Ex Libris C. K. OGDEN GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. (gjreat JJmwell, Past and Present. COMPILED FROM VARIOUS SOURCES REV. W. J. HARVEY, M.A., VICAR OF GREAT AMWELL. OXFORD : PRINTED BY MOWBRAY AND CO. 1896. FULLY AWARE OF ITS DEFICIENCIES, I DEDICATE THIS LITTLE WORK TO MY PARISHIONERS IN THE EARNEST HOPE THAT IT MAY CONTRIBUTE, IN HOWEVER SLIGHT A DEGREE, TO THE INCREASE OF THEIR AFFECTION FOR THEIR CHURCH AND PARISH. 1C99318 CONTENTS. CHAP. PAGE. INTRODUCTION i I. THE CHURCH AND BENEFICE - 5 II. THE PARISH REGISTERS - - 39 III. THE CHURCHYARD - - - 57 IV. AMWELL-BURY 88 V. HAILEY - - 93 VI. THE EAST INDIA COLLEGE - 96 VII. HAILEYBURY COLLEGE - - 105 VIII. THE NEW RIVER - - 119 IX. BENEFACTIONS - - - - 132 X BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES - - - 134 XI. SCOTT'S DESCRIPTIVE POEM, "AIM- WELL" .... 12 INTRODUCTION. 6THE Parish of Great Amwell is situated in (^) the County of Hertford, and Hundred of Hertford, and is bounded on the north by Ware, on the south by Hoddesdon, on the east by the River Lea, and on the west by Little Amwell or Hertford Heath. It must not, however, be supposed that these at all represent its ancient boundaries. At the be- ginning of the present century, Broxbourne formed the southern boundary of the Parish, and Hertford the western. From which it may appear that the spoiler has been abroad, and Amwell has been considered legitimate prey. The Local Government Act of 1894 i s the latest instance of this, whereby the southern portion of the Parish has been transferred to the New Urban District of Hoddesdon, and the northern extremity has been formed into a new Parish under the name of Ware Rural. But still, when all is said and done, there is a considerable portion of the ancient Parish of Amwell left untouched, and our remarks will be for the most part confined to this portion. Amwell derives its name from Emma's Well, which still exists just below the Church, and 2 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. to which we shall allude in connection with the New River. The name was probably first Emma's Well, then Emmeswell, and finally Amwell, as at present. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Emmewelle. There seems to be some little doubt as to whether this particular Emma from whom our Parish derives its name ever existed in the flesh. Some are inclined to believe that she did, and that she was no less distinguished a personage than Queen Emma, wife of Canute, and widow of Ethelred the Unready. We must be content to leave this question among the mists of the past. Both King Harold and Edward the Con- fessor were Lords of the Manor of Amwell. And here let it be distinctly understood that this is a compilation. I lay no claim to origin- ality. I have simply taken Clutterbuck's History of Hertfordshire, and added to it here and there, bringing it a little more up to date. For the chapter on Modern Haileybury I am indebted to the kindness of the Rev. L. S. Milford. " Amwell will always be associated with the memory of old Isaak Walton, who in his Complete Angler (a charming work, quite apart from its merits as a book on angling) makes it the scene of his first lessons in angling. On Am well-hill, before sunrise, Piscator kept tryst with his friend Venator, and having, as he relates, merrily killed a bitch-otter and her INTRODUCTION. 3 helpless young ones, with the assistance of noble Mr. Sadler's huntsmen and dogs, they adjourned to an honest ale-house, where they took a cup of good barley-wine, and sang ' Old Rose,' before commencing the more serious business of the day, on the banks of the River Lea." Cussans' History of Hertfordshire. It is surprising to find how little the great majority of people know of the history of the village in which their lot is cast. And yet every village has a history, sometimes a history of the deepest interest. Amwell is certainly no exception to the rule, and if these pages help in any degree to stimulate an interest in our Parish history, I shall be more than re- warded for any trouble I may have taken. W. J. HARVEY. CHAPTER I. THE CHURCH AND BENEFICE. /** REAT Amwell is a Vicarage in the Rural \X Deanery of Ware, and the Archdeaconry and Diocese of St. Alban's. In the far past Amwell formed part of the unwieldy Diocese of Lincoln, and at the commencement of the present century was situated within the Dio- cese of London, Archdeaconry of Middlesex, and Rural Deanery of Braughing. In the year 1845 the Counties of Herts and Essex were trans- ferred to the See of Rochester, and in 1874 an Act of Parliament was passed making the Counties of Essex and Herts into the new Diocese of St. Alban's, with the ancient Abbey as the Cathedral Church. In the ecclesiastical taxation made by order of Pope Nicholas the Fourth in the twentieth year of King Edward I., A.D. 1291, the Church of Emmewell was rated at -12 per annum. In the survey made upon the dissolution of the Monasteries, in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of King Henry VIII., it was valued in the King's books at 6 per annum. The Commissioners appointed by the Parlia- ment, in the year 1650, to enquire into the state of ecclesiastical benefices, found that the 6 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. house, glebe, and tithes were worth ^18 per annum; that Thomas Hassall was then Vicar; that there was a Chapel of Ease* to this Church, lying partly in Broxbourn and partly in Great Amwell Parish, without maintenance, most fit to be made a Parish Church for the town of Hoddesdon, and such houses of Great Amwell as were mingled with the town of Hoddesdon, containing about 140 families. The Church of Amwell was anciently given by Ralph, and confirmed by his son Alan de Limesi, to the Prior and Convent of St. Mary at Hertford, which had been founded by him, and made a Cell subordinate to the Abbot and Convent of St. Alban ; and a Vicarage was ordained and endowed in this Church soon after its appropriation to that religious house. The limits of this and the neighbouring Parish of Broxbourn being contiguous, and thereupon great controversies and suits having arisen between the Bishops of London, patrons of the Church of Broxbourn, on the one part, and the Abbott and Convent of St. Alban and the Prior and Convent of Hertford, patrons of this Church, on the other, about the tithe of corn and hay growing in certain fields, it was in the time of Robert de Braybroke, Bishop of London, finally composed and agreed between them, as follows : "Quod Robertus episcopus London, et successores sui habeant, pro eorum parte. decimas de Eastfeld in campo de * See Note at end of this Chapter. THE CHURCH AND BENEFICE. / Eastfeld versus Hoddesdon, a meta terrae Richardi at Halle in prima Shotte, et a meta terrae ' Richardi Stokkere in secunda Shotte, et a meta terrae Johannis at Halle versus Kyndwell, in tertia Shotte, de dicto Priore et Conventu beatce Mariae de Hertford, et eorum successoribus imper- petuum. Et iidem Prior et Conventus, et eorum successores habeant, pro eorum parte, residuum decimarum dicti campi de Eastfeld de dicto Episcopo et successoribus suis imper- petuum. Item, concordatum est inter dictas partes, quod dictus Episcopus, et successores sui habeant decimas totius terrae in Middlefeld, a Wateres Lane et Perweymure, usque ad Hoddesdon. Et quod dicti Prior et Conventus, et eorum successores habeant decimas dictae terrae in Middlefeld ultra bundas in Middlefeld praed. Item concordatum est, quod dictus Episcopus et successores sui habeant decimas terrae in Westfeld, a meta terrae Roberti Auncell versus Hoddesdon, quae extenditur a Ware Strette in prima Shotte, usque ad unam spinam in secunda Shotte, a meta terrae Richardi at Halle a dicta spina usque ad regiam viam versus Hertford ; et a meta terrae Johannis at Halle usque ad Brodeholmes versus Hoddesdon in tertia et quarta Shotte. Et dicti Prior et Conventus et successores sui, pro dictis decimis, habeant residuum decimarum in dicto campo de Westfeld. Item, concordatum est quod dictus Episcopus et successores sui habeant imperpetuum decimas campi vocati Lampetfeld, cum decimis trium croftorum adjacentium. Et pro eisdem decimis dicti Prior et Conventus et successores sui habeant decimas de \Vallerescroft, Jonesfeld, et Pewrtes- croft imperpetuum. Item, concordatum est quod dictus Episcopus et successores sui habeant decimas viginti et quatuor acrarum et trium rodarum terrae, ex parte vix Regime vocatae Frith-lane versus Hoddesdon ; viz., de dictis viginti et quatuor acris et tribus rodis terrae in Chonneswyk novem acrarum et dimid. Et in duobus Cioftis vocat' Algores Crofts juxta Chonnewyk quatuor acrarum ; Et in duobus Croftis vocatis Wollesthorp's Crofts unius acrae et dimid. In Wowe's Londs trium rodarum terrae ; et pro ipsis decimis dicti Prior et Conventus et successores sui habeant imper- 8 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. petuum decimas viginti novem acrarum terrae, viz. , a dicta regia via versus Amwell de duobus acris et dimid in uno crofto quondam Willi'mi at Marche. Et de sextis acris terrae in uno crofto vocat' Pendes croft ; et duabus acris et dimid, in uno crofto vocat' Long Pendes croft ; et de duobus acris terrae in uno crofto vocat' Mariens croft ; et de octo acris terrae in uno crofto vocat' Shackles croft ; et de sex acris terrae in uno crofto vocat' Gosebole croft ; et de duabus acris terrae in uno crofto vocat' Huttes croft, juxta dictam regiam viani versus Amwell. Item, concordatum est, quod dictus Episcopus et successores sui solvent, sen solvi faciant dictis Priori et Conventui, et eorum successoribus annuatim 6s. 8d. sterlingorum. Et ad majorem securitatem dicti Episcopi, et successorum suorum de ipsis decirnis eisdem (ut praefertur) specialiter descriptis per ipsos imperpetuum pacifice obtinendis, pnefati Dom. Johannes Abbas et Conventus dicti Monasterii S. Albani de eorum coinmuni assensu per presentes ratificant, confirmant, et approbant statum et possessionem ejusdem Episcopi et successorum suorum in ipsis decimis eisdem (ut praefertur) descriptis imperpetuum." This composition, contained in an Indenture bipartite, was interchangeably sealed by Robert de Braybroke, Bishop of London, on the one part ; and the said John (which was John Moot) Abbot of St. Alban's, and the Convent of that Monastery, and William the Prior and Convent of Hertford, on the other. Dated at Hadham, January loth, 1397, anno regni regis Richardi II. vicesimo primo. After this, there happening a difference be- tween Nicholas, the Prior of Hertford, and the Convent there, on the one part, and John Boddet, or Bodlet, Vicar of this Church, on the other part, about certain tithes, it was at THE CHURCH AND BENEFICE. g last finally composed between them in a special agreement, as follows : "Quod Johannes vicarius, (salvis dicto Priori decimis garbarum, Irugum, et feni, oblationibus peregrinorum, et primo legato, sive fuerit in averio, vino, seu rebus aliis), omnes oblationes Ecclesiae de Amwell, et omnes decimas, et redditus, aliaque emolumenta quee cunque eidem Vicariae, nomine minorum decimarum aliquo modo spectantia, per- cipiet et accipiet sibi et successoribus suis in perpetuum, quasi spectantia ad decimas Vicariae ibidem, praeter vel una eum certarum terrarum et pratorum decimis ipsi Vicario inferius assignatis, et praedecessoribus suis Vicariis prae- habitis et possessis." Then follows a particular specification of these tithes, too long here to insert. This composition contained an Indenture bipartite, one part under the seal of the said Prior and Convent ; and the other, under the seal of the said Vicar, dated at the Priory of Hertford on the Feast of St. Nicholas, in the first year of King Henry the Fourth. Above one hundred years after this, Henry Johnson, the Vicar of this Parish, having com- menced a suit, in the Bishop of London's Court, against the Prior and Convent of Hertford, about certain tithes of corn and hay, which he affirmed had been quietly received by his predecessors from the Priors and Con- vent of Hertford ; it was (to prevent all further suits about the same) referred on both sides to arbitrators, who finally awarded and decreed as follows, viz. : "That the Vicar and his successors should 10 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. for the future, for ever, yearly receive of the said Prior and Convent, and their successors, or the Rectors and possessors of the Rectory of Am well, the sum of 263. 