Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 9.djvu/49

 32S. IX. JULY 9, 1921.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 35 MANCHESTER AND MIDLAND RAILWAY (12 S. viii. 510). -Your correspondent will find help from a book by Mr. Frederick S. Williams entitled ' The Midland Railway : Its Rise and Progress : A Narrative of Modern Enterprise.' (London (n.d.), Strahan and Co., Paternoster Row.) ST> SWITHIN. In 1845, when the railway mania was at its height, a company was formed to pro- mote a railway from Crewe to Milford Haven by way of Llanidloes and Lampeter. But like many other projects of this ill-fated year the " Manchester and Milford " scheme collapsed. In 1852 an attempt was made to fill up the gap between Llanidloes and Milford, but without success. In 1860 an Act was obtained authorizing the M. & M. Ry. Co. to construct a line from Pencader, on the Newcastle -Emlyn branch of the G.W.R., to Llanidloes, from where there was a fairly direct route to Manchester by the Cambrian and L. &. N.W. Railways. Work was begun from both ends and on Jan. 1, 1866, the first portion, Pencader to Lampeter, 12f miles, was opened. On Sept. 1, 1866, the railway was opened from Lampeter to Strata Florida, 15 miles, and throughout to Aberystwyth in the follow- ing August. The line from Strata Florida to Aberystwyth was originally intended to be a branch. At the northern end the work progressed very slowly, owing to the heavy earthworks which were necessary. The railway was carried to Llangurig, about three miles from the junction with the Cambrian system. It was ready to be opened to that point when the work was brought to a sudden conclusion owing to lack of funds. Year after year passed, and the little railway became more and more involved in difficulties, so that all idea of the completion of the main line was aban- doned, the rails on that portion already con- st meted were removed, and the Manchester and Milford Railway settled down as a struggling local line serving a sparsely populated agricultural district. For some years its affairs were administered by a re- ceiver in Chancery. In July, 1905, the Court of Chancery was asked to sanction an agreement by which the M. & M. line would be worked by the G.W.R. ; this was vigrously opposed by the Cambrian Rail- ways. The application was refused. In 1906, however, the M. & M. Ry. was leased to the G.W.R. and has since been worked by that line as a part of its system. The G.W.R. thus obtained an entrance to Aber- ystwyth, of whose traffic the Cambrian had practically had a monopoly. A complete account of the Manchester and Milford Railway appeared in The Rail- way Magazine for March, 1906, from which this account is condensed. H. P. HART. Ixworth Vicarage, Bury St. Edmunds. THE PLAGUE PITS (12 S. viii. 450, 495; ix. 12). I have been told that the site of one of these lay at the back of No. 16, Silver Street, Golden Square (now No. 41, Beak Street), and that when excavations were made preparatory to putting up new build- ings, cartloads of bones were removed from this spot. H. F. F. DR. JOHN MISAUBIN (12 S. viii. 511). In J. T. Smith's ' Nollekens and His Times ' (1828, ii. 227) will be found a footnote relating to a " family picture of Dr. Misaubin," painted in body-colour by Joseph Goupy, and containing " the por- traits of his [Misaubin's] father, wife, and son. The latter was murdered when re- turning from Marylebone Gardens, aged twenty-three years. This picture was bought of his [i.e., the Doctor's] grandson, Mr. Angiband [? Angibaud], of St. Martin's Lane, in the year 1799," &c. HILDA F. FINBERG. 47, Holland Road, Kensington, W.14. Macmichael, in his ' Storv of Charing Cross,' 1906, at p. 190, writes : Behind No. 96, St. Martin's Lane, was the room which Hogarth has painted in ' Marriage a la Mode.' The quack is Dr. Misaubin. The woman is his Irish wife. The quack realized a great fortune by a famous pill. His son was murdered ; his grandson squandered his money and died in St. Martin's Workhouse. "Macmichael gives as his authorities Thornbury's ' Haunted Houses,' 1880, p. 253, and Smith's * Nollekens,' 1828, ii., p. 228. When searching the Assessments Lists of the parish I noticed that Mary Misaubin, presumably the widow, was residing in St. Martin's Lane as late as 1749 in a house rated at 55. Misaubin is mentioned in the corre- spondence of the period as " Mizaubin," " Mirry," and " Dr. Missibank." J. PAUL DE CASTRO.