Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 7.djvu/290

 •z*z NOTES AND QUERIES, m s. vn. Aj-*n. 12,19a irixi at Andover from Winchester College. Not much, perhaps, would be gained by pursuing the quest beyond the port's great-grandfather, but it may be mentioned that a family named Pope, Dome of whom were blacksmiths, wan resident at Andover in the sixteenth century; and in a Richard Pope of Andover, who died in 1599, might probably be discovered the poet's great- great-grandfather. The last-named Richard w called a smith, but he was not a poor man, deriving from his trade, which consisted in supplying his neighbours with all kinds of iron and steel articles, an income of 502. a year, and moreover, like the innkeeper, he was a leaseholder under Winchester College. Borne fuller particulars will now be given of persons named in the last paragraph. Though an innkeeper, the poet's great- grandfather, Richard Pope, was a man of some property, and in deeds and similar documents is often styled " gentleman." His inn, " The Angel at Andover, was an important hostelry, the furniture and equijmient of which, according to an inven- tory taken lit Richard's death, were valued at 400/., und its master possessed 35/. worth of silver plate. He was also able to portion his daughter* with 300/. each when they married. What amount of learning he acquired cannot be told, but the two signa- tures affixed to his will show skilful penman- ship, and are an admirable imitation of printed letters, a kind of calligraphy in which his descendant the poet also excelled. Richard's will, dated and proved in 1633. mentions his wifo Mary (she was a sister of Robert Went of Andover) and five children— Kichunl, Alexander, John, Jane (married to a husband named Ramos), and Mary (the wife of Edmund Petty), all of whom loft isotio. Home second cousins of the poet, grandchildren of the innkeeper's sons and daughters, may be supposed to have lived to hear of their kinsman's fame, but perhaps they would not have been Welcomed at Twickenham as his relatives. If more were known of Alexander Pope, the Rector of Thruxton, it might be found that he was a rather remarkable man. He and his celebrated grandson had some characteristics in common. Like the poet, the Hector was " of gentle disposition " (the Words of his widow), but, when attacked, pugnacious, and not too fastidious in his choice of weapons. Both grandfather and grandson, too, were precocious in learning, made fortunes before attaining middle ago, and (what is said to be more difficult) kept their fortunes, and neither lived to grow old. The eldest of the three Alexanders matricu- lated at Oxford in 1617, at the age of 17, and after less than three months' residence at Oriel College took his Bachelor's degree. The Master's degree followed three years later., when he had moved to Gloucester Hall. In 1628 he appears as chaplain to John, eldest son of William, Marquis of Winchester, a post which he then seems to have occupied for some time, and which he did not relin- quish for another ten years. His position in the Marquis's family contributed much to his advancement. In 1628 he obtained the promise of the next of the livings in the Mar- quis's gift which should fall vacant, and was sufficiently shrewd to see that the promise was embodied in a deed. But in 1631. before the desired vacancy had occurred, the chaplain was appointed by the University of Oxford to the Rectory of Thruxton, Hampshire; and in 1633 his master, John. Marquis of Winchester, who had succeeded his father, considered that he was fulfilling the terms of the deed in giving him the prebend of Middleton in the same county. Alexander, however, was not satisfied with this, and when, in 1638, the Rectory of Itchen Abbas became void, claimed it as his right in virtue of the deed. The Marquis, resenting this action, filed a bill against his chaplain, who countered with another suit, so that a state of war between the two ensued. And now Alexander, perceiving, no doubt, that he could not hope for further prefer- ment from the Marquis, transferred his allegiance, and became chaplain to the- Bishop of Winchester, with whose help he obtained a dispensation enabling him to hold Itchen Abbas, together with his other livings. Presumably the wording of the deed favoured Alexander's contention, for in 1639, in spite of the opposition of the Marquis, lie was instituted to the coveted Rectory of Itchen Abbas. He was now a rich man, the income from his three benefices alone being estimated at 400/. a year. His wife Dorothy was (as appears from her will) a daughter of William Pyne, who, in the Commonwealth period, was minister of Micholdever. a little parish some seven miles north of Winchester. Dorothy became a widow in 1645, when she was left (as she complained) with four small children ; but the property left by her husband gave her the comfortable income of 250/. a year. She spent most of her widowhood in her father's parish at Micheldever. From the epitaph to the memory of the poet's father in Twickenham Church, he Beems to have been born about 1642, only