8d. for tithe grain, and 2os. for tithe hay, yearly, by even and equal portions, at the four most usual Feasts. Further decreeing, that their award should be no way prejudicial to the foregoing composi- tion, which upon their arbitration they had perused, but that the same should stand and remain in full force. And if the respective sums, or any part thereof, should be unpaid at the respective times appointed, then it should be lawful for the said Vicar and his successors to repossess the tithes of the arable land and meadows, as appointed by the said composition." This award was approved and ratified under the respective seals of the said Prior and Convent and the said Vicar, at Hertford, July 2oth, 1539, and was made in the time of Roger Dakey, the next successor to the said Henry Johnson in this Vicarage. The Church of Amwell continued in the possession of the Prior and Convent of Hert- ford until the dissolution of Monasteries, when it came to the Crown, in which it continued until King Henry the Eighth, by his letters patent, dated at Westminster, gth February, in the thirty-first year of his reign, granted the Rectory impropriate, together with the right of patronage in the Vicarage, the site of the THE CHURCH AND BENEFICE. II Priory of Hertford, and other lands, to Anthony Denny, and John, one of the sons of Sir Philip Champernowne, Knight, and the heirs and assigns of Anthony for ever, to be held of the King in capite by the service of the tenth part of one Knight's fee, at the annual reserved rent of ^7 43. Upon the death of Anthony Denny, this advovvson came into the possession of his widow Joan, and upon her death de- scended to his eldest son Henry. In the twenty-first year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the advowson, together with the Rectory, were in the possession of John and Thomas Skynner. In the year 1683, it was in the patronage of Jeremiah Elwes, Esq., in whose family it con- tinued until 1862, when it became vested in Harriet, daughter of William MacNab, Surgeon, of Ware, and the wife of the Rev. Richard Parrott, Vicar of Great Amwell. She still retains the patronage of the Church. VICARS OF GREAT AMWELL. Vicars. Instd. Patrons. Adam North . . . 1349 King Edward III. John Lydgate . . . 1361 John Grene . . . . . 1365 William Pelham Nicholas Otteley . . . 1373 Angerus Cadenye . ... John Hunt . . . 1392 John Boddet, alias Bodlet John Hank . . John Godlot . . . 1408 Thomas Grymplethorp . . 1409 Thomas Wright The Prior and Convent at Hert- ford, dedicated to St. Mary. 12 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. VICARS OF GREAT AMWELI. (continued). Vicars. Richard Fitz-John . Robert Lobe John Westby Robert Matt William Drewre William Percy . . - . William Kemson John Pellitoft John Notman Alexander Squyre . Henry Johnson Roger Dakey Robert Smyth Randal Blethin, Clerk . William Clark, Clerk . Henry Bayford, Clerk . John Payton, Clerk Thomas Hassall, M.A. . Stafford Leventhorp Higham Hills William Hawling . Anthony Maukes, Clerk . Phinees Rothwell, Clerk Hatton Davies, Clerk Abraham Kent, Clerk, M.A. . William Jessee, Clerk, M.A. . Richard Wilding, Clerk, M.A. George Stockwell, Clerk, M.A. Jeffrey Elwes, Clerk, B.A. William Moore Tomkyns, ) Clerk, M.A. Thomas Barnard, Clerk, M.A. William Cross, Clerk, M.A. . William Thomas Say Instd. Patrons. 1431 ' 1435 1440 The Prior and Convent at Hert- 145O 'ford, dedicat ed to 1469 1477 St. Mary. 1479 1481 j 1503 John Colt, Gent, for this turn. 1520 Prior and Con- vent of Hertford. 1537 Richard Fleming, and others, for this turn. 1553 Executorsof Lady loan Denny. 1567 H. Denny, Esq. 1575 Humphry Bunt, for this turn. 1586 John and Thomas Skinner. 1590 Thomas Skinner, Alderman of London 1599 W. Hutch inson, S.T.D.,forthi sturn. 1658 The Elwes Family. 1659 Do. 1660 Do. 1683 1684 Jeremiah Elwes, Esq. Robert Elwes, Esq. 1694 Do. 1713 Richard Elwes, Esq. Robert Elw es. 1743 Do. 1774 . 1780 LCary Elwes, Esq ., t Isleworth,Coun- I 1781 J ty of Middlesex. 1793 Robert Carey Elwes. 1799 Do. . 1822 Do. THE CHURCH AND BENEFICE. 13 VICARS OF GREAT AMWELL (continued). Vicars. Instd. Patrons. Mordaunt Barnard . . 1826 Robert Carey Elwes. Richard Parrott, M.A. . . 1864 Trustees of late William McNab. William John Harvey, M.A. . 1893 Mrs. H. E. Parrott. The Parish Church of Great Amwell is dedicated to St. John the Baptist. It consists of a square embattled tower, surmounted by a short spire, a nave, and chancel, covered with tile. The Church is undoubtedly very ancient, although it is impossible to state its exact age. It is certainly as old as the Norman period. The singular resemblance between Amwell Church and Bengeo Old Church is worth noting, considering the great interest Bengeo Church has for anti- quarians. The ground plans of the two Churches are the same, the tower, vestry, and buttresses having been later and necessary additions to the original building at Amwell. A paper written on Bengeo Church applies word for word to Amwell, as the following extracts will show : " Built without aisles, tower, transepts, or side chapels, limited to the primitive division of nave and chancel." The walls and chancel are probably a century earlier than the other details of the Church, i.e., in the time of the Confessor. The Norman mouldings are later. (Note here that the later mouldings of the chancel arch 14 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. in Bengeo Church do not exist at all in Amwell). "The first half of the eleventh century Churches were built in the rounded arch style, resembling, but differing from Norman. This is the style of Churches of that date in the East of England, Normandy, Denmark, Nor- way, and North Germany. There was an intimate connexion between England and those countries then. A style which depended upon structure and broad surfaces for effect, and dispensed with ornamentation in stone. Commonly called Saxon, but more probably Danish. The Danes being heathen, destroyed the Churches they found, and the Danish Kings, when converted, built new ones. The East of England and this neighbourhood se- verely suffered from the Danish invasions. The Normans found Bengeo thus, and inserted a south door in the nave and elevated the roof. The walls are earlier Romanesque than Nor- man Romanesque. In this earlier style the windows were few and the lights narrow." Small as is the Church it contains many objects of interest to the antiquarian. Enter- ing at the west end, what at once arrests our notice is the low chancel arch with the Hagio- scope on either side. The origin of the Hagio- scope seems a little doubtful. Architects call them " squints." And if you take your seat at the end of any pew close to the north or south wall of the nave you will find that but THE CHURCH AND BENEFICE. 15 for the Hagioscope you could have no view at all of the altar, or what was happening there. But to return for a moment to the west end of the Church. As we enter we descend four steps to reach the level of the floor of the nave. This descending is very common in the case of Churches dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and is supposed to be symbolical of " going down " into the waters of Baptism. The Font Cover was made of some of the old oak of the gallery, and was presented by D. Y. Johnstone, Esq., churchwarden, on the occasion of the baptism of his daughter, Elsa Margaret, September 3rd, 1886. The Pulpit, on the north side of the nave is a very good specimen of the pure Jacobean, and bears upon it the date 1696. It was of course, in days gone by, what was known as a "three-decker," and has been cut down to its present height. But the pulpit possesses an ad- ditional interest from the fact that it originally stood in the Chapel of the old Archiepiscopal Palace at Croydon. It was presented to Amwell Church by the grandfather of the present Rev. R. Scott- Mylne, probably about the year 1800. The Fald Stool is made up of some of the old oak of the Church, and was presented by Mrs. Parrott in 1893, in memory of her parents. It bears the following in- scription, carved in the wood: " IN MEMORY OF WILLIAM AND HARRIET MCNAB." 1 6 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. In the corner above the pulpit may be seen very distinct traces of the former existence of a Rood Loft. This must have been at one time a very prominent feature in the Church, judging from the marks of the staircase in the wall. The doors filled with glass now at the west end of the Church are the remains of the rood screen. Old people still preserve the tradition of these doors being under the chancel arch. Marks can be seen on the stonework of the arch where the woodwork must have been placed. The doors were probably moved when the chancel floor was raised in 1856. The date of the doors is about that of the tower. The Tower Doors are original, and were re- stored, i.e., the paint was removed from them, through the kindness of Lewis Paine, Esq., one of the churchwardens in 1881. There is a piscina in the south wall of the nave just outside the chancel, the origin of which seems very doubtful. (See Diocesan Architect's report, Restoration of 1866.) The Chancel terminates in an apse. There is a Reredos, made of some of the old oak of the gallery in 1888, and presented by Mrs, Parrott. It was intended that the panels should be at some future time filled in with figures painted on brass plates. This was afterwards done in 1894, by the generosity of Mrs. Basil Richardson, of Widbury, in memory of her father, who lived for a short time in THE CHURCH AND BENEFICE. I/ the Parish, and attended the Church. The four figures represent respectively, an Abbott of Westminster, King Harold, King Edward the Confessor, and Ralph de Limesi, to whom the manor of Amwell was granted by the Conqueror. The lower panels are filled in with small paintings of the Jewel of Alfred on the left, a Danish war-ship on the right, and in the three central panels the arms of the three Dioceses of London, S. Alban's, and Rochester. From a strictly ecclesiastical point of view, perhaps, this reredos may not be correct, many people holding the opinion that the scenes depicted by a reredos should be emblematic or explanatory of the great Eucharistic Sacrifice. At any rate this reredos may serve to teach our children something of the history of their Parish, and, it may be, to enforce the close connection between Church and State. The Communion Plate is of silver, and is antique. The chalice is peculiarly deep ; on its base it bears the inscription, " Thomas Hassall, Vicarius, 1621," and round the rim, " Quos anguis dirus tristi cum funore strauit, Nos sanguis mirus Christi cum munere Sauit." and on the front, " Amwell," in the midst of a floral scroll. The Paten is somewhat small, and is so constructed as to fit into the chalice, either inverted, thus forming a lid, or the right way up for the more reverent veiling of the Elements l8 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. remaining after the distribution. On its base is a large I.H.S., surrounded by a Crown of Thorns. There is also a much larger Paten of later date, also of silver, at present used on the Credence Table. It bears the inscription, " For the use of the Parish Church of Great Amwe/, in the County of Hertford, 1737." When the reredos was