Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 9.djvu/421

us. ix. MAY 23, i9i4.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 415 "THE SECRETARY AT WAR" (11 S. ix. 326, 374).—As MR. J. L. LUCAS notes, the office of Secretary of State for War was created in 1854, but it was not until the following year that a commission was issued to Lord Panmure enabling him to hold the office of Secretary-at-War as well as his Secretaryship of State. The Secretary of State for 'War held the additional and separate office of Secretary-at-War until it was abolished in 1863 by 26 & 27 Vict. cap. 12.

The Secretary-at-War being responsible for the financial work of the Army, it is to be presumed that the Sebastopol cannon mentioned was presented by that department, and thus the donor was designated the "Secretary-at-War," although he might equally well have been called the Secretary of State for War.

ALTARS (11 S. ix. 187, 238, 275, 314, 336).—The original stone altar is still in use in the Jesus Chapel in Norwich Cathedral. It was displaced in the sixteenth century, and for over three centuries formed part of the pavement of the chapel; but the late Dean Goulburn restored it to its original position, and the surface of it appears to have suffered but little from the use to which it was put for so many years.

FREDERICK T. HIBGAME.

23, Unthank Road, Norwich.

A list of altar-slabs remaining in the county is given on p. 29 of Dr. J. Charles Cox's 'Little Guide to Warwickshire' (1914). The altar-slab is in situ in the Sheldon Chapel of Becley Church, just over the Warwickshire border, near Redditch, Worcestershire. In 'English Church Furniture,' by Dr. Cox and Alfred Harvey, M.B. (1907), a list of 158 examples is given; sixteen more were supplied in the second edition; and Dr. Cox announced on 12 Nov., 1911, in a letter to The Church Times, that he had then fifty-five additions to insert in a third edition if one should be called for. Hence the number recorded at that date reached a total of 229, "exclusive of several in ruined churches or chapels."

PARIS IN 1780 AND 1860 (11 S. ix. 169).—'Paris and its Environs: an Illustrated Handbook,' published by Bohn in 1859, is, according to the editor's Preface, based on Mrs. Gore's 'Paris,' "written fifteen years ago." The handbook is profusely illustrated; five of the engravings are from paintings by Turner.

EDWARD STEVENS. Melbourne

PARISH REGISTERS (11 S. ix. 344).—Certainly, registers should be printed, but unfortunately many of those in print are frequently incorrect, having been transcribed by persons unable to read the handwritings. If Government would take up the subject and appoint an editor for each county, it might be done. I have MSS. myself I cannot afford to print. Why could not the Record Office, British Museum, or Somerset House set aside a room for MSS. and printed works at a small charge? Transcribing correctly requires a special education in palaeography to ensure accuracy.

Finchamstead Place, Berks.

It will be interesting to know how many registers have been completely printed in counties such as Nottingham, where the marriages of nearly every parish have been printed; also how many marriage volumes have had indexes printed. It appears to me that the marriages will be printed again whenever the baptisms and burials are printed, as they form not only a small portion of the whole, but probably the most interesting. Therefore there must be, to a large extent, an unnecessary expenditure of money.

63, Albion Street, Leeds.

GERMAN FUNERAL CUSTOM (11 S. vi. 368, 436, 500; vii. 95, 152).—My mother has shown me another allusion to this which may be worth noting, as it refers to yet another district, Thuringia. The passage occurs in Miss Marlitt's novel 'Goldelse,' on p. 259 of the 22nd ed. (Leipzig, n.d.):

I believe the story was first published as serial in the Gartenlaube about 1870.

G. H. WHITE.

1 St. Cross, Harleston, Norfolk.

LANCASHIRE SOBRIQUETS (11 S. viii. 125, 197, 256).—In one of the scarce Surey Demoniack Tracts, published in 1697, the term "Manchester-Whelp" occurs twice: once where a man is addressed as "Thou Manchester-Whelp," and again, "So that the Manchester-Whelp might be known, tho' he had none of his Wares about him." I have never met with this before. Perhaps it cannot be strictly called a Manchester sobriquet, but rather a name given to Manchester agents or travellers with Manchester goods for sale.

HENRY FISHWICK.