Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 4.djvu/273

 12 S. IV. OCT., 1918.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

267

of land to him in 1690 or at any subsequent date.

Of the maternal uncles of Sir James Porter, the eldest, Charles Daubuz (name included in the Act of Parliament naturaliz- ing John Ricard and others 12 Will. III., April 11, 1700), took holy orders in the Church of England ; was elected, Sept. 23, 1696, head master of the Grammar School at Sheffield ; and in December, 1608, became Vicar of Brother ton in Yorkshire, and died June 14, 1717, when Sir James Porter was seven years old. Charles Daubuz died in very reduced circumstances, his widow being granted a special pension of 40Z. a year out of the fund assigned for the relief of impoverished Huguenot families. The second, Jean Daubuz, went to Lisbon, and died there unmarried in 1729 ; and the third, Etienne or Stephen Daubuz, became an opulent merchant in the City of London, and it was by their uncle Stephen Daubuz that Sir James Porter and his elder brother John Porter (afterwards Alderman of Lime Street Ward, 1752-6, in the City of London) were educated, and, with the help of Stephen's son-in-law Joshua Vanneck and his elder brother Gerrard Vanneck, established in business in Throgmorton Street.

Why Sir James Porter and his brother assumed the name of Porter in lieu of their patronymic is not positively known, and can only be surmised : they did so very early in life, probably to conceal their foreign origin, and probably in the lifetime of their father. Their mother did not change her name, but continued to be called by the name of Laroque, and was buried in that name. F. DE H. L.

THE CORRESPONDENCE OF RICHARD EDWARDS, 1669-79.

(See 12 S. iii. I, 44, 81, 122, 161, 205, 244. 262, 293, 323, 349, 377, 409, 439, 470, 493; iv. 39, 96, 151, 2C9.)

LETTER LXXXVIII.

Edmund Bugden to Richard Edwards.

(O.C. 3751.)

[Edmund Bugden has the distinction of being in India for a longer period than any other of Edwards's correspondents and of being three times elected a servant of the Company. Like Job Charnock (and possibly in his com- pany), he went out to India in or about the year 1050. The first mention of him in the Records is in April, 1659, when he was at Balasor ; and he is again mentioned as being at that place in

1660. In September, 1667, Edmund Bugden, senior, a distiller of Wapping, petitioned the Court "on behalfe of his'sonne who is with Mr Blake at Hughley," and begged for employ- ment for him in the Company's service. The Court at that time " did not think fit to do any thinge therein," but at their next meeting, " receaving an accompt that the petitioners sonne hath been these 10 yeares in India, and speakes the Language and may deserve en- couragement," ordered him to be taken into their service, "if deserving"; and on Oct. 18, 16G7, he was " admitted to serve the Company " as a fac-tor at 201. per annum. In November the Court, having been furnished with a long complaint from Thomas Stiles, a quarrelsome factor in Bengal, ordered an examination to be made as to " what objections lye against " the employment of Edmund Bugden. The report was favourable, and Bugden 's appointment was confirmed and his salary increased to 351. per annum. Later, however, further reports of his " ill character " were received, and the Court reversed their decision and ordered him to be sent home.

Bugden arrived in England in 1670, and his father immediately set to work to get him rein- stated in the Company's service. On Oct. 20 the Court ordered the petition of Edmund Bugden, senior, to be " considered " and a report made whether his son "may be usefull to be employed in the Bay." On Nov. 1 the Committee stated that " Edmund Bugden, lately returned from the Bay of Bengali," was proficient m ' the language of the Countrey and knowledge m Navigation," and was " fit to be entertained to serve the Company in the Bay on Shipboard and on shore." In consequence Bugden was re-elected factor at 30Z. per annum, with a seat on the Council at Bengal. He sailed in the Rebekah in December, 1671, accompanied by his wife Elizabeth (and probably by his brother John), and appears to have proceeded direct to Hugll. .In July, 1674, on account of trade," Bugden and his " family " were ordered to Balasor, where he came into collision with Joseph Hall, who accused him of uttering " unseemly " speeches against his masters. But though Bugden's language was violent he seems to have been loyal to his employers.

In 1677 he was to have come to Hugll as a witness in the charge of atheism against Samuel Hervy, but on the death of John Mar- shall the orders were countermanded and ne was directed to send his evidence and to .take charge of affairs at Balasor. He quickly embroiled himself with the native Governor, was reproved for rashness in his dealings, fc not pricing the Company's cloth, and once more for " unseemly speeches " against the Agent and Council. From that date Bugden steadily declined in favour. He was suspected of being associated with John - Smith and Richard Edwards and with his brother John Bugden in illicit private trade, and though he reproached Edwards for permitting the fraud, asserted that he was a .victim of John bmitfi ill-dealing, and denied " what he is charged withall," he was detained at Hugll in December, 1678, and " not permitted to goe to Balasore whilst the ships are there." In May of 1679 he and his wife were " checked " by Matthias