Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 12.djvu/410

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [iis.xii.Nov.2o,i9i5.

York (1775), Dover Castle (1777), Barnet, and Sheerness. T. Holland died 12 Aug., 1784. Required, parents' names, residence, date of above marriage, and any personal description, if possible. Is any sketch or eilhouette of her still in existence ?

C. SIMPSON. 2, Shorey Bank, Burnley.

fUpius,

NELSON MEMORIAL RINGS. (US. xii. 233, 361.)

SINCE the subject of Nelson rings is under discussion in ' N. & Q.' perhaps it may not be out of place to give a few particulars of the funeral rings of other members of the great Admiral's family, notably the one made to commemorate the " mother " whom he so devotedly loved, and also her mother, Anne Turner. There is no inscription on this ring beyond the letters " C. N., A. S., 1767-8," and probably such rings were given only to near relatives, who knew the rather sad little story of Catherine Nelson's un- expected decease during the cold Christmas of 1767, followed by the death of her mother a week later. At that time Mrs. Suckling was residing in the village of Burnham, in a house lent to her by her maternal uncle, Horatio, first Lord Walpole of Wolterton (see < N. & Q.,' 11 S. i. 483), and she had there dated her will on 20 December, 1767, leaving to her daughter all her " household fur- niture," plate, &c. In the parish re- gister for 30 December of that year the rector himself entered the burial of " Cathe- rine, wife of the Rev. Edmund Nelson, late Catherine Suckling, spinster"; and in his private note-book he recorded the death of " Anne, widow of the Rev. Maurice Suckling, D.D.," adding that " her remains were conveyed to Barsham in Suffolk for burial beside her husband."

A second ring, made exclusively for their another, by her sons Maurice, and William Suckling, is of gold, black enamelled, inscribed "A. Suckling, Ob. 5 Jan., 1768, JE. 75." In 1778 a ring, black enamelled, maker's initial D, inscribed " Maurice Suckling, Esq., Ob. 17 July, 1778, JE. 52," was given to the friends of Capt. Maurice Suckling, R.N., Comptroller of the Navy, whom Southey calls " the uncle and patron " of Horatio Nelson. Then there is an extremely interesting ring, also gold, black enamelled (maker's initials I.P.), inscribed " Mary

Nelson, Ob. 4 July, 1789, 1. 91," for the Admiral's grandmother on his father's side. Baptized Mary Bland, she was widow of the Rev. Edmund Nelson, for 13 years Rector of Hilborough, who died in 1747. Herself the patron of the living, she seems to have continued to occupy the rectory house until her death and during the successive in- cumbencies of her son and her son-in-law, Robert Rolfe.

A funeral ring, also black enamelled, is mentioned in a letter written by the Rev. William Nelson from Norfolk to his brother (Horatio) the Admiral, who was at that time in England, confined to his bed by illness. Their father had died at Bath in the April of 1802, and several letters between the brothers relate to the details of the journey of the remains and the arrangements for the funeral on 12 May at Burnham Thorpe. Writing on the 13th of that month, the Rector of Hilborough says :

" We performed the last sad offices to ye remains of our dear and highly esteemed father yesterday amidst the greatest number of people that ever

assembled here Rings -were given to Mr. Wise,

Mr. Crowe, Sir Mordant Martin, myself, Mr. Bolton, Mr. Rolfe, Mr. Yonge, Mrs. Rolfe, Mrs. Goulty." This ring has the date of April, 1802, set. 79.

But a still more interesting memorial of the Rev. Edmund Nelson is mentioned in a letter addressed by the Admiral's youngest sister, Catherine', Mrs. Matcham, to her sister Susanna, Mrs. Bolton : "I have sent you a ring of our dear father's hair, which I am sure will be valuable .... Our mother's hair is with it." This ring, which is set with seed pearls, surrounding two kinds of hair under glass, is inscribed at the back " April, 1802, ^T. 79."

The memorial for the Rev. William Nelson is of gold, inscribed inside : " "William, Earl Net on, Duke of Bronte, Ob. 28 Feb., 1835, aged 77."

Possibly there are other memorial rings of this family ; if so, it is to be hoped that they will be described in 'N. & Q.'

THOMAS FOLEY.

The information contained in ' N. & Q.' i^garding Lord Nelson's mourning rings has proved to be of no small interest to his twentieth-century connexions, and effort has been made to ascertain what has become of some of those given to the immediate members of his family, with the result that it is estimated that some nineteen rings have been accounted for altogether.

Of these, six given to the Bolton family eventually descended to their Girdlestone connexions, while three given to the family