Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 9.djvu/77

 ii s. ix. JAN. 24, i9i4.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

71

from the above that the family might have been of some size in Barbados between 1638 and, say, 1700, the particulars of whicl: the writer is anxious to learn.
 * History of Antigua.' It would appear

A Samuel Wickham appeared in Rhode Island (Warwick and Newport) in 1690, or possibly before. He was born, according to family papers, 16 June, 1664, and had v first wife Ann, whom he may have married before going to R.I. The habits of himseU and his immediate descendants indicate possibly a connexion with a family of some W.I. island.

The writer desires to learn of any printed or manuscript information covering details of this family in Barbados during this early period, and would appreciate most highly information that will aid him in reconstruct- ing the Bfinily for that period, and also their English connexion, as well as any information that will help in identifying the ancestry of Samuel of R.I. W. M. WICKHAM.

Ill, Parkaide Avenue, Buffalo, N.Y.

THE GUILDS AND THEIR CRITICS. Of the several works criticizing the administration of the Guilds' estates, the most unfamiliar is ' The Free Enquirer in the Rights, Privi- leges, Franchises, Abuses, &c., of Several Companies, &c., 1831.' It was published in parts, and apparently only nine were issued. The author was a Mr. " De Mole," whom I shall be glad to be able to identify, as this work is similar in form to another anonymous work on London history and topography. ' The Free* Enquirer ' is not included in the Bibliography accompanying Prof. Unwin's work ' The Guilds and Com- panies of London.' William Herbert's use- ful history of the Guilds (1836) was probably preparing when this was issued, or this a/ttack may have occasioned the then City Librarian's work. Similar authentic his- tories, explanations, and defences have followed the publication of reports by Royal Commissions on civic and Guild administration.

Any information on the identity of the author or the circumstances attending the publication of the work will be esteemed. ALECK ABRAHAMS.

JAMAICA : STEVENS AND READ FAMILIES. Can any of your correspondents versed in the genealogy of Jamaica families of English blood in the eighteenth century give me any clue to the parentage of Mary Stevens " of Kellits in the parish of Claren- don," who married about 1740-50 George

Mackenzie ? His will was dated and proved in 1771, after which date his widow appears to have left Jamaica, being buried at Worplesdon, Surrey, 18 Oct., 1798, aged 77 (P.R.).

Also required the name of the second wife of Ennis Read, of Harmony Hall, Vere, Jamaica. He married, firstly at Vere, Jane Mitchell, widow, 30 June, 1734, but she can hardly have been the mother of his daughter Mary, born in 1761. H.

SHILLETO. What is the origin of this surname ? A bearer of the name states that he believes it to be of Italian extraction. LIONEL SCHANK.

MR. DWIGHT OF THE TREASURY OFFICE.

English-born Dwights are seldom in evidence, especially acting as colleagues to " real live " lords. In view of this notable scantiness, it would please my American republican heritage to acquire some infor- mation regarding the past locus standi of that " Mr. Dwight " embalmed in. the subjoined paragraph, extracted from Sir A. West's ' Recollections,' published in 1886 :

" My friend and contemporary, Lord Welby, was told, when he entered the Treasury, by Mr. Dwight, a colleague of his, that he remembered the day that Mr. Alcock, his chief, a high officer in the Treasury, was sent for by the great Mr. Pitt, but dared not obey the summons because he had not got on his breeches and buckles."

R. H. W. DWIGHT.

Boston, U.S.

THE WEARING OF SWORDS. (US. viii. 410, 493.)

SOME notes from James Peller Malcolm's ' Anecdotes of the Manners and Customs of London during the Eighteenth Century,' 2nd edition, 1810, may throw light on the subject.

Commenting on " the horrid custom of Duelling " about 1700 to 1719, he writes vol. i. p. 261):

" The universal fashion of wearing swords allowed

no time for passion to subside Doctors Mead

and Woodward fought like a pair of butchers, in June, 1719, at the very gates of Gresham-college ; md every drunken rake who staggered through the streets had it in his power to plunge a sword into an unoffending breast."

On p. 263 Malcolm tells of a quarrel which took place, presumably in or about L719, at the Royal Chocolate House in 3t. James's Street. It arose from disputes