Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 7.djvu/41

 12 s. viz. JUL Y 10, i92o.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 29 HERALDRY or FISHES. In a work of fiction, entitled ' Peter Homunculus,' by Gilbert Cannan (1909), occurs the following passage : "I remember cataloguing once." said Peter [a second-hand bookseller's assistant ] " a large volume called ' The Heraldry of Fishes, Notices of the principal Families bearing Fish in their Arms, with 205 charming engravings from stained glass, tombs, sculpture, carving, medals, coins, pedigrees, &c.,' and I remember adding an attractive note to the effect that nearly 600 families were noticed in the work. And beside the several descriptions of fish, fishing-nets and baits, were mermaids, tritons and shell-flsh." Could any correspondent kindly tell me whether such a book was ever published or was this merely a fictitious book of the author's creation for, though I am in- terested in the subject, I am too far from the world of second - hand booksellers to set about making thorough inquiries. NOLA. COURTENAY RIOTS. The pending sale is advertised of an estate called Berkeley, near Canterbury, said to be the scene of, or adjacent to, the Courtenay Riots. Where is the best description of this event to be found ? J. LANDFEAR LUCAS. JEDIDIAH BUXTON. According to the 'D.N.B.' he was born Mar. 20, 1707, and was buried Mar. 5, 1772 ; that would give his age at death at nearly 65. According to The Gentleman's Magazine, for June, 1754, he was then 49 ; that would give the date of his birth as 1705. According to John Adams's ' Second Volume of Curious Anecdotes,' &c. (London, 1792), at p. 110, he was a married man and had several children, and " died in 1778, being about 70 years of age." Adams's account of him occupies several pages (viz., 104-110). As a matter of fact did he die in 1772 or 1778 ? Did any of his children inherit any portion of his extraordinary gift for mathematics ? JOHN B. WAINE WRIGHT. HATJCK'S PISTOLS, 1705. De Blainville (' Travels,' i. 205), mentions a Mr. Hauck of Nuremberg, in this year, who " makes Pistols, which discharge a hundred Times successively without Priming ; and he takes but a Ducat for the Pair of them." What is known of these pistols, and how were they constructed ? JOHN B. WAINE WRIGHT. 84TH REGIMENT IN INDIA c. 1760. In looking through a list of officers who served with the 84th Regiment, in Madras and Bengal, between the years 1758 and 1763 .1 find the following names : Francis Allesieu ; Jacob Carnac ; Christopher Thomas Chaigneau ; George Frederick Augustus Eiser ; John Christian Eiser ; Charles Kundson ; Alexander La Douespe ; William Mehew ; Richard Mompessan ; Walter Onge ; Thomas Pooke ; Thomas Tydd ; George Whichcot. I should be very grateful if any of your readers could give me any information about them. MAZING ARBE. MARY ANN Bonur married circ. 1710, Patrick Blake of Isle of Montserrat. MARCELLA FRENCH married circ. 1740, Andrew Blake, son of the above, and was mother of Sir Patrick Blake of Langham Hall, Suffolk, who died 1784. Is anything known of the families of either Marv Bohun or Marcella French. M. A. L. G. WILLOW- PLANTATIONS. Can any corre- spondent give me any information about willow-planting and "withe stripping," with notes on the origin of the industry and the localities in which it is carried on ? H. BEADON. VAN DER PLAES. David van der Plaes (or Plaas), portrait-painter ; born at Amster- dam, Dec. 11, 1647 ; died there May 18, 1704. He worked for a short time in London. Can any one give further particulars of his life other than the statements made by Bryan ? Did he leave descendants, and were any of his connexions to be found amongst the Spitalfields weavers under the kindred orthography of Plees ? TRIUMVIR. RICHARD SMITH, ESQ., of Islington, co. Middlesex, Patron of the Rectory of Isling- ton, Dec. 28, 1732, married in, relict of Nathaniel Crow, Esq., of Barbadoes, B.W.I., and had issue two sons Richard, rector of Islington (?), and Benjamin of Lys, Hants (sheriff in 1777) ; and three daughters : Eleanor, who married Anthony Todd, Esq. (of Walthamstow), by whom she had an only daughter, Eleanor, who married Aug. 15, 1782, James, 8th Earl of Lauderdale ( 1789-1839) ; Elizabeth, who mar- ried John Robinson, Esq., of Wyke House, Middlesex (Secretary to the Treasury), by