Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 9.djvu/112

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NOTES AND QUERffiS. [ii s. ix. FEB. 7,

HALLEY FAMILY, DERBYSHIRE. MR. WM. TBouxsovER of Ferndale, Bakewell, has kindly me the notes following :

From the Bakewell Charters.

^. Alston, by virtue of a lease dated the 24th November in the 41st year of Queene Elizebeth, 1593, for 21 years, did hould the tyth hay of the -closes or groundes lying in the Easte and North syde of Bakewell. Then follow the names of the closes :

It. One close called Spencer's fflatt of the Wyn land in the tenure of Elizabeth Hally, pasture.

Rodger Newton, by virtue of a lease the 20bh day of Februarie ki the fourth yeare of King -James, houldeth the tyth hay of all the towne feildes of Bakewell and enclosures of ye same.

Imp. All the lands and balkes in the four come feildes.

It. One close called Heald of W. Button's land in the tenure of Humfrey HaHi/.

It. One close of Humfrey Halley's land called ilittle Sedgway.

The italics are mine, marking the names " Sutton " and " Halley," which have previously occurred in other printed notes on the Halleys of that neighbourhood.

MR. BOULSOVER adds that a Court minute, 1605, refers to

" George Halley, George Clayton. Rodger Red- ferne, Abraham Brome, Francis Halley, and Thomas Johnstone."

It would be very interesting indeed to iearn whether 'or not the Bateman MSS., supposed to be now in the library of the Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth, con- tain any genealogical data likely to establish the Derbyshire origin of the astronomer Halley's grandfather, Humphrey Halley.

Perhaps certain records in or near Bake- well not yet examined might also assist toward a solution of that problem.

EUGENE F. McPiKE.

135, Park Row, Chicago.

THE DEAN AND CHAPTER OP ST. MARTIN- XE-GRAND. It is not usually known that the General Post Office in St. Martin-le- Grand, which was recently taken down, was built on the site of the collegiate buildings of the Dean and Canons of St. Martin-le- Grand, which were erected by the Earl of Essex and his brother in 1056. In 1068 William the Conqueror granted a royal charter, of which the following is a trans- lated abstract :

"I, William, grant, and by my royal authority tor ever corroborate and conn' rm to God and to the Church of the Blessed Martin, situate within the walls of London, which Ingelric and Girard his brother from their own revenues have built to the praise of God and for the Canonical Rule, to be held and observed for ever "

This charter was confirmed by Henry I. and by Stephen. Henry II. granted to the Dean and Chapter a free court of all their men and tenants, and Richard II. exempted them from tolls and quotas.

William de Wykeham, who was Dean of St. Martin's in the fourteenth century, and subsequently was consecrated Bishop of Winchester, rebuilt the greater part of the collegiate buildings, and richly adorned the church, which was already distinguished for its splendour.

In addition to the estates given by the founders, William the Conqueror gave to the College all the land and moor without the postern called " Criplesgate." Other kings, and also nobles and commoners, added to the property of the Chapter, until it became almost the wealthiest ecclesiastical corporation in the City of London.

King Henry VIII. dissolved the Chapter, and subsequently, out of a portion of the estates, founded a Bishopric of Westminster, a Deanery, and twelve Prebendal stalls. In the reign of Edward VI. the bishopric was suppressed, and several of the estates with which it had been endowed were given by the King to the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's, which, it is said, gave rise to the proverb of robbing Peter to pay Paul ! But in the last century they were transferred to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. Shortly after the dissolution of the Dean and Chapter of St. Martin's the church and the collegiate buildings were demolished. But the founda- tion will be for ever famous in ecclesiastical history on account of its distinguished deans, many of whom were raised to the episcopate. One was consecrated Arch- bishop of Canterbury, another Archbishop of Dublin, two Bishops of London, two Bishops of Durham, and others respectively Bishops of Winchester, Salisbury, Ely, and Wells.

As extensive excavations on the site are now being made, it is very important that any ancient relics of the collegiate buildings which may be discovered should be trans- ferred to the Guildhall Museum.

J. GLENDINNING NASH,

Rector of St. Alphage and Prebendary of St. Paul's. 4, Harley House, Regent's Park, N.W.

SHAKESPEARE : ' MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM,' III. ii. 272.

What means my love ?

May I be permitted to make a suggestion upon the above passage, which (to me at least) seems to be certainly right, and which I fail to find in any of the popular commen- taries ?