Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 8.djvu/18

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. VIL JAN. 4,

the actual date of the death as given by Miss Simon, though he so nearly reaches it. f Anyhow, thanks largely to Miss Simon and to COL. CHIPPINDALL, the world has now a better knowledge of the personal history of the " Master Cabinet-maker of St. Martin's Lane," as he has been aptly described by a modern writer, than it has eve,' had before. J. S. UDAL, F.S.A.

Symondsbury, Dorset.

DR. PETER DTT MOULIN AND NORTH WALES (US. vi. 389). A letter, dated Canterbury, 11 Oct., 1675, from Dr. Peter Du Moulin the younger to Sir Thomas Myddelton, second Baronet of Chirk Castle, discloses the benefaction in North Wales bestowed on the Doctor by Archbishop Williams, which he enjoyed from 1626 to the time of his death in 1684. It throws no light, however, on his " mother-in-law. n Should it not be "mother" or "step- mother " ? Sir Thomas, to whom the letter is addressed, succeeded to the baronetcy when he was only twelve years of age, his father, Sir Thomas, dying in 1663, and his grandfather, Sir Thomas Myddelton, Knt., in 1666. It is through the kindness of Mr. Richard Myddelton, the present possessor of Chirk Castle, that I am enabled to send a copy of this letter.

SIR,

Though I haue not the happines to be knowne to you, I was to yo r worthy father, and more to my noble friend yor GrandfatbJ who did severall waves oblige me, and once kept me a whole Xmas att Chirk Castle ; But I hope I need noe other introduction to the businesse I haue with you then yo r owne righteousnes and Gentlenes.

My busines, Sir, is to represent vnto you, that you are possest with a litle piece of glebe belonging to my Kectorie of LLanarmon in Yale (called tir llan, that is terra ecclesice) which yor Grandfathr without any designe to wrong the Church, & being ignorant of my right, bought of Mr. John LLoyd of Kelligonen [Gelligynan] a yeare or two before the Civill warre. When I knew of that wrong to my church I represented it to S r Tho: whom I found inclined to amicable tonnes. But the warre debarred me from any recouery of my right, the Kectorie being seized into the Par-Ham*' 8 hands because I was found guilty of loyalty, And since the King's returne, either yo r young yeares, or yo r trauelling abroad, haue kept me from renewing my claime. Sir, the matter is but small, it is but foure akers of ground in the township of Boddigra yr yarll, & I thank God I am in a Condition to find noe want of it, yet y e losse of it to the Church in my time lyeth heavy vpon my Conscience, & calls vpon me, who am welnigh 76 years old, not to goe out of this world, before I haue discharged my duty to the Church in y* particular. Edward, father to John LLoyd, holding that land without

paying anything to the Church I gott him sum- moned by a reference from the King to appeare before y' Lords of y 6 Councell about it, where I produced the terriar of the Church & other such evident proofes as made the Lords satisfied of my right, And before their Lordsh M the said Edward Lloyd acknowledged that he had nothing to shew for it. Wherevpon y e Lords advised him to setle the s d busines by some reasonable agreem 1 with the present Incumbent, but soe as the right of y e Church might be declared, or in defattlt thereof, to attend them with his answere in the begining of Easter terme of the yeare 1636. Mi-. Edward LLoyd shewed himself e willing to yea Id y e tennam* wholy, and did not attend y e Lords any rnpre. But falling sick of a very long sickn.-s of which he died nothing was done. And his son rather then to restore that tenement to the Church chose to sell it to Sir Tho: Myddelfcon for which Sir I am certeine y* you shall find among your papers no title produced by him ; it being knowne in y e Countrey that his family had never one foot of ground in Bodigra yr yarll. Sir in this busines I cast myselfe vpon your justice & wisdome & doe humbly craue your resolution & directions, resting in y e meane while yo r most humble servant y' beares an hereditary loue to yo r family. PETER Du MOULIN.

S r you may be pleasd to honour me with a let r directed to me at Canterbury where I am one of the Canons of the Church.

I forgott to say that Edward LLoyd's grand- fathr held that land by a lease from my pre- decessor Godfrey Goodman who when I came to the Rectory was made Bishop of Glocester, and from whoriie I had a certificate of the same which I did exhibit to the Lords and which I keep still.

Canterbury, October 11 th, 1675.

W. M. MYDDELTON. Woodhall Spa.

CAPT. PITMAN (11 S. vi. 448, 513). About fifty years ago Capt. Samuel Pitman lived at the Manor House, Bishop's Hull, near Taunton. He held a commission in the West Somerset Yeomanry, and was a keen sportsman. He owned and hunted the Langport Harriers, and at the same time was Master of the South Berks Foxhounds. The following extract from one of the sporting papers (The County Gentleman and Sportsman's Gazette of 1883) will give some idea of his love of hunting :

" He hunted the harriers near Taunton on Monday, went up to Reading (125 miles) Monday night, hunted the South Berks Hounds on Tuesday and Wednesday, went back to Taunton Wednesday night to hunt his harriers on Thursday, returned to Reading Thursday night to hunt the South Berks on Friday, and on Saturday he often had a day with the Duke of Beaufort or the Vale of White Horse on his way down to Taunton, to be ready for a fresh start on Monday morning. This he did for three seasons, never missing a day except when the frost stopped hunting, his railway journey alone averaging 1,000 miles a week. Upon giving up the South Berks Hounds, Capt. Pitman hunted from Bath with the Duke of Beaufort's, the Vale of White