Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 4.djvu/418

 458 [9* 8. IV. Due. 2, "99. NOTES AND QUERIES. was then in his seventy-third year, having been born at Bristol 19 Oct., 1795. Mr. Col- lier was theatrical and musical critic to the Court Journal in 1834-5, while that paper was under the management of Mr. H. Col- burn, publisher, and was also for many years sub-editor of the Gardeners' Gazette and John Bull, and editor and part proprietor of the Court Gazette from 1838 to 1840. He was an occasional contributor to Bentley's Magazine, Fraser's Magazine, the Union, and other periodicals, and was the author of several dramas and operettas, most of which are now forgotten, among which may be mentioned 'The BlacksmithVa musical drama produced at the Coburg Theatre ('"Twas called the Coburg then, but now the Surrey"), January, 1834, with Miss P. Horton (afterwards Mrs. German Reed) and the Covent Garden com- pany ; ' The Queen's Jewel,' one-act comedy, Queen's Theatre, April, 1835, with Mrs. Nesbit and Mrs. Honey in the principal characters ; ' Is She a Woman ?' one - act comedietta, Queen's Theatre, 26 Dec, 1835; ' Kate Kear- ney,' two-act comedietta, music by Alexander Lee, Queen's Theatre, 3 Oct., 1&36: 'Rival Sergeants,' musical burletta, Sadlers Wells, 5 April, 1847 ; 'Abduction,' three-act drama, Queen's Theatre ; ' Cousin Campbell's Court- ship,' one-act comedietta, Strand Theatre, with Mrs. Stirling and Mr. Alfred Wigan, 1846 ; 'The Portrait,'one-act comedy, Queen's Theatre ; ' Rip Van Winkle ' two-act drama, music by Charles Glover. Queen's Theatre: ' The Kiss; or, Bertha s Bridal,' musical drama, music by Clement White, Lyceum Theatre; 'Blighted Love,' two-act drama, Marylebone Theatre, under Mr. Watts's management, 1850 ; ' Our Borough Election,' one-act farce, Marylebone Theatre; 'The Banker,' two-act drama, Chestnut Theatre, Philadelphia, 1848 John Hebb. Stafford Family.—Information is sought respecting the ancestry of John Stafford, Mayor of Macclesfield in 1736. He wrote several letters in connexion with the visit of the Pretender (Prince Edward) to Maccles- field. Jubal Stafford. Stockport. Isaac Ware.—A bust of this architect (died 1766) was executed by Roubiliac. Can any reader say where it is ? It is represented by an engraving in the Prints and Drawings Department, British Museum, and doubtless elsewhera but where is the bust? John Thomas Smith, formerly Keeper of the Prints and Drawings, gives us in his book ' Nollekens and his Times' (ii. 206) the story of Isaac Ware, who related it when sitting to Roubiliac for the bust. He was a little chimney-sweep when found sketching on the stones with a bit of chalk the Banqueting Hall of Inigo Jones at Whitehall, and his natural ability so struck the observer—"a gentleman of considerable taste and fortune," now thought to have been the Earl of Bur- lington — that he bought out the lad's ap- prenticeship and had him educated as an architect. Mr. Smith adds a note to the effect that " early in life he engraved a very indifferent plate of Ware's bust, which was one of Rou- biliac's best performances." Would he had named the then possessor of the bust (1828)! I have sought it in Sir John Soane's Museum as a likely place, but fruitlessly. Mr. Smith's engraving is, no doubt, that at the British Museum ; it is perhaps not a very excellent work of art, but it carries the conviction that as a likeness of Ware it is good and cha- racteristic. The architect has his niche in the Temple of Fame, i.e., the 'Dictionary of National Biography.' W. L. Rutton. Wharncliffe.—What was the old spelling of this name 1 H. T. B. Pewter and its Marks.—Is any book pub- lished determining the authenticity of marks, &c, on pewter, which to me is a very inter- esting subject, and doubtless would be to those persons possessing a collection, or who have pieces which possibly have been in their family for many years, and who are unable to put any approximate date to them 1 Pewter is of considerable antiquity. I have a tankard that was found in a loft, where it had been for over one hundred and twenty years, and shows signs of having been well used before that time; and I have several pieces with different official marks on them, which may imply a foreign or country (by which I mean made out of London) manufacture, or a dif- ferent degree of fineness in the alloy, as my pewter varies in weight and density, some pieces being soft and ductile, with a remark- able grit de perle sheen and evidently a certain quantity of silver in them, while others are hard and metallic, which looks as if more tin had entered into their composition. Both sorts have official marks, and it would be inter- esting to know if all sorts were stamped in- discriminately, or if there was a distinctive mark for the better sort. In old days each shop had its different sign, and therefore various badges are stamped on the back, showing from which shop they emanated. I believe the Goldsmiths' Company long ago obtained an injunction against the pewterers for infringing their marks, and, of course,