first erected the Brass Altar Cross then existing was found to be scarcely visible against the dark oak, the White Marble Cross was therefore presented by the Rev. W. Davis, a past Curate, and the Rev. W. J. Harvey, the Curate at that time. In January, 1894, two handsome Alabaster Re-tables were presented by Mrs. Lewis Paine. But every one being of the opinion that these re-tables were unsuited to the general appear- ance of the Church, and Mrs. Paine concurring in this view, she replaced them by two of dark oak, with the words, " Holy, Holy, Holy," in brass letters upon the lower of the two. This forms a very suitable match with the reredos above mentioned. At the same time a new pavement of marble was placed in the Sanctuary by Mrs. Rolfe, of Leigh Court. The marbles are inlaid with brass plates, on which are engraved (by Mrs. Emberson of S. Margaret's) a drawing of Emma's Well, a Danish Warship, and the letter R, the monogram of the donor. The warship is in allusion to the capture of the THE CHURCH AND BENEFICE. IQ Danish Fleet by Alfred the Great, within a mile or two of Amwell Church, as mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The pavement was designed by the Rev. W. Davis, at that time Curate of the Parish. The doorway leading from the chancel into the vestry is about the date of the rood-screen and tower. It is cut out of solid oak. It is singular that it is not stonework. In the roof of the Chancel there still remains one of the large Tiebeams. It is oak, and is evidently nothing but an entire trunk of a tree roughly cut out to fit on to the wall plates. There were two more in the nave tying the roof together ; one of them was sold, and can still be seen down in the Marsh, where it is used as a post. The other has disappeared. An oak tiebeam was also found, in December, 1893, under the wooden step to the Sanctuary when it was removed to be replaced by the present marble one. In 1856 the floor of the Chancel was raised two steps, and the altar rails removed two feet backwards. In doing this a vault on the north side within the rails was accidently opened, in which was the coffin plate of Lady Codrington, which was replaced and the vault covered up. The Chancel at that time contained four square pews of different heights and appear- ances. One of these was built up to the altar rails, preventing communicants from kneeling 20 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. at that part of the rails. The new arrange- ments provided accommodation for twice as many as there was room for before. The two sedilia within the rails were made at the same time. There was originally one niche, apparently for an image, on the north side ; the head of this was lowered and the niche cut down to the ground, a corresponding seat being made at the same time on the south side. The Vestry was first built on the south side of the Chancel, 1810, where the Usborne's vault is now situated. It was found to be too hot in summer, and in 1836 was removed to the north side, and the north doorway (before this of course opening to the outside) was utilized for admission from the vestry to the Chancel. There was originally an entrance to the Church and a porch on the south side. This makes another point of resemblance to Bengeo old Church. The south porch is mentioned in a description of the position of a grave in the nave of the Church in the burial register, and from the same register we learn that people were buried in this porch. At the west end of the Church there were originally two galleries, one doubtless above the other. About the year 1846, Mr. Cheffins and Mr. Tuck, the churchwardens, removed the upper gallery, and by a judicious arrange- ment of the seats in the remaining gallery THE CHURCH AND BENEFICE. 21 secured a larger amount of accommodation for the poorer Parishioners. The remaining gallery was removed under a faculty in October, 1884, at the sole expense of Thomas Jackson, Esq., Vicar's church- warden. This threw open the tower and beautiful west window, and although un- doubtedly fewer can be seated in the tower than formerly in the gallery, still it must be admitted by all who know anything at all about Church architecture that the gain far out- weighs the loss. THE RESTORATION OF 1866. In 1863 the Curate-in-charge, the Rev. R. Parrott, contemplated a complete restoration of the Church. The Diocesan Architect, Mr. Joseph Clarke, visited Amwell to inspect the Church, and as his report is interesting, although it embraces much that has already been noticed, it is printed verbatim. " The centre of every village in the grand parochial system of old England is the Parish Church, round which everything gyrates : old and young, rich and poor, look on its gray walls as a link between the past and the present hoping and trusting its traditions and monuments may descend to their children's children. And apart from all sectarian feeling, we cling to the reminiscences which tie us in one common bond since Christianity was first 22 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. planted in this happy land, when the mission of St. Augustine was sealed by the blood of the proto-martyr, St. Alban, at Verulam. " In no parish in England should a stronger feeling exist than at Amwell where the old Church is truly set upon a hill to call all with- in its walls. Little is known of its early history ; and whether the present building succeeded one of Saxon date is uncertain : it may have done so ; but if not, the good Monks of the Great Abbey at Waltham soon began its foundation, and the present Norman fabric was raised. " At first it seems, from the smallness of the Apsidal Chancel, to have been perhaps a cell, the width however of the nave, which has all the character of having been added soon after, points to an increasing and important popula- tion, and whilst the Chancel or Sacrarium re- mained large enough for those appointed to serve the Church, the inhabitants appear to have needed more space, and it so acquired its present somewhat disproportionate size, The Church no doubt remained, dependent upon the Abbey till at least the ifth century, from which time the Vicars in succession can be traced.* In that century a side altar seems to have been set up on the south of the nave, of which the Piscina still remains, the altar probably standing under, or at the side of, the present Hagioscope, * The Vicars can be traced to an earlier date. ED. THE CHURCH AND BENEFICE. 23 viewing on to the great altar. On the opposite side, stairs were made, internally. to the rood loft ; the traces still remain in the north wall, whilst a similar Hagioscope exists on this side also of the early Norman Chancel Arch (though both seem to have been altered in later times), a feature not unusual in our nth and I2th century Churches. " Over the east end of the nave, quite high up, and the whole length level with the plates of the roof, is a singular curved structure, which conjecture leads to the supposition it may be the old rood loft, raised perhaps to strengthen the roof. " Till within the last few years the Apsidal Chancel no doubt retained much of its original character and probably a good deal may still be traced. The original roof has unfortunately gone, and a later attempt to attach a square form on to the circular end of the apse has not at all successfully been carried out. It is to be hoped this disfigurement of a feature so interesting may ere long be removed. " In the Nave later alterations have been made. A large window of the i4th or i5th century has been inserted in the north side, and later windows have also been added in the south wall. In the i6th century the whole character of the early Chapel was altered, and Amwell becoming more populous, it was deemed right to build on a western tower, and to pierce the west wall for a tower arch opening 24 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. into the Church; and three bells were also hung. " At this time, or somewhat later, the Church was benched with low, solid oak open seats ; but these in time grew out of fashion, and after the addition of an Elizabethan or Jacob- ean pulpit, and the erection of the present heavy and unsightly gallery, blocking up and entirely destroying the tower arch, the old seats were enclosed and made into the present inconvenient high square pews or boxes, for the better classes in the Parish, whilst the children and poor were thrust into the gallery away from sight, or else in the dark miserable hole under, without backs, on mere boards, and no divisions. Happily a new age is growing up out of the coldness of the last century, and all are beginning to be viewed when in GOD'S House as equal. The green baize pew, it is known, confers no more hope of an eternal reward than the lowly and fatiguing bench. And beneath the floor the festering and decaying remains of those who once sought to preserve for themselves a place more secure from the accidents of mortality are no longer laid, but committed to the earth in a sure and certain hope of the resurrection : and so, too, the Pagan emblems of remote funereal urns, etc., etc., give way to the fitting emblem of the Cross a symbol not of death, but of heaven redeemed by CHRIST for us. THE CHURCH AND BENEFICE. 25 "As age has succeeded age, so decay has gradually marched on, and these venerable walls, the best work of man's skill, are bending to the laws of nature ; but after seven centuries we cannot be surprised at finding the work of that and of subsequent years now requiring the love and support of our day in repairing and strengthening them for time to come. Undoubtedly this Church needs much being done to preserve it ; and then it seems desir- able to think of the worshippers within its walls, and to adapt it to the wants and feeling of the day, by removing the present pews, clearing away the gallery, opening out the tower, and reseating the Church in an uniform manner with open seats. An enlargement may also be necessary, and this can only be made (to avoid disturbing many graves) by adding a north aisle. The roof of the nave is evidently decaying very fast, and will re- quire considerable repair, even if a new roof must not soon be put on. All the walls, with the masonry and floors, require a general repair and pointing, the modern cement being cleared away. The tower, built when the de- cadence in ecclesiastical architecture had begun, seems not wholly secure. " The opportunity now offers, and a few years hence this may be impracticable, of re- storing and repairing carefully the fabric round which so many associations are centred not only in Amwell, but to many besides by 26 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. devoting some portion of the wealth which God has given them, to His service." Such was the Diocesan Surveyor's report in extenso. He estimated the cost at some- where about ^1500. There was, however, so- much opposition to the scheme, both in the vestry and outside it, although the opposition was confined to one or two individuals only, that the Rev. R. Parrott, who was at that time (as has been stated) only Curate-in- charge, was compelled, though with the ut- most reluctance, to abandon the scheme for the time. In 1864, however, he succeeded the Rev* Mordaunt Barnard as Vicar, and by the March of 1865 he had already succeeded in making a marked improvement in the condition of the interior of the Church. The walls were thoroughly scraped, cleaned, and washed ; the seats were painted and varnished ; the pulpit, which had been covered with several coatings of paint, was restored to its original appearance of handsome old dark oak ; part of the chancel roof, immediately over the altar, which had been whitewashed and then painted to represent the clouds, was cleaned and varnished; and various other minor improvements effected. These were how- ever but preliminary, and the new Vicar steadily and resolutely bent all his efforts in the direction of a thorough restoration of his Church. There was, however, the same op- THE CHURCH AND BENEFICE. 