Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 8.djvu/217

 ii s. vii. MAR. 15, i9i3.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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Taunton. John Norris represented Taunton in Parliament in 1554. In 1561 Hugh Norris (see under St. Decumans) was Clerk of the Castle, and his two sons were Bailiffs of Taunton. During the Civil War a Norris (see under Petherton, South) raised a troop of horse for the King, and was taken prisoner at Dunster. The fortunes of the family fell, and they were found in the eighteenth century as printers and publishers in Taunton. In 1725 a Norris started the first newspaper in the town. An early copy of this is in Taunton Castle. This is Nomtrs Taunton Journal, 2 June, 1727. Vide Som. Arch. Soc. Proceedings, vol. li. (1906).

The wills of Joane Norishe 1557, Elizabeth (widow) 1718, and William 1743, are at Taunton. Vide ' Taunton Wills,' part iv.

Henry Norris kept a school in Canon Street, Taunton. B. Taunton, 30 May, 1752 ; died at the house of his son Henry (q.v. sub Petherton, South) at South Petherton, 6 April, 1823. Buried at St. James's Church, Taunton, where is a tablet stating that he was proficient hi 24 languages.

Edwin Norris, philologist, nephew of Henry (supra), and his most distinguished pupil. B. Taunton, 24 Oct., 1795 ; died, 6, St. Michael's Grove, Brompton, London, 10 Dec., 1872. Bishop Thirlwall stated that Edwin Norris was the greatest linguist England had yet produced, and that " his range of knowledge and variety of attainments were altogether unique." A bust of Norris was placed in the Shire Hall, Taunton, July, 1876. See 'D.N.B.' and Som. Arch. Soc. Proceedings, vol. li.

Wayford. Will of Henry Norrice, proved 1573, is in P.C.C. [16 Peter].

Robert Norris, of Wayford, husbandman, over- seer of the nuncupative will of Richard Mathewe, of Clapton, parish of Crewkerne, Som., tailor, dated 1 March, 1619/20. Lea's
 * Abstracts,' Boston, p. 158.

Will of Giles Norris, proved 10 Feb., 1633/4 J. and G. F. Matthews, * Year- Books of Pro- bates,' i. 284.

parts i. and iv. The will of Hugh 1614 is in P.C.C. [39 Lowe].

Wells. Hugh Sugar alias Norris, Treasurer of W T ells 1460-89. Biography of him in Downside Review, xvi. ; F. W. Weaver, 'Somerset Medieval Wills,' London, 1902, 277. The will was dated 18 Oct., 1488 ; proved 5 May, 1489. Weaver's ' Somerset Medieval Wills,' 275. The will of Thomas Norris, innholder of Wells, 1619, is in P.C.C. [69 Parker].

West Newton. Dispute concerning the stipend of the priest of West Newton, between Robert Norys and Buckland Priory, temp. xv. cent Public Record Office Indexes, XII. 'Early Chancery Proceedings,' i. 339.

West Monk ton. Hugh Hill v. Hugh and Johan Norris, temp.Kliz., concerning " Splott," a tenement, and lands in West Monkton. 'Calendars of Proceedings in Chancery, Reign of Elizabeth,' London, 1827-32, ii. 84. In one of the original queries Norris " of Spate" was referred to. The heading to these articles

has, therefore, corresponded ; but I take the opportunity here to say that Splate is correct, and should be read for " Spate." The allusion to " Splott " above in the Chancery Proceedings is no doubt a variation of Splate. Williton. John Norris, paid Knighthood composi- tion 1631. Somerset and Dorset Notes and Queries, iv. 109, 117.

Winsham. Eleanor Norrishe, will dated Jan., 1566 ; proved 11 Feb., 1567. Also refers to the Church of Wellington. P.C.C. [4 Babington |. Withycombe. The will of Richard 1691 is at

Taunton. Vide ' Taunton Wills,' part iv. Miscellaneous items include John Norys, who was Sheriff in 1445 (Collinson, i. xxxvi.), and Sylvester Norris, Jesuit, b. in Somerset- shire, 1572, d. 16 March, 1629/30 ('D.N.B.').

A. L. HUMPHREYS. 187, Piccadilly, W.

Several interesting facts relative to the Norris family will be found in the just pub- lished second edition of ' South Petherton in the Olden Time,' by the late Dr. Hugh Norris. We learn in a memoir prefacing the book that the Norrises came over from Glamorgan and settled down in Devon. About the middle of the sixteenth century they were to be found at Milverton and at West Monkton. In 1554 John Norris, a burgess of Taunton, was one of the repre- sentatives of the town in Parliament, and in 1561 Hugh Norris was Clerk of the Castle, whilst his two sons were Bailiffs of Taunton. Edwin Norris, the great philologist and Assyriologist, was born at Taunton, 24 Oct., 1795. Further particulars will be found in the little book I have quoted.

W. G. WILLIS WATSON. Exeter.

VICARS OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST, LITTLB MISSENDEN (US. vi. 209, 278 ; vii. 69, 133). Since asking for particulars of the place and date of the burial of the Rev. T. W. Hanmer, once Rector of Simpson, and Vicar of Little Missenden, I have been to the former place, and found out, through the kindness of the present Rector, that Mr. Han- mer was buried at Simpson on 12 Jan., 1871, aged 92, but, strange to say, no memorial has been erected to his memory. His grand- father, Sir Walden Hanmer, Bt., of Hanmer and Bettisford Park, in the county of Flint, was lord of Simpson manor, and was buried in Simpson Church, where a handsome marble memorial was erected to himself and his wife Ann, who was the youngest daughter of Sir Henry Vere Graham, of Holbrook Hall, in the county of Suffolk. It was the work of J. Bacon, R.A., and erected in 1789. L. H. CHAMBERS.

Amersham.