse of any Bishopp ;
and in all the seditious tyme, when any abuse should be shewed
to the people, eyther of idolatrye or of the Bishop of Rome, he
had the doeynge thereof by the Lord Vicegerentes [Cromwell's]
commaundement from the Kinge, and allso had the admission
of the preachers at Pawles Crosse theise 3 yeares and more." —
(Wriothesley's Chronicle, vol. i, p. 104.)

1540, March 7. "The life and story of William Hierome,
Vicar of Stepney, and Martyr of Christ. ... It so happened
that the said Hierome, preaching at Paul's on the fourth
Sunday in Lent [March 7] last past, made there a Sermon,
wherein he recited and mentioned of Agar and Sara, declaring
what these two signified. In process whereof he shewed
further how that Sara and her child Isaac, and all they that
were Isaacs and born of the free woman Sara, were freely
justified ; contrary, they that were born of Agar the bond
woman were bound and under the law, and cannot be freely
justified. . . . This Sermon finished, it was not long but he was
charged and convented before the King at Westminster, and
there accused for erroneous doctrin. . . . The knot found in
this rush was this, for that he preached erroneously at Paul's
Cross, teaching the people that all that were born of Sara were
freely justified, speaking there absolutely without any condition

1 His death is usually assigned to 1538.

THE CHRONICLE OF PAUL'S CROSS.

either of baptism or of penance, etc. Who doubteth here but
if St. Paul himselt had been at Faults Cross, and had preached
the same words to the English-men which he wrote to the
Galathians in this behalf, ipso facto he had been apprehended
for an Heretick for preaching against the Sacrament of Baptism
and Repentance." — (Fox, Martyrs ', vol. ii, p. 441.)

1540, March 7. " Th'effecte of certain erroneous doctrine
taught by the Vicar of Stepney [William Jerome] in his sermon
at Polles Crosse upon Sonday was sevenight, which was the
vijth day of March. ... A summe of thiese articles is that the
first persuaded makith obedience to prynces an outwarde
behavour oonly, which is but a playe eyther for feare or
manersake. The secounde engendrith such an assured pre-
sumption and wantonnesse, that we care not gretly whether we
obey God or man." Memorandum by Stephen Gardiner. —
(Letters and Papers, Henry VIII, vol. 158, fo. 50.)

1 540, March — . " Be it knowen to all men that I, William
Hierome [Jerome], on myd [Lent] Sonday last past have
preached erronyouslie, pernycyouslye, and .... [at] Paules
Crosse, to the utter perverting of the . . . . ; which dampnable
doctryne I utterlie deteste and re[fuse, desiring] hertelie, wl
ernest purpose, to preache the contrarie to the [utmost] of my
power . . . ." — (Letters and Papers, Henry VIII, vol. 158,
fo. 1 20.)

Jerome was executed on July 3ist, 1540.

1 540, March — . " Be it known to all men that I, William
Heirome, on Mid lent Sunday last past, have preached erron-
eously, perniciously, and .... at Paules Crosse, . . . ."
— (Calendar of Letters and Papers, vol. xv, No. 411.)

1 540, March 7. " The effect of certaine erroneous doctrines
taught by the Vicar of Stepney in his sermon at Polles Crosse
upon Sunday was sevennight, which was the vijth day of
March." — (Calendar of Letters and Papers, vol. xv, No. 345.)

1 540, April 4. " Also on Low Soundaie following, the
Person [Parson] of St. Martin's at the Well of Tow Buckettes
in Bishopsgate, called Doctor Wilson, preached at Poules Crosse.
. . . ." — (Wriothesley's Chronicle, vol. i, p. 114.)

THE CHRONICLE OF PAUL'S CROSS.

1540, April II. "Also, the nth dale of Aprill, being
Soundaie, preached at Powles Crosse the Bishopp of Wynchester
[Gardiner] ; and in the sermon tyme was a fraye made betwene
three or fower serving men in the said church yearde, and some
hurt, to the great disturbance of the said sermon." —
(Wriothesley's Chronicle, vol. i, p. 115.)

1541, March 6 & 27. "Stephen Gardiner, hearing that the
said Barns, Heirome and Garret should preach the Lent
following, Anno 1541, at Paul's Cross, to stop the course of
their Doctrine, sent his Chaplain to the Bishop of London the
Saturday before the first Sunday in Lent [March 5], to have a
place for him to preach at Paul's, which to him was granted,
and time appointed that he should preach the Sunday following,
which should be on the morrow ; which Sunday was appointed
before for Barns to occupy that room. . . . This sermon of
Stephen Winchester finished, Doctor Barns, who was put oft
from that Sunday, had his day appointed, which was the third
Sunday next following [March 27], to make his sermon. . . .
In the process of which sermon he proceeding, and calling out
Stephen Gardiner by name to answer him, alluding in a
pleasant allegory to a cock-fight ; terming the said Gardiner to
be a fighting cock, and himself to be another, but the garden-
cock (he said) lacked good spurs ; objecting moreover to the
said Gardiner, and opposing him in his Grammar Rules ; thus
saying, that if he had answered him in the Schools so as he had
there preached at the Cross, he would have given him six
stripes." — (Fox, Martyrs, vol. ii, pp. 441, 442.)

1541, October 16. "This yeare, the sixtenth daie of
October, tow priestes wente a procession afore the Crosse in
Poules, and stoode all the sermon with tapers and white roddes
in their handes ; the cause was [that] they maried one
Mr. Heringes sonne, a Proctor in the Arches, to a yong
gentlewoman, in a chamber, without license or asking. . . .
This matter was examyned in the Starre Chamber in West-
minstre, before the Kinges Counsell, and by theim the said
preistes were enjoyned penance." — (Wriothesley's Chronicle,
vol. ii, p. 1 30.)

1 541, — . " W. Tolwine, Parson of S. Antholine's. Presented
and examined before Edmund Boner [Bishop of London], for

NOTES AND QUERIES.

permitting Alexander Seton to preach in his church, having no
license of his Ordinary, and also for allowing the sermons of the
said Alexander Seton, which he preached against Dr. Smith.
To the said Tolwine, moreover, it was objected that he
used, the space of two years, to make holy water, leaving out
the general Exorcisme, beginning Exorciso te> etc. . . . against
this objection thus Tolwine defended himself, saying, that he
took occasion so to do by the King's Injunctions, which say,
that Ceremonies should be used, all Ignorance and Superstition
set apart. In the end, this Tolwine was forced to stand at
PauFs Cross to recant his Doctrine and doings.

"This same time also Robert Wisedom, Parish Priest of
S. Margaret's in Lothbury, and Thomas Becon were brought to
Paul's Cross> to recant and to revoke their Doctrine, and to
burn their Books." — (Fox, Martyrs, vol. ii, p. 450.)

[To be continued.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

NPUBLISHED MSS. RELATING TO THE HOME COUNTIES
IN THE COLLECTION OF P. C. RUSHEN.

[Continued from vol. x, p. 315.]

J799» May i. Lease of Possession for one year by John Larking, of Clare House,
East Mailing, Kent, Esq., to Thomas Andrewes of East Mailing, Esq., of a
messuage, &c., in East Mailing Street, formerly occupied by .... Workman,
since of .... Lee, then late of .... Cooper, and then of John Buchanan ; and
an oasthouse and hopground (then lately fenced off from a hopground containing
three acres belonging to a messuage in East Mailing, then late of James Tomlyn,
Esq., deceased, and purchased by the lessor with other hereditaments from the
devisees of the said Tomlyn), the said fenced land containing from east to west along
the highway 78 ft., and from east to west along the hopground 60 ft., and from north
to south 60 ft., abutting on the high road from East to West Mailing north, to
premises of Sir John Twysden, Bart., east, and to the said hopground south and
west.

1812, Aug. 14. Lease of Possession for one year by Alexander Smith, shop-
keeper, to Joseph Hopkins, junior, Gent., both of Cholsey, co. Berks, of a messuage
and orchard, &c., in Cholsey, then used as two tenements lately occupied by Marj
Titcomb, and then by Richard Jones, Joseph Leader, and the lessee ; which
premises (except a piece of land formerly called "Hog Close," containing 36 p.,
then forming part of the said orchard) were purchased by the lessor of Thomas Irons,
and the said close with the barn thereon were likewise then lately purchased of the
Kt. lion. William, Lord Kensington.

REPLIES.

1812, Dec. 15. Lease of Possession for one year by the Rt. Hon. Charles, Earl
of Romney, only son and heir of the Rt. Hon. Charles, Earl of Romney, deceased,
to Sir Richard Neave, of Dagnam Park, co. Essex, Bart., and Thomas Neave, of
Broad Street Buildings, London, Esq., of a messuage on the west side of Arlington
Street, in the parish of St. George, Hanover Square, formerly occupied by the said
Earl, deceased, and then by the Earl of Pembroke ; containing from east to west
221 ft. ; abutting west on a piece of land thereinafter described to have been granted
by the Crown and laid into the garden ; east on Arlington Street ; north on a
messuage then occupied by John Pitt, Esq. ; and south on a messuage then late in
the possession of or belonging to the Duke of Newcastle ; and also a piece of land on
the east of the garden belonging to the demised messuage, and abutting west on the
Green Park, and held jointly with a piece of land adjoining the garden of the said
John Pitt ; which pieces of land were held by warrant from the Treasury, at will, at
I4J-. yearly.

[To be continued.]

JACKSON FAMILY. — Information wanted as to who are the present
representatives of James Jackson, of 17 Furnival's Inn, London,
Attorney, who either died or retired from practice in 1779. He acted
for the Molyneux and Sherard families.

Office of Arms, Dublin. VEIRCE GUN MAHONY, Cork Herald.

HAMPSTEAD ASSEMBLY ROOMS. — We regret to say that the drawings
illustrating Mr. Foord's interesting paper have been accidentally
mislaid, and we are therefore unable to reproduce them in the present
number. — EDITOR.

REPLIES.

ARCHERY IN THE HOME COUNTIES — HERTFORDSHIRE (vol. ii, pp.
1 2-1 6). — Lady Banks bequeathed several volumes of cuttings, notes,
etc., on Archery to the British Museum. In Add. MS. 6318, fo. 28,
is the following reference to the Hertfordshire Society : —

" The Hertfordshire Archers. Ladys' prize : a gold heart, on one
side a bow and shaft, set with spark diamonds; on the other side
a shaft, do. The Marchioness won this prize.
Gentlemen's prize, a silver arrow, won by :—

Wm. Prior Johnson, Esqr., 2 August, 1790.
John Cotton, Esqr., 8 August 1791.
Matthew Raper, Esqr., 6 August, 1792.
Marquis of Salisbury, 5 September, 1792.
John Cotton, Esqr., 6 September, 1792.
George Stainforth, junr., Esqr., Sepr. 7, 1792.
Copied at Hatfield House, September 10, 1815."

E. E. SQUIRES, Hertford.

REVIEWS.

MUCKING (vol. x, p. 259). — The derivation of this name suggested by
Mr. Forbes will not do. Place names in ing, with or without a suffix,
almost without exception denote ownership, and are derived from
a personal name. The popular theory that ing always means meadow
has been exposed by Professor Skeat and other philologists over and
over again. Mucking is simply the long genitive form of a personal
name, Muck or Mock, and probably records the first Saxon settler
or owner. Compare Moxhall (co. Warwick), Moxby (co. York),
Mugginton (co. Derby ; Domesday, Moginton), and the surnames,
Mogg, Moggs, Moxon, and Muggins. — PHILOLOGUS.

THE PAGEANTS OF THE HOME COUNTIES (vol. x, p. 310). — There is
one error which should be corrected in Mr. Anderson's excellent
article in the October number of the Home Counties Magazine. The
name of the Master of the St. Albans Pageant \sjarman, not Farman.
He is Mr. Herbert Jarman of the Lyric Theatre. If the promoters of
one of next year's pageants should be so fortunate as to obtain his t
services as Pageant Master, I feel sure that their pageant ought to be
as great a success as ours. — WM. R. L. LOWE, St. Albans.

THE FINCHLEY FONT (vol. x, p. 316). — Perhaps your correspondent
may be satisfied with an additional authority to ours on this matter.
In Sperling's Church Walks in Middlesex (1853), page 115, we read : —
" A marble vase has superseded the ancient font, whose octagonal and
arcaded bowl lies desecrated in the belfry ; it is of First Pointed
date."— W. BOLTON, Croydon.

Mr. J. P. Emslie also sends the quotation from Church Walks in
Middlesex.— EDITOR.

In answer to Mr. Letts' enquiry, I have ascertained that the old font
is in the back garden of Mr. Wells, Ballards Lane, Finchley, the
present occupier of Mr. Plowman's house (builder), where it was no
doubt put when the church was restored under Mr. Billing in 1873
(see H.C.M.) vol. iii, p. 128). If Mr. Letts is interested in Finchley
topography I shall be glad if he will communicate with me. — A. HEAL,
Nower Hill, Pinner.

REVIEWS.

TYBURN TREE, ITS HISTORY AND ANNALS, by Alfred Marks
Brown, Langham & Co. ; pp. xi, 292.
The recent "improvements" (save the mark!) at Marble Arch have
brought the name of Tyburn once again into notice. Much has appeared
in the public press as to the history of the famous gallows and the precise spot at
which it stood. For the most part this has been crude and ill-digested stuff,
founded on no sort of evidence, and written rather for the sake of advertisement
than for giving information. Mr. Marks' book is of a very different calibre.
Learned, sober, and methodical, he had treated his somewhat gruesome subject in
most admirable fashion. Some ghastly details are inevitable in such a work, if it is
to be truthful, but they are not unduly obtruded. We may consider this book in
three aspects, topographical, historical, and juridical ; and in each it must be
pronounced a notable success. As a valuable contribution to London topography
(which is slowly being re- written), we can best compare it to Mr. Holden Mac-
Michael's work, than which there is no higher praise ; as history it collects and
arranges a vast number of facts, gathered from very many sources ; while the
initial essay on capital punishment and kindred subjects in England is a most
excellent and scholarly piece of work. It is a little startling to read that on a
moderate computation 50,000 persons have been hanged at Tyburn, but our astonish-
ment is lessened when we remember that there were at one time 200 offences for
which the penalty was death by hanging. That the law made such savage reprisals
in many cases that nowadays would be punished only by a short term of imprison-
ment, seems very shocking to modern ideas. We are perhaps inclined to err in the
opposite direction ; for, provided some spice of sentiment or romance can be rightly
or wrongly discerned, the most brutal and callous murderer is sure of obtaining
thousands of signatures of old women, of both sexes, to a petition for reprieve. The
petition is some times successful, and is always a good advertisement for the solicitor.
In the " Annals" Mr. Marks gives us a succession of stories, from 1177 to 1/83, the
date of the last execution on Tyburn Tree. The reproductions of old maps and
prints are a great addition to the book, on which the anthor is to be highly con-
gratulated. There is a good index.

EARTHWORK OF ENGLAND : Prehistoric, Roman, Saxon, Danish,
Norman, and Mediaeval, by A. Hadrian Allcroft, M.A. Mac-
millan & Co. ; pp. xix, 711 ; iSs. net

To every book-lover it must from time to time have occurred, on reading a new
work, to wonder why the subject had not been dealt with long before ; and in a few
cases he will congratulate himself and the world at large that it has been reserved for
his present author. It certainly seems strange that, with all our wealth of earth-
works scattered over the country — here numerous, there scanty, but never very far to
.seek — no book should hitherto have been written dealing with the subject generally.
Such a work, for instance, might have been produced under the auspices of the
Victoria County History people, had they been less obsessed with the parochial spirit
which leads them to record solemnly, in forty-two volumes, that flies and mice are
found in the houses, and buttercups and daisies in the fields of each county in
England. We may, however, congratulate ourselves that these pundits thought as
they did, for otherwise we should probably be the poorer by not having Mr. Allcroft's
admirable treatise. The two introductory chapters are most interesting reading ;
they contain a clear and concise account of what is known of prehistoric man in
Britain, his manners and customs, his pursuits and his culture. The first type of
earthwork to be considered is that of the so-called " promontory forts." These, as

RKVIEWS.

the name implies, occupy the extremities of headlands, spurs, or peninsulas, with
an artificial protection only on the landward side. A good though small example of
Ibis type may be seen on the East Hill at Hastings. Inland examples also occur
in rocky districts, and by the sides of rivers. "Contour forts " are the next type
dealt with. These, whether on hill tops or plateaus, have artificial defences on
every side ; they are very numerous and of endless variety. Many camps of similar
design are also found on relatively low ground or even in valleys. Roman camps
and stations are exhaustively described ; likewise Saxon and Danish earthworks,
Norman castles, and moated homesteads. The chapter on Dewponcls and the
question of water supply to camps on high ground is of great interest. Mr. Allcroft
sees no difficulty in the matter ; dewponds would supply some, and the remainder
would be carried. He mentions certain African tribes who carry the water they
require in calabashes ; and he might have added, by way of further illustration, that
many of the castles on the Rhine and elsewhere were dependant on carried water ;
the copper vessels used for this purpose until recent years may be sometimes seen
in London curiosity shops, where they are sold for umbrella-stands ! We have been
specially impressed by two chapters of this admirable book, those on " Prehistoric
Fortification" and "The Primitive Homestead." These two essays are of the
highest order, and will rank with the very best archaeological work of modern times.
Mr. Allcroft has a pretty turn for quotation, and here and there a touch of dry
humour. "Caesar and Noll [Oliver Cromwell] and Old Nick between them claim a
most unfair share of the nation's antiquities," for example ; could anything be
neater ? Well printed, equipped with over 200 illustrations and a first-rate index,
this book will be indispensable to every student interested in the development of
civilisation in Britain.

ENGLISH HOUSES AND GARDENS in the iyth and i8th

a series of bird's-eye views reproduced from contemporary en-
gravings by Kip, Badeslade, Harris, and others, with descriptive
notes by Mervyn Macartney, B.A., F.S.A. Batsford ; sixty-one
plates ; pp. xvi, 34 ; 1 55. net.

We have always had a particular liking for the engravings of the kind and period
here reproduced. Stiff, formal and conventional as they undoubtedly are, there is
yet a charm about them which appeals alike to the antiquary, the architect and the
artist. Kip, who is our prime favourite, is represented by thirty-eight plates. The
reproductions, though much reduced in size, are wonderfully clear, and the pub-
lisher's claim — that the special process employed " not only represents faithfully the
detail of the original engraving, but also preserves much of its spirk and brilliance "-
is fully warranted. Many of these beautiful old houses have been burnt or pulled
down, and others have suffered so much from the ambitious architect as to he
unrecognizable ; while most of the quaint and formal gardens were destroyed during
the senseless rage for landscape-gardening, which has done so much to spoil the
picturesqueness of the English country house. These engravings, therefore, have a
historical value which is hardly to be over-estimated, and Mr. Batsford's beautiful
reproductions should be welcomed by many who cannot hope to possess the originals.
Mr. Macartney gives an interesting and adequate sketch of the general subject in his
introduction ; while his descriptions of the plates and notes on the architecture and
history of the various houses are so good that we should have preferred them a little
less condensed. The get-up of the book, like all Mr. Batsford's productions, leaves
nothing to be desired.

REVIEWS.

THE PARISH REGISTERS OF ADDINGTON, CHELSHAM AND WAR-
LINGHAM, Surrey, transcribed and edited by W. Bruce Bannerman,
F.S.A. The Surrey Parish Register Society ; pp. 94, 62, 117.

Thanks to the untiring energy of Mr. Bannerman, this society's publications are
beginning to make a good show, the present volume being No. 5. The permanent
preservation of records of such value as our parish registers cannot be too highly
estimated. An unprinted register is always at the mercy of destruction by a chance
fire, though damage by neglect is probably a thing of the past. A photograph of
the first book of the Addington registers shows the deplorable state to which it had
been reduced. Photographs of the three churches are given, and there are full
indices of names and places.

THE CHURCHYARD SCRIBE, by Alfred Stapleton. Vol. iv of the
" Genealogist's Pocket Library " ; pp. 106 ; 2s. 6d. net.

The author divides his work into three sections. I. On recording the inscriptions
in a churchyard or burial-ground. II. Hints on reading apparently illegible inscrip-
tions. III. Typical and authentic examples. The first section is a thoughtful and
well-reasoned plea for the copying of all monumental inscriptions. Such a work is
of great importance to the genealogist, and we should like to see followed in every
county the excellent example set by the East Herts Archaeological Society. Mr.
Stapleton discusses the various systems adopted in copying inscriptions. Personally,
we are strongly in favour of the verbatim inscription, with the omission of verses and
texts, unless these contain some information, e.g.^ " the only son of his mother, and
she was a widow." Mere selections should be sternly discouraged. Section II
will be invaluable to the novice, and contains many hints that the fairly expert will
find useful. Section III contains a good selection of examples from the genealogical
and biographical point of view.

" SAINT " GILBERT : The Story of Gilbert White and Selborne, by
J. C. Wright. Elliot Stock ; pp. 90 ; 2S. 6d. net.

A nice, chatty little volume on an evergreen subject, with many well-chosen
quotations from \Vhite himself and his numerous biographers, editors, and commen-
tators, and some pretty illustrations. While not containing anything very new, it is
pleasant reading, and may serve to introduce its readers to the Natural History if
they know it not. The title, which is not very happy, is explained by a paragraph
in the preface : — " It may be permissable to regard White as the patron saint of the
little village where he spent the greater part of his life."

RUINED AND DESERTED CHURCHES, by Lucy Elizabeth Beedham.
Elliott Stock ; pp. 106 ; 55. net.

A good idea, and well carried out. Miss Beedham writes with great charm and
sympathy, and the twenty reproductions from photographs are well representative of
different epochs. The story she has to tell is a melancholy one, and, as her work
does not pretend to be exhaustive, it might easily be extended to much larger size.
We hope to see further volumes on the same lines from Miss Beedham's pen, for,

REVIEWS.

unfortunately, there is no lack of material. Hundreds of towns and villages have
remains of these desecrated shrines, whether as actual ruins, or converted into barns
or dwelling houses, or worse. And the process, as the author hints, with quite
unnecessary delicacy, is still going on. Bishops and parsons who allow disused
churches to become common doss-houses for tramps and dumping-grounds for village
refuse (such as we have seen not a hundred miles from London) are not likely to be
thin-skinned at a little wholesome and outspoken criticism. Particularly good are
the chapters on " Early Christian Oratories," "Some Barns and their Story," and
"Guild, Wayside, and Chantry Chapels"; but the whole book is well worth
reading.

SELBY ABBEY; a Resume, A.D. 1069, A.D. 1908, by Ch. H. Moody,
Organist of Ripon Minster, with illustrations by E. Ridsdale Tate,
York, and a Preface by the Rev. Maurice Parkin, Vicar of Selby.
Elliot Stock ; pp. 114 ; is. net.

This is the best shilling's-worth we have ever seen. The text contains a good
account of the great church, both historical and architectural, with some useful
appendices, and lists of Abbots and Vicars. The account of the unfortunate fire in
October, 1906, must have been sad writing for an organist; for at Selby, as at so
many other places, the fire originated in the organ. Mr. Moody records the un-
availing exertions of four fire brigades to extinguish the flames ; and it is a curious
fact that if no attempt had been made to do so, the actual damage would have been
infinitely less. It was the cold water on the hot stone that did most of the damage.
It is fervently to be hoped that the renovated church will have an orchestra instead
of an organ, and that if (absit omen !) there is another fire, it will be allowed to
burn itself out. Of Mr. Tate's beautiful drawings it is impossible to speak too
highly ; they are all that pen-and-ink work of the highest class should be. The
photographic reproductions are also good, and those showing the results of the fire
form an interesting record. A marvellous shilling's-worth.

THE VILLAGE OF EYNSFORD ; illustrations by Herbert Cole and Fred.
Adcock. Simpkin, Marshall & Co. ; pp. 92 ; is. net.

Another excellent shilling's-worth. No author's name appears on the title page ;
the introduction is signed by " II. H. B.," who states that the bulk of the material
was collected by Mr. E. D. Till, of the Priory, Eynsford, and describes the book as
" a plain narrative of the incidents of the village life since Saxon and Norman days."
This last phrase rather led us to expect chronicles of the village-pump-and-" small-
beer " order. We were therefore agreeably surprised to find that it is the result of
much careful research. Many documents are quoted, and the book is a useful con-
tribution to Kent local history. References are not always given, which is a mistake,
and there are some curious misprints which should be corrected in a second edition.
The account of the descent of the estate of William de Eynsford is unfortunate, for
we fail to see how his property could pass "by marriage of his ward's daughter to
Sir Nicholas de Crioll, as suggested on p. 13. As a matter of fact, the Close Roll
of Edward I, cited on the same page, makes it quite pretty that de Enysford left two
co-heiresses, one of whom married Nicholas de Crioll, and the other William de
Ilering, and that both these ladies were then dead, leaving infant heirs, whose
wardship belonged to the King. Eynsford seems to have more than its share of
interesting buildings — a church with some good Norman work, a ruined castle,
several interesting examples of half-timbered houses and others of later date, and
some delightful cottages ; all these are prettily illustrated.

REVIEWS

THE HERTFORDSHIRE WONDER, or Strange News from Ware. W. B,
Gerish, Bishop's Stortford ; 15. net.

This is another ot Mr. Gerish's useful reprints of old Hertfordshire pamphlets j.
the present one was " printed for J. Clark at the Bible and Harp, West Smith-Field,
near the Hospital Gate, 1669." The nature of the story sufficiently appears from
the lengthy title-page, beloved of the seventeenth century : — " Being an exact and
true Relation of one Jane Stretton the Daughter of Thomas Stretton of Ware in-
the County of Herts, who hath been visited in a strange kind of manner by extra-
ordinary and unusual fits, her abstaining from sustenance for the space of 9 Months,
being haunted by Imps or Devils in the form of several Creatures here described, the
Parties adjudged of all by whom she was thus tormented and the occasion thereof,
with many other remarkable things taken from her own mouth and confirmed by
credible witnesses." Mr. Gerish has an interesting prefatory note on the subject of
mediaeval and modern fasting performances.

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Illustrated Programmes free.

THOS. COOK & SON,

LUDGATE CIRCUS, LONDON, AND BRANCH OFFICES

[. FENTON AND SONS

ii NEW OXFORD STREET, LONDON

(Near Mudie's Library and the British Museum)

Have for sale a large Collection of OLD ENGLISH and FOREIGN
ARMS and ARMOUR; Weapons, Ornaments, etc., illustrating
Savage Life ; Egyptian, Greek, and Roman Antiquities ; Antique
China, Pottery, Carved Oak, Metalwork, and Curiosities of all kinds.

Commissions at Auction Sales undertaken.
ESTABLISHED 1880.

Ill

CONTENTS.

PAGE

HENDON AND SIR WILLIAM RAWLINSON . 81

RECENT DENE-HOLE DISCOVERIES ... 91

HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY RECORDS . . 96

EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX . . 107

THE HYDES OF KENT .... * vv . 113

VESTRY MINUTE BOOK, ST. BENNET'S, PAUL'S

WHARF . . 120

EAST KENT PARISH HISTORY v . . .127
THE KING'S OLD BARGE-HOUSE .... 135
BRUCE CASTLE, TOTTENHAM . . . .139
HOUGHTON CONQUEST, BEDS. .... 143
AN EALING TRAGEDY, 1747 . -., IT. . .149
THE CHRONICLE OF PAUL'S CROSS . ; ..-,. . 151

NOTES AND QUERIES ...... , . . 155

REVIEWS . 157

NOTICES.

It is particularly requested that all communications for the Editor be
addressed to him by name at 5, Stone Buildings, Lincoln's Inn, W.C.
All communications for the Publishers should be sent direct to them.

The annual subscription to the Magazine is 6s. 6d. post free. Quarterly
Parts, is. 6d. net each, by post, is. &d. Cases for binding, is. 6d. each, can
be obtained from the Publishers.

Copies of some of the Plates which have appeared in the Magazine are
for sale, and certain Blocks can also be purchased at moderate prices.

GEORGE BELL & SONS, YORK HOUSE, PORTUGAL ST. W.C.

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HENDON & SIR WILLIAM RAWLINSON,
KNIGHT, ONE OF THE KEEPERS OF THE GREAT
SEAL OF ENGLAND, 1640-1703.

BY W. H. WADHAM POWELL.

WHEN, in 1665, the Judges of the London Law
Courts were driven out of the city by the Great
Plague, which, according to the Bills of Mortality,
left 68,000 people dead behind it, they not unwisely betook
themselves to the breezy heights of Hampstead, in search of
a purer and healthier atmosphere.

There, beneath the shade of an avenue, or grove, of elm
trees, they held their court, much in the same way, it may be
presumed, as the Tynwald Hill in the Isle of Man is used for
a similar purpose at the present day.

This avenue, or promenade, has ever since been known as
" The Judges' Walk." It is situated upon a terrace of high
ground, overlooking the western portion of Hampstead Heath.
The elms, or their successors, are still there, though, alas, in a
somewhat decadent condition; and as the judges paced up
and down and surveyed the charming and extensive landscape
which lay before them to the northward, consisting of a far-
spread range of well wooded and undulating country, stretch-
ing away to the Hertfordshire hills on the distant horizon, the
only building probably to meet their gaze in that direction
would be the gray square tower of the old church at Hendon,
situated on rising ground, about a couple of miles distant from
where they stood, and forming then, as it does still, the most
conspicuous object in the middle distance of this wooded and
pastured landscape.

Like so much of the fertile land about the metropolis,
portions of the country about Hendon were occupied in the
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries by the Knights Templars
and their successors the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of
Jerusalem. By an inquest taken in 1331, it was found that
this last-named order of knights possessed some 140 acres of
arable land in Hendon and Fynchele, at a value of $d. an
acre, yearly rent, as well as two acres of meadowland, and
other five acres as well, and in 1388, one Guy de Hoddeston
made a release or quitclaim to the then Prior of the said

VOL. XL 81 G

HENDON & SIR WILLIAM RAWLINSON, KNIGHT.

Order, John Radyngton, of all lands at Hendon which were
formerly held by Gilbert de Brauncestre. And it may also be
remarked, as regards this deed of quitclaim, that a Richard de
Breynte was one of the witnesses to it, showing that the name
of Brent, which is the name of the stream running through
Hendon, and which also gave its name to the old Brent Street
(now completely modernized, though the name is still retained),
is one which has long been a local name in Hendon, and was
indigenous, as one may say, to the soil. The old order
changeth, here as elsewhere, but the names of a locality
seldom change, and often remain now the same as they were
centuries ago.

You may break, you may shatter

The vase as you will,
But the scent of the ointment

Will cling to it still.

And in this connection, it may also be interesting to notice
that the Templars' rule in Hendon is still kept in record by
the name of Temple Fortune, a hamlet about a mile from
Hendon itself, towards the now well known Finchley Road,
and close to the very modern buildings of the so-called Garden
City, but no other trace of the white-robed knights seems now
to be found in the neighbourhood.

In 1410 Hendon was included with other lands in an assign-
ment to Henry, Lord Scrope of Masham, for the maintenance
of the servants and horses of his lordship, who was then
attending Parliament on the King's service, and no doubt the
inhabitants at that date would duly appreciate the honour
thus conferred upon them.

There is nothing especially remarkable about the church
itself, which is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, but it contains a
capacious font which is a fine specimen of the Norman period,
and is decorated with the small interlacing circular arches
which are so characteristic of Norman work.

In 1650 the parsonage of Hendon was worth about £170 a
year, and it then belonged to Sir Percy Herbert, who is
described by Lysons as a " recusant convict."

In the church registers, extracts from which have been
published, are many well known names. Among these may
be mentioned the entries relating to the Powys family, to
Joseph Ayliffe, the Antiquary (1781), and to Sir Jeremy
Whichcote and his family (1677). There is a monument to
Nathaniel Hone, the miniature painter, in the churchyard

HENDON & SIR WILLIAM RAWLINSON, KNIGHT.

(1784), and in the church is a memorial slab to Edward
Fowler, Bishop of Gloucester (1714); there are also many
other monuments to more or less well-known people of various
dates.

Probably, however, the most important and interesting
monument in the parish church of Hendon is that to the
memory of Sir William Rawlinson, of which more particular
mention may now be made.

This monument to Sir William Rawlinson takes the form
of a stately recumbent effigy in white marble, said to be by
Rysbrach, which is placed under a north window at the chancel
end of the church. He is represented in his robes as a
Commissioner of the Great Seal, and with one arm he leans
on his Official Box, which has the arms of England carved
upon it

A small shield on one side is blazoned with the arms of
Rawlinson, which are: Sable, three swords in pale silver, the
hilts gold, two of them erect with the points upwards, the
middle one with the point downwards; a chief indented of
the third.

The inscription on the monument is as follows :

Effigies honoratissimi viri Gulielmi Rawlinson,
Militis, servientis ad Legem, hie infra posita est,

qui in omni re literaria et jurisprudentia
insignis ad summum pro Magni Sigilli custodia,

Munus a serenissimis Gulielmo et Maria
Principibus primo regni sui anno (inter alios

Commissionarios) ascitus est.
Quo quidem munere cum fide et dignitate
defunctus, rerum forensium pertaesus, vitae

quod superfuit in religionis cultu et
amicorum obseryantia cum leni otio et

securitate exegit.

Vixit annos 63. Obiit 11° Maii Anno 1703.

Sepulchrum quod sibi testamento decreverat,

posteri ejus integrafide posuerunt, Anno 1705.

This Sir William Rawlinson was born in 1640. He was
created a Serjeant-at-Law in 1686, and when the Revolution
of 1688 had become an accomplished fact, he was appointed
by King William as one of the three Commissioners to whose
hands the custody of the Great Seal of England was entrusted.

He was knighted by the King at Hampton Court in 1688-9.
In after life, " rerum forensium pertaesus," as the inscription
on his monument so pathetically expresses it, he retired to
Hendon, where he purchased the old house in Brent Street

HENDON & SIR WILLIAM RAWLINSON, KNIGHT.

which belonged to the ancient family of the Whichcotes, and
he died there on the nth of May, 1703.

Sir William was twice married; by his first wife, of whom
no detailed information seems to be available, he had two
daughters, named Elizabeth and Anne respectively, both of
whom married and had descendants, Anne, the second
daughter, marrying the Right Honourable Sir John Aislabie,
of Studley Royal, Yorkshire. She died in 1742.

Sir William's second wife was Jane, daughter of Edward
Noseworthy of Devon. She died in 1712 and is buried at
Ealing.

To return to the elder daughter by Sir William's first wife,
Elizabeth Rawlinson. This lady was sought in marriage by
William Lowther, Barrister-at-Law, who probably made her
acquaintance when they were both living in London. He was
born in 1659, and matriculated at Queen's College, Oxford, in
1687-8. There was no issue of this marriage, and after William
Lowther's death, Mrs. Lowther married Giles Earle, of East
Court, Wilts, and they had a son William, who was Member
of Parliament for Malmesbury.

This William Lowther was the second son of Sir John
Lowther of Lowther, Westmoreland, Bart., by his second wife,
Elizabeth, daughter and co-heiress of Sir John Hare of Stow
Bardolph,by Elizabeth, only daughter of Thomas, Lord Keeper
Coventry, and relict of Woolley Leigh, Esquire, of Addington,
Surrey.

At his death in 1675, this Sir John Lowther left his widow,
Lady Lowther, the sum of £20,000, " in lieu of dower," with
which she purchased the estate of Ackworth, in the West
Riding of Yorkshire, and she resided there until her death
in 1700.

It is by the care and labour of this remarkable lady that a
long series of most interesting letters relating especially to
the Lowther family, copied for the most part in her own
handwriting into two large folio volumes, and dated from 1682
to 1692, have been preserved. A few of these letters which
relate to the marriage of her son William Lowther with
Elizabeth, daughter of the Sir William Rawlinson whose
monument, as has been already mentioned, forms such a
conspicuous feature of interest in the old Parish Church of
Hendon, are now by the kind permission of their present
owner, Sir J. W. Ramsden, Bart, printed for the first time;
and it will be found that they throw a very interesting light

HENDON & SIR WILLIAM RAWLINSON, KNIGHT.

on the courtship and marriage of the aforesaid William Lowther
and Elizabeth Rawlinson.

The first letter is addressed by William Lowther to his
mother, Lady Lowther, from which it would appear that, then
as now, the course of true love seldom did run smooth, though,
as not unfrequently happens on these occasions, the dtnoue-
mentw&s of a quite satisfactory character to those immediately
concerned.

The first of these letters is written by

William Lowther, Esq., Barrister-at-Law, to Lady Lowther.

No date, but probably 1687-8.
Honoured Mother,

I shewed my Cousin Hare the letter, and he says he has
not seen the young lady, nor so much as heard anything of
her, since the last Long Vacation, neither does he know where
she is at present, but he believes it will be much against the
mother's mind. So that there is but small hopes and encour-
agement for me — A Knight of 1000 //. a year was refused;
he says that also Sir Christopher Wandesford is very ill, the
other night an impostume broke in his stomach with cough-
ing &c \sic\.

Your Ladyship's most dutiful and obedient Son.

WM. LOWTHER.

Sir William Rawlinson himself now appears upon the scene,
and the next letter is a most charming one from Sir William
to Lady Lowther; there is a fine old world fragrance and
courtesy about it, which is most delightful. It appears from
this epistle that the Knight with the .£1,000 a year had now
quite lost his place in the running, and that young Lowther
had gained the day and become the affianced bridegroom of
the " very very good girl " who would now shortly become
Mrs. Lowther.

The affair had so far advanced that the marriage articles
had been signed, and we learn from another of these interest-
ing documents that the marriage settlement was dated the
28th of December, 1687, the contracting parties being William
Lowther of the Middle Temple, William Rawlinson, Serjeant-
at-Law, Dame Elizabeth Lowther of Ackworth Park, Sir John
Lowther of Whitehaven, Baronet, John Sharpe, Doctor of
Divinity and Dean of Norwich, and John Rawlinson, Esquire
Secretary to The Honourable the Master of the Rolls.

HENDON & SIR WILLIAM RAWLINSON, KNIGHT.

By this document £7,000 was settled on Elizabeth Rawlin-
son by Mr. William Lowther, and £3,000 on her by her father,
making a considerable dowry when the value of money in
those days is taken into consideration. This document is
signed by William Lowther and (Sir) John Lowther.

Sir William Rawlinson, Knight, to Lady Lowther.

The last day of the old year, 1687.

Chancery Lane.
Madam,

I forebore the acknowledgement of the receipt of your letter
received some time ago until I could doe it in such manner
as I thought might suit Your Ladyship as well as my own
inclinations. And I now send you this scribble to tell you
that by the modesty of the young persons concerned on both
sides, we have had some difficulties, as well as many delays,
to bring the matter towards a conclusion. Yet I think I may
not only wish Your Ladyship a merry Christmas, but also
present you with a very very good girl for your daughter, and
for a new year's gift, assuring Your Ladyship that, as I do
not doubt, but (that) she will do likewise upon all occasions.
I will endeavour to make your son William, as he was born,
so also that he may continue, a happy new year's gift to you
and your family.

We have advanced so far, as that the other day your Son
and I sealed the Articles, and this evening my brother Sharp,
and my own brother John, have likewise sealed as Trustees.

We are now going to your true friend as well as Son, Sir
John Lowther, for him to scale, and then shall send them
down for Your Ladyship's approbation.

The honest Dean of Norwich desired to join with me in
our most hearty respects and humble service to you, and to
the good company with you, and what remains shall be to
testify the Honour I have for Your Ladyship and your son
William, yet further to assure you that I am, Madam,
Your Ladyship's ever faithful friend,
and most humble servant,

WM. RAWLINSON.

The next letter is from William Lowther to his mother,
informing her that he and his wife had taken up their residence
close to Gray's Inn, and saying that his wife's sister, Anne
Rawlinson, " a very good humoured young woman " was stay-
ing with them.

HENDON & SIR WILLIAM RAWLINSON, KNIGHT.

William Lowther to Lady Lowther.

January, 1687-8.
Honoured Mother,

Your Ladyship's acceptable letter I received about ten days
ago, and since that I received one from Sir John Lowther,
which I have enclosed in this to you. My Wife also received
a very kind one from my Lady Lowther. Both which I look
upon to be very great favours, and could not but let you know
of them. I am now removed from the Temple to Gray's Inn,
the Sergeant has put me into very good Chambers of his that
were formerly Sir William Jones's — it was his pleasure that I
should remove, it lying more convenient for business with the
Northern Attorneys. My Wife and I have taken Lodgings in
Grevell Street, which lies on the back of Gray's Inne Lane,
and the Sergeant is pleased to be so kind as to let my Wife's
Sister stay with us, who is a very good humoured young woman.

We have been gone from the Sergeant these 10 days, but
God be thanked, he still continues his wonted kindness to us,
and I must and will always say so. My Father presents his
service to you, and my Wife her duty. Both our services to
the good family with you.

I rest, craving your Blessing,

Your most dutiful and obedient Son,

WM. LOWTHER.

This letter is followed by another letter from Sir William
Rawlinson addressed to Lady Lowther, from which it appears
that young Lowther was a man of business and had already
started for the Northern Circuit, leaving his wife in charge of
Sir William.

Sir William Rawlinson to Lady Lowther.

ist March, 1688.
Dear Madam,

I send you these few lines not only to acquaint Your
Ladyship that I received the Counterpart of the Articles, but
to give you my hearty thanks for your great favour and kindness
to my daughter Lowther, and for your encouragement to her,
not doubting but you will ever find her a very dutiful and
affectionate child. And for your further comfort and assurance,
that I have the same good hopes of my son Lowther, and to
assure Your Ladyship that they shall both of them have all

HENDON & SIR WILLIAM RAWLINSON, KNIGHT.

the encouragement and hearty assistance that shall lie in my
power, to befriend them withall, and to promote my son's
welfare, which I will tender as my own, and which by his
good demeanour I do already find he shall deserve from me,
and I do cheerfully hope, God will bless them together.

I will take care of his wife in his absence, and I look upon
it as a good amends for the trouble of his Circuit that he hath
the opportunity of paying his duty to Your Ladyship, and to
his other relations with you.

The rest will not be so much of the profit of what his
practice will amount unto, as to give him opportunity to
make observations of what passes in the Circuit, and to
increase his acquaintance, which I hope will insure him to a
way of further advantage, which I doubt not he will obtain
unto, and shall want no assistance I can contribute to, and I
doubt as little the concurrence of the rest of his relations.

I give Your Ladyship no further trouble, save my most
unfeigned and hearty respects, and the assurance that I am,
dear Lady,

Your Ladyship's most affectionate and humble Servant.

WILL* RAWLINSON.

The next and last letter of this series is from Lady Lowther
to Sir William Rawlinson, expressing her satisfaction at the
marriage — things moved slower in those days than they do
now — and apologizing for her " illegible scrawl," and it may be
added, that a sight of the original would convince any one
that her ladyship did herself no injustice in this respect.

Lady Lowther of Ackworth, Yorkshire^ to
Sir William Rawlinson.

The 25th of March, 1688.

Most dear and Honoured Brother,

I am bound to return you my most true and hearty thanks
for your great care and kindness to my Son, and think myself
very happy in the alliance, and if my age and many infirmities
and disagreement of the Town's air did not discourage me
from taking so great a journey, I should attend personally to
give you and my dear daughter a visit, and thereby better to
express my sense of my son's happiness than I can manifest
by my scribbles.

All I can say is, I hope he will ever be governed by you,

and though this Circuit is not encouraging to young lawyers,

yet future advantages may follow, and your directions observed

cannot want a good effect, if his parts and industry do well

HENDON & SIR WILLIAM RAWLINSON, KNIGHT.

second them, as I hope his good nature and obligations will
prompt him to, and my advice shall ever concur.

I am ashamed to interrupt your most weighty occasions by
my impertinent illegible scrawls, so beg your pardon, and
return from myself and whole family our most obliged due
services to your self and your Lady, and rest,

Your most affectionate Sister and Servant,
E. LOWTHER.

All that the space at our disposal will now permit us to do,
is to add a few lines with reference to Hendon House itself,
the residence, as has been already stated, of Sir William
Rawlinson, while he lived at Hendon, and we desire here to
express our thanks to the late occupier, Mrs. Burgess, for her
courtesy in permitting us on a recent occasion to inspect the
house and grounds.

The original mansion is said to have been built by John
Norden, the celebrated antiquary, who wrote a history of
Hendon, and who resided there in the time of Elizabeth.

To him succeeded the family of the Whichcotes, who are
the subject of many entries in the parish registers, say from
1654 to about 1698. At what date Sir William Rawlinson
bought Hendon House is not quite clear, but at all events in
1694 the grant was confirmed to him by William and Mary
of all the charters of their predecessors, which freed the
inhabitants of Hendon from all markets, fairs, bridges, river,
and other tolls, so that at that date Sir William may have
been probably a resident there. Sir William died at Hendon
House in 1703, and he was succeeded in the ownership by the
Cornwall family; a John Cornwall was there in 1795.

In 1811 it had been purchased by a Mrs. Price, and a
Mr. Stafford Price was about that time in possession of the
property. In 1890 it was in the occupation of Major Ardwick
Burgess, who resided there until his death in 1908.

The present house, though no donbt it has been much
altered from what it was in the seventeenth century, still
retains many very interesting evidences of its past history. In
two of the windows of the dining-room, one facing to the east,
and the other to the south, are the arms of the Whichcotes
in very fine coloured glass, which, by the care of the late
occupiers, have been kept in a very complete state of pre-
servation. The arms are: Ermine, Two Boars gules, langued
and tusked blue, with the Badge of Ulster; and impaled with
those of the families of Gould and Groves.

HENDON & SIR WILLIAM RAWLINSON, KNIGHT.

The old staircase of oak, with small panels and carved
balustrades, still remains, probably, much as it was in the
time of the Whichcotes, and there is a low pitched entrance
hall, the ceiling of which is supported by classical columns.
On the roof is the bell which is generally found in houses of
that period, with the date 1680 upon it ; and in the fruit and
vegetable garden is a very fine leaden cistern, ornamented on
the sides and dated 1689. This is probably one of the finest
pieces of old lead work in that part of the country.

The present mansion, as may be seen from the print of it,
has only two stories, but there was at one time a third story
with a gabled roof to it. This was removed when Lord
Henley occupied the premises, after the purchase of the estate
by Mrs. Price, on account, as it is said, of its weight threatening
to injure the lower part of the building. There is also a
legend to the effect that the third storey was haunted by
an apparition in the shape of a lady who carried her head in
her hands. However this may have been, the headless creature
seems now to have disappeared, and Hendon House has no
longer the antiquarian honour of being a haunted house.

It stands in beautifully wooded grounds of about twenty-
three acres in extent, situated on the slope of the hill, running
down from the village of Hendon nearly to the river Brent.
This is now little more than a dirty stream, and the rippling
rivulet, rejoicing in the sunshine and the rain, which in the
time of Sir William Rawlinson

Gave shelter to the winged bands
That haunted then the Brent,

will now before long be reduced to that last sad stage of
a stream's degradation, an underground sort of drain. What
may be the future of this pleasant little estate with its lordly
cedars and its lovely lawns, which was once the residence of a
Commissioner of the Great Seal, remains to be seen, but it is
not improbable that sooner or later another of those memories
of the past, which are with us here to-day, may have disappeared
before the dawning of a not very distant to-morrow.

Since the above was written, the anticipations therein fore-
shadowed have been realized, and last May the Hendon House
estate was sold for building purposes. This will alter the
charming and parklike character of that part of Hendon, and

ttJ VD
^ u

NJ 0

RECENT DENE-HOLE DISCOVERIES.

all that is left to us will be to consider, as the old Romans
would say, whether the event

Creta an carbone notandum est.

NOTE. The illustration is taken from a scarce print, which has been
very kindly lent for the purpose by Mrs. Burgess, the late occupier of
Hendon House. This print is undated, but it is probably not later than
1845-1850.

RECENT DENE-HOLE DISCOVERIES.

BY ALEX. J. PHILIP.

THE discoveries of dene-holes during 1907 have been
more important than those in any other year since
interest was first aroused in these mysterious excava-
tions of the prehistoric period. Unfortunately it has been
found impossible to preserve all the specimens discovered.
But with two exceptions they have been carefully examined,
and it is fitting that the record, together with the evidence
obtained from them, should be preserved. For this purpose it
is undoubtedly best to deal with them seriatim in the chrono-
logical order of their discovery, pointing out new features
bearing upon the history and the use of dene-holes, and
avoiding as far as possible the controversy, which is still un-
settled, as to whether they were granaries, chalk wells, gold
mines, or any other of the likely or unlikely purposes which
have been suggested from time to time.

The first of these important discoveries of 1907 occurred
early in the year at Gravesend. For the purpose of identifica-
tion I have called this the Gravesend Twin-Chamber Dene-
hole. Its discovery was entirely accidental. The land had
been opened up for building and the workmen were engaged
in sinking a cesspool. When some fifty feet below the surface,
the supposed solid chalk fell away from the feet of the work-
man, and very much to his surprise he found himself pre-
cipitated into this underground cave. Fortunately he was
uninjured although considerably startled. There is no known
reference in any of the local or county historians to a dene-
hole in this situation. It lies of the south of Windmill Hill,
away from the river and completely hidden from it. Probably

RECENT DENE-HOLE DISCOVERIES.

owing to the slope of the hill the sand and loam had fallen
into the cave very evenly and steadily. The original shaft
was completely filled and the earth was being forced into the
cave at the bottom as from a huge funnel.

An effort was made, largely supported by the then Mayor
of the town, J. M. Arnold, Esq., a well-known Kentish
antiquary, to raise a sum of money to defray the cost of
removing this enormous quantity of sandy loam; unfortun-
ately the project did not receive sufficient support and was
abandoned. In the meantime, however, the builder had had
a large quantity removed ; thus making it possible to take a
more detailed survey than would have been the case other-
wise. This minute examination showed that in all probability
the cave had been sealed up for very many centuries, and
there were no signs that it had been put to any use since it
was left by its original excavators. In addition it was arranged
on a very rare plan. The result was that it has been regarded
as one of the most interesting and important specimens known.

The cave was about fifty-five feet below the surface, although
at an earlier date the depth was probably greater, as it appears
likely that some of the upper soil has found its way into the
valley. At the bottom of the loam the shaft is cut through
the inevitable three feet of chalk before it widens out into the
chamber. It is in the chamber that the great difference
between this and the usual Dene-hole was observable. In
place of the single chamber or the six chambers arranged like
two clover leaves placed base to base, was what is best de-
scribed as a twin-chamber cave. In the centre and immediately
beneath the shaft was a dividing wall of chalk left there in its
natural state when the cave was excavated. On the ground
level was a communicating gap from one chamber to the other ;
so that either chamber could be entered from the shaft or
goods directed into either chamber, and at the same time it
was not necessary to surmount this dividing wall upon every
occasion. The chambers were unequal in size. The larger
was about thirty feet by twenty-four feet and the smaller
twenty-four feet by twenty feet. It was difficult to obtain
exact measurements owing to the inequalites of the sand
heap, but the figures given are so near that the account of
the chambers cannot suffer in any way from the absence of
minute measurements. The bones of various animals of the
dog tribe were found close to the surface of this huge mound
of sand. On excavating this deposit in one portion of the

RECENT DENE-HOLE DISCOVERIES.

cave it was found to be between nine and ten feet deep, giving
a total height in the loftiest part of about eighteen feet.
Although the portion cleared was small the various periods
could be traced quite easily by the animals' bones and other
things found in the sand. Near the floor two or three good
flints were found; one of them an excellent specimen of a
scraper. On the roof of the smaller chamber, not quite so
lofty as the other, was a curious smoothness of the chalk
which could have been caused only by the constant rubbing
of some fairly hard substance or some other material having
the same effect. It was suggested that it had been caused by
corn in the ear as it was thrown into the chamber. While its
appearance entirely favoured the supposition, it cannot be said
with certainty that this is the real explanation. There is no
doubt, however, that the most valuable evidence relating to
dene-holes is to be found in the marks left by the picks.