27 position as before, and much tedious delay. One or two who did not object to the restora- tion of the walls and roof, objected most strongly to the equally necessary work of re-seating the Church. The Vicar applied for a faculty, it was opposed. At last a com- promise was effected by which certain rights were conceded to the Lord of the Manor and another gentleman with reference to two pews on the north and south sides of the Chancel arch. After this the work proceeded rapidly, but it was not until August 8th, 1866, that the opening festival was held, after the Church had been closed for worship for just a year. During this time the services had been held in the School, which was licensed for the purpose. During the work of restoration the piscina at the south end of the sanctuary was discovered. It had been covered up by a former Curate-in-charge because, as he quaintly expresses it in an entry at the end of one of the Vestry minute books, he thought it " use- less, though curious." To Richard Parrott is due the gratitude, not only of the present generation, but that of generations to come. What the Church is now, he made it, and by sheer strength of will he overcame one by one every obstacle that was put in his way. He lived for 27 years after the restoration, and in spite of great ill health took the deepest interest in the 28 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. spiritual welfare of his Church and Parish till his death, September, 1893. R.I. P. THE WINDOWS. The East Window was originally a small, circular -headed single light. This had been unfortunately removed about the year 1826, and its place filled by a wooden window. In 1856 the present east window was erected at a cost of 55, and filled with stained glass, the gift of the Vicar, the Rev. M. Barnard, in commemoration of the fact that for 30 years he and the Churchwarden, Mr. Peter J. Cheffins, had held their respective offices in friendship. Their initials appear in the glass. The two windows on the south side of the chancel were the gift of Mr. Cass of Hailey, and Mrs. Rolfe, daughter of the Rev. Mordaunt Barnard, and cost about 20 each. They replaced two of similar design, but of rude workmanship and in dilapidated condition. The small Norman window on the north side of the chancel is without doubt the oldest window in the Church. The windows of the nave are all modern with the exception of that at the west end. The south side of the Church was faced with flint in 1851. In doing this work there appeared traces of two small Norman windows, one behind the pulpit (which then stood against the south THE CHURCH AND BENEFICE. 29 wail of the nave), and one towards the gallery (since removed). The most beautiful window, as far as the glass is concerned, is undoubtedly the great west window. It looks the most ancient of all, but is in reality the most modern. It is the work of Kemp, and was presented to the Church by Mrs. Lewis Paine, in memory of her husband who was at one time Church- warden. There are three lights representing respectively St. Alban, Edward the Confessor, and St. Michael. Beneath are the arms of the Sees to which Amwell has belonged at different times. It was erected at a cost of 120. The next best stained glass is that put into the south-east window of the nave by Clayton and Bell. The subject is St. John the Baptist. This window was erected by public subscrip- tion in 1870 at a cost of 2.0. The other window on the south side of the nave was filled with stained glass, Easter, 1857. The subject is " Christ entering Jerusalem, Children's Hosannas." This window cost ^"40, which sum was raised entirely by the children of the Parish. On the north side of the nave are two windows, both filled with stained glass. The subject of the one is " The Good Shepherd," and it is erected by her husband to the memory of Louisa Answorth, who died i4th February, 1873 ; the subject of the other is " The Resur- 30 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. rection," erected in memory of John Harrison, of The Grange, Amwell. There are three bells in the Church Tower. The central one bears the inscription, " Praise the Lord," and the date 1612, and an Eliza- bethan shilling is cast in the largest of the three. The bells, though small, are extremely thick and massive. THE MONUMENTS. Next in point of interest will come the mural tablets and monuments upon the Church walls. There are two Hatchments with the arms of the Mylne family on the tower walls as we enter the Church. They were originally placed in the Church in 1830, and were removed when the Church was restored in 1866. They were replaced on the Tower walls in August, 1893. The Royal Anns was removed from the Church in 1866, and sold to Mr. Teale, proprietor of the Rye House, where it re- mained until October, 1893, when it was replaced in the Church, having been kindly given back by Mr. Teale's son. On the back are the names, J. Smith, Churchwarden, W. White, 1806, which names do not appear in the Vestry minutes. The date on the picture, 1666, was added by Mr. Teale. THE CHURCH AND BENEFICE. 3! On North Wall of C hansel. SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF THE REVEREND EDWARD JOHN CATHROW, WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE ON THE 27TH OF OCTOBER, 1843, IN THE 34TH YEAR OF HIS AGE. HE WAS FIVE YEARS CURATE OF THIS PARISH. HlS REMAINS ARE DEPOSITED IN THE FAMILY VAULT. SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF ENSIGN GEORGE REN CATHROW, OF THE ROYAL REGIMENT, WHO DIED AT BANGALORE IN THE EAST INDIES, ON THE 26TH OF OCTOBER, 1829, IN THE 2QTH YEAR OF HIS AGE. On South Wall of Chancel. SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF ELIZABETH, (33 YEARS THE BELOVED WIFE OF GEORGE CATHROW, ESQ., OF HODDESDON IN THE COUNTY OF HERTS), WHOSE REMAINS ARE DEPOSITED IN THE FAMILY VAULT, NEAR THIS PLACE, BORN 27TH JUNE, 1771, DIED 3RD SEPTEMBER, 1829. AND ALSO TO THE MEMORY OF THE SAID GEORGE CATHROW, ESQ., WHO DIED 26TH OF FEBRUARY, 1842, IN THE 66TH YEAR OF HIS AGE. THE SAME VAULT CONTAINS ALSO HIS REMAINS. 32 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF THE REV. RICHARD EDWARDS, A.M., 40 YEARS ONE OF THE MASTERS OF ST. PAUL'S SCHOOL, DIED THE 2IST OF APRIL, 1841, AGED 82. ALSO OF CHARLOTTE ANN, WIFE OF THE ABOVE, DIED THE 27TH OF DECEMBER, 1833, AGED 84, Over the Pulpit. IN LOVING MEMORY OF HANNAH MYLNE, BORN JUNE I7TH, 1826, DIED JUNE 2IST, 1885, DAUGHTER OF GEORGE SCOTT, J.P., OF RAVENSCOURT PARK, MIDDLESEX, AND WIFE OF ROBERT WlLLIAM MYLNE, F.R.S.. OF GREAT AMWELL, HERTS. JESUS CHRIST, THE SAME YESTERDAY, AND TO-DAY, AND FOR EVER." ' IN ALL THY WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HlM, AND HE SHALL DIRECT THY PATHS." THIS MONUMENT IS ERECTED BY THE REV. ROBERT SCOTT MYLNE, M.A., B.C.L., JESSY LOUISA MYLNB, AND WILLIAM JOHN HOME MYLNE, M.A. "HER CHILDREN ARISE UP, AND CALL HER BLESSED." THE CHURCH AND BENEFICE. 33 Over the Lectern. IN MEMORY OF WILLIAM DUNCAN, LATB OF THE HONOURABLE EAST INDIA COMPANY'S SERVICE, BENGAL, WHOSE EXEMPLARY VIRTUES AND SINCERE PIETY ENDEARED HIM TO ALL WHO EVER KNEW HIM THROUGH A LONG AND USEFUL LIFE. HE DIED MARCH THE HTH, 1830, AGED 83 YEARS. SINCERELY AND JUSTLY LAMENTED BY A NUMEROUS CIRCLE OF FRIENDS WHO LONG WILL FEEL HIS LOSS. THIS MONUMENT IS ERECTED BY HIS AFFECTIONATE WIDOW CAROLINE, DAUGHTER OF THE LATE ROBERT MYLNE, OF AMWELL. On South Wall of Nave. (A Brass). IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE OF EDWARD FAWCETT NEVILLE ROLFE, M.A., CANON OF GIBRALTAR, AND FROM 1845 TO 1849 CURATE OF AMWELL; COMPELLED THROUGH BODILY INFIRMITIES TO RELINQUISH THIS CHARGE, HE REMOVED TO THE SOUTH OF FRANCE, AND IN 1861 WAS APPOINTED CHAPLAIN OF CHRIST CHURCH, CANNES, WHERE HE MINISTERED TO THE SPIRITUAL WANTS OF THE ENGLISH COMMUNITY FOR 17 YEARS. HEALTH FAILING HE GAVE up THS APPOINTMENT IN 1878, AND RETIRED TO BORDIGHERA IN ITALY, WHERE HE ENDED HIS LIFE IN THE 62ND YEAR OF HIS AGE, CALMLY FALLING ASLEEP ON THE MORNING OF EASTER DAY, 1883. THIS MEMORIAL WAS PLACED HERE BY FRIENDS, MANY OF WHOM ENJOYED THE BENEFIT OF HIS MINISTRY IN THIS CHURCH AND PARISH 14 YEARS. D 34 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. (A Brass). RICHARD PARROTT, MA, WADHAM COLLEGE, OXFORD, VICAR OF GREAT AMWELL, 18641893. R.I.P. Kat ovTb) TravTore crvv Kvpiu ecro/xe#a. On North Wall of Nave. IN HONOREM GVILIEMI EMPSON, A.M., ARMIGERI, ANNOS FERE TRIGINTA JVRISPRVDENTI^ IN HOC COLLEGIO PROFESSORIS QVI INGENII ACVMINE MORVM COMITATE BENEVOLENTI 84 Sedis inservientis ) 58 In aeternum vivat et valeat. 56 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. The last entry under the burials for 1657 is as follows: Thomas Hassall Vicar of this Pish of Am- well where hee had continued Resident 57 yeares 7 moneths and 16 dayes, in the Reigns of Q. Elizabeth : K. James : and K. Charles : departed this life: Septemb. 24: Thursday: and was buried : Septemb. 26 : Saturday : 1657: his body was laid in the Chancell of this Church, under the priests or marble stone. Non erat ante, nee erit post te similis. And heere shall end the Register for the burials duringe his dayes. Edmd. Hassall. In 1711 under burials occurs the following : Jan. 25 George Page the aforesaid Childs Father was (to their shame be it recorded) removed out of Broxbourne Parish by their officers to prevent charge, in a wheelbarrow into this att the point of death for he Dyed in it. 1752. Dame Hanah Elwes buried in Linen. CHAPTER III. THE CHURCHYARD. *"f"*F you travel by train from London to ^ Hertford perhaps the prettiest sight to be seen is the Churchyard of Amwell, lying to the left between St. Margaret's and Ware. It would be hard, indeed, to find a more beautiful spot as the last resting-place of loved ones; and there is abundant evidence from the Parish Registers that not a few entirely un- connected with the place have in their lifetime chosen this Churchyard, and expressed their desire that, when their time comes, their remains may be deposited here to await the general resurrection. The Churchyard is situated on the slope of a rather steep hill ; at the bottom flows the New River, carrying its wealth of life and health and cleanliness to the greatest metropolis of the world. Higher up stands the village school, where generation after generation receive their education, both secular and religious ; and higher still on the very summit of the hill, stands the Vicarage. And as you drive along the road below the hill you may see these varied objects the little Church nestling amid the trees of varied 58 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. foliage, the marble stones and crosses standing out white and clear amid the green grass, the schools, the Vicarage, truly a picture of rural country life ; and we of Amwell may take to ourselves the Psalmist's words, " The lines are fallen to me in pleasant places ; yea, I have a goodly heritage." There are, of course, churchyards and churchyards. We might, perhaps, enlarge upon the way in which our particular Church- yard is kept. Many a time have strangers to the neighbourhood mentioned this fact, and it is largely due to the care of the late incumbent, Richard Parrott, who now lies sleeping in the churchyard he loved so well, among the number of those " who have gone before." Our Churchyard has not a great many of the curious and often grotesque inscriptions that abound so largely in other burial grounds. We will give a few inscriptions from the tombstones, chosen either from their quaintness, or from the connection of the persons described with the Parish of Amwell. TOMBSTONES IN THE CHURCH. Hereunder lyeth interred the bodyes of John Stevenson, of Hodsdon, Gent., and of Bridget, his wife ; of John Goodman, of Hodsdon, Esquire, and of Isabel, his wife, daughter to- the sayd John Stevenson and Bridget ; of THE CHURCHYARD. 