Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 4.djvu/72

 56 NOTES AND QUERIES. [io» a. iv. JULY is. WOR Shelley (born 1538, died 1597), the subject of MB. WAINKWKIGHT'S note. In Berry's' Hamp- shire Genealogies,' p. 52, her husband is styled Sir George Cotton, Knt. But is that correct? A list of Hampshire recusants, apparently made in 1592, includes the name of " George Cotton, of Warblington, Esquire " (' Cal. of Cecil MSS.,' iv. 270, 271). H. C. George Cotton's wife Mary was William Shelley's sister (see Berry, 'Sussex Genea- logies,' p. 63; ' Hants Genealogies,' p. 52). At the latter reference Berry calls George Cotton a knight. This is perhaps a mistake. One George Cotton was knighted in 1603, but lie was of Cambridgeshire, not Hants (see Metcalfe's ' Book of Knights,' p. 148). He was very likely the Sir George Cotton who married Cassandra, daughter of Henry MacWilliams, Esq. (see Strype's ' Cheke,' 134). Our George Cotton was a recusant who suffered imprisonment for his religion; cf. 'P.C.A..' (N.S.), x. 11, 87, 89,325 ; xiv. 87 ; xvii. 357; xviii. 415; xxiv. 475; xxv. 208; xxvi. 362 ; xxvii. 589. Cf. Strype, «Ann.,' II. ii. 660; iv. 276. His son Richard and a cousin named George were also recusants ('Cal. Cecil MSS.,1 iv. 270-1). I am sorry I cannot give ME. HALL any information as to the dates of birth, mar- riage, and death of Mary Cotton. JOHN B. WAINKWEIOHT. The following notes as to near relatives of William Shelley may possibly be of use in the way of supplementing ME. WAINE- WBIGHT'S very interesting narrative :— William Shelley's mother was Mary, daugh- ter of Sir William Fitzwilliam, Knt., of Gaynes Park, co. Essex. Her elder half- sister, Anne, was the wife of Sir Anthony Cooke, Knt., of Gidea Hall, Essex. This close connexion with the family may have led to his being appointed guardian of Wil- liam Shelley. Sir Anthony was father-in-law of Lord Burleigh, the Lord High Treasurer, and also of Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal; and it was, perhaps, Bur- leigh's influence at Court which in after years was of so much assistance to Mrs. Jane Shelley. William Shelley's mother married secondly, as his second wife. Sir John Guildford, Knt., of Benenden, co. Kent, and by him had issue a son, Richard Guildford, who married a daughter and heir of Home. Dame Mary Guildford died about the year 1578, having outlived her second husband some thirteen years. Two brothers of William Shelley have been •eferred to, viz., John, the father of Sir John Shelley, Bart., and Thomas, the Winchester scholar of 1555. Another brother, Richard Shelley, is mentioned in the 'Visitation of Yorkshire, 1563-4,' Harl. Soc., p. 127. The sisters of William Shelley were:— 1. Elizabeth, who married Sir Thomas uildford, Knt. (son, by his first wife, of the oefore-mentioned Sir John Guildford). They liad issue one son, Sir Henry, and three daughters. 2. Eleanor, who married Thomas Norton, son and heir of Sir John Norton, Knt., of Northwood, co. Kent. For their issue see 'Visitation of Kent, 1619,' Harl. Soc., p. 80. 3. Margaret, who married Edward Gage, son and heir of James Gage (perhaps James Gage, of Bentley, co. Sussex, second son of Sir John Gage, K.G.). Edward Gage, whose monument is in the Bentley Chapel at Framfield, and who died 1595, is men- tioned as amongst the recusants reported by the sheriffs of the county to Queen Eliza- beth ('S.A.C.,'11, 62). 4. Mary, who married Sir George Cotton, Knt. (b. 1538, d. 1610), of Warblington Castle, Hants, llichard Cotton, their eldest son, was born about 1570 ; and their eldest daugh- ter, Mary, married (about 1582) Sir John Caryll, Knt., of Warnham, co. Sussex, doubt- less the Sir John Carrell mentioned by MB. WAINEWBIGHT. 5. Bridget, who married Anthony Hunger- ford, Esq., of Down Ampney, co. Gloucester, and had issue Sir Henry (whose name also appears in ME. WAINEWEIGHT'S narrative) and Sir Anthony. Wotton, in his ' Baronetage' (vol. i. p. 63), states that a sixth sister. Anne, married Sir Richard Shirley, Knt, of Wiston, co. Sussex, but this is doubtful. Burke ('Commoners,' vol. iv. p. 266) gives an interesting account of the Lingen family. Referring to Mrs. Jane Shelley and her incarceration in the Fleet, he says :— "An Harleian Manuscript (No. 2050) contains many curious letters to her there, particularly one of an offer of marriage in her widowhood from Francis, youngest son of the first Lord St. John. Queen Elizabeth had certainly a kindness for Mrs. Shelley, as evinced by some memorials (Harl. MSS. 2120, p. 8 B), and restored her a house and demesne, ' which seems to have been Sutton ; for another letter to her in the same collection speaks in affect- ing terms of the attachment of the neighbourhood to the Lingen family, and of their disquietness in having heard a false report that' the Lingen's lands would be gone from the name of Lingen for ever.' Great part of her rich inheritance, including Rad- brook in Gloucestershire, and her Shropshire estates, passed on her death to a hungry Scot tof