Horn, bone, and flint implements were all in use at the
same time ; that is, the periods overlapped, and different parts
of the country had different methods of working. In other
words, to render the statement plainer, it may be explained
that as soon as the first bronze implement was made all the
stone did not immediately suffer destruction, even at the
hands of those who appreciated the advantages of bronze.
Therefore it is possible that both bone and metal pick im-
pressions might be found on the walls. This is the only ex-
planation available where both types of pick marks are found
on the same level of a wall. The Gravesend Twin Chamber
Dene-hole showed no sign of these late metal picks. But
excellent examples of marks which apparently could have
been made only by bone or horn picks were to be seen near
the roof. Fortunately I succeeded in obtaining two casts of
these in plaster. It was necessary, however, to chop away
round the cast before it could be removed, the result was that
the impression was immediately destroyed. These pickmarks
were only to be seen near the roof; the walls evidently had
been smoothed with some flat instruments, probably one of
the flint chisel-like implements found near the floor.

The second discovery, due in some measure to accident,
cannot be wholly ascribed to chance. In the neighbourhood
of the ruins of the once famous Lessness Abbey is a deep
well which was believed to be an adapted dene-hole, particu-
larly as another near by had been used for a rubbish-pit and
showed no appreciable signs of filling up. On examination it

RECENT DENE-HOLE DISCOVERIES.

was found that although these wells were probably old they
were not dene-holes, nor were they of any very great age, as
time goes in estimating the age of dene-holes. In the woods
close by a pit about fifteen feet deep bore every evidence of
a dene-hole choked with branches of trees and rubbish. A
crowbar pushed through revealed the fact that the shaft was
continued beneath the obstruction. An endeavour to remove
the debris only brought down a still larger quantity from the
sides, and a more fitting opportunity was waited for. A
number of cup-like depressions close by pointed to the exist-
ence of a very large number of specimens. And the iron bar
when driven down in the centre of the depression showed that
about four feet through the earth was a cavity of some sort.
Steady spade work threw open the shafts of two dene-holes,
the others being left for a later occasion. The opening of
other specimens is to be undertaken ; and a sum sufficiently
large to pay for the removal and sifting of one or more of the
mounds in the caves has been subscribed. The two opened
were very similar in appearance and also in their details, so
that it will be sufficient to describe one. It may be stated at
the same time that they are typical specimens, and have no
individual value beyond what may be revealed by the sifting,
and the opening of the remaining specimens. The significance
of the discovery lies in the number of caves scattered about
the immediate neighbourhood, showing unequivocally that,
whatever purpose dene-holes were put to, a large settlement
of prehistoric people was situated on the spot some three or
four thousand years ago.

There could be no doubt whatever that these caves at
Abbey Wood had been used for some purpose in compara-
tively recent times. The chalk had fallen from the roofs and
the upper walls in great masses, completely obliterating all
signs of tools in the most important parts of the chambers.
The pickmarks that were discovered here and there appeared
to be those of modern metal tools. It must be admitted, how-
ever, that it is extremely difficult if not impossible to identify
with certainty the marks of metal tools in chalk of different
periods.

The shafts were of the average depth, some sixty feet. The
stemple holes, *.*., holes in the side of the shaft for stakes to
form a ladder, were extremely good. Three feet of chalk
forms the roofs of the caves, which were divided into the six
chambers of the double clover leaves. There were no means

RECENT DENE-HOLE DISCOVERIES.

of gauging the depth of the sand on the floor, but judging
from general features the caves were very lofty, so much so
that they became awe-inspiring. But this is a very frequent
effect of dene-holes, even by those who are not already filled
with those romantic theories which have brought so much
ridicule upon an interesting and important study. On the
top of the mound were articles not much more than a hundred
years old. These included some bottles and earthenware of
about the very early nineteenth century, a large number of
dog, horse, and other animals' bones, together with two some-
what battered examples of the old horn lanterns.

The two specimens which were mentioned as exceptions in
the early part of the paper were situated in back gardens at
Grays Thurrock. They both caved in suddenly, fortunately
without serious result, at different times. While it would
have been somewhat dangerous to descend shafts in so pre-
carious a state, an effort would have been made to secure
some evidence if the cavities had not been filled in at the
earliest moment.

The last of these 1907 discoveries was the shallow dene-
hole at Stone, which has been named the Stone Court Dene-
hole. By the courtesy of Mr. J. J. Hewitt, every facility has
been given for the careful examination of this example. This
is fortunate, as it is an important discovery, disproving most
decidedly the chalk draw-well theory, which has been for
many years the only serious rival to the underground granary
theory.

The dene-hole itself was typical and uninteresting in some
respects. It was just a six chambered excavation. Near the
angle of the roof and the shaft I succeeded in getting a cast
of a remarkably good bone pickmark. This spot is the one
least likely to be touched by any later workers in the cave,
who usually confine their operations to the chambers and
their enlargement. And in this case on the end walls of the
chambers were marks of picks which could scarcely have been
made by bone picks, although they bore little resemblance to
the marks made by the modern steel pick.

The great significance of the Stone Court Dene-hole lies in
its shallowness. It is barely fifteen feet below the surface,
instead of, as is usual, at least fifty. There is no appearance,
in fact there appears to be no possibility, of a landslip having
taken place. The chief argument of the chalk well theorists,
that chalk from a great depth was of more value than that

THE HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY RECORDS.

near the surface, is thus rendered nugatory. And, if chalk
and chalk only was the object of this laborious excavation,
why was the Stone Court Dene-hole sunk at all seeing that
only a few yards distant the same bed of chalk outcrops? The
question is a significant one.

Many years ago two shallow dene-holes were discovered in
the Crayford district ; they were eighteen feet from the sur-
face, and the caves were simple single chambers. It is obvious
at once that the evidence of the Stone Court Dene-hole is of
the utmost importance.

The whole evidence of these discoveries begins to fore-
shadow the revelation of a picture of a busy, comparatively
highly civilized, mercantile race, living in larger or smaller
" towns " on the banks of the Thames in North Kent and to
a lesser degree in South Essex. It will probably be possible,
in the not very distant future, to outline with some certainty
and minuteness the life of the prehistoric inhabitants of these
parts of our country.

NOTES ON THE HERTFORDSHIRE
COUNTY RECORDS.

BY CORNELIUS NICHOLLS.

AN interesting and historically instructive compilation
bearing upon certain phases of social conditions in the
Hertfordshire of bygone days, is that of the Hertford-
shire County Records. For these volumes we are, in the first
place, indebted to the Hertfordshire County Council who
commissioned the calendaring of the Records in their custody.
This work, ably carried out by Mr. W. J. Hardy, F.S.A., deals
with the Council's Records from 1620 to 1850, to which are
added, by the courtesy of the late Marquis of Salisbury, others
of a more ancient date from the muniment room of Hatfield
House, going back to the year 1581. Thus, with the exception
of matters relating to the separate Liberty of St. Albans, there
is a fairly continuous series for nearly two hundred and
seventy years. Unfortunately for the completeness of the
picture of county life and manners, which would otherwise
have been shown, there is generally speaking no information

THE HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY RECORDS.

as to the result of the many presentments and indictments
forming the bulk of these records.

The following selections may perhaps help to show how
great have been the changes in the social life of this country
during the period here treated of — changes in manners and
customs, laws, commerce, and especially the practice of religion.
With regard to the punishment of offenders against the laws,
there are here many cases showing with what severity com-
paratively trifling offences were treated. Religious toleration
was non-existent, and would, moreover, have been generally
regarded as criminal. In later days we find instances where,
if in some cases we are inclined to pity " ejected ministers,"
we are also reminded how many of these had been previously
injected, or " intruded," to the ruin of those they supplanted.
As to the housing of the people, it is rather startling to find,
in these days of overcrowding, how many " presentments " are
made for building cottages "whereunto they have not laid
four acres of freehold land according to the statute." There
are also many cases of unlawfully exercising certain callings,
now free to all, and of others, the very names of which are
obsolete and only to be met with, by way of allusion, in the
works of old writers. As to these, and to various other
matters occurring in the course of the extracts, we have
ventured to offer a few sidelights.

Dealing first with entries relating to the reign of Queen
Elizabeth, and observing the variations of law and social
conditions shown in subsequent reigns, we begin with the
year 1589.

1589-90. Gaol Delivery, St. Albans. James Buckston,
sentenced to be drawn to the gallows and hanged for clipping
money; William Longe, to be hanged for burglary; Richard
Bacchus, to be hanged as a cutpurse ; Thomas Pasgrave, John
Mychell, and Thomas Wheelers, confess themselves guilty of
stealing cattle, they claim benefit of clergy and are released.
John Gibsons, and John Brokeson, for stealing bread, to be
whipped; William Gray and Abery Gray his wife, and
Thomas Gill and Alice Gill his wife, indicted as rogues et
executi.

Presentment: "Mary Pennyfather, of Hipolletts, hath a
woman child of the age of fower yeares which could neither
goe nor speke, whom she caryed to Thomas Harden, because
it is noysed in the country that he is a wyse man and can

VOL. xi. 97 H

THE HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY RECORDS.

skyll of many thinges, who told her that her childe was a
changelinge, but would in tyme helpe her. The next tyme
that she came unto him he bad her to take a nutt and to pick
out the curnell and fyll yt with quicksilver, and to stoppe the
hole with waxe and to bynd a thred a crosse over the nutte
and to lay yt under a pyllow wher the chylde shoulde lye,
and that shoulde helpe yt. Her chylde having thereby noe
helpe, she repared to him againe, and then he bad her to sett
the chylde in a chare uppon her dungell by the space of an
houre uppon a sonny day, which she did, and the chylde had
noe helpe." The woman gave him sixpence for his reward
and promised him more. Others who " repared " to this man
were John Bigge of Hipolletts, sick of a fever; Robert
Dickinson of " Duddicote [query Codicote], who had a waist-
coat purloined ; Goodwyfe Strat, of King's Walden, from whom
a parcel of new cloth had been stolen; William Kynge of
Gamlingay, who had lost two horses ; and Mr. Oly ver, who
was desirous to know who had fired his mother's house at
Weston.

1590-91. Indictment of Joan White, wife of Thomas White
of Bushey, labourer, as a common witch and enchantress, for
devilishly bewitching Marion Man, daughter of William Man,
of Bushey, tailor, through which she languished exceedingly
from December 20 until June 27 next following, when she
died. The jurors say that the said Joan feloniously killed her.

Another case of this kind about the same date, though
from another source, gives a curious instance of the old
custom of tracking criminals by bloodhounds, a practice still
occasionally resorted to in this country.

1590: Information touching certain men taken up in the
parish of Edmonton for practising the art of witchcraft and
conjuring, "mystic articles were found in their possession,
with powders and rats-bane, which the parties that fled strewed
in the way, disappointing the bloodhounds thereby."

It is difficult to account satisfactorily for the widespread
and deep-rooted belief in this possession of supernatural powers
by "wyse" men and women, who, in claiming this power,
generally for the gain of very small profit, ran the risk of
most cruel punishment. In spite of this, there is no doubt
that witchcraft, as an indictable offence, did formerly prevail
to an alarming extent. In this country severe laws against it

THE HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY RECORDS.

were passed in the reigns of Henry VIII, Elizabeth, and
James I. Three popes, Alexander VI, 1494; Julius II, 1521;
and Julius III in 1522, issued Bulls in its condemnation; but,
notwithstanding, it is estimated that in England alone and
during the time of the Long Parliament, 3,000 victims were
executed for this crime. In the course of two centuries,
throughout Germany the appalling number of 100,000 burnings
has been recorded, and in France, chiefly about the year 1520,
so many that the historian, not trusting himself to figures,
sums it all up as " an incredible number." * Doubtless many
of these suffered by false accusations and by reason of public
or private vengeance; some for no more cause than what
would now be esteemed mere unpopularity, but in most cases
on account of religious fanaticism.

1590-91. Information that Tymothye Phillippis had been
examined, concerning the stealing of Northe's sheep, by the
constable and others above a dozen times before he was
examined by Mr. Spencer, and said, although he be bound to
give evidence, he would not appear because the constable
and others " make so much a dooe thereabout."

1591. Presentment of Robert Bound of Buntingford West-
myll, for absenting himself from the parish church for three
months.

Presentment of Thomas , yeoman, of the parish of

Aston, for striking one Thomas Battes of Aston, " with a staff
maliciously, in the chancel of Hitchin Church, drawing blood."

We do not find what was the result of this presentment,
but the law enacted that if any person in a church or church-
yard should smite or lay violent hands upon another, "he
shall be excommunicated ipso facto; or if he should strike him
with a weapon, he shall, besides being excommunicated, have
one of his ears cut off, or in default of losing his ears be
branded with the letter F in his cheek."

Presentment of Thomas Smyth of Cottered, labourer, and
John Barfoot of the same, bachelor, for buying and engrossing
a parcel of grain called a " pese-ryke."

Engrossing, forestalling, and regrating constantly form
occasions for presentments in these records. All these practices
had the effect of raising the price of goods, to the detriment of
the purchaser in the market, by making what is now called

1 Timperley's Ency., p. 233.

THE HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY RECORDS.

"a corner" in wheat or some other commodity. Under the
form of regrating, this offence must have been very prevalent
about this time, for Latimer, in a sermon preached before
Edward VI, takes occasion to denounce the same which he
thus defines : " some farmers will regrate and buy up all the
corne that cometh to the market, and lay it up in store, and
sell it again at an higher price when they see their time."
The " pese-ryke," alluded to above, is a little difficult to define
accurately, but it would seem to denote some raised or heaped-
up measure of grain. Somewhat in this sense the word Ryke
occurs in Burns'/^ Beggars-.

Let me ryke up to dight that tear

An' go wi' me an' be my dear,
An' then your every care an' fear

May whistle owre the lave o't.

Presentment of the Jury. " We present that Richard Ernes
with one Thomas Davies, the 2Oth October last past, demand-
ing relief of one Robert Sibthorpe, who, speaking of their
disorderly walking, Davies said that the said Sibthorpe and
such as he wolde deal with them as the Earl of Leicester
wolde have done. Beinge demanded how the Earle wolde
have delt with them, he answered, he wolde have hanged
three hundred of us in one morninge for demanding of our
pay, Sibthorpe said he had some other cause so to doe. Then
Davies answered that it was well known what he was, and that
he was a traitor. Sibthorpe warned him to take heede what
he saide. Then Richard Ernes said it was well known both
to the Queene and her Councell, for I cuminge over with
the Earle of Darbie, when he came out of Flanders, he brought
over a scroule in writinge of his treason to this lengthe
makinge a marke on his staffe to the length of half a yarde."

This seems an echo of one of the many attempts to destroy
the reputation and also the life of Elizabeth's favourite
minister, prompted generally by party jealousy and religious
animosity; instances of which are chronicled in the State
Papers of this reign. To give an example, we find that in
1586, one Lieven Archevier, described as "born at Ghent,"
gives information touching the design of certain Jesuits to
kill the Earl of Leicester, either by poison or other violent
means; and about the same time, John Clarke, a prisoner,
details " the seditions and vile speeches of one Fishwick, and
his plots to burn the Earl's house at Wanstead and to raise a
Catholic rebellion; his knowledge of inflammable oils for

100

THE HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY RECORDS.

burning houses; and of the making of mortal poisons and
perfumes." These conspiracies and libels aroused the anger
of the Queen, who caused a letter to be sent to the Lord
Mayor, expressing her indignation at the infamous libels
spread against the Earl of Leicester " of which most malicious
and wicked imputations, Her Majesty, in her own clear know-
ledge, doth declare and testify his innocence to all the world.
Her Majesty believes in her conscience that none but the
Devil himself could believe them to be true." The above is
endorsed by Lord Burghley: "A copy of a Pre wrytten by
Hir Mals cSma'dment to ye Mayre of London in defence of
ye Er. of LeicestV

Sessions, 1593. Breaking out of Gaol. Verdict: " Wee fynd
that there is fower doores belonging to the Gayle goyinge
into the gayle as thorowe an entrye, whereof the first doore
nexte unto the mayne gayle was cleane broken down, and
the second doore beyinge distant from the inner doore aboute
two foote and a halfe, beyinge chayned to the inner doore,
was broken and the chayne also as they mighte have gonn
owte, but they went not beyond the said second doore of the
other doores, the inner was shutt still and the forth doore
standeth all wayes open in the day time ; which brekynge of
doores was by Hamond Bateman, Willyam Temple, John
Martyne, and John Clarke, with an intent to escape, but
whether the breakynge of the said gayle doores as aforesaid
be fellonye or no, we refer ourselves to the opinion of the
Corte, and if it be fellonye we fynd them all gyltie, and that
they had neither goods, chattells, lands, or tenentes at they
tyme of the said fellonye or since to our knowledge ; and yf
it be no fellonye then we fynde ' not gyltie/ and that they
broke the first doore and cam into the second doore and
brake that to, so whether it be fellonye or not we leave to
your worships judgement." The parties are respited. At the
Gaol Delivery, Epiphany Sessions, these men were indicted
for prison breaking. Those pleading not guilty were remanded.
Two of them confessed themselves guilty, claimed benefit of
clergy and were discharged.

In the verdict of this rather muddled jury, the only thing
which comes out clearly is the claim to Benefit of Clergy,
denoting that these two men possessed the then rare accom-
plishment of being able to read, thereby coming under the
denomination clerici. From a very early period the Clergy

101

THE HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY RECORDS.

together with their consecrated buildings were exempt from
civil jurisdiction, reminiscences of which still linger in the
name of Broad Sanctuary, in the precincts of Westminster
Abbey. The Church had also demanded and received the
same immunity for Laymen of sufficient education ; reading
(then a rare accomplishment) being considered a sufficient
test. This privilege, however, was restricted to first offences,
in token of which, the culprit before being handed over to the
ecclesiastical authorities, was branded by the gaoler with a
hot iron in the " brawn of the left thumb." The meaning of
this is very clearly shown by a passage occurring in a descrip-
tion of one of Queen Elizabeth's progresses: "March i8th
1559, Eleven persons, malefactors, rode to hanging; seven
men and four women; one of these men was a priest, his
crime was for cutting a purse wherein were three shillings;
but he was burnt in the hand, or else the book would have
saved him."1

1592-3. Presentment of John Locke of Barkway, and
Francis Umwell of the same, baker, for breaking the assize
of bread there — to wit, John Locke made his " twoe pennye
lofes" sixteen ounces under weight, and Francis Umwell
made his two penny loaves twenty-seven ounces under weight,
and his penny loaves six ounces under weight, to the great
loss of the public.

The above throws some light on the purchasing power of
money at this period, and one can well imagine the size of
the penny and two penny loaves, to have borne such a
diminution of weight without disappearing altogether. Much
evidence as to the cost of provisions is furnished by the
articles of agreement made about this time between the Privy
Council and the county authorities for the delivery of pro-
visions to the Royal Household. This agreement, subject to
a " composition " which no doubt somewhat reduced the
market price, states :

" Fjrst. That 50 fatt veales of the age of six weeks and up-
wards shall be delivered the 1st of June at each, iiijj. m]d"

" Item. That cxx fat lambes and meet for Her Majesty's
service shall be delivered the 2Oth November at xijaf."

" Item. That 30 fatt and great porkes and sufficient for
Her Majesty's service shall be delivered 2Oth November at
each, iiijj."

1 Nichols, Progresses of Queen Elizabeth.

102

THE HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY RECORDS.

" Item. That 400 quarters of wheate at vjs. v\\]d. the quarter
[query bushel] shall be continued according to the old and
ancyent composition, and that it shall be lawful for Her
Majesty's purveyors for the monthe, to take yearlie within
the said sheare by vertue of commission 70 quarters of the
best wheate, payinge reddy money for the same, after the rate
that of the second price that wheate shall be sold for that
sum in the market, or to abate iiijd. for a bushell of the best
price of the said market."

A great number of presentments are made with regard to
the practice of stopping up rights of way through field-paths,
etc., and the unlawful enclosing of common lands. They occur
at all periods covered by these records, and are perhaps more
numerous than any other kind of offence here chronicled. No
wonder that the comparative immunity enjoyed by such
offenders should have been at all times the cause of much
seething discontent among the people, especially when con-
trasting this leniency to the wealthy intruders with the frequent
hangings of their own class for petty thefts. An early and
quaint illustration of how these encroachments would occasion-
ally provoke a serious revolt is given in Grafton's Chronicle,
where he records that about the fifth year of Henry VIII
" The townes men about London, as Islington, Hogsdon,
Hackney, Shordiche, and such other, had so enclosed the
common fields wyth hedges and dyches, that neyther the
young men of the Citie myght shoote nor the auncient
persons walke for their pleasure, except eyther their Bowes
and Arrowes were broken or taken away, or the substanciall
arrested and endyted, saiying that no Londoner shoulde go
out of the Citie but in ye high wayes. This saing so grieved
the Londoners, that sodeinly in a morning a Turner in a
foole's coate came criying thorough the Citie, ' Shovels and
Spades'; so many people followed that it was wonder. And
within a short space all the hedges about the townes were
cast downe and the dyches filled, and every thing made playne.
The Kynge's Counsayle, hearyng of this assemblye, came to
the Gray-Fryers, nowe called Christe's Hospitall, and sent for
the Maior and Counsell of ye Citie to knowe the cause,
whyche declared unto them the noysaunce done to the
Citizens and their commodities and liberties taken from them,
which though they being rulers woulde not, yet the common-
altie which were anoyed, woulde plucke up and remedy.
When the Kynge's Counsayle had heard the answer, they

103

THE HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY RECORDS.

dissembled the matter, and commaunded the Maior to see
that no other thyng were attempted and to call home the
Citizens: who, when they had done their enterprize, came
home without any more harme doyng. And so after, the
fieldes were never hedged." At a subsequent and milder
period of history the enclosure grievance found its expression
in the oft quoted lines:

Why prosecute the vulgar felon
Who steals the goose from off the common,
But leave the greater villain loose
Who steals the common from the goose !

The next presentments show the usual method of procedure
in such cases.

1593-94. Presentment: That from time immemorial there
has been a common way called a " common fylde gappe " in
a field within the parish of Weston, called Hill Syde, through
which "common gappe" the inhabitants of Weston were
accustomed for all time to pass with their carriages and
droves; nevertheless Thomas Harmer, the younger, by force
and arms, knowingly and designedly stopped up and barred
" le comen gappe " with a great and very deep ditch, and
with a quickset hedge.

Presentment: That whereas the inhabitants of Braughinge
had long used a certain way and common passage at Brawhinge
through a field called Stonye Crofte, when the said field was
not lying sown, John Gayler, yeoman, had of late enclosed
about six acres with ditches and hedges, being parcel of the
said field, and so stopped up the said way.

1593-94. Indictment of John Clarke of Waltham Crosse,
smith, for that on October I9th, 1593, at night, viz., between
the hours of seven and eight after midday, he burglariously
entered the mansion house of Symon Crowche, at Waltham
Crosse, and took two cloaks value 2os., one capon, value 6*/.,
and one sack, value \2d.y the goods of the said Crowche.
Sentenced to be hanged.

Presentment: That the highway between Stapleforde Bridge
and Doggesheade in the Pott in the parish of Anstye, is
decayed.

1594-95. Agreement of the Justices that every High Sheriff
of the County at the time of the Assize shall make provision

104

THE HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY RECORDS.

and keep a table for the Justices who shall appear at the same
Assizes. Each Justice to pay and contribute for his dinner
two shillings and sixpence in money, and for the dinner of
his servant eightpence.

1 595-9^' Order of the Privy Council for the restraint of
killing and eating of flesh this next Lent.

Presentment: That John Shotbolte of Yardley, gent., had
lately enclosed with a hedge and ditch a part of the common
way there, lying in the fields of Yardley.

1596-97. Presentment: That William Kyngeof Brawghinge,
labourer, on the above date, took "a young mastie bytch"
belonging to George Hamond and did flea her, being a live,
and so the dog had come to the house of the said George
Hamond, without its skin.

Edward Bull affirmed that it was spoken in his hearing
upon Cottered Greene, that the Lord Admiral of England
had put sand into barrels instead of " powlder " within the
ships that the Earl of Essex should go forth withal, and that
the Lord Admiral for that was committed to the Tower, but
by whom those words were spoken he well remembreth not ;
and that Thomas Antwissel " should " bring this news from
the Court, having been lately there, but who affirmed that he
likewise remembreth not. Edward Whytenberry of Cottered,
tailor, deposed to similar effect. Thomas Antwissel " confessed
(being examined) that he told Whytenberry that (as he knew)
there was sand or grease where powder should be, but he
thought it was not by the Lord Admiral's means."

1598-1599. Presentment: That Robert Renoldes of Hert-
ford, not having the fear of God before his eyes, entered the
yard of Robert Dawson of Hertford, "coryer," and carried
away five hides worth 2os.

1599-1600. Presentment of John Pearson and sixteen others
(some of them being also unlicensed) for selling beer at the
rate of three halfpence per quart.

Petition of the inhabitants of Cheshunt to Sir Henry Coke,
Knight, Lord of the manor of Cheshunt, in reference to a
recent order for the relief of the poor. As touching the pro-
vision of corn, they complain that John Shellye and Thomas
Harrys of Cheshunt, " loders," not only buy corn in one

105

THE HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY RECORDS.

market and sell it in another market, unground, but also go
from barn to barn, and buy up the corn at the barn doors,
so that the petitioners can not buy it for their ready money.
They formerly had their corn from Mr. Dakers, the parson,
as they needed it, for money, but now, on account of the said
forestalling, he carries it not to market.

1600-1601. Presentment: That the pound and the stocks of
Weston are not sufficient and ought to be " done " by the
Lady Pickerringe, Lady of the same manor.

1601-1602. Presentment: That William Day of Braughing,
yeoman, has stopped up an ancient way of passage through
his ground to Cockyn Lane, in the said parish, and has cut up
the stiles and has " taken away the easementes, with hedging
upp and dyching out the Queen's leige people."

As before stated, there are many such like presentments,
both with regard to rights of way and the enclosures of common
land, greatly to the loss of the poorer classes, too often sufferers
in this way from the "oppressor's wrong, the proud man's
contumely " ; but no doubt there were also honourable ex-
ceptions, of which the following letter, printed in the State
Papers of this reign may be cited as a striking example:

1600. Secretary Cecil to William Cock of Hertfordshire:
" I had no intention to annoy my neighbours by the enclosure
of lands, for which I paid dearly to enlarge my park, and
finding they are dissatisfied, I repent what is done. I was
assured by those who sounded the dispositions of those
interested, that it had the good will of the country, or I would
not have attempted it had the land been given me. I offer
now how far soever the enclosure has proceeded, to lay it open
again, if the parties of whom the land was bought, will return
the money, and to secure full compensation to those that had
right of common. I request you if there be any peevish person
who tries to divert his neighbours' good affection, to assure
them that though my place about the Queen prevents my
enjoying their acquaintance, I bear them a neighbourly mind.
I wish you to over-rule my men, if they injure others to the
value of a farthing."

The above quotations bring us to the end of the reign of
Queen Elizabeth, and here it may be useful to give, on the

106

Vange Church.

Pitsea Church.
Photographs by C. W. Forbes.

THE EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX.

authority of Hansard's Parliamentary History^ a list of the
prices of provisions prevailing during this time. 1559: Wheat,
8s.; rye, Ss. 1560: Wheat, Ss.; rye, 8^.; barley, 5^. 2d.\ oats,
55.; old hay, I2s. 6d. per load; new hay, 6s. 8d. 1561 : Wheat,
Ss. ; rye, Ss. ; malt, 5 s. ; oats, 55. 1 562 : Wheat, Ss. ; barley, 5 s. ;
hay, 13^. $d. per load; straw, 6s.; claret, £2 los. per hogshead.
1563: Rye, 13^. 4*/.; oats, 55-. 1574, a dearth, and wheat was
£2 i6s. per quarter; beef, is. lod. per stone; and herrings
only five for 2d. ; bay salt (never so dear), 6s. the bushel. After
harvest wheat was £i qs. and continued so about a year. In
1587 wheat was £3 4^. per quarter at London; and, in other
places, at ios., I2s. and 13^. per bushel occasioned by excessive
transportation. In 15 94, wheat, £2 \6s\ rye, £2. In 1595 wheat,
by great transportation, £2 i$s. $d.\ a hen's egg i*/.,or at best,
three for 2d.\ a pound of sweet butter, yd. In 1596 wheat,
by reason of great rains, at £4 per quarter; rye, £2 Ss.;
oatmeal, 3J-. the bushel. In 1597 wheat was £5 4^. and fell to
£4 per quarter; rye from gs. to 6s. per bushel, and then
to 3^. 2d, and afterwards rose again to the greatest price.
Bishop Goodwin says, wheat was once this year at 1 3 s. ^d. per
bushel. In 1 598 pepper, Ss. per pound ; raisins, 6d. ; Gascoygne
wine, 2s. Sd. per gallon; sweet wine, 4s. In 1603 the price
of ale and strong beer was settled by Act of Parliament at
id. the quart, and small beer at two quarts for a penny in ale
houses.

NOTES ON THE EARLY CHURCHES OF
SOUTH ESSEX.

BY C. W. FORBES, Member of the Essex Archaeological
Society.

[Continued from p. 43.]

ON the south side of the main road between Stanford-le-
Hope and Hadleigh, a distance of about ten miles, are
four other parishes, besides those of Corringham and
Fobbing (which have already been described), viz.: Vange,
Pitsea, Bowers Gifford, and South Benfleet.

In this number I propose to take these four parishes, in
the above order.

107

THE EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX.

VANGE.

Vange is situated partly on a creek of the Thames and
partly on the main road that runs between Stanford and
Hadleigh. Following this road from Stanford for three miles
we arrive at the village. The church, about one hundred
yards to the south, is hardly visible in the summer, owing to
the trees surrounding the churchyard. It is a very small
structure, built of stone and rubble, consisting of a nave and
chancel only, with a low wooden bell turret at the west end,
containing one bell.

Entrance to the church is by the south door, which has a
plain brick porch; the north door has, as is so often the
case, been bricked up.

The foundation is ancient, but the present structure dates
from the thirteenth century ; the windows and bell turret are
attributed to the fifteenth century; the plain west window is
doubtless a later addition to give light to the small western
gallery.

The font is square with arrow marks on the side facing
east, and rests on a circular centre pillar with a smaller one
at each angle ; it is probably very early Norman.

In the east window are some fragments of ancient glass.

Between the chancel and nave is a stone screen running
from wall to wall, having a rude arched opening about five
feet wide with semicircular head ; the whole of this wall at
the present time is blank, but doubtless in pre-reformation
times it was covered with frescoes, to form a background for
the rood.

In the south wall are the remains of the rood stairs and
opening for beam.

The chancel screen is about four feet thick, but appears to
be hollow.

The registers date from 1558 and are in good condition.

PITSEA.

Continuing on the main road for another mile and a half
we reach Pitsea, formerly called Picescia. The parish is situated
on a peninsular formed by creeks running into the river; the
church, which is quite close to the railway station, is in a very
prominent position on the top of a small hill.

According to Domesday Book, at the time of the Conqueror
the manor was in the possession of one Ulueva wife of Phin.

1 08

Bowers Gifford Church.

South Benfleet Church.
Photographs by C. W. Forbes.

THE EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX.

The present church of stone and rubble consists of chancel,
nave, south porch, and embattled western tower. With the
exception of the tower (containing five bells), which is attri-
buted to the thirteenth century, the building is a modern struc-
ture, dating from the year 1871.

Inside the altar rails and underneath the south chancel
window, almost on a level with the floor, is an interesting
brass dated 1588. It is unfortunately much defaced and
cracked across the middle; it is believed to have been origin-
ally on the chancel floor, but was placed in its present position
at the restoration or rebuilding.

The Latin inscription on it reads :

JACIT HIC CONDITA ATQ3 IN HAC TVMBA
SEPVLTA ELIZABETHA VXOR JOH'lS PVRLEVANT,

QVS NVPER TVIT ELIZABETH RAYE.
CHARISSIMA SVO MARITO COMITANS PERAMANS

SEMPER ATQ3 FIDELIS

AMICIS PROPRIIS AMANTISSIMA ET OMNIBVS
ALIIS QVAM BENEVOLENS
SVMM^E CLEMENT!^ FLOS,

PIETATISQ3 PATRONA.
MORIENS MVNDO, VIVIT DEO.
CORPORE IN TERRA JACENTE,

SPIRITU IN C&LO SEDENTE,

OBIIT MORTEM VICESIMO SEXTO

DIE SEPTEMBRIS ANNO DNI 1588

ANNO REGNI ELIZABETHS

REGINS TRICESIMO.

Translation.

Here lies hidden and buried in this tomb Elizabeth, wife of
John Purlevant, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Raye.
To her husband she was a very dear wife, attached always,
loving and faithful; To her personal friends she was most
affectionate and to all others how kind! The flower of all
mercy and the patroness of goodness; Dying to the world
she lives in God. Her body lies in the earth, her soul rests in
Heaven. She passed away on the 26th day of September in
the year of our Lord 1588. In the 3Oth year of the reign of
Queen Elizabeth.

The communion plate is interesting; the chalice is of the
year 1 597, and the paten, which is of the type usually known
as a " credence paten," has the hall-mark of 1692.

109

THE EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX.

On the paten are the arms of Sir Samuel Moyer, Knight
(created 1701), of Pitsea Hall, Sheriff of Essex in 1698, who
died in the year 1716. His arms were: silver and two
chevrons gules. He married Rebecca, sister of Alderman
Sir William Jolliffe, whose arms were: silver, a pile azure,
and three right hands on the pile. Both of these arms appear
on the paten, which doubtless formed part of their gift to the
church.

BOWERS GIFFORD.

Leaving Pitsea, which contains little else to interest the
visitor, we proceed on our way to Bowers Gifford. The
parish of Bowers or Burrs is bounded on the south by the
creek which separates Canvey Island from the mainland, and
gives communication to the Thames. The village is under
two miles from Pitsea railway station and principally on the
main road. To reach the church we have to take a narrow
lane to the south for about half a mile until we nearly reach
the railway line between Pitsea and South Benfleet; the
church is on the north side.

The foundation is believed to be very ancient, although no
evidence of an earlier building, so far as is known, exists; it
is stated that prior to the Norman invasion the manor was
held by the Abbey of Westminster.

The present structure is a small stone building dating from
the fourteenth century, consisting of a chancel and nave only,
and at the western end a low tower with a wooden spire contain-
ing two bells ; on the south-west angle of the tower is a buttress
placed there as a support on account of the sloping nature of
the ground towards the river.

Originally there were three doorways; the west side of
the tower shows traces of one filled in with stone work;
the south door, which has a plain modern wooden porch, is
the only one used, the one on the north side having been
closed up as usual.

On each side of the nave are double and triple light
windows, probably late fourteenth or early fifteenth century.

The east window is filled with modern stained glass ; the
chancel has also a double light window of the same period as
those in the nave.

In the chancel is a trefoil head piscina. There is no arch
or screen between chancel and nave. The font is fourteenth

I tO

I a'

u,
3

THE EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX.

century, octagonal on an octagonal pillar with very little in
the way of ornament.

The most interesting feature in this little church is a
mutilated brass to Sir John Gifford, Bart. A modern brass
plate states that Sir John Gifford was the son of Sir Robert
Gifford, and grandson of William Gifford, at one time Lord
of the Manor and patron of the living, who fought at Cre*cy,
and died about the time of the fall of Cre*cy, circa 1347-48.
The brass was lost for many years ; it was found and restored
to the church in 1870, and was repaired and fixed to the
north wall of the chancel in 1897. The head of the effigy and
the inscription are lost

There are also five modern brasses to ancestors of Sir
Duncan Campbell, dated 1902.

This church, although a small one, is well worth a visit.

SOUTH BENFLEET.

The village of South Benfleet is easily accessible, there
being a station here on the railway line running between
Fenchurch Street and Southend. If, however, we wish to
continue our journey by road, we must return to the highway ;
a signpost some two miles further points the way to South
Benfleet and Canvey Island; turning down here and keeping
to the left for, say, another two miles, we come to the church
on our right, in the centre of the village.

The parish is situated on the north and east of Hadleigh
Bay, the river flowing between it and Canvey Island.

The original Norman church is believed to have been
similar to Hadleigh, a description of which will appear in the
next number.

The present structure is chiefly fifteenth-century work;
it is built of stone and rubble, and consists of a chancel, nave
of three bays, with clerestory, north and south aisles, and a
low massive tower with a short stunted spire.

The doorway at the west end of the nave, leading into the
tower, is Norman, circa 1 100, the ornamental side facing the
interior of the tower ; this doorway was the western entrance
of the first Norman church.1

1 The description suggests the possibility that we have here the remains
of a small Saxon or early Norman church with a central tower. On this
supposition, the doorway referred to would have been the chancel arch,
not the west door. The chancel arches in these early churches were generally

III

\
THE EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX.

The tower which we now see was erected circa 1250. On
examination of the exterior we notice a number of Roman
tiles worked in with the rubble; the face of each of the
buttresses is ornamented with crosses worked in flints and
stone, those on the west being red, and on the north and south
white. The wooden spire was erected about 150 years back.
The tower contains five bells; the tenor weighs nearly 20 cwt,
and was cast in 1636; the treble is dated 1664. The door in
the north aisle is bricked up. The fifteenth-century porch on
the south side is considered to be the finest timbered porch in
the county.

The font, which is a modern square one on four pillars, is
at the west end of the south aisle; the old font was taken
away at the last restoration.

The arcades separating the aisles from the nave are sup-
ported on the north side by clustered shafts with moulded caps
and bases, those on the south side are octangular.

The present roof is a wooden hammer-beamed flat one of
the fifteenth century, the original one was acutely pointed.

In the clerestory are eight corbels which formerly carried
the earlier roof; four are sculptured with grotesque figures
and four with heads of evangelists.

The nave opens into the chancel with a fine and spacious
arch of two reveals, with hollow chamfered edges springing
from clustered shafts; the chancel arch and nave pillars on
the north side date from circa 1240, the pillars on the south
side are circa 1320.

On the south side of the altar is a piscina with a shelf,
within a niche.

The windows on the north side are Perpendicular, and are
attributed to the fifteenth century ; on the south side they are
mostly pointed decorated work of the fourteenth century.

The east end of the south aisle was formerly a chapel, and
retains a piscina with large bracket for credence or image.

There are also indications of an altar at east end of north
aisle, with a square credence in the wall.

Remains of the rood stairs are to be seen in the wall of
the north aisle.

The walls of the aisles were formerly embattled ; portions
of the battlements still remain on the south side. Portions of
the foundations of an early church were found some time ago

very small. St. Peter's, Barton-on-H umber, may be cited as an example.
— Editor.

112

THE HYDES OF KENT.

on the south-east side of the priest's door, now closed. An
ancient sepulchral slab, with a raised cross and a French
inscription of thirteenth-century date, was also discovered
during restoration. Many early memorials are to be found in
the church.

The communion cup, with a cover, is dated 1576.

The church belonged from the time of the Conquest to the
Abbey of Westminster; the living is now in the hands of the
Dean and Chapter.

The list of Vicars dates from 1309.

CANVEY ISLAND

A marshy island defended by high banks erected in 1623,
it is joined to South Benfleet at low water by a causeway
across Hadleigh Bay. It originally formed part of nine
separate parishes in the adjacent country; in 1881 it was
formed into a separate ecclesiastical parish.

The present wooden church was erected in 1875 m place of
an earlier structure built in 1712; it consists of a chancel,
nave, transepts, and small central belfry, with one bell. Of
the earlier building some windows and the porch remain.

The registers date from 1819; before that date entries were
made at South Benfleet.

[To be continued.]

THE HYDES OF KENT.

BY FRED ARMITAGE, Author of A Short Masonic History.

WE have no records of stirring strife and battle to tell
in these pages, but the history of a nation is not now
told in the deeds of the battlefield alone, for com-
merce and industry have their own story to tell and form no
less a part of the nation's life than the epic of the soldier. The
history of the ancient Kentish family of Hyde is one which
must stir our interest, particularly as the records of much of
its history and family doings are clear cut and can be quite
easily proved, and we can see the characters living and
breathing, loving and dying, under our own eyes.

There are many families of the name of Hyde scattered
VOL. XL 113 I

THE HYDES OF KENT.

throughout England, and naturally enough, for it comes from
the Anglo-Saxon word " Hyd," the designation of a piece of
land which could be tilled with one plough, and would sup-
port one family.

One branch of the Hydes, those of Berkshire, profess to
trace their descent direct from King Canute to Sir George
Hyde, K.B., of Denchworth near Wantage, Berks, who died
1535, but these sixteenth-century pedigrees are not to be
trusted. We have, however, to deal with the Hydes of Kent,
concerning whom we have gleaned some little information.

The story starts during the reign of Henry VIII, in the
village of Thurgarton, in Nottinghamshire, which is now the
site of the palace of the Bishop of Southwell, and is itself the
next station to Southwell, on that short line which runs from
Newark to Nottingham. At Thurgarton resided Hugh Hyde,
who was born about 1529. He was a landed proprietor, and
possessed estates in the villages of Langtoft and Baston,
which are in the south of the County of Lincoln, not many
miles away from Thurgarton ; this land descended from father
to son in the family for several generations. Hugh is placed
at the head of the pedigree of the family of the Hydes of
Langtoft in the volume of Lincolnshire Pedigrees issued by
the Harleian Society. His arms are given by the Heralds as :
gules, a saltire argent between four plates, a chief ermine.
His pedigree is also traced in the Heralds' Visitation of London
in 1633, the difference between the Lincolnshire and London
records being that two different branches of his descendants
are followed up.

Hugh Hyde died about 1590, leaving his son John Hyde
of Thurgarton surviving him. The son was born in 1551, and
was the first of the family to come to the southern counties
to live; for we find that he married a lady who lived at
Addington in Surrey, in the person of one Mary Leigh, the
daughter of John Leigh.

In 1575 was born to them a son, Bernard, who first estab-
lished himself in London as a Salt Merchant, and lived in
Mincing Lane in the Tower Street Ward. It was, of course,
quite the usual thing at that time for merchants to live in the
city, and there is an interesting note in Strype's edition of
Stow's Survey of London, which shows us the character of
Mincing Lane in days gone by. " Mincing Lane," he says,
" antiently called Mincheon, is garnished with very good
houses, which for the generality are taken up by Merchants

114

THE HYDES OF KENT.

and persons of repute, and the Street is broad and straight
coming out of Tower Street, and coming up into Fenchurch
Street."

Salt was an article the price of which had risen in 1627
from £2 IQS. to £12 " per weight," and as to which there were
then considerable profits by reason of the monopoly granted
by James I to manufacturers of salt in Shields. Salt was also
imported from Spain, and to carry on this branch of trade
Bernard had a Wharf or " Key," as he spells it, on the River
Thames near Mincing Lane. The Salters' Company had been
founded in the year 1558 to guard the interests of the trade,
and Bernard Hyde became a member of the Livery, and in
1611 occupied the Chair of Master of the Company. This
chair is still in the Company's Hall in St. Swithin's Lane,
having been saved from the Great Fire of 1666. On the wall
of the Court Room is a full-length oil painting of Bernard
Hyde, who appears as a tall imposing man of about sixty,
wearing a beard, attired in hose and doublet, with a ruff round
his neck, and holding an embroidered gauntlet in his left hand.
Immediately beside this picture hangs a contemporary por-
trait of Charles I, who appointed him to office.

In 1607 Bernard Hyde married Anne Walcot, the daughter
of Humphrey Walcot of Walcot, Shropshire. The Walcots
were a family with old traditions, for in the Visitation of
Shropshire in 1623, no less than ten generations of the Walcots
are chronicled, beginning with Sir John Walcot, Knight, who
died in the year 1406, in the reign of Henry IV. Their arms
in the reign of Henry V were: argent, a chevron between
3 chess rooks, ermines. At last they moved to London, where
Humphrey Walcot married Alice, the daughter of Richard
Halsey, also of London. Accordingly Humphrey Walcot
quartered with his arms those of his wife's family, which were:
ermine, on a chief or, a demi-lion issuant, vert. When
Bernard Hyde married Anne Walcot he added his wife's arms
to his own, which then took the form of the Hyde arms on
the dexter side of the shield, and on the sinister side were the
quartered arms of Walcot and Halsey. We observe in the
Journal of the Kent Archaeological Society for 1860 a print of
these arms which are described as "the Arms of Hyde im-
paling Walcot and Helgise quarterly," the word Helgise being
an obvious mistake for Halsey. The couple resided over the
business premises in Mincing Lane, though their country seat
was at Little Ilford, Essex; and they had a family of five

THE HYDES OF KENT.

children, Bernard born in 1608, Humphrey, John, William,
and Anne.

About 1610 Bernard Hyde bought Boar Place, Kent, and
the Millbrook Estate adjoining. Boar Place is actually in the
Parish of Chiddingstone, next to Sundridge, and at the present
time nothing is left of it but one wall in ruins. In the garden,
however, stands a lime tree, which has still upon its trunk a
shield bearing the Hyde arms.

The history of Boar Place can be traced back through many
years to the reign of Henry III, when a family of the name of
Boar or Bore lived there. About the year 1421 John Bore
conveyed the mansion, which had then become somewhat
ruinous, to John Alphew, who rebuilt it, and died possessed of
it in 1489. On his death it passed to his daughter Margaret,
who married Sir Robert Read, a barrister, who was made a
Judge of the Court of King's Bench by Henry VII in 1495,
and eleven years later was raised to be Lord Chief Justice of
the Court of Common Pleas. Sir Robert lived at Boar Place,
which he enlarged. When he died, in January, 1519, he left
only female issue, and again the estate passed to a daughter,
who is described in one authority as Bridget, in another as
Catherine Read. She, like her mother, married a Judge, in
the person of Sir Thomas Willoughby, who was appointed a
Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and likewise resided at
Boar Place. He died on 29th September, 1545, and is buried
in Chiddingstone Church. From him the estate descended to
his son, Robert Willoughby, and thereafter to his grandson,
Sir Percival Willoughby, who, as we have seen, sold it in
1610 to Commissioner Hyde.

Boar Place was a typical Tudor mansion, forming three
sides of a square with a courtyard, in front of which was a
moat dividing it from the highway.

Fortunately there are three good views of it in existence.
One is contained in that fine old quarto volume Dr. Harris's
History of Kent, published in 1719, which possesses many
double-page wood blocks of country residences. A larger
view is preserved in the writer's family, a water-colour draw-
ing, which differs somewhat in detail from the view on the
map, due no doubt to alterations made from time to time.
An oil painting on panel is also in the possession of Colonel
Streatfeild of Chiddingstone.

The fact that Bernard's name is not included in the Heralds'
first Visitation of Kent in the year 1619 seems proof positive

116

THE HYDES OF KENT.

that he did not occupy his country seat at Boar Place at that
period. He habitually lived in town, and attended the Church
of St. Dunstan in the East, where he desired to be buried.
He was naturally a man with pride of ancestry, and accord-
ingly he went to the College of Arms, where he exhibited the
family arms borne by his grandfather, Hugh Hyde; and on
1 6th September, 1609, he obtained from the Garter King at
Arms, Sir William Segar, an examplification or certificate of
their authenticity.

In 1609 the large undertaking for supplying London with
water brought by a new river from Chadwell and Amwell,
Berkshire, was conceived by the leading engineer of the day,
Hugh Middleton. He took up a difficult enterprise at his own
expense and risk; the work was commenced in 1609 and
completed at the end of 1613. When half through his enter-
prise his means came to an end, and on 2nd May, 1612, he
made a bargain with James I for the latter to pay half the
cost of the work present and future upon condition of receiving
half the profits. Middleton and the King both saw they must
take in partners to whom they could sell parts of their ventures,
and accordingly the King's moiety and the Adventurers1
moiety were each cut up into thirty-six parts, and from time
to time Middleton sold these shares to his friends, till out of
his thirty-six shares only thirteen remained to him at his
death. One share Middleton sold to Bernard Hyde and
another to Sir Nicholas Hyde, Lord Chief Justice of the
King's Bench. The shares were freehold property, and although
cut up into fractions to divide amongst the family on the deaths
of their successive owners, part of Commissioner Hyde's share
remained in the family for nearly 300 years, till the New
River Company was dissolved, and taken over by the Metro-
politan Water Board in 1905.

Bernard Hyde now came into touch with a remarkable
man, whose name figures largely in the history of those times,
Sir John Wolstenholme. He was a great favourite at Court
and a prominent City merchant. James I had appointed him
a Commissioner of Customs, and in 1619 granted to him and
others a lease for eight years of the duties on wines. The
lease expired in 1627, and then Sir John got together a little
syndicate, of whom Bernard Hyde was one, to act with him
as Commissioners of the Customs. The State Papers of the
times contain a record of the transaction, and we read that on
3rd September, 1627, the King confirmed the offer of a lease

117

THE HYDES OF KENT.

to be granted to Sir John Wolstenholme, Sir Maurice Abbott,
Henry Garway, Abraham Jacob, Bernard Hyde, William
Garway, Richard Crosham, John Williams, and John Millward,
of the customs on wines and corinths, or currants, for three
and a half years, with a release for the time past, in considera-
tion of a fine of £12,000 and a loan to the King of .£20,000.
The King changed his mind before the actual lease was
drawn up, and obtained better terms and a heavier rent:
for on the 2ist November, 1627, the document was sealed,
and is stated to be a " Lease of the Customs of wines and
currants for 3^ years at the rent of .£44,005, and upon the
terms contained in the Confirmation before calendared." Sir
John Wolstenholme wasaclose personal friendof Commissioner
Hyde, and is mentioned in the latter's will. Commissioner
Hyde was obviously constantly at the Custom House, for in
his will he refers to a friend of his in the " Wyne office at
the Custom House." In 1627 his own Company of the Salters
requested him to get from the Custom House some money
which was due to them in connection with the salt trade.

Commissioner Bernard's love for landed property did not
end with the purchase of Boar Place, for we find that he also
purchased in the year 1630 the Manor of Stroud near
Rochester. This Manor was granted by the Crown to Sir
Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, who died in 1612, leaving it to
his son and heir, William, Earl of Salisbury, who sold it to
Bernard Hyde, and thence it passed to Bernard's third son,
John Hyde.

On 1 2th December, 1630, Commissioner Hyde executed a
Deed of Gift to the Master and Wardens of the Salters'
Company, whereby he settled .£1,500, represented in after
years by £1,900 three per cent. Consols, producing £57 IDS.
per annum. The income was to be applied as follows:

To a lecturer for a weekly sermon in St. Dunstan's in the
East or at St. Mary at Hill, .£30; to the poor of the parish
where the lecture was said, £5 ; to ten poor brethren of the
company at Christmas, £5 ; to the poor of the parish of Little
Ilford, £i ; to fifty-four poor widows or maids out of thirty
City parishes, $s. each, amounting to £13 ios.', to the Master,
Wardens, and officers of the Salters' Company, £3. This
lecture, thus provided for, was for many years delivered at St.
Mary's church, but has now fallen into disuse, and the money
is applied to other purposes by the Charity Commissioners.

