Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 12.djvu/394

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. xn. OCT. 23, 1909.

Lewen Gent and did then & there in the highway aforesaid put him in bodily fear and peril of his Life & Seven Guineas Value Seven pounds & seven shillings & Sixteen Shillings in money numbred, the Moneys of the said Martin Lewen from the person & against the will of ^the said Martin in the highway aforesaid did feloniously & violently Steal Take & Carry away and it is hereby further certified that Martin Lewen Gent John Dyer Edward Her- ring Jonathan Wild were the persons who appre- hended the said Humfry Anger & did prosecute him the said Humfry Anger until he was Convicted of the said Robbery.

And pursuant to an Act of Parliamt made in the fourth year of the Reign of his late Maty King William the 3d Intituled An act for the Encouraging the apprehending of highwaymen &c. Wee the said Justices Doo Com and the said Sheriff to pay them the said Martin Lewen, John Dyer, Edward Herring, Jonathan Wild the Reward of fforty Pounds in manner following Vizt Unto the said Martin Lewen the sum of Eight pounds the said John Dyer two pounds, to the said Edward Herring the Sum of ffi\ 7 e pounds & to the said Jonathan Wi'd the Sum of Twenty five pounds Dated this 27th of September in the tenth Year of the Reigne of Our Sovereign Lord George King of Great Britain c Anno Dm 1723.

Gerard Conyers Mayor

Wm. Thompson Recorder

This is a true Copy of the [original deleted} Certificate remaining in the office of the Auditor of the Acct of his Matys Exchqr.

Matth. Cowdery.

ALFRED F. BOBBINS.

" THE ESSEX SERPENT " AND OTHER WESTMINSTER TAVERNS.

AT 10 S. x. 310 a query was raised as to the origin of the sign of " The Essex Ser- pent," and at 10 S. x. 376 replies were fur- nished by MB. HOLDEN MACMICHAEL, MB. ALAN STEWABT, and m\ self. In my reply I called attention to the altered character of Charles Street, Westminster, where there had formerly been an old inn having this sign, to which allusion is made in Larwood and Hotten's ' History of Signboards,' but no particulars are given concerning it.

I have lately become acquainted with a gentleman Mr. H. J. Price, of Ladbroke Road who is a son of the late Mr. Jabez Price, and who for five or six years lived next door to the house in question, and so knew something of its latter days.

" The Essex Serpent " was numbered 44 and 45 in Charles Street, which with No. 43, the residence of Mr. Price, and No. 46, formed a block of four houses owned by Messrs. J. Carter Wood, of Artillery Brewery. The two houses in the centre had been licensed premises for a long time, and were also known as " The Royal Rendezvous," one of the many centres for recruiting, not

only in this street, but in the neighbourhood. At the back had been built (over the greater portion of the yards of the two houses in question, and also of No. 43) a structure devoted to bedrooms, in which there was sleeping accommodation for several hundreds of recruits, the landlord being compelled to have always ready at least two hundred beds, at a fixed charge of 4dL each per night, he being paid whether they should be required or not. There was also a regular canteen on the premises for its military frequenters, the general patrons of the house being debarred from entering it. The landlord at the time in question, was Sam. Nurse, who with his sister " Georgie " managed the extensive premises. When its end came the compensation awarded amounted,. I believe, to over 8,000, the largest given to any trader in the street. Recruiting went on here for both cavalry and infantry, as well as for Highland regiments.

In this street were some other well-known licensed houses, notably at the corner of Duke Street being " The Robin Hood and Little John," a strange sign for a London

Eublic-house. This was kept by a Mrs, izer, the buxom widow of one of the old Bow Street Runners* This was not one of the military houses, but was largely patron- ized by the Government and other clerks of the locality, and was always considered one of the most reputable in the street.

Another house was " The Hampshire Hog." This was a military depot, most of the regiments of Heavy Dragoons making it their head-quarters. The landlord was named Fox, and well known in Westminster in his day.

Another house was " The Ship," kept by a man named Havers, and here was the recruiting-place for the 60th Rifles, the King's Own and Prince Consort's Rifle Regiments.

There was also another licensed house known as Gawthorpe's, the sign of which (if it had one) has escaped my memory. This was also not a military house, but was largely used by the people employed at the printing-offices of Messrs. Nichols and Messrs. Metchim, in King Street, and to some extent by the clerks engaged hard by.

Yet another house, " The Magpie and Horseshoe," was situated in Gardener's Lane, only a short distance from Charles Street, a narrow thoroughfare leading from King Street into Duke Street. The house was approached by a narrow entrance up a double flight of steps having a handrail. This house had a skittle alley, which was