59 Annie, the wife of John Snellinge, Gent., daughter of John Goodman and Isabel ; of Annie, the daughter of the sayd John and Annie Snellinge. Izabell Goodman, the last of those that died deceased ye 23 daye of February, 1628, who by her will ordeyned this memoriall; so they sleep together in the Lorde, awaitinge the resurrection. NOTE. In the Tower Porch. In memory of Sarah Hanley, wife of Mr. Edwin Hanley, of the County of Salop, who died May 10, 1791, aged 18 years. " Farewell, kind husband, now adieu, Sisters and friends, alike to you, And beg of God for to obtain A place in heaven to meet again." NOTE. Also in the Tower Porch. Dame Hannah Elwes, wife of Sir Jeffery Elwes, Knight, died 30 March, 1752, aged 53. Sir Jeffery Elwes, Knight, of Hoddesdon, in this County, died Feby. 5th, 1776, in the 8ist year of his age. He was 52 years Treasurer to the Governors of Queen Ann's Bounty. Here lies the body of the Rev. Jeffery Elwes, late Vicar of this Parish, son of the above Sir 60 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. Jeffery Elwes and Dame Mary, his wife, who departed this life July the loth, 1781, in the 26th year of his age. NOTE. In the Chancel. [These are the only remaining tombstones in the interior of the Church. It must not, however, be for a moment supposed that these represent the total number of interments within the Church. A casual glance through the old Church registers will show us that an astonish- ing number of burials have taken place at various times within the Altar rails, in the Chancel, in the Nave, and in the Porch.] TOMBSTONES IN THE CHURCHYARD. This Monument _was erected in Memory of Mr. William Plomer, of Hodesdon, who de- parted this life September ye aist, 1728, aged 79 years. He married Two wives : the first was Hannah, daughter of Mr. Robert Graves, of Stanstead ; he had by her nine children, four of which died young and were buried near ys Place. The second was Mrs. Thurmuthis Busbey, of Hodesdon, by whom he had no issue. In this vault also lies the body of Mr. Jonas Plomer, of this Parish, youngest son of ye sd THE CHURCHYARD. 6l William and Hannah, who departed this life Novr. ye nth 1729, aged 37 years. In a vault under this monument lieth ye body of Robert Plomer, Esquire, son and Heir of Mr. Willm. Plomer, late of this Parish ; he married Hester, ye only daughter of Marma- duke Rawdon, Esquire, and Dorothy, his wife, of Hodesdon ; he lately served the office of High Sherriffe of this County, and departed this life Jany. nth, 1740, aged 52 years. Within this vault is deposited the Remains of Thomas Smith, Esqr., late of Kennet, in the County of Wilts, who died Feby. 28th, 1750, aged 55 years. Likewise the remains of Han- nah, relict of the said Thomas Smith, and daughter of Mr. William Plomer, late of Hoddesdon, who died May i4th, 1751, aged 67 years. Herein likewise lie interred the remains of Mrs. Elizth. Plomer, eldest daughter of ye sd Willm. and Hannah Plomer, who departed this life April loth, 1699, aged 17 years. As likewise of Mr. William Plomer, eldest son of the sd W r m. and Hannah, who departed this life Deer, ye 28th, 1703, aged 18 years. Here also lies the body of Mrs. Hannah Plomer, wife of the sd Wm., who departed this life the 2ist of July, 62 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. Here lieth interred the body of Mrs. Elizth. Frances, late wife of Mr. John Frances, of this parish, who departed this life November the 28th, 1767, aged 60 years. " Affliction sore, long time I bore, Physicians were in vain, Till God did please, that death shd. seize, And ease me of my pain." Here lieth the body of Mr. Jeremiah Bennett, of this Parish, who departed this life ist day of March, 1772, aged 38 years. " Readers all, as you pass by: As you are now, so once was I ; As I am now, so must you be : Prepare for death, and follow me." In memory of Mary Lambert, who died Sept. i5th, 1772, aged i week. Elizabeth Lambert, died December 6, 1773, aged 10 weeks. Samuel Bernard Lambert, died January 6, 1781, aged 2 years. Sarah Lambert, died January 21, 1793, aged 3 years. William Lambert, died January 4, 1814, aged 30 years. Thomas Cass Lambert, died August 27, 1817, aged 40 years. Eliza Lambert, died March 16, 1821, aged 32 years. " Look unto Jesus, and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth." THE CHURCHYARD. 63 " Farewell, dear friends ! Go on in wisdom's ways 'Till you appear to join our songs of praise Safe to be landed on Canaan's shore : A happy meeting, where to part no more." In memory of Thomas Monger, who died the ijth of August, 1773, aged 64 years. " That which a Being was what is it shew That Being which it was it is not now To be what t'is is not to be you see That which now is not shall a Being be." [A. similar epitaph is to be seen in Lavingham Churchyard, Suffolk, in Latin Hexameters : Quod fuit, esse quod est, quod non fuit, esse quod esse Esse quod est, non esse ; quod est, non est, erit esse.l Here lies the body of Thomas Cass, junr., who departed this life August loth, 1776, in the 25th year of his age ; also Judith Lambert, wife of Samuel Lambert, who departed this life June 24th, 1787, aged 29 years. " An affectionate wife she was, A dutiful daughter too ; Unto her neighbours she was kind, And to her friends was true." 64 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. In memory of Mr. James Lane, who departed this life 25th March, 1783, aged 41 years. He was an indulgent husband, a good neighbor, and a sincere friend. " Mourn you, my dearest wife, no more." Mary Plume, late the loving wife of Edward Plume, of this parish. Tender mother of 19 children : 14 of them with their Father attended her funeral at this grave. She died Aug, 28, 1784, aged 44 years. Also the abovesaid Edward Plume, who died Aug. 21, 1793, in the 62nd year of his age. In memory of Sarah, late wife of John Aylin, who left 8 children, and they, with their father, followed her to this grave. She died the 28th day of October, 1792, in the 48th year of her age. She was a loving wife, a tender mother, a good neighbour, and a sincere friend. In memory of Cassandra Jennings, the beloved and lamented wife of David Jennings, of this parish, and of Chiswell Street, London. She died the xxix of January, MDCCLXXXVII. Aged xxvn. In whom surviving relatives will ever mourn the wife, the mother, and the friend ; but the grave shall restore it's sacred truth, Saints shall embrace her with celestial THE CHURCHYARD. 65 love, Angels welcome the new inhabitant, The Redeemer set on her head the immortal crown, The King of kings become her refuge, and the God of gods Himself her everlasting habitation. Amen. In memory of Mrs. Eliza. North, wife of Mr. John Clarke North, of London, who departed this life Sept. 8, 1790, aged 29 years. Also her infant, aged 3 weeks. " Upon life's sea the human race appear, To distant regions bound. They onward steer ; Their different courses lead to different ends ; While time's incessant gale their canvass bends ; These to the heavenly harbour safely go, While those sink down to fiery gulfs below. Reader, wouldst thou the thought of glory gain ? Confide in Xt All other hopes are vain." (Acts iv. 12.) In memory of Dowell Chessey, who departed this life the 23rd May, 1791, aged 22 years. " Young men, boast not so much in youth, Nor think yourself too high, For ere belong you must come down, And in the dust must lie. 66 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. Sacred to the memory of Mr. Michcel Sams, sen., of this parish, who departed this life on the igth June, 1793, aged 72 years. Also of Mrs. Mary Sams, wife of the above Mr. Michrel Sams, who departed this life on the i8th October, 1793, aged 70 years. Also of Mr. James Sams, son of the above, who departed this life on the 22nd February, 1816, aged 48 years. Likewise two infants of Mr. James Sams. One infant of Mr. Michael Sams, jun. In memory of Mrs. Margaret Saunders, wife of Mr. John Saunders, of Wood Street, London, who died the 25th July, 1798, aged 35 years. " Farewell, kind husband, now adieu ! Sisters and friends, the like to you, And beg of God for to obtain A place in heaven to meet again." Deo opt max casmeterium, pro se et suis, dat. don. dedicat. Robertus Mylne, MDCCC. To the memory of William Chadwell Mylne F.R.S. Architect and Engineer, whose remains rest in this tomb. Born in London, April, 1781 ; died at Amwell, Dec., 1863. For up- wards of half a century had the care and management of the works of the New River, and for the same period was surveyor to the Stationers' Company. Sacred to the memory THE CHURCHYARD. 67 of Robert Mylne, Architect and Engineer,F.R.S., a native of Edinburgh, a lineal descendant by birth and profession of John Mylne, Master Mason to King James III. of Scotland. Born Jan. 4, 1733, and died May 5th, 1811. He designed and constructed the magnificent bridge of Blackfriars, London. From the year 1752 he was Engineer to the New River Aqueduct, and from the same period had the superintendence of the Cathedral Church of S. Paul. As Architect and Paymaster of the Works, and dying in London, his remains were interred near to those of Sir Christopher Wren, in the Vault of that Cathedral. Also of Robert Mylne son of the above, who was born Dec. 19, 1779, and died at sea on his passage to Gibraltar, to join his regiment, Dec. 8, 1798. To the memory of Mary Smith, daughter of George S. Coxhead, and widow of late William C. Mylne, F.R.S., who died at Amwell, 10 Feb., 1874, aged 83. Also to Everard Mylne, their youngest son, who died 27 De., 1865, aged 40. Within are deposited the remains of Mary, the -daughter of Robert Home and wife of Robert Mylne, to whom she bore 10 children. She died July 13, 1797, aged 49. With the virtues which elevate human nature, and the milder graces which adorn it, she was pious, benevo- lent, and sincere. A warm heart, and accurate 68 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. judgment, engaging wit and lively humour, gave care and propriety to all her words and actions, in the hearts of her surviving children, to whom she exhibited a pattern of every example that polishes as well as enobles society. Her virtues, like her memory, will be ever green, and they in pious gratitude dedicate this monument to cherish the fond remembrance of her affection as a parent of her worth as a Christian. Also Maria Mylne, born February 23, 1772 ; died Sept. 20, 1794. Also Emelia Mylne. Born April 25, 1773 ; died Feb. 24, 1798. In memory of Susan Spall. Born at Sutton, in Suffolk. Died at Am well, Dec. 31, 1874. For 50 years the faithful and devoted friend and servant in the family of the late W. C. Mylne. Beloved and respected by all who- knew her. Sacred to the memory of Mr. John Wheeler, Cooper at Hoddesdon Brewhouse 36 years, who departed this life on the 5th September, 1805, aged 59 years. In cottages and lonely cells True piety neglected dwells Till called to heaven, the native seat Where the good man alone is great. THE CHURCHYARD. 