By his will Bernard Hyde also left £3 to be divided amongst

118

THE HYDES OF KENT.

the brethren of the Salters' Almshouses in Bread Street,
Cheapside, on the day of his funeral. He died on 2Oth July,
•1631 (though the date on his tablet is given as 1630), and was
buried in the church of St. Dunstan in the East, one report
stating that he was buried " under ye altar." His estate is
estimated to have been worth £20,000, equivalent to £100,000
at the present value of money. He, like all the Hydes, left
many legacies to charities, and provided for the poor of many
city parishes, including St. Botolph, Bishopsgate, St. Botolph,
Aldgate, St. Olave, Hart Street, St. Dunstan in the East,
St. Sepulchre, and others. He bequeathed mourning to
several friends, and in particular he left a legacy to his friend,
Sir John Wolstenholme, to pay for a " mourning Cloake for
himself and his man," while a lady friend was provided with
a mourning gown. The eldest son, Bernard the younger, was
at the time of his father's death engaged to be married to a
young lady, Hester, the daughter of John Trott of St. Augustin's
Fryers (or Austin Friars) in the city of London. Her mother
was Catherine Hills, the daughter of Daniell Hills, a merchant
of London, who was entitled to a coat of arms, and whose
pedigree was set out by the Heralds at their Visitation
of London. An agreement for a settlement on the marriage
of Bernard and Hester was made by the father of the bride-
groom, whereby he arranged to settle £3,000 on his son, but
Bernard the father died before the wedding could take place.
To his other sons Commissioner Hyde left £3,000 apiece;
Bernard in addition got Boar Place, and the land at Little
Ilford, while Humphrey received the Lincolnshire property
that had belonged to his great-grandfather Hugh Hyde.
Mrs. Anne Hyde survived her husband ten years, dying in
1641, and was likewise buried in St. Dunstan's in the East.
Her will is dated I3th January, 1637-8, and was proved on
2Oth May, 1641; by it she left £3 per annum to be divided
amongst six poor widows of St. Dunstan's, besides legacies to
the poor of Langtoft, Little Ilford, Chesham, and Chiddingston.
She was the eldest of a long family, for one of her brothers
was born after her marriage, and her husband stood godfather
to the baby who was named after him. Indeed the Com-
missioner playfully alludes to his namesake as " my brother-
in-law and godsonne, Bernard Walcot" Her eldest brother,
Humphrey Walcot, was a man of standing, and was appointed
High Sheriff of Shropshire in 1631.

[To be continued.]

119

NOTES FROM THE VESTRY MINUTE
BOOK OF ST. BENNET, PAUL'S WHARF.

BY HENRY R. PLOMER.

AMONGST the London churches destroyed in the fire
of 1666, one of the most interesting, from its associa-
tions with the College of Arms, was the church of St.
Bennet, Paul's Wharf, in Thames Street. Its early records
probably perished with it, the earliest of those now deposited
at the Guildhall consisting of the Churchwardens' Accounts
from 1565 to 1648, and the Vestry Minute Book beginning in
1572. Of these the more interesting is the Vestry Minute
Book, in which the business transacted at the meetings of
that body were supposed to be entered. I say " supposed,"
because up to a certain point the minutes were very badly
entered, and only a small part of the work of the Vestry is
recorded. Nevertheless the Vestry Book of St. Bennet, Paul's
Wharf, has its own distinctive character, and though some-
what late in date, contains much that is interesting to the
student of bygone civic life.

The book is a small folio of some five hundred pages, and
has been written up from both ends, but is only paged from
one, which may be taken as the legitimate commencement of
the volume.

The entries begin with a list of the sums collected for the
poor from the year 1572 to the year 1596, and the nature of
these entries may be gathered from the earliest one, which
will also serve as an example of Elizabethan spelling:

1572. Md Resevyd of Ihon Macham and Hare [Harry]
Ro ben son, in mone that they dyd gather to the yowes of the
powres cheste. xxxjj.

The sum annually received varied from £5 75. %d. to 2s.
and amongst those who collected the largest amount during
their year of office was one Henry Bynneman. This was the
printer of that name who had lately come into the parish, and
was carrying on business in Thames Street, near Baynard's
Castle, having removed from the sign of the Mermaid in
Knightrider Street about 1578. Bynneman was noted for the
excellence of his work and was largely employed by the

120

ST. BENNET'S, PAUL'S WHARF.

booksellers and publishers of those days. His death took
place early in 1584.

Nor was Bynneman the only London printer whose name
occurs in the records of St. Bennet, Paul's Wharf, there being
several other large printing offices in the parish, in Thames
Street, Doctors' Commons, and Addling or Addle Hill, whose
proprietors at one time and another during the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries, served as officers of the Vestry. It was
as one of the " constables " of the parish, that Henry Bynne-
man had made his collection for the poor box in 1580. In
1586 and 1587 we meet with the name of Thomas East,
famous as a printer of music. In the imprint to an undated
edition of Sir Thomas Malory's, La Mort D' Arthur, he de-
scribes the position of his printing office as " betweene Paules
wharfe and Baynardes Castle," and it is just possible that it
was the same house in which Bynneman had lived. East also
rented from the churchwardens of St. Bennet a shed adjoin-
ing the church, for which he paid ten shillings a year, but his
residence in the parish was short, and he subsequently moved
to the sign of the Black Horse in Aldersgate Street. Between
1592 and 1603 John Windet's name occurs in these records
either as " constable," or as serving on the wardmote inquest.
This printer lived first at the sign of the White Bear in
Addling Street, "nigh Baynards Castle," where he was in
partnership with John Judson, and later at the Cross Keys
on Paul's Wharf. John Windet succeeded John Wolf as official
printer to the City of London in 1603. Other printers of note
whose names are met with during the seventeenth century
are John Raworth, Thomas Newcombe who married John
Raworth's widow and succeeded to the business, Thomas
Mottershead of Doctors' Commons, and Thomas Ratcliffe his
partner.

It would appear that the duties connected with the various
offices of constable, scavenger, and the like, were of an
arduous nature, for the minutes down to the year 1650 con-
sist of little else than petitions from one and another of those
elected, to be excused from serving, on the ground of age or
pressure of business. On one occasion two of the Proctors of
the Prerogative Court were allowed to compound, for the sum
of six pounds apiece, the Vestry considering that if they
should be taken from their business " it might prove very
prejudicial to the people of this commonwealth."

On another occasion a Mr. George Fielding refused to serve

121

ST. BENNETS, PAUL'S WHARF.

the office of scavenger or to pay the usual fine for not serving,
and the Vestry were compelled to take proceedings against
him in the Lord Mayor's Court, with the result that he had to
pay a good deal more in the end than he would have done in
the first place.

At one period the number of those appealing for exemption
increased so much that the Vestry were compelled to make
an order increasing the fine for non service, in the case of
constables to a minimum of four pounds, and in the case of
scavengers to a minimum of six pounds. This order was
signed by twenty-three of the parishioners, and it is interest-
ing to note that of this number there were only three who
were unable to write.

Being a waterside neighbourhood, there was much poverty
in the parish, and the Vestry Book may well be termed the
short and simple annals of the poor. Here for example is a
note of the proceedings on the i6th June, 1657:

Imprimis, that goodie Nickolls have hir i8d made 2S. a
weeke.

2ndiy That the overseers tacke care of the widow Dandie
and that she have 5^. for the present.

3rdlf That John Thelwall have 20^. for his former servis in
warding and attendance on the parrish, as a full discharge.

4th That goodie Gilberd have 5*. lent her for a stocke.

5th That goodie Milner have 3^. for keeping of goodie
Gilberd for a weeke paid to hir.

6th That goodie Commins have 35. grattuitie paid hir.

Another reference to the widow Dandie occurs on the
I4th December, 1658, when a payment was made to her in
regard that " hir boate and skulls are out of repaire, and she
expects them to be brought home every hour from mending."

John Bennett was a foundling left in Frying-Pan- Alley on
the ist December, 1652, and he was handed over to George
Berd whom the Vestry allowed eighteen pence weekly for his
keep. The following year George Berd was allowed ten
shillings for the maintenance of the child's clothing, and a
quarterly payment of five shillings. Probably the child John
Bennett died, for in 1656 George Berd was admitted to the
almshouses on Paul's Wharf.

The calls upon the Vestry were many and various, as may
be gathered from a few entries culled at random from the
book:

122

ST. BENNET'S, PAUL'S WHARF.

It is agreed . . . that Goodwife Pedglar being lately deceased,
and her husband not having wherewithall to bury her, the
Vestry have thought good to allow him five shillings towards
his charges in bying her a shroud, and towards the burying
of her.

Ordered . . . that Simon Marbury shall have one flock bed
and Bolster with a paire of sheetes and two sheftes.

Ordered that the churchwardens doe forthwith pay unto old
Widow Lambert five shillings towards the making upp of some
cloathes for her little grand child William Smith, and noe more
without further order of this vestry.

Ordered that the two penny loaves given formerlye on the
Sabbath daies to Mistress Alsopp, a poore woman of this
parish, (bee taken off) and given, and continued to be given,
every Sabbath day to the children of one William Fowler,
liveinge on St. Bennitts Hill, and at present in a very poore
condition till further order of this vestry.

A note of humour is imparted to these otherwise pitiful
narratives by the following story of old Mistress Lambert, as
set down in the minutes of December, 1659.

Old Mris Lambert, one of the Almeswomen in the almes
houses on St. Petters-hill, appeared at the vestrye, and craved
some helpe of maynetenance towardes the keepeinge of a little
boy, late of one Smith a tayler, who married one of the
daughters of olde Mrl8 Lambert (to which Mri8 Lambert is
grandmother) which Smith and his wife are deceased about
a yeare and a halfe or two yeares: To whiche the Vestry
replyed that they were certified, that the parents of the child
did leave behind them, the sume of tenn poundes in ready
money, besides twoe ringes and alsoe household stuffe, and
asked her where the money was, and the rings and goods, to
which shee answered that for the goods there was not much
left, but in theire sicknesse, it was sould and pawned . . .
and for the rings they were disposed off to buy necessaries for
the child . . . but as for the tenn poundes, that was safe, shee
knew where it was, but it should remaine where it was, and
that it was safe enough, and nobody should have it, for shee
had put it upp soe that it lies and is safe and shall bee kept
for the good of the child, and to that effect. . . .

In vain the members of the Vestry pointed out to the old
dame that the money might be stolen, that it would be much
safer in the churchwardens' hands, and that if put out to
interest it would be of more use to the child, besides reim-
bursing the vestry for any present outlay. But, says the

123

ST. SENNET'S, PAUL'S WHARF.

churchwarden, " all the perswations of the vestrye to her could
not prevaile," so the matter was adjourned to the next vestry
meeting, several persons promising to have another interview
with the old lady, to try to induce her to give up the money.
They might as well have tried to move the church. She refused
to give it up or to say where it was hidden.

Soe that this vestry seeing her stubbornesse herein is
resolved, and doth agree and consent, that verye suddenlye
shee bee carried (?) inn by the churchwardens and overseers
. . . before the Lord Mayor ... or some other Justices of
the Peace within the cittye of London . . . whereby shee
may bee perswaded or indeed forced to declare where the said
tenn poundes . . . are . . . unlesse within a few daies . . .
she doe appeare and declare herself where the money is.

We are left to imagine the pains and penalties that " olde
Mris Lambert " brought upon herself, but we doubt whether
the vestry ever found that ten pounds.

In 1659 one of the churchwardens was a certain Joseph
Gillman, who took a much wider view of his duties than any
of his predecessors. During his period of office the minutes
were entered more fully than had ever been the case previously,
and it is due to his energy that the proceedings respecting
Mr. George Fielding and the case of old Mrs. Lambert, are
preserved to us. Nor is this all, Joseph Gillman was a bit of
an antiquary in his way. He was always complaining that
orders made by the vestry in times past had never been
entered in the minute book, but that the minutes had been
kept privately by the churchwardens. He accordingly sought
out any such unrecorded minutes and entered them ; with the
result that he made a discovery of some importance which he
records thus:

This is to be taken notice of &c. August, 1659. That I
Joseph Gillman Churchwarden of St. Bennetts Paul's Wharf
London lookinge into the parish booke, I there found sett
downe in the time of Mr. Henry Bodeman churchwarden in
the yeare . . . 1642. That amongest other things receaved for
the use of the poore, that these wordes followeinge were sett
downe in writeinge, viz. :

Receaved for the guift of Alderman Lambert and
Alderman Stiles, fortye shillinges, beinge the dividend
part of Eight Pounds, given by them to the ward, which
comes soe to bee paid to this Ward of Castle Baynard,
once in sixteene yeares. I say receaved £02 oos. ood.
124

ST. BENNET'S, PAUL'S WHARF.

Which findeinge soe sett downe (seemed att presentt to
bee some thinge a darke business) and I made Inquiry of
several housekeepers in the parish and at present could not bee
fullye satisfied in the thinge, but makeinge a strict search into
it (I found) it is to be paid by the Company of Grocers. . . .
And have gained from Mr. Francis Harris, one of the clerkes,
belonginge to Grocers-hall, a breviatt at length of the guift,
together with the doner's names, and how and when to be
distributed, which coppye of it, I thought good to sett downe
in this booke belongeinge to the parish, and is written to
a word accordinglye, this 25th day of Januarye, 1659.

He then proceeds to set down a minute dated 22nd January,
1590, made by the Alderman, Wardens, and Assistants of the
Company of Grocers, to the effect that Richard Lambert, late
Alderman, had left a sum of one hundred pounds for the
relief and benefit of the poor in all the wards of London, and
in accordance with the terms of the bequest they agreed that
for the next two years, it should be divided between two
young freemen of the Grocer's Company, and so on every two
years the recipients being drawn from a different ward each
time. A similar sum was also left by Alderman Stile with the
same object.

The worthy churchwarden, having finished his copy, adds :

This is a true Coppye to a word, which I thought good to
insert, for a memorandum for the future, and the rather,
because that I find heretofore vestry orders have bene kept
privatelye in person's handes, and not sett downe in the
vestry-booke, to the dishoner of a parishe : Mr. Fetter Tomlinson,
a former churchwarden hath done it and I leave it to better
judgementts whether it ought to bee soe or noe.

Had it not been for the foresight of Joseph Gillman it seems
probable that all record of this bequest, at least as regards the
Ward of Baynard Castle, would have been lost.

The parish of St. Bennet possessed almshouses in St. Peter's
Hill, in Addling Hill, and on Paul's Wharf. There does not
appear to be any record as to how they became possessed of
those in Addling Hill and Paul's Wharf, but the houses on
St. Peter's Hill were the bequest of David Smith, embroiderer,
who died in the year 1587, and left by will six newly built
houses, to be inhabited by six poor widows of the parish of
St. Bennet, Paul's Wharf, which were to be called the poor
widows Alley or poore widows Inn. The will is entered at

125

ST. BENNET'S, PAUL'S WHARF.

length in the book of bequests (Guildhall MS. 387), and as
regards the original the following order was made on the
9th January, 1663-4:

That there bee a more especiall care taken of the will of
Mr. David Smith, Imbroyderer, deceased, then hath beene
had, and that it bee distinctly read over in the saide Vestry
twice in every yeare, viz. at the choyse of officers for parish
affaires, beinge about Easter, and at theire choyse of officers
for Ward occasions about Christmas; and that as he was
the sole doner of those sixe new built Tenements one St.
Peter's Hill in this parish called by him the poore widdows
Inn; soe there bee diligent care taken by the churchwardens
for the time beinge, that the orders therein bee observed and
kept, and securitye bee taken of everye person cominge in, to
inhabite in any of the saide sixe houses, accordinge to the
intent of the doner, and his meaninge in the saide will, and
to prevent further charge or trouble through neglect, as for a
precedent Elizabeth Graves widdow, hath done, and that it
bee duelye observed for the future vnto which were subscribed
our hands.

Needless to say this entry is in the handwriting of Joseph
Gillman.

Of the religious troubles of the Commonwealth period, there
is only a faint echo in this book. In 1653 a Mr. Allen Geare
was appointed minister of the church, but in May of the
following year he had evidently ceased to officiate and there
is an entry under his hand, resigning his right to the Rectory
and an order of the Vestry that an allowance should be made
to him for certain things he left behind. He was succeeded
by the Rev. John Jackson with whom there appears to have
been some trouble at the Restoration, which is recorded in
a note by Stephen Trigg, one of the churchwardens.

From this it appears that in the year 1662 Mr. Jackson
was suspended by the Chancellor for refusing to read the
Common Prayer, and a previous churchwarden had locked
the minister out of the church and set two men, one of whom
was the porter at the Heralds' College, to keep him out of
his desk. Stephen Trigg refused to follow " that envious
pattarne" and complains that for that reason he was sorely
persecuted and kept out of his moneys nearly half a year. But
these and all similar troubles found a common grave in the
ashes of the church in that fateful September, 1666.

126

SOME EAST KENT PARISH HISTORY.

BY PETER DE SANDWICH.

[Continued from p. 45.]

CAPEL LE FERNE.

1569. (Abp. Parker's Visitation.)

CAPLEFERNE is a chapel to Alkham.
Curate: — Dom. John Cadman, Vicar of Alkham.
Householders, 18
Communicants, 61. — (Fol. 55.)

That our Vicar is Vicar at Alkham and Capleferne, and
Curate of Folkestone. — (Vol. 1569.)

1570. That our parish being a Chapel annexed to Alkham,
ought to be served after this manner: that is to say, the
Vicar of Alkham is bounden to do ministrations at all times,
and for that he hath all the small tithes of our parish, and for
the duly saying of divine service my Lord, his Grace, hath
always allowed us and yet doth, a pension of £4, whereof
always our Vicar had a marc (13^. 4*3?.) for receiving of the
same, and our clerk the rest for saying our daily Divine
Service, until now of late that Mr. Cadman being our Vicar,
doth withhold most part of the same from our clerk, whereby
we are like to want our divine service, and also the poor man
our clerk, driven to live upon the alms of the parish. — (Vol. ii,
1 570-7 1.)1

1578. That the church windows be unglazed in divers
places and the church porch untiled.

2. They have no poor-man's box, neither was there at any
time any collections made and distributed to the poor of the
parish.

3. Also they have no chest with locks for keeping of their
Register Book ; they have no Paraphrases.

4. Our churchyard is un-hedged.

5. They have sold certain stones, both cross-stones and
tome [tomb] stones, and kept the money to their own use.

6. That they have taken down a spire steeple of forty or

1 This volume is in the Probate Office at Canterbury.

127

SOME EAST KENT PARISH HISTORY.

fifty feet height which was covered with lead, and sold away
certain of the lead, more than ten pounds worth, and five score
of it they have in their custody, and some of it now the
Churchwardens saith was stolen away, and that they have
repaired the church with the money thereof.

7. They have cut down certain trees, sixteen or twenty,
whereof some they take for timber, some they burned, and
some they sold away.

8. They sold away the timber of the steeple. — (Fol. 9.)
Our Minister doth not instruct the youth in the Catechism ;

also our Vicar doth not wear a surplice. — (Fol. n.)

1 579. That Ingerham Joll keepeth one mansion-house with
a hundred acres of land, which he now doth occupy as a barn,
from which the clerk was wont to have sixteenpence every
year, and now hath had no wages for the space of six years
last past at Michaelmas. — (Vol. 1577-83, fol. 33.)

1580. [See under Badlesmere, vol. vii, p. 212.]

1 587. The seats in our church be a little broken and decayed.
We have not had our quarter sermons. — (Fol. 42.)

1591. We present our Vicar for not schooling and teaching
our children and servants the Catechism and other things, but
he promiseth amendment. — (Fol. 129.)

There is no sufficient Book of Common Prayer within the
parish, and there is lacking the second Book of Homilies, and
no presentment by the churchwardens and sidesmen before
this time made there. — (Fol. 130.)

1 592. These are to signify to Your Worship that we have,
and have had, remaining in our parish of Alkham, at the now
dwelling-house of Robert Woollett, two gentlewomen, that is
to say, Mr. Daniel Woolett his wife, and one Mistress Norden,
sister to Woollett, who have been there in the parish these six
weeks, refusing to come to the church, although there was on
Palm Sunday warning given to come to a sermon, which
Mr. Hull preached the same day, neither did they either come
to the church on Easter Day neither did they receive the
Holy Communion. — (Fol. 141.)

We present and answer that sometimes we have not Divine
Service upon Sundays and Holydays in such order as we

128

SOME EAST KENT PARISH HISTORY.

should, for our Minister dwelleth not in our parish, by reason
whereof he, either being letted by the weather or other
business we know not of, cometh not to our church to read
and say service accordingly.

2. Our Minister is not resident at this time, neither hath
been heretofore.

3. Our Minister doth not catechise so oft as is required
of.— (Fol. 141.)

1593. We present we have had no sermons this last year,
but our Vicar hath promised we shall have two sermons this
next year; but if your Worship will allow us no more, we
must be contented.

As touching the catechising of the children of our parish,
our Minister doth it, but we have found some fault with him
for it, but he hath promised it shall be amended. — (Vol. 1585-
92, fol. 175.)

1594. We have all things well, saving Divine Service; we
have been very ill served from Christmas last hitherward, for
some time we have service, for some time none, and these three
last Sundays we have had none at all.

On 25th November it was stated in Court that Mr.
Hemming,1 the Vicar, was not provided at that time of a
curate, but since he came he hath served the cure there
accordingly, saving when he was necessarily from his benefice.
— (Vol. 1585-92, part ii, fol. 37.)

1602. We have nothing to present, saving our chancel of
our church, which Mr. Hamon hath promised to repair
shortly.— (Fol. 20.)

1609. Our Minister neither readeth service on Wednesdays
and Fridays, not being holy days.

Our parishioners have not received so often as is required,
but I present Mr. Francis Rogers,3 our Minister, through

1 Robert Hemming, B.D., Vicar of Brabourne 1593, but resigned the
same year: Alkham, 1594-6; Chislet, 1594-1601 ; Harbledown, 1597-1601.

a He was second son of Richard Rogers, Bishop of Dover (1568-97),
and Dean of Canterbury (1584-97). Francis Rogers was Rector of Holy
Trinity (Minories), London, 1606-7 ; Vicar of Alkham with Capel le Feme,
1607-27; Rector of Denton, 1608-38; St. Margaret's, Canterbury, 1629-
38, where he was buried. He married (i) Afra, the daughter of Vincent
Boys of Bekesbourne, by whom two daughters ; (2) Thomasine Fogge, the

KrOL. XI. 129 K

SOME EAST KENT PARISH HISTORY.

whose neglect (in not appointing the times of receiving so
often as that the parishioners might according receive as is
required), this hath been.

Our Minister doth not wear the surplice and hood at such
times in our parish. On the 1 5th July he appeared in Court
and stated: That if there hath been any neglect of service on
Wednesdays and Fridays, the fault was in his curate, who is
lately gone from him. He hath had Communions three times
a year in the Chapel at Capel-le-ferne, and the fourth time
they were to come to the Communion at Alkham, being the
mother church, which they neglected to do. He doth not
wear his hood when he cometh to Capel-le-Ferne for that it is
so far from Alkham, yet he doth wear his surplice and tippett
when he preacheth, or administering the Sacrament. — (Vol.
1602-9, fol. 172.)

1610. We have not Divine Service upon Wednesdays and
Fridays, and our curate is not licensed by the Bishop. — (Fol. 21.)

1611. That we have not Divine Service upon Holydays
and Fridays, according to the form prescribed in the Book of
Common Prayer. — (Vol. 1609-18, fol. 36.)

1721. I, Ingram Spearpoint, sole churchwarden of the parish,
present William Nethersole the elder and William Nethersole
the younger, both of Alkham, farmers of the parsonage of
our parish of Capel, for that our chancel is very badly paved,
and the walls thereof want white limeing. — (Fol. 47.)

1626. That in our parish he [the curate, Mr. Harbert] hath
not so read the Litany, but in Alkham he hath and doth.

2. That our Minister doth only preach once every Sunday,
but very shortly he meaneth to catechise the youth.

3. Our Minister would willingly wear such a gown if he
were able to buy one, and when he is, he will. — (Vol. 1621-32,
fol. 106.)

1635. David Marsh of Capel for his cess for the church,
which is is.

widowof George Fogge of Chilham. Thomasine wasadaughterof Matthew
Gibbon (ob. 1628) of Westcliff, and married (i) . . . Colley; (2) in K
George Fogge; and (3) in 1618, this Francis Rogers. — (Hasted, Hist.
Kent\ Ada Curia of Archdeacon of Canterbury, MS. vols.)

130

SOME EAST KENT PARISH HISTORY.

We, the Minister, church-wardens and sidesmen of the
parish of Capel or Capel le Feme, do present David Marsh of
the same parish, for speaking scandalous speeches of our
church or chapel, namely, that John Lushington should have
it for a barn, or else it should be an ale-house, and Mr. Pownall's
wife should keep the ale-house, and we will come all thither.
This is a common reputed fame in our parish and in many
men's mouths as spoken by Marsh to many.

Ingram Hogben for not paying of his cess being 4^. —
(Fol. 39.)

John Andrews for 8s. iod., which he refuseth to pay, for
that the church cannot be re-paved for want of money.

William Mockett for 2s. 6d. — (Fol. 40.)

1636. We present David Marsh, who raileth at his Minister,
church-wardens, and neighbours, for making of a cess for the
church, saying, as the fame and common report goeth — "a
company of rogues have set their hands to a cess, and trouble
honest men to ride about it."

The church wanteth some paveing and the church-yard
some railing, which could not be done by reason there hath
been controversy about the cess. — (Vol. 1583-1636, fol. 53.)

CHARLTON.

1563. It is presented that they have neither parson, vicar
nor curate, whereby they are altogether unserved. Henry
Leonard of Dover, farmer.

That Mr. Alexander Mynge of Dover doth keep the church-
yard from the church, and thereon doth make pasture.

They have no Register Book and none to keep it.

That Sir John Burvell, Vicar of Alkham, had away the
chalice and book and other ornaments belonging to the church,
which said Sir John Burvell was the last Minister there.

They have no manner of books, and none doth mind to
provide [them]. — (Vol. 1562-3.)

1569. (Abp. Parker's Visitation.)
Est ecclesia desolata.
Householders, 6
Communicants, 14. — (Vol. 1574-76,^0!. 55.)

SOME EAST KENT PARISH HISTORY.

1574. That the church is ruinously fallen into decay, neither
font in reparation, nor books serviceable, nor bell to give the
people warning, nor seats to sit in. (Vol. 1574-6, fol. 70.)

1579. Our church is decayed, by reason whereof we have
no service there said, nor Sacraments ministered, whereby we
are constrained to repair unto St. James' in Dover, unto Mr.
Watts, Minister, and there the Sacraments are ministered unto
us, and we there have the service of God. — (Vol. 1577-83,
fol. 3 1.)

1580. (See under Badlesmere, vol. vii, p. 212.)

1585. We lack a Bible of the largest volume.— (Fol. 6.)

1588. We present Mr. Watts, Minister of the parish of
Charlton, for lacking of Divine Service certain days.

William Mackner, victualler of the parish, for keeping of
men in Evening Prayer [time] in his house.

We present William Mackner for speaking against the
church, he said it was better to hurl the money down the
stream l than to be bestowed upon the seats as it was ; that it
makes them which we have cessed be unwilling to pay, for
they say there be some in our parish that said the money that
had been given aforetime it were better it had been hurled
down the stream ; and there be some that have heard William
Mackner speak them words and nobody but him, and there-
fore we cannot judge nobody but him. — (Fol. 50.)

1 590. Henry Newman, for shaking abroad four powtes * of
hay upon the Sabbath-day; but he being at service in the
forenoon and afternoon.

Also for the like, Nicholas Boykett and goodwife Milton.

James Kingscote, for mowing on the Sabbath-day stubble
for his own use.

Goodman Milton's servant, his name is Harry, for playing
at cards in the parish in the service time. — (Fol. 104.)

1 The old church stood close to the east bank of the Dour. See Some
More Memories of Old Dover^ by Miss M. Horsley, for a description of
this stream.

* A pout is a small round stack of hay or straw ; the small heaps are
called cocks and the larger ones pouts. — Diet. Kent Dialect.

132

SOME EAST KENT PARISH HISTORY.

1591. We present Henry Milton, miller, for grinding on
the Sabbath-day, being the nineteenth day of September. —
(Fol. 134.)

1593. We present our Minister, Mr. Watts, for that upon
Whitsunday last we had no Evening Prayer, nor upon the
morrow following, and upon divers Sundays and Holydays
we have but service once a day, and sometimes none at all.

We have no covering for our Communion Table, nor any
cup, nor cushion for our pulpit, nor any box for the poor. —
(Vol. 1585-92, fol. 171.)

1 594. There is no Communion cup, for the which I do crave
some reasonable time to provide the same. — (Fol. 33.)

1 60 1. We do present Henry Milton, who lately was church-
warden and clerk of the parish, having in his keeping the
Communion Cup, and the cloth for the Communion Table,
and now doth withhold them from the church. — (Vol. 1593-
1602, part ii, fol. 161.)

1602. On the twenty-sixth day of June, William Watts, the
Rector of the parish, appeared in Court and said : — That he is
not resident at Charlton according to law; that indeed he
dwelleth not upon his parsonage, but is continually abiding
every day teaching school in the parish church there.

He was ordered by the Court: — That he do not let to farm
his tithes of the parsonage unto Mr. Thomas Monings, his
former farmer; and that he be resident upon his parsonage of
Charlton according to law. — (Vol. 1600-1602, fol. 206.)

1606. This we do present with the rest: — first, Stephen
Constable of the parish of Buckland, with the rest of his com-
pany; William Burvill of the same parish; William Blurstone
of the parish of Charlton; Thomas Judge of the same, for
reaping of pease upon the Sabbath day. — (Fol. 88.)

Abraham Goden, for breaking of the floor of the church,
and not making it again.

On 3rd November he appeared in Court, and confessed : —
That he buried his wife in the parish church of Charlton, where
was no pavement but only a floor, and purposeth to lay a
stone over her grave, and saith that the floor of or over the
same grave was and is made again as before the same burial

133

SOME EAST KENT PARISH HISTORY.

it was, and saith that he intendeth to pave the same grave or
lay a decent stone upon the same. — (Fol. 89.)

We also present Thomas Bing, for working on the Sabbath
day. — (Vol. 1602-9, foL 89.)

1607. We present Abraham Godwine [sic], for that he doth
not cover his wife's grave in the church. — (Fol. 105.)

Thomas Alison, for not coming orderly to Divine Service
in our parish. — (Fol. 106.)

Thomas Webb, miller, doth use to load and grind corn
upon holy-days.

On ist June, when Webb appeared in the Court and con-
fessed:— That he hath sometimes, when there hath been a
holyday fallen upon a Saturday, being the common market-
day at Dover, ground corn in his mill situate in the parish of
Charlton near Dover, but hath not ground any corn in the
time of Divine Service upon any holy-day, as he believeth. —
(Fol. 1 08.)

Abraham Godden and his wife of our parish, for that they
do not diligently resort to our church to hear Divine Service.
—(Fol. 109.)

Mr. Watts, parson there, for that he suffereth the chancel of
our church to go to decay, in not repairing of it where and
when it needeth, so as it raineth in upon the Communion
Table.

Likewise for that he doth but very seldom read service
publicly in our church, either upon Sundays or Holydays, but
divers times will forsake us and goes elsewhere, and there says
service on such days.

1608. That the wife of Thomas Pepper hath been delivered
of a child some two months past, and doth refuse to go to the
church to give God thanks for her safe delivery in childbirth,
according to laws in that behalf provided.—-(Vol. 1602-9,
fol. 143-)

To be continued.]

134

IS*

0 S

<u
^2

THE KING'S OLD BARGEHOUSE.

BY ETHEL LEGA-WEEKES.

[Continued from p. 51.]

^ I ^HE earliest map or plan known to me that shows any
houses immediately to westward of the great ditch, is
-*- the one that for convenience I refer to as Bray's,1 it
having been in his possession.

Here, in the large corner plot north of the Narrow Wall
(the holding, I take it, of " Mr Kent ") are three double-gabled
houses, and a little tower with a round top which Bray describes
as " a cupola," and from which, he says, " a staff with a flag at
the end is extended towards the river " ; though to my thinking
it rather suggests a crane, a common feature of these riverside
premises.

Adjoining this plot is " the Prince's Land on the west," the
bare state of which might lead us to infer that this plan was
drawn before the houses specified in 1649 were erected, but
that experience of early maps shows their negative evidence
to be of little or no value, whole rows or clusters of houses
appearing and disappearing repeatedly, in a series of maps
professing to have been drawn within a few years of each other.

The land south of the way is marked " A parte of the
Prince's Meadow," and has a cottage in its north-eastern
corner, doubtless the one to be referred to below, as " occupied
by washerwomen."

To revert to the Survey of October, 1649, the description
of "the Prince's Meadow" is followed by:

WHITE'S WOODYARD: Mp White under-tenant. All
that tenement, etc., lying in a place called the Bargchouses on
the bankside of the river of Thames, in the parish of Lambeth,
within the said manor of Kennington; consisting of one
messuage, containing foure rooms below stayrs and foure
rooms aboove stayrs, one wash-house cont. one room below
and one above, one little tenement, cont. two rooms below
and one above, and one other little tenement cont. three
rooms below and three above, one yard, cont. \\ acres land,
and one great crane; which premises are bounded by one
great woodyard now in possession of Mr Kent on the E., the
Prince's Mead on the S., one. great woodyard in possession of
Mr Smith, on the W., and the river Thames on the N. — Worth
per an: £2%.

1 See ante, vol. x, p. 164.
135

THE KING'S OLD BARGEHOUSE.

SMITH'S WOODYARD:— Mr Smith under-tenant. All
that tenement, . . . etc., lying in the said place called the Barge-
houses . . . consisting of one messuage, cont. four rooms below
stayres and foure above, one garret, one great yard cont.
i acre of land, one countinghouse, cont. two rooms, one large
crane, and six large sheades, and one pond for water; which
premises are bounded with White's Woodyard on the E., the
sd. Prince's Meadow on the S., one yard in possession of
Mr James Sherley, on the W., and the Thames on the N. —
Worth ;£3o.

SHIRLIE'S WOODYARD:— Mr Jas. Shirley1 under-
tenant. All that tenement . . . lying in the said place called
the Bargehouses . . . consisting of one messuage; anew-built
house of deal boards, not fully finished, cont. two rooms below
stayrs and three rooms above, one great yard, cont. 3 roods,
. . . etc. of land, one parcell of waste ground, and one parcell
of waste land lying between the sd. yard and the sluce, cont.
i acre of ground ; bounded with the sd. Smith's Woodyard on
the E., the sd. Prince's Meadow on the S., the sd. Sluce upon
the W., and the Thames on the N.— Worth ^8.

JUDAH WALKER, Undertenant. One little tenement
standing in the N.E. corner of the sd. close or parcell of
meadowe called the Prince's Meadoues, consisting of three
little rooms wherein washerwomen live. — Worth per an.,
£i IQS.

The last-named must, I think, be identical with the premises
referred to in the following extract from Norden's Survey,
1615 (No. 147).

[Official Translation]. Randolph Hanmer, Gent., among
other things hath purchased a certain piece of ground, formerly
Cockerham's containing by estimation ij acres, lying near
the river Thames, called the Corner Meadow, lying in the
marsh there called Prince's Marsh, in Lambeth and Lambeth
Marsh, within the Manor of Kennington, and lying in the
north corner of the said Prince's Meadow, next to the garden
called Paries Garden, adjoining to the house upon the bank
there, and containing from thence in breadth, at the north
corner [/.*., from the N.E. corner] towards the west, by a
trench there leading to the river Thames, n rods; but in

1 In a Surrey Fine of Michaelmas term, 1657, Thomas Sherley, gent.,
appears as one of several querents to whom James Sherley, Clerk in
Holy Orders, and Mary his wife, quit-claimed for ^200, three messuages,
2 cottages, 4 gardens, one acre of land, and three wharves with the
appurtenances, in Lambeth. In 1662 Stan(wer?)dine Sherley paid tax ori
nine hearths in Foxhall Liberty, South Lambeth.

136

IIH

IHkiS: *? T^

THE KING'S OLD BARGEHOUSE.

length, by the ditch and Bank of Paryes Garden towards the
south, 22 rods; as by four separate posts and boundaries
called stakes, fixed in the acre-and-a-half of meadow ground,
according to the custom of the said manor, for the separating
and better distinguishing of the same, more plainly appears;
at the yearly rent of 2id.

It will be noticed that although Mr. Kent's woodyard is
mentioned as the eastern boundary of the first of the premises
lying in " the Bargehouses " described in the Survey of the
Manor of Kennington, it is not itself included in that survey;
neither is it claimed as a Crown possession by Cromwell's
surveyors, who declare the King's Bargehouse to be adjoined
on the west by " a timber yard now in the possession of
Griffiths Kent."

This I cannot explain; but its situation indisputably
identifies Kent's yard with a part — if not the whole — of the
enclosure just across the ditch from the King's Barge Yard, as
pourtrayed on Bray's plan.

Its holder (who, it will be remembered, eventually purchased
the old Bargehouse) was perhaps the son of (if not identical
with) one "Griffith Kent,1 Citizen & Sadler of London," who
was a party to an indenture dated December, 1655 (Close
Roll, 3865, No. 21), whereby Richard Mountney of London,
Merchant, conveyed to Kent certain lands in Bermondsey
(described in detail), near St. Saviour's Mill Pond and " the
Divell's Neckinger." The indenture mentions, further, one
Peter Theobald, as late husband of Mary, the then wife of the
said Griffith Kent.

In 1658 Griffith Kent was one of the Auditors of the Ac-
counts of the Overseers of the Poor of Paris Garden (Add.
MS. 34110).

The Court Book of the Manor 2 contains the Counterpart
(Scried, vi, No. 10) of a Lease dated 1663, from William Angell
to Griffith Kent of " a parcell of land, or wharf, lying by the
Thames-side in Paris Garden," from Lady-day then last past,
for the term of thirty-one years, at the yearly rent of

1 Ducarel states that in 1636 Thomas Kent, Gent., held the Manor
House of Kennington. In 1662 Thomas Kent paid tax on 10 hearths in
the Prince's Liberty in the parish of Lambeth (Lay Subsidies, Bundle
187, No. 479).

In Lambeth Parish Registers are the entries :

1629, Oct. 31.— Bur: a dau. of Thomas Kent's, Still-born.
1674, March 31. — Bur: Lane the son of Mathew Kent.

2 At Messrs. Lethbridge, Money, and Prior's.

137

THE KING'S OLD BARGEHOUSE.

In 1676 the same premises (evidently) were demised, by
Angell and others, to Joseph Holden and William Wilkinson,
under the description of " a little wharfe by the Thames side,
over against the Temple, in lease to Griffiths Kent at 30^.
a year."

This item is immediately followed by " A messuage near
the Barge House in the occupation of \blank~\ Quinborough,
at £4"; and " A piece of ground adjoining, in lease to George
Biggs, whereon were three houses built by Biggs."

We may get a fair idea of the general aspect of the tene-
ments collectively known as the Bargehouses, though we
cannot identify house by house, from Faithorne's map, which
is said to have been surveyed between 1643 an^ J647, but
to have had features introduced up to the date of its engraving
in 1658. This shows several buildings scattered along a strip
of land confined between the Thames and the long ditch bor-
dering Narrow Wall, and divided by lesser ditches into three
parcels. In the westernmost of these, close to the embouchure
of the Cupar's Garden Sluice, stands a long-armed windmill,
the wood-saw-mill, said to have been erected during Cromwell's
Protectorate,1 and to have been frequently visited by him as a
curious object, the first of its kind in England, though common
enough in Holland. The ground in this and the second division
is strewn with little rectangles which may be meant for planks,
symbolizing timber yards; but in the third there are small
squares that may perhaps represent tanks for the whetsters,
tenters,3 or other local trades.

In the map in Strype's Stow^ 1720, the same strip is cut up
into seven holdings, bearing the names respectively (proceed
ing from Old Barge Stairs) of Squire Shorter,3 Mr Tibals

1 Manning and Bray, iii, 467.

* Bleachers and dyers.

3 The above-named "Squire" was possibly son of Sir John Shorter,
who, as we learn from Robert Woodger Bower's Sketches of Southtuark
Old and New, was Lord Mayor in 1688, and, dying the same year, devised
by his will to the poor of the parish of Southwark, the rents of a freehold
house and land formerly on the east side of Boddy's Bridge. Sir John was
a dissenter, an Anabaptist, and John Bunyan was his Chaplain. The wife
of Sir Robert Walpole was his granddaughter. In 1658 John Shorter was
one of the auditors of the Paris Garden Overseers' accounts [Add. MS.
34100]. The same year William Angell leased to John Shorter "4 Putt
(Galleries or Shedds, built over the mill-stream upon the wharfe thereof,
in Paris Garden, for 99 years, at the yearly rent of id" [Old Court Book
at Messrs. Lethbridge and Prior's, p. 40.] In 1661, 24th April, William
Angell conveyed to John Shorter " a wharfe . . . adjoining to the east

138

.£ £

"55 2

•J

£j

BRUCE CASTLE, TOTTENHAM.

[>>., Theobalds] Mr Batcher1 [i.e., Bachelor; here is a dry
dock] Mr Phillips, Mr Baker, Mr Hering, and Sir Peter Rich.

In Roque's map, 1746, a Glass house yard seems to cover the
site of Snorter's or perhaps the next tenement In Summer-
sell's map, 1768, the first division is Capt. Snorter's, the next
Mr. James's, and the next to that Mr. Theobald's — a very large
timber yard, including a dock, and reaching to " Morris' Cause-
way " and the " Lord Mayor's Bargehouse."

In Middleton's Survey, 1784, "Snorter's" is, apparently,
represented by " No. 1 1 " (George Russell's wood shed and
wharf), while a bare plot, 22 ft. 9 in. wide, intervenes between
it and Bargehouse Alley. In SummerseH's Survey a division
corresponding to this bare plot is demarked from Snorter's by
the dotted parochial boundary line, so that it evidently be-
longed to the old liberty of Paris Garden ; whereas the division
corresponding to Shorter's, and marked in the latest ordnance
map as " Site of the King's Old Bargehouse," belongs to the
Duchy.

From comparison of these maps with the Ogilby-Morgan,
where the westernmost of the buildings marked " Old Barge-
houses " is contiguous to the Alley, and from other evidence
considered in this paper, I would submit that the bare plot,
and not " No. 1 1 " was the actual site of the " King's Old
Bargehouse," as described in the Survey of 1652 (see ante,
vol. x, p. 173).

BRUCE CASTLE, TOTTENHAM.

BY C. EDGAR THOMAS.

[Continued from p. 60.]

JAMES TOWNSEND added a new east wing to the
mansion. He figured very prominently in political circles
in his day, and in 1769 was elected an Alderman of the
ird of Bishopsgate, while in 1772-3 he became Lord Mayor

side of Old Paris Garden Stairs, together with the sd. Common Staires or
landing-place." [Ibid., Schedule i, No. 35.] For discussion of the term
"Pott Gallery" see Notes and Queries, May (et seq.}, 1907.
1 The Lambeth Burial Registers :

1656, April 14.— Joseph the son of Thomas Baccheler, a stranger.

1665, Jan. 3.— Samuel son of John Batcheller.

1667, . . . Katherin the wife of John Batcheller.

139

BRUCE CASTLE, TOTTENHAM.

of London. In Parliament he represented Calne in Wiltshire,
the representation extending to the time of his death. He was
acquainted with Lord Shelburne, who, while on a visit to
Bruce Castle in 1771, wrote to Lord Chatham. Chatham in
his reply spoke of " our worthy warm friend your landlord."
His wife died in 1785, and he followed her to the grave four
years later, leaving one daughter and one son, James or Henry
Hare Townsend, who then came into the estate. As we find
in the case of some other old houses, there was an ancient
custom connected with Bruce Castle. When a member of the
family died the corpse was not carried to its last resting place
through the gate, but an opening was made for it to pass
through in the outer wall nearest to the church. The church
was All Hallows, Tottenham, which is situated opposite the
side entrance to the premises. The last time this curious old
custom was enacted happened in 1789, when a breach was
made in the wall for the body of Alderman Townsend to pass
through.

In Dyson's Tottenliam, 1792, is found the following descrip-
tion of Bruce Castle: "the attic story consists of a large
nursery, and 9 good bedchambers, with 2 large closets. The
middle story contains a library, 35 ft. by 18 ft; a billiard
room, 31 by 22; 7 neat bedrooms, with 4 dressing rooms; and
a store room. The ground floor consists of a commodious
hall, 33 by 22; a saloon, 35 by 18; and a handsome staircase;
a drawing room, 26 by 19; an eating-room, 30 by 24; a break-
fast parlour, 1 8 by 22; and a dressing-room'adjoining; besides
apartments for steward, housekeeper, and butler, servants' hall,
spacious kitchen, and back stairs, and roomy dry cellaring.
Among the detached offices are stables for 12 horses, a treble
coach-house with loft, and the whole is supplied with water
from a deep well over which is erected a brick tower on the
S.W. of the house, the upper part of which is used as a dairy."
It will thus be readily seen that the house was of no mean
order, but, on the contrary, a fine specimen of what once con-
stituted a nobleman's residence. There used to be a painting
of the house before its alteration by the Coleraine family, and
this was placed over the mantelpiece in one of the parlours.
Curiously enough, this picture shows two more towers like the
one mentioned in the preceding description of the mansion,
but all of them have now been razed to the ground.

Some time after — during the latter part of the eighteenth
century — the whole of the estate was purchased by a Mr. Smith,

140

O O

H 3

BRUCE CASTLE, TOTTENHAM.

who, however, did not retain it long, but disposed of it to Mr.
Ayton Lee. He, in turn, sold it shortly afterwards to his cousin,
Richard Lee. Thus within the space of a very few years, the
Castle found three purchasers, but fate seems to have ordained
that it should not remain long in the possession of any one
of them.

Richard Lee resided at Bruce Castle for a short time, and
it then became the property of John Eardley Wilmot, one of
the Masters in Chancery. This was about 1804. He contrived
to extend the property by procuring adjacent land, in all about
twenty-five acres. Mr. Wilmot owned the estate until 1813,
when it was by his order put up for sale by Messrs. Hoggart
and Phillips, then of the Auction Mart. The estate then con-
sisted of, roughly, forty-seven acres, comprising the house,
pleasure garden, and paddock, about twenty acres, orchard,
farm-yard, and farm-house, about twelve acres ; the remaining
ground was situated immediately opposite the mansion-house,
on the south side of Lordship Lane, extending in a consider-
able line from east to west. About this time the Land Tax on
the property was redeemed ; the valuable timber, the worth of
which was estimated at £1,100, was also included in the sale.
Bruce Castle was not sold by auction, but was bought in at
£12,900. It was, however, disposed of by private contract, to
Mr. John Ede, a very prosperous city merchant, as is amply
proved by the fact that he paid Mr. Wilmot no less than
£11,500 for it. This included the fixtures in the house, the
park and grounds behind the mansion, and also the valuable
timber.

Mr. Ede, on taking possession, entirely demolished the west
wing of the house, including the stables and coach-house, and
under his direction the remainder of the structure underwent
a good and complete repair. There used to be an avenue of
fine old elms which ran from the high road to the mansion,
and Bruce Grove now marks this site. The estate was owned
by Mr. Ede until 1827, when he parted with the mansion and
fifteen acres of pleasure ground, gardens, etc., to the celebrated
Hill family. He also sold part of the land directly in the front
of the house, containing about eighteen acres to a Mr. Joseph
Fletcher, reserving to himself the hoppet on the west side of
the Lane, leading from Lordship Lane to All Hallows Church,
and a field opposite on which he built some houses.

The three brothers Hill, Edwin, Frederick, and Rowland,
afterwards Sir Rowland Hill, converted the premises into a

141

BRUCE CASTLE, TOTTENHAM.

school, as a branch establishment of " Hazelwood School,"
Birmingham, which was then conducted by their father,
Thomas Wright Hill, and which enjoyed a great reputation
as a respectable middle-class boarding school. It can be safely
asserted that " Bruce Castle School " soon acquired equal
celebrity. It was about this time that the entrance to the
house was altered ; a new one being made round the side of
the premises, the drive being shaped accordingly, whilst the
old front door immediately under the ancient clock tower, was
bricked up and made to form a retiring or ante-room, jutting
off the dining-hall. From the window of this small room one
can now enjoy an uninterrupted view of the lawn. The room
in which Sir Rowland is said to have thought out his idea of
the penny postage, is happily still intact, and possesses a
considerable amount of interest.

In 1833 Rowland Hill came to the conclusion that on
account of failing health, he must abandon the profession of
a schoolmaster ; he accordingly withdrew from the school and
devoted himself to public life. His brothers Edwin and
Frederick did likewise some time after, both of them eventu-
ally gaining high positions in the public service. On their
retirement the school was successfully conducted by Mr.
Arthur Hill, and subsequently by Sir Rowland's nephew,
Birkbeck Hill.

Having been in the possession of the Hills for about fifty
years, Bruce Castle again changed hand in 1877, the new
owner being the Rev. W. Almack, M.A. Sir Rowland Hill in
an account of the years he spent at Bruce Castle, written in
1 869, says : " Although, however, I separated myself from
duties in which I had been engaged for three and twenty
years, I have never lost interest in the school, nor ever failed
to render it such assistance as lay in my power. I gladly
hailed the early return of its prosperity ; and at the end of
thirty-six years from my withdrawal, I rejoice to see it still
flourishing."

As has been before stated, eight years later, and fifty from
its opening as a school, Bruce Castle had passed from the
possession of the Hill family. In 1892, the Tottenham Urban
District Council purchased it from Joshua Pedley, Esq., of
White Hart Lane, the amount paid for it being £2 5,000. The
object of the purchase was to secure the historic old place for
the public, and so preserve it. The grounds have been made
into a public park, and the house has been entirely renovated.

142

BRUCE CASTLE, TOTTENHAM.

It now contains a valuable and well-arranged museum, and
also a reading-room and branch library in connection with the
Tottenham Public Libraries. For these purposes two long
rooms have been thrown into one, but beyond this, and some
redecoration and repairs, it can happily be stated that very
little has been done towards reconstruction or so-called
restoration. The old fireplaces are still preserved, one of them
having the china painting down the sides still intact, while
another of later date is closed up. There are two handsome
oak staircases, the larger one leading from the hall to the
apartments above, being a splendid example of the old wide
staircase of long ago ; the other one, situated at the back of
the premises, is probably the older of the two. It is not so
massive as the front stair, but what it lacks in this respect it
makes up for in other features, being beautifully rounded and
bearing much handsome carving, some of which has been un-
fortunately detached. The ancient row of bells still hang in
the old place high up at the far end of the hall. Among the
apartments upstairs is a gymnasium, besides a few cells in
excellent preservation. On the wall over the balcony hangs
an oil painting of Bruce Castle as it was in the seventeenth
century. The house is still adorned with the clinging ivy and
creeper, the growth of centuries, while above all, as firm as
ever, stands the old clock tower, with its pretty little balustrade.
The ancient mansion is well worth a visit.

