Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 1.djvu/341

 12 8.1. APRIL 22, 1916.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

335

ptirsuing a course of blackmailing by sending

small forces against the Company's villages

and demanding money as the price o:

-retirement. Governor Collett of Fort

St. George consulted with Capt. Roach as

to possibilities, and finally dispatched him

with his 250 soldiers against the marauding

-enemy. After a fight, which lasted six

hours, with a force which was four or five

times larger than his own, Roach defeated

the memy at a place called Trivatore. For

this he was promoted Major, and received

other marks of appreciation from the loca"

Government and the Court of Directors

In 1716/17 Major Roach married Adeodata

Wheatley at St. Mary's, Fort St. George

(Genealogist, vol. xx. 58). She died in July

1719, and was buried at St. Thomas's Mount

(J. J. Cotton's ' Inscriptions '). If there was

a second marriage, it did not take place at

St. Mary's according to the Company's rule ;

consequently no record of it has been found.

After his first wife's death he was at his own

request transferred from military to civi]

work and admitted as a merchant. In

^consideration of his former good services he

was allowed to retain his command of the

garrison, in case his military assistance

should be again required ; but this without

pay. In 1727 he was admitted a member

of the Governor's Council, and in 1732 he

ranked next to the Governor. In or about

1730 he got into trouble with the local

'Government for abetting a young woman to

run away from her lawful guardians and

take refuge in his house. The offence was

regarded seriously by the Government of

Fort St. George, and Major Roach was fined

300 pagodas. In 1735 he went home, leaving

his reputed wife and children in charge of

the St. Mary's Vestry as their guardians and

trustees. Later in the year a passage home

was granted to her in the name of Mary

Roach, and presumably the children, in

one of the Company's ships. In 1738 he

died.

A reference to his will shows that he left the residue of his estate in trust for the benefit of the two children " commonly called Deodata Roache and Elizabeth Roache," to be paid to them on marriage or on arriving at the age of 21 years ; and provided that until one or other of these -events the children should be allowed yearly for their maintenance 100Z. What happened to the girls afterwards is a sad story, and is hardly worth dragging into the light of day. It was not the result of poverty. The story of their father's effort to provide for them and his gallant conduct

at Fort St. David and Trivatore is worth remembrance. Major Roach was a brave and determined soldier, who on two notable occasions upheld the honour of his country on the field of battle against superior numbers. FRANK PENNY.

POWDERED GLASS (12 S. i. 169, 297). This was long believed to act as a poison, and was even known as " succession powder " ; over a hundred years ago ex- periments in varied form were made showing that it is harmless. Details are given in Dr. Cabanes's ' Les Curiosites de la Mede- cine,' pp. 146-8. The belief lingers in the Orient ; for instance, " powders " of finely pounded glass were in evidence at a murder trial in Agra reported in The Times, Dec. 19,

1912, p. 5. ROCKINGHAM.

Bos ton ,. Mass.

FOURTEENTH-CENTURY STAINED GLASS : EPISCOPAL RING (12 S. i. 267). Ecclesiastics, in common with other people in the fifteenth century, wore their rings on the first joint of their fingers. The custom was introduced into England by Margaret of Anjou, and it lasted for about a hundred years.

In New College Chapel, Oxford, the memorial brass of Thomas Cranley, 1417, Archbishop of Dublin, shows the ring at the first joint of the second finger ; and on that of John Yong, 1526, in the same chapel, a ring is depicted on each finger and thumb, and all on the first joint. He was titular Bishop of Callipolis. E. BEAUMONT.

Union Society, Oxford.

REAR-ADMIRAL DONALD CAMPBELL (11 S. xi. 401). As a result of further search, I find I can now answer my own query. Donald Campbell, whose seniority as Ad- miral is June 14, 1814, died, aged 67, at sea on his flagship Salisbury, Nov. 11, 1819, when Commander-in-Chief at the Leeward [slands station. He was buried in the Garrison Church at Portsmouth, Feb. 3, 1820, and mention of the obsequies is to be bund in The Hampshire Telegraph and The Times of the 7th and 8th of that month. A tablet to his memory is in the Garrison Church, erected by his son Lieut.-Col. Henry Dundas Campbell, who has also placed in he church a memorial tablet to his mother, Margaret Harriot Campbell, who died on Fan. 17, 1831, aged 65 years ; as well as ono .o his infant son Donald. Admiral Campbell yas born in Islay in 1752. I shall be grateful or any further information about him or iis family. A. H. MACLEAN.

14 Dean Road, Willesden Green, K.VV.