69 Tis there this humble dust shall rise And view his Judge with joyful eyes While haughty tyrants shrink afraid And call the mountains to their aid. Also Mrs. Ann Wheeler, wife of the above, who departed this life on the yth March, 1827, aged 90 years. In Memory of Mary, daur. of John and Elizth. Bridges, who died May the nth, 1807, aged 20 years. My days on earth they were but few, I wasted like the morning dew ; Dear friends, forbear to mourn and weep while quiet in the dust I sleep : This toilsome world I have left behind, a Crown of glory for to find. Also Elizabeth, mother of the above Mary Bridges, who died May the 6th, 1827, aged 22 years ; also John Bridges, husband of the late Elizth, who died October, 82 years. In Memory of Isaac Reed, Esq., F.A.S., who died 5th January, 1807, aged 66. Reserv'd but social diffident approv'd, Reed rests regretted, near the spot he loved. A candid Critic, none more skill'd than he To mark the faded wrecks of poesy, 70 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. And call them back to life, Skill'd to bestow Fresh wreaths to bind on Shakespeare's death- less brow. Modest and useful all his works appear, Like his life's tenor, Simple, just, and clear. To the Memory of Mrs. Sarah Walbey, who departed this life the 4th day of October, 1807, aged 29 years. Boast not too much in youth nor think your- self too high, For ere be long you must come down And in the dust must lie. Also Mr. Nathan Walbey, husband of the above, who died October the 7th, 1831, aged 52 years. In Memory of Mr. Thomas Lambert, Butcher, who died October the 5th, 1808, aged 63 years. Also near the spot lieth 3 sons, 5 daughters, and 5 grandchildren. Dear husband and children, no more I'll weep nor at your graves despair ; I trust the Lord has made you all His own eternal care. Also of Mrs. Mary Lambert, wife of the above Mr. Thomas Lambert, who died Decem- ber 8th, 1821, aged 68 years. THE CHURCHYARD. It is God that lifts our comforts high or sinks them in the grave. He gives and blessed be His Name. He takes but what He gave. In Memory of Jane Strackerley, brought up in the Foundling Hospital, who died Feb. ist, 1809, aged 33 years. Deserted, orphan'd in thy helpless years, No parents watched thy smiles, or wip'd thy Tears. But they must own thee in that awful hour, When hearts unveil'd confess Almighty Power, When, robed in Innocence, thy wrongs are told: Accuser, witness they their child behold. ' When my father and mother forsake me, the Lord taketh me up." Ps. 27. To the Memory of Charles Brown, who died at Mangalore, in the East Indies, Janr. I4th, 1810, aged 19 years and two months. Montague Hamilton Brown, died May 3ist, 1821, aged 25 years and 5 months. Anna Maria Brown, died March 5th, 1827, aged 68 years. Charles Brown, Esqr., died April i3th, 1836, aged 94 years. Henry Brown, died Nov. 2ist, 1873, aged 81 years. Mary Ann Brown, died Nov. 72 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. 25, 1883, aged 87 years. Henry John Brown, Captain Rifle Brigade, born December 3oth, 1823, died December 4th, 1891. In Memory of Montague Hamilton Brown. If resignation which devoutly past Through every pang unmurmuring to the last, If talents sink untimely in the grave, In humble faith resigned to Him who gave, Can charm the soul and draw a holy Tear From kindred feeling stranger, shed it here. Oh ! Montague, too soon from earth removed. The son how dear! the Brother how beloved ! As captives watch the gradual lamp's decay Which lights their cell with solitary ray, So they whose lives seemed only lit by thine, Watched the sad brilliance of thy slow de- cline, Now fear, now hope it's wavering beam in- spired. It brighten'd faded fluttered and expired. Clos'd are those eyes which, eloquently meek, Still look'd the comfort that no more could speak, Cold is that hand, whose gentle pressure strove In death's last agony to tell thy love. But wherefore dwell on these ! Oh turn from earth To hail the Spirit's Blest immortal birth, Nor vainly trace the path of pain he trod, Which like his Saviour did but lead to God. THE CHURCHYARD. 73 In Memory of John Aylin, junr., of Hoddes- don, who departed this life February the 3rd, 1813, aged 14 years. " Ye weeping friends who much your loss deplore Weep for yourselves and weep for him no more, Your son is dead, the pious youth is gone To join yon glorious army round the throne, Immortal there to bloom a flower of love To grace the happy paradise above. Ye tender parents, raise your streaming eyes, Behold your son with Jesus in the skies." Also of Mr. John Aylin, father of the above, who departed this life March the 4th, 1821, a ged 55 years. Likewise Mrs. Sarah Aylin, relect of the above, who died 24th December, 1829, aged 64 years. Sacred to the Memory of Mr. Thomas Alaylian, who died May i3th, 1816, aged 44 years. "Remember this important truth, That death hath no respect to youth Nor health nor strength nor human art Can turn the faithful pointed dart All you that do this grave pass by As you are now so once was I Therefore prepare, make no delay To meet your Judge at the last day." 74 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. In memory of William Dunton, son of Mr. Richard and Elizth. Dunton, of this parish, who departed this life on 2gth, Oct., 1816. " Adieu, dear child, short was thy stay Just looked about then called away, Thy Angel's face we all did see, But soon we were deprived of thee." Also Sarah Mynott, daughter of the above Richard and Elizth. Denton, who died August the 3rd, 1841, aged 22 years. To the memory of Arthur Gurthbert Beau- mont, Esqre., of this parish, obiit 30 Dec., A.D. 1819 aged 34 years. Peace to his hon- ourable & virtuous manes. Sacred to the memory of Thos. Kimpton, of this parish, who departed this life Sept. yth, 1821, aged 59 years. "Ye weeping friends, your grief give o'er; He is not lost, but gone before ; His soul does rest in hopes to rise To join his God beyond the skies. Let us repent and each prepare To meet his soul in glory there." Also near this place lies the body of Mary Hawkins, sister to the above Thos. Kimpton, who departed this life June 8th, 1821. THE CHURCHYARD. 75 Sacred to the memory of James Grant, student of the East India Comp., who was unfortunately drowned while bathing in the river Lea, on the 23 Aug., 1821, in the i8th year of his age. " To hopes too fondly formed, too soon o'er- thrown " While weeping friends inscribe this fragile stone, " Remembrance shall in lines of deepest woe " Recall the form, the mind, that sleeps below " The talents bright, the manners pure from stain " The heart where gentlest graces won't to reign " The nature prompt to feel and to aspire " That glowed with friendships' and with virtue's fire " So fair he drown'd And hope stood smiling by " And hung with gayest lights the distant sky " Bright visions of success and length of days " And generous toil and honourable praise. " Oh dark the event yet heart-struck at his doom " While fond affection mourns his early bloom " A heavenly voice, her griefs to silence charms " She yields her treasure to a Saviour's arms " Content her humble faith on him to stay " Whose goodness gave whose wisdom took away." 76 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. Near this place rest in peace the remains of the Revnd. W. T. Say, L.L.B., who for four years was Vicar of this Parish, he died April 8th, 1826. Aged 60. " Oh Sons of Men with anxious care " Your hearts and lives explore " Return from paths of vice to God " Return and sin no more." NOTE. In the wall of the Chancel, outside, under the East Window. To the memory of Mary Ann Kimpton, who died Decber. i5th, 1823, aged 20 years. " Oh, called from home dear girl in life's full bloom " Thy faithful friends now sorrow o'er thy tomb " Yet while they mourn thy early flight from earth " And cherish fond remembrance of thy worth " This thought still cheers that when their life is o'er " Then shall they meet, and meet to part no more." Sacred to the memory of the Rev. Edward Lewton, A.M.. who was born at Bristol, educated at Wadham Coll., Oxford, and died in the 63rd year of his age, at the East India THE CHURCHYARD. 77 College, Haileybury, where for four and twenty years he had been Professor of Classical Literature an office which he sustained with exemplary faithfulness and adorned with solid and various eruditions. This monument is raised in remembrance of unsullied worth, his artless simplicity of character, his unaffected cheerfulness of temper and his universal benevolence and friendliness of heart. He lived in the humble discharge of his duties to God and man, and died in peaceful reliance on the merits of his Saviour. To the memory of John Gopsill, of the Thrifts, in this parish, obiit the 4th of August, 1830, aetat 63 years. Also in memory of Mary Gopsill, widow of the above, who departed this life on the 26th, June, 1876, in the 78th year of her age. " Be of good cheer. It is I ; be not afraid." Also in memory of Thomas, the beloved son of John and Mary Gopsill, obiit ist of Oct., 1846, aetat 19 years and 8 months. " No pain or calm decay Bade him prepare to , meet his God, As in youth's path he gaily trod His soul was called away ; Yet full of hope are we, For he was good as well as gay. And to all those who watch and pray, No death can sudden be. 78 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. A fond and faithful son, he was his widowed mother's joy ; But she, while mourning for her boy, can say, ' God's will be done.' " In memory of Martha, the wife of Hill Dodds, of Enfield, Middlesex, and only sister of Mary Gopsill, obiit Dec. 2ist, 1839, aetat 38 years. In memory of John, the eldest and last surviving son of the late John Gopsill, of the Thrifts. He departed this life at Tonbridge, in the County of Kent, on Feb. n, 1858, in the 4ist year of his age, leaving a widow and 6 children. Also Frank, his fourth surviving son, died March i3th, 1860. Aged 9 years. In memory of Mr. John Humphrey, who departed this life May 3rd, 1831, aged 24 years. " Death's pangs are o'er All go where thou art gone, Where pains and long farewells are both un- known. May we but meet thee, on that happy shore, Where, death divided, friends shall part no more." This stone is erected by his affectionate wife. THE CHURCHYARD. 79 Mr. Nicholas Harrison, died at sea Aug. 16, 1842, aged 40 years. To the memory of James Lodgsdail, late of this parish, who died Jan. 15, 1840, aged 74 years. Also of William James Lodgsdail, who died Feb. 7, 1839, aged 32 years. In memory of Frances, wife of James Lodg- dail, who died Nov. 18, 1831, aged 61 years. " All ages in the dust must lie, Therefore prepare betimes to die." Sacred to the memory of Thomas Sell, late of Ware, who departed this life, April 16, 1832, aged 60 years. " Good friends, in charity forbear To dig the dust enclosed here ; Kind is the man that spares these stones, But cruel he that moves my bones." Sacred to the memory of Elizabeth, wife of Mr. Richard Dunton, who departed this life on the i6th day of January, 1834, in the 49 year of her age. " A loving wife, a mother dear, A faithful friend lies buried here, Free from malice, void of pride, So she lived and so she died." 80 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. Also Richard Dunton, husband of the above, who died January the 2nd 1838, aged 67 years. Beneath are deposited ye remains of Henry Ware, Esq., of Ware Hill House, in this parish, late Major in Royal Regiment of Horse Guards Blue, where he served faithfully his King and Country for more than 20 years. He died Dec. i, 1835, in ye 6yth year of his age. Also of his beloved wife, whose peculiar powers of mind highly cultivated were united with a benevolence that endeared her to those around her, and a fear of God that gave her peace in death. She died June 8, 1840, in ye Q5th year of her age. In memory of Thomas Brown, who died June 24, 1848, aged 31 years. " Let angels guard this sleeping dust, Till Xt. shall come to raise the just. Then may'st thou wake with sweet surprise, And in the Saviour's Image rise." In memory of Frances Riches, who died May 2nd, 1835, aged 59 years. " Blest is the man who fears not death, But meets the hour with songs of praise, And rests with a sure and humble faith On his Redeemer's promises." THE CHURCHYARD. 