HOUGHTON CONQUEST.

By CONSTANCE ISHERWOOD.

[Continued from p. 64.]

ON the north side of the chancel is a large altar tomb of
Purbeck stone, inlaid with the brasses of Richard and
Isabella Conquest, with their nine sons and five
daughters, and of John Conquest, the father of Richard. The
two male effigies are represented in early Tudor armour, in
simple cuirasses, small placcates, condieres, and mail skirts
below skirts of taces with tuilles; and the lady is represented
in a close-fitting bodice and sleeves, a flowing skirt, and a

143

HOUGHTON CONQUEST.

pedimental head-dress. Each of these three effigies measures
twenty-eight inches. Above the knight is a shield, on the
sinister side, with the arms of Conquest: Quarterly, argent
and sable, a label of three points, gules', impaling: quarterly, I
and IV, cheeky, a fess, ermine-, II and III, a bend, lozengy.
Below the effigies, in miniature, of the nine sons, is the symbol
of St. Luke, a winged ox; and, at the sinister corner, is the
symbol of St. Matthew, the angel bearing the Bible. The
inscription is as follows:

Hie jacet Joties Conquest, armiger, nup dims de Houghton,
et Ricus Conquest, films et heres ejusde Johis ac Isabella
uxor eius qui quide Ricus obiit die A° dni Mcccc & j?dca
Isabella obiit 18 Augusti A° dni 1493, qu'# aiabuz ppicieP
de am.

The other brasses represent the effigies of Richard and
Elizabeth Conquest, with their six sons and two daughters.
The male is represented in Tudor armour, and his lady in a
flowing skirt, close-fitting bodice and sleeves, and pedimental
head-dress. The inscription is as follows:

Orate f? mortuis quia moriemur. Hie jacet Ricus Conquest
Armiger, et Elizabeth, uxor eius, qui quidem Ricus obiit
xxviij die mens Julii Anno dni Milli°ccccc, et diet' Elizabeth
obiit die A° dni M°vc: quoru aiabuz ^picietur Deus,
Amen.

Arms: Per cross, a file of five points, Conquest (over the
lady); two swords in saltire, points in chief.

The male line of the Conquest family became extinct on
the death of Benedict Conquest, the father of Lady Arundel,
and the estate was purchased of them by the father of the Earl
of Upper Ossory, of Ampthill Park, in 1741.

The mural monument in memory of the celebrated Dr.
Thomas Archer, of Jacobean fame, is characteristic; it repre-
sents the bust of the worthy priest, attired in a preacher's
gown, with a ruff and a black skull cap. The effigy, which is
painted in proper colours, is represented as leaning on a pulpit
cushion, and as holding the Bible in his left hand. The in-
scription, in Latin, is as quaint as the monument, and com-
mences by adjuring the reader that, " If things are well within,
do not trouble," and goes on to say that, " I have instructed
many, while living, now I instruct few. What one day con-
structs, one day pulls down. So the wonderful fabric of the

144

HOUGHTON CONQUEST.

beautiful world falls down. So man rises, dies, a defenceless
worm. O, happy one that I am, who, after being relieved of
the burden of the flesh, I have changed uncertainties for
realities, and vanities for blessings. Thomas Archer, Chaplain
to King James, Rector of this Church for 41 years, placed this
in his lifetime, in the year of our Lord, 1620, in the year of
his age 76."

The mural tablet in memory of Dr. Zachary Grey, of gray
and white marble, is simple and undecorative; it bears this
inscription: " Sacred to the Memory of Zachary Grey, L.L.D.,
late Rector of this Parish, who, with zeal undissembled, served
his God, with love and affection endeared himself to his Family,
with Sincerity unaffected promoted the Interest of his Friends,
and with real Charity and extensive Humanity behaved to-
wards all mankind. He died Nov. 25, 1766. Aged 78." Be-
side this tablet is that of his wife, bearing this inscription:
" Near this Place is interred Susanna Grey, relict of the late
Revd Zachary Grey. She died Feb. 3rd, 1771. Aged 82, whose
social virtues rendered her dear to all."

The east window is Perpendicular, of five lights; the glass,
representing the Crucifixion and the Ascension, was placed
"In loving Memory of three Benefactors, Eliza Hargreave,
and Mary and Sarah Windle, A.D. 1880."

On either side of the altar are niches of the Decorated period,
ornamented with quaint leafy crockets and rose-tipped cusps,
and slender shafts in the jambs, with circular capitals. The
double piscina is Perpendicular, having a cinquefoil head,
supported by slender octagonal shafts in the jambs. Some of
the ancient carved oak has been preserved in the choir stalls.
In the vestry is a chest or " safe," made of wood, with strong
iron bands, and bearing the date 1691. The fine old hammer-
beam roof has fortunately been preserved. The windows of
the chancel are all Perpendicular, and contain some ancient
glass. The rood screen belongs to the same period, and is of
oak, carved in a graceful design, after the " window " pattern
and painted red, with ornamentations in the form of white and
gold flowers. The nave is separated from the aisles by clustered
columns, of the Decorated period. The arch mouldings ter-
minate in beautiful corbels, representing the heads of a king and
a queen, a bishop, nuns and monks, our Lord, St. John, the
beloved disciple, and the Blessed Virgin Mary. The beautiful
windows of the north and south aisles belong both to the
Decorated and the Early Perpendicular periods. In the upper

VOL. XI. 145 L

HOUGHTON CONQUEST.

lights are preserved some valuable bits of ancient stained
glass, depicting shields charged with coats of arms.

Over the north door is a fine fresco, " more than life size —
colossal," representing St. Christopher bearing his divine
burden. The figure is of immense proportions, and eminently
striking to the eye; it would be wonderfully interesting to
know whose was the hand that limned it, hundreds of years
ago. Remains of other frescoes remind us of what the interior
of this noble church must have been like in all its former
beauty. Over the chancel arch is a representation of the
glorified Christ, with an angel on either side, and shields of
arms ; while on the upper part of the eastern wall of the south
aisle the double triangles, or "six-pointed stars," known as
Solomon's Seal or David's Shield, are discernible ; on the north
wall, in a line with the effigy of St. Christopher, is part of an
inscription which, however, is not legible.

The font, which is septagonal, is Decorated, the panels of
the basin being richly ornamented with " crockets " and
" tabernacle work." The seventh panel is rough and un-
decorated.

The spacious pre-Reformation pews have fortunately sur-
vived past " restorations," l and their decorative standards,
carved with cusps and flanked by quaint " buttresses," remain
untouched. Recessed in thewall in thesouth aisleis a Decorated
piscina, surmounted by an ogee arch, and in close proximity
is a small square niche, which probably served as an aumbry.
Square leafy bosses ornament the juncture of the ribs of the
ancient oak roof of the nave and the aisles, and traces of
colouring are still visible in the aisles.

The tower is separated from the nave by a pointed arcl
springing from octagonal capitals. Above, high up, projecting
from the wall, is a tiny ringer's gallery, with massive oak rails,
a rare feature of the interior of Bedfordshire churches. A rinj
of six bells hangs in the belfry.

Taking leave of the beautiful and venerable church of All
Saints, with its cluster of old-world memories, we return t(
matters mundane, and consider the other features of anti-
quarian interest in the parish that have not yet been descril

The Almshouse was erected and endowed in 1632 by Sii
Francis Clarke, Kt., the benefactor of Sidney Sussex College
Cambridge, for six poor widows, "out of his desire to con-
tribute a perpetual benefit to the inhabitants of Houghtoi

1 The last being in 1845.
146

HOUGHTON CONQUEST.

Conquest." Attached to the almshouse is a free school, with a
residence for the master.

Bedfordshire pillow lace — which, so tradition tells us, was
introduced into the county by Queen Katherine of Arragon,
during her residence at Ampthill Castle from 1510 to 1533—
is made in the village, and, until quite recently, the lace-makers
used to celebrate St. Katherine's Day, 25th November, as the
holiday of their craft, " in memory of good Queen Katherine,
who, when the trade was dull, burnt all her lace and ordered
new to be made."

About two miles from the village of Houghton Conquest,
picturesquely situated in a noble park, with fine avenues of
oak and chestnut trees and commanding a magnificent view
of the Vale of Bedford, stand the ruins of Houghton House,
once the palatial residence of Mary Herbert, Countess of
Pembroke — "Sidney's sister and Pembroke's mother" (who
built it in 1615)— now but the veriest shell of its former great-
ness, ivy mantled and desolate. By good fortune pictures re-
main to show us what Houghton House was like in its pristine
splendour, when it rose " like an exhalation from the earth "
under the direction of Inigo Jones, who reproduced in the
north front the style of Palladio, which is supposed to be a
replica of the Convent della Carita, Venice. The south and
west fronts were richly ornamented with colonnades of Doric
and Ionic columns, with the pediments and the friezes finely
sculptured with the porcupine, the bear and ragged staff, and
the lion rampant, the crests of the Sidney, Dudley, and Pem-
broke families. Square towers, with incurved roofs, stood at
the corners of the mansion, and added considerably to its beauty
and dignity. The numerous windows, of which nothing re-
mains but the stone framework and the massive mullions, were
of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods. The terraces and
the pleasaunces, that formed the fair setting to this mansion,
have long since disappeared and no traces remain, except a few
holly and yew trees that have survived the general devastation.

Houghton House was purchased by John, Duke of Bedford,
in J738, and was restored and fitted up for his son, the
Marquis of Tavistock. He was killed in 1767, by a fall from
his horse, and after this sad event no member of the Bedford
family cared to reside here. The last occupant was the Earl of
Upper Ossory. In 1794 the mansion was dismantled, and
part of the materials were used in the building of the Swan
Hotel, on the embankment, Bedford.

HOUGHTON CONQUEST.

Mary, Countess of Pembroke, who was a very gifted woman,
of high intellectual abilities combined with great personal
beauty and exquisite charm of manner, and a brilliant orna-
ment of the Court of Queen Elizabeth, retired to Houghton
House, which she erected in her widowhood, and there is an
idea that this house was built after some plan or description
set forth in the " Arcadia," a tribute of affection to the memory
of her brave and noble brother, Sir Philip Sidney. This cele-
brated lady, according to Coxeter, translated the whole of
the Psalms into English metre, being assisted in this work
by Dr. Gervase Babington, her lord's chaplain, afterwards
Bishop of Exeter, and wrote the " Tragedie of Antonie," " done
from the French," bearing the name and date " Ramsbury,
Nov. 26, 1590." After the defeat of the Royalist army at
Worcester in 1651, the celebrated Christiana, Countess of
Devonshire, took up her residence at Houghton House (at
this time the seat of her brother, Thomas, Earl of Elgin), and
here she lived for three years in comparative seclusion, "lighten-
ing her griefs and her expenses," and also taking an active part
in planning the restoration of King Charles II. This noble
lady, who was the daughter of Edward, Lord Bruce of Kinloss,
and wife of William, Earl of Devonshire, was in constant
correspondence with General Monk, who was instrumental in
bringing about the restoration of the King, and she also be-
friended Dr. George Lawson, a staunch Royalist, who was
wrongfully ejected from his benefice in Northamptonshire
during the Commonwealth. Lady Devonshire lived to see the
dream of her life fulfilled, and a great wrong righted; she
passed peacefully away at Derby in 1674, truly a " victor after
hard won fight." A story is told of how " once even a troop of
soldiers were sent to Houghton House to take her prisoner,
and convey her to the Tower of London," but, fortunately,
she avoided their malevolent designs, and worked on harder
than ever at the cause she had so much at heart.

Many are the historic memories that cluster around this
stately ruin, majestic even in its decay ; and by a writer whose
romances of bygone Bedfordshire have delighted many hearts,
Houghton House has been immortalized by being identified
as the original of the " House Beautiful," seen with the golden
vision of the " Immortal Dreamer."

148

AN BALING TRAGEDY, 1747.
BY J. METHAM WARRENER.

THE district of Castle Bar Hill is now the most fashion-
able part of Ealing, and its staid and well-to-do inhabit-
ants would doubtless be greatly shocked if any deed of
violence were committed in so respectable a quarter.

A century and a half ago it was a lonely and desolate spot.
As late as 1825, Gary's Map shows not a single house on the
north side of the " Oxford, Cheltenham, Glocester and Mil-
ford Road," now the Uxbridge Road, between Acton and
Ealing Dean; while at "Castle Bear Hill " there were appar-
ently only two houses, close to the end of Pitshanger Lane.
Between this lane and Perivale a large piece of land is marked
as " Castle Bear Common."

It was probably on this common that my ancestor, Samuel
Verry, was shot by highwaymen in 1747. A Broadside giving
an account of the murder was issued in a few days, a copy of
which has been handed down in the family and is now in my
possession. It runs as follows:

JAN. 24th A Full and Particular 1747.
ACCOUNT

OF THE

Apprending and Taking

William Groves, and Noah Groves.

For the barbarous Murder of Mr. Samuel Verry, a fub-
ftantial Farmer of Oxendon-hill in the Parifh of Perrivale,
Middlefex; who going home laft Saturday Night about Seven
o'Clock, was attacked clofe by the empty Houfe by Caftle Bar,
late in the Poffeflion of Dr. Hollings, near the Uxbridge Road.
With the Whole Examination, before the Right Hon the
Worfhipful Juftice Clithero, and their Commitment laft Night
the one to Newgate, and the other to New-Prison.

The Farmer fliot was Mr. Samuel Verry, an honeft fub-
ftantial Farmer of Oxendon-hill, in the Parifh of Perrivale,

149

AN EALING TRAGEDY, 1747.

Middlefex; who going home laft Saturday Night about Seven
o'Clock, with his Son, a Youth about Seventeen Years of Age,
was attacked clofe by the empty House by Caftle-bar, late in
the Poffeflion Dr. Rollings, near the Uxbridge-road. Mr.
Verry rode by the Fellows on which they endeavoured to
flop his Son, but failed, the Boy riding back towards the Sign
of the Feathers, crying Murder! Mr. Verry turning back to
look for his Son, was ftopp'd ; and one of the Fellows being
about to rob him, Mr. Verry who was fomewhat in Liquor
and a stout Man, ftruck him a violent blow, on which the
other Villain fhot Mr. Verry in the breaft; and robb'd him of
fome part of his Money. Mr. Verry riding back towards the
Feathers, met his Son, who had got afliftance, and told them
that he had been robb'd and fhot, but that he thought himfelf
not much hurt. — And he feem'd very hearty when he had dif-
mounted at the Feathers. But his Friends obferving after
fome time, a great Quantity of Blood in the Chair on which
he fat, he was ftripp'd and a Surgeon fent for, who found he
was mot in the Left Breaft with a Ball and a Slug. The Ball
went through his Body and was found in his Clothes; the Slug
having been ftopp'd by one of the breaft bones, was taken out.
Mr. Verry continued in his Senfes till he dy'd, which was on
Monday Morning, about Two o'Clock: And in the mean
Time, fettled his Affairs, and earneftly defired all People to
be cautious of travelling late, or making Refiftance if attacked
by fuch Villains.

Wednefday two Fellows were taken up and examined by
James Clithero, Efq ; one of his Majefty's Juftices of the Peace
for the County of Middlefex, they having been feen to load
Piftols the fame Evening the Fact was done. And Yefterday
they were re-examined by the faid Gentleman, when he com-
mitted one of them, Noah Groves, to New-Prifon, and the
other, William Groves, to Newgate, being charged on a violent
Sufpicion of mooting the faid Samuel Verry on the King's
Highway.

The above William Groves was formerly an Evidence
againft three Men for fmuggling, who were found guilty, fin'd
and imprifon'd, and all died in Newgate.

150

THE CHRONICLE OF PAUL'S CROSS.

BY W. PALEY BAILDON, F.S.A.

[Continued from p. 73.]

1541, November 13. "Alexander Seton, a Scotish, and a
worther Preacher. . . . This Seton was Chaplain to the Duke
of Suffolk, and by him was made free Denison. In his sermon
preached at Saint Antholine's, his adversaries picked against
him matter containing fifteen objections, or rather cavillations.
. . . Touching reconciliation spoken of by Doctor Smith,
preaching in the forenoon at Paul's Cross, Alexander Seton,
preaching at afternoon at Saint Anthonie's [sic], and reciting
his sayings and Scriptures, reproved him for alledging this
saying, Reconciliamini Deo, and Englishing the same thus,
1 Reconcile your selves to God ' ; because it is there spoken
passively, and not actively, so that there should be nothing in
man pertaining to reconciliation, but all in God. Also reprov-
ing the said Doctor Smith, for that the said D. said that man
by his good works might merit. Which saying of Doctor
Smith the said Alexander Seton reproved in the Pulpit at
S. Anthonie's [sic] the 13 day of November, the year of our
Lord 1541, as naughtily spoken. ... So that in the end, he,
with Tolwine aforesaid, was caused to recant at Paul's Cross,
1541." (Fox, Martyrs, vol. ii, pp. 451, 452.)

1543, July 8. " Allso, the 8 of Julye, beinge Reliques Son-
day, three persons recanted at Paules Crosse, one called
Thomas Beacon alias Theodore Basill, — Wysedome, Curate
of Aldermary under Doctor Cromer [Edward Crome], and
one Shingleton, all three preistes; and the said Thomas
Beacon cutt in peeces, at his sayd recantinge, n bookes
which he had made and caused to be printed, wherein was
certeine heresyes." — (Wriothesley's Chronicle, Camden Soc.,
N. S., vol. ii, p. 142.)

1544, July 6. "This same year also followed the Recanta-
tion of John Hay wood; who, although he was tached for
Treason for denying the King's Supremacy, yet using the

THE CHRONICLE OF PAUL'S CROSS.

clemency of the King, upon his better reformation and amend-
ment, made an open and Solemn Recantation in the face of
all the people, abandoning and renouncing the Pope's usurped
supremacy, and confessing of the King to be chief supream
Head and Governour of this Church of England, all forein
Authority and Jurisdiction being excluded. The tenour and
effect of whose Recantation here followeth." . . . Memor-
andum that the above recantation was made and publicly
pronounced by the sd John Haywood, on Sunday, July 6th,
1544, at Paul's Cross, at the time of the Sermon. — (Fox,
Martyrs, vol. ii, p. 479.)

1 544, July 6. " The 6 day of July, — Hayward recanted his
treason at Pawles Crosse, which had bene afore condempned
to death, and brought to be layd on the hardell [hurdle], for
denyinge the Supremacye of the Kinges Majestic against the
Bishop of Rome." — (Wriothesley's Chronicle, Camden Soc.,
N. S., vol. ii, p. 148.)

1545, February 8. "This 8th day allso, stoode at Pawles
Crosse a preist, with a broad stole of linen cloath, couloured
with drops like bloud, about his necke; which was given him
in pennance by my Lord Chauncellour [Wriothesley], in the
Starre Chamber, for fayninge and counterfeyting a miracle
that he woulde had [been] done whilest he was at Masse, and
pricked his ringer [so] that the bloud dropped on the corporasse
and aulter, so that he woulde have made men beleue that the
Hoste of the Body of Christ, by him consecrated, had bledde,
and allso he quaveringe and shakinge at the tyme of consecra-
tion; all which he openly declared at Pawles Crosse" —
(Wriothesley's Chronicle, Camden Soc., N. S., vol. ii, p. 152.)

1545. "This yere, the xxvii daie of June, doctor Crome
preached at Poules Crosse, and there openly confessed that he
had been seduced with naughtie bookes, contrary to the true
doctrine of Christe, and in this dooyng he saied he was not
compelled so to saie, neither for feare nor by any other
meanes, but onely of his free and voluntary will." — (Fabyan.)

1545. "And thys yere stode a prest of Kente at Polles
Crose for cuttynge of hys fynger and made it to blede on the
hoste at his Masse for a fallse sacrafyce ; and also another
prest this yere was sett on the pyllere in Chepe, for makynge

152

THE CHRONICLE OF PAUL'S CROSS.

of false letters in the weste centre unto a blynde woman." —
(Chronicle of the Grey Friars, p. 48.)

1546, April II. "Item the xj day of Aprille before was
Passion Sonday, and then preched Doctor Crome in hys
pariche church [St. Mary Aldermary], at the wyche sermond
he preched agayne [against] the Sacrament of the Auter; and
that same tyme he was send for unto the Corte, and there was
exammynd ; and the V sarmondes at Ester spake alle agayne
[against] the sayd oppynyons, but namyd not hym. And the
Sonday after the Low Sonday, the wyche was the ix day of
May after, he preched at Powlles Crosse, and there sayd he
came not thether to recante nor to denye hys worddes, nor
wolde not. And then he was send for that same day agayne,
and was examynd agayne; and the xxvij day of June after,
wyche was the Sonday after Corpus Christi day, he was com-
andyd to preche at Powlles Crosse agayne, and there recantyd
and denyyd hys worddes." — (Chronicle of the Grey Friars,
p. 50.)

1 546, May 8. " Doctour Crome beeng called and examyned
before the Counsail, present the Bishops of London and
Worcester and such of the Kinges Chaplaynes as the daye
before were appointed to be at his sermon at Poles Crosse,
was examyned uppon his rashenes and indirect procedinges,
and therupon committed to a chambre to answere to certeyne
interrogatoryes." — (Acts of the Privy Council?)

1546, May 9. Dr. Edward Crome preached. See June 2/th
post.

1546, May ii. THE COUNCIL TO SIR WILLIAM PETRE.

" Mr. Secretary, after our harty commendacions, yesterday,
in the morning, we had Mr. Crome before us, unto whom,
according to the Kinges Majestes commandent, we objectid
his misbehavour at Paules Crosse, contrary to the Kinges
Hieghnes expectacion and his owne promes. Which matter
we engrevid as the qualite thereof wourthily required. . . .
Whereunto when he had aunswered with grete asseverations,
and with a mervaillous constante behavour, that he had so
doon and fulfilled his promes at Paules Crosse^ as no man
ought to fynde faulte with his doinges, and layenge his hand
on his brest, saide he knew himself better then any other man

153

THE CHRONICLE OF PAUL'S CROSS.

did, and he thought he had doon so well, as he shuld never
have been charged or blamed, but rather comendid there-
fore. . . "—(State Papers, Henry VIII, vol. i, p. 842.)

1546, May 13. THE COUNCIL TO SIR WILLIAM PETRE.

"Mr. Secretarye, after our right harty commendations.
Where thies herers, my Lord of Worcestre [Nicholas Heath],
and others the Kinges Majesties Chaplayns, doe repayre at
this tyme to his Majestic, to declare unto him the procedinges
with Crome sithens [since] our last advertisement, whereunto
they shall make you pryvey, we shall require you to helpe
them to his Majesties presence, and to know whether his
Hieghnes woll heruppon commaunde us any further, touching
this matier, then is alredy signefyed unto us. This day we
looke for Latymer, the Vicar of St. Brides, and summe others
of those that have specially comforted Crome in his folye.
Crome, sithens the last depositions sent to his Majestic, hath
confessed that Huick, uppon sight of th' articles which he
shuld have sett furth at Pole Crosse, shewed himself to mislyke
the same, and thought they could not be mayntened with good
conscyence, and that he doubted not, therfore, but the said
Crome could declare them honestly ; by the which, and such
other thinges as Crome hath confessed, it appereth that he,
and summe of those folkes that he named in his depositions,
be as much to be blamed, or more, then himself." — (State
Papers, Henry VIII, vol. i, p. 845.^

[To be continued.]

154

NOTES AND QUERIES.

UNPUBLISHED MSS. RELATING TO THE HOME COUNTIES
IN THE COLLECTION OF P. C. RUSHEN.

[Continued from p. 74.]

1573» Sept. 27. Lease by John Nuttynge of Hendon, yeoman, to Thomas Wood
of Great Marlow, Bucks, Glover, of the lessor's small tenement with an orchard,
in Great Marlow, then in the lessee's occupation, for 21 years, at 2os. per annum.
Covenants by the lessee, for full repairs, not to sub-lease or assign to any but his
kindred without license of the lessor, and to plant at least 12 fruit trees in the
orchard in the first 3 years.

1 598, Aug. 27. Lease by Richard Brenchley to Francis Pope, both of Bobbing,
co. Kent, yeomen, of 10 acres of land there, for 3 years at a peppercorn rent.
Counterpart signed by Pope.

1619, May 20. Lease by John Barker of London, Merchant, to John Greene of
Lincoln's Inn, Esq., for 21 years at £10 per annum, of a garden and garden-house
occupied by the lessor in the parish of St. Leonard, Shoreditch, adjoining on the
east to a garden occupied by Robert Parkhurst, and severed with a new brick wall
on the west from a garden occupied by John Turkell, and with another new brick
wall on the north from a garden occupied by Thomas Stone, and on the south with
a high " tymber pale cantrailed next the alley" leading to the demised premises
and to other gardens. Counterpart with Schedule of fixtures and fittings.

Memorandum endorsed, that on 22 Jan., 1623, Henry Blount of London, Girdler,
assignee of the lessor, in consideration of ^17. 10. o paid to him, accepted a sur-
render of the lease and all the estate the exors. of Dame Mary Weld had in the
demised premises.

1620, Jan. i. Lease by Henry Mann alias Towsey, of Quainton, Bucks,
yeoman, & Isabel his wife, to Thomas Brice, son of the said Isabel, in considera-
tion of £60, of a tenement occupied by Annis Clarke, widow, and 2 parts of a
yardland divided into 3 parts, & common of pasture for 4 horses, 4 kine, &
27 sheep, & 3 acres I rood of meadow in the common meadow, occupied by the
said Mann, all in Quainton : to hold for 40 years, if either of lessors should live so
long. The Lessors are to save the lessee from a lease of the premises made by
Isabel, while a widow, to the said Henry, for 40 years, which lease was supposed
to be lost.

1683, Oct. i. Lease by Ann Whittle, widow, of Eastmalling, Kent, as
guardian to her five sons, Thurston, William, Robert, Thomas, & George, to
Francis Tomlin of Eastmalling, yeoman, for 1 1 years, at ^14 per annum, of 3 pieces
of land called Lunsford's Broomes, containing 26 acres, in the lessee's occupation,
near Larkefield Heath, in the parish of Eastmalling, & 4 pieces of land contain-
ing 7 acres, adjoining Larkefield Heath, in the lessee's occupation, then late of
James Dowell.

1689, April 2. Lease by William Warne, scrivener, and John Teale, pewterer,
to Nicholas Blackman, blacksmith, for 2 years, at ^32 per annum, of a messuage
on the east side of Castle Street in the parish of St. Martin's in the Fields, then
lately new built, & in the occupation of ... Hattanvil, tallow chandler, and
then occupied by the lessee, with the building behind, and used as a workshop,
next to an alley there serving for a passage to other adjacent houses of the lessors.
Paper-counterpart, signed by Blackman. Witnesses, Tho. Gilbert, a scrivr in St.
Martin's, & Ralph Mayor, a coachmaker there.

1692, Nov. 10. Lease and counterpart lease by Thomas Scott of Shoreditch,
Middlesex, brickmaker, to Jonathan Parsons of Stepney, carpenter, for 60 years,

155

NOTES AND QUERIES.

at £2 per annum, of a piece of ground 30 feet by 47 feet, on the east side of Den-
mark St., Stepney, abutting on a house belonging to Isaac & Abraham Hickman
on the south, on gardens on the east, on Betts St. on the west, & on another
piece of ground belonging to the lessor on the north. Lessee covenants to erect
2 houses on the land.

1692, Nov. 30. Lease by the same lessor to Jeremiah Slow of Stepney, husband-
man, for 60 years, at £i. 10 o per annum, of a piece of ground similarly situated as
in the last, & 30 feet by 49 feet, abutting on a tenement belonging to John Oxden
on the south, & on a tenement belonging to Richard Sankey on the north.
Lessee covenants as in the last lease. Counterpart.

1692, Dec. 14. Lease by Isaac Hickman, citizen & leatherseller of London,
to James Browne of Stepney, Carpenter, for 60 years, at £$. 10 o per annum,
of a piece of ground similarly situated as in the last, & 41 £ feet by 47^ feet,
abutting on land of John Edmondson, Saylemaker, on the west, on land of Thomas
Scott leased to Parsons on the north, & on land of Isaac Hickman let to Browne
on the south. Lessee covenants to erect 3 houses on the land. Counterpart.

1720, March 20. Unexecuted lease by Robert Gosling of London, Bookseller,
executor of Christian Griffin, widow, late of the same, deceased, & on behalf of
Joseph Griffin of Kingsale, Ireland, Gent., to John Ditcher of London, Gent., for
1 1 years at ,£30 per annum, of a shop & messuage belonging to the said Joseph
in the Old Bayly, London, in the parish of St. Martin, Ludgate, late occupied by
. . . Tysoe, Painter, abutting on the north on another messuage of the said Griffin,
occupied by John Decker, Glazier. With Schedule of fixtures.

1789, April i. Lease by Richard Barrett of the hamlet of Ratcliff in the parish
of Stepney, Middlesex, Boat Builder, to Charles Wainwright of the parish of
St. George, Middlesex, Baker, for 30 years at ^20 per annum, of two messuages
in St. George's, being the north west corner of Cannon St. & the messuage
adjoining thereto, occupied by ... Mushroy & ... Hadshead.

1804, Feb. 29. Assignment of the unexpired term in the above premises, en-
dorsed on the lease, in consideration of £286, Charles Wainwright to Richard
Hester of Windsor, Baker.

1790, Nov. 15. Lease by Thomas Andrewes of East Mailing, Kent, Gent., to
Sarah Parker of Marden, Kent, widow, for 21 years at ^30 per annum, of a
messuage with a barn, stable, millhouse, &c., & 5 acres of land in Marden,
formerly occupied by Michael Stone, then late by William Parker, £ then by
the said Sarah. Counterpart.

1806, ijune 2. Lease by Thomas Andrewes of East Mailing, Kent, Gent.,
to Elizabeth Eagles, of Yalding, Kent, widow, for 21 years at £63. 16. o per
annum, of a messuage, &c., & 63 acres in Yalding, occupied by the lessee.

[To be continued.]

COOK'S COURT. — In Bleak House Charles Dickens describes Cook's
Court as being situated in Cursitor Street, on the eastern side of
Chancery Lane. Obviously he meant Tooks Court, a thoroughfare
formerly much patronized by law stationers of the Snagsby type.
Why did Dickens mis-name this court? It may not be generally
known that a Cook's Court did really exist on the western side of
Chancery Lane and adjacent to Lincoln's Inn. This court was
demolished some twenty-eight years ago, and was to some extent,
like Tooks Court, given over to the law stationery business. The
proper Cook's Court was a passage between Searle Street and that
part of Carey Street facing the eastern wing of King's College Hospital,
now about to be removed to Denmark Hill. This passage was entered

156

REVIEWS.

from both ends under an archway, and at one period a beadle was
stationed there to ensure quietness and to warn off beggars and other
undesirables. The site, now bounded by Carey Street on two sides,
Portugal Street and Searle Street, is now covered by the block of red
brick buildings mostly let out as chambers.

The real Tooks Court is fast disappearing, for H.M. Patent Office
has acquired, and is still acquiring, much of the property there to meet
its growing demands for more space. A few of the old houses yet
remain. The Chiswick Press has been located here since 1827, and, as
some evidence of the date of some of the houses, it may be mentioned
that No. 14, a lock-up warehouse in the possession of the Chiswick
Press, has in the basement a leaden cistern bearing the date 1 746, cast
in the middle of a geometrical design on the front. Prior to 1827,
when Charles Whittingham took a lease of No. 21, that building was
occupied by another well-known printer, Richard Valpy, who issued
the famous one hundred volumes of classics. — C. T. J.

ROLLS' YARD was, I believe, situated in Chancery Lane, somewhere
near or on the spot of the Record Office. Was there not a chapel
there, and if so when was it demolished? Has any reference been
made in former numbers of this Magazine to this place and chapel?
Was there any connection between this and St. Thomas' Liberty of
the Rolls, a church formerly standing in Breams Buildings? — J.

REVIEWS.

ISTORY OF THE BOROUGH OF LEWISHAM, with
an Itinerary; by Leland L. Duncan, M.V.O., F.S.A. With
chapters on the Geology of the District by W. H. Griffin,

and on the Local Authorities by A. W. Hiscox, sometime Mayor

of the Borough. Charles North, pp. 173.

A valuable contribution to local topography. Founded necessarily on Hasted,
it is expanded and enlarged, added to here, corrected there, until Hasted himself
would hardly recognize it. The history of Lewisham is longer than most boroughs
can boast ; from 862 (the first dated document cited is of that year) to the present
day, nearly ten centuries and a half, is indeed a record for what was, nearly down
to our own time, a small and insignificant village. But unimportant as Lewisham
was in the past, its history has considerable interest. Given to the great Abbey of
Ghent by Elfrida, daughter of King Alfred, in 918; seized from time to time by
various kings, as the property of an alien priory ; finally confiscated, for the same
reason, in 1414, by Henry V, and given to the Carthusian Priory at Shene; given
to Henry VIII in 1531 in exchange for other lands; given subsequently to John
Dudley, Earl of Warwick, to Thomas, Lord Seymour of Sudeley, to Cardinal Pole;
and by James I to one of his hungry Scotchmen; sold to Reynold Graham in
1640, who bequeathed it to his nephew, George Legge, the ancestor of the Earl of

157

REVIEWS.

Dartmouth, the present lord of the manor — here is a history, indeed ! But Mr.
Duncan's book does not stop here. He has unearthed some Court Rolls in the
Record Office, and from these he gives us copious extracts, showing the little
everyday incidents of life in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. We get the
little human touches that appeal to us more than alien priories and Scotch earls :
how Alice Pod sold bread short in weight, how John Scot drew blood from
William Palfreyman, how Robert Lord was fined $d. for digging turves on the
common de la Blakeheth, and so forth and so on. When we get to the story of
Abraham Colfe, the sturdy and enlightened vicar for forty-seven years, 1610 to
J657i we have Mr. Duncan at his best. He handles that worthy man, like Isaac
Walton and the frog, as though he loved him, as, indeed, the founder and builder
of the Grammar School ought to be revered by Lewisham folk. An exhaustive
itinerary follows, which includes a graphic account of the many stirring incidents
associated with Blackheath. The book is well illustrated from old prints, maps,
and photographs. The Index is not as good as it ought to be.

A LIFE OF JOHN COLET, D.D., Dean of St. Paul's and Founder of
St. Paul's School, with an Appendix of some of his English
writings; by the late J. H. Lupton, D.D., formerly Surmaster of
St. Paul's School and Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge.
New edition. George Bell and Sons; pp. xiv, 323; Ss. 6d. net.

Twenty-two years have elapsed since Dr. Lupton published his well-known Life
of Colet ; no more fitting celebration of the four hundredth anniversary of the
foundation of the great school could have been found than a new edition of the
Life of the Founder. Until the first publication of Dr. Lupton's work the worthy
Dean had almost been overshadowed by his own school; the pious founder
was remembered, the scholar was wellnigh forgotten. This important fact is
admirably brought out. Colet was the intimate friend of Erasmus, Sir Thomas
More, and most of the enlightened and scholarly men of his day. Indeed, so
advanced was he in some of his views, that on one occasion he was accused of
heresy by his bishop, on the ground that he had taught that images ought not to
be worshipped. Yet More declared " that none more learned or more holy had
lived among them for many ages past " ; and the pious Carthusian monks of Shene
had no objection to receive him among them for his last days. His works are now
little read, but were highly valued in his own day. The Statutes and some other
papers relating to St. Paul's School are printed in an Appendix. These are well
worth reading, both from their quaintness of diction and their extraordinary minute-
ness of detail. Nothing was too trivial for him; every possible contingency, both
for the masters and the scholars, seems to have been anticipated. The story of
his severity, not to say brutality, to the children, is absolutely discredited. That
he loved children is clear from the " lytell proheme " to his Accidence'. " Wherfore
I praye you, al lytel babys, al lytel chyldren, lerne gladly this lytel treatyse, and
commende it dylygently to your memoryes. . . . And lyfte up your lytel whyte
handes for me, which prayeth for you to God." These are not the words of one
who ordered the flogging of a child of ten, and stood callously looking on till the
boy swooned. No wonder Dr. Lupton is "simply amazed at the credulity" of
those who ever believed the story. There is a good Index.

THE ANGLO-SAXON CHRONICLE, newly translated by G. E. C. Gomme,
B.A. George Bell and Sons; pp. xvi, 315. 6s. net.

All students of our early history should be grateful for this scholarly translation.
Mr. Gomme's work is done on sound and common-sense lines. To begin with, we

158

REVIEWS.

find him throwing over-board a large amount of the pedantic spelling of names,
beloved of certain historians. It is a positive relief to read of "Edward" and
"Alfred" once more. Place-names are treated in similar fashion; where the
identification is certain the modern spelling is used ; in other cases, the spelling of
the original. The translation is " word for word in the most literal and exact way."
Mr. Gomme's collation of the various MSS. is careful and minute, and his twenty
pages of notes add very greatly to the value of the book ; we gather from them that
he has no particular axe to grind, which is as it should be. There is an exhaustive
Index.

THE TRAMPING METHODIST, by Sheila Kaye-Smith. George Bell
and Sons; pp. 316; 6s.

A story of considerable power and much originality. The scene is mostly in
Sussex, the period the eighteenth century, and the subject the early days of
Methodism. It is difficult to realize nowadays the scorn and persecution that
had to be faced by the early followers of Wesley. It is equally hard to picture the
callousness, indifference and downright brutality of many of the clergy of the
Church of England ; and yet, in spite of this, we cannot help hoping that Miss
Kaye-Smith's incidents are not founded on fact. Her style is crisp and lucid, and
the descriptions of atmosphere and scenery delicate and poetical. The story itself,
though a little melodramatic, is well conceived and will be read with great interest.

THE HISTORY OF WENDOVER in the County of Buckingham; by
Leonard H. West, LL.D., Representative of Wendover on the
Bucks County Council and Member of the County Education
Committee, Aylesbury: "Bucks Advertiser" Office; pp. 89.

An interesting little book. Wendover has almost more than its fair share of
celebrities, and for so small a place the list is a remarkable one. Beginning with
Roger of Wendover, the historian, we find two other eminent literary men con-
nected with the Borough, Richard Steele and Edmund Burke. John Hampden, of
Ship-Money fame, and several others of his family were members of Parliament
for Wendover, as also were George Grenville, the instigator of the American
Stamp Acts which resulted in the War of Independence, and George Canning.
Wendover was the scene of a good many stirring incidents during the Civil War,
which are well told. The story of the Vicar's wife in 1643, who made apple pies
for the Royalist troops and had perforce to see them consumed by the Roundheads,
has a touch of grim humour about it. The work was originally written, we are
told, as a lecture, and reprinted in book form ; it will be worth while, in a sub-
sequent edition, which is sure to be called for, to get rid of the lecture element
altogether. Lectures rarely print well, and some of the defects of arrangement
are doubtless due to this cause. Dr. West should also reconsider the statement
(p. 62) that Hugh Seymour Conway was a descendant of Jane Seymour.

A CRITICAL STUDY OF THE FORM OF LETTERS PATENT FOR INVEN-
TIONS; by Percy C. Rushen, Chartered Patent Agent. Stevens
and Sons; pp. 124.

The title sufficiently indicates the nature and scope of this work ; the criticism
is at once legal, antiquarian, and etymological. Many of Mr. Rushen's suggested
improvements are admirable. A learned work, and by no means dry reading.

159

REVIEWS.

THE PRIORY CHURCH OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW-THE-GREAT, SMITH-
FIELD. A Short History of the Foundation, and a Description
of the Fabric, and also of the Church of St. Bartholomew-the-
Less; by George Worley; 42 illustrations. George Bell and
Sons; pp. viii, 82; is. 6d. net.

For clearness and conciseness, those two prime factors in a guide book, Mr.
Worley's account of St. Bartholomew's will compare favourably with any of its
predecessors in the well-known ' ' Cathedral Series. " The history of the Priory,
from its foundation by Rahere in 1123 down to the present time, the extraordinary
vicissitudes of the Priory Church, and the noble efforts that have preserved what
we see to-day, are well and sympathetically told. The Hospital, with its curious
church of St. Bartholomew-the-Less, has a chapter to itself, and all the facts and
details required by the visitor are carefully recorded. The illustrations are well
chosen, and include reproductions of a number of old prints showing the church at
various dates, the principal monuments, and casts of all the known seals of the
Priory. Some corrections are required in the transcript of the inscription on
page 67, but this minor detail seems all that there is for the most captious critic to
cavil at.

"A MANNOR AND COURT BARON" (Harleian MS. 6714); edited by
Nathaniel J. Hone, with a preface by J. Samuel Green, M.A.,
B.C.L., LL.D., Barrister-at-Law. The Manorial Society; pp. 59.

It is a capital idea to start printing some of the numerous MSS. relating to
manors and copyholds, and we trust that this is but the first of a long series, to
include also the reprinting of some of the scarcer pamphlets on the subject. The
MS. here printed is apparently anonymous. Mr. Green dates it as late sixteenth
or early seventeenth century ; it was, therefore, written at a time when the manorial
system had suffered very little change from its first institution in England. The
author, as it seems to us, was clearly a lawyer and well versed in manorial law ;
some of the theories he puts forward are not now accepted, but on the whole he is
singularly free from the fantastic notions found in many writers of the period. We
know that barristers of good practice, and even Serjeants, were not above acting as
stewards of manors, and we should judge that the author was probably such an
one. The treatise is not always easy reading, and the scarcity of stops does not
tend to make it easier. It is too highly technical to be used as an elementary text-
book, but the advanced student will read it with advantage.

LONDON'S LURE ; an Anthology in Prose and Verse. By Helen and
Lewis Melville. George Bell and Sons; pp. 328; 35-. 6d. net.

An interesting collection of prose and poetry, garnered from a wide range of
authors, and grouped under various headings. The items are well selected and'
arranged. The title-page and end-papers in pen and ink are very pretty; we would
gladly mention the artist's name — if we could read it !

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New and Revised Edition. Demy 8v0, Ss. 6d. net.

Life of Dean Colet, Founder of St. Paul's School.

BY THE LATE REV. J. H. LUPTON, M.A.

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With an Appendix of some of his English Writings, and a Facsimile
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iii

CONTENTS.

PAGE

THE PRINCESS POCAHONTAS . 161
SOME ACCOUNT OF SOUTHGATE . . .167
NOTES ON THE EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH

ESSEX 182

NOTES FROM ST. BARTHOLOMEW THE LESS 188
MAUNDY CELEBRATIONS : ANCIENT AND

MODERN . , , . . . V . . 191

EAST KENT PARISH HISTORY . ^ v . 209

THE FRIENDS' MEETING AT COGGESHALL . 214

DOWNING STREET . . . ... . 220

THE AUCHER FAMILY . . . V* . 222
NOTES AND QUERIES .,,,.. ,235

REVIEWS . . . , , . . . 237

NOTICES.

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The Princess Pocahontas.
From an old print.

THE PRINCESS POCAHONTAS.

BY ALEX. J. PHILIP.

THE discovery of human remains, pronounced by an
expert to be those of an Indian female of high
degree, near the site of the old chapel of St. Mary, at
Gravesend, has done nothing to settle the old dispute as to
the burial of Pocahontas, but it has drawn attention to the
intensely interesting story of the Indian Princess who came
to so untimely an end at Gravesend. It has been a matter
of great uncertainty where she was buried, but the question
will be dealt with later on in the present article.

Pocahontas, the daughter of the chief, Powhatan, was born
at the end of the sixteenth century, most probably in 1595.
Her real name was " Matoaka," but, following the practice of
her people, who lived in superstitious fear of spirits, this was
hidden from the colonists of Virginia, and the better-known
name of Pocahontas bestowed upon her. A great deal of
misconception regarding the condition and standing of her
father has always existed, chiefly owing to the fatuity of
King James I. Powhatan was acknowledged as the most
powerful of the chiefs living in the vicinity of James River.
This fact was communicated to the King, who was unable to
appreciate the circumstances of savage life. Powhatan was
obviously an emperor; and, to establish the fact, King James
sent over a copper-gilt crown and some almost worthless
presents. The chief fact thus impressed upon the mind of
the savage chief was his own importance. This naturally led
to arrogance, a great increase in the magnitude of his unful-
filled promises, and a notable increase in his demands, which
were in reality thefts, from the struggling colonists.

Powhatan's story has very little in common with that of
Pocahontas, but so much it was necessary to state to make
clear the more interesting account of Matoaka.

The other strand of the story was woven in London, by the
foundation of the London Virginia Company in 1606.

John Smith was born in 1580 at Willoughby, in Lincoln-
shire. He attended school at Alford, but later on was sent to
the Grammar School at Louth. On the death of his father,
followed soon after by that of his mother, Smith was sent by

VOL. XI. 161 M

THE PRINCESS POCAHONTAS.

his guardian, George Mettham, to the office of a shipper
named Sendall, at King's Lynn. He soon tired of office
work, however, and at fifteen or sixteen years of age, he
started out on the high road to fortune. He passed through
numerous adventures in various parts of the Continent, then
in a very unsettled state. Some of these have been subjected
to severe criticism, and their authenticity disputed by some of
Smith's commentators. He returned to England in 1604.
About this time he was attacked with the " colony " fever.
He spent some time in obtaining all the information he could
that related to the " New Lands," and in 1606 the London
Virginia Company was formed with a royal charter. This
was largely due to the exertions of Smith and those whom
he had interested in his schemes. On December 19, 1606,
three ships were sent out, the " Susan Constant," the admiral's
ship, the " Godspeed," and the " Discovery." The voyage
was not a happy one. Smith was put in irons, and threatened
with hanging.

This fleet, of two ships and a pinnace, for the " Discovery "
was only of twenty tons burden, cast anchor in Chesapeake
Bay on the 25th of April, 1607. The crews forced a landing
in the face of the opposition of the Indians, and opened the
sealed orders under which the colonists had sailed. It was
then found that Smith had been appointed to a seat on the
Council acting in Virginia. In this way the colonists settled
in Virginia and founded Jamestown.

While their stores remained the colonists lived on them,
eating even their seeds. When these were done, they bewailed
their lot and took very few measures to supply their wants.
Smith was perhaps the only settler who realized their needs,
but even he was unable to do anything to make the colonists
thrifty and industrious. For some years this was the history
of the men sent out by the London Virginia Company ; men,
for the most part, failures at home, ignorant of farming and
unused to work. They lived on the fat of the stores when a
ship reached them, and on the charity of the Indians when
they were without food. Their sufferings excited the pity of
Pocahontas, and, accompanied by " braves," she brought them
corn and other food-stuffs.

These kindnesses were only possible following on the better
relations Smith had established with their savage neighbours,
when his influence increased. Smith was captured by one
of the tribes, when on an exploring expedition. After

162

THE PRINCESS POCAHONTAS.

the " medicine men " failed to arrive at a decision, he was
brought before Powhatan, the over-chief, at Wesowocomoco,
an Indian village not far from Jamestown.

Powhatan had no serious doubts about the matter, and
ordered Smith's execution. Pocahontas pleaded, but in vain,
for his release. The primitive method of executing a captive
was to lay his head on one stone and beat out his brains with
another. Pocahontas at once threw herself on Smith and
covered him, and, so the story goes, Powhatan pardoned the
captive on condition that two of the culverins should be
given to the " braves " who would accompany him to James-
town. Knowing that they would be unable to carry them
away, Smith readily promised this.

The colony had met with so many misfortunes during
Smith's captivity, that the settlers were on the point of
putting to sea in the pinnace. Smith prevented this, how-
ever, and Pocahontas's gifts enabled them to tide over the
period intervening before the arrival of the " Phoenix " from
England. The London Council sent out gold miners and
glass-blowers, but still the colony did not prosper.

Powhatan fixed upon swords and muskets as the only
legal tender for the purchase of corn. Of course this was a
prohibitive price, and Smith set out on a trading expedition
up the river Pannukey. This met with no success, although
it was known that the Indians had abundance of corn. So
far had the relations between the colonists and the Indians
suffered, by the deceit of the latter on the one hand, and the
vacillation of the former on the other, that a night attack was
planned to exterminate Smith and his comrades just before
they returned from this fruitless expedition. Pocahontas
learned the secret, and warned Smith of the impending
danger. As a result of this, Smith let the enemy know that
he had discovered the plan, and so prevented its being put
into operation. Already the Indians had begun to view
Smith as something more than man, and a surprise seemed
the only means of effecting his death. Another attempt was
made, with a large number of braves, to secure him, but this
also failed.

Soon after, however, Smith was accidentally or intentionally
blown up by the explosion of a bag of gunpowder. It was
feared that his injuries would prove fatal, but he recovered
sufficiently to return to England where he was completely
cured. Pocahontas missed her friend, and inquired for him

163

THE PRINCESS POCAHONTAS.

at Jamestown. She was told that Smith was dead, and a
newly made grave was pointed out to her as that of the
intrepid captain.

The presents of corn ceased from that time, and the interest
of the colony so far as Pocahontas is concerned, ceased with
this, until 1612.

From this period the story has a greater interest, as
Pocahontas is the chief figure in it. The Governors of the
Colony had relinquished Smith's vigorous policy, and, in
consequence suffered considerably from the arrogance of the
chief Powhatan, when Captain Argall, who had entered the
river with a store-ship, succeeded in capturing Pocahontas,
now about seventeen years old, by a subterfuge, not to call
his method by a worse name. For one reason or another,
possibly because he knew no harm would come to her,
Powhatan refused to redeem his daughter with fresh
promises. The princess quickly settled down to the life
and ways of the English, with whom indeed she had always
shown herself in sympathy. She adopted the dress of the
few Englishwomen in the colony, learned the language, and
endeavoured to adapt herself to the ways of her captors.

This went on for two years, until the time when she was
married to John Rolfe, a prominent colonist. The idea
appears to have been that the union would create and
cement a friendship between the two peoples. The project
appears to have met with some success, as there is no doubt
that both before and after her marriage Pocahontas did more
than any other to establish amicable relations between her own
people and the whites. Rolfe came of an old Norfolk family.
He and his first wife had met with bad weather and heavy
misfortunes on their voyage to Virginia, with the result that
she had succumbed in 1610.

Matoaka, who had been dubbed Pocahontas, was now, in
1614, baptised into the Christian faith in the name of Rebecca,
and was then generally known as the Lady Rebecca. This
period of her life is commemorated in the mural decorations
on the Capitol Buildings at Washington.

A son was born to them, and in 1616 the little family of
three undertook the voyage to England, in company with
Sir Thomas Dale and a few of Powhatan's " braves," one of
whom was instructed by his chief to " count the number of
the English." As the daughter of " Emperor " Powhatan,
as well as on account of the benefits she had secured for the

164

THE PRINCESS POCAHONTAS.

Virginian settlers, Pocahontas was well received. Smith had
written a pamphlet about her as soon as he had learned of the
visit, and this had been sent broadcast about the country.
Lady Rebecca was entertained by the Bishop of London,
then Dr. King, and presented at the Court of the King,
James I.

It was not, however, all plain sailing. James, knowing he
had conferred the title of "Emperor" on the old chief,
together with a cruse of oil for his anointing, and a
copper-gilt crown, was not quite sure that Rolfe had not
committed treason by marrying the daughter of a foreign
potentate; and so Rolfe came as little as possible before
the King's notice. The health of the Princess suffered con-
siderably at this time, and she left London for Brentford,
then a place of some renown and beauty, and noted for its
healthiness.

