Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 2.djvu/107

 12 S. II. AUG. 5, 1916.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

101

LONDON, SATURDAY, AUGUST f,, 1916.

CONTENTS.- No. 32.

NOTES : The Watts Family of Southampton, 101 Tacitus and the Jutish Question, 10:2 Fielding and the Collier Family, 104 The River Fleet " Yoghurt." 106-"Dead secret " Bentley on Milton William Hacket, 107.

^QUERIES : Caldecotb Sir David Owen, 107 Portrait of Knight of the Garter " Notice" given Out of Doors- Sir Charles Fox and the Crystal Palace Westminster Views -Travels in Revolutionary France Christopher Urswick Authors of Quotations Wanted Thomas Panton Archdeacon Palmer of Ely Bambridge Family, 108 Ancient Welsh Triad James Wilson, M. P. Thomas Yates, M.P. Dr. Thomas Chevalier Snob and Ghost- Hebrew Inscription in Leicestershire Haggatt Family Will of Cecily, Duchess of York, 109 'The Order of a Campe ' Ibbetson, Ibberson, or Ibbeson Pronunciation of "Catriona," 110.

BEPLIES : - "The Working-Man's Way in the World': Charles Manby Smith, 110 English Prelates at the Council of Bale The Shires of Northampton and South- amptonThe Right Worshipful the Mayor, 111 -Richard Swift The Identity of Emmeline de Redesford Touching for Luck. 112" Scribenda et legenda " " Watch House," Ewell, Surrey Rev. Joseph Kann Musical Queries Gunfire and Rain, 113 The Newspaper Placard Touch- ing for the King's Evil Sir Walter Scott : Lockhart's Unpublished Letter Gennys of Launceston Mumbo Juuibo, 114 Eighteenth-Century Dentists "Galoche": "Cotte," 115 Inscription at Poltimore Church Scarlet Gloves and Tractarianism, 116 Sarum Breviary : Verses in Calendar Symbols attached to Signatures Farmers' Candlemas Rime, 117 Thomas Holcroft and the Bio- graphy of Napoleon Major Campbell's Duel, IIS Denmark Court, 119.

NOTES ON BOOKS : ' An Essay on Shakespeare's Relation to Tradition 'Reviews and Magazines.

MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF

THE WATTS FAMILY OF

SOUTHAMPTON.

THE following notes, collected and compiled by me, have been arranged and annotated by Mr. Chas. A. Bernau, F.S.G. :

1. The Grandparents of Dr. Isaac Watts.

Thomas Watts, the paternal grandfather of Dr. Isaac Watts, is said to have com- manded a ship of the British navy, under Admiral Blake, against the Dutch. We are told that this vessel unfortunately exploded, and by this accident he perished in the prime of life ; My old friend the late Prof. Sir John Knox Laughton, of the Naval Records Society, wrote in reply to my inquiry to say he could find no trace of Thomas Watts as a naval officer in the Dutch War, or, indeed, in the navy at that time.

Tradition informs us that among his con- temporaries he was much esteemed, and -celebrated for many of those accomplish- ments which gave such a lustre to his name

in the person of his gifted grandson. Not only was he well acquainted with the mathematics, but also skilled in the lighter arts of music, painting, and poetry. His persona] courage was remarkable. A de- scendant of the family relates that while in the East Indies, when closely pursued by a tiger which had followed him into a river where he had taken refuge, Mr. Watts turned to grapple with the monster, and, by singular coolness and dexterity, succeeded in ridding himself of his formidable enemy.

We know that he died about 1656, as his widow, who died in 1693, " long survived her unfortunate husband (37 years)." This fact is confirmed by an entry 'in the Administra- tion Act Book of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury under date March 19, 1656/7 :

Thomas Watts. The Nineteenth day Ires, of Ad'scon issued forth untoMerian [stcj Watts widd. the relicte of Thomas Watts late of the Towne & Countye of Southton. decea'd To Ad'ster the goods ch'ells & debts of the s'd dec'd. she beinge first by Com' sworne truely to Ad'ster, &c. Invy. 22 : 10 : 00

(On March 19, 1666/7, letters of administration issued forth unto Miriam Watts, widow, the relict of Thomas Watts of the Town and County of Southampton, deceased, to administer the goods, chattels, and debts of the said deceased, she being first by Commission sworn truly to administer. Inventory 22/. 10*.)

The wording of this administration shows us that there is no truth in the tradition that he died at sea, which fact would have been stated in it had it been so. If he was drowned anywhere, it was at Southampton. His grandson certainly believed that he was drowned, for he wrote the following stanza ' On the Death of an Aged and Honoured Relative, Mrs. M. W., the Widow of Mr. T. Watts, and the Grandmother of the Poet ' :

The painter-muse with glancing eye Observed a manly spirit nigh,

That death had long disjoined : " In the fair tablet they shall stand United by a happier band," She said ; and fixed her sight and drew the manly

mind. Fecount the years, my song (a mournful round),

Since he was seen on earth no more:

He fought on lower seas and drown'd ;

But victory and peace he found

On the superior shore.

" 1693 July 13 Grandmo. Watts died."

The records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury for the years 1693 and 1694 have been searched unsuccessfully for a will or administration of Miriam Watts, widow. In 1688 " Mrs. Miriam Watts, widow," is mentioned as a member of the Above Bar Chapel, Southampton. WILLIAM BULL.

(To be continued.)