Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 6.djvu/170

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. vi. A. 17, 1912.

From this it will be seen that Edward Atkyns was born about 1653-4, and Agnes Atkins about 1658-9. Agnes was daughter of Sir Richard Atkins (son of Sir Richard Atkins, Kt.), who was created baronet in 1660, and died 1689. Sir Richard had ten children, two dying in childbirth. The eldest, Annabella, b. 1651, d. in Paris, unmarried, 1 Jan., 1670 ; Rebecca, b. 1652, d. 10 June, 1661 ; Henry, b. 1653, d. in 1677 ; Richard succeeded to the title ; and there were four daughters, among whom was Agnes. Burke ( ' Extinct Baronetcies,' 1844) gives the family as Atkins of Clapham, the manor of Clapham having been sold to one ' Henry Atkins, physician to James I. (J. W. Grover's ' Old Clapham,' 1887). The family was originally connected with Hert- fordshire. Burke also states that Agnes married " Edward Atkins, esq. brother of Sir Robert Atkins."

Mr. Grover includes in his book an inter- esting account of the discovery by him in 1885 of the Atkins (of Clapham) monuments on the site of the Old Church at Clapham, and their subsequent restoration and placing in the north transept of St. Paul's, Clapham. The Old Church, which was removed in 1814, is described and illustrated in Gent. Mag., vol. Ixxxv. pt. ii. pp. 489-91. This account records the inscriptions on the monuments, and, fortunately, the one most interesting at the present time, though it is not given in Grover's book. The inscrip- tion on the north side of the large altar- tomb commemorates several members of the family, including

" Agnes, Edvardo Atkyns Arm filio 2 (1 genito Robert i Atkyns de Superton [sic for Sapperton] in Com. Glouc' Militis Balnei, se connubio junxit."

By this marriage Edward Atkyns, according to Le Neve (' Pedigrees of Knights,' Harl. Soc., 1873), had a son named Robert and a daughter named Annabella. The latter married. 7 June, 1705, the Hon. Henry Bridges, second son of James, eighth Lord Chandos (Chester's ' Reg. West. Abbey,' Harl. Soc., 1876), In the note to this entry Mr. Chester states that Annabella was daughter of

"Edward Atkyns, Esq., Barrister-at-Law (second son of Sir Robert Atkins, Kt., Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer), by Annabella, daw. of Sir Richard Atkins, second Bart., of Clapham, Surrey,"

and that she was buried at Whitchurch, 24 Aug., 1763, aged 84. This would make the year of her birth 1679, and proves the statement to be an error, for I have shown that Richard, the second baronet, could not have been born before 1654,

and though he did have a daughter named Annabella, she was probably not born before (say) 1674. Also, as appears above, the Annabella of the first baronet died unmarried. Le Neve (ante) states that Edward Atkyns married " Annabella, d r of Sir Rich d Atkins, of Surrey, B 1 " ; but the marriage licence and the inscription on the monument at Clapham seem conclusive evidence that in both cases the name should be Agnes.

The exact dates of the birth and death of Edward Atkyns have yet to be established, and I have hopes of tracing them.

Le Neve's pedigree of Atkyns of Saperton traces the family from one David Atkyns, who died 1552 (Atkyns's 'Glostershire'), and is carried to the grandchildren of Sir Robert Atkyns the elder. The record of the family is traced by Atkyns (' Gloster- shire,' p. 638), apparently without break, from Thomas Atkyns, who died in 1401, though it is not quite clear whether the Thomas Atkyns who died " 4 Henry VIII." was the father of David, who succeeded him, and died in 1552. In addition to Robert and Edward Atkyns, Le Neve's pedigree records the birth of one other son, Thomas, by Sir Robert the elder's first wife Mary; also a daughter who "dyed young." By Anne, his second wife, Le Neve records issue one daughter, Anne, who married in 1708 John Tracy of Toddington; and four sons, one of whom was also named Robert, and died in infancy (' N. & Q.,' 11 S. ii. 475). In view of the general acceptance that Sir Robert Atkyns the younger and Anne his half-sister were the only children, this pedigree is rather striking.

Every biographical notice of Sir Robert Atkyns the elder which I know of states that he was born in 1621, and, with the exception of Foss and Musgrave, all give the date of death as 1709. This probably arises from the statement in Atkyns's ' Glostershire ' (1712, p. 638) that he " dyed 1709, aged 88 Years." But this is the Old Style, and should be read as 1709/10. In his will Sir Robert says, " being on the 29 day of April last, 1707, entred into the four- score & eighth year of my age," thus indi- cating the completion of eighty-seven years, and consequent birth on 29 April, 1620. So far as I am aware, this is the only record of the exact date of his birth, and is certainly worth a place in ' N. & Q.' That his death must have occurred in 1709/10 is proved, first, by a codicil (the third) to his will, dated 24 May, 1709 ; and, secondly, by the parish register of Sapperton, which