Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 8.djvu/389

 ii s. VIL MAY 17, 1913.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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mother's name cannot indicate any other than the boy who, in later years, became so famous. It is true that Elizabeth Whitefield had married one Longden before January, 1725/6, but Mr. Hayden agrees with me that the entry would rightly be given as above. Mr. Hannam -Clark mentions that Whitefield was at the School, though the fact that the date is entered as Old Style is overlooked, while his age is given as 10 instead of 11, Mr. A. F. Leach ('Viet. Hist. Gloucs.,' ii. 332) also gives the year 1725 in his somewhat inaccu- rate account of this period of the history of the School. Whitefield's master at the School was William Alexander, who had been elected in November, 1725 (not 1724), and not Maurice Wheeler, who was master 1684-1712. Whitefield's account of his boyhood is so detailed that it is strange he omits mention of attending the College School, which one would imagine must have been fresh in his mind when writing as to the Crypt School. We know from his own words that his character as a boy was not of the best, and it is possible there was some necessity for his removal from the first school. Later in his ' Account ' he refers to re-entering his old school, and from the context one must assume this was St. Mary Crypt. There is no record of his re-entry at the College School. ROLAND AUSTIN.

Gloucester.

CONQUEST FAMILY. ' The Victoria County History of Bedfordshire ' (iii. 295), describing Houghton Conquest, refers to brasses of John Conquest and his wife Isabel and son Richard, the date of Isabel's death being 1493. The account relates that beneath these brasses are "smaller brasses of nine sons and five daughters.

Above Richard is a shield of his arms impaling

1 and 4, three lozenges bendwise, and in chief three scallops ; 2 and 3, cheeky, a fesse, for his wife, who was a Malet."

The impaled arms do not represent a Malet. The Richard who married a Malet was grandson, not son, of John Conquest. The first quartering is evidently intended for Gamage, and the Bedfordshire Visitation pedigree of Conquest (Harl. Soc., ix. 19) shows that Richard, son of John Conquest, married Isabel Gamage. It was his son Richard who married a Malet. It would seem, therefore, that the brass is that of Richard Conquest and his wife Isabel Gamage. It may be noted that the quar- terings above mentioned occur in the armorial shield of the Sydneys : No. 17, Arg., a bend fusily gu., on a chief az. 3 escallops or, for Gamage ; No. 18, Erm., a

fesse counter-compony or and gu., or, some- times Cheeky or and gu., a fesse erm., for Turberville (Clark's ' Genealogies of Gla- morgan,' 392).

Another description of a brass, namely, that of Richard Conquest, 1500, and Eliza- beth his wife, instead of giving full particu- lars, merely states " Below is the inscrip- tion."

In some instances, with regard to details, the " Victoria County Histories " do not come up to the standard we were led to expect in a work which was to be the last word in county histories. LEO C.

" SNOWDROP " IN THE * N.E.D.* The earliest quotation is from Boyle (1664), but the word is in Johnson's * Gerard ' (1633). Gerard calls the plant the bulbous violet, but Johnson says : " Some call them also Snow drops." C. C, B,

CARDINAL NEWMAN AND HIS BROTHERS. You may consider the following paragraph, taken from The Adelaide Advertiser, worth reproducing in the columns of ' N. & Q.' :

"A minister now resident in Adelaide sends us the following very interesting and never previously published particulars relative to Cardinal Newman and his brothers : In the seventies a number of Birmingham Baptist ministers met by invitation at the residence of the Rev. William Walters. The topic of conversation during the evening was Cardinal Newman. After some discussion of the Oxford Movement, the 'Apologia,' 'Via Media,' 'Grammar of Assent,' and other works were referred to. The name of Francis William was introduced, and the various points of contrast between him and his brother were noted. At this stage the host put the question as to whether any one knew of a third brother, and a reply was given in the negative. He then told the following story : ' My wife and I went to Llandudno to spend a holiday. We were recommended to a person who let rooms. We went to the house, and on presenting my card the lady said, " You come from Birmingham. I have a Mr. Newman living here who has a brother, a Roman Catholic priest, in Birmingham. 1 have received a letter from that priest. I have also had a letter from another brother down at Bath." I said, "That is inter- esting. Would you mind letting me see those letters?" The woman replied, "Oh, no; I will fetch them." The two letters were handed to me, and after I had read them I said to the woman, " I suppose these letters are of no use to you." The answer was, "Oh, no; you may keep them if you like." I took them, and count them among my treasures.' At the meeting referred to Mr. Walters produced the letters. That from Francis William was to the effect that the landlady was to see that his brother had the best medical advice and all that he required in the way of food and comfort, and he would pay the bill. The gist of the letter from John Henry was that his brother was to have the best medical advice and every comfort, but he was anxious that the subject of