Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 8.djvu/124

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [n s. VH. FEB. s, IQI&

second Baron Wentworth of Nettlestead, as to whom see the ' D.N.B.' The Barony of Beauchamp of Powyk, co. Worcester, was created in 1447, and became extinct in 1496. Calais fell in 1558. Neither of the two holders of this barony seems to have had at any time any connexion with Calais. History knows nothing of a Beauchamp " Baron of Powyke " in the reign of Queen Anne, or of a Governor of Calais in that reign. There is, therefore, no ground for the " tradition " to which the Vicar and churchwardens of Powick appealed in 1909. JOHN B. WAINEWRIGHT.

JANE AUSTEN : GODMEBSHAM (11 S. vi. 510). Jane Austen did not usually give set descriptions of places or persons in her novels ; but Mrs. Jennings's account of Dela- ford in ' Sense and Sensibility,' chap, xxx., presents a good many parallels with Lord Brabourne's scattered notes on Godmersham, as the following list shows :

Mrs. Jennings. " Delaford is a nice place, I can tell you ; exactly what I call a nice, old-fashioned place."

Lord Brabourne. Thomas Knight of Godmers- ham, who adopted Edward Austen, was descended in the direct line from Thomas Brodnax of God- mersham, who died in 1602. The date of the house is not given, but it was evidently an old building. ' Letters,' i. 9-10.

Mrs. J. "Quite shut in with great garden walls that are covered with the best fruit trees in the country : and such a mulberry tree in one corner ! "

LordB. "The wall which shuts off the shrub- beries and pleasure gardens of the great house from the road." Ibid., i. 7.

Mrs. J. "Then, there is a dovecote, some de- lightful stewponds."

Lord B. " Edward is much concerned about his pond ; he cannot now doubt the fact of its running out, which he was resolved to do as long as pos- sible." Ibid., ii, Letter Ixvii. ; of. i. 337.

Mrs. J. " And a very pretty canal."

LordB. "The River Stour for a distance of

nearly a mile runs through the east end of the park.'"-/6w*., i. 7.

Mrs. J. "Moreover, it is close to the church."

Lord B. " A little beyond the church you see the mansion." Ibid., i. 7. The family, on their way to church, left " the shrubberies by a little door in the wall, at the end of the private grounds, which brought them out just opposite the church." Ibid., i. 336.

Mrs.J. "And only a quarter of a mile from the turnpike road, so 'tis never dull, for if you only go and sit up in an old yew arbour behind the house, you may see all the carriages that pass along/'

Lord B. "On the east side of the river was a

pretty sort of summer-house called ' The Temple, built by one of the preceding owners of the place. The road at that time ran nearer to the house than the present turnpike road ; it formerly divided the river from the park." Ibid., i. 336.

Mrs. J. "A butcher hard by in the village, and
 * he parsonage house within a stone's throw."

Lord B. "Close to the church nestles the home- arm, and beyond it the rectory, with lawn sloping

down to the river Between [the mansion] and

the railroad lies the village, divided by the old high road from Ashford to Canterbury." Ibid., i. 7.

It may be remarked that another author besides Jane Austen is associated with God- mersham. Anne Finch, afterwards Countess of Winchilsea, when driven from the Court by the Revolution of 1688, found a temporary refuge there, and wrote her tragedy of Aristomenes ' " within that shade." She says in the Epilogue :

For her own sake, the Author thought itt titt To lett the Audience know when this was writt, 'Twas not for praise, nor with pretense to witt : But lonely Godmersham th' attempt excuses, Not sure to be endur'd, without the Muses.

There was later a connexion, but only a very slight one, between the families of Finch and Austen (' Letters,' i. 20-22).

M. H. DODDS.

CHARTER OF HENRY II. (11 S. v. 150, 214 ; vi. 474). With all deference to MR. HILL, his alternative explanations of "Walter Fitzgerald, Chancellor," seem to me im- probable and unnecessary. Surely if Henry II. had had separate Chancellors for Eng- land and Normandy, it would be a well- established fact ; and is there any known instance of " Cancellarius " occurring in the attestations to his charters in the sense of " notary " ? And who is the unknown chancellor, or notary, whose name is sand- wiched amongst those of the barons ?

As I explained at the second reference, the name could very easily be a misreading for " Warin fitz Gerold, Chamberlain " ; and in view of errors in the names of other wit- nesses, this seems a safe and sufficient ex- planation. Warin frequently attests Henry's charters as Chamberlain, but he was not a Chancellor in fact, he was a layman nor was he a notary. G. H. WHITE.

St. Cross. Harleston. Norfolk.

THE INQUISITION IN FICTION AND DRAMA (US. vii. 10, 57, 73). In addition to the works mentioned by your correspondents, I have found, through J. NiekTs excellent ' Guide to Historical Fiction ' (4th ed., 1911), that the following novels introduce the Holy Office: (1) Jean Bertheroy's ' Ximenes '- Inquisition in Cordova, Lucero the inquisitor,. Ximenes Inquisitor- General. (2) Deborah Alcock's * The Spanish Brothers ' Lutheran persecution, autos at Valladolid ; ah accu- rate historical study written with a strong anti-Catholic bias. (3) S. R. Crockett's