Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 3.djvu/390

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NOTES AND QUERIES. 1128.111 AUG., 1917.

FLETCHER FAMILY. The recent visit of a party of archaeologists to the village church of Nursling, near Southampton, has revived the often-discussed local tradition that a son, or a near relative, of the Rev. Thomas Fletcher, the poet, lies buried in the churchyard.

Fletcher, who is believed to have been born at Abington in 1666, is said to have been an Usher in Winchester College, and was buried in the Cathedral in 1707, leaving three sons. Of these, Thomas (1705-71) was Bishop of Dromore, and Philip (1707-66) was Dean of Kildare ; but who was the third ?

The first occupant of the large square tomb at Nursling in 1815 was a William Fletcher, who came from Low Layton prior to 1773, and took up his residence at the Manor House of Lee, in the vicinity of Romsey. In the Abbey parish registers is recorded the baptism, in 1773, of " Frances, daughter of Wm. Fletcher, Esq., of Lee," and in 1777 of " Matilda Caroline, daughter of Wm. Fletcher and Susanna his wife." Matilda was buried at Nursling on April 3, 1793, and Frances, as the wife of Charles Wilson of Langley Cottage, Eling,and daughter of Wm. Fletcher, on the 17th of January, 1829. The Rev. Nathaniel Fletcher, son and successor of William, for several years served the churches of Timsbury and Chilworth, near Romsey. His marriage with Mary Collins of that town took place in the Abbey Church on Aug. 27, 1789. The witnesses who signed the registers were " William and Susanna Fletcher and Henry Fletcher." The Rev. Nathaniel Fletcher, who was rated for Lee from 1815 to 1852, was buried at Nursling on Dec. 29, 1852.

The Manor House, occupied by the Fletchers until 1852, and described in Buller's ' Companion Tour round Southampton ' (published in 1801) as " the residence of Wm. Fletcher, Esq.. .seated in a picturesque park amid pleasant scenery," is believed to have been erected by the Godfrey family early in the sixteenth century. They were shipowners from Winchelsea who took part in the maritime trade of Southampton, were prominent townsfolk in their day, and also landowners in many parts of the county, but virtually came to an end in the person of Charles Godfrey, who died at Lee in Decem- ber, 1757. After the death of Nathaniel Fletcher the property was acquired by Henry Temple, Viscount Palmerston (the Premier), who demolished the old house that so long basked among the somnolent marsh meadows of the River Test, and has left nothing to tell the tale of its existence but

the time-worn bricks of its kitchen-garden, wall, and a few venerable trees, the remnants of the " picturesque park " which has given its name to the adjacent old house of " Lee Park Farm," on the opposite side of the road. tft ? |g. , - F. H. S.

GBEYSTOKE PEDIGREE. Can any of your readers inform me what were the authorities used by Hutchinson in framing the pedigree of Greystoke, as given by him in his ' History of Cumberland,' vol. i. p. 348, with a differ- ing version on p. 351 1 Both are corrected as to important details by the charters printed by Mr. Robert Surtees in his ' History of Durham,' vol. iii. p. 258. It is desired to obtain other references such as might assist in establishing a correct pedigree of this family prior to the reign of Edward I H. C. SURTEES, Brig.-General.

FiTZwrLLiAMS OF GRiMTHORPE. Where can a pedigree of the Fitzwilliams, early lords of Grimthorpe in Yorkshire, be found 2 H. C. SURTEES, Brig.-General.

Uarlton Club.

BIBLE : WORDS PRINTED IN CAPITAL. LETTERS. Can any of your readers tell me who is responsible for certain words being printed in capital letters in the Authorized Version of the Bible, as, e.g., in Zech. vi. 12 and xiv. 20, and Revelation xvii. 5 and xix. 16 1 I have asked several scholars without gaining enlightenment, or being helped to see on what principle the thing was done. CHARLES E. SEAMAN.

Stalbridge Rectory, Dorset.

JOHN CROKE : SIR WILLIAM STOCKER. Can any reader oblige me with the following information 1 What relation was John Croke (knighted May 22, 1603; died 1620; Alderman of the City of London) to John. Croke alias Le Blount, Alderman for Bishopsgate (will 1477, proved 1481), and to John Croke, " son of the Alderman "" (will 1484, Maskell) 1 What also was the relationship between John: Croke " the- elder " and John Croke of the ' Cal. of Inquisitions Henry VII.,' 1505 ? A "stand- ing cup " was bequeathed to a John Croke- and one to Richard Croke by Sir Wm. Stocker, 1485, whose wife Margaret was daughter of Alderman John Croke, 1481; I presume that the beautiful pre-Reformation monumental brass in AJi Hallows, Barking, Great Tower Street, City, is the Alderman's.

Sir Wm. Stocker, 1485, mentions " sister- Anne Boleyn " in his will ; what was the relationship between her and the Crokes and Stockers ? The above Sir William must not