Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 5.djvu/474

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io- s. v. MAY 19.

ABBEY OF ST. EVEOULT, PAYS D'OUCHE. Is there any list extant of the Procurators in England of this house ? I shall be very glad of references to any trustworthy modern work giving particulars of the history of the abbey and the present state of the buildings.

H. P. POLLAKD.

Bengeo, Hertford.

ROBERT HARLEY, EARL OF OXFORD. (10 th S.iv. 206, 317.)

I AM much obliged to MR. A. R. BAYLEY for his reference to ' D N.B ,' xxxvi. 410. It

is a matter of surprise to me that the able writer of the interesting biography of Abigail, Lady Masham, should state that " the actual relationship between Robert Harley, first Earl of Oxford, and Abigail Hill has never been discovered."

Thanks to the kindness of another con- tributor to ' N. & Q ,' MR. REGINALD STEWART BODDINGTON, who has sent me the pedigree of the Stephens family, taken from the ' Visitation of Gloucestershire. 1682-3,' edited by T. Fitz-Roy Fenwick and Walter C. Met- calfe, I am enabled, with the information already in my hands, to show the relation- ship which existed between Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, Abigail, Lady Masham, and Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, thus :

Richard Stephens, of Eastington,=pMargaret, daughter of Edward Saintloe, co. Gloucester, Esq., died 1599. I of Knighton, Wilts, Esq.

Nathaniel Stephens,^ of Eastington, Esq., born 1589, died May, 1660.

^Catherine, daughter Abigail =j of Robert Beale, Stephens. Clerk of the Coun- cil, Esq.

^William Hill, King's Auditor.

Sir John Jenyns,=f Bart.,K.B.,M.P., died 1642.

=Alicia, daughter of Sir Richard Spen- cer, of Althorpe, co. Northampton, and Offley, Herts.

=pFrances, daughter of Sir Gifford Thornhurst. of Agnes Court, Kent, Bart.

>f Marlborough. 3is H. RELTON.

Abigail, =pas second wife, Sir Edward Francis- sixth Harley, of Brampton Brian, Hill, daughter, co. Hereford, K.B. and second M.P. co. Hereford, 1640.* son.

Robert Harley, cr. Abigail, Lad Earl of Oxford.

=EIizabeth Jen- nings. [MR. BOSTOCK calls her Mary J.J

y Masham.

Richard Jennings, of Holy well House, St. Albans, JV1.P. St. Albans, 1642 and 1661.

Sarah, Duchess ( FRANC

9, Broughton Road, Thornton Heath.

[* MR. BOSTOCK states that Edward Harley was baptized at Wigmore, 21 Oct., 1624.]

R. H. E. H. wrote at 8 th S. iii. 328 con- cerning the father of Abigail Hill, Lady Masham :

" He married Mary, the sister of Richard Jen- nings, of Sandridge, near St. Albans. I know nothing further about him, except that he was a Turkey merchant of London who became bankrupt. As I have not found his name in the Sandridge registers, I conclude that he lived in London. I should be glad to know (1) in which London parish he lived ; (2) dates of birth, death, and marriage of him and his wife; (3) the names of his parents, which 1 cannot find with certainty from the above refer- ences in ' N. & Q.' [2 nd S. iii. 9, 57]." I do not think these questions have been answered in 'N. & Q.,' nor can I find any account of Abigail Hill's father in the books at my command.

The Fifteenth Report of the Royal Com- mission on Historical Manuscripts answers in part some of the questions asked. The editor states :

"To Harley's famed associate in some of his schemes, Mrs. Abigail, afterwards Lady, Masham,

we get the first reference in a letter written in May, 1707, from Lady Pye to Harley's sister, also named Abigail, which concludes as follows :

" ' This makes me think of a (matrimonial) match yours mentioned, our relation the Dresser with Colonel Masham, whom the Queen hath lately ad- vanced. If the same is young (1) have heard her greatly commended for a sober woman. I. believe she is the same Aunt Brom (field) used to talk of, lived with Sir George River's lady when first we went to Greville Street. The great Lady Duchess in that deserves great commendations, that hath taken such care of her relations, who when low are generally overlooked. Is her brother Colonel Hill married, as was reported, to one of the Queen's maids?'"

The editor remarks :

"This is an interesting little bit of contemporary evidence of Mrs. Masham's near relationship both to the Duchess of Marlborough and to Harley, though it hardly confirms the assertion alleged to have been made by Harley, to which reference is made in the introduction to the first volume of these papers, that he had never heard of the re- lationship between Mrs. Masham and himself until they met at Court."