Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 2.djvu/400

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s. n. NOV. n, wie.

Here also lies the body of the HOSIU,E. GENL. ROGER HANDASYDE, Eldest Son of the above Thos. Handasyde, who died Jany. the 4 th, 1763, a^ed 78. He was General- in-Chief of all his Majesty's foot forces, was formerly Governor of Berwick in the rebellion in 1745, who during his many years' disinterested Service shewed his great skill in military affairs and his zeal and attachment to the present Government. He died greatly lamented by all who had the pleasure of his acquaintance.

HERBERT E. NORRIS. Cirencester.

" JOBEY " OF ETON

(12 S. ii. 248, 295.)

ETONIAN readers of ' N. & Q.' will be grateful to MB. THORNTON for his reference to the letters which appeared in The Times during January this year about various attendants of the boys at Eton who were called by the nickname " Joby " or " Jobey," but he did not extend the list beyond that month, nor did MR. PIERPOINT in his reply at the second reference. I should like to add that further letters on the same subject appeared ~i February, and that the final and authorita- tive one, on Feb. 10, signed A. C. A., reviewed the whole matter under the heading ' A Statement of Facts.' The gentleman who wrote that letter has spent most of his life at Eton, and probably knows as much about the school as any man now living, and he points out that "" the habit adopted by Etonians since 1870 or thereabouts of calling all those who minister to their wants on the cricket grounds, at the fives courts, bathing- places, or elsewhere, by the generic name of ' Joby ' is no doubt convenient to them, but it plays havoc with the recollections of O.E.'s."

The net result, indeed, has been that the previous letters teemed with inaccuracies. I shall venture to quote a little more from A. C. A.'s statement, and, having been hi contemporary at Eton for five years, and having always kept in touch with my old school, to add a few words of my own. He continues thus :

" In the middle of last century two Eton families, bearing the surnames of Powell and Joe respectively, performed certain services for Eton boys. There were three of the former and two of the latter. Let us take them in order.

" The elder Powell, generally known as ' Picky Powell, was a somewhat ragged and disreputabl old man the champion supposed to have fought ' Billy Warner ' of Harrow at Lord's."

To this I can add that he had been a good cricketer. He was bowling to the boys in practice before my father left Eton in 1810 and afterwards played a few times in first class cricket, appearing for the Player

against the Gentlemen at Lord's in 1819'

1820, and 1821. He was an underhand

jowler of some skill, before the time of

ound-hand bowling, and in the match of

820 he bowled six wickets. In spite of

ather bibulous habits, he reached old age,

md retained his bodily vigour until late in

ife. A. C. A. continues thus :

" Edward Powell, his son, sometimes called fat ' Powell, sometimes ' Dick ' Powell, was a r ery familiar figure in his velveteen coat and tall lat. He had charge in the fifties of football at Late of nearly all the football in the school."
 * he ' Wall ' and in College generally, at a later

After enumerating other duties performed by " fat " Powell, A. C. A. adds that " he was a most valuable and faithful servant of Eton for fifty-two years," and that he died in 1899, at the age "of 79. The third Powell mentioned by A. C. A. was " Ned " or ' thin " Powell, who at one time was em- aloyed in the playing fields, and in character calls him " a brother or perhaps a cousin of Edward Powell." I always believed them to be brothers. In spite of the difference in their bulk, a strong family likeness seemed to confirm this, and I was told in my school days that they were nephews of " Picky," but A. C. A. has had exceptional oppor- tunities of ascertaining the truth. I had a great regard for " fat " Powell, who, on my leaving Eton, presented me with a pint " pewter," which I still possess. He often made similar presents to boys who were on friendlv terms with him, and who played at the " Wall." f s
 * oo much resembled " Picky." A. C. A.

Having described the Powells, who, in spite of assertions to the contrary, were not associated with the nickname " Joby," A. C. A. gives a graphic account of the two Joels, sons of Samuel Joel, " formerly butler to the Rev. Francis Plumptre, fellow of Eton College." The elder, christened William Henry, was always known by the family nickname " Joby," and was in his prime in the fifties and early sixties. He used to have employment in football arrangements among Oppidans, sold " sock " on the wall in front of Upper School, and stood umpire in such cricket matches as Collegers v. Oppidans and Aquatics v. Lower Club. I remember that, quite unjustly, he was once ducked in the Thames by the Aquatics, because in a match between the latter clubs he was supposed to have given a wrong decision. In A. C. A.'s words :

" He was the original, and in former times the only, ' Joby.' The use of his name as a general term for those performing similar services belongs to a much later date."