8l Sacred to the memory of David Shea, Esqr., who was born at Limerick, in Ireland, in the year 1771, and died at the East India College, May nth, 1836, where the last ten years of his life was spent in the indefatigable discharge of his duties as professor of Oriental languages. His profound and varied knowledge secured the admiration, while his amiable and benevo- lent qualities engaged the affection of his friends in number co-extensive with his ac- quaintance. Sacred to the memory of Eliza Bridger Jessopp, the beloved and lamented wife of John Sympson Jessopp, Esq., of Albany Place, Cheshunt, in this County, Barrister at law. She died in this parish, March 16, 1839, aged 54 years, a faithful and affectionate wife, a fond and devoted mother, a sincere and con- stant Friend, a pious and devout Christian. Vale Elisa ! Heu quanto minus est cum reliquis versari quam tui meminisse ! Also to the memory of John Leverton Jessopp, grand- son of the above, and son of the Revd. John Jessopp, M.A., Chaplain H.E.I.C.S., and Fanny, his wife, died at Cheshunt, 12 April, 1849, aged 3 months. John Jessopp, born March 9, 1850, died at Cheshunt, May 4, 1870. 82 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. To the memory of John Davis, who died Nov. 7, 1842, in the 34th year of his age. " All you that read, think on your future state, Oh pray repent before it be too late. Your time is short, on Jesus Christ rely ; Consider mortals, what it is to die." Louisa Beecroft, died June 28, 1848, aged 28 years. Mary Beecroft, died Ap. 23, 1861, Mother of the above, aged 72 years. " She was a true & Christian friend Until God called her to her end." To the memory of Thomas Dorsett, who died May 28, 1849, aged 33. " Praises on tombs are vainly spent. A man's good deeds are his best monument." To the memory of Rev. Richard Jones, M.A., died 26th Jan., 1855, aged 64 years. Professor of History and political economy during xx. years in the E. India College, & one of the first appointed commissioners to effect a commuta- tion of the Tithe. His splendid intellectual endowments gained him the admiration & gratitude of the students. His administrative ability made him a most valuable servant to his country. His straightforward integrity in THE CHURCHYARD. 83 opinions & conduct, His social & warm-hearted sympathies were the delight (& now alas ! the loss) of a large number of beloved & dis- tinguished friends. In memory of Charlotte, widow of the Rev. Richard Jones, who died at Ditchling in Sussex, on the 3ist Oct., 1871, aged 81 years. Sacred to the memory of Hariet Emily, daughter of Charles & Elizth. Wright, of this parish. Died 8 Jan., 1859, aged 15 months. " This lovely bud so young and fair, Called hence to early doom. Just come to show how sweet a flower, And left in Paradise to bloom." In Memory of Elizabeth, wife of the late William Turner, who died at Stanstead, Herts, on the 20 of July, 1863, aged 75. God had long been preparing her for an entrance into the mansions of eternal bliss, and when we least expected it her redeemed soul took its flight into the presents of her God and Saviour. Sacred to the memory of Elizabeth Jaggers, who died June 23rd 1870, aged 72 years. Also Joseph Jaggers, husband of the above, who died Feb. 25, 1876, aged 88 years. 84 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. " In peace let me resign my breath And thy salvation see My sins deserve eternal death But Jesus died for me." In loving remembrance of Edith Mary Saward, eldest daughter of Samuel & Mary Ann Saward, who departed this life 13 Jan., 1872, in her 22nd year. " In the midst of life we are in death." " Why should our tears in sorrow flow, When God recalls his own, And bids them leave a world of woe For an immortal Crown ? Then let our sorrows cease to flow God has recalled his own ; But let our hearts in every woe Still say, Thy will be done." Also George Henry Saward, brother of the above, who departed this life 9 Nov., 1880, aged 27 years. " How many, painful days on earth His fainting spirit numbered o'er ! Now he enjoys a heavenly birth He is not lost, but gone before." In memory of George Arthur Franklin, of Stanstead Abbotts, Herts, who died 12 March, 1873, m hi s 5 2n d year. " His end was peace." THE CHURCHYARD. 85 He died reposing in the merits of his Saviour, & exchanged, as we believe, earthly treasures for that peace of God wh. passeth all under- standing. Also Phrebe, widow of the above, who died i May, 1881, in the 6yth year of her age. The Angel of Death breathed his message & passed, As a cloud for a moment the sun may o'ercast ; Then the Angel of Life came in splendour arrayed, And her soul to it's heavenly mansion con- veyed. In loving remembrance of Willey, the beloved son of Charles and Ellen Seden, who died 17 March, 1878, aged 9 months. " His short bright race on earth is run We weep but say " God's will be done." John Wells, died April 21, 1881, aged 69. We cannot tell who next may fall Beneath thy chastening rod One must be first but let us all, Prepare to meet our God. Elizabeth Field, died February the ist, 1822, aged 103. 86 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. In memory of Sarah Selina, relict of Andrew Forster, Esq., who fell asleep in Jesus, June 2ist, 1862, in her ggth year. Also of Selina, daughter of the above, and relict of Benjamin Lyon Coxhead, Esq., born March 26th, 1792, died May loth, 1868. " For ever with the Lord." Sacred to the memory of Annie Crowther, of Ware Hill House, Amwell, relict of the late Rev. Samuel Crowther, Vicar of Christ Church, Newgate Street, London, and sister of the late Major Ware, died Jan. 3rd, 1868, aged 97 years. " Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord." Charles Chawner, Esq., died July loth, MDCCCLVII., aged LXV. Also Charles, son of the above, died January i5th, 1871, aged 23 years. Also sacred to the memory of Sarah Chawner, widow of the first mentioned Charles Chawner, daughter of the Reverend Samuel Crowther, and Annie his wife, died April i7th, 1889, aged 78 years. Sacred to the memory of Fanny Catherine, who died June 3oth, 1853, aged 8 years; also Charles Frederick, who died October 3oth, THE CHURCHYARD. 87 1883, aged 43 years, and was buried at Jerez- de-la-frontera ; also Arthur Douglas, who died November i4th, 1887, aged 30 years. The beloved children -of Joseph and Caroline Gripper, of Ware. Also Joseph Gripper, born April i4th, 1814, died March gth, 1895, father of the above. " I will give thee rest." Exodus xxxiii. 14. CHAPTER IV. THE MANOR OF GREAT AMWELL, OTHERWISE AMWELL-BURY. Vf T the time of the Conquest, Ralph de J\ Limesi held this Manor, as the follow- ing entry from Domesday Book proves : " Radulphus (de Limesi) tenet Emmewelle. Pro quatuordecim hidis et dimidia se defende- bat. Terra est sexdecim carucarum. In dominio septem hidre, et ibi sunt duae carucae et alias duae possunt fieri. Ibi viginti quatuor villani cum presbytero et quatuor francigenis et septem bordariis habent octo carucas, et quatuor possunt fieri. Ibi novemdecim cotarii et duo servi ; et unus molinus de sex solidis. Pratum sexdecim carucarun. Pastura ad pe- cudes villae. Silva ducentis porcis ; et de pastura et feno decem solidos. In totis va- lentiis valet quatuordecim libras et decem solidos ; quando recepit duodecim libras ; tern- pore Regis Edwardi octodecim libras. Hoc Manerium tenuit Heraldus Comes." The following is a literal translation : "Ralph de Limesi holds Emmewelle. It answered for fourteen hides and a half. There is land to sixteen ploughs. There are seven THE MANOR OF GREAT AMWELL. 89 hides in the demesne, and there are two ploughs therein, and two more may be made. Twenty-four villanes with a priest and four foreigners, and seven bordars have there eight ploughs, and four may be made. There are nineteen cottagers and two bondmen ; and one mill of six shillings. Meadow for sixteen ploughs. Pasture for the cattle of the village. Pannage for two hundred hogs; and for pasture and hay ten shillings. Its whole value is four- teen pounds and ten shillings ; when received twelve pounds ; in King Edward's time eighteen pounds. Earl Harold held this Manor." It appears (but it does not appear by what means) to have afterwards come into the possession of the Abbot and Convent of St. Peter Westminster, who, upon a Quo Warranto taken in the sixteenth year of King Edward the First, claimed to have the same liberties as they enjoyed in their other manors and lands of the grant of King Henry the Third ; they continued in possession of this Manor until the time of the Dissolution, when it came to the Crown ; in which it remained until King Henry the Eighth, by his letters Patent, dated the I2th of August, in the 32nd year of his reign, granted it to Anthony Denny and his heirs male for ever. Upon his death, this Manor descended, by the name of Amwell Bury to his eldest son Henry, in tail male. He died in the i7th year of Queen Elizabeth leaving Edward his heir. go GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. It was afterwards purchased, according to Sir Henry Channey, by Thomas Hobbes of Grey's Inn, Esq., but of whom he is unable to state. He had issue by his wife Susannah, a daughter Susannah, who became the wife of John Fiennes, Esq., third son of William Fiennes the first Viscount Say and Sele, by whom she had issue six sons and four daughters. He sold this Manor in the year 1693 to Thomas Filmer, of the Inner Temple, London, Esq., who married his eldest daughter Susan- nah. Thomas Filmer died intestate in the year 1701, leaving Susannah his wife and two daughters ; Susannah married to Robert Ed- dowes, and Mary to Edward Trotman. These daughters, his co-heiresses, conveyed this Manor to Thomas Burford and his heirs in the year 1718, from whom it descended in the year 1729 to his brother John Burford. John Burford was born at Monk Silver, in Somersetshire, on the 7th of November, 1685, and admitted Scholar of King's College, Cam- bridge, i6th of August 1701, where he took the degree of M.A., and was Moderator in 1710. In the year 1726, he became an unsuccessful opponent to Mr. Edmund Castel, Dean of Hereford, and Master of Corpus Christi College, for the place of University Orator. Upon this occasion, Mr. Burford contended, according to the antient Statutes of the Uni- THE MANOR OF GREAT AMWELL. 9 1 versity, that the election ought to have been popular, without the interference of the heads of houses; in this conflict of opinions, his principal antagonist was Dr. Bentley, Master of Trinity College, who opposed him upon the Statutes of Queen Elizabeth, and intimated that he should wish to see the thoughts of some of his opponents. This intimation induced Mr. Burford to publish in 1727, without his name, " An argument to prove that the 3gth Section of the f,oth Chapter of the Statutes given by Queen Elizabeth to the University of Cam- bridge, includes the old Statutes of that University, and that all those old Statutes are not repealed by the Statutes of Queen Elizabeth. Together with an Answer to the Argument, and the Author's reply to that Answer." London, 4to. 1727, pp, 88. This learned performance set this matter in a very clear light, and gained its author great reputation. After spending the greater part of his life at College, Mr. Burford retired, in the year 1743, to his estate at this place, where he died on the 4th of May in the same year, and was buried in the Parish Church. Mr. Cole, from whose Collections this account is princi- pally taken, remarks of him, that " he was an exceeding good scholar, and a man of fine parts and accomplishments, and where party matters, in which he was most inflexible, were out of the question, of an entertaining and chearful correspondence." Q2 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. After the death of Mr. Burford, this Manor was sold to Bibye Lake, Esq., whose only daughter and heir married Charles Brown, Esq., from whom it has descended to its present possessor, Alice, daughter of the late Captain Henry Brown, and wife of Spencer Charrington, Esq., eldest son of Spencer Charrington, Esq., M.P., of Hunsdon House. CHAPTER V. HAILEY. (JT'HIS hamlet, which lies in the southern (y part of the Parish, was at the time of