Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 5.djvu/521

 11 S. V. JUXE 1, 1912.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

429

HABERJAM FAMILY OF HANDSWORTH. I am seeking to trace the f amily of Haberjam, once resident at Handsworth, near Sheffield. I shall be much obliged to any reader who can inform me in which Peculiar Court their wills (if any) are likely to have been proved, and also in which registry these wills are now kept. H. E. H,

34, Pier Road, Erith, Kent.

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION WANTED. 1. JOHN BADHAM was admitted to West- minster School 5 May, 1817, aged 10. I should be glad to obtain any particulars of his parentage and career.

2. BALLARD. John Toft Ballard and Martin Lobb Ballard were admitted to Westminster School 29 April, 1775. Any particulars concerning them would be of use.

G. F. R. B.

ROBERT SHAW OF BAWTBY. In the old coaching days of the middle of the eighteenth century there was at Bawtry a well-known inn, one of the very best between York and London. Its name was " The Crown," and it was occupied by a temperate, active, and steady person named Robert Shaw, who was an ancestor of my own. He had come from the North of England, where several members of his family had enjoyed high repute. I am almost sure one or more Rokebys were among them, and am anxious to know what was his exact position.

Mr. Robert Shaw was a noteworthy man. He was buried in the middle of Bawtry Church with an inscription to tell who and what he was.

EDWARD PEACOCK, F.S.A.

" THE MORE THE MERRIER." Dr. Brewer, in his ' Dictionary of Phrase and Fable,' tells us that the author of this saying was Henry Parrot, a City epigrammatist, who nourished about 1600 to 1626. The West- minster Gazette puts it into the mouth of King James I. On his creating forty Irish boroughs in a batch, he is said to have answered a mild remonstrance by declaring : " I have made 40 boroughs ; suppose I had made 400 ; the more the merrier."' Are both authorities, or is either, correct ?

J. LANDFEAR LUCAS.

KNIGHTS OF MALTA : GRAND MASTER VILHENA. I should be extremely obliged for any particulars relating to this per- sonage. M. AtJSTEN-LEIGH.

THE CAPTURE OF SPIRA. In the ' Genea- logy of the Earldom of Sutherland ' (p. 460) reference is made to the " town of Spira," taken by the French under the " Marishall de la Fors " during his campaign in Lor- raine in 1633. What and where is Spira ? I know, of course, of Speier, or Spire, in Bavaria, sacked in 1689, and the scene of the battle of 1703. But I can find no reference to a siege in or about 1633. Is it Epinal (or Spinal) on the Moselle, taken in 1633, that is meant ? William Gordon (' Illustrious Family of Gordon '), para- phrasing this Sutherland version, calls it Spire. J. M. BULLOCH.

123, Pall Mall, S.W.

JAMES HOLLAND, F.S.A. Where can I get information concerning this gentleman, whose name appeared on a pamphlet in 1823 ? WILLIAM MAC ARTHUR.

Dublin.

GORDON. Can any reader give me the pedigree of Major-General John Gordon (" Old Glenbucket "), 1673-1750, and a list of his descendants ; also the blazon of his arms ? C. GORDON.

Waterloo Quadrant, Auckland.

REMBRANDT AND MANASSEH BEN ISRAEL. Dr. De Sola Mendes in his monograph on Manasseh tells us that one of his many pamphlets is highly prized, because Rem- brandt consented to illustrate it with four etchings. It has since become very scarce, and Steinschneider, in his ' Bibliographie,' states that a copy of it was sold in London for 5 guineas. Is anything now known of this pamphlet ? M. L. R. BRESLAR.

Percy House, South Hackney.

AUTHOR OF QUOTATION WANTED. I 've watched the actions of his daily life With all the eager malice of a foe, But nothing meets mine eyes save deeds of honour.

I. X. B.

[Asked for twice previously without identifica- tion of author.]

W. HEWER OF CLAPHAM. In ' Passages from the Diaries of Mrs. Philip Lybbe Powys, 1756-1808,' frequent mention is made of the Ewer family, Clapham. Is there any reason to suppose that this is the same family as that named Hewer ? Xeither name appears in the Directory for 1827, published by Batten. J. A.

"GRAINS AIMS HAY." I should be glad to know the arms and the name of the family adopting this motto. F. K. P.