Captain Smith, who still enjoyed a sufficiently good income
in spite of the misfortunes that had dogged his steps since he
left Virginia, had taken up his residence at Brentford, and as
a pleasant surprise for the Princess a meeting was arranged
between them. Pocahontas was still in ignorance that her
friend was still alive, and when she again saw the man whom
for so many years she had thought dead, she suffered a severe
revulsion of feeling. As the story goes she is supposed to
have ejaculated the one word, " Father." The shock of this
meeting is said to have broken her heart; but, doubtless, the
change from the free air of the Virginian forests to the London
of the early seventeenth century had already undermined her
health. At all events she did not see Virginia again, and
her little son, Thomas, was left behind and brought up by his
uncle, Henry Rolfe, until, when he was twenty-five years of
age, he too went out to Virginia.

The rest of the pathetic story has a large amount of uncer-
tainty in it. By one account she is said to have left London by
the King's ship " George," and to have died before the vessel
reached the open sea, being brought ashore at Gravesend.
Another version states that she followed the usual practice
of passengers of distinction, and travelled from London by
coach to pick up the " George " at Gravesend, the last land in
England ; but was taken suddenly ill at an inn, situated at a
corner of what is now Stone Street. It is not known with
certainty what malady she died of, but it is very generally
believed to have been smallpox. Which version is correct is

THE PRINCESS POCAHONTAS.

not a matter of great importance. There is no doubt that she
was buried in the river-side town. The following entry in the
parish register: — " 1616. March 2J, [old style] Rebecca
Wrolfe, wyffe of Thomas Wrolfe, gent, a Virginian lady
borne, here was buried in ye Chauncell," would appear not
only to settle the fact that she was buried in Gravesend, but
to indicate clearly where the body was buried. Unfortunately
this is not so. The then Parish Church of St. George's was
situated where the present church now stands, and if it could
be shown that the " Chauncell " of the register was the same
as that in the church, there would be no difficulty in fixing
upon the position of the grave, in spite of the fact that the
church was destroyed by fire in 1727. The church of
St. Mary was then standing where the White Post Inn is
now situated, and a comparatively large burial ground
surrounded it. At that time the minister of St. George's
was the Rev. Nicholas Trankwell, who no doubt performed
the Service. St. George's had been made the parish church
as early as 1544, by a grant of Henry VIII, but St. Mary's
Church still stood.

If the Princess died of the dread disease which was so much
feared in England at that time, there is some ground for
those who contend that instead of being buried in a vault in
the chancel of St. George's, her remains were interred in the
farthest point of the burial ground of St. Mary's Church —
then nearly a mile from the town and almost isolated. The
discovery of the bones already referred to has given great
support to this theory ; but it can scarcely be described as
conclusive. At the same time it must be admitted that very
little is known regarding this early church on the outskirts of
the town.

The present parish church contains a memorial tablet to
the unfortunate Princess, and the Virginians are exceedingly
anxious to erect a more enduring and substantial monument
to one whom they regard as amongst their greatest women.
The project has been broached several times, but up to the
present nothing has been done, chiefly on account of the
uncertainty surrounding the place of her burial.

1 66

SOME ACCOUNT OF SOUTHGATE.

BY C. EDGAR THOMAS.

OF all those districts lining the northern heights of
London which have, during the last decade or so,
become annexed to the great capital of the world,
none, perhaps, has withstood the march of so-called progress
so effectively or has been longer in a state of transition, than
the pretty little village of Southgate. Neighbouring and out-
lying districts, thanks to the speculative builder and other
unsentimental wreckers, have been completely robbed of their
rurality ; in other words swallowed up whole, and thus
qualified to become portions of the mighty everspreading
metropolis ; but Southgate has, for a long time, made a brave
fight against such unwarrantable desecration. Even now,
surrounded as it is on all sides by sunny suburbia and other
outward indications of increasing and excessive modernity,
Southgate is still successful in retaining a little of that
individuality which characterized it of yore, and we may
rejoice that it yet has spots which have altered but little
during the last half century.

Standing on a sunny morning by the village green and the
quaint old Cherry Tree Inn — with the tall massive trees and
surrounding greenery rustling in the gentle breeze, the
picturesque old cottages and shops that line the High Street,
the spire of the handsome parish church towering far above
the highest trees — one might well believe himself anywhere
but near modernity as he enjoys its restful calm and quietude.
Yet only a few yards down the road there stretches a fashion-
able parade of new shops and the ever-present electric tram !
The beauty of this ancient spot has ofttimes been recorded,
notably by H. Crabb Robinson, who laudably sang its praises,
and Sir Augustus Hare, who devotes a whole chapter to
Southgate in his Story of my Life, of whom more anon.
There is one account, however, that is in no wise omitted in
every publication descriptive of the district ; to write an article
on Southgate without its inclusion, would be only to prove
that article hopelessly incomplete. Indeed, so often has it been
employed, that it has become almost hackneyed — if such words
can be hackneyed ! It may not, however, be altogether out
of place in this unpretentious survey. I refer to the words

SOME ACCOUNT OF SOUTHGATE.

of the litterateur and poet, Leigh Hunt, who was born at
Southgate. He says : " It is a pleasure to me to know that I
was ever born in so sweet a village as Southgate. I first saw
light there on the iQth October, 1784. It found me cradled
not only in the lap of nature which I love, but in the midst
of all the truly English scenery which I love beyond all other.
Middlesex in general ... is a scene of trees and meadows of
greenery and nestling cottages, and Southgate is a prime speci-
men of Middlesex. It is a place lying out of the way of innova-
tion, therefore it has the pure sweet air of antiquity about it."

It must be admitted that these words are sweet, and the name
of their distinguished author certainly enhances their value.

Southgate derives its name from its situation at the southern
extremity of the once royal Chase of Enfield. In many old
books it is referred to as " South Street," but with the lapse
of time it received its present appellation. The district was
for a long time nothing more than waste and forest land,
whilst the perpetuation of such names as "Chase Side,"
" Chase Road," and " Chase Riding," still serve to connect the
neighbourhood with the famous old-time sport indulged in by
our ancestors in the great Forest of Middlesex.

Southgate is now a populous district of some 28,000 souls;
it is bounded on the north by Enfield and Winchmore Hill,
on the south by Wood Green, on the east by Barnet, and on
the west by Edmonton.

New Southgate is a district of recent growth lying to the
south of the old village, which was formerly designated Colney
Hatch. The exact meaning of this term is rather doubtful,
but it may be found mentioned in a Court Roll of the time of
Henry VII. In all probability it had reference to a gateway
or other entrance to the Enfield Chase. Instances of the word
" Hatch" may be found elsewhere, notably the " Pilgrims'
Hatch," near Brentwood, which is a standing landmark to the
great Forest of Waltham.

The Lunatic Asylum of the County of London, which was
erected at Colney Hatch in 1841, in conjunction with the
advent of the Great Northern Railway, thirty years later, has
perhaps done more than anything else to turn the neighbour-
hood from the pleasing hamlet that it once was, into the
modern residential district that it is to-day.

The Asylum, which occupies a site to the west of the
railway station, is a plain structure, in the Italian style,
devoid of all ornamentation, erected from the designs of

1 68

SOME ACCOUNT OF SOUTHGATE.

Mr. S. W. Bankes. It originally occupied something like
four acres of ground, but it has since been considerably
enlarged. The chapel, a large oblong room, is situated in the
centre of the north front of the building. The late Prince
Consort laid the foundation stone in 1841, and the institution
was opened for the receipt of patients two years later. It will
be readily seen that the staff necessary for a large asylum
created a great influx to the population of Southgate.

The earliest and most important place of worship in South-
gate was the Weld Chapel. Previous to the seventeenth
century the inhabitants of the village had journeyed across
to Edmonton to perform their devotions; but in 1615 Sir
John Weld, a descendant of the distinguished Weld family of
Lulworth Castle, and one of the most important residents of
Southgate at that time, erected a chapel to serve the needs of
his household and the populace of Southgate, in the grounds
of his estate, then called Arnolds. It is recorded that the
length of this edifice was 42 feet, while in breadth it measured
20 feet. It was formally consecrated on 24th May, 1615,
by Dr. John King, the then Bishop of London. It was estab-
lished : " . .f . Saving always the right and interest of the
mother Church, in the parish whereof the said chapel or oratory
aforesaid is placed and situated, in all and singular tithes,
oblations, wages, profits, privileges, rights and emoluments
whatsoever, ordinary and extraordinary, to the said mother
church of right or custom in any wise due or accustomed or
belonging or appertaining, and there being reserved to the
said John Weld, Esq., his heirs and assigns, free and full
power a fit priest from time to time to nominate and appoint
to the said chapel, for the performing and celebrating the
divine offices aforesaid in the same chapel, by our episcopal
authority and of our successors from time to time to be
appointed and limited, the assent and consent of the Vicar of
the said mother church for the time being, and his successors,
first being requested and the oath of the said priest testified,
all and which singular things we so reserve by these presents.
The inhabitants to receive the sacrament on Easter day at the
mother church, and not in the chapel without license, and no
baptism or marriage shall be solemnised without the assent
and consent of the Vicar of the mother church and the
possessor of Arnolds."

It will thus be seen that the patronage of the chapel was
given into the hands of its founder and his descendants,

169

SOME ACCOUNT OF SOUTHGATE.

who, in conjunction with the Vicar of the mother church at
Edmonton, were to appoint a curate to its charge, and his
stipend was stipulated as being not less than 2" 13 6s. %d.
Sir John Weld died eight years later, and by his will directed
that his body was to be buried " in my late erected chapel,
near unto my mansion house, called Arnolds." He also
bequeathed a sum of something like £550 in favour of the
chapel, which was to be invested, and the produce disposed
of in the following manner: "twenty marks to the curate;
twenty marks to poor kindred ; twelve pence weekly in bread ;
ten shillings to the clerk; the remainder to be employed in
repairing the chapel or increasing the salary of the curate."
If there were no applications to the curate for poor relief, the
twenty marks set apart for that purpose were to go to him.
Sir John also provided for the erection of a domicile in the
neighbourhood for the curate. In 1625 his widow, Dame
Frances Weld, contributed a sum of £20 towards the better
maintenance of the clergyman, and in December of that year
she procured of one Henry Rastell some property in Essex
called Ossett, by means of which the chapel was subsequently
endowed. Some years later a silver cup was presented to the
chapel by Dame Frances, on the foot of which was engraved,
" The guift of the Lady Frances Weld, anno 1639." In May,
1645, the Weld Chapel came into the possession of Sir William
Acton, Bart, to whom Dame Frances sold it with other pro-
perty, and the estate of Arnolds. The words of the deed of
conveyance were:

We give and grant for us and our heirs, unto Sir William
Acton, Bart., and his heirs and assigns for ever, all our and
every of our estate, right, tithe, interest, claim and demand
of in, all to all, that chapel, chancel, seats and burying
place in the new erected chapel of Edmonton, near to the
capital messuage called Arnolds, which we have sold to the
said Sir William Acton, his heirs, and assigns for ever.

It is generally supposed that the price paid by Sir William
Acton for the property was .£3,600. It is interesting to note
that in this conveyance no mention is made of the power to
nominate a minister to the chapel, this being eventually the
cause of a dispute. Perhaps Dame Frances Weld reserved
this right, but whether she did or no, it remains a fact that the
family never availed themselves of the privilege. In 1722 the
Rev. William Washbourn, Vicar of Edmonton, made applica-
tion to Margaret Weld to nominate a minister to the custody

170

SOME ACCOUNT OF SOUTHGATE.

of the chapel, and, on her refusing, he himself appointed the
Rev. James Kilner. The chapel was enlarged by the addition
of a north aisle in 1715, and for the carrying out of this £311
was raised by public subscription. On the application of the

inhabitants of Southgate and the Rev. Harrison, the

then chaplain, in 1732, the Bishop of London granted a faculty
to demolish the minister's house for the purpose of further
extending the chapel. Eventually Weld Chapel descended
into the hands of Sir George Colebrooke. It would appear
that his trustees disposed of it in 1774 to the Rev. Henry
Shepherd for £525. This gentleman held it until 1784, when
he sold it to the Rev. William Barclay for £1,000; thus
making a clear profit of ^475. Two years later Mr. Barclay
accepted ^"1,175 for it, from Robert Winbolt, a lawyer, of
Enfield. He presented the living to his son, the Rev. Thomas
Winbolt, and although he referred to the matter in his will,
bequeathing the chapel to his wife, Elizabeth, it seems that he
did not draw up a separate nomination in writing. The
Rev. T. Winbolt officiated as Incumbent of Weld Chapel
until his death in 1813, when his mother, claiming the right
of presentation, nominated the Rev. S. W. Curtis, nephew
of Sir William Curtis, of Cullands Grove. The Vicar of
Edmonton, the Rev. Dawson Warren, on hearing of the
appointment, objected. He took possession of the chapel,
and gave out that he should keep charge of it until a new
incumbent had been legally appointed. An action was begun
by Mrs. Winbolt, in the Court of King's Bench, to compel the
Vicar to give up the chapel, and it was arranged on the
7th July, 1841, that the suit should be tried ; but before the
trial, Mrs. Winbolt ceded all right to the chapel to the Vicar
of Edmonton, as appears by the following letter :

No. 4, Copthall Buildings.

March i, 1815.
Sir,

In compliance of the advice of my solicitor, Mr. Wadeson,
I hereby acquaint you that I have abandoned this suit, and
give up all my pretensions to the right of nominating a clergy-
man to officiate in the Southgate Chapel.

I am, Sir,

Your obedient Servant,

E. WINBOLT.
To the Rev. Mr. Warren,
Edmonton.

171

SOME ACCOUNT OF SOUTHGATE.

The Rev. Davvson Warren was thus left in entire possession
of the Weld Chapel, and he and his assistant curates continued
to officiate until 1829, when the Rev. Thomas Sale was ap-
pointed to the charge. He resigned after eight years' service,
and was succeeded by the Rev. Vincent Stanton, who made
further alterations in the structure in 1830, consisting of a new
roof, chancel, and pews, the total cost of which amounted to
£1,868-10*. nd.

Owing to the growth of Southgate, it was found about 1860
that Weld Chapel was quite inadequate to cope with the in-
creasing congregation; so the Rev. James Baird, the then In-
cumbent, erected a handsome stone edifice in the Early English
style, from the designs of Sir Gilbert Scott, R.A. The building
is lofty, with north and south aisles and chancel. There are two
stained glass windows at the east end of the north aisle, by
Burne-Jones, and another at the west end of the south aisle
by Rossetti. There are in the church, among others, the follow-
ing memorial windows:

TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN AFFECT. MEMORY OF
SARAH MARIA WALKER, A DEARLY BELOVED AUNT, THIS
WINDOWIS DEDICATED BY HER NEPHEWS AND NIECE,THOMAS
WALKER SALE, JOHN EDWARD SALE, AND MARY LYDIA
MOORHOUSE, 19 AUGUST, 1883.

TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN LOVING MEMORY OF
SUSANNAH ANNE TURNER, WHO, HAVING LIVED IN THIS
PARISH FOR 70 YEARS, ENTERED INTO REST 22 APRIL, 1903.
THIS WINDOW IS PLACED BY ADA AND ARTHUR ROWLAND
BARKER.

CONJUGIS IN MEMORIAM A. M. BRADLEY, SEP. 1 866.
ALSO IN LOVING MEMORY OF REVD. CHARLES BRADLEY,
M.A., WHO LIVED FOR 26 YEARS IN THIS PARISH AND DIED
IN LONDON, MARCH 29, 1883, AGED 68. " THEM ALSO WHICH
SLEEP IN JESUS WILL GOD BRING WITH HIM."

There is also a memorial tablet to the Rev. James Baird,
the first Vicar of the Church, and a window to his successor,
the Rev. C. F. Wilson:

TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN LOVING MEMORY OF

JAMES BAIRD, M.A., VICAR OF THIS PARISH. DIED OCTOBER

1ST, 1893, AGED 82. THIS TABLET IS PLACED TO RECORD HIS
EARNEST LABOURS FOR 35 YEARS. FAITHFUL AS A PREACHER,

DILIGENT AS A PASTOR, His READY HELP AND CARE FOR

THE SICK AND AGED, WITH HIS FRIENDLY WORDS, BROUGHT

172

SOME ACCOUNT OF SOUTHGATE.

PEACE AND COMFORT TO MANY A SHADOWED HOME. TO HIS
UNTIRING MEMORY THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL BE IN EVER-
LASTING REMEMBRANCE.

TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN AFFECTIONATE MEMORY
OF CYRIL FITZROY WILSON, VICAR OF THIS PARISH 1893-
1898. ENTERED INTO REST 10 FEB. 1898. ERECTED BY THE
PARISHIONERS.

In 1906 Vyell E. Walker, of Arnos Grove, at his own ex-
pense, converted the north transept into a Lady Chapel, in
memory of his parents; he died before its completion, and the
following tablet was set up to his memory:

To THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN LOVING MEMORY OF
VYELL EDWARD WALKER OF ARNOS GROVE THIS CHANCEL

WAS DECORATED AND THE SEDILIA ERECTED BY HIS FRIENDS
AND RELATIONS. A.D. 1907.

The tower contains a peal of fine toned bells, and also a set
of Cambridge chimes, which were installed as a souvenir of
the late Queen Victoria's Jubilee in 1887. Christ Church,
Southgate, is indeed one of the most handsome parish churches
to be seen, standing as it does amidst pleasant surroundings,
with its massive spire towering far above the tallest greenery.
Nothing remains to mark the site of the old Weld Chapel,
except a space in the churchyard devoid of graves.

One of the chief places of interest in Southgate at the present
time is Broomfield Park. The historic old mansion Broomfield,
or Bromfield, House, together with the fine grounds, comprising
about fifty odd acres, was purchased by the Southgate Urban
District Council, in 1903, for the sum of £2 5,000, and turned
into a public park. The Middlesex County Council contributed
£6,250 towards the purchase. The early history of the site is
shrouded in mystery, but it is generally supposed to have been
a monastery adjacent to the great Forest of Middlesex. The
front of the house looks out on to three large lakes, and there
is no doubt that in the " good old times " the monks could have
been seen fishing here on a Thursday.

It is probable that when Bluff King Hal dealt hardly with
the conventual establishments of the country he granted
Broomfield House to one of his courtiers, a supposition which
is borne out by the fact of the present structure being of Tudor
design. It is said that King James I was in the habit of using
the place as a hunting box whilst following his favourite sport

173

SOME ACCOUNT OF SOUTHGATE.

The mansion was for some time the home of the Skeffingtons,
and later the Jacksons owned it for three centuries; a de-
scendant of the latter family marrying William Tash, it eventu-
ally came into his hands. In later years it was the residence
of Sir Ralph Littler, K.C.

The interior of the edifice is very fine, nearly all the walls
being panelled with oak, and there is a handsome old oak ]
staircase bearing some exquisite carving. The staircase walls !
and ceiling are adorned with valuable frescoes, representing
the four seasons. These were executed by Sir James Thornhill,
who is chiefly remembered for his decorations at St. Paul's,
Greenwich Palace, Hampton Court, etc.

The ground floor consists of seven large rooms, a curious
little ante-room resembling a secret chamber, and the usual
household offices. Here are the drawing-room, dining-room,
and a billiard room, the doors of which are of solid oak and of;
an unusual thickness; at least two of the apartments contain
very good oak mantlepieces, ornamented with handsome
carving. The floor above contains fifteen smaller rooms.

The spacious grounds contain some very fine trees, notably
a, long avenue of ancient elms, which is supposed to have!
formerly been the western approach to the Royal Chase of j
Enfield. There are also two yew trees considerably over 800
years old, while better examples of Scotch fir and green oak
would be difficult to find. As has been previously stated,.
Broomfield House was purchased from Mr. Powys Sybbe, con-
verted into a public recreation ground, and formally dedicated\]
to " the public as an open space for ever " on 23rd April, 1903.
The house is now used as a Secondary School.

Adjoining Broomfield Park are the house and grounds of :
Arnos Grove, at one time called Arnolds. In 1610 the estate
was possessed by Sir John Weld, who has been spoken oft
previously in connection with the Weld Chapel. The property]
came by purchase into the hands of Sir William Acton in 1620,,
and from that time until a century later little is known of its*
history. At his death Arnos Grove was inherited by his only
daughter, who married Sir William Whitmore. Their only som
William, who subsequently became possessed of it, died with-]
out issue and bequeathed the estate to a relative, Thomas j
Whitmore.

In 1720 Mr. James Colebrooke purchased Arnos Grove, his
son, Sir George Colebrooke, eventually inheriting it. It would!
appear that previous to his purchase James Colebrooke took|

174

SOME ACCOUNT OF SOUTHGATE.

a lease of Arnos Grove and other lands in Southgate for a
period of three years from Oliver Horseman of Hatton Gar-
den, M.D., executor of Sir Samuel Blewitt of Edmonton, knt.,
and guardian of his infant son and heir, John Blewitt. The
property is described as " All that capitall messuage or man-
sion house, with the outhouses, orchards, gardens and curtilages
thereunto belonging, with the appurtenances, in South Street
I alias Southgate, late in the possession or occupation of the
said Sir Samuell Blewitt," etc. Among the fixtures were " a
sideboard with an iron foot," " a hatchment and a picture of the
Sargeants yeoman," " twelve pictures of the Apostles and two
Escutcheons," " a sideboard with an iron legg," a " Chimney
sett with Dutch Tyles," " a Draught of the house in a picture,"
and " twelve leather bucketts hanging on peggs."

Mr. James Colebrooke is generally supposed to have de-
stroyed the old structure and commenced the erection of a new
one, but dying while the work was in progress, his son Sir
George completed it. He afterwards sold the mansion and
grounds to Abraham Hume, for ;£ 10,302 5^.

The next owner was Sir William Mayne, Bart, afterwards
created Lord Newhaven, who greatly improved the premises
and added a new wing; this being about the year 1776.
John Brown, Esq., was the next owner of Arnos Grove, but
it was soon purchased from him by Mr. Isaac Walker, and it
has remained in the possession of the Walker family to the
present time.

The Walkers were great lovers of our national game of
cricket, and Tom Walker, a member of the old Hambledon
Club is credited with the invention in 1785 of the round or
straight arm bowling in distinction to the old underhand
method. The discovery was, however, suppressed at the time
owing to jealousy and professional prejudice, but it was revived
in 1805.

The mansion contains some exceptionally fine apartments,
and in the dining and drawing rooms there are two valuable
Sicilian jasper mantlepieces, made in Italy, one of them con-
sisting of a magnificent statuary mask of Apollo.

Arnos Grove also boasts a picturesque old staircase de-
corated by Lanscroon with the triumphal entry of Julius
Caesar into Rome ; it was also noted for a large and valuable
collection of paintings, Etruscan vases, and relics from
Herculaneum and Pompeii.

The grounds a century or so ago comprised 100 acres,

175

SOME ACCOUNT OF SOUTHGATE.

covered with beautiful timber, including some cedars ol
Lebanon, and tall Weymouth pines; the whole being beauti-
fully watered by the New River.

Beaver Hall was another handsome seat of Southgate
occupying a site close to Arnos Grove. It came by purchas
into the hands of Mr. John Walker in 1870, and he pull<
down the house and included the land in his estate. Formerly
the residence of the Schneider family, Beaver Hall was finally-
possessed by a wealthy railway contractor named Joseph
Thornton.

The mansion and park of Cannons or Cullands Grove wa<
situated close to Alderman's Hill, which derived its name
from Sir William Curtis, an Alderman of the City of London,
and Lord Mayor in 1795. He resided here for many years,
and, on being created a Baronet in 1802, was described as
"of Cullands Grove, Southgate." Sir William Curtis was
born in 1752, and had the distinction of being elected Alder-
man for Tower Ward when only thirty-three years of ag<
In 1790 he was elected M.P. for the City, a position which he
filled without interruption for twenty-eight years. He was a
man of great political importance and influence, and when th(
Tories became unpopular in 1818, he, as the head of that
party, suffered also by losing his seat. To alleviate his di
pointment he was offered a peerage as Lord Tenterden, whicl
he promptly refused. Compensation for his defeat, however,
was tendered to him at a special meeting of the Drapers'
Company — of which he was a Liveryman — at Drapers' Hall
where he was presented with an illuminated address, a gol<
snuff-box, and a purse containing two hundred guineas. Tw(
years later he received the honour of re-election to Parliament
as Member for the City. Sir William was very popular amonj
royalty, and whilst accompanying George IV to Scotland ii
1822, the King, as a mark of appreciation, presented him wi1
his portrait, inscribed : " G. R. to his faithful and loyal subject,
Sir William Curtis."

He is considered to have been the most caricatured per-
sonage of his time, and although a great public man and
mover in the tlite of Society, it would appear that he
exceedingly ignorant. The following anecdote, which is quot(
on the authority of a contemporary historian of the neighbour-
hood, goes to prove this : " . . . when his royal patron was
dining at Cullands Grove, a Mr. Cox being of the party, Sii

176

SOME ACCOUNT OF SOUTHGATE.

William proceeded to toast His Majesty and the commoner
in one health and in these words ' Here 's to the three C's—
King, Cox and Curtis.' "

Bowes Park, that latest exponent of all that is up-to-date
in modern suburbia, now marks the site of Bowes Manor, at
one time the residence of Thomas Wilde, who was Lord
Chancellor in 1850, and in that year created Baron Truro of
Bowes Manor, Middlesex. The first mention of the property
occurs in a deed dated 1397, in which a citizen of London, by
name John Northampton, " grants the manors of Bowes and
Darnford with Pole House and Fordes" to one William
Horsecroft. The manor of Bowes was owned in the reign of
Henry IV by Sir John Danbriggecomb, who granted it to
Thomas Langley, Bishop of Durham, and Ralph Nevile, Earl
of Westmorland. In 1413 Bowes and other manors were
conceded to the Crown, and it appears that they were after-
wards made over to St. Paul's Cathedral, for in 1428 the
Dean and Chapter granted them on lease to one William
Bothe. Sir Edward Barkham owned Bowes Manor for some
time, and in 1694 Robert Frampton was lessee. Other tenants
were John Dashwood King and Sir James Pennyman about
1750, Mr. Hare in 1777, Mr. Berdmore in 1780, and eventually
Mr. Julius Hutchinson, from whom it was purchased about
1819 by William Tash, sometime owner of Broomfield House.
Afterwards Bowes Manor came into the possession of Lord
Truro. He is worthy of notice for the exceptional rapidity
with which he rose in the public service. Entering parliament
in 1831 as Member for Newmarket, he attained the position
of Solicitor-General in 1840; Attorney-General in the follow-
ing year, and finally Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas
in 1846. It must be admitted that this was a feat of which
any man might be proud. He lost his parliamentary seat,
however, in the general election of 1832, but regained it in
1835, and held it until 1841. He was one of the earliest sup-
porters of Sir Rowland Hill's postal reform scheme, which he
himself introduced into the House of Commons in 1843; he
also supported a measure in the following year for the total
suppression of the slave trade. Lord Truro died in 1 85 5 , and was
buried at St. Lawrence, near Ramsgate. His valuable law
library was presented by his widow to the House of Lords.
During the time of Lord Truro's possession of Bowes Manor
the grounds comprised seventy acres, and to the south of the

VOL. xi. 177 N

SOME ACCOUNT OF SOUTHGATE.

mansion there was a beautiful grove walk, lined by an avenue
of tall and majestic trees. The house, some time before its
demolition, was the residence of Alderman Sidney, who served
the office of Lord Mayor in 1853-4.

Southgate Grove — or, as it is now designated, Grovelands
— was erected at the beginning of the last century by Walker
Gray, Esq., who employed as architect Thomas Nash. The
building is mainly Ionic in its design, and is encompassed by
undulating pleasure grounds, which are very pleasing in their
effect as they gradually fall to a piece of water. The mansion
can claim the distinction of possessing three names within
half a century. Originally called Southgate Grove, the name
was changed by J. Donnithorne Taylor — grandfather of the
present owner — to Woodlands, and again in 1850 it was re-
christened Grovelands. The original gates of the mansion
now form the entrance to Broomfield Park, and are inscribed
the " village gates."

Southgate House happily still exists, but, beyond its size
and beautiful estate, there is little of historic interest attach-
ing to it. One of the Walker family lived and died here in
1853-

It is with regret that one recollects Minchenden House,
because it was one of the finest seats that Southgate possessed.
The mansion was intimately associated with the Duke of
Chandos, who, after the demolition of his other residence,
Canons, at Edgware, came to reside at Southgate. It was
erected about 1747 — a large brick building shut out from the
high road by a large wall or fence — by one John Nicholl, who,
however, only lived to complete it. His daughter, who inherited
the property, married in 1753 James, third Duke of Chandos,
who had been appointed Ranger of Enfield Chase. She died
in 1768. After her death Minchenden House became the
occasional residence of the Dowager Duchess of Chandos
until her decease in 1813. The house then came into the
possession of the Marquis of Buckingham, through his wife,
who was the heiress of the last Duke of Chandos. In 1853
Mr. Isaac Walker became possessed of the property, and in
that year he destroyed the house and added the grounds to
his estate of Arnos Grove. To reach the entrance of this fine
old mansion, one had to traverse a broad gravel path, running
by the side of the New River, and then through a shrubbery

178

03
tJO

_
O ^

"O £

C O

SOME ACCOUNT OF SOUTHGATE.

that led on to the lawn. A massive old pollard oak known as
the Chandos oak is still in existence, and is said to cover more
ground than any other tree in England, its spread measuring
no less than 1 36 feet ; it is still increasing.

Although Minchenden House is now no more, there still
exists a smaller structure called Minchenden Lodge, originally
a small cottage, a little to the north of the site; this was
enlarged some time after the demolition of the old mansion,
some of its materials being utilized for this purpose. It was
here that the late Queen and Prince Consort stayed for refresh-
ment when they laid the foundation stone of Colney Hatch
Lunatic Asylum.

Queen Elizabeth's Lodge was for a period of half a century
or so inhabited by the Rev. Charles Bradley, the elder brother
of the late Dean of Westminster, who conducted a school
there. There is a tradition that " Good Queen Bess " was
accustomed to watch the hunting from the garden of the
Lodge, hence its name. Sir Augustus Hare speaks of it in his
Story of my Life. He says: " His [Mr. Bradley's] house was
an ugly brick villa, standing a little way back from the road,
in the pretty village of Southgate, about ten miles from
London. . . . The life at Southgate for the next two years
was certainly the reverse of luxurious, and I did not get on
well with my tutor, owing to his extraordinary peculiarities,
and probably to my own faults also ; but I feel that mentally
I owe everything to Mr. Bradley."

The New River flows through Southgate. With the growth
of London at the beginning of the seventeenth century, the
means for the supply of pure water had become totally in-
adequate. Complaints had been raised from time to time, and
even Acts of Parliament passed in 1605 and 1606, authorizing
the making of a stream from the springs of Anwell and
Chadwell in Hertfordshire, to remedy the defect. Nothing
seems to have been done, however, until Mr. Hugh Myddleton,
who as a member of the Parliamentary Committees appointed
to inquire into the matter had given the subject careful study,
agreed to undertake the project. He set to work diligently
and promised to complete the channel in four years from 1609.
At first great opposition was encountered from the several
landowners through whose property the stream was to flow.
In the following year his adversaries sent a deputation to the
House of Commons, and succeeded in getting a Special Com-

179

SOME ACCOUNT OF SOUTHGATE.

mittee appointed to inquire into their grievances, but before
a report could be made, parliament had dissolved. The oppo-
sition of the landed gentry, however, had so severely harassed
Myddleton in his task, that in 1611 he was obliged to petition
for an extension of time, which was granted him. When the
stream was brought to Enfield, just half way to London, he
was faced by another and more serious difficulty, namely, lack
of funds, and on soliciting parliament and the rich city mer-
chants for assistance he was met by a distinct refusal. Finally,
in desperation, he requested James I to furnish him with
capital, and the canny Scot, who ever had an eye to business,
having become interested in the undertaking by watching the
progress of the work from his palace of Theobalds, readily
acceded to his request, by agreeing to pay half the cost on
condition of receiving half the profit. To these rather harsh
terms Myddleton perforce consented, and thus provided with
fresh funds he commenced again with renewed vigour, and
completed his work in 1613.

On Michaelmas day in that year, the Lord Mayor, Sir
Thomas Myddleton — his elder brother — presided over the
ceremony at Clerkenwell to celebrate the entrance of the
New River into London. In the following year Myddleton,
who had expended the best part of his savings upon the costly
undertaking, was obliged to ask the corporation of the City
for a loan of ^"3,000, which was at once granted to him " in
consideration of the benefit likely to accrue to the city from
his New River.'1 As a reward for the success of his enterprise
James I made him a Baronet in 1622.

Sir Hugh Myddleton died in 1631, aged seventy-one years,
and was buried in the Church of St. Matthew, Friday Street.

His wife died at Bush Hill some twelve years later, and
was interred in the chancel of Edmonton Church.

In its earliest form the New River was a canal about ten
feet wide, and four in depth, but it has since been widened
and generally improved in the matter of reservoirs, etc.

Charles Lamb, commenting on a friend of his — George
Dyer, sometime Editor of the Cambridge edition of the
Classics — who had the misfortune to fall into the New River,
thus immortalizes the stream in his Amicus Redivivus:

Waters of Sir Hugh Myddleton — what a spark you were like

to have extinguished for ever! Your salubrious streams to this

city for now near two centuries, would hardly have atoned for

what you were in a moment washing away. Mockery of a

1 80

SOME ACCOUNT OF SOUTHGATE.

river, liquid artifice, wretched conduit ! henceforth rank with
canels and sluggish aqueducts. Was it for this, that smit in
boyhood with the explorations of that Abyssinian traveller, I
paced the vales of Anwell to explore your tributary springs,
to trace your salutary waters sparkling through green Hert-
fordshire and cultured Enfield Parks? (ye have no swans, no
Naiad, no river God) or did the benevolent hoary aspect of
my friend tempt ye to suck him in that ye also might have the
tutelary genius of your waters.

It has been previously stated that Leigh Hunt was born at
Southgate ; Eagle Hall, his birthplace, although altered some-
what, is still existing, hidden from view by a line of modern
buildings. Isaac Hunt, the father of the litterateur, was for
some time pastor of a chapel at Lisson Grove, W., and also
an occasional preacher at Southgate, and it is surmised that
in this capacity he attracted the attention of the Duke of
Chandos of Minchenden House. His helpful sermons and
charming personality made a favourable impression on the
Duke, so much, indeed, that he invited him to become tutor
to his nephew, Mr. James Henry Leigh. On the birth of
Mr. Hunt's youngest son in 1784, he was christened, by the
express wish of the Duke, in the names of his father's pupil,
who stood godfather to him, so that his full name became
James Henry Leigh Hunt.

Isaac Hunt founded a school at his residence, Eagle Hall,
and received as pupils sons of the local aristocracy. At his
decease the institution was conducted by Mr. Fleuret, and
eventually by Mr. James Rumsey, who made extensive altera-
tions in enlarging the place. On his retirement about 1856,
his son, Henry Rumsey was appointed to the charge, retiring
himself after some ten years' work. There were two more
masters of the school, and then it ceased to exist.

Southgate school was situated at the northern extremity of
the town ; a plain, brick, thatched building supported by the
munificence of Mr. John Walker. It originally consisted of
about 140 pupils, and was open to children irrespective of sect.

One can only conclude with the fervent hope that Southgate
may long remain a place " lying out of the way of innovation,"
as Leigh Hunt so ably put it; at the present day the district
may be described as one of the healthiest, most picturesque,
and most charming suburbs on the beautiful "northern heights."

181

NOTES ON THE EARLY CHURCHES OF
SOUTH ESSEX.

BY C. W. FORBES, Member of the Essex Archaeological
Society.

[Continued from p. 113.]

HADLEIGH,

OUR next visit is to Hadleigh, anciently called Hadleigh
ad Castrum, a village which gives its name to the bay
or strait that separates Canvey Island from the main-
land; the village is situated about two and a half miles north-
east from South Benfleet station, and two miles from Leigh.

The church is a Norman structure, dating from the reign of
King Stephen, circa 1140, nearly a century before mention is
first made of the district as Hadleigh ad Castrum ; it therefore
claims greater antiquity than the castle erected near here by
Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent, temp. Henry III. It is one of
a few churches left in the county with round apsidal endings
to the chancel, similar to East Ham.1 There are, I believe, eight
others still in existence, viz.: Great and Little Maplestead,
Haversfield, Colchester Castle Chapel, Bamborough Chapel,
Little Braxted, Langford, and Copford.

The building consists of a chancel, nave, western wooden
spire, and south porch ; the walls are very thick, as is usual
with Norman structures, measuring about three feet two inches
across.

The spire, added in the fifteenth century, was originally
shingled, and contained down to the time of Edward VI four
bells; there is now only one, which was recast in 1636, which
date is on it

In the chancel are four small Norman windows, and six in
the nave, as follows: one in west wall, two in north wall, and
three in the south wall. On the north side, near the chancel, is
a small Early English lancet window, and opposite, in south
wall, one of the Decorated period; besides these we notice
two fairly large two-light Perpendicular windows, one on each
side.

1 A description of the church at East Ham was given in the first of this
series of articles. See vol. ix, p. 209.

182

Hadleigh Church.
Photographs by C. W. Forbes.

THE EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX.

Originally the church had three entrances, north, south, and
west; the one on the north, twelfth century, has been blocked
up; the south door is of the same date, but has fourteenth-
century moulding and a trefoil holy-water stoup added on the
exterior ; the porch is also attributed to the same period. The
small doorway on the west is a plain Norman one. There is
also a priest's door on the north side, now blocked up, attributed
to the fourteenth century. Dividing the nave from the chancel
is a stonewall about three feet thick ; it forms part of the original
Norman building, and furnishes a good example of a mediaeval
stone screen.1 It was originally pierced with three semicir-
cular arches ; the small side openings were, however, rilled in
with masonry in the early part of the fifteenth century. This
masonry was pierced, probably later in the same century, with
two very fine cinquefoil openings or hagioscopes,3 one on each
side of the nave; between these openings and the centre arch,
in a narrow space of about eleven inches, were minute niches
with cusped ogee arches and delicate tracery of the same date ;
one niche only without tracery now remains on the north side.

The chancel arch presents a fine and striking appearance
from its lofty proportions as one looks eastward from the
western end of the nave.

In the chancel are two aumbries, and on the north side a
lofty Perpendicular niche or credence, with cusped tracery.

The rood screen stood in front of the arch, and the staircase
leading to the loft still remains on the north side; it was blocked
up and the old door taken away at the restoration in 1855.

The walls of the nave were originally covered with large
paintings or frescoes; in the eighteenth century these were
covered with whitewash, and on the removal of this whitewash
in 1855 portions of the frescoes were discovered. The subjects
were St. George and the Dragon, the Virgin and Child, and
St. Thomas of Canterbury in full pontificals. They are attri-
buted to the latter end of the twelfth century. Portions of two
frescoes that have been preserved are, The Angel and Child,
to be seen on the arch of a Norman window on the north side
of the nave, and St. Thomas a Becket, fragments of which
are to be found on the splay of the lancet window on the
same side.

1 There is a good example of an early stone screen at Vange Church.
See ante, p. 108.

3 Many authorities consider that these small openings in screens were
for confessionals. — Editor.

183

THE EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX.

The font at the west end, three feet two inches high, has an
octagonal bowl, two feet four inches in diameter; the under part
is circular, and has a bold torus moulding with trefoil leaves ;
it stands on three modern ornamental round pillars ; the bowl
is probably of the same age as the church, twelfth century.
Among the church plate is a communion cup (now disused)
with a paten cover of the time of Edward VI. It is engraved
" Hadle of Essex bi the Castil." An extensive restoration was
undertaken in 1855, under the direction of the late Sir G. E.
Street, when the roofs of both nave and chancel were renewed ;
they may probably be facsimiles of the earlier ones, the style
being an old one ; the walls also were replastered inside.

The altar table, pulpit, prayer desk, and lectern of oak date
from 1855, and were all designed by the architect.

The stained glass is modern, and inserted during the latter
part of the nineteenth century; that in the Perpendicular
window on the south side of the nave is in memory of the wife
of Mr. King, who was a noted Essex antiquary. Both this
window and a smaller one on the same side in the chancel are
worthy of note from their fine colouring ; they are the work of
Messrs. Cox and Sons of London.

Some little distance to the south of the church are the re-
mains of Hadleigh Castle, built by Hubert de Burgh, Earl of
Kent, about 1228. It appears later to have been confiscated by
the Crown, and extensive alterations and repairs were made
by order of Edward III. The castle was granted from time to
time to a royal favourite. Henry VIII made a grant of the
castle and lands to Anne of Cleves. In 1551 it was given by
Edward VI to Richard, first Baron Rich of Leeze, who for
some reason reduced the castle to a ruin ; these ruins now con-
sist of two round towers, which are falling to pieces, and por-
tions of the gateway tower and the walls enclosing the court-
yard, and still exhibit traces of their former grandeur; they
are overrun with shrubs and brushwood, and look very
picturesque. The ruins are now the property of the Salvation
Army.

EASTWOOD.

Eastwood is a place known to have been in existence as
early as the time of Edward the Confessor ; it is situated
about two miles north-east of Hadleigh.

The ancient church is an interesting old structure, built of

184

C/)

t/}

O
fa

THE EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX

brick and stone; it is very picturesque in appearance, and the
venerable elms in the churchyard add much to the beauty and
pleasing seclusion of the site. It consists of a nave, with
north and south aisles, a large and lofty chancel, and a tower
with a long slender spire at the south-west corner of the
edifice, which is rather a rare example in this county.

The spire was originally shingled ; now, however, we find
it boarded in a very modern style of carpentry. Formerly
there were four bells, but only three now exist ; two of them
are ancient, and have Latin inscriptions. The first reads:
" Sancte Gregore, ora pro nobis"; the second, "Sancta
Katerina, ora pro nobis "; the third bears the date 1693. The
present building dates from the middle of the twelfth century ;
extensive alterations appear to have been made in the thir-
teenth and fourteenth centuries. The nave is the oldest part
of the church; the original Norman building doubtless con-
sisted of a nave and chancel only. About the end of the
thirteenth century the north and south aisles and tower were
added ; the chancel also appears to have been enlarged about
that period, and the low Norman arch supplanted by the lofty
Early English one we now see; traces of an early arch are
visible at the sides.

The tower was heightened slightly, and the spire added, in
the fourteenth century.

The porch of the south door, which is the only entrance
into the church, is a red brick Tudor one of the sixteenth
century. Over the front at the top is a niche for an image ;
on the east side of the doorway can be seen the remains of a
trefoil holy-water stoup.

The square-headed oaken door at the entrance is very fine
and much admired ; it is covered with decorative iron work.
On one of the iron bands across it, although much worn, one
can still read the following inscription in Latin : " Pax regat
intrantes, eadem regat egredientes," a literal translation of
which is : " May peace direct those who enter, also those who
leave."

The north doorway is blocked up; but a similar ancient
door (without, however, any inscription), which formerly hung
here, now stands in the vestry. The priests' doorway, on
the south side of chancel, is also filled in. On entering, the
first object of interest one notices is the magnificent old
circular font of the Norman period ; the exterior round the
basin is beautifully carved with interlaced ornamental arcading ;

THE EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX.

the basin is about four feet in diameter ; the lead lining is said
to be as old as the font itself.

The aisles are separated from the nave by two octagonal
pillars and three pointed arches on each side. Over those on
the north side are the filled-in remains of three small Norman
clerestory windows, showing that the dividing wall over the
arches is a portion of the original north wall of the church,
cut through to form the aisle.

The western end of the north aisle was enclosed by wood-
work in the early part of the fifteenth century, a floor being
inserted in the enclosure, thus dividing it into two stories or
apartments. The lower one was used as a sacristy and the
upper chamber as a muniment room; it is quite possible,
however, that it was originally built as a priests' house ; the
floor of the upper part is framed with a well hole as the
only means of access ; the wooden trap-door is furnished
with a lock of huge proportions ; it is lit by two small lancet
windows.

The south aisle was at one time used as a chapel ; it may
have been a chantry. The remains of a small piscina can be
seen in the south wall, and an aumbry in the east wall.

A peculiar feature of this church is the cutting of the two
pillars on the south side of the nave, about four ft. from the floor.
The first pillar from the chancel has a small portion cut out
on the north side, and the second column a similar piece off
the south side ; the sacristan was thus enabled, by looking
between these two columns, and the hagioscope cut in the
stone chancel wall, to ring the Sanctus bell at the Elevation
of the Host.

On the south side of the chancel are plain sedilia and the
remains of a piscina. There is also near this a low side
window ; over this window is an arched recess, probably the
remains of a founder's tomb.

A small Jacobean altar table, now disused, is also to be
seen in the chancel. Within the altar rails is a brass to
Thomas Burrow, who died in 1600.

The benefice of Eastwood belonged at an early period to
the Priory of Prittlewell. It is supposed that it was given by
the founder, Robert son of Suene ; at any rate, the Priory was
in possession in the reign of Henry II, during the Arch-
bishopric of Thomas cL Becket. The church was then a chapel
to Prittlewell ; afterwards it became a rectory to which the
Prior presented. About 1 390 the sanction of the Pope was

1 86

•_-

a
_c
U

THE EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX.

procured for its appropriation to the Priory ; as, however, this
was done without the consent of the King or the bishop of
the diocese, they were obliged to obtain a licence from King
Richard II, in 1394, to appropriate the churches of Eastwood
and North Shoebury to their own use ; and, by way of com-
pensation to the Bishop of London, to agree to pay him and
his successors 6s. %d. yearly. This agreement was made in

1398.

The Priory retained possession of the advowson of East-
wood until the suppression of the monasteries, when it came
into the possession of the Crown, which has held it unto the
present day.

A note with reference to this church is to be found in Arch-
deacon Hale's Precedents in causes of office against church-
wardens and others •, published in 1841, being " Extracts from
the Act Books of the Consistory Court of London." It is
stated that in 1612 the church was in a dilapidated condition
as regards the roof; and that the " seates were neither fflored,
nor well benched "; there was neither " pott or pewter, nor
any other mettall to put wine in, for the communion table," etc.
Want of money being pleaded as an excuse for not doing the
repairs, a commission was granted, to survey "ye decayes,"
and the making of a rate, to the churchwardens, and to
Mr. Vassall, Richard Thorneton, Francis Gates, John Hawkin,
Richard Ellis, and other parishioners; they had orders to
transmit their proceedings and rate, together with the com-
mission, into the court.

The "pott" above mentioned was a vessel used to contain
the wine before consecration.

LEIGH.

Leigh, an ancient place which up to a few years ago was a
small fishing village, is situated some three miles to the west
of Southend ; the church is to be found about half a mile to
the south of the main London Road, between Hadleigh and
Southend.

Probably a church existed here from an early period, but
the present edifice was erected in the latter half of the fifteenth
century, in the late Perpendicular style, of Kentish ragstone.
It consists of a nave, chancel, north and south aisles, north
chapel, and a fine embattled stone tower, eighty feet high at
the west end, containing a clock and six bells.

THE EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH ESSEX.

The north door is bricked up ; the south door has a porch
of red brick, with a sundial dated 1729.

On the south side of the chancel is a priests' doorway.

On the north side the aisle and chapel are of corresponding
length, divided from the nave and chancel by six octagonal
columns, four in the nave and two in the chancel.

The font is a modern one, apparently a copy of that at
Prittlewell.

The church in the past has undergone considerable restora-
tion and reconstruction ; first, in the early part of the eighteenth
century, when the present porch was added and material
alterations made in the chancel, the south window being
blocked up ; again in 1837 ; and, lastly, in 1871, when the
chancel was lengthened and practically rebuilt, in the
Decorated style. The last column dividing the chancel
from the north chapel was probably inserted at this time ;
it is smaller and lower, the arch being more acute.

The windows also are nearly all modern. Between the
chancel and the nave is a recess, now filled up, which may
have contained the rood stairs, or possibly an aumbry.

There are several brasses with effigies, the earliest being
one to Richard Haddok, who died in 1453, and his wife, with
seven sons and three daughters. There are also a number of
monuments in the church.
[To be continued.]

NOTES FROM ST. BARTHOLOMEW THE
LESS.

BY A. J. JEWARS.

WITHIN the boundaries of the great Hospital of St
Bartholomew, and directly appertaining to it, is the
little church of St. Bartholomew the Less, which has
been quite eclipsed by the interest of St. Bartholomew the
Great. The structure has been rebuilt in comparatively recent
times, and its many modern tablets cause it to appear at first
sight to contain nothing worthy of notice. Yet such is not the
case ; and although we know, from incidental mention of them,
that many monuments have disappeared, it is the purpose of

1 88

Brass of William Markeby and his wife
(St. Bartholomew the Less, Smithfield).

Arms granted to Robert Balthorpe.

Arms of Robert Balthorpe
(from his Monument, St. Bartholomew the Less, Smithfield).

NOTES FROM ST. BARTHOLOMEW THE LESS.

this article to show there is still much of interest to the anti-
quary and collector.

The oldest memorial now to be found is a brass of the fif-
teenth century, with figures of a gentleman and his wife in the
usual dress of the period. The inscription is simple, and re-
markable only for the insertion of an English word in a Latin
inscription, instead of its usual Latin equivalent. The wording
runs : " Hie Jacent Willm Markeby de Londoniis Gentilmil
qui obiit 1 1 die July A. dni M° cccc xxx ix, et Alicia uxor ei9."
Here it will be seen that the inscription has been cut away to
destroy the pious request for prayers for the deceased. The
man's head has been broken off and not very skilfully rejoined,
giving the lower part of the face a curious twisted appear-
ance.

Next to call for attention, in the recess on the south side of
the chancel, partly hidden by the organ, is a monument, con-
sisting of a panel with an inscription, above which is the effigy
of a gentleman kneeling within an arched canopy, supported
by two pillars, while surmounting all is a shield of arms with
helmet, crest, and mantling. This commemorates Robert
Balthorpe, Sergeant -Surgeon to Queen Elizabeth. The in-
scription is so delightfully quaint we may surely risk giving it
in full:

Here Robert Balthorpe lyes Intomb'd to Elizabeth our Queen,
Who sergeant of the Surgeons sworn near thirty years hath been.
He dyed at Sixty nine of yeares December ninth the Day;
The yeare of Grace eight hundred twice, deducting nine away.

Let here his rotten bones repose

Till angell Trumpet sound

To warn the World of present change

And raise the dead from ground.
Vivat post funera virtus.

The ingenuity of getting in all the facts to rhyme is charm-
ing. The doctor's will is still more attractive, but it is alto-
gether too long even to give a fair abstract of it. Naturally
he mentions some of his assistants and surgical instruments,
as, " my lancett that is sett in golde and enamyled " ; " my
syringe of silver gilted and three pipes of silver and
gilted belonging to the same"; " my servaunts that nowe are
with me, and have bene my servaunts in time past which do
practize and exercise the art of chirurgery." Then there is a
box mentioned as having the lock, hinges, and bars over it of

189

NOTES FROM ST. BARTHOLOMEW THE LESS.

"copper gilted." Does any collector possess this? or either
the " greate Ringe of golde with my scale of Armes" and " my
lesser Ringe of golde with my scale of Armes"? Where are
these things?

There is an allusion to his being in the royal service in the
paragraph, " my English bible which is at the Courte," also
" my bagge with the case and all the instruments and other
things that are therein which lyeth for my daily use in my
chest wherein I put my linnen at the Courte." Again, the
description of sundry articles of dress shows how much richer
and more picturesque was the dress of his day than is that of
our own. We might quote particulars of his bequest of a silver
gilt " bell bowle " to the Company of Barbers and Surgeons,
and of money for them to make " a dynner" in their Hall after
the funeral, then a general practice; but we must stay our
pen.

Strange to say, the arms on this monument, though much
discoloured, appear to differ from those granted toDr.Balthorpe
by William Harvey, Clarenceux King of Arms, which are here
given.

We have lingered so long with Dr. Balthorpe we must dis-
miss our next illustration, the rubbing from a brass, the oldest
memorial remaining in trie church, leaving it to speak for
itself.

Under the window at the west end of the church are the
remains of a fine altar tomb of late fifteenth-century work ; it
has been somewhat defaced, and no traces of the brasses are
to be found, while the whole tomb was misappropriated by an
eighteenth-century surgeon, John Freke, as a memorial of
himself and his wife, who was Elizabeth, daughter of Richard
Blundell of London. For this purpose a brief Latin inscription
has been cut at the back, and a block of stone carved with the
arms here depicted let in at the top. The lady died in 1741,
and John Freke himself in 1756, intestate; administration to
his effects being granted to his only child, Susanna, wife of
William Williams.

The accompanying shield of arms is on a floor slab, the
helmet and crest are hidden by a fixed safe — the usual disregard
of monuments and other objects of interest, when any altera-
tions or restorations in churches are made, is responsible. The
inscription records that Thomas Sprigg, citizen and cooper,
who died in 1735-6, lies there; as also his relict, Mrs. Sarah
Sprigg, who died in 1751-2. The will of Thomas Sprigg con-

190

Arms on the Freke Monument

(St. Bartholomew the Less).

Drawn by A. J. Jewars.

MAUNDY CELEBRATIONS.

tains nothing of general interest ; he appears to have left no
children, as his brothers came in for most of what he had to
leave, part of which was in the fatal South Sea Annuities.

To the north of the chancel is a memorial of the wife of Sir
Thomas Bodley, the founder of the Bodleian Library at Ox-
ford, but it calls for no special mention.

MAUNDY CELEBRATIONS: ANCIENT
AND MODERN.

BY CORNELIUS NICHOLLS.

THE following is an attempt to bring together various

^ records relating to the observance of Maundy Thursday
and its attendant ceremonials, from the earliest periods
to the present time, more especially with regard to our own
country. It will be seen how, from its simple inauguration by
the founder of Christianity, the Maundy grew into a cere-
monious and royal function, practised also by great nobles
and princes of the Church, and rising apparently to its fullest
development as a State ceremony under the Tudor Queens,
Mary and Elizabeth. Shortly after these reigns there was a
curtailment of the ceremony, and from the time of James II,
that part relating to the washing of the feet of the poor was
no longer performed by. the monarch in person.

It may be that the detailed quotations here given from old
writers — ipsissima verba — appear somewhat prolix, yet it is
hoped that the quaintness of the original, occasionally pre-
serving by its ancient orthography information beyond that
of the immediate narrative, may not be found uninteresting.
As observed by Cowper, in one of his letters, " the same idea,
which clothed in colloquial language seems childish and even
foolish, assumes quite a different air in Latin," so, perhaps, in
some such way these descriptions of old customs, given in the
actual diction of the times portrayed, may lend to the scene
an atmosphere of antiquity and some sense of perspective to
the imagination.

Authorities differ as to the derivation of the word "Maundy,"
some holding that it comes from maund, the old name for a
basket in which gifts were carried and subsequently distri-

191

MAUNDY CELEBRATIONS.

buted. In this sense the word is used by Shakespeare in
A Lover's Complaint:

A thousand favours from a maund she drew
Of amber, crystal, and of beaded jet.

Spelman and others derive the word from this source, thus
seeming to confine the term to that part of the ceremony
which consisted of the giving of alms. But by most writers
it is thought to have been derived from the Latin mandatum>
with reference to Our Lord's precept in St. John's Gospel,
" If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye
also ought to wash one another's feet." Thus Bishop Sparrow,
on this subject, writes : "This day Christ washed His disciples'
feet and gave them a commandment to do likewise. Hence
it is called dies mandati, mandate or Maundy Thursday";
and it is now generally accepted that from a vernacular
corruption of this Latin form we get our English word
Maundy. It is also to be remembered that in primitive
times obedience to Christ's precept was the chief if not the
only object; the distribution of gifts to the poor being a later
addition.

Other names formerly used for this occasion were " Dies
Coenae Domini," referring to the inauguration of the Lord's
Supper; "Holy Thursday"; "White Thursday "—the Lenten
vestments and hangings of some churches being then changed
from violet to white, in memory of the institution of the
Blessed Sacrament — and "Shere Thursday." This last is so
called from the custom practised by the monks and others of
being then shaven and shorn in preparation for the coming
Easter. As an old writer has it: "For in old Faders' daies
the people wolde that daye shere their hedes and clyppe their
berdes and poll their hedes, and so make theym honest ayenst
Esterday." l In addition to this, and giving the practice a
wider significance, was the fact that on this day those people
who had been put out of the Church and subjected to penance
were, if repentant, again reconciled after an ordeal that might
well have given occasion to this rendering of the name. On
the first day of Lent these offenders had been required to
present themselves before the bishop clothed in sackcloth,
with naked feet, and with every accompaniment of abject
humility. Upon entering the church, the penitential Psalms
having been recited, the priests threw ashes upon the

1 Liber Festivalis ( 1 500), cited by Wheatley.
192

OH <L>

S e

o co

o .

MAUNDY CELEBRATIONS.

"penitents," and covered their heads with sackcloth. After
this they were driven out of the church, followed by the
clergy repeating the curse pronounced against Adam when
expelled from Paradise. But with the arrival of Maundy
Thursday, all the doors of the church were thrown open, and
the penitents, lying outside prostrate on the earth, were
welcomed in by the bishop. They then trimmed their heads
and beards, took off their penitential weeds, and reclothed
themselves in decent apparel in token of their reconciliation.1
The extreme severity of many penances that were formerly
inflicted, by causing them to be frequently evaded, gave rise
to a relaxation of discipline in the form of a commutation of
sentences. "A new system of canonical arithmetic was estab-
lished ; and the fast of a day was taxed at the rate of a silver
penny for the rich, or 50 paternosters for the illiterate and
50 psalms for the learned." 2 In the eighth century penance
might be commuted for alms and prayers; in the tenth, pil-
grimages were enjoined, in which a man might never pass two
nights in one place, might not eat meat, nor clip his hair or
nails. If rich he founded a church, built a bridge, or made
roads, or emancipated serfs. In the twelfth century it con-
sisted generally of pilgrimages. In 1389 men in shirts and
breeches, women in shifts, holding sacred images, stood during
Mass bareheaded and barefooted, and finally made an offering
to the priest. In 1554 penitents stood wrapped in a white
sheet, with a taper in one hand and a rod in the other, during
a sermon, after which they were struck on the head, at Paul's
Cross, and so reconciled.3 This particular penance was in-
flicted by the Church long after the above date, and was
particularly insisted upon throughout the land. In the printed
articles, dated 1625, ordered " to be enquired of by the Church-
wardens and sworne-men in every parish within the Commis-
sariship of Essex and Hertford ; and presentment thereof to
be made to the Commissary, with peculiar answer to every
article," the following is the 45th and concluding article:
" Lastly, you, the Churchwardens, are at the charge of your
parish to provide a convenient large Sheete and a White
Wand to be had and kept within your Church or Vestrie, to
be used at such times as offenders are censured for their
grievous and notorious crimes." Our Commination Service,

1 Bp. Sparrow's Rationale on Book of Common Prayer, pp. 117, 126.

* Lingard, Anglo-Saxon Church, p. 336.

* Feasey, Ancient English Holy Week Ceremonials , p. 100.

VOL. XI. 193 O

MAUNDY CELEBRATIONS.

appointed to be used on the first day of Lent, " and at other
times as the Ordinary shall appoint," is all that now remains
to remind us of that "Godly Discipline" of primitive times, of
which our Prayer Book, in archaic language, still deplores the
loss.

In addition to those people who were reconciled after
penance, it was customary with many who had kept Lent,
to bathe and wash their bodies on Maundy Thursday, in order
to appear decently pure and clean "from the filth which their
bodies might have contracted from the austerities of Lent."1

To what extremes these " austerities " were sometimes
carried may be seen from a passage in Bede's Life of St.
Cuthbert. Describing this Saint's withdrawal from all earthly
matters, he says:

So entirely had he put off all care as to the body, and so
had given himself up to the care of the soul alone, that when
once he had put on his long hose, which were made of hide, he
used to wear them for several months together. Yea, with the
exception of once at Easter, it may be said that he never took
them off again for a year, until the return of the Pasch, when
he was unshod for the ceremony of washing the feet, which is
wont to take place on Maundy Thursday. Hence on account
of his frequent prayers and genuflections which he performed
when thus hosed, it was discovered that he had an oblong and
extensive callosity at the juncture of the feet and legs.

The Church's obedience to the mandatum has been traced
as far back as the fourth century. In the Early English
Text Society's transcription of the South England Legendary
may be found a direct reference to the keeping of Maundy
Thursday, in the sixth century, by St. Brendan and his
monks. St. Brendan, who died at the age of ninety-four, in
the year 578, is there described as a great traveller, and the
chief actor in many marvellous adventures. It was on the
occasion of his voyage to the " Isle of Sheep," where he arrived
with his monks on Maundy Thursday, that the event took
place which is here given in a literal translation from the
old rhymed version:

So that their ship at the last to that isle drew

On Shire Thursday

The Procurator came to meet them and welcomed them anon,

1 Bingham, Antiquities of the Christian Church, p. 353.
194

MAUNDY CELEBRATIONS.

And kissed St. Brendan's feet, and the monks, each one ;

[the time of day required it]

And set them [sith] to supper, for the day it would so.
And then he washed their feet all, the Maundy for to do.

[did stay]

They held there their Maundy, and there they gan stay
On Good Friday all the long day, until Easter Eve.

Other early references to this day are made by Alcuin in
the eighth century, who gives the form for its celebration in
his Book of Offices; also in an ancient MS. pontifical of the
English Church of the tenth century, now preserved in the
British Museum.

In addition to the primitive practice of washing one another's
feet, it became customary to provide for the poor gifts of
clothes, food, and money, together with a substantial meal at
the time of their distribution; this last being a recognition by
the Church of the previous fasting undergone by the recipients.1
It would seem, too, that this breaking of the Lenten fast was
a concession enjoyed not only by poor Maundy folk. The
following verses sarcastically portray a monastic celebration,
and are translated from some old and apparently contempor-
aneous writer — possibly one of those members of the secular
clergy who regarded the monks with such well-known jealousy,
a jealousy and animosity apparent not only in their writings
but also in those monkish caricatures on bosses and corbels
still to be seen in various churches throughout the land:

And here the monks their maundies make with sundry solemn rites,

And signs of great humility and wondrous pleasant sights,

Each one the other's feet doth wash and wipe them clean and dry,

With helpful mind and secret fraud, that in their hearts doth lie ;

As if that Christ with his examples did these things require,

And not to help our brethren here with zeal and free desire ;

Each one supplying other's want, in all things that they may,

As he himself a servant made, to serve us every way.

Then straight the loaves do walk, and pots in every place they skink,a

Wherewith the holy fathers oft to pleasant damsels drink.

In the ancient Offices of the Church of England, among the
various observances connected with the ceremony, was the
passing round of the "loving cup" (called in the Rubric
caritatis potum} after the washing of feet and the sermon
which followed.3 This poculum caritatis^ or loving cup, was a
survival of the wassail-bowl of Saxon times, which, instead of

1 Stephen, Common Prayer^ pp. 889-90.
a Skink, A.S. Scene, to draw liquor.
' Blunt, Ann. Common Prayer.

195

MAUNDY CELEBRATIONS.

being abolished on the introduction of Christianity, was adopted
under the above name for use in religious ceremonies.

It is interesting to note that there are in some of our cathe-
dral churches indications still remaining of the places where
the ceremony of the washing of feet was performed.

At York Minster, the Maundy seats are probably those in
the north quire aisle; at Worcester in the east alley of the
cloisters is a bench table anciently used at the Maundy. On
a stone bench in the east cloister at Westminster sat the twelve
beggars whose feet the Abbot washed, and under the nosing
of the bench, still remain the copper eyes from which hung
the carpet on which he knelt during the performance of the
ceremony. At Lichfield and probably other cathedrals desti-
tute of cloisters, the maundy ceremony took place in quires;
the stalls and aumbries on the north side of the quire at York
having probably some connection with the ceremonial.1

In the Middle Ages kings, princes, and nobles kept their
Maundy with much ceremony, records of which have been
preserved in the accounts of the privy purse expenses of
monarchs, the receipts and payments of great houses, and in
the ancient chronicles of early historians. The first mention of
the monarch's name in this connection appears to be that of
Edward II, who, in the nineteenth year of his reign, washed
the feet of fifty poor men.2 In the following reign, Edward III,
an order was given, 2Oth March, 1361, to John de Newbury,
to buy and deliver to Thomas de Keynes, the King's Almoner,
" 200 ells of cloth of Candlewykstrete, 50 pairs of slippers, 2
short towels of Paris [cloth], and 4 ells of linen of Flanders,
for next Cena Domini?* In the next century, under the head
of the privy expenses of Henry VII, there is an entry of six
pounds and four pence to thirty-eight poor men, in alms, and
one shilling and eight pence for thirty-eight small purses; this
number corresponding with the King's age in that year. Who
inaugurated the custom of making his benefactions correspond
with the number of his own years of age does not clearly
appear; but, as we have seen from the foregoing, the practice
would seem to date at least as far back as the reign of Edwai
III in 1361, part of whose gifts consisted of fifty pairs
slippers, he being fifty years old at that time.

1 Feasey, Ancient Holy Week Ceremonials, pp. 107, 109.
8 Wardrobe Roll, 19 Ed. II, cited by Feasey, p. no.
3 Close Roll, 34 Ed. III.

196

MAUNDY CELEBRATIONS.

In 1502 the privy purse expenses of Elizabeth of York show
a disbursement by her of three shillings and a penny for each
of thirty-seven poor women upon " Shere Thursday." Also
about this time the ceremony was carried out at the Church of
St. Mary, Huntingdon, and at Barking Abbey, and doubtless
by many others, records of which have perished.

Greatest of the nobles who held yearly celebrations of the
Maundy was the fifth Earl of Northumberland (1477-1527).
Of this we have a full account by the antiquary Grose, taken
from the Northumberland Household Book, edited in 1770 by
Bishop Percy. Here is shown minutely the Earl's method of
distributing his gifts on that day, not only in his own person,
but also for his wife and children. The household, we are told,
was established upon the same plan, and with a splendour
scarcely inferior to that of the Royal Court ; and it is interest-
ing to notice his custom with regard to the royal practice of
apportioning the Maundy gifts according to the age of the
giver. Here, too, we have a practical illustration of the old
motto, " Noblesse oblige," in the constantly recurring formula,
" To gyf to as manny as his Lordshipe is yeares of age and
one for the year e of my Lordis aige to come"

Extracted from the voluminous accounts of the expenditure
of this house, the following are the items relating exclusively
to the Maundy. It will be noticed how curiously they are set
out, according to the custom at that time, with an entire
absence of punctuation, though with an attempt to supply its
place by means of capital letters, and in a form entailing, to a
non-legal mind, a vast amount of vain repetition :

Al Manner of Things Yerly Geven by my Lorde for his Maundy
ande my Laidis and his Lordshippis Children As the Con-
sideration Why more playnly hereafter folowyth.

Furst My Lorde useth and accustomyth yerely uppon
Maundy Thursday when his Lordship is at home to gyf yerly
as menny Gownes to as manny Poor Men as my Lorde is Yeres
of Aige with Hoodes to them and one for the Yere of my
Lordes Aige to Come Of Russet cloth after iij yerddes of
Erode Cloth in every Gowne and Hoode Ande after *\\d the
brode Yerde of Clothe

Item My Lorde useth ande accustomyth yerly uppon Maundy
Thursday when his Lordship is at Home to gyf yerly as manny
Sherts of Lynnon Cloth to as manny Poure Men as his Lord-
shipe is Yers of Aige ande one for the Yere of my Lords Aige
197

MAUNDY CELEBRATIONS.

to come After ij yerdes dim. \dimidius = half] in every shert and
after . . . the yerde

Item My Lorde useth and accustomyth yerly uppon the said
Maundy Thursday when his Lordshipe is at Home to gyf yerly
as manny Iren Platers [wooden trenchers] after ob. \pbolus^ a
halfpenny] the pece with a Cast of Brede and a Certen Meat
in it to as manny Poure Men as his Lordship is Yeres of Aige
and one for the Yere of my Lordis Aige to come

Item My Lorde useth and accustomyth yerly upon the said
Maundy Thursday when his Lordship is at home to gyf yerely
as many Eshen [ashen] Cuppis after ob. the pece with Wyne
in them to as many Poure Men as his Lordship is Yeres of
Aige and one for the Yere of my Lordis Aige to come

Item. My Lorde useth and accustomyth yerly uppon the
said Maundy Thursday when his Lordshipe is at home to gyf
yerly as manny Pursses of Lether after ob. the pece with as
manny Penys in every purse to as many poore men as his
Lordshipe is Yeres of Aige and one for the Yere of my Lords
Aige to come

Item. My Lorde useth and accustomyth yerely uppon
Maundy Thursday to cause to be bought iij Yerdis and iij
Quarters of Erode Violett Cloth for a Gowne for his Lordshipe
to doo service in Or for them that schall doo service in his
Lordshypes Absence After iiij,? v\i]d the Yerde And to be
furrede with Blake Lamb Contenynge ij Keippe and a half
after xxx skynnes in a kepe and vjs \\}d the kepe and after
ij ob. the skynne and after LXXV skynns for Furringe of the
said Gowne Which Gowne my Lorde werith all the tyme his
Lordship doith service And after his Lordship hath don his
service at his said Maundy doith gyf to the pourest man that
he fyndeth as he thynkyth emongs them all the said Gowne

Item. My Lorde useth and accustomyth yerly upon the
said Maundy Thursday to caus to be delyvered to one of my
Lordis Chaplayns 1 for my Lady If she be at my Lordis fynd-
ynge and not at her owen To comaunde hym to gyf for her as
manny Groits to as manny Poure Men as her Ladyshipe is
Yeres of Aige and one for the Yere of hir Aige to come Owte
of my Lordis Coffueres if sche be not at hir owen fyndynge

Item. My Lorde useth and accustomyth yerly uppon the
said Maundy Thursday to caus to be delyvered to one of my
Lordis Chaplayns for my Lordis Eldest Sone the Lord Percy
For hym to comaunde to gyf for hym as manny Pens of ij Pens
to as manny Poure Men as his Lordshipe is Yeres of Aige and
one for the Yere of his Lordshipes aige to come

1 There were eleven priests in the Earl's household.

198

MAUNDY CELEBRATIONS.

Item My Lorde useth and accustomyth yerly uppon Maundy
Thursday to cause to be delyverit to one of my Lordis Chap-
layns for every of my Yonge Maisters My Lordis Yonger Sones
To gyf for every of them as manny Pens to as manny Poore
Men as every of my said Maisters is yeeres of Aige and for
the Yere to come.

As an instance of the way in which the ceremony was
observed by a prince of the Church, we find that about the
same time as the foregoing illustration, Cardinal Wolsey, in
the hey-day of his prosperity, made a grand progress with
a body of 160 followers from Richmond to Peterborough,
and there kept Maundy Thursday and the Easter celebrations.
The event is thus quaintly chronicled by Holinshed :

Then prepared the Cardinal for his journey into the North,
and sent to London for liverie clothes for his servants, and so
rode from Richmond to Hendon, from thence to a place called
the Rie; the next day to Raistone [Royston] where he lodged
in the Priorie; the next daie to Huntingdon and there lodged
in the Abbeie; the next day to Peterborow and there lodged
in the Abbeie, where he abode all the next weeke and there
he kept his Easter, his traine was in number an hundred and
three score persons. Upon Maundie thursdaie he made his
maundie, there having nine and fiftie poore men, whose feet
he washed, and gave everie one twelve pence in monie, three
els of good canvas, a paire of shoes, a cast of red herrings, and
three white herrings, and one of them had two shillings.1

In this reign also Catherine of Arragon, while Queen, had been
accustomed to celebrate the day ; but after her divorce she
was forbidden by the King to do so (1533), except under the
title of Princess Dowager.

In the two next reigns, Mary and Elizabeth, we reach what
we have called the highest development of the Maundy as a
religious and royal ceremonial, and in reading the account of
Queen Mary's observance of the day it is apparent to all, as
it was to the narrator, how great was the fervour of her
devotion, not only to the form but also to the spirit of the
mandatum. The account is contained in a letter written by
Marco Antonio Faitta, secretary to Cardinal Pole, the Pope's
Legate in this country, to his correspondent, a Doctor of
Divinity in Venice, and is dated 3rd April, 1556. After
writing on other matters, he proceeds :

1 Holinshed, vol. iii, p. 914.
199

MAUNDY CELEBRATIONS.

and on Holy Thursday, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the
most Serene Queen accompanied by the right reverend
Legate and by the Council, entered a large hall,1 at the head
of which was my Lord Bishop of Ely, as Dean of the Queen's
Chaplains, with the Choristers of her Majesty's chapel.
Around the hall on either side there were seated on certain
benches, with their feet on stools, many poor women to the
number of forty and one, such being the number of the years
of the most Serene Queen. Then one of the menials of the
Court, having washed the right foot of each of these poor
persons, and this function being also next performed by the
Under-Almoner, and also by the Grand Almoner, who is the
Bishop of Chichester, her Majesty next commenced the cere-
mony in the following manner:

At the entrance of the Hall, there was a great number of the
chief dames and noble ladies of the Court, and they prepared
themselves by putting on a long linen apron which reached
the ground, and round their necks they placed a towel, the
two ends of which remained pendant at full length on either
side, each of them carrying a silver ewer, and they had flowers
in their hands, the Queen also being arrayed in like manner.
Her Majesty knelt down on both her knees before the first of
the poor women and taking in her left hand the woman's
right foot, she washed it with her own right hand, drying it
very thoroughly with the towel which hung at her neck, and
having signed it with the cross, she kissed the foot so fervently
that it seemed as if she were embracing something very
precious. She did the like by all and each of the other poor
women, one by one, each of the ladies, her attendants, giving
her in turn their basin and ewer and towel ; and I vow to you
that in all her movements and gestures, and by her manner
she seemed to act thus not merely out of ceremony, but from
great feeling and devotion. Amongst these demonstration
there was this one remarkable, that in washing the feet, she
went the whole length of that long hall from one end to the
other, ever on her knees. Having finished and risen on he
feet, she went back to the head of the hall and commencec
giving in turn to each of the poor women a large wooden
platter with enough food for four persons, filled with grea
pieces of salted fish, and two large loaves, and thus she went a
second time distributing these alms. She next returned a
third time, to begin again, giving to each of the women a
wooden bowl filled with wine, or rather, I think, hippocras
after which for the fourth time she returned and gave to

1 Query, Somerset House.
2OO

MAUNDY CELEBRATIONS.

each of those poor people a piece of cloth of royal mixture
for clothing. Then returning for the fifth time she gave to
each a pair of shoes and stockings ; for the sixth time she
gave to each a leathern purse, containing fortyone pennies,
according to the number of her own years, and which in
value may amount to rather more than half an Italian golden
crown;1 finally, going back for the seventh time, she distributed
all the aprons and towels which had been carried by those
dames and noble ladies, in number forty-one, giving each with
her own hand.

Her Majesty then quitted the hall to take off the gown she
had worn, and half an hour afterwards she returned, being
preceded by an attendant carrying the said gown, and thus
she went twice round the hall, examining very closely all the
poor women one by one, and then returning for the third
time, she gave the said gown to the one who was in fact the
poorest and most aged of them all ; and this gown was of the
finest purple cloth lined with Marten's fur, and with sleeves so
long and wide that they reached the ground. During the
ceremony the choristers chaunted the miserere^ with certain
other psalms, reciting at each verse the words : In diebus illis
mulier qua erat in civitate peccatrix. I will not omit telling
you that on Holy Thursday alms were distributed here in the
Court to a great amount to upwards of 3000 persons.3

An incidental testimony to the importance known to be
attached by the Queen to this Lenten observance occurs in
a list of the presents received by her on New Year's Day.
These were given, for the most part, by high dignitaries of
Church and State, nobles, and titled ladies, and were both
numerous and costly; but among gifts, presumably from the
more humble members of the Court, such as flowers, fruit,
sweetmeatSjtrinkets, and needlework, it is especially interesting
to notice, "a table painted with the Maundy"; and again,
"a table of needleworke of the Maundy."3

Queen Elizabeth appears to have closely followed the
example set by her sister in most particulars, save perhaps as

1 The golden crown and the Venetian sequin were of equal value, so it
is thus seen that in the course of two centuries and a half the standard of
the English silver coinage had been so debased that the sequin, which in
1410 could be purchased in London for y^d. was worth 82 pence in
the year 1556. The value of the sequin in English money in 1410 is
ascertained by a document registered in the Venetian Calendar, vol. iv,

P-45I-

2 Calendar of State Papers (Venetian), vol. vi, p. 428.

8 J. Nichols, Illus. Manners and Expences of Ancient Times.

2O I

MAUNDY CELEBRATIONS.

to the extent of her personal humiliation, and to have made
elaborate preparation for her Maundy by Royal Warrant.
That for the year 1578 is addressed to the Keeper of the
Great Wardrobe in the following terms :

Wee will and commaund you that immediatelye upon the
sight hereof ye do liver or cause to be delyvered to our well
beloved servante, Raufe Hope, Yeoman of our Wardrobe of
robes, for th'use of our Mawndye, and our sayd Wardrobe
theyse parcelles of stuffe followinge, that is to say, first, one
hundred thirtye and fyve yerdes of russet cloth, to make
fourety and three gownes [sic] for fouretye and fyve poore
women ; and fouretye and fyve peire of single soled showes for
them. Item, two hundrethe fyvetye and eight elles of lynen
cloth, as well to make smockes for the said poore women, as
also to be employed in the service of our said Mawndye.
Item, twentie and sixe peire of bearinge and trussinge sheetes
of two bredthes and a half of Hollande cloth, and two elles
thre quarters longe the pere. Item, thirtye elles of diaper of
elle quarter brode; and eighteene napkyns cont' one elle long
the pere, for thuse of our said wardrobe. Item, one peire of
presse sheetes, of fower bredthes of Holland cloth, and nyne
elles long the pere. Item, one curten for a presse, of lynen
cloth, cont' seven bredthes and two elles longe. Item, thirtye
elles of canvas, and the boultes of stronge rope to trusse the
said stuff in, and that ye content and paye for making of the
premisses ; and also for carriadge of the same from our greate
Wardrobe to the place wheare, God willing, we shall make
our said Maundye. And theyse our Ires signed with our
owne hande, shal be your sufficient warrante and dischardge
in this behalf annempst us, our heires and successors.

Geoven under out Signett at our Pallaise at Westm' the
12th day of Marche, the 2i§t Yeare of our reigne

Jo. Saru.

To our trustie and well beloved servannte, John
Forteskewe, esquire, Maister of our Greate Wardrobe

Ex' p N. Pigeon.1

For a detailed illustration of Queen Elizabeth's celebration
of Maundy Thursday we must go back from the date of this
warrant to the year 1572. The Court was at this time held at
Greenwich, and the account proceeds:

First the hall was prepared with a long table on each side,
and forms set by them ; on the edges of which tables, and

1 J. Nichols, Illus. Manners, etc.^ in Ancient Times.
202

MAUNDY CELEBRATIONS.

under these forms were laid carpets and cushions for her
Majesty to kneel when she should wash them. There was also
another table set across the upper end of the hall, somewhat
above the foot pace, for the Chaplain to stand at. A little
beneath the midst whereof, and beneath the said foot pace, a
stool and cushion of estate was pitched for her Majesty to kneel
at during the service time. This done, the holy water, basins,
alms, and other things being brought into the hall, and the
Chaplain and poor folks having taken the said places, the
laundress, armed with a fair towel, and taking a silver basin
filled with warm water and sweet flowers, washed their feet all
after one another, and wiped the same with his towel, and so
making a cross a little above the toes, kissed them. After him
within a little while followed the sub-almoner doing likewise,
and after him the almoner himself also. Then lastly, her
Majesty came into the hall and after some singing and prayers
made, and the Gospel of Christs' washing of his disciples' feet
read, thirty nine ladies and gentlewomen (for so many were
the poor folks, according to the number of yeares complete
of her Majesty's age) addressed themselves with aprons and
towels to wait upon her Majesty; and she kneeling down upon
the cushions and carpets under the feet of the poor women,
first washed one foot of every one of them in so many several
basins of warm water and sweet flowers, brought to her severally
by the said ladies and gentlewomen, then wiped, crossed, and
kissed them as the almoner and others had done before. When
her Majesty had thus gone through the whole number of thirty-
nine (of which twenty sat on the one side of the hall and nine-
teen on the other) she resorted to the first again, and gave to
each one certain yards of broadcloth to make a gown, so
passing to them all. Thirdly, she began at the first, and gave
to each of them a pair of shoes. Fourthly, to each of them a
wooden platter whereon was half a side of salmon, as much
ling, six red herrings and cheat [manchet] loaves of bread.
Fifthly, she began with the first and gave to each of them a
white wooden dish with claret wine. Sixthly, she received of
each waiting lady and gentlewoman their towel and apron,
and gave to each poor woman one of the same; and after this
the ladies and gentlewomen waited no longer, nor served as
they had done throughout the courses before. But the trea-
surer of the Chamber, Mr Heneage, came to her Majesty with
thirty nine small white purses wherein were also thirty nine
pence (as they say) after the number of years to her Majesty's
said age, and of him she received and distributed them severally.
Which done she received of him so many leather purses also,
each containing twenty shillings for the redemption of her
203

MAUNDY CELEBRATIONS.

Majesty's gown which (so men say) by ancient order she ought
to give some of them at her pleasure : but she, to avoid the
trouble of suit, which accustomably was made for that prefer-
ment, had changed that reward into money, to be equally
divided among them all, namely, twenty shillings apiece, and
she also delivered particularly to the whole company. And so
taking her ease upon the cushion of estate, and hearing the
choir a little while, her Majesty withdrew herself and the com-
pany departed : for it was by that time the sun was setting.1

One deviation from long established usage may here be
noticed in the procedure of the Queen, who no longer gives
away the royal robe. The cause for this would seem to have
been some little difficulty as to its bestowal, here delicately
alluded to as "the trouble of suit which accustomably was
made for that preferment." In one of her earlier celebrations
(1559-60) it is recorded that Elizabeth "gave to twenty poor
women so many gowns, and one of them had her best gown,"
a circumstance which fixes this reign as the period when the
old custom was abandoned in favour of a money payment
" for the redemption of the gown."

Not every year, however, could Elizabeth carry out this
elaborate ritual. In 1564 a proclamation was issued remitting
the distribution of the Maundy by the Queen in person, though
alms were ordered to be given to the poor of Windsor and
Eton. The reason assigned was because of the " present time
of contagious sickness." 3 There was at this time a terrible
visitation of the plague, which appears to have been very fatal
in its results, and is thus commented upon by Grafton in his
Chronicle :

The infection mervelously encreased in sundry places, but
most chiefly in the citie of London, so that there dyed in the
sayd citie and suburbs of the same, conteyning 108 parishes,
from the sixt day of April unto the last day of November next
following, 23660 persons. And at the first entraunce of thys
plague into the Cytie, the Maior and his brethren tooke order
that at such houses as were infected therewyth, should have a
headlesse Crosse, coloure blewe, wyth thys wrytyng under the
foote of the same, Per signum Tau, set over the streete doore,
but these crosses encreased so sore and the citizens were crossed
away so fast, that at lengthe they were faine to leave their
crosses and to referre ye matter to God's good mercifull hand.

1 J. Nichols, Royal Progresses, p. 37.
* Misc. State Papers ', 1561, p. 26.
204

MAUNDY CELEBRATIONS.

The accounts of the prayers and ceremonies used by the
House of Stuart for Maundy Thursday are preserved in the
Royal Cheque Book, from which it appears that the washing
of feet was performed by a more expeditious method than that
formerly in use. This consisted in sprinkling the feet of the
poor with a sprig of hyssop dipped in water, and afterwards
wiping and kissing them; the distribution of gifts and the
prayers interspersed with anthems being continued as before.
The service concluded by the almoner calling for wine to drink
the King's health, and bidding the poor to be thankful to God
and pray for the King.1 The last English monarch who thus
observed the ancient ceremony of washing the feet of the poor
was James II, a brief record of which, to the following effect,
is contained in an old book still preserved at Somerset House:
" On Maundy Thursday, April i6th, Our Gracious King James
ye 2nd, washed, wiped, and kissed the feet of 52 poor men, with
wonderful humility."

Under the Hanoverian sovereigns, this part of the ceremony
was deputed to the Lord Almoner. The account of the pro-
ceedings in the year 1731 is given in the pages of the Gentle-
man's Magazine — this year, by the way, being the first appear-
ance of that valuable (styled by Cowper "immortal") repository
of contemporary and other information :

Thursday, April i5th, 1731, being Maundy Thursday, there
was distributed at the Banquetting House, Whitehall, to 48
poor men and 48 poor women (the King's age being 48) boiled
Beef, shoulders of Mutton, and small bowls of Ale, which is
called dinner; after that large wooden platters of Fish and
Loaves, viz. undressed, i large old Ling,a and one large dried
Cod; 12 red Herrings, and 4 half quarter Loaves; each person
had one platter of this Provision. After which was distributed
to them, Shoes, Stockings, Linen and Woollen Cloth and
leathern bags with one penny, two penny, three penny and
four penny pieces of silver, to each about £4. in value. His
Grace the Lord Archbishop of York, Lord High Almoner,
performed the ceremony of washing the feet of a certain number
of poor people in the Chapel Royal, Whitehall, formerly done
by the Kings themselves.

1 Feasey, p. iii.

* Ling, now seldom heard of, was formerly much esteemed. Fuller in
his Worthies, treating of the extent of our fisheries before the Civil Wars,
speaks of upwards of 200 ships being engaged, " Chiefly for the taking of
Ling:, that noble Fish, co-rival in his joule with the surloin of Beef at the
tables of Gentlemen."

205

MAUNDY CELEBRATIONS.

The washing of the feet as a Maundy observance seems to
have entirely disappeared since 1736. In that year the Arch-
bishop of York distributed at Whitehall to fifty-three poor
persons alms consisting of food, clothing, twenty shillings in
lieu of the King's robe, and fifty-three pence for the maundy
coin. In the following year, alms, with fifty-four pence were
given, the washing being omitted, and since that time it has
formed no part of the ceremony. The Yeomen of the Guard,
who still attend, were until the last twenty-five years always
covered during the service.1

To check the bartering which frequently took place with the
gifts in kind, they have gradually been replaced by money
payments, and now the maundy alms are composed entirely
of money, apportioned in the following manner: (i) The
gift of pence at the rate of one penny for each year of the
sovereign's age, given in a white leather purse; (2) sums of
£i IQS. in lieu of provisions, and £i inclosed in a red leather
purse in lieu of the gown formerly given from the royal ward-
robe; (3) a further gift of 35*. to the women and 45 s. to the
men in lieu of clothing, this last gift being inclosed in a
paper packet. The ceremony of the distribution of the
maundy alms was, with some exceptions during alterations
in the building, performed in the Chapel Royal, Whitehall,
from 1714 to 1890, and (the chapel having been closed) since
that time in Westminster Abbey.3 The order of service for
the Maundy is mainly that used for Matins, interspersed with
special anthems having reference to the ceremony.8

With regard to the denominations of the silver pieces
known as Maundy money, the penny is by far the most
ancient and dates back to the time of the Mercian King,
OfTa (757-796).

Down to and for some time after the reign of King John
the penny was the chief coin in general circulation, and,
according to the following statement in Harrison's disserta-
tion, prefixed to Holinshed's Chronicle^ not before the time of
Edward I did it take a circular form. Having prefaced his
remarks by the na'fve confession, " The Saxon Coine before the
Conquest is in maner utterlie unknown to me" he proceeds:

1 Feasey's Ancient Holy Week Ceremonial.
" Information derived from the Mint.
3 The service is fully set forth in Stephen's Book of Common Pray
under Thursday in Holy Week.

206

MAUNDY CELEBRATIONS.

I read that King Edward in the eight year of his reign, did
first coin the penie and smallest pieces of silver roundwise
which before were square, and wont to beare a double crosse,
with a crest, in such sort that the penie might easilie be
broken either into halfes or quarters ; by which shift onlie the
people came by small monies, as half pence and fardings,
that otherwise were not stamped nor coined of set purpose.

Round halfpennies, however, were coined during the reigns
of Alfred, ^Edweard, and ^Edred. They were also issued
by John. Silver groats, which had appeared, probably as
pattern coins, under Edward I, came into general use during
the reign of Edward III, together with the half groat, while
the threepenny piece was first issued by Edward VI.

Previous to the time of the Restoration, the Maundy money
had always been furnished from the current coin, but under
Charles II a new and special issue of small silver pieces was
struck (1661) for the express purpose of the Maundy distribu-
tion. These coins, of which there were various issues, consisted
in the first instance of hammered money, made by hand in the
customary manner by striking the die with a hammer or
mallet. Afterwards, in 1668, the Maundy money was pro-
duced by a new method termed "milling," and took on a new
form, in which the various denominations were indicated by
an ingenious device of interlinked Cs, the groat having, on
the reverse, four Cs surmounted by the crown, and in the
spandrels representations of the rose, thistle, fleur-de-lis, and
harp; the threepenny piece bore three Cs; the twopenny,
two; and the penny, one; these being without the national
emblems.1 Although a process of coining by the machinery
of the " mill and screw " had previously been introduced here
in 1561, it met with scant encouragement by the Mint au-
thorities, nor did it entirely succeed in displacing the old
system, but on its re-introduction by Charles II, milling was
permanently adopted for all the coinage; pieces below the
value of sixpence (viz., the Maundy coins), however, being
produced with the smooth edge which has ever since been the
practice.'

The novelty of the appearance of milled money on both
these occasions would naturally have been much commented
upon by the people and appears to have suggested the curious
anachronism which occurs in a remark of one of Shakespeare's

1 See illustration. a Fourpcnny pieces had milled edges. — Editor.

207

MAUNDY CELEBRATIONS.

characters. In the Merry ^ Wives of Windsor Falstaff (temp.
1378-1459), addressing Pistol, says: "Pistol, did you pick
Master Slender's purse?" to whom Slender replies: "Ay,
by these gloves did he (or I would I might never come
in mine own great chamber else) of seven groats in mill six-
pences," etc.

Returning to our main subject, a brief reference to the
more recent celebrations of Maundy Thursday will serve to
show the precipitate decline in the ceremonial of this day as
contrasted with that of former ages. At present even the
etymologies of the name disappear, there being now no sign
of either " maund " or mandatum, unless, indeed, with regard
to the latter, we accept the girding on of perfunctory towels
by the Almoner and his assistants as a sufficient indication.
Nor, considering that this particular ceremony was in use up
to the middle of the eighteenth century, do the modern
apologists of the Church, on this matter, seem quite con-^
vincing in the statement: "The Church of England in later
ages, has considered the commandment to follow our Lord's
example in that particular [St. John, xiii, 14] as one which is
not of a perpetual obligation." l

A report on the day following the most recent observance
of Maundy Thursday, at Westminster Abbey, alludes to it
as " a last remnant of the custom maintained for centuries.
A form of prayer, and the money gifts to the poor, still remai
together with what is described as " a charming and splendi
spectacle." But there must be many who regret that obedien
to a direct precept should, after the practice of so many
centuries, have been abandoned by the Anglican branch of
the Catholic Church.

Subjoined are representations of the Maundy coins of
Charles II, showing the device of interlinked Cs, together
with specimens of those struck during the last year of Queen
Victoria and the first year of King Edward VII.

1 Biunt's Annotated Prayer Book.

208

Maundy Money.

SOME EAST KENT PARISH HISTORY.

BY PETER DE SANDWICH.

[Continued from p. 134.]

CHERITON (now in Elham Deanery).
COLORED.1

1557- (Cardinal Pole's Visitation?)

EORGE BINGHAM for one pention [pension] which
accustom ably hath yearly been paid to the vicar of
Coldred.

Henry Birche that he with holdeth two acres and a half of
land from the Vicar of Coldred, which was given to the Vicars
of Coldred for the time being by a deade [deed].

The Parson of Waldershare, for with holding a pension of
6s. by the year accustomed yearly to be paid to the Vicars of
Coldred for certain lands lying within the bounds of Coldred,
and the said Parson hath tithe thereof.

Margaret, dwelling with Mr. Eton, for that Mary Maudelyn's
day [22 July] last past she went out of the church, as soon as
the sacring bell was rung.

Mr. Geoffrey Eton, for at the sacring time he looketh upon
his book and not upon the sacrament, and that he is a very
envying [injuring?] to the church. — (Undated Vol., fols. 1 1, 44.)

Note. — This is an undated Volume of the reign of Queen
Mary.

1560. That the Injunctions is [sic] not kept.

That there hath been delivered to Mr. Collins a to be burnt,
the Communion Book, the Book of Omeles [szc], and the
Sawter Book.— (Vol. 1560-84, fol. 2O.)|

1562. The parsonage-house is in great decay, and the
church is not served with any curate.— -(Vol. 1562-3.)

1 Anciently in Sandwich Deanery.

* Robert Collins (or Colens) was Commissary to Abp. Pole, and
Official to the Archdeacon, and deprived in 1559. A Canon of Wingham
College at the suppression in 1 547, when he received a pension.

VOL. XI. 209 P

SOME EAST KENT PARISH HISTORY.

1565. The chancel is in great decay and ruin, that is to say,
in tiling, glazing and paveing.

That the parsonage-house was taken down by Mr. Geoffrey
Eates, and he promised to build up the ruin within eight
weeks the which he hath not done, but the timber of the said
house lieth waste and surfers much harm.

1569. (Abp. Parker's Visitation.)
Rectory ; appropriator, the Abp. of Canterbury.
Vicarage, in same patronage.

Vicar : — Dom Robert Bannister, who is married, does not
reside there, but serves the cure himself ; has also the vicarage
of Shepherdswell in the same [Sandwich] Deanery, where he
lives ; not a preacher nor licensed to preach, and is not a
graduate.

Householders, 13.
Communicants, 61. — (Fol. 21.)

That their parsonage-house is fallen down ; the chancel in
decay for lack of tiling, glazing and paveing.

The Vicar is not resident, and hath two benefices joining
together. — (Vol. 1569.)

1586. The church roof is in decay.

1590. Whereas the church was somewhat in ruin an<
decayed by the weather, we have repaired some of it as
as may be.

Our vicarage-house is ruinous, and hath been heretofoi
presented and not yet reformed.

1592. Our church wants reparations, and we desire time fc
the amendment of the same.

We present our Vicar, for we have not our quarterly sermoi
according to the Article, and the use in other parishes.-
(Fol. 147.)

1 594. The register-book is well kept, but their chest wantet
the locks appointed.

Their church wanteth reparation by reason of the last wind,
also the chancel. — (Fol. 16.)

1597. Our chancel windows are out of repair which we
present, but know not who ought to repair them. — (Fol. 82.)

210

SOME EAST KENT PARISH HISTORY.

1598. Thomas Jekyn being cessed for the necessary repairs
of our church, at the sum of 2s. Sd.t he refuseth to pay the
same. — (Fol. 90.)

1600. George Brett refuseth to pay his cess towards the
repair of the church.

The chancel is not sufficiently repaired, nor the church.

1601. Stephen Pilcher refuses to pay his part of the cess
made for the use of our church, being the sum of 4*. %d. —
(Fol. 134.)

1604. Concerning the bill aforesaid it is answered by the
Churchwarden of the parish of Coldred under his hand, that
the church is not repaired as it ought to be, by reason the
parishioners cannot agree about a rate, so that he the Church-
warden knoweth not how to have that amended which is
amiss, not able himself to disburse such sums of money as
thereunto are necessarily required, as also he saith there yet
wanteth a new service-book for the cause aforesaid.

1605. Our Communion cloth is not decent. We have not
the Ten Commandments. There is no chest for alms given to
the poor. Our church wants reparations. The churchyard is
not fenced with any other fence than a hedge. The Church-
wardens have not given any account for the last year. We
have no Table of Degrees of marriages forbidden. We have
neither comely pulpit-cloth or cushion. The going of the
perambulation of our parish hath been neglected for this year
last past. — (Fol. 44.)

Our Minister doth not read the Litany nor the Commination
against sinners, neither indeed reads any service on these days
in our parish-church.

Our Minister doth not wear the surplice at public-prayers,
and but seldom at the ministering of the Communion, neither
doth he wear any hood.

We have the Canons, but these have not been read as yet
publicly in our parish church. — (Fol. 50.)

1606. Whereas it is ordered in the 59 Canon that servants
shall obediently hear and be ordered by the Minister during
the time of Catechism. So it is, very notable abuse hath been
offered in the church to my person (I mean in regard of my

211

SOME EAST KENT PARISH HISTORY.

place and office) by John Broadbridge, servant to Richard
Minbrie of Coldred, and John Ashley, servant to Steven
Pilcher of that parish, who have not only been very negligent
in coming, but also most unreverent when they are present,
froward in their answers, in behaviour very scoffing, distemper-
ing the whole company of youth, refusing to be instructed,
either departing out of the church afore we have done, drawing
others with them into the churchyard, there to glory in their
doings, with neglect of Evening Prayer; or else, when they
do stay, they use the place as though it were ordered for
scurrility. And especially it is reported and much spoken of
by persons very credible, who were much grieved thereat, that
Ashley, as soon as I began Evening Prayer and so had my
back towards him, made the Communion Table his stool, and
then made merry at me, to the offence of many. — (Fol. 56.)

We want a lock and key to the coffer in which our book of
christenings, marriages and burials remains.

We have not the Ten Commandments set upon the church,
neither is the seat where our Minister sitteth convenient, for
there wanteth a desk whereon to lay the books.

We want a door to the pulpit, neither have we a chest for to
receive that which is given to the poor.

The floor of the church is not paved, nor have we the table
of degrees of marriages forbidden, in our parish church.

We want a pulpit cloth and a large and comely surplice.— •!
(Fol. 62.)

1607. Thomas Jenkin refuseth to pay his cess towards the
raparation of our church, the sum of 37 s. 6d.

1608. Thomas Jenkin refuses to pay his cess made for the
reparation of our church, and certain ornaments in the same
to be provided, the sum he is cessed at is 37^.

1609. Our church is not well repaired in default of the
Churchwardens, and also the churchyard is un fenced.

We have not a sufficient carpet for our Communion Table.
We have no pot of pewter to put the wine in for the Com-
munion ; nor a box for the money for the poor. — (Vol.
1602-9.)

1618. Joan Rose, wife of Arnold Rose (or Miller) of the
parish of Coldred, for railing and scolding at her neighbours,

212

SOME EAST KENT PARISH HISTORY.

and especially for railing at our Minister, Mr. Mark Grace-
borrow, as the fame is in our parish. — (Fol. 196.)

Edward Jenkin, for not paying his cess towards the repara-
tion of our parish church, he being divers times demanded the
said cess, namely the sum of 1 1 s.

Edward Jenkin, when Churchwarden, about four years ago,
did disburse about the parish business .£3 or thereabouts more
than he received by his cesses; and that William Ponet and
John Coppin, the succeeding Churchwardens there, or one of
them, did pay unto Edward Jenkin in part payment of the
£3, the sum of Ss. or thereabouts, and in the name of the
parishioners of Coldred did promise payment of the residue,
out of such cesses as afterwards should be made in the parish
towards the parish business, which now they refuse or deny to
pay. — (Fol. 197; vol. 1610-37.)

1623. Richard Smyth of our parish, sidesman, for that he
did work at the harrow and rowle [roll] on one of the Holy
Days happening in Easter week last past, as the common fame
is in our parish, of which offence we came to have notice
pointed out, since the presentment ordered at Easter last. —
(Fol. 95.)

1631. Our vicarage-house is much gone to decay in the
timber work and walls thereof, in Mr. Graceborrow our Vicar's
default— (Fol. 163.)

1633. A part of the fence of our churchyard is at reparations
and in decay, in the default as I conceive of Thomas Philpot,
esquire, farmer of our parsonage ; for that the same part hath
heretofore usually been repaired, as occasion required, by the
farmer of the parsonage for the time being ; and another part
of the fence about our churchyard is likewise in decay, in the
default of John Pile of our parish, who hath promised speedily
to repair the same. — (Fol. 190; vol. 1610-37, part ii.)

[To be continued.]

2I3

THE FRIENDS' MEETING AT COGGES-
HALL.

BY A. B. WALLIS CHAPMAN, D.Sc.

ONE of the most interesting features of the pleasant little
town of Coggeshall in Essex is the long -establish
Friends' Meeting. This particular branch of the Sock
of Friends has had a continuous existence for more than tw<
hundred and thirty years. Its minute books, which are stil
extant, date from the year 1672.

These books, which, by the kindness of Mr. Doubleday,
Coggeshall, I have been allowed to examine, give a curioi
picture of the early growth of this little religious community.
Already, in 1672, the Friends in Coggeshall must have been ai
established body, with recent traditions of courage and oi
suffering. The imprisonment and death of James Parnell
Colchester Gaol must have been fresh in their memories ; l b\
during the years succeeding the commencement of the
minutes such persecution as the Members of the Society undc
went was less violent, and was chiefly caused by their attitw
in regard to the payment of tithes and the ceremony
marriage.

About these points their rules were of the strictest. Ind<
their whole discipline was severe ; necessarily so, perhaps, ii
an infant community maintaining itself with difficulty again*
the outside world. The earliest entry in the minute-bool
(nth January, 1671-2) is a declaration against those wl
sometimes frequented the meeting, but had relapsed inl
worldliness; against those who were profane or drunken,
cozeners of other men's money; and, above all, against the
who " have run to the preists for husbands and for wives/
About fifteen persons, who had been admonished in vain,
" disassociated."

Complaints of delinquents who " ran to the preists for
marriage," are of frequent occurrence throughout these earl]
minute-books, though it was the only legal method then exij

1 James Parnell, a youth of nineteen, one of the earliest of the Qi
martyrs, was imprisoned in Colchester Gaol, and there died in 1655. It
is said that his death was caused by the brutality of his gaolers.

214

THE FRIENDS' MEETING AT COGGESHALL.

ing for contracting marriages. That numerous "Friends" were,
however, strong enough to defy law and convention on this
point is shown by the frequent records of weddings. The
second entry is of this nature:

Upon the first day of the third month, Lawrence Candler
and Elizabeth Knight, both of Fearinge, did at the monthly
men's meeting lay before freinds . . . their intention of taking
each other to husband and wife, and freinds then left buissnes
to John Raven and James Carberton to enquire wheather
they were cleare from any other person each of them, whoe
did upon the third of the fourth month certifie freinds that
they made enquiry and did finde them cleare.

After this account there is a ten years' gap, but in 1682 the
first entries are those of four marriages; in these cases, how-
ever, the record seems to be simply one of marriage " with the
consent of friends." There is no question of investigation.

It is noteworthy, as showing the degree of education among
the " Friends," that in the majority of cases the bride and
bridegroom sign their names, instead of making their marks,
the bridegroom signing more frequently than the bride.

The brevity of the notes concerning the batch of marriages
in 1682 may possibly arise from the fact that the "Meeting"
had scarcely yet established itself in a regular groove. There
are occasional hints that some " Friends " had not yet quite
accommodated themselves to their new habits; such as when,
in 1692, the clerk, by a slip of the pen, writes " December " for
"twelfth month." The meeting, too, was still in process of
development: in 1692 (when, to judge by the change in the
handwriting, a new clerk must have been appointed), the
meeting becomes the " men's and women's meeting," the first
occasion in the records on which both sexes are mentioned as
co-equal members of the society. It is a natural corollary
from this that a few years later two men and two women
Friends are set to investigate the " clearness " of a would-be
bride and bridegroom.

In 1692 the Meeting adopted a further method of satisfying
itself in the case of marriages by receiving certificates. John
Bale of Colchester, wishing to marry Elizabeth Evans, brought
three certificates to satisfy the Friends, one from his father
and mother, one from London, and one from Colchester, which
had been his last place of residence; while, some years later
(I7O3)» Joseph Sanderson, of Spittlefield, wishing to marry

215

THE FRIENDS' MEETING AT COGGESHALL.

Elizabeth Bell of Kelvedon, produced a certificate from Lon-
don, signed by twenty-one Friends. As the sect increased in
numbers, these certificates probably became more necessary ;
for on 5th July, 1698, *' It is desired that all friends living out
of ye Division in which they intend to take a wife that they
do at the first monthly meating they appeare at, bring a cer-
tificate from there owne meeting unto which they do belong
to satisfye ye freinds that all things are cleare."

Such a certificate was by no means always easy to obtain,
as George Clark of Halsted found when he applied to the
meeting for a certificate. He had " gone to the priest " for his
former wife, and "had given no satisfaction"; so he was now
desired to wait a month.

From regulating marriages to supervising love-affairs was a
short step. On " the 6th 2nd mo. 1695," a Friend was " spoken
with " (i.e. admonished) about a report concerning himself and
a certain widow: " Wee found the man in a very tender frame
of spirit, and he did acknowledge that he had given sum
ocation by carrying of her abroad . . . and he tould us foras-
much as she hath denied me for to have nothing to do with
her concerning marridge which was to our satisfaction"!

All Friends did not, however, take rebuke so meekly
when it touched a delicate subject. The widow Page, when
admonished in a similar affair by two men and two women,
" sleyted our advice ... It was her owne concern and nobodies
ellse!"

A broken engagement was a very serious matter; such a
case occurred in 1673, when a young couple, who had pre-
viously wished to take each other for husband and wife, " de-
sired to flee each other." The Friends examined the business,
and found that there was no contract, so they were willing to
leave them free. "Yet afterwards the mother of the maydei
said that they had parted them that had made a contract with
each other." Whereon ensued renewed investigation ; and not
till the youth and girl had affirmed several times before the meet-
ing that there had never been any contract between them,
were they looked on as " clear of each other and each of them
had their freedom to take any other as by the Lord they shall
be directed." On the whole, a breach of promise suit would
probably have been less embarrassing ; yet the intervention of
the meeting seems sometimes to have been welcomed by lovers,
as in the case of Mathew Delle and Betsy Charden in 1697,
who, when spoken with about the " grate delay in there ii

216

THE FRIENDS' MEETING AT COGGESHALL.

tended maridge," said it was " becaus of the surconstances of
the house"; and they would be glad of Friends' help to put
an end to them. " She say she will not marry till it be ended."

Matrimonial difficulties were not the only causes which the
Meeting took under its care. In fact, as the Friends declined
to resort to worldly tribunals, the Meeting necessarily became
a court of justice and appeal, with, however, only one penalty
in its power, that of " disassociation." Persons guilty of pro-
fanity, drunkenness, debt, and the taking of oaths, were rebuked
and advised by individuals appointed for the purpose by the
Meeting: women being usually sent to rebuke women, and
men, men. Generally the culprit came voluntarily to confession,
as in the case of Thomas Perry in 1704-5, who owned that
" he has caused truth to be evil spoken of ... by contracting
of debts more than I could answer ... for which I have felt
the just judgement of God upon me. ... So I hope I shall
be more carefull and not doe anything whereby I may bring
Dishonour to Truth and Exercise to them that walk therein.
... So I desire you may pass my offence so that I may be
in Unity with you."

Like the greater world without, this little community had
to deal with the question of heresy. In 1699 Thomas Turner
and Joseph Simpson were in high argument whether or no a
certain George Kieth was an orthodox preacher; Turner
affirming, Simpson denying that he "spoke against truth";
and a little later Simpson himself advanced the doctrine that
" we shall be saved by the light within us, and doe not own what
Christ hath done without us." He declined to be argued out
of his opinions, and was finally told severely that " The truth
would be Cleere and ye people of it will be cleere of him."

In various other ways did this tiny state within a state show
a sense of its responsibilities. In 1703 it commenced to keep
a register of births and burials. The care of the poor was
early an object of attention. In 1698 Giles Sayer of Colchester
came to the monthly meeting in Coggeshall, and did " deliver
to the men's freinds, £6\ and four pound to the women's
monthly meeting in Coggeshall . . . being ten pound given
poor people calld Quakers in and about Coggeshall by Sarah
Mootham deceased." And this was only one of a series of
legacies devised for similar purposes. But the Friends by no
means relied on legacies. Collections for the poor were made
at stated times; and the zeal of the subscribers appears in the
following entry, 3Oth of the ninth month, 1704. "We whose

217

THE FRIENDS' MEETING AT COGGESHALL.

names are subscribed underneath are freely willing to make
good our places on ye days yt are for collection for ye Poor if
we should be absent on those days that ye collection is called
for"; to which declaration seventeen signatures are appended.
The sense of responsibility must have been very strong in
these men, most of whom appear to have been farmers, arti-
sans, tradesmen and the like.

The money obtained by legacies and collections was fre-
quently distributed in small weekly pensions to poor Friends.
A pretty touch in connection with these pensions was the
application of an old woman in 1700, "who did speak to
Edward Mines of her owne accord that sixpence a week less
might serve her occasion, whereas she used to have two
shillings and threepence ye week: this I acquainted friends
with at our two meetings." Sometimes a lump sum would be
disbursed in gifts ; William Abrams, for instance, gave $os. in
1704, which was distributed among five poor Friends in gifts,
varying in amount from £1 to 6d. Sometimes, both the
money and the goods of a deceased friend were applied to
charity. In 1704 Anne Hazlewood died and the Friends seem
to have acted as her executors. They expended £1 6s. 6d. in
her funeral; i?s. 6d. for the Queen's taxes and the "Coffen";
and applying the rest to common purposes, they laid out, for
Samuel Clarke's son, 1 $s. 9^., paid the half year's rent of Mary
Addem, 14^., lent to one Friend to reimburse another, $s. gd.\
and for a new collection book, 3^. The total was £3 iSs. 6d.t
and the Meeting still had sevenpence in hand. In addition to
this, however, certain kitchen utensils of Anne Hazlewood's
were lent to another Friend ; to wit, " A Glass case, A puter
dish, 3 earthern dishes, a ketle, a porage pott, a skillet, a fry-
ing pann, a stooll and a Tea-mill."

The relief of the poor must have formed the largest part of
the financial affairs of the meeting ; but the Friends had other
and serious calls ; such, for instance, as the rent of the meet-
ing-house chamber itself; this rent though not high, ten
shillings a year, had in 1704 been in arrears for eight years.
Then, too, there were gifts to other Meetings, as when " Coxall
subscribed 2os. towards repairing the meeting house at
Coulne." There was, of course, the cost of lights for their own
meeting, and its furnishing, though this was probably scanty;
in 1703 they paid five shillings and sixpence to Edward Mines
for " two tables and Tressels and a chair in ye Meeting House."
Another piece of furniture was provided in 1706: " It is agreed

218

THE FRIENDS' MEETING AT COGGESHALL.

by this meeting there should be a cubard either at the stand
or upon the shelf to lock up our books in as friends do think
conveant." These books may have been certain volumes which
appear to have been lent out among members of the Society.
Among them were George Foxe's Journal and Epistles, and
Thomas Ellwood's Foundation of Tithes.

This last work touches a burning question of the day: the
greatest difficulty under which the little society laboured was
the resistance they felt it necessary to make to the payment
of tithes; and the consequent troubles of many individual
members are recorded in these books. About 1700 appears,
"A Coppey of the suffering of Andrew Hills. Upon the 9th
and 22nd day of 6th mo. Andrew Hills of Fearinge had taken
from him by John Hamon and Robert Guyon and other
seruants to Henry Abbott Junor of Earles Coulne, tieth far-
mer under John Cotton, Impropreator, out of corn, thirty-four
pounds; two loads of barley, a load of peese £6."

The Friends were earnestly encouraged to keep up their
resistance. Richard Adely was "exorted" to faithfulness in
the matter and to be very careful to " keep his sone clear." If
tithes were paid for any person, it was regarded as a reproach
against them. In 1701 Thomas Houchen "protested with
weeping eyes that he knew nothing of his brother and his sons
paying Richard Hane for James Boyes . . . and when he
came to Peering and did see his Tumbrell and his mares which
were distrained from him for tythes, he was struck at the
sight of it and did say he did hoope he should in some time
moore get out of that snarld case . . . speaking with weeping
eyes."

But despite all difficulties with tithe-collectors outside and
recalcitrant members inside, the little community flourished;
by 1724 it had fairly settled down into an even course of life,
a vigorous body itself, and a centre for numerous lesser meet-
ings in the neighbourhood. It continued to grow throughout
the eighteenth century, developing among its members such
habits of strict discipline and neighbourly co-operation, such
a deep sense of individual and common responsibility, as must
have gone far to render them true citizens of the wider national
state.

219

DOWNING STREET AND ITS EARLY
HISTORY.

BY PERCY C. RUSHEN.

READERS of a certain popular London daily were
recently reminded of the obscure origin and topo-
graphical history of ^ the world-renowned Downing
Street. Bearing in mind that this obscure street is the heart
of our Empire, it is astonishing how little throwing a light on
its early history is to be found recorded apart from the great
official names associated with it. This being the case, the con-
tents of an old deed dealing with the unpretentious property
formerly standing against the street and of which a part still '
remains as the official residence of the Premier, will be of |
interest and perhaps of value.

The deed is dated 8th June, 1803, and made between James
Martin, formerly of Whitehall, late of Downing Street, and !
then of Great George Street, Westminster, of the one part, and
the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the
East Indies, of the other part. The recitals are lengthy, and
from them a good deal of information may be gathered.

It appears that by Letters Patent, dated 5th February, 1752, j
King George II leased to Sir Jacob Gerrard Downing, in con-
sideration of a fine of .£1,000 and a rent of £9 per annum,
for a term which with that then in being would make up fifty
years, a piece of ground at the west end of Downing Street,
abutting on the east on a house then lately repaired or rebuilt
by the Crown for the first Commissioner of the Treasury; on
the north on the wall of the garden of the latter ; on the west
on the wall of St. James's Park; and on the south on the large
area at the upper end of the street in part, and on a garden
belonging to Mr. Beard for the other part, and of these dimen-
sions, 119 ft. on the west, 128 ft. on the north, 63^ ft. on the
east, and on the south 57^ ft. next the said area, and 67
next the garden ; together with the four houses standing
the site and the terrace adjoining and enjoyed therewith,
houses being occupied by Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, Barom
the Duke of Bolton, Mr. Delaval, and the Bishop of St. David's;
together with two other pieces of ground with the houses thei
on. Sir Jacob Downing died about 1764, leaving his reli<

220

DOWNING STREET AND ITS EARLY HISTORY.

Dame Margaret, sole executrix of his will, which was proved
by her in the Canterbury Court. Dame Margaret afterwards
married George Bowyer, Esq., and being entitled to the
premises as residuary legatee of her first husband's will, she,
by her settlement, dated loth November, 1768, assigned the
same to William Greaves, Beaupre Bell, Thomas Ryder, Henry
Mountford, and John Rose, as trustees for her sole use after
marriage. By Letters Patent dated 9th May, 1772, King
George III, in consideration of £267 paid by the trustees,
granted another lease of the premises to them for seventeen
years, from i6th February, 1803, at the increased rent of £15
per annum, until 1803 and from that date £75 per annum.
By a deed, dated 24th November, 1772, the lease was assigned
to William Masered of Hertford Street, St. George's, Hanover
Square, for £10,500, of which £2,500 was advanced by the
trustees on mortgage of the lease. The house next to the
Park by a deed dated 25th May, 1775, was leased by Masered
for thirty years to William Hunt of Well Street, St. Maryle-
bone, Builder, at £210 per annum, being then occupied by
Major-General Simon Fraser, formerly by Sir John Cust,
Baronet, and Dame Elthreda his widow ; the adjoining house
then being occupied by Sir John Eden, Baronet, formerly by
the Earl of Scarborough. In the following month, Hunt
assigned his premises to General Fraser for £2,100, of which
£1,500 was advanced by Hunt on mortgage of them. By
deed, dated I7th May, 1777, Bowyer and Masered conveyed
the head lease of General Fraser's house to him in considera-
tion of £2,800 to Masered and £700 to Bowyer in reduction
of Masered's mortgage. General Fraser died 8th February,
1782, and his executors, together with the assignee of his
mortgagee, conveyed Fraser's house to James Martin, by deed,
dated 8th April, 1783, in consideration of £1,492 IDS. to the
executors and £1,500 to the mortgagee. Then, by the deed
of 8th June, 1803, the said Martin conveys to the company
the house of which he was thus possessed for £6,650, apparently
showing a very handsome profit.

On the deed is indorsed another, dated 2nd April, 1804, by
which the East India Company assigned the premises to
William Chinnery, Esq., one of the chief clerks in the office
of the Lord Commissioners of the Treasury, on behalf of his
Majesty, in consideration of £9,433 public money, a transaction
showing another handsome profit to the vendor.

No doubt the premises of which the Premier's official resi-

221

DOWNING STREET AND ITS EARLY HISTORY.

dence formed part were built by Sir Jacob Downing during the
term which seems to have been granted to him prior to 1752,
and in consequence of his being lessee of all or most of the
frontage in the street his name has been perpetuated in the
name of the thoroughfare.

THE HISTORY AND PEDIGREE OF THE
FAMILY OF AUCHER, A.D. 853-1726.

BY A. LELAND NOEL.

THIS was one of the few Saxon families which main-
tained their position as landed gentry, in spite of the
almost universal change in the ownership of land result-
ing from the Norman Conquest.

First, as regards the spelling of the name, which, running
back as the family does to remote Saxon times, has experi-
enced even more than the usual mutations.
It appears in the following variations:

In Latin — Aucherus, Alcherus, Aulcherus.
In Anglo-Saxon — Ealher, Ealcher.
In Norman French — Fitzaucher.
In English — Auger, Aucher.

A.D. 853. — The first representative who appears in hist(
is an Anglo-Saxon Earl, appointed by King Ethelwulf l tc
lead the men of Kent against the Danes.

The Danes having been defeated, in 852, by kings Ethelwul
and Athelstan, renewed the war in 853, by invading the Isl
of Thanet. They landed at Sandwich with a considerable fore
and, being attacked by Earl Ealcher at the head of the Kentish
men and Earl Hulda leading the posse comitatus of Surrey,
an obstinate battle was fought, in which many lives were lost,
among the killed being Earl Ealcher himself. This Kentish
Earl, as commander of the forces of the county, had what we
should call " brevet rank " as duke.

At the time of the Conquest the names of two of the family
appear; one as a benefactor of St. Saviour's, Bermondsey, and
one as holding the Manor of Bosenham in Sussex, by grant
from William I.

1 The father of Alfred the Great.
222

THE FAMILY OF AUCHER.

What connection they had with the first Earl of Kent it is
impossible to say, and the interval between 853 and 1066 being
so considerable, the claim of descent, though possibly good
and even probably so, cannot be verified.

The next name that appears is that of William Fitzaucher,
to whom Henry II (1154-1189) gave the fourth part of a
knight's fee in Essex, and in the reign of his son, King John
(1199-1216), a Fitzaucher appears as the owner of the Manor
of Losenham in Kent Whether he was the same person as
William of Essex, or was his son, cannot be shown; but we
are told that William's grandson, Richard, was one of the
Kentish gentlemen who attended Henry III in the expedition
he made into Wales in 1258.

Meantime, in 1241, a Sir Thomas Fitzaucher founded the
Carmelite Friary of St. Mary's, Losenham, and I think it was
he who, as " Thomas filius Alcheri," was named among the
holders of fees in Kent in 1254, as holding of the Prior of
Leeds (Ledes).

In 1274 Henry son of Richard Fitzaucher did homage to
1 the Abbat of Waltham for Copped Hall, Shingled Hall, Lang-
fare, and other lands in Essex. And about the same time
Henry III granted him free warren in all his lands in the
counties of Essex, Cambridge, Wilts, and Southampton.1

1300. The name of Henry Fitzaucher occurs in the roll of
Kentish men who were with Edward I at the siege of Carlave-
rock in Scotland ; he was there made a knight banneret.

In the next reign, that of Edward II, we find an Aucher as
hereditary forester of Waltham Forest in Essex, and another
as a Baron of the Realm of Thorpe, co. York.

There was also one Peter Aucher, called " valet" (equivalent
to our modern " gentleman of the bedchamber ") to King
Edward II. He, fearing lest he might be accounted of the
Order of the Templars on account of his long beard, and
possibly on account of his friendship with Roger the rector of
Godmersham (who in 1294 was thinking of entering the Order)
obtained a letter from the King certifying that he was his "valet"
and was not, nor ever had been, a member of that Order.2

1 He appears to have had property in several counties, but we are told
that his principal seat was Copped Hall. His arms in the Charles Roll of
Arms, A.p. 1250-1300, are, ermine, on a chief azure, 3 lions rampant or.

* It will be remembered that the Knight Templars were at this time
under the shadow of the awful charges made against them. Under pressure
from his father-in-law, Philip the Fair, King of France, Edward II in

223

THE FAMILY OF AUCHER.

In the reign of Edward II the owner of the Manor of
Losenham was

Nicholas Aucher. He married a daughter of Oxenbridge

of Breed, Sussex, by whom he had one son and one daughter.
I. Henry, who succeeded to Losenham.
(i) Agnes, who appears in Edward Ill's time as the de-;
fendant in a lawsuit brought against her by Isabella^
wife of Henry Aucher of Losenham. This, I take it,;
was Isabel At Towne, who married Agnes' nephew,
Henry; see below.
Nicholas was succeeded by his son,

Henry Aucher of Losenham, who married Elizabeth, daughter
of John Digge1 of Barham, and through her he became pos-
sessed of the Manor of Digges Court in the parish of Westwell,
as well as that of Lowden or Little Maytham.

In 1347 he paid aid for making the Black Prince a knight,
for both manors, as well as for land in the Hundred of Rolvens
den (Rolvindenne), in company with his father Nicholas, and.^
for land in the Hundred of Tenterden in his own name.

In 1367 he was one of those appointed to inquire into the
age of William de Septvans, as a tenant of Edward Illjf
among his coadjutors were Thomas Colepeper and Geffrey
Colepeper. He was succeeded by his son (or grandson).

Henry Aiicher, of Losenham and Digges Court. He paid
aid in 1403 at the marriage of Blanch, the sister of King
Henry IV.

He was twice married: ist, to Isabel At Towne of Throwley;
and, 2nd, to Joan, daughter of Thomas St. Leger of Otterden.
By his first wife he had two sons:
I. Thomas, heir to Losenham.
II. Robert, heir to Digges Court.

By his second wife he had an only son, Henry, who suc-
ceeded to Otterden in right of his mother.
The eldest son of the first marriage was :
Thomas Aucher of Losenham. He married and had a son,
who succeeded as

Henry Aucher of Losenham. He (as Henry Auger) is in
the list of Kentish gentry in 1492.

December, 1307, imprisoned all the Templars then in England, to await
the trial which was afterwards held in Paris in 1309. In view of the in-
human tortures used to extort confessions, we cannot wonder at Peter
Aucher's anxiety to dissociate himself with the doomed Order.
1 This John Digge was probably the son of Adonerus de Digges.

224

THE FAMILY OF AUCHER.

He married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Guldeford, of
Halden, by whom he had an only daughter, Anne, who by
marriage carried the estate of Losenham and the Manor of
Lowden, or Little Maytham, to Walter Colepeper, second son
of Sir John Colepeper of Bedgebury.

DiGGES COURT

The second son of Henry Aucher's first marriage inherited
the estate of Digges Court in the parish of Westwell, as
Robert Aucher of Digges Court.

He married Joane , by whom he had two sons, i. Henry,

ii. James.

His descendants lived at Digges Court until the end of the
seventeenth century, when it was sold to one Godden, who in
1 700 sold it to William Bokenham of Rochester; his descend-
ant sold it in 1719 to Henry May, Recorder of Chichester,
who sold it to Thomas May of Godmersham, who took the
name of Knight, and dying in 1781 left it to his son, Thomas
Knight of Godmersham.

OTTERDEN

Henry Aucher of Losenham; by right of his wife, Joane
St. Leger, became possessed of Otterden. Otterden (in Domes-
day, Otringedene) was granted by William I to Odo, Bishop
of Baieux, his half-brother. It afterwards came into the hands
of Lawrence de Ottringden, who died in the reign of Edward II
(1307-1327), leaving an only daughter, who married one of the
Peyforers, from whom the manor passed to the family of
Potyn. Nicholas Potyn left an only daughter, Juliana (temp.
Richard II), who married Thomas St. Leger, second son of
Ralph St. Leger of Ulcomb, M.P. for Kent in 1377. He
(Thomas St. Leger) lived at Otterden and died there in 1408.
His daughter, Joane, married Henry Aucher, as above, and
through her he obtained several other manors.

EASTHALL. This estate was sold by Thomas de la Pine in
the reign of Richard II to Thomas St. Leger, and Henry
Aucher in 1453 sold it to Humphrey Evans, whose descend-
ant, Alicia Evans, carried it by marriage to Thomas Hales,
whose son Christopher Hales sold it in 1522 to Sir Anthony
Aucher (see post}.

NEWHALL, in the parish of Minster. This manor Henry
Aucher sold to Sir William Cromer, Lord Mayor of London

in 1433-
VOL. XL 225 Q

THE FAMILY OF AUCHER.

EVERSLEY This manor in the reign of Henry III (1216-
1272) belonged to Brian de Eversley. Afterwards it belonged
to the families of Peyforer and Potyn, and through them it
passed to Thomas St. Leger and to the Auchers, who in
Elizabeth's reign sold it to the Sondes.

EMLEY. This manor was held by Fulk de Peyforer in 1277,
and in the next century his descendant, Juliana, carried it by
marriage to Thomas St. Leger. It was sold by Henry Aucher
to Sir William Cromer. Henry Aucher was succeeded by his
son

Henry Aucher of Otterden Place, who was living there in
1441. He married Alicia Bolyn, and by her had a son.

John Aucher of Otterden Place. He (as John Auger) was
one of the trustees under the will of James a Bourne of
Dodyngton, made in 1467. And, also as John Auger, he ap-
pears in the list of Kentish gentry in 1492. He married Alice
Church, by whom he had three sons and two daughters.

I. James, heir to Otterden.
II. William, died s.J>.1

III. Marmaduke, who married a daughter of one Gilbole.
(i) Elizabeth, who married Thomas Besham of Sissing-

hurst.

(2) Jane, who married Thomas Corbet.
He died 23rd April, 1503, and was buried in Otterden Chi
being succeeded by his son

James Aucher of Otterden Place. He married Ali<
daughter of Thomas Hills of Eggarton, near Godmershai
by whom he had one son and one daughter.

I. Anthony, heir to Otterden.
(i) Susan, who married James Aucher.2

1 It seems probable that this was the William Aucher to whom thi
is a brass in Rainham Church, with the following inscription : " Pray i
the souls of Wm Aucher and Elizabeth his wife, which William di
23 December, 1514, on whose soul may God have mercy."

3 This must be, I think, the James Aucher known as "of Cherit(
who bought the small manor of Sweet Arden, in the parish of Cherit<
of James Man in 1550. Whose son he was I cannot say. Hasted sa)
"his descendant Anthony Aucher, of Bishopsbourne, in 1691 sold it (t
Manor of Sweet Arden) to Richard Topcliff" ; but he is, I think, conf
ing u James of Cheriton" with "James of Otterden." At all events he
wrong in the date 1691, as Godwin Topcliffe of Hythe, the son of th<
purchaser, resold it in 1619 to Robert Broadnax of Cheriton. This i<
confirmed by the Archaologia Cantiana, where (vol. xvii, p. 365) it :'
stated that "The Revd Richard Topcliffe, Rector of Cheriton 1584-1
bought of Anth* Aucher cir. 1591 Bank House farm and Sweet Ai

226

THE FAMILY OF AUCHER.

He died January 6, 1 508, and was buried at Otterden near
his father.1 He was succeeded by his only son

Sir Anthony Aucher of Otterden Place. He married Affra,
daughter of William Cornwallis of Norfolk, by whom he had
four sons:

I. John, heir to Otterden.
II. Edward, of Bourne Place.

III. Thomas, died s.p.

IV. William, of Nonington.3

Sir Anthony Aucher had almost as many transactions in land
as his friend and neighbour, Thomas Colepeper of Bedgebury,
and so I have transferred the particulars to an appendix.

In 1540 he was appointed with William Goldwell to enquire
into a charge of disloyalty against the Rev. William Marshall,
parson of Mersham. In 1542 he was a contributor to the loan
to King Henry VIII; He was subsequently appointed Audi-
tor and Supervisor as well as an Assistant of the dissolved
Priory of Christ Church, Canterbury. This appointment may
, or may not have a connection with the contribution to the
loan ; but he appears to have been of the school of the Vicar
of Bray, for we find him in Mary's reign Master of the Jewel
House (juelhouse) to receive goods of Colleges and Chantries.
He was killed at the siege of Calais in 1557, and was suc-
ceeded by his eldest son

John Aucher of Otterden Place. He married a daughter of
Sir William Kellaway, by whom he left an only daughter,
Anne, who in the reign of Elizabeth married Sir Humphrey
Gilbert, 3 and so carried Otterden and sundry other manors

Manor." How the property passed from James of Cheriton in 1550 to
Anthony of Bishopsbourne in 1591 is not clear. Possibly it was another
Anthony, perhaps a son of James of Cheriton.

1 There is some confusion in dates here. James Aucher's widow,
Alice, is said to have married secondly, James Hardres of Hardres Court,
who died in 1490; whereas by the above she did not become a widow
until 1508.

a This may have been the William Aucher who was patron of the
Rectory of Badlesmere, and presented the Rev. Richard Yates to the
living, 3ist March, 1579. Perhaps he was acting for his niece, Anne, who
; married Sir Humphrey Gilbert, who sold the Manor of Badlesmere in
1581. There was another William, known as "William Aucher of God-
;mersham," who, on 6th October, 1590, presented Paul Chapman to the
Rectory of Hurst, Romney. Possibly these two Williams are identical,
but if so they could not be identical with William of Nonington.

1 Sir Humphrey Gilbert was half-brother to Sir Walter Raleigh. He
was knighted in 1577, and he is most memorable as having made the firs

227

THE FAMILY OF AUCHER.

into his possession. He sold Otterden to William Lewin, LL.D.,
who lived there, but died in London, I5th April, 1598, and
was buried in St. Leonard's, Shoreditch, a monument to him
being erected in Otterden Church. His son, Sir Justinian
Lewin, lived at Otterden, and died there, 28th June, 1620. Sir
Justinian married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Arthur Capel of
Hertford, Bart, and left an only daughter, who by marriage
carried the property to Richard Rogers of Brianstone, Somer-
set, whose daughter, Elizabeth, by marriage carried it first to
Charles Cavendish, Lord Mansfield (son of William Cavendish,
Duke of Newcastle), and secondly to Charles Stuart, Duke of
Richmond and Lenox, who sold it to Sir George Curteis, who
lived and died at Otterden, being buried in the church, October,
1702. His granddaughter, Anne Curteis, by marriage carriec
it to Thomas Wheler, D.D., Prebendary of Durham, and aft
wards to Humphrey Walcot, who sold it to Granville Whel(
the younger brother of his wife's first husband. Granvill
Wheler died at Otterden in May, 1770, and the propei
passed to his son, Granville Hastings Wheler.

HAUTBOURNE OR BOURNE PLACE
MANOR OF BISHOPSBOURNE

John de Bourne had a charter of Free Warren granted t(
him by Edward I in 1289. His descendant carried the Mam
of Bourne by marriage to the family of Shelving,1 whence
was commonly called Shelvingsbourne. A daughter of thi
family carried it by marriage to Edward Haut, when it came
to be known as Hautbourne. His daughter, Elizabeth, carried
it by marriage to Thomas Colepeper, who in 1544, sold it*
together with the Manor of Bishopsbourne which he had
obtained by exchange from the Archbishop of Canterbury,
to Sir Anthony Aucher, who at his death in 1558 left them
to his second son.

Edward Aucher of Bourne Place. He married, Mabel
daughter of Sir Thomas Wrothe, by whom he had one soft
and one daughter.

I. Anthony, heir to Bourne Place.

settlement in Newfoundland : and, in the foundation of England's first
colony, given a date for the birth of the British Empire.

1 Descended from John de Shelving of Woodnesborough, who died
in 1412.

228

THE FAMILY OF AUCHER.

(i) Elizabeth, who married Sir William Lovelace of

Bethersden.1

On Edward Aucher's death he was succeeded by his only son,
Anthony Aucher of Bourne Place, who was High Sheriff of
Kent in 1570. He married twice, and by his second wife,
Margaret, daughter of Edwin Sandys, Archbishop of York,
(who died 1609) he had two sons and two daughters.
I. Anthony, heir to Bourne Place.
II. Edwin, of Willesborough.3

(1) Elizabeth, who married first, Sir William Hammond

of St. Alban's Court, and second (in 1624), the Very
Rev. Walter Balcauqual, Dean of Rochester.

(2) Margaret, who married Sir Roger James.

He died I3th January, 1609-10, and was succeeded by

Sir Anthony Aucher of Bourne Place. This Anthony in
1604 (i.e. during his father's lifetime) is said to have fled to
the continent, in company of Sir Thomas Hardres, to avoid
his creditors — their lands being compulsorily sold by Act of
Parliament. This appears, however, to have been but a tem-
porary difficulty, for in 1620 he was High Sheriff of Kent;
and before 1630 he sold to Sir James Hales, the Manor of
Staplegate alias Nackington, which he had bought of Walter
Waller. He married Hester, daughter of Peter Collet of London.
He died in 1637 and was succeeded by his only son

Sir Anthony Aucher of Bourne Place. He married Elizabeth,
daughter of Robert Hatton, who died in i648,3 and secondly,

1 The Bethersden Parish books mention William Lovelace as paying
in 1558 twenty shillings towards cost of a new great bell for the church.
And in 1591, the churchwardens acknowledge the receipt from "Mrs.
Lovelace of 5-r. that she did give towards mendynge of the ledde of the
church." This Elizabeth Lovelace n£e Aucher, was buried in Canterbury
Cathedral, 3rd December, 1627. Sir William Lovelace died in 1629, leaving
by his wife, Elizabeth Aucher, a son known as Sir William Lovelace of
Woolrich, who married Anne, daughter of Sir William Barnes, and by
her had a son, Sir Richard Lovelace of Lovelace Place. He died in 1658,
leaving an only daughter, Margaret, who married a son of Lord Chief
Justice Coke.

* He married Mary, daughter of John Gibbon, and their son, the Rev.
John Aucher, was Prebendary of Canterbury.

' In the year that his first wife died (1648) his name appears in the
following list of the leaders of the Royalist rising in Kent :

Sir Gamaliel Dudley, Sir George Lisle, Sir William Compton, Sir
Robert Tracey, Col. Leigh, Sir John Many, Sir James Hales, Sir William
Many, Sir Richard Hardres, Col. Washington, Col. L'Estrange, Col.
Hacker, Sir Anthony Aucher, Sir William Brockman of Beechborough,
Sir Thomas Colepeper of St. Stephen's, Darrell of Scotney Castle, Sir

229

THE FAMILY OF AUCHER.

Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thomas Hewitt, by whom he had
four sons and two daughters.

I. Anthony, heir to Bourne Place.

II. Hewitt, heir to his brother.

III. Rev. Robert, of Queen's College, Oxford.

IV. Hatton, Administrator of the goods of his brother

Robert.

(1) Elizabeth, who married John Corbett, LL.D.

(2) Hester, who married Ralph Blomer, D.D., Prebendary

of Canterbury, by whom she had a daughter, Anne

Blomer, who married James Teale, and had a son,

Isaac M. Teale, and a daughter, Mary Teale, who

married General Sir Charles Shipley and left three

daughters : ( I ) Katherine Jane Shipley, who married

Colonel Edward Warner; (2) Augusta Mary Shipley,

who married Alexander Manning; (3) Elizabeth

Cole Shipley, who married Henry, Earl of Buchan.

He was created a Baronet by Charles II in 1666. In 1673,

the Advowson of the Rectory of East Church Minster was

granted by Charles II to Sir Henry Palmer of Wingham, Bart,

and eleven other gentlemen, of whom Sir Anthony Aucher of

Bishopsbourne was one. The trustees presented Sir Anthony's

third son, the Rev. Robert Aucher, to the living, and on his

death in or about 1682, his younger brother Hatton as his

Administrator (with I presume the consent of the twelve

trustees) presented Anthony Woolrick to the Vicarage: he

appears to have held it only two years, for in 1684 the trustees

presented the Rev. James Jeffreys to the living, who, dying in

1689, was succeeded by the Rev. William Mills, who held it for

ten years. Sir Anthony died in May, 1692, aged seventy-eight,1

and was succeeded by his son,

Sir Anthony Aucher •, second Baronet. He died a minor in
1694, when the title and estate passed to his next brother,

Sir Hewitt Aucher, third Baronet. The only mention of him
I have found is in Dr. John Harris's History of Kent, who,

Thomas Godfrey of Heppington, Edward Hales of Tunsted, Anthony and
Francis Hammond of St. Alban's Court, Francis Lovelace, Sir Henry and
Sir Thomas Palmer of Beaksbourne, Sir Thomas Payton of Knowlton,
Mr. James Dowell, Mr. George Newman, and Mr. Whelton.

1 His widow, Elizabeth (nte Hewitt) in 1707 sold to Sir Henry Furness
of Waldershare, Bart., a large tract of woodland, some 1,100 acres, once
called North Blean and afterwards Abbats Blean, as belonging to the
Abbat and convent of Faversham.

230

THE FAMILY OF AUCHER.

writing in 1719, says " Sir Hewitt Aucher has a very fine new-
built brick house in this parish," i.e. Bishopsbourne. He died
unmarried in 1726, when the title became extinct and the
estate passed to his eldest sister.

Elizabeth Corbett, wife of John Corbett, LL.D. At her death1
she left five daughters as co-heirs.

(1) Catherine, who married, as his second wife,a Stephen

Beckingham. He, in 1752, bought up the shares of
his four sisters-in-law, and left the whole estate to his
son, the Rev. John Charles Beckingham, who at his
death left an only daughter Louisa,3 who, on 6th Sept-
ember, 1802, married Edward Taylor of Bifrons, M.P.
for Canterbury, 1807-1814.*

(2) Elizabeth, who married Thomas Dinward.

(3) Frances, who married Sir William Hardres, Bart.

(4) Antonina, who married Ignatius Geoghagen.

(5) Margaret Hannah Roberta, who married William

Hougham of Barton Court, by whom she had one son
and one daughter.

The son, William Hougham of Barton Court, died in 1828,
*/.

The daughter, Catherine Hougham, married the Rev. Richard
Sandys, and by him had one son and one daughter.

The son, Richard Edwin Sandys, Lieut. R.N., was killed at
Copenhagen in 1801.

The daughter, Catherine, married in 1803 John Chesshyre.
Captain R.N., and so carried Barton Court to that family.

.PPENDIX. MANORS AND PROPERTY ACQUIRED BY
>IR ANTHONY AUCHER, 1540-1557.

The Manor of Liminge was in the hands of the See of
mterbury, and Archbishop Ralph, in 1 1 14, charged it with
\d. per day towards supplying the lepers in the Hospital at

1 She died in 1764, aged eighty-two.

3 His first wife was a Miss Cox by whom he had a son, Stephen Beck-

fham, who married Mary, daughter of John Sawbridge of Ollanteigh.

1 Mrs. Taylor of Bifrons, as the eldest co-heir of the last baronet of
the Hardres family, has a dagger given by Henry VIII to Sir Thomas
Hardres, with whom he was hunting in Hardres Park when Sir Thomas
was ranger thereof.

* Bifrons was sold to the Marquess Conyngham, and Bourne Place to
Matthew Bell.

231

THE FAMILY OF AUCHER.

Harbledown with drink. In 1540 Archbishop Cranmer ex-
changed it with the King for other property. The King granted
the manor, together with the advowsons of Liminge, Stanford,
and Paddlesworth, to Sir Anthony Aucher of Otterden, to hold
in chief at a rental of £4. Js. 2d. After his death in 1557 it
passed to his eldest son, John, and so to his granddaughter
Joane, wife of Sir Humphrey Gilbert. The property consisted
of the manor and park of Liminge, and 300 acres in Elham,
Postling, Bethersden, Woodchurch, and Orleston, with the ad-
vowsons of Liminge, Paulford, and Stamford. It afterwards
reverted to the Bishopsbourne branch of the Aucher family,
and was sold by Sir Anthony Aucher of Bourne Place, soon
after the death of Charles I, to Sir John Roberts of Canter-
bury, Knt, who died in 1658; it then passed through several
hands to the Rev. Ralph Price, who held it in 1790.

Folkestone. — In 1540 Henry VIII devised the vicarage and
parish church of Folkestone, "with all its rights profits and
emoluments," to Thomas, Lord Cromwell, who assigned his
interests to Anthony Aucher. But the fee remaining with the
King, they were granted in 1551 by Edward VI to Edward,
Lord Clinton, and they afterwards came into the possession of
the See of Canterbury.

Swingfield. — The land in the parish of Swingfield, which
had belonged to the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, on the
dissolution of the Order in. 1541, was granted in 1542 by
Henry VIII to Sir Anthony Aucher of Otterden, who, in 1552,
passed it to Sir Henry Palmer of Wingham.

Bilcherst. — The Manor of Bilcherst in the parish of Hawking
was granted in 1542 by Henry VIII to Sir Anthony Aucher,
who sold it to Thomas Smersole.

Higham. — The Manor of Higham, in the parish of Patrix-
bourne, was sold by Thomas Colepeper of Bedgebury in 1 543
to Sir Anthony Aucher, whose descendant, Sir Hewitt Aucher,
dying in 1726, bequeathed it to his sister Elizabeth, wife of
Thomas Corbett, LL.D., whose daughter sold it to James
Hallet, who was living there in 1790.

Kingston.— The Manorof Kingston, near Bridge, was granted
by Edward IV to Roger, Lord Wentworth, whose descendant
Richard, Lord Wentworth, sold it in 1530 to Thomas Cole-

232

THE FAMILY OF AUCHER.

peper, who, in 1533, sold it to Sir Anthony Aucher; his de-
scendant, Sir Anthony Aucher, Bart, sold it in 1647 to Thomas
Gibbon of Westcliffe.

Mottenden. — The Manor of Mottenden (Modinden) in the
parish of Headcorn was granted by Henry VIII in 1545 to
Sir Anthony Aucher in chief, and was assigned by him in 1553
to Sir Walter Handley, who in the same year passed it to his
son-in-law, Thomas Colepeper of Bedgebury.

Wildmarsh. — Wildmarsh (or Wolmarsh) in the parish of
Stone, belonging to the Abbey of Faversham, was granted by
Henry VIII in 1545 to Sir Anthony Aucher, from whom it
passed to his granddaughter, Anne, wife of Sir Humphrey
Gilbert.

Postling. — The Manor of Postling was in Domesday part of
the possessions of Hugh de Montford. It subsequently passed
through the families of De Colembers, De Delves, and Fitz-
Alan, till in 1547 it was sold to Sir Anthony Aucher, from
whom it passed to Sir Humphrey Gilbert, who in 1579 sold it
to Thomas Smith of Westenhanger, ancestor of the Viscounts
Strangford, from whom it passed to Thomas Gomeldon of
Sellinge, and finally was sold to the trustees of Sir Windham
Knatchbull, Bart, who, dying in 1768, left it to his heir, and
so to Sir Edward Knatchbull, Bart, of Hatch.

Ashford. — The Manor of Ashford (in Domesday Essetes-
ford), was granted by Edward VI in 1 550 to Thomas Colepeper
of Bedgebury, and was assigned by him (without license from
the King) to Sir Anthony Aucher, who in 1555, mortgaged it
with other property to Sir Andrew Judde of London, and not
being able to redeem them, they passed into the possession of
Sir Andrew. The property was afterwards broken up and
passed into several hands.1

Plumford. — The estate of Plumford in the parish of Ospringe
belonged to St. Stephen's, Westminster, and was granted by

1 It is stated (Archaologia Cantiana, vol. xvii, p. 193) that Thomas
Smythe of Westenhanger, commonly called Customer Smythe (as being
an officer in the Customs), bought the Manor of Ashford of Sir Anthony
Aucher. This does not tally with the above, unless the sale was made
through Sir Andrew Judde.

233

THE FAMILY OF AUCHER.

Edward VI in 1547 to Sir Anthony Aucher, who sold it to
Thomas Colepeper, who sold it to John Greenstreet. This,
together with the adjoining estate of Painters, which John
Greenstreet had also bought, were sold by a descendant of his
to Sir Henry Furness of Waldershare, Bart, whose son, Sir
Robert Furness, married Arabella, daughter of the Earl of
Rockingham, by whom he had a daughter, Catherine, who
became the ultimate heir of these two estates. She married,
first, Lewis, Earl of Rockingham, and second (in 1751),
Francis, Earl of Guildford. She died in 1766, leaving the
property to her second husband, whose heir is the present
proprietor.

Cobham. — A messuage and four acres in Cobham were
granted by Henry VIII in 1547 to Sir Anthony Aucher, to be
held in chief.

Statisfield. — The Manor of Statisfield (in Domesday, Stane-
felde) was bought by Sir Anthony Aucher of Sir Anthony
St. Leger (temp. Edward VI), and his son, Sir Anthony, sold
it (temp. James I) to one Salter, from whom it passed to
Richard Webbe of Elham, and thence through the Head
baronets to Dr. John Lynch, who held it in 1790.

Badlesmere. — The Manor of Badlesmere, with 2,000 acres in
Badlesmere, Sheldwich, Selling, Chelloch, Throwley, and
Leveland, was bought by Sir Anthony Aucher in 1549 of
Sir Robert Southwell, Master of the Rolls to Henry VIII.
Sir Anthony's granddaughter, Anne, carried it by marriage to
Sir Humphrey Gilbert, who sold it in 1581 to Sir Michael
Sondes of Throwley, from whom it descended to the present
Earl Sondes.

Old Surrenden alias Bethersden. — This Manor belonged to
the College of Wye, and at the suppression of the religious
houses was granted by Henry VIII to Sir Maurice Dennys,
Captain of Calais, who in 1549 sold it to Sir Anthony Aucher,
who in 1551 sold it to Philip Chowte,1 Standard Bearer to
Henry VIII at the siege of Boulogne, whose descendant,
Sir George Choute, Bart, dying in 1721, left it to Sir Edward
Austen of Tenterden, Bart, who sold it to Thomas Best

1 Sometimes spelt Choute, and on a monument in Holingbourne Church
spelt Chovet.

234

THE FAMILY OF AUCHER.

East Hall or EasthalL — East Hall in the parish of Murston
was in 1552 bought of Christopher Hales by Sir Anthony
Aucher, who the next year sold it to Thomas Gardyner, who
in 1568 sold it to Thomas Norden, who sold it to William
Pordage of Rodmersham, from whose descendant it passed to-
Richard Hazard.

Rigsell. — Twenty-four acres known as Rigsell in the parish
of Statisfield, belonging to the Priory of Leeds, were held by
Sir Anthony Aucher in 1558, and by Sir Humphrey Gilbert
in 1574.

Rollys. — A part of the Manor of Dyve Court, known as
Rollys, was at one time held by Sir Anthony Aucher, and
afterwards by Peter Greenstreet.

NOTES AND QUERIES.

DENE-HOLES (vol. xi, p. 91). — I am glad to see that you have
taken up this interesting question. Surely, with the evidence
that has been accumulated of recent years, it is time that the
experts came to some agreement as to their date and object. I should
like to ask what is the earliest use of the term Dene Hole, and what
is the precise meaning and derivation of dene. I have heard them
called Dane Holes. — J. R., Gravesend.

REPLIES.

THE CULPEPERS IN KENT (vol. xi, p. 32). — There is a slight inac-
curacy in this interesting article. It is stated on page 35, that Preston
Hall, Aylesford, was sold to Mr. E. L. Bates, who sold it to Mr.
Henry Brassey, and that the latter pulled down the old Hall. The
purchaser was Mr. Edward Ladd Betts, a partner in the great firm of
Peto, Betts, and Brassey. It was Mr. Betts who pulled down the old
Hall and built the present house. On his death Mr. Henry Brassey
purchased the estate, and lived and died there.

HERBERT MONCKTON, Maidstone.

DENE-HOLES (vol. xi, p. 91). — A Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries
yesterday called my attention to an article on Dene-Holes in your last
number, where I was surprised to see it stated (p. 93) that the pick marks

235

NOTES AND QUERIES.

in the Dene-Hole found by Mr. P. J. Martin on Windmill Hill, Graves-
end, were made with deer horn, or, at any rate, were not modern metal
pick marks. On referring to my notes of 23rd September, 1907, when
Mr. Norman Brooks and I thoroughly explored the old chalk well, I
find the following: " Now as to the nature of the walls of these caverns,
they were very roughly hewn, as at Bexley and Hangman's Wood,
and unusually rich in pick marks. We examined about forty of these,
and in places where the chalk was damp, found them very clear, some
an inch deep, some two inches deep, or more. Many were quite
square, with clear cut sides, gradually tapering to a point. Others were
more rounded, but still inclining to the square form, as if the once
square implement was much worn. Hence we could form no other
conclusion than that the holes or marks were made with a metal pick
(i.e., of bronze or iron), not of horn, bone, or flint." This report ap-
peared in a Northfleet paper at the time. It is important that the fact
should be known, otherwise a false antiquity would be given to a very
commonplace chalk excavation, which excavations are quite common
both in Kent and Essex.

J. W. HAYES, West Thurrock Vicarage^ Grays, Essex.

ROLLS YARD AND CHAPEL (vol. xi, p. 157). — No reference to this
place and the Chapel appears to have been made in former numbers
of this Magazine, but an interesting article on " The Rolls House and
Chapel," by Mr. W. J. Hardy, F.S.A., appeared in vol. ii (pp. 49-68)
of the Middlesex and Hertfordshire Notes and Queries, which Magazine
was the precursor of the Home Counties Magazine.

The Record Office Museum now stands on the site of the Rolls
Chapel; it contains some of the monuments, notably the beautiful
one by Torrigiano to Dr. John Young, who was appointed Master of
the Rolls in 1508. The museum is well worth a visit.

There was no connection between the Rolls Chapel and St. Thomas's
Church in Bream's Buildings. The District called the Liberty of the
Rolls was without a church of its own before St. Thomas's was built
in 1842, up to which time the Church of St. Dunstan in the West
had been used by the parishioners.

St. Thomas's was a modest looking brick building, having a stone
Norman arched doorway in Bream's buildings, and a door at the rear
in Church Passage, opening into the vestry. The church was erected
partly by subscriptions of the residents and business men in the Liberty,
and was consecrated on i3th July, 1842, by the Bishop of London.
The interior was striking on account of its fine old oak panelling and
pewing, which had formerly been in the Temple Church and was
purchased from the Temple together with the carved oak communion
table. The latter, I was informed, was carved by Grinling Gibbons,
and was presented to the Temple by Sir Christopher Wren. If my

236

REVIEWS.

information is correct, the table and some of the handsomely carved
pew doors have found a resting place in St. Dunstan's Church. Owing
to much of the residential part of the Liberty being improved away,
the congregation of St. Thomas's dwindled almost to vanishing point,
and the church being no longer required was demolished in 1887.

Church Passage, which now appears to be a misnomer, had previous
to the erection of the church been known as " White's Alley;" it was
many years before the old inhabitants got reconciled to the change,
and for a long time they persisted in calling it by its old name.

C. M. PHILLIPS.

REVIEWS.

EWTER MARKS AND OLD PEWTER WARE, DOM-
ESTIC AND ECCLESIASTICAL, with about 100 illustra-
tions, 200 facsimile marks, and 1000 full descriptions of
touches from the Touch Plates at Pewterers' Hall, as well as
other marks obtained from various sources; list of members of
the Pewterers' Company from 1450 to the present time, etc. By
Christopher A. Markham, F.S.A. Reeves and Turner; pp. xv,
316; 215.

A good many books have appeared on Pewter during the last few years, of very
varying merit; but many of these can hardly be said to be more than descriptive.
They are, for the most part, nicely " got up " and pleasantly written, and have so
many hundred pretty pictures. The present work has all these qualities, and a
good deal more — it is a practical work by a practical man, and has nothing about
it of the " illustrated gift-book " order.

After a sufficient account of the history of the craft, in which some of the early
statutes are printed in full, we find an excellent descriptive section on domestic
pewter, with many apt quotations from inventories, plays, and other sources; the
section on ecclesiastical pewter is equally good. Chapters on the manufacture of
pewter, the various alloys used, and some very useful hints on cleaning and repairing,
complete this part of the work.

The sections following deal with the maker's marks or "touches" as they were
called. The system adopted, the regulations of the company, and the frequent
evasions and disputes, are all fully and clearly dealt with. Then we have a most
useful list of the Freemen of the Pewterers' Company, from 1450 until almost the
present time ; this list fills more than thirty-three pages. Finally there is a detailed
account of the fine remaining " Touch Plates," with either an illustration or a
description of every mark recorded upon them. It is impossible to speak too highly
of the value of this work ; it does for the amateur of pewter what Chaffers and
others have done for the collectors of china and silver. The illustrations of various
specimens are well chosen ; most are from photographs, but not a few from drawings
by the author, who has a very pretty ' ' touch " of his own, both with pen and brush.
There is a good index.

237

REVIEWS.

SURREY ARCHAEOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS; vol. 23; pp. xlvi, 228.

