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NOTES AND QUERIES. [11 s. vn. JUNE 21, 1913.

Poets and Comic Writers,' and, as it follows a discussion of the comparative merits Prior and Gay, it is possible to account for an auditor's confusion. Hazlitt, it need hardly be added, is correct in his attribution of authorship, beginning a fresh paragraph with the remark, " I shall conclude this account of Gay with his verses on Sir Richard Blackmore." THOMAS BAYNE.

DERBY DAY, 1913. This of all Derby 'days seems certain to live in men's memories, so it may be thought worthy to be recorded in ' N. & Q.' that in The Times issued on that day the following surmise appeared :

" Whether to-day is fated to be a sensational T)erby Day, which will live in men's memories and be talked over for years to come, we shall know jn a few hours."

STAPLETON MARTIN.

The Firs, Norton, Worcester.

GENOA CATHEDRAL. I recently copied the following inscription, which runs between the upper and lower arches of the south side of the nave :

fMCCCXII. FILIPPUS DE NIGRO & NICOLAUS DE 43OANO REPARATORES HUITJS ECCI/I^E FECERUNT 3RENOVARI HOC OPUS DE DECENO LEGATORUM : JXNUS PRINCEPS TROIANUS ASTROLOGIA PERITUS NAVIGANDO AD HABITANDUM LOCUM QUERENS 6AXUM DURABILE & SECURUM JANUAM JAM FUNDATAM A JANO REGE YTALIE PRONEPOTE NOE VENIT ET EAM CERNENS MARE & MONTIBUS TUTISSI- Jtf AM AMPLIAVIT NOMINE ET POSSE.

RICHARD H. THORNTON.

WE must request correspondents desiring in- formation on family matters of only private interest to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that answers may be sent to them direct.

RICHARD PARKES BONINGTON. I am preparing for early publication a life and study of the work of this great artist by M. Albert Dubuisson, himself a distinguished French painter. I shall be grateful to correspondents who can direct my atten- tion to any letters by or relating to Boning- ton, whether published or unpublished, or anecdotes or reminiscences contained in books on other subjects, or, indeed, any data jrelating to his life and works which might be used in a biography. Of course, such well- known works of reference as the * D.N.B.,' Redgrave, Bryan, Cunningham, Paul Mantz, the Gazette des Beaux- Arts, The Connoisseur, and The Studio have been consulted. Bonington was during his life,

perhaps, better known on the Continent ofH'than he was in England. Indeed, in France he was thought by many to be a French- man. He was born at Nottingham in 1802, and not in 1801, as stated in the ' D.N.B.' He died in London in 1828 in his twenty-seventh year. I am also de- sirous of tracing the whereabouts of au- thentic examples of his work, for, alas! there are more pictures and drawings wrongly attributed to this master in the possession of dealers and amateurs, and even in galleries, including the Print-Room of the British Museum, than is the case with any other artist of his time. His drawings in the Victoria and Albert Museum are, however, of a very high order, and correctly attributed, except in the case of the Dordrecht drawing.

Information as to the whereabouts and ownership of the following pictures will be particularly welcome :

' Le Grand Canal a Venise ' (two scenes), ' The Lute,' ' Lane Scene,' ' Bologna,' ' An Albanian,' 'A Turk,' 'The Grandmother,' the Peak.' ' Evening.' JOHN LANE.
 * The Drowned Fisherman,' ' Peveril of

The Bodley Head, Vigo Street, W.

MARRIAGE or AN ENGLISH PRISONER OF WAR AT CAMBRAI IN 1813. On 30 June, 1813, a certain John Churchill, aged 32, born at Weymouth, Dorsetshire, English prisoner of war from the depot at Cambrai, was married at the " mairie " in that town to Catherine Adelaide Blin. In the mar- riage certificate, written in French, he giv.es the names of his parents as Peter Churchill, deceased, " proprietaire," and Jane Thomas still living.

Other documents concerning him show that John alias James Churchill was a sea- man from H.M.S. late Endymion. Was the Endymion captured during the French wars, and where ?

Particulars concerning Peter Churchill, "proprietaire" (must one translate gentle- man-farmer ?), and his wife Jane Thomas would also be of interest.

S. CHURCHILL.

7, Rue de Verneuil, Paris.

FIRST DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND : NATURAL ISSUE. Can any reader give me any information concerning the natural issue of the first Duke of Northumberland (1715-86) other than James Smithson, the founder of the Smithsonian Institute, U.S. ? The others took the surname of Percy, I believe, A. D. a