The Family flourished in the greatest repute, and in an uninterrupted male succession in this county, from the arrival of the Saxons in this kingdom, to 1821, having borne a conspicuous part in the annals and history of the county for above thirteen hundred years; but upon the death of the last Earl, on March 9, of that year, became extinct in the male line.

Hugh Talmache, who subscribed the Charter, sans date, but about the reign of King Stephen, of John de St. John, granted to Eve, the first Abbess of Godstowe, in Oxfordshire, is the first of the family on record. In his old age he became a monk at Gloucester, and gave to the Abbey there a moiety of his town of Hampton, which Peter, his son, confirmed in the time of the first Abbot.

William Talmache gave lands in Bentley and Dodness to the Priory of Ipswich, which gifts were confirmed in the reign of King John. In the twentyfifth year of the reign of Edward I. Sir Hugh de Talmache held the Manor of Bentley of the crown, as well as the fourth part of the village of Aketon, in the hundred of Baberg, by Knight's Service, servitium militare.

Sir Lionel Tollemache, of Bentley, who flourished in the reigns of Henry VI. and Edward IV., married the heiress of the family of Helmingham, by which alliance he acquired this estate. His son, John, was the father of Lionel, who most probably built the present edifice. He was High Sheriff of this County, and of Norfolk, in 1512. In the thirty-eighth year of his reign, King Henry VIII. granted him the Manors of Wansden, Le Church Hey, Bury Hall, Wyllows, and Overhall, to hold of the crown by Knight's service.

His son, Lionell, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth, and was High Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk in 1567. He married Dorothy, the daughter of Sir Richard Wentworth, of Nettlested, and was the father of Sir Lionel Tollemache, who was High Sheriff of the above-mentioned Counties in 1593. His son, Sir Lionel, was High Sheriff of Suffolk, in 1609, and was advanced to the dignity of a Baronet, at the first institution of that Order, in 1611, being the twelfth Baronet in the order of precedency. In 1617 he was again High Sheriff of this County, and married Catharine, the daughter of Henry, Lord Cromwell, of Wimbledon, by Mary, his Lady, daughter of John, Marquess of Winchester. He was succeeded in title and estate by his son, Sir Lionel Tollemache, Bart., who lived in great honour and esteem in the County, and was succeeded by his son, Sir Lionel, who married Elizabeth, the daughter and heiress of William Murray, the first Earl of Dysart, by whom he had a son, Sir Lionel Tollemache, the fourth Baronet, who, on the death of his mother, in 1696, became the second Earl of Dysart, a title derived from the Royal Borough of that name in Fifeshire. By the Act of Union, in 1707, he became a Peer of Great Britain.-His Lordship married, in 1680, Grace, the eldest daughter and co-heiress of Sir Thos. Wilbraham, Bart., of Woodhey, in Cheshire, by which alliance the family became possessed of the Seat of Woodhey and vast estates in Cheshire: the Mansion is now a Farm House.

The second brother of this Earl was Thomas Tollemache, a gallant and distinguished officer in the reign of King William III. He was killed in an unfortunate attempt to destroy the Harbour of Brest, 30th June, 1694, and is buried at Helmingham.

The Earl of Dysart deceased 3rd February, 1726, and was succeeded by his grandson, Lionel, the third Earl, who was created a Knight, Companion of the most ancient Order of the Thistle, in 1743. His Lordship died in 1770, and was succeeded by his son, Lionel, the fourth Earl of Dysart, who died at Ham House, 22nd February, 1799, æt. 63, and was succeeded in his honours and estates by his brother, Wilbraham, the fifth Earl of Dysart, and Baron Huntingtower of the kingdom of Scotland, and a Baronet.

In these titles his Lordship was succeeded by Lady Louisa Manners, his sister, and widow of John, eldest son of Lord William Manners, the son of John, second Duke of Rutland. Her Ladyship's eldest son, Sir William Manners, of Buckminster Park, in Leicestershire, was created a Baronet in 1793, and is now Lord Huntingtower.

Kentwell Hall, Suffolk;

THE SEAT OF

RICHARD MOORE, ESQ.

THIS ancient Mansion stands on rising ground, a short distance north of the town of Melford, five miles and a half from Sudbury, and was, most probably, erected in the latter end of the reign of Elizabeth, by Sir William Clopton, Knt. The principal front of the House is represented in the annexed Plate, being a fine example of the style of architecture at that period: in plan, it displays a centre and two projecting wings, forming half the letter H, and enclosing a court, which is approached by a bridge over a moat, at present only partially environing the edifice; within a short distance, and leading to it, is a very fine avenue of trees. Most of the windows are adorned with painted glass, principally consisting of the various armorial escutcheons of the family alliances of its former proprietors. The Grounds are not much varied, but are beautifully wooded, presenting the most delightful home scenery.

Sir Thomas Clopton, grandson of William Clopton, of Wickham Brook, about seven miles from Clare, in this county, acquired the estate by his marriage with Catharine, the daughter and heiress of William Mylde, who died in 1263, the forty-eighth year of the reign of Henry the Third. The family of Clopton, by one of whom the House was erected, resided here for a very considerable period. At the upper end of the north aisle of Melford church, is an altar monument to the memory of William Clopton, Esq., the son of Sir Thomas Clopton, who died in 1446. Upon the tomb is his cumbent effigies in armour. There is also a fine monument, under an arch, upon the north side of the altar, to John Clopton, son of the preceding, and his wife, Alice Darcy, with their figures kneeling, dressed in armorial tabards. He was sheriff of this county, and of Norfolk, in 1451; and, not long before his death, contributed to the erection of a most beautiful Chapel, at the east end of the Church. That he was the founder of the Chapel, appears from the following Inscription, upon the frieze under the battlements:

Pray for the sowle of John Hill, and for the sowle of John
Clopton, Esquwyre, and pray for the sowle of Richard Love-
day Boteler, with John Clopton, of whose goddis this chap-
pel is embattylld by his executors. Pray for the sowlis of
William Clopton, Esquwyre, and Margery, his wifis, and for
all their parentes and children, and for the sowlis of Alice
Clopton, and for John Clopton, and for all his children, and
for all the sowlis that the said John is bounde to pray for,
which deed this chapel new repare, A. D. Ao cccc lxxxx. iii.”

Sir William Clopton, Knight, a descendant of the above, left an only daughter and heiress, Anne, who, in 1626, married Sir Symonds D'Ewes, of Stow Langtoft, the celebrated historian and antiquary, who, in 1640, was M. P. for Sudbury, and, July 15, 1641, was created a Baronet. He died April 18, 1650, and was succeeded in his titles and large estates, at Stow Hall, by his son, by a second marriage, Sir Willoughby D'Ewes, second Baronet. This estate passed with his only daughter, Sissilia, who died in 1661, to her husband, Sir Thos. Darcy, Baronet, and soon afterwards became the property of Sir Thos. Robinson, who was created a Baronet, 26th January, 1682; his grandson, early in the last century, sold the whole to John Moore, Esq., whose descendant is the present possessor.

Richard Moore, Esq. married, in 1796, Sidney Arabella, the daughter of Admiral Cotton, and niece to Sir Robert Salusbury Cotton, Bart.

THE SEAT OF

SIR WILLIAM PARKER, BART.

MELFORD, commonly called Long Melford, is a very pleasant town, situated upon the river Stour, about three miles from Sudbury. The Mansion of Sir William Parker stands upon the east side of the green, and is a spacious building, of brick, the principal part of which was evidently constructed in the reign of Elizabeth. It now environs three sides of a quadrangle, of uniform architecture; the principal feature being four towers, which rise above the roof in an octangular form, ornamented towards the upper part with quatrefoils upon each side, and terminating in cupolas and vanes. Part of the Mansion is believed to be of more ancient date than we have above assigned to it.. In Howell's time, previous to the civil wars, the quadrangle was complete. Vide his "Letters."

Upon the site of this Mansion was a country residence of the Abbots of St. Edmund's at Bury, which continued in their possession until the dissolution of Monasteries, when the Manor of Melford, together with the advowson of the Church, a remarkably fine edifice, were granted to Sir William Cordell, Knt., in the 37th year of Henry VIII. 1545. Upon the accession of Queen Mary to the throne, to this grant was added another, of the Lands of the Hospital St. Saviour, without the North Gate of Bury. This latter was afterwards settled on the Hospital at Melford, founded by Sir William Cordell in 1573. In the apartments of the ancient mansion still remain some portraits of members of the family of Cordell; amongst them one of Sir William Cordell, Knt., Speaker of the House of Commons, and Master of the Rolls, to whom the estates were granted in the time of Philip and Mary.

Upon the death of Sir William without issue, these estates devolved upon his sister, the wife of Richard Allington, Esq., whose only child, Mary, conveyed the property by marriage to Sir John Savage, whose son, Sir Thomas, obtained the title of Viscount Colchester. John, his son, on the decease of his grandfather, Thomas Darcy, in 1639, succeeded to the title of Earl Rivers, and this Mansion was the residence of his widow during the civil wars. The Countess Rivers was Mary, daughter of Thomas Ogle, Esq., of South Dissington, in Northumberland. Her houses, Fuller informs us, were the first'fruits of plunder in England.

The loss of the noble proprietor, in plate, money, costly hangings, and other rich furniture, here, and at her other Seat at St. Osyth, in Essex, is estimated at the immense sum of £100,000.

Melford Hall was, during all this time, mortgaged to Sir John Cordell, and was afterwards sold to Sir Robert Cordell, created a Baronet in 1660, who made this Seat his constant residence.

On the failure of issue male, the estate and property at length devolved to the family of Firebrace, but has been for some years the principal seat of the family of the present propriétor, who is descended from Sir Henry Parker, Bart., originally of Honington, in Warwickshire.