The first article in this volume is a very useful catalogue of the armorial ledger
grave-stones in St. Saviour's Church, South wark, by Mr. A. Ridley Bax, F.S.A.
A rubbing is given of the arms in each case, and voluminous extracts from wills.
Mr. R. A. Roberts continues his copies of the Inventories of Church Goods in the
time of Edward VI. The most noteworthy feature in this instalment is the return
for the parish of Gatton ; it was made by Dame Elizabeth Copley, and she certified
that " she has nother church wardens nor syde men within the parishe of Gatton,
but only hyr selff and hyr familye of hyr place and hathe byn so longe tyme of
memorye." The good lady exhibited an inventory made by Sir Roger Copley, her
late husband, which includes "a bell not lowde inowghe to be hard a flight schotte
agaynst the wynde." Mr. Maiden contributes an interesting and scholarly paper on
the operations of the Civil War in Surrey in 1642. Mr. P. Woods' history of the
Rectory Manor of Godalming is a valuable addition to Surrey topography. These
small ecclesiastical manors within manors were very numerous, but as a rule little
is known of their history. Mr. Woods was fortunate enough to find a document,
which is not strictly speaking a ' ' custumal " but rather a survey, being a list of tenants
with the services due from each one. Such documents are not too common, and
should always be printed, though this particular one presents no special features.

Mr. P. M. Johnston, F.S.A., has another of his exhaustive monographs on
Surrey churches. West Horsley, the church now treated of, has not the same
amount of architectural interest as Stoke D'Abernon, but Mr. Johnston thinks that
portions of a pre-Conquest building are still remaining. Papers by Mr. Reginald
A. Smith, F.S.A., on Romano-British Remains at Cobham, by Mr. C. H. Jenkinson
on Temple Elfold, by Mr. George Clinch, F.G.S., on the Lumley Monuments at
Cheam, and by Mr. G. F. Hill on Roman Coins found at Brooklands, complete a
first-rate volume.

THE ROMAN MEASURES IN THE DOMESDAY SURVEY OF MIDDLESEX,
by Montagu Sharpe. Brentford Printing and Publishing Co. |
pp. 26; 2s. 6d. net, post free.

We gladly welcome another of Mr. Sharpe's scholarly contributions on ancient
Middlesex. The present essay, which forms Chapter XVI of the author's work,
Some Antiquities of Middlesex, is an attempt to show the continuity of the Roman
measurements down to the time of the great Domeesday Survey, and, as a natural
consequence, the existence, in main lines at any rate, of the Roman laying out and
planning of roads, fields, and other sub-divisions. The latter question was dealt
with to a great extent in Mr. Sharpe's previous chapter, on " the Roman Centuri-
ation of the Middlesex District" (see Home Counties Magazine, vol. x, p. 160),
and he is here principally concerned with the measures. Starting with the assump-
tion (based on his previous chapter), that the Domesday virgate is the equivalent of
the Roman centuria, Mr. Sharpe gives us some very remarkable figures. Compar-
ing the Domesday calculation with the modern acreage, he show a difference for
the whole county of a little over 271 acres in a total of over 141,876 acres. The
nearness of the result shows that Mr. Sharpe's estimate, based on the hide of 125
acres, instead of the more usual 120, cannot be far out, and as the 125 acres equals
four ccnturiae, we consider that a strong case is made out, so far as Middlesex is con-
cerned. But, as is well known, the area of the field hide varied in different districts.

With regard to the question of the survival of Roman institutions and customs, as
opposed to measurements and physical objects, we must confess that we cannot
agree with all Mr. Sharpe's conclusions. For the Saxon settlers to occupy fields
and roads without alteration is one thing, for them to accept all the rights claimed

238

REVIEWS.

by the Romano- British coloni, is another. There are no doubt certain similarities
between the Roman and the old English systems, but even so it does not necessarily
follow that one is derived from the other, and in any case they are, in our opinion,
too few to bear the serious weight of argument that is sometimes put upon them.

FARNHAM, ESSEX, PAST AND PRESENT; by J. G. Geare, M.A., Rector
of Farnham. George Allen and Sons; pp. 201; 2S. 6d. net.

Farnham and its Rector are alike to be congratulated on this excellent little book,
which is one of the best of the smaller parish histories that we have ever seen. The
author seems to have exhausted all the printed sources of information, and in
addition to have collected a considerable amount of material by original research
The result is that we have a fairly consecutive history of the parish and its various
manors from the Conquest to the present day. There are gaps in the history, as
there are in most cases, but Mr. Geare treats these as a sober historian should ; he
gives us his suggestion, without any attempt to state as fact more than he can prove
from his evidence. Moreover (excellent man !) he gives references to his docu-
ments. The descriptive portions are equally good; his chapters on the parish
registers, rectors, churchwardens, briefs and charities, recusants, etc., all show
careful and accurate study, wide reading, and sound antiquarian knowledge. We do
not agree with all the author's suggested derivations ol field-names, but that is
hardly to be expected, since there is no branch of archaeology in which there
is so much room for difference of opinion. The index is poor and unworthy; with
this sole exception, we have nothing but praise for the author and his book.

DENEHOLES AND OTHER CHALK EXCAVATIONS, their origin and uses.
By the Rev. J. W. Hayes. Reprinted from the Journal of the
Royal Anthropological Institute ) vol. 39. is. 6d.

We print in this number a note by Mr. Hayes on the Gravesend Dene-Holes,
and a perusal of his paper shows that he has made special and careful study of the
question. He gives a mass of evidence to show that Dene-Holes are simply exca-
vations for the purpose of getting chalk, and not a few of his witnesses have actually
assisted in the operation. We find his arguments too cogent to be resisted, and we
think he might have strengthened his case by laying more stress on the negative
side of the evidence. How comes it if these excavations were granaries that no
store of corn has been found in any one of them? If they were refuges, how is it
that no instance has been found of a group of skeletons huddled up in a corner? If
they were made for getting flints, how is it that no store of flints, collected but not
removed, has ever been noted? Mr. Hayes has done good service by giving us this
lucid summing up.

A HANDLIST TO THE SURNAMES represented by Inscriptions in the
Hundred of Edwinstree, co. Herts, recorded in 1907. Compiled
by W. B. Gerish; pp. 16; is. net.

We have here an index to monumental inscriptions within the eighteen parishes
comprising the Hundred of Edwinstree, including churches, churchyards, noncon-
formist and other burial-grounds. The value of such a list is very great, not only
to the genealogist but also to the lawyer, since the result of a lawsuit may frequently
depend on the knowledge of a particular gravestone. This list gives surnames and

239

REVIEWS.

parishes only, but Mr. Gerish states that the manuscript lists may be freely con-
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TYBURN GALLOWS, by G. L. Gomme, F.S.A.; pp. 24; 2d.

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240

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iii

CONTENTS.

PAGE

THE RECORDS OF ST. MARTIN'S, LUDGATE . 241
A CHELMSFORD CIRCLE IN THE SEVEN-
TEENTH CENTURY 247

SOME EAST KENT PARISH HISTORY . . 259
THE EARLY HISTORY OF LITTLE BERK-

HAMSTEAD, HERTS . ..... 266

NOTES ON THE EARLY CHURCHES OF SOUTH

ESSEX ' .' . ' . :i ... . .280
STAR CHAMBER CASES, NO. VI . . . . 286
BETHNAL GREEN , , . . . . .293
ALONG THE KENTISH BORDER .... 298
MORGAN JONES; A BERKSHIRE MISER . . 306
THE CHRONICLE OF PAUL'S CROSS ... 309

NOTES AND QUERIES 313

REPLIES . . . ... . . . . 314

REVIEWS , , . . , ' . . . .315

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St. Martin's, Ludgate.
From an old print.

THE RECORDS OF SAINT MARTIN'S,
LUDGATE.

BY HENRY R. PLOMER.

* I AHE historians of London give but a meagre history of the
church of St. Martin's, Ludgate. John Stow, generally the
-•- best of authorities, passes it over with singular brevity, and
does not appear to have known anything about its first founda-
tion, or early benefactors. He takes us back no further than the
year 1418, and his successors have added little or nothing to
his record of the church. Yet the present building is the third
that has stood on the site, the first of which was built in the
twelfth century, and there exists to-day amongst the church
records deposited in the Guildhall Library an almost unbroken
series of records belonging to St. Martin's Church, from the
year 1220 to the present day. The earlier ones are contained
in a volume which, by some extraordinary oversight, is lettered
"St. Martin's Ludgate, Vestry Book from the year 1 568 to 171 5."
This volume consists of two books bound together, the earlier
one being of vellum and containing copies of inventories, in-
dentures, inquisitions, deeds of gift, and other documents, the
earliest of which dates back to the year 1220. The hand-
writing is that of the fifteenth century, and the entries were
made without any regard to chronological order, but just as
the originals came out of the church chest. The latest of these
early documents is dated 1485. I am inclined to think that
the copies were begun by Nicholas Frost, who was church-
warden of St. Martin's in the eleventh year of Henry IV
(1409-10). There is then a gap in the entries of about ninety
years, when the Vestry Minutes begin in 1568, continuing down
to 1688. The second portion of the volume is of paper, and
contains the continuation of the Vestry Minutes from I7th
August, 1688, down to the year 1715.

In this book, then, we have the history of the church, not
for only for one hundred and forty-seven years, as the dates
on the cover would have us believe, but for very nearly five
hundred years! Unfortunately, when the volume was put into
its present binding, probably in the eighteenth century, it was
badly cropped by the binder.

Of the records contained in the earlier portion of this book
one, and only one, has, I believe, ever been printed, and that

VOL. XL 241 R

THE RECORDS OF ST. MARTIN'S, LUDGATE.

is the fifteenth-century inventory of church goods, which was
edited by the Rev. E. S. Dewick, F.S.A., and published in the
Transactions of the St. Pauls Ecclesiological Society for 1905
(pp. 117-128). In the following article I propose to lay before
the reader some of the more important and interesting of the
unpublished documents in this book, and I shall do so as far
as possible in their chronological sequence.

The place of honour is claimed by the two following un-
dated deeds of gift :

Omnibus Christi fidelibus ad quos presens scriptum perven-
erit, Osbertus Plumbarius salutem, Novit universitas vestra
me divine caritatis intuitu et pro salute anime mee dedisse et
per superscript! carta mea confirmasse Deo et ecclesie Sancti
Martini de Ludgate decem et octo denarios quieti et annui
redditus in puram et perpetuam elemosinam ad inveniendum
in dicta ecclesia unum cereum percipiendos annuatim de domo
ilia in qua mansi, que est de feodo Hospitalis Sancti Bartholo-
mei, ad duos terminos anni, scilicet ad festum Sancti Michaeli
nonem denarios et ad Pascham nonem denarios, sine occasione.
Et volo quod capellanus et parochia dicte ecclesie beati
Martini habeant liberam potestatem intrandi et distringendi
dictam domum pro illis decem et octo denariis redditus si
opus fuerit. Hos autem decem et octo denarios quieti et annui
redditus ego Osbertus predictus et heredes mei prenominate1
ecclesie inperpetuum sicut nostram puram et perpetuam elemo-
sinam contra omnes gentes debemus warantizare. Et ut hec
mea donacio warantia et presentis carte mee connrmacio
perpetue firmitatis robur obtineat presens scriptum sigilli mei
testimonio roboravi. Hiis testibus, Aldred' capellano, Penti-
cost' aurifabro, Michaele venditore librorum, Johanne Calicer
Rogero diacono, Nicholao Petrario, Johanne de Westm'f?]
Ricardo Capellano, Thome Allutario, Rogero clerico, et aliis.
Redditus xviij denariorum per annum de concessione
Osberti plumbarii ad inveniendum unum cereum in ecclesia
Sancti Martini de Ludgate. [Fol. 17.]

We can fix the date of this gift, with some degree of con-
fidence, as before the year 1223, for amongst the records of
St. Paul's Cathedral (calendared by Sir H. Maxwell Lyte and
printed as an appendix to the ninth Report of the Historical
Manuscripts Commission) is a deed of sale by Jordan son of
Edwin, which is witnessed by Alderman Pentecost the gold-
smith, Michael qui vendit libros, and John qui ligat libros.
Osbert the plumber is also mentioned in the next document
calendared, and to which the above date is assigned.

242

'HE RECORDS OF ST. MARTIN'S, LUDGATE.

From the occurrence of many of the same witnesses to the
econd deed it is clearly of the same date, although there
re many other names, not the least interesting being that of
Walter who builds walls " :

Sciant presentes''. et futuri quod ego, Wygot monetarius,
consensu et assensu Matilde uxoris mee, et pro salute anime
mee et antecessorum et successorum meorum, dedi et concessi
et hac present! carta mea confirmavi Deo et ecclesie Beati
Martini de Ludgate, in puram et perpetuam elemosinam, sex
denarios quieti redditus ad lumen inveniendum in predicta
ecclesia, scilicet de terra quam Radulfus de Fonte tenuit de
me in eadem parochia, Unde idem Radulfus vel heredes sui
vel quicunque predictam terram tenebunt reddent predicte
ecclesie annuatim ad festum Sancti Johannis Baptiste tres
denarios et ad Nativitatem Domini tres denarios. Hos autem
predictos sex denarios quieti redditus ego, dictus Wygot, et
heredes mei warantizabimus predicte ecclesie contra omnes
homines et feminas imperpetuum. Et quia volo quod hec mea
donacio concessio firma et stabilis imperpetuum permaneat
presentem paginam sigillo meo roboravi. Hiis testibus, Ada
de capello ecclesie Sancti Martini, Herveo Diacono, Galfrido
Baron, Willelmo Clerico, Radulfo de Fonte, Willelmo Car-
pentario, Waltero qui facit muros, Andree Framur', Willelmo
Thyers, Pentecost' aurifabro, Willelmo Plumbario, Osberto
Plumbario, Galfrido Capellano, Nicholao Petrario, et multis
aliis.

Redditus sex denariorum de dono Wygot monetarii ad
inveniendum lumen in ecclesia Sancti Martini de Ludgate.
[Fol. 17^.]

Another early benefactor to the church was " Master Michael
:>f London," who died in the year 1269. In "the 19th year of
Edward the son of Henry" (/.*., Edward I, 1291), on the
Monday next after the Feast of St. Edward, an extract from
his will was sworn to by Richard de Hokele, one of his ex-
ecutors, and Walter de Ege. By this he left a sum of five marks
a year for the income of one chaplain, to say the divine offices
for his soul and the souls of his parents for ever. This sum was
to be taken out of the rents of a certain house and shop left
to him by his father, which were situated in the parish of St.
Martin's parva, " juxta muros de Ludgate," and "ex altera parte
via in eadem parochia," and which were then in the occupation
of Richard de Herdfeild and Stephen Capellanus. He appointed
three of the best and most faithful men in the parish, namely,
Richard de Hokele, William le Waleys, and Osbert le chalicer,

243

THE RECORDS OF ST. MARTIN'S, LUDGATE.

The place of honour is claimed by the two following un-
dated deeds of gift :

Omnibus Christi fidelibus ad quos presens scriptum perven- i
erit, Osbertus Plumbarius salutem, Novit universitas vestra
me divine caritatis intuitu et pro salute anime mee dedisse et
per superscripti carta mea confirmasse Deo et ecclesie Sancti
Martini de Ludgate decem et octo denarios quieti et annui
redditus in puram et perpetuam elemosinam ad inveniendum
in dicta ecclesia unum cereum percipiendos annuatim de domo
ilia in qua mansi, que est de feodo Hospitalis Sancti Bartholo
mei, ad duos terminos anni, scilicet ad festum Sancti Michael!
nonem denarios et ad Pascham nonem denarios, sine occasione. j
Et volo quod capellanus et parochia dicte ecclesie beati
Martini habeant liberam potestatem intrandi et distringendi
dictam domum pro illis decem et octo denariis redditus si i
opus fuerit. Hos autem decem et octo denarios quieti et annui
redditus ego Osbertus predictus et heredes mei prenominate1
ecclesie inperpetuum sicut nostram puram et perpetuam elemo-
sinam contra omnes gentes debemus warantizare. Et ut hec
mea donacio warantia et presentis carte mee confirmacio
perpetue firmitatis robur obtineat presens scriptum sigilli mei
testimonio roboravi. Hiis testibus, Aldred' capellano, Penti-
cost' aurifabro, Michaele venditore librorum, Johanne Calicer
Rogero diacono, Nicholao Petrario, Johanne de Westm'f?]
Ricardo Capellano, Thome Allutario, Rogero clerico, et aliis.
Redditus xviij denariorum per annum de concessione
Osberti plumbarii ad inveniendum unum cereum in ecclesia
Sancti Martini de Ludgate. [Fol. 17.]

We can fix the date of this gift, with some degree of con-
fidence, as before the year 1223, for amongst the records of.
St. Paul's Cathedral (calendared by Sir H. Maxwell Lyte and
printed as an appendix to the ninth Report of the Historical
Manuscripts Commission) is a deed of sale by Jordan son of
Edwin, which is witnessed by Alderman Pentecost the gold-
smith, Michael qui vendit libros, and John qui ligat libros.
Osbert the plumber is also mentioned in the next document
calendared, and to which the above date is assigned.

242

IHE RECORDS OF ST. MARTIN'S, LUDGATE.

From the occurrence of many of the same witnesses to the
second deed it is clearly of the same date, although there
are many other names, not the least interesting being that of
14 Walter who builds walls " :

Sciant presentes '] et futuri quod ego, Wygot monetarius,
consensu et assensu Matilde uxoris mee, et pro salute anime
mee et antecessorum et successorum meorum, dedi et concessi
et hac present! carta mea confirmavi Deo et ecclesie Beati
Martini de Ludgate, in puram et perpetuam elemosinam, sex
denarios quieti redditus ad lumen inveniendum in predicta
ecclesia, scilicet de terra quam Radulfus de Fonte tenuit de
me in eadem parochia, Unde idem Radulfus vel heredes sui
vel quicunque predictam terram tenebunt reddent predicte
ecclesie annuatim ad festum Sancti Johannis Baptiste tres
denarios et ad Nativitatem Domini tres denarios. Hos autem
predictos sex denarios quieti redditus ego, dictus Wygot, et
heredes mei warantizabimus predicte ecclesie contra omnes
homines et feminas imperpetuum. Et quia volo quod hec mea
donacio concessio firma et stabilis imperpetuum permaneat
presentem paginam sigillo meo roboravi. Hiis testibus, Ada
de capello ecclesie Sancti Martini, Herveo Diacono, Galfrido
Baron, Willelmo Clerico, Radulfo de Fonte, Willelmo Car-
pentario, Waltero qui facit muros, Andree Framur', Willelmo
Thyers, Pentecost' aurifabro, Willelmo Plumbario, Osberto
Plumbario, Galfrido Capellano, Nicholao Petrario, et multis
aliis.

Redditus sex denariorum de dono Wygot monetarii ad
inveniendum lumen in ecclesia Sancti Martini de Ludgate.
[Fol. i7<]

Another early benefactor to the church was " Master Michael
of London," who died in the year 1269. In "the 19th year of
Edward the son of Henry" (i.e., Edward I, 1291), on the
Monday next after the Feast of St. Edward, an extract from
his will was sworn to by Richard de Hokele, one of his ex-
ecutors, and Walter de Ege. By this he left a sum of five marks
; a year for the income of one chaplain, to say the divine offices
i for his soul and the souls of his parents for ever. This sum was
I to be taken out of the rents of a certain house and shop left
to him by his father, which were situated in the parish of St.
Martin's parva, " juxta muros de Ludgate," and "ex altera parte
via in eadem parochia," and which were then in the occupation
of Richard de Herdfeild and Stephen Capellanus. He appointed
three of the best and most faithful men in the parish, namely,
Richard de Hokele, William le Waleys, and Osbert U chalicer,

243

THE RECORDS OF ST. MARTIN'S, LUDGATE.

to see the obit established in the church of St. Martin. Nearly
a century later Edward III ordered an inquest to be taken of
the property held of the Crown by the said Master Michael of
London. This inquiry was taken before John Lovekyn, Mayor
of the City of London and the King's Escheator, on October i,
41 Edward III (1368). The jurors were Robert Tetteworth,
Robert Messenden, Thomas atte Crouch, John Dene, Robert
Mortimer, Richard Harewe, Nicholas Reding, John Wilby,
John Burton, William Botelmaker, Robert Mauncel, and
Thomas Davy. They said that Master Michael died in the
year 1269, but upon what day they were ignorant, and after
referring to his bequest, declared that the house was then (1368)
in the occupation of Peter atte Mershe and Geoffry Boneyre,
and the shop in that of Robert Spenser, and that the chantry
had been duly founded and the said five marks received by
the churchwardens of St. Martin's, who at the time the inquiry
was taken were John Dene and Robert Spenser, " sporier."
(Fol. 9<a£, iod.} From Dr. Sharpe's Calendar of Letter Book G,
(London, 1905), we get a few more glimpses of some of the
citizens of London mentioned in this inquisition. Thomas atte
Crouche was a " sporier," who, on June 17, 1353, was nominated
one of the guardians of a daughter of Thomas le Horner (p. 9).
A year or two afterwards he is found acting as collector in
the Ward of Farndone, or Farringdon Without, of a benevo-
lence (p. 59). In 1360 he witnesses an indenture (p. 121), and
in 1371 a writ was issued to the Mayor and Sheriffs forbidding
them to put Thomas atte Crouche upon assizes, juries, etc.,
should he prove to be over seventy years of age (p. 285).

GeofFry Boneyre or Bonere was a " paternostrer." He was
executor to the will of William Bonere, " paternoster," and
was summoned to render due accounts concerning the property
left by the deceased, some of which was in the parish of
St. Martin within Ludgate (p. 1 14). He died before November,
1368. Robert Spenser figures in 1369 as one of the collectors
of a subsidy for the Ward of Farringdon Without.

Extracts from a large number of wills are transcribed in this
volume. Most of them were enrolled on the Hastings Rolls
and are noted in Dr. Sharpe's Calendar \ but whereas in the
latter the abstracts are very brief, in these extracts we get full
particulars of the bequests to the church. For example, the
following is the will of Richard le Long, goldsmith of London,
made in 1 349, and proved on the ix kalends of May in the
same year.

244

THE RECORDS OF ST. MARTIN'S, LUDGATE.

In Dei nomine, Amen! Ego, Ricardus le Longe, civis et
aurifaber London', sanis mente et bona memoria, die dominica
in qua cantatur quasi modo gtniti^ Anno domini millesimo
CCC quadragesimo nono, condo testamentum meum in hunc
modum. In primis lego animam meam Deo Omnipotenti, Beate
Marie, et omnibus sanctis, et corpus meum ad sepeliendum
in ecclesiam Sancti Martini juxta Ludgate dicte civitatis. Item,
lego summo altari ejusdem ecclesie ijs., pro decimis et obla-
cionibus meis oblitis. Item, lego fabrice dicte ecclesie \\]d.
Item, maiori clerico vj</., minori clerico \\]d. Item, lego Alicie
uxori mee residuum omnium bonorum meorum, ut ipsa dis-
ponat pro exequiis meis secundum voluntatem suam, prout
melius videat Deo placere, et ad salutem anime mee et anime
sue proficere. Item, lego dicte Alicie uxori mee duas schopas
cum solariis supra edificatis et cum omnibus pertinenciis
habendas et tenendas predictas duas schopas cum pertinenciis
prefate Alicie ad totam vitam suam; Et post decessum dicte
Alicie lego predictas duas schopas cum pertinentiis Roberto
de Miscenden et Edithe, uxori sue et filie mee, et heredibus
de corpore dicte Edithe legitime exeuntibus. Et si contingat
qd dicta Editha sine herede de corpore suo legitime procreate
obierit, ex tune volo et ordino quod post decessum predictorum
Roberti et Edithe predicte due shope cum solariis et suis per-
tinenciis per Rectorem predicte ecclesie et per tres probos et
legales homines ejusdem parochie vel per visum et ordina-
cionem eorum allocentur, reparentur et sustineantur, meliori
modo quo eis viderint perficere, et pecunia inde recepta, ex-
cerptis expensis pro reparacione et emendacione earundem
schoparum, per eosdem cuidem capellano divina celebranti
in eadem ecclesia annuatim, secundum quod attingere potent
errogetur imperpetuum pro animabus Nicholai et Agnetis,
patris et matris mee, ac eciam pro anima mea et Alicie uxoris
mee, et animabus omni fidelium defunctorum. Hujus autem
testament! mei execucionem faciendam istos constituo ex-
ecutores meos, videlicet, predictas Aliciam uxorem meam et
Editham filiam meam. In cujus rei testimonium sigillum pre-
sentibus apposui. Dat' et del' London', die et anno supradictis, et
anno regni Regis Edwardi tercii post conquestum vicesimo tercio.

Probatus [per juramentum] Hugonis de Lemynton et Galfridi
de Wychyngham. [Fol. 16.]

In Letter Book F (p. 6), is a list of names of the citizens of
London who lent money for making presents to the King and
Queen during the mayoralty of John de Pulteneye, 1336-37,

1 Quasimodo Sunday is Low Sunday, the next after Easter.

245

THE RECORDS OF ST. MARTIN'S, LUDGATE.

in which Richard le Long, there described as a " pessoner," l
gave no less a sum than loos, equivalent to £50 or £60 of our
present money. Geoffry de Wychyngham, one of the attesting
witnesses to the will, was a notable man. He was sometimes
called Geoffry " le Tableter," a mercer by trade, and in 1 346
was elected as Member of Parliament for the City of London.
He was Mayor of the City in 1345. (Sharpe, Calendar •, Letter
Book F, pp. 1 19, et seq.)

Another fourteenth-century will is that of Robert Howner,
Citizen and Brewer, who desired to be buried in the church of
St. Martin, and left a sum of two marks annually to the rector
and churchwardens, to found a chantry. This sum was to be
levied on his brewhouse and other tenements in the parish,
which he held of the Prioress of Dartford. The indenture of
lease between the Prioress of Dartford and Robert Howner is
also entered, dated in July, 1371. The premises were in the
parish of St. Martin without Ludgate, and the lease was for
sixty years at a rent of sixty-six shillings.

Adam Haket, bowyer, died in 1378; his widow released to
Thomas Prenteys and John Haxay, then churchwardens of
St. Martin's, a rent of seven shillings a year from a house called
" the Walssheman on the hoop," and a further rent of $s. 6d.
from a tenement in the parish, which Robert Bray held of her
late husband.

Another house, mentioned in a list of the rentals of the
church at this time, was " the Horshed without Ludgate in
Fleet Street," then inhabited by John Kyng, barber.

There is another interesting series of documents relating to
Roger Payn, " sporier," including his admission to the freedom
of the City of London, a grant to him by John de Stratton and
Isabel, his wife, of lands in the parish, and his will and codicil
proved in the Archdeaconry Court of London on April 7, 1405.
With this, and other fifteenth-century documents in this wonder-
ful volume, I hope to deal in another article.

1 This is probably a different individual. Pessoner is a fishmonger,
modern French, poissonnier. — EDITOR.

246

A CHELMSFORD CIRCLE IN THE SEVEN-
TEENTH CENTURY.

BY CLOTILDA MARSON.

SOME regret was felt by lovers of the picturesque when
Chelmsford was chosen as the See of the new Diocese of
Essex. Yet though the place has not many beautiful old
buildings, it lies in the midst of a district very rich in memories
of the past. In the seventeenth century Essex had almost the
highest rateable value among the wealthy eastern counties,
and was full of timbered halls and pargetted ceilings. " The
Nobility," says Sir John Bramston in his Autobiography,
" came very often to the Saturday market sermons, as did two
Earls of Sussex who lived at Woodham Walter." This passage
refers to Maldon, but Chelmsford was near to the Earls of
Warwick (and afterwards of Manchester) at Leighs, and to
Monck's son, the Duke of Albemarle, at New Hall. Thanks
to the old memoirs it is possible to become very intimate with
the Chelmsford circle of those long-ago days. Unfortunately,
there is nothing to equal the Verney Memoirs among the old
books, and after we have crossed that living stage it is not easy
at first to move among the pale wax-works of other authors.
Lady Verney's rare gift of selection has made the Denton and
the Verney sisters as real as Mrs. Tulliver and Mrs. Glegg in
the Mill on the Floss. With Sir Ralph Verney's warm-hearted
sister, Cary Gardiner, we can become as intimate as with Pepys
himself. There is a great charm in her liberal spelling, as when
she unconsciously dubs the baby Old Pretender " the Prince
of Wails." Her conscious comments on passing history, as on
the Revolution of 1688, are no less valuable. In 1689 she
writes : " I confes popery wod A bin much wors, for that wod
A destroyed thousands of bodies and souls and estates in a
short time ; bot I heare there is great discontents now. I have
sent you the King's speech which I liked and disliked, hee
being subject to sinsures, as well as his meanest subject"

When we have closed with reluctance the last of the four
volumes of the Verney Papers, there is some consolation in
discovering that the Verney family had many roots in other
counties, and, among others, in Essex. Cary Gardiner often
goes to stay there with her sister Betty, the wife of the Vicar

247

A CHELMSFORD CIRCLE.

of Great Badow, near Chelmsford. Sir John Bramston's
brother, Sir Moundeford Bramston, lived at Bassets, in the
next hamlet of Little Badow. The Bramstons and their kin
were dotted about all over Essex, and the Verneys and the
Stewkeleys were frequent guests in those old wainscotted
parlours.

In the Autobiography of Mary Rich, Countess of Warwick,
we get a good idea of Puritan thought and feeling in the
homes and parsonages round Leighs. But The Autobiography
of Sir John Bramston has more links with everyday seven-
teenth-century life; the quiet royalist ladies in it are more like
the Verney sisters than puritan Madam Walker in the moated
Rectory at Fyfield, near as it was to Sir John Bramston's
Essex home of Skreens. Doubtless Abigail Bramston could
"draw spirits in an alembic or cold still and make pastry,
angelots, and other cream-cheese " as well as Madam Walker,
but we fancy that she was less tied by observances, and would
foot it with the rest when Mr. Petre sent over his priest from
Ingatestone: — " I had heard him play his part in music," says
Sir John, "and he had often played to us while we were
dancing." Carlyle condemns the Autobiography because of its
long-winded incoherence, quoting meanwhile a most vivid
passage about Cromwell's troopers springing out of the corn
on the young Bramstons as they carry their father's message
to York in 1642. The book is terribly rambling and involved,
yet between its pages there lie pictures of every kind of seven-
teenth-century life, and a record of pious royalists who were
willing to suffer death, hunger, and imprisonment for their
beliefs.

The headquarters of the family was the timbered house of
Skreens, near Chelmsford, but their kin were dotted over the
whole county. Sir John does not write for the printer but
rambles on for his own grandchildren; as the memories
throng in on his mind, the pages rustle, and we seem to hear
the hoofs of the six gray and four black horses, as the two shut
" calesses " rattle through Oxford to join the Prince of Orange
in November, 1688; and we can see the spar-hawk, with
which Sir John loved to go fowling, poised above the fields
round Skreens.

The sister of Sir Ralph Verney, who lived near Sir Moun-
deford Bramston at Little Badow, was that Betty who married
late, and who always had such difficulties in finding lodgings
where her hair could be satisfactorily dressed. " I am con-

248

Sir John Bramston, C.J.K.B.
From the painting in the National Portrait Gallery.

A CHELMSFORD CIRCLE.

fident going to plow would not mack me more sick than the
reaching up of my arms does," she says. The Verney family
considered she had thrown herself away by marrying Mr.
Charles Adams, Rector of Great Badow, and she was herself
" willing to Ack knolig upon her knees this great folt of hers."
Her sister Cary deplores the " rash ackt," but condones it by
remembering that Lady Mary Bertie married Dr. Hewitt, who
was " bot a chapling." Betty Adams is the Mrs. Gummidge of
the Verney Papers \ when the grand sisters or aunts die, they
leave their silver plate to " the Quollity," but " much lumber "
to poor Betty Adams. " I am glad the elections and corona-
tion is over," she writes in 1685, "thay forgot to tolk of aney
thing els, but nothing can make me forget my soroes."

Sir John Bramston's father was a judge, who, like Sir Ralph
Verney, was not altogether a persona grata either to King or
Parliament. Carlyle quotes the account of how Charles I sent
for him to York in 1642, and the Parliament refused to allow
him to go. Consequently, he was supplanted in his office of
Chief Justice; and until the ruffling wind of civil war had
blown over, he lived quietly at Skreens, where he kept a
patriarchal board for fifty of his family and their connections,
even to the Lord Brabazon from Ireland. At first they " all
had for nothinge," but at length the kind old judge was driven
to let the clan contribute toward the table, and the " hey and
grass " for the horses.

The autobiographer was the eldest son of the judge, and a
distinguished lawyer. He had been friend and chamber-
fellow of the great Lord Clarendon, whose portrait is at
Skreens, as is also the writ from James, Duke of York, in
1667, bidding Sir John, as Vice-Admiral, hinder the escape of
the fallen Earl from any of the ports, creeks, or places within
his jurisdiction. "The drums and trumpets blew my gown
over my eares," says Sir John, " the Judges making a nose of
wax of the law, and wresting it to serve turns." Consequently,
he sold his chamber in the Temple and quitted his gown. The
beauty of the old memoir lies partly in the real piety displayed
by this very uncanting family. Cromwell was not slow to
recognize the sterling worth of the old judge; but though he
urged him earnestly to resume the office of Chief Justice, the
old man could not forget the dead King, and preferred ob-
scurity to place and power.

There are many curious particulars in the book about
doctors, illnesses, and medicines. Old Judge Bramston's first

249

A CHELMSFORD CIRCLE.

wife was Bridget Moundeford, daughter of Dr. Thomas
Moundeford, physician to James I. Perhaps this relationship
gave Sir John his intense interest in diseases and their re-
medies, and has given us glimpses of Dr. Turberville, the
friend of Pepys, Dr. Scarborow, the friend of Cowley, and
Harvey, who recommended fasting against the gout. " Dr.
Harvie hath starved himself these twentie years and yet hath
the gout," said one Mr. Coppin; to which Sir John Bramston
replied: " If to fast and have gout be all one with to eat and
have gout, I will doe as I have done " — and he lived to the
age of eighty-nine with scarce a twinge of it !

In the Verney Papers, Cary Gardiner, a connection by
marriage with Sir John Bramston's sister, Lady Dorothy
Palmer, takes her daughter Peg to see Dr. Turberville at
Crewkerne. Poor Peg's eye " labours with 4 diseases," de-
scribed in full by Gary's graphic pen. Cary is always sanguine,
and she hopes that Dr. Turberville will " butify Peg's left eye."
With her usual inconsequence Cary trusts less to Dr. Turber-
ville's skill than to the fact that " his birth is very good, which
makes mee believe hee will perform what he has promised."
In the end Peg throws over Dr. Turberville for a " mounty-
bank," to whom a good character has been given by Prince
Rupert. Towards the end of the Autobiography (which fills
400 closely-printed pages) we read how his daughter, Lady
Andrew Jenour of Bigods, near Dunmow, in Essex, comes to
his Soho house, in Greek Street, to stay with him. She has a
terrible fungus on her eye, and has been two years under the
care of Dr. Turberville at Salisbury. An " issue " on the
shoulder relieves her for a time, and then the waters of North-
hall, a Hertfordshire spring, are tried. Cowley's friend, Sir
Charles Scarborow, advises " the hummums," which seems
to have been a kind of Turkish bath, but the poor lady
proved too weak to bear such a prescription, and soon died.
She is one of the band of quiet gentlewomen who fit in
so well with the Doll Leeks, and Lady Hobarts and Aunt
I shams of the Verney Papers. Another kindly picture is that
of Sir John's sister, Lady Katharine Dyke. She was long a
widow, and highly honoured by her son, Sir Thomas Dyke,
for whose family she made a London home. She died in the
eighth year of William and Mary, days when one does not
expect minute church observances. Yet " since she came to
dwell in town, if she were in health, or not hindered by ill
weather she was at Morning or Evening Prayer in the church

250

A CHELMSFORD CIRCLE.

or tabernacle daily, as well working days as holidays and
Sundays."

Sir John's other sister, Lady Dorothy Palmer, reminds us
yet more of Aunt Isham in the Verney Papers, with her silver
pocket nutmeg-grater, or Aunt Pen Osborne, who was so
skilled in domestic medicine. Lady Osborne used to mix
white hellebore root and grated nutmeg for a cold in the head,
" to take as you do snuff, it clears the brain " ; another of her
recipes for a like complaint was " Conserve of Reddrosis."
Lady Dorothy Palmer, once of Hill, was also clever at making
home medicines. She lived to be a widow of eighty-one, pass-
ing from a daughter's summer home in Bedfordshire to another
daughter's winter home in Basingshaw Street. God had blessed
her with many cures in Bedfordshire, Sir John says, and wher-
ever she came the poor flocked to her. An ungrateful husband
left her ill-dowered, but she was always full of kind works.
She would have no physician, but caused what she had to be
made at home. On the death of her London son-in-law she
was at a loss for a home, but her sister, Lady Dyke, sends to
say : — " Bring your bed and come to me, you shall set it up in
my dining-room and we will be together."

The ways of the sisters sound old fashioned now, but their
piety is as fragrant as the herbs and the red roses they gathered
by the old Essex garden-walls. As we read of their useful
quiet lives we think of Margaret Blagge in Evelyn's pages,
who " trussed up her little fardle like the two daughters whom
the angell hastened and conducted," and left the wicked Court
of Charles II. Doubtless in the Essex cathedral of the future
there will be many living stones joined now to the Church
Triumphant, and fit to be had in everlasting remembrance:

And our chaste lamps we hourly trim,
Lest the great Bridegroom find them dim.

These words of Andrew Marvell's fit well for Sir John
Bramston's sisters and daughters, but there are stirring and
lively pages in the biography as well as quiet ones. As the
old man sat, pen in hand, in the "Low Parlour" at Skreens,
or with the rumble of London coaches in his ear at Greek
Street, the " old unhappy far-off things and battles long ago"
passed in review. There was the Uncle Stepkin, who had
drained Wapping Marshes, and then lost many of the profits
of his toil through the " hungerie courtiers " of James I. His
son, Peter Stepkin, was at Edge Hill fight, "strooke his colonel,

251

A CHELMSFORD CIRCLE.

and was sentenced to death, but escaped." Cousin William
Bramston left Cambridge and the Temple for armed fields,
endured great hardship in the siege of Colchester, and finally
died under Sir John Bramston's protection at Skreens. Thomas
Palmer, a nephew, takes his doctor's degree at Padua, and
settles at Cambridge.

The kinsfolk are not always of unblemished character. Some
of them are as shady as Lady Hobart's nephew, Dick Hals,
the highwayman, whom she helps to escape, and for whom she
borrows a flaxen "wigg" from Sir Ralph Verney. Sir John
Bramston visits his shady kinsfolk in the Fleet Prison, as else-
where, and does his kindly best for them, as he had done for
Lady Hobart's highwayman nephew when he was shut up in
Chelmsford Gaol. The Essex clergy had persuaded Dick
Hals to turn informer, and the poor highwayman writes from
Chelmsford Gaol bitterly regretting this cowardice, and long-
ing for " my state of innocency, I meane while I was a pure
theife, without blott or blemish." The same kindly charity
was shown by Sir John to a cousin, Theodosia Stepkin of
Wapping, who had three husbands, one of them an East India
merchant who " courted her with jewels and fine things." Her
credit was blasted in the end because she forged some deeds.

Sir John's own mother, a " beautiful, comely person," died
when he was a delicate lad at a Squeers-like school at Black-
more End in Essex, kept by a preaching Mr. Walmsly, who
had pies baked of the pigeons trapped by his boys at Smith's
Hall, and beat little Moundeford Bramston with fifty strokes
of a heavy elm rod, merely because he (Walmsly) was in a
temper with his wife. During the punishment the big brother
was away minding the master's cattle and conning his task.
From school John Bramston went to Wadham College, a
foundation with advantages for Essex boys, since Dorothy
Wadham was by birth an Essex Petre of the Ingatestone
family. The judge's young family was brought up by a
wonderful old Moundeford grandmother, who came to look
after them in the large city house in Philip Lane. She lived
to be ninety-four, was very straight and upright, grave and
comely, but, like so many able women, not tall. She was a
skilful needlewoman, and wrought many chairs and cushions
for her grandchildren, in spite of which she could read without
spectacles, and walk without a staff till her last short sickness.
Sir John's retentive memory passed on the tradition of another
mother in Israel. Mrs. Moundeford's mother, Elizabeth Hill,

252

A CHELMSFORD CIRCLE.

nte Locke, had been the twentieth child of a London citizen,and
had suffered perils by land and sea in the Marian persecution.
She had fled to Antwerp, taking with her " but one feather-
bed," and submitted to Catholic baptism for her children, with
the permission of Latimer and Ridley, trying to give the rite
a Protestant tincture by " putting sugar instead of salt into the
handkercher which was to be delivered to the priest." She had
two husbands, one Richard Hill and the second Nicholas
Bullingham, Bishop of Worcester.

Sir John recalls a stirring adventure in 1631, when his father
bade the lad, then a youth of twenty, accompany him on a
journey to Ireland, undertaken with the object of winning as his
second wife a lady who had been his first love. Judge Bramston
makes Hill, in Bedfordshire, the home of his daughter Lady
Palmer, the first stage in his journey. This was the same home
as that to which fifteen-year-old Cary Verney rode in her
honeymoon days, from the Verney nest at the Peach in
Covent Garden, with her husband Captain Thomas Gardiner.
One of Captain Gardiner's sisters seems to have been married
to a brother or a son of Sir William Palmer, for Cary was
much at Hill until her first husband's sad death in a skirmish
at Ethrop in 1643.

From Hill Judge Bramston and his son have a most ad-
venturous journey, by Penmaenmawr to Beaumaris and Holy-
head. They are nearly overtaken by the tide as they gallop
over the sands to Beaumaris Ferry from Chester, where they
had left their coach. They were nearly put to a swimming
bout on horseback, like that of Mistress Alice Thornton over
Swale-water when in flood, but at last the drinking ferrymen
appeared, and they were shipped in safety. At Holyhead the
Welsh parson had prepared an English sermon for the travel-
lers, but they had to leave it and their dinner in the lurch, and
take advantage of an auspicious Sunday wind.

Judge Bramston had known the lady he was wooing in
Queen Elizabeth's days, when she stayed as a young girl at
Munden Hall, near Chelmsford, with her sister Aylmer, wife
of good old Bishop Aylmer's eldest son. In those days Lord
Brabazon refused his daughter to plain John Bramston and
sent her to Ireland, where she married first a knight and then
a bishop. In 1631 she is again a widow, and the travellers
ride, with bare-legged running Irish footmen alongside, to pay
their court to the Lady Elizabeth Brereton. " When I saw
her," Sir John says, " I confess I wondered at my Father's

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A CHELMSFORD CIRCLE.

love. She was low, fatt, red-faced: her dress too was a hatt
and a ruff which she never changed to her death. But my
Father, seeing me change countenance, told me it was not
beautie but virtue he courted. I believe she had been hand-
some in her youth: she had a delicate fine hand, white and
plumpe, and indeed proved a good wife and step-mother too."
This indifference to the outer man by the graver sort in the
seventeenth century may be paralleled in the case of Sir
William Temple and many others.

The journey home, too, was not without adventure. As the
cavalcade rode over the sands from Beaumaris to Conway,
the stout bride in her ruff was perched on horseback behind
her young step-son; unthinkingly she pulled off her glove
and with it accidentally let fall her wedding-ring. The im-
perious lady at once made her serving-man dismount and fish
for the ring in the sand, and when he could not reach it leapt
from her horse and refused to move without it. The man was
made to strip his arm and fish again, while he and she sank to
their knees in the yielding sand. At last patience was rewarded,
the ring was found, and the party moved on again, climbing
like flies over the side of the beetling rock until they reached
Conway. We wish that Sir John gave more particulars of the
home life in Philip Lane and Boswell Court, but he only says
that his step-mother died in 1647, and lies buried in Roxwell
Church.

In Commonwealth days the judge and his son showed kind-
ness to Dr. Michelson, Rector of Chelmsford and Moulsham,
who was evicted from his living partly by the agency of the
Puritan Henry Mildmay, of Graces in Badow. This man was
the implacable political enemy of Sir John Bramston. " Dr.
Michelson was one day burying a corps," says Sir John, " with
the Book of Common Prayer in his hand ; the rabble threw
him into the grave, and had buried him and the booke doubt-
less (for they began to throw earth on him), had not some of
the wiser townsmen rescued him." The poor man was se-
questered and had to flee to Holland, creeping home at last to
live sparely at Writtle, on the charity of the Bramstons and
of Dr. Warner, Bishop of Rochester.

In 1654 the old judge died. He had been a little rash "in
eating of a goose," in the house of his son Moundeford, at
Bassets, in Little Badow. He had then walked from Bassets
to Tofts, " and talking with the old Lady Barrington, that
impertinent everlasting talker, he whispered me, he felt himself

254

A CHELMSFORD CIRCLE.

not well." Dr. Leonard and the judge's Kentish daughter,
Mary Porter, came to see him, but he was seventy-seven years
old, and the illness could not be shaken off. After a few days
the end came at Skreens. " And diligently to live after Thy
commandments — what a word is that diligently," he said to
Dr. Michelson. Soon after he received the Absolution and
died. He was buried at Roxwell, near Skreens. Cowley wrote
his epitaph:

Ambitione, ira, donoque potentior omni
Qui judex aliis lex fuit ipse sibi.

It was lonely for Sir John at Skreens after his father's
death, for his own happy married life with Alderman Abdy's
daughter Alice had not been a long one, though the poor lady
bore him ten children between November, 1635, and her death
in February, 1647. Sir John only paints his portraits in pastel :
they are not Dutch in their accuracy and detail, like Lady
Verney's pictures, nor has he that felicity of phrase which
makes every Verney letter so luminous, that we long for the
unwritten works of scapegrace Tom Verney more than for
fresh volumes from Sir Thomas Browne. Sir John cannot
match Cary Gardiner's second husband, John Stewkeley, who
describes his growing group of babies at Preshaw by saying:
" Here are many white aprons that have long strings." Yet
we seem to see gentle Alice Bramston sketched with a few
pale touches by the husband writing so many years after she
left him. She died in 1647, he in 1700, and he never married
again. "She was a most careful indulgent Mother to her
children," he says, " and heard them the catechism, Lord's
prayer, commandments and creed, constantly every morning,
as well as some psalms and chapters. She would daylie dress
one or more of the gyrles with her own hands. She was a very
observant wife. I scarce ever went a journey but she wept."
In the winter of 1647 she came up to her husband's London
house in the Charterhouse Yard. When she was shopping at
Thorowgood's, the linendraper's, a football came through the
window and struck the young wife, who was ailing from some
" shogg or jolt or fright coming up from Skreens, — for she
was very fearful in a coach." These complications defied the
skill of Dr. Prujean and all the physicians, and when her baby
was born she died. Sir John took his two motherless girls to
Mrs. Salmon's school at Hackney, where they probably
learned " Jappaning," and we will hope also "all accomplish-
ments that will render them considerable and lovely in the

255

A CHELMSFORD CIRCLE.

sight of God and man," as did Molly Verney at Mrs. Priest's
school at Chelsea.

Sir John's weaker side was his sternness towards Dissenters,
whom he calls " fanaticks." He would scarcely have appre-
ciated Thomas Ellwood of Thame, the young Quaker who
stood so many " whirrets " on the ear from his father for keep-
ing his hat on, and felt such pangs in his innocent heart for
having gone a back way to avoid affronting the town mag-
nates, and so having "shunned the Cross." Yet Sir John
recognizes the generosity of Mr. Ellis Crispe, a " fanatick "
who helps him in his great dilemma in 1672, when his enemy,
Henry Mildmay, hatches a little Popish plot for Sir John's
own special benefit, and suborns a Portuguese false witness,
called Macedo, to swear that Sir John is a Papist, and has a
permit from the Pope to worship the devil!

Sir John writes comparatively little about the reign of
Charles II, though he describes the King's apoplexy, and the
application of a fire-pan and burning amber to his head.
After Charles II's death, we get many most interesting diary-
entries during the stirring times of James II, and the puzzling
dilemmas of William and Mary's reign. Sir John pays many
heavy fines before he takes the new oaths, but at last he sub-
mits, feeling that King James's desertion of the kingdom has
abrogated the old oaths. " Marrie, if he doe returne, I think
our allegiance will also returne to him," writes the old man in
those days of questioning of hearts.

Perhaps the most vivid of the many life-like glimpses of
James II's short reign is the story of King James's hunt at
New Hall, near Chelmsford. It is May, 1686. His Majesty
is about to visit the Duke of Albemarle, the unworthy son of
the great General Monck. The King is in fine company:
there is young Prince George of Denmark, his daughter
Anne's husband, the Earl of Feversham, with Sedgemoor
laurels not yet withered, Lord Dartmouth, and others. " The
great lords, being on the other side of the wood, heard not the
hounds, and so several cast out and never reacht the hounds.
But the stagg came out of the wood near by Moulsham Hall,
where the King was, ran near to Wanstead, and the King was
in at the death. This put him in a good humour, and he
would have his fellow-hunters to sup with him at New Hall,
with spendthrift Albemarle and his flighty Newcastle duchess."
Next spring the Duke made a great hit by recovering the
wrecked Spanish galleon and .£200,000 of Spanish gold lost

256

A CHELMSFORD CIRCLE.

sixty years before and encrusted with rust and coral. King
James had his share, and was doubtless glad of it.

On the second day of the hunt the stag leaps the pale and
runs to the Roothings. His Majesty keeps near the dogs,
though the ditches are broad and deep, and the hedges high.
He is again much pleased that the lords are cast out, and
Lord Dartmouth sends a messenger to Copt Hall, to the Earl
of Dorset, to say the King will dine there. It turns out that
the Earl is away, and the messenger meets the Countess and
her mother, Lady Northampton, going a-visiting in their coach.
The Countess is much perturbed, for the cook and butler are
gone to the fair at Waltham. She hurries home, however, has
locks and doors broken open, and by the time the King has
washed, and viewed the house and gardens, a handsome colla-
tion is prepared. On the way back to London the King meets
the Earl of Dorset, who bemoans his ill-fortune in missing the
King : — " Make no excuses, it was exceeding well and very
handsome," answers James. In a few months the clouds have
drawn across the fresh May sky, and the Countess's uncle,
Henry Compton, Bishop of London, is suspended. Three short
years more, and Bishop Compton,in place of Sancroft, the non-
juror, is setting the crown on the heads of William and Mary.

One of the kindest of Sir John's neighbours was Lady Jane
Abdy, of Albyns, near Navestock. There is an amusing page
in the Verney Papers when twenty - one - year old Jane
Nicholas, the daughter of Dr. Denton's only child Nancy,
marries "the old gallant," Sir John Abdy of Albyns. He
must, indeed, have been an old man in 1687, as he was a
brother of Sir John Bramston's wife Alice. Edmund Verney
is much against the match. " Cosen Jinny cannot love an old
man," he writes, thinking perhaps of spoiled lives, of his own
poor lunatic wife Mary, at the White House, and Mary Eure,
whom he had loved so passionately, but might never wed.
" Doctor's Nancy " wisely leaves the decision to Jinny, " for
'tis she must live with him." Sir John Bramston tells us that
the marriage took place in Henry VII's Chapel on loth May,
1687, in a high wind — so high indeed that on the I2th the tide
was kept back and men walked down the bed of the Thames
from Westminster to Whitehall. Lady Verney tells us that
Jinny's short four years' marriage was a happy one. When
baby Jane is born nothing will please Lady Abdy but that
Sir Ralph Verney should be godfather, as he had been to the
baby's mother and grandmother.

VOL. XI. 257 S

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