the Conquest a separate holding, and formed a portion of the estates of Geoffry de Bech, as is proved by the following extract from the Domesday Book : " Goisfridus de Bech tenet Hailet. Pro duobus hidis se defendebat. Terra est duarum carucarum. In dominio una hida et tres virgatae et ibi est una caruca et adhuc dimidia potest fieri. Ibi duo villani cum duobus bordariis habent dimidiam carucam. Ibi tres cotarii et unus servus. Pratum unius carucae. Pastura ad pecud. Silva quinqua- ginta porcis. De gurgite quinquaginta anguile. Valet triginta solidos ; quando recepit decem solidos; tempore Regis Edwardi quatuor libras. Hanc terram tenuit Wluuinus homo Comitis Heraldi. De quadam sylva reclamat Radulph- us de Limesi tantum quantum pertinet ad tres hidas de Emmevvelle et duos villanos de una virgata, et unum borJarium de decem acris ; et adhuc viginti quatuor acrae 94 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. terrae quas sumpsit Ilbertus de Hertfort et opposuit huic Manerio, ut homines de Scira testantur, et Canonici de Waltham reclamant tantum sylvae quantum pertinet ad unam hidam." Translation: Geoffry de Bech holds Hailet. It answered for two hides. There is land to two ploughs. One hide and three virgates are in the demesne, and there is one plough there, and a half may yet be made. Two villanes with two bordars have there half a plough. There are three cottagers and one bondman. Meadow for one plough. Pasture for the cattle. Pannage for fifty hogs. From a stream of water fifty eels. It is worth thirty shillings; when received ten shillings; in King Edward's time four pounds. Wluuin, a vassal of Earl Harold's, held this land. Ralph de Limesi claims so much of a certain wood as belongs to three hides in Emmevvelle, and two villanes of one virgate, and one bordar of ten acres, and there yet are twenty-four acres of land, which Ilbert de Hertfort took and placed to this manor, as the men of the shire testify, and the Canons of Waltham claim so much of the wood as belongs to one hide." " The latest mention I can find of this manor occurs in the year 1509, when Sir Henry, son of Sir Andrew Ogard, Knt, gave it by will to his son Andrew. Indeed the very name barely survives, except in Hailey Bury and Hailey Lane, the site of the ancient manor HAILEY. 95 being now almost entirely included within Hertford Heath." Cussans History of Hertford- shir e. This place has now no Manorial rights at- tached to it, and has long since sunk into private estates. CHAPTER VI. THE EAST INDIA COLLEGE. (J7"HE old East India College, known to the Q) present generation as Haileybury College (now a large and flourishing Public School), was founded in the year 1805 by the Hon. East India Company, for the education of their Civil Servants. A House called Hailey Bury, heretofore Hailey Bushes, with about sixty acres of ground, parcel of the manor of Gold- ingtons, otherwise Thele, was purchased of William Walker, Esq. These lands were afterwards exchanged by the Company with Charles Cowper, Esq., for some of the antient demesne lands of his Manor of Goldingtons, which were more conveniently situated for the proposed erection ; and upon these lands the College was built. The situation was further improved by the diversion of a cross road, and by the grant of some waste land lying in front of the College ; as well as by the enclosure of a small plot of ground called the Little Heath, lying on the south west. The site of the College lies on the east of the road leading from Hertford to Hoddesdon, at the distance of nineteen miles from London. It is a quadrilateral building enclosing an THE EAST INDIA COLLEGE. 97 extensive area. The south front is built of Portland stone, in the Ionic order, and extends 430 feet from east to west, under one con- tinued line of roof. The central division of this range is embellished with a portico of six columns, advanced before the south end of what was then the library ; on the right and left of this room were the Hall and Chapel, the former 80 and the latter 100 feet in length, the Combination room, between the hall and the library was 20 feet in width, making the ex- tent of the front equal on each side of the cen- tral portico. The entrances to these, at either end, were under open porticos, one of which divided the hall from the College kitchen, and the other, the Chapel from the Principal's lodge ; they present six columns each to the south front, two in the line of the front wall, and four projecting before them towards the quadrangle; the porticos have two columns interposed, between pilasters, in the line of the north front of this range of buildings. The lodge and the College kitchen formed the extremes of the principal front. The College, besides the public rooms al- ready mentioned, contained lecture rooms and dwellings for the professors ; the students occupied the remaining buildings on the east, west, and north sides of the quadrangle. The entrance to the College faced the west, at a short distance from the high road between London and Hertford. The columns, twenty- H 98 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. two in number, are all fluted and surmounted by capitals beautifully wrought. The pro- portions of the porticos were taken from the Erectheum, on the Athenian Acropolis, built soon after the death of Pericles, and the orna- mental details were selected from the same edifice. The Architect was Mr. William Wilkins, at that time a Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, who had lately returned from completing his architectural studies at Athens. The foundation stone of the building was laid on the i2th of May, 1806, by Charles Grant, Esq., M.P., a Director, in the presence of the Hon. William Fullarton Elphinstone, Chairman, and Edward Parry, Esq., Deputy- Chairman of the East India Company, at- tended by many of the Directors, the Principal and Professors of the College, the Head Master of the School, and several of the neighbouring gentry. The design of the establishment was, to provide some security for the character and attainments of persons appointed to the Civil Service in India, and consequently destined to supply candidates for the highest and most important offices in that country. The necessity of an estab- lishment of this nature seems to have engaged the attention of the Honourable Court of Directors, as early as the year 1804. The discussions which ensued on the subject ter- minated in favour of two institutions; a School, THE EAST INDIA COLLEGE. 99 into which boys might be admitted at an early age, and a College, for the reception of Students at the age of 15, afterwards altered to the age of 16 years. Over the civil govern- ment and literary studies of this latter institution, there were appointed to preside a Principal and eight Professors, a Visitor in the Oriental department, with two native Oriental Instructors, as follow : The Rev. SAMUEL HENLEY, D.D., F.S.A. Professors of the Mathematics and Natural Philosophy: The Rev. BEWICK BRIDGE, M.A. The Rev. WILLIAM DEALTRY, M.A. Classical and General Literature : The Rev. EDWARD LEWTON, M.A. JOSEPH HALLETT BATTEN, Esq., M.A. History and Political Economy : The Rev. T. R. MALTHUS, M.A. General Polity and the Laws of England : EDWARD CHRISTIAN, Esq., M.A. Hindu Literature and History of Asia : ALEXANDER HAMILTON, Esq., F.R.S. Arabic, Persian, and Hindostany Literature: CHARLES STEWART, Esq. Visitor of the Oriental Department : CHARLES WILKINS, Esq., D.C.L., F.R.S. IOO GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. In the preparatory School, the Pupils were in- structed in classical and general learning, previous to their admission into the College ; and the School was also open for the education of other pupils, not designed for the service of the East India Company. The Rev. Matthew Henry Thornhill Luscombe, D.C.L., was ap- pointed Head Master of this School, which was located in the Castle at Hertford. In the course of the year, 1806, the College was formally recognized by a royal grant of arms, reciting " That the United Company of Merchants in Great Britain, trading to the East Indies, had formed an establishment to provide a supply of persons duly qualified to discharge the various duties required from the Civil Servants of the Company, in ad- ministering the Government of India, which establishment is now distinguished by the appellation of the East India College." The above grant passed the Sign Manual on the 4th of December, 1806. In consequence of which the College of Arms, in obedience to his Majesty's commands, granted to the College on the aist of March, 1807, the following Arms, viz. : Argent, a cross Gules on a shield in the dexter quarter, the arms of France and England quarterly, within a compartment a- dorned with an Imperial crown, being the arms of the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies; and, on a chief of augmentation, Argent, an olive THE EAST INDIA COLLEGE. IOI wreath between two open books proper, bound and clasped Or. And for the Crest, on a wreath Argent and Gules, a lion rampant guardant; on his head an Eastern Crown Or, holding between his forepaws a scroll, with a seal pendant therefrom. In the month of November, 1808, a set of regulations for the Government of the College was framed by the Court of Directors, by which the immediate superintendence and execution of them were vested in the Prin- cipal and Professors, under the denomination of the College Council. The building of the College at Hailey Bury was completed for the reception of Students on the ist of April, 1809, when the collegiate establishment was transferred thither from the Castle at Hertford; the business of the school having been pre- viously conducted in the house at Hailey Bury. In the year, 1813, the College received the sanction of the Legislature, in the 53rd of George the Third, c. 155., " for continuing in the East India Company, for a further term, the possession of the British territories in India," &c., by the 44th, 45th, 46th, 47th, and 48th Clauses of which Act it was enacted, First, that the College and Military Seminary in England should be continued and maintained by the Company, for the further term granted them by this Act, and that the Directors, with the approbation of the Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of India, should be required to IO2 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. make rules and regulations for the good govern- ment of the same, with a power of making such representations as at any time they might think fit, respecting any alterations in or ad- dition to the said rules made by the Board. Secondly, that the College should be subject to the visitorial jurisdiction of the Bishop of London. Thirdly, that it should not be lawful for the Court of Directors to appoint to the Presidencies of Fort William, Fort St. George, or Bombay, any person in the capacity of a Writer, unless such person should have been duly entered at such College, and have resided there four terms, according to the rules and regulations thereof, and should produce at the expiration of that time a certificate, under the hand of the Principal of the College, testifying that he had, for the space of four terms, been a member of the College, and conformed to the rules and regulations thereof. Fourthly, that no order for the establishment of any office, or the appointment of any person to fill the situation of Principal of the College, or Head Master of the Military Seminary, should be valid, until the same should have been approved by the Board of Commissioners. Fifthly, that every spiritual Person holding the situation of Principal or Professor in the said College should be exempted from resi- dence on any Benefice of which he might be possessed, in the same manner as such persons THE EAST INDIA COLLEGE. 103 are exempted from residence under the Act of 43, