Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 9.djvu/209

 12 s. ix. AUG. 27, i92i.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 167 River. He married Alice Cor bin, daughter j of Henry Corbin of H?ll End, Warwick- shire, and died at Sandy Point, Teddington, Charles City, where he was buried, his tomb bearing his arms impaled with the arms of Corbin. Who was the John Lightfoot known as Colonel John Lightfoot, the Auditor- General, I have not been able to discover, but the appointment was very shortly after revoked, and at all events he cannot have been the son of the Gray's Inn barrister, although he may have been a relative. Robert, the youngest son, became apothe- cary to the Queen Dowager, and married Hannah Port man, daughter of John Port- man, goldsmith of the City of London, and had a son, also a John, born in 1678. Of the daughters, Mary married Edward Leigh of St. Bartholomew's Close, Anne married William Webb of Hatton Garden ; Jane married John Crozier of Ickenham ; and Elizabeth meiried John Turner, also of Ickenham. The children of William, the fourth son, were William, John, Robert and Elizabeth. William, born 1664, was a barrister, became Judge of the Sheriff's Court, and was known as Judge Lightfoot of Hatton Garden ; he died unmarried in 1727. John, born in 1665, became a member of the Chartered Company of Merchant Ad- venturers, and apparently made e consider- able fortune, trading also, it is believed, with Antigup. In his vill he made bequests to many London charities, among them to the workhouse, Bishopsga.te Street ; the poor of St. Michael's Bassishaw ; the Charity School, Tower Street ; the poor of Bartho- lomew's, Christ Church, Brides wall, St. j Thomas, St. Margaret's, and the Society l for the Propagation ol the Gospel. The third son, Robert, entered Trinity I College, Cambridge, 1686-7, took Holy orders, and was rector of Deal from 1716j to 1726, when he died. It is believed he! had a son William and a daughter Kitty. ! The latter may have been a lady well known ! in her day, for The Gentleman's Magazine of 1731 mentions the death of Kitty Light- j foot, niece of Judge Lightfoot of Hatton Garden. Descendants of Philip Lightfoot are, I believe, living in many parts of Virginia j and the United States to-day, and possibly there may be some in Antigua. In ' The History of the Island of Antigua,' by V. L. Oliver, there is given a pedigree of Lightfoots from a Richard of East Grin- stead, who married a Jane Warner, widow of Thomas Warner, V.C. If these letters, V.C., stand for Virginia City it certainly points to a connexion between the Light- foots of London and those of Antigua. In or before 1749 there existed a firm of bankers behind the Royal Exchange by name Colbrooke, Ruck, and John Light- foot, the latter being Vestryman to the Parish of St. Benetfink and Freeman of the Company of Mercers. He died unmarried, but appointed trustees to educate and bring up a John, son of his late cousin William, and to apprentice him to any trade he might choose. Are there any descendants of this John living ? T. W. L. Hove. A LETTER OF WILLIAM HAYLEY. Some weeks ago I purchased a letter (autograph), which, so far as I know, has never been pub- lished. It is by William Hayley, 1745-1820, the patron of William Blake, who wrote the biographies of Cowper and Romney (the latter of which brought out a recriminatory volume from Romney's son and also a great quantity of futile verse) and whose principal claim to present memory lies in the ' Ballads ' which Blake so charmingly illustrated, and in his still enjoyable and curious ' Essay on Old Maids.* Sir, Oct. 24, 1808. I yesterday received three Copies of the little Book which you have done me the Honor of dedi- cating to me tho I most sincerely recommended to you for a Patron those worthy of yr praise & better situated to render you service your poems & your Letter have raised in me various Emotions of pleasure & of pain pleasure from the simplicity nature & pathos in yr poetry ; & pain from hear- ing that a young man whose Feelings appear to me so strong & so tender has such difficulties to struggle against & to use yr own words no means of procuring Subsistence but by his Pen a very pre- carious Assistant as I know by long experience of my own & of others with whose literary Hopes & Disappointments I have been familiar. I should esteem myself fortunate if Time & Chance shall afford me any opportunity of recom- mending you to a Situation that might secure a certain and decent maintenance for the tender Ob- jects of yr Delight yr Anxiety but I must be so sincere with you as to add that however I may hope I have very little reason to expect such an Opportunity. I will not however forget to seek for it by the best Means in my power & I entreat you to accept the Trifle of 3 Chichester Notes of 1 which I have sealed up directed to you and sent to the carejof