Page images
PDF
EPUB

106

Curious Pedigree of the Laurences.

vention of the genealogist, for Robert Lawrence of Ashton, Esq. died 1450, leaving his eldest son James in his twenty-third year; and William Gerrard of Ince (ancestor of Lord Gerrard of Gerrard Bromley), having married Cecilia the daughter of Laurence Standish, he makes her daughter of Sir James Laurence, and carry Ashton Hall to the Gerrard family. This was an ingenious operation, out of two individuals, James Standish, and Laurence Standish, to compose Sir James Laurence of Standish. Thus the genealogist was ignorant that Ashton Hall had passed through heiresses from the Lawrences to the Butlers of Rawcliffe; from the Butlers to the Ratcliffes of Wimersley; and from the Ratcliffes to the Gerrards of Gerrards Bromley; but conceived that it had passed immediately through a daughter of Sir James from the Lawrences to the Gerrards. It has since passed, through the heiress of the last Lord Gerrard, to the Dukes of Hamilton.

When John Lawrence, son of Sir James, was killed at Flodden Field, the chief part of the Lawrence property was divided between the four daughters of Robert Lawrence, only brother of Sir James, or their descendants; whilst other manors descended to Lancelot Lawrence of Yeland Hall, as the next male descendant to Sir Robert, and consequently head of the family; whereas the curious pedigree passes over in silence the Laurences of Yeland Hall, and makes this Robert leave three sons, Robert, John, and William, and makes this William marry Isabella, heiress of John Molyneux. Of this marriage there is no record, but William Molyneux of Sefton married Elizabeth Clifton, granddaughter and coheir of Robert Lawrence. This William Lawrence, according to the pedigree, in 1509 sold all his property in Lancashire; but for what reason is not certainly known, and purchased Norton in Warwickshire, and lands at Withington in Gloucestershire, whose revenues were anciently more than 20001. a year.

We may remark, that about 1510 a certain John Lawrence, of Tishoe in Warwickshire, bequeaths lands at Norton Limesi, in Warwickshire, to his cousin William Lawrence (registro Bennet).

William Lawrence of Withington, by his will (registro Chauncy) 1559,

[Aug.

bequeaths five hundred pounds, and five hundred sheep, among his five sons or their children. He having survived Thomas and Edmund, he names Richard Lawrence of Foxcote the supervisor of his will, and directs that he should be buried at Withington, near his late wife Alice (and not Isabella). 1. John, his eldest son, was parson at Withington; he died intestate 1568, and his brothers William and Robert administered his will. This John Lawrence must not be confounded with another John Lawrence, prebendary of Worcester, whose will is registro Buck, 1551. 2. Thomas Law

rence died before his father, 1559 (registro Chauncey); he left three children, John, Agnes, and Eleanore. John, settled at Stowgumber, died 1596 (registro Drake), having survived his sou Richard of Stowgumber, who died 1593 (registro Nevile), leaving daughters. 3. Robert Lawrence of Shurdington, Yeoman, died 1585 (registro Brudenell), leaving William, Robert, and Antony, who was of Sevenhampton. William of Shurdington died 1638, leaving William, Antony, and Isaac, who married Grizel Lawrence of Chelsea. 4. William Lawrence of Yanworth, Yeoman, died 1582 (registro Tyrwhit), leaving William of Cricklade. 5. Edmund Lawrence, Yeoman, died before his father 1559 (registro Chauncy), and Richard Lawrence of Foxcote, Yeoman, died 1575 (registro Carew).

Such was William of Withington, and his immediate descendants. Without any pretension to gentility, they were richer than half the gentry of the land. For though he must be ignorant of the value of money, who could

assert that his revenues were two thousand pounds a year; yet few squires in the days of Queen Bess had five hundred pounds to bequeath; and, though many of our most illustrious peers are descended from less elevated ancestors, it would be absurd to believe that a yeoman was the nephew of Sir James Lawrence of Ashton Hall, whose brother-in-law the Viscount Welles had married the Princess Cecilia, daughter of King Edward IV.

The Lawrences of Ashton Hall being cut off in 1513, the Lawrences of Yeland Hall became the senior branch. Thomas Lawrence, the second son of Sir Robert, had married Mabilla daughter and heir of John

1829.]

Curious Pedigree of the Laurences.

Redmain of Yeland-Redmain, whose pedigree is in the Bodleian Library, Dodsworth, vol. 120. Thomas Lawrence, Miles, according to Dodsworth, vols. 147 and 149, was Sheriff of Lancashire from the 11th to 23d of Hen. VI. He had six sons, Edmund, John, William, Robert, Richard, and James. One of the elder sons must have been father of the above-mentioned Launcelot, who died 26th Hen. VIII. leaving Thomas and Robert. Robert died 2d Philip and Mary, leaving by Anne daughter of Thomas Bradley of Bradley, an only daughter Anne Lawrence, who married Walter Sydenham, third son of Sir John Sydenham, of Brimpton in Somersetshire. Observe that the fifth son of Thomas of Yeland was named Richard.

But to return to the curious pedigree. Nicholas Lawrence of Agercroft, younger brother of Sir James, married an heiress of Moore. Here are three errors; Sir James had no brother but Robert. Agercroft, a mansion near Manchester, belonged to the family of Sir Robert Lungley, and the heiress of More, who was widow of

Nicholson, was not the mother, but the first wife of Sir Oliver Laurence, and hence his descendants quartered her arms. Nicholas had seven sons, Thomas, Robert, William, John, Richard, Henry, and Sir Oliver. The fifth son of this brood was a Richard also. This Richard, says the genealogist, was seated at Stapleton, co. Dor

set.

Now the Lawrences of Winterton Stapleton, of whom Hutchins gives an account, were the descendants of the above-mentioned Richard of Foxcote, a yeoman, and consequently could not be of the Ashton Hall family.

But according to Harl. MS. No. 5533, add. Cat., Richard Lawrence, Gent., in right of his wife Agnes, daughter and heir of Thomas Franks, Chancellor at Law, 9 Hen. VII. was of Hertingfordbury, co. Herts, from 23 Hen. VII., to 28 Hen. VIII. William Laurence, Gent., who married Dorothy daughter of Walter Wrottesley of Wrottesley Hall, co. Stafford, was of Hartingfordbury from 28 Hen. VIII. to 3 Eliz. Roger Lawrence, Gent. who married Elizabeth, daughter of George Minne, Esq. of Hartingfordbury, was of Hartingfordbury from 3 Edw. to 6 Eliz. Susan Laurence, daughter and coheir of Roger, married John Darnel, Esq. by whom she had

107

four daughters; the eldest, Elizabeth, married Christopher Vernon, Esq. son of William Vernon of Stukeley, co. Hunts. He died 1652, and on the monument which she erected to his memory, she styles her mother Susan, coheres Rogeri Laurence, post varias Laurentiorum successiones in Hertingfordbury prædictâ vere celeberrimas, masculorum ultimi.

In Mr. Clutterbuck's Hertfordshire, Richard is named John, but his account of the family is less circumstantial than the above.

Now this Richard bore for difference in his arms an annulet; he therefore must have been a fifth son. He has been considered the brother of Sir Oliver; but as the deaths of the father, son, and grandson, succeeded so rapidly, he might have lived to a very old age, and have been the son of Thomas of Yeland; and as nothing is known of the father of Sir Oliver, neither where he dwelt, nor whom he married, and as Nic. and Ric. Nich. and Rich. in the decyphering of antient deeds, are so easily confounded, it is not impossible that Richard of Hartingfordbury has been converted into Nicholas of Agercroft. William died either in the 3d of Edw., or 3d of Eliz., and Sir Oliver, who died 1558-9, mentions in his will his sister Dorothy. This may possibly mean his sister-in-law. Thomas Franks bore the same arms as the Franks of Campsal; and at York is the will of Thomas Lawrence of Campsal, proved 1530. This Thomas may be one of the seven sons. In two Harleian MSS. Nos. 1457 and 4198, are the arms of John Laurence, Esq. bearing the Lion of Saint Ives placed among the Yorkshire gentry; and the two wives of William Laurence, of Saint Ives, Sheriff and Knight of the Shire of Hunts, were Frances, daughter of Henry Hunston of Loudham, Notts, and Margaret Kaye of Woodsom, Yorkshire. (See Gent. Mag. for Aug. 1815.)

These observations may be useful to those (and several there are) who at no small expense and trouble are endeavouring to make out the Laurence pedigree. The Hertingfordbury wills, could they be discovered either at Buckden, at Hertford, or at Lincoln, would clear up every difficulty. Three generations of so distinguished a family could not have died intestate. The inquisitions post mortem at the Rolls

112

A Walk to Beresford.-The Influence of Comets.

swers to Curious Questions in Arts and Sciences," but which in reality was nothing better than a collection of childish dissertations upon trivial subjects. In this delectable work I find the following silly query of Response respecting Old Rose, which I transcribe, not because they throw the smallest light upon the subject, but to show for how long a time the saying must have been obsolete:

"Question.

"We sent y' a letter t'other day,
As we were moistening our clay,
Not touching matter philosophic,
Or any other soaring topic,
But an odd saying, that's so very
Current amongst us when we're merry;
Highly conceiting there would follow
Solution by the next Apollo.
But, disappointed of that pleasure,
(Whether through loss, or want of leisure,)
We still address, in sanguine hope,
Ye will not let the question drop;
But compliment us honest fellows,
And the original meaning tell us,

Of singing old Rose and burning the bellows.

Answer.

Your ditty, merry fellows, know,
Came to our hands ten days ago;
But then our brains stood mathematic,
And all our flights were most extatic;
Till now, like you, our clay we moisten,
And so, by chance, your question hoist in.
An answer then we'll give you, very
True, an't please ye, Sirs, and merry;
Highly conceiting there will follow,
Thanks to your faithful friend Apollo.
In good King Stephen's days, the Ram,
An ancient inn at Nottingham,
Was kept, as our wise father knows,
By a brisk female call'd Old Rose;
Many, like you, who hated thinking,
Or any other theme but drinking,
Met there, d'ye see, in sanguine hope
To kiss their landlady, and tope;
But one cross night, 'mongst twenty other,
The fire burnt not, without great pother,
Till Rose, at last, began to sing,
And the cold blades to dance and spring;
So, by their exercise and kisses,
They grew as warm as were their wishes;
When, scorning fire, the jolly fellows
Cry'd, Sing Old Rose and burn the bellows."

While on the subject of old song, it may be remarked that the text of the one commencing “Like Hermit Poor," as engraved with the music in Major's edition (as I believe it is the same in all others), seems to be given very incorrectly. The editor of the forth

[Aug.

coming reprint will do well to consult a copy of the poem in question, given at p. 115 of Clifford's "Tixall Poetry," 1813, from which I think he may adopt various emendations.

One word more about Walton's book. In turning to the passage which mentions Old Rose, the following quetation caught my eye:

"Many a one

Owes to his country his religion;
And in another would as strongly grow,
Had but his nurse or mother taught him so."

May I ask from whose works Izaak took this passage, which is evidently the original of the following, by Dryden: "By education most have been misled, So they believe, because they so were bred; The priest continues what the nurse began, And thus the child imposes on the man." JAMES BROUGHTON.

I

Mr. URBAN, Aug. 10. AM glad to perceive that a Correspondent, in pt. i. p. 409, takes the same view that I do of the influence of Comets on our system. I know not whether or no he has seen my late publication "On the Atmosphe rical Origin of the exciting Cause of Diseases," but if not, he will find therein abundant proof of what he has hinted at respecting the manner in which Comets disturb our system; and by rousing volcanos, producing earthquakes, and deranging in some unknown manner the atmospherical electricity, not only give a peculiar character to the seasons, but produce various forms of pestilence and famine. I was led to a knowledge of this fact, as it were, by accident, while I was examining a long historical Catalogue of pestilences and plagues which I had made, with a view of illustrating the atmospherical nature of such disorders of health. I perceive, to my surprise, that the years of general pestilence were years in which there were Comets. And this, indeed, was the almost universal belief of the ancient physicians and astronomers. The notions entertained by Kepler the astronomer, on this subject, are well known; and however much some astronomers may affect to laugh at them, a long and patient examination of facts has convinced me that they will be found correct. T. FORSTER.

1829.]

Drayton as a Dramatic Poet.

a

Poetic constellation which shed splendour over the age of our august Elizabeth:-and the Poets of that time, whose names will occur in his epistle to his friend Mr. Henry Reynolds, have been regarded as his intimately-connected friends. The Dramatic writers are especially included; and, as doubts have been entertained by many whether the Plays ascribed to him in the above list were really from his pen, or whether he produced any, the following Sonnet of Drayton may, I conceive, be received as evidence and proof of his having written for the stage, and written successfully, which is the aim of this Essay. The Sonnet also evinces that his feelings of triumph were evanescent, as towards the close he speaks thus of his state of

mind:

"When the proud round on every side hath

rung,

Sadly I sit, unmoved with the applause,
As though to me it nothing did belong."

To this indifference for fame, as a writer for the stage, may be attributed his withholding his plays from the press; and probably he dreaded to en. counter a comparison with the powerful scenes of the higher order of authors in the dramatic line.

men:

SONNET 47.

From the small Quarto of 1613. In pride of wit, when high desire of fame Gave life and courage to my labouring pen, And the first sound and vertue of my name Wan grace and credite in the eares of [presse, With those the thronged Theatres that I in the circuit for the lawrel strove, Where the first praise, I freely must confesse, [move : In heate of bloud a modest minde might With showts and claps at everie little pause, When the proude round on every side hath

rung,

Sadly I sit, unmov'd with the applause, As though to me it nothing did belong : No publique glorie vainely I pursue, All that I secke is to eternize you." Fuller has mentioned Drayton among the "Worthies of Warwickshire," and asserts that "the place of his birth was near that of his countryman William Shakspeare." This may not, however, be correct, as some accounts state that Drayton was born in Leicestershire. Their births certainly occurred nearly at the same time; Drayton was born in 1563, and Shakspeare in 1564, so that their career as writers must have run closely together during

109

the life of our favourite, whom Drayton survived full fifteen years. The Poly-Olbion of this latter writer was first published in 1612, at which tine Shakspeare had partially withdrawn from public life, and devoted himself to the improvements of his newlyformed retreat on the banks of the Avon. Drayton speaks of this river in the 13th and 14th Song in this elaborate Poem; but in neither can any complimentary tribute be traced to Shakspeare, although the opportunities were favourable as well on the first publication of the Poly-Olbion, as subsequently when the work appeared with the twelve additional Songs, after Shakspeare's death.

It is, however, due to Drayton to say that he possessed very sound judgment as a critic. This will appear manifest by the following short selections from his Epistle to his friend Henry Reynolds, which are confined solely to the writers for the stage; and the admired Shakspeare's praises are therein confined to four verses.

"Neat MARLOW, bathed in the Thespian springs,

Had in him those brave translunary things, That the first Poets had; his raptures were All air and fire, which made his verses clear, For that fine madness still he did retain, Which rightly should possess a Poet's brain." "And surely NASHE, though he a Proser

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]
[blocks in formation]

Whose knowledge did him worthily prefer,
And long was Lord here of the Theatre."

Beaumont is also noted with his
brother Sir William Beaumont, but
the name of the divine Fletcher is
not introduced in the Poem.
Yours, &c.

W. P.

A WALK TO Beresford.
(Continued from p. 31.)

HE fishing-house of Izaak Wal

THE

ton, is 15 feet square, and about 30 feet in height, to the centre of the pointed roof. Opposite the entrance, in the right-hand corner, is an angular excavation, wherein it is said Cotton deposited his wine. Our cicerone informed us that "soon after Squire Cotton's time" his aunt was housekeeper at the hall, then occupied by a Mr. Osborn, at which period the fishing house was ceiled and in good condition; and that Mr. O. being a devoted angler, had a mattress there, for the convenience of sleeping near the river, which was raised or let down by pulleys. The hall, he added, now be longs to a Mr. Jebb, of Chesterfield in Derbyshire, whose maiden sister long resided there, expending much money to keep the house and grounds in a state differing greatly from their present forlorn condition. It is now in

habited by a labourer and his family, and two or three apartments are occupied by a clergyman named Ward, who does duty at Hartington and Wetton; but we were told that Mr. Jebb had intimated an intention of making it his own residence. This idea, however, I presume he abandoned; for about twelve months after the time at which we visited the place, it was announced for sale. The advertisement issued on the occasion I shall subjoin, for two reasons; firstly, because certain matter-of-fact readers may wish to know the precise dimensions of the estate by actual measurement; and, secondly, because the admirers of Walton and Cotton will be gratified to see that the fame of their favourites has penetrated even the dusky recesses of an auctioneer's office: "Beresford Hall, Staffordshire, formerly the residence of Charles Cotton, esq.

"To be sold by auction, by Mr. Nichol son, on Wednesday the 10th day of August next, at the house of Mr. Wood, the Green Man, in Ashborne, at two o'clock in the

af

on, all the manor, or reputed manor,

[Aug.

of Beresford, in the county of Stafford, consisting of an ancient mansion or hall house, rookery, &c. &c. and near 90 acres of land, on the river Dove, which forms the eastern boundary of the property. The rocks and the whole of the romantic scenery are well clothed with both ancient and young timber, and the property is well known to the public, not only for its very great and picturesque beauty, but also from its having been the favourite residence and place of retirement of MR. COTTON, and of his friend IZAAK WALTON.

"It consists of the mansion house, garden, orchard, kitchen-garden, plantations of meadows, making (with the river) near 90 acres in the whole, about 70 acres of which are excellent dairy land.

[ocr errors]

Any farther particulars may be had at court, Lincoln's-inn, London; and at the Mr. M. Thomas's, No. 6, New Boswelloffice of Mr. Thomas in Chesterfield.

Chesterfield, July 13, 1825."

So much for Beresford! It is one of the few much talked-of spots which realize all the expectations their celebrity may have excited, and by their own native charms add tenfold interest to the associations connected with

[ocr errors]

envy towards

them. Whilst I gazed upon its scenery the possessor of such a (not without a feeling of retreat from care,") Cotton's enthusiastic burst in lection, and I mentally repeated his its praise came forcibly upon my recolthe perfect truth as well as beauty of lines, with an intense perception of the description:

"Good God! how sweet are all things here!
How beautiful the fields appear!

How cleanly do men feed and lie!
Lord! what good hours they keep!
How quietly they sleep!

What peace! what unanimity!
How different from the lewd town fashion
Is all their business, all their recreation!"

put together from rough notes made on
The foregoing observations have been
the spot, without much attempt at ar-
rangement, and without
to swell them by calling in the trea-
endeavour
any
cherous aid of memory; for, like the
Irish witness, I was fearful that, at
this distance of time, I might per-
chance" remember more than I ever

knew."

I shall close this paper with a few scattered notices relating to Walton, which, trivial though they be, will not be quite uninteresting to his admirers.

sign," is allowed to be an undeniable
"To swing the hero of an alehouse
proof of celebrity; and this honour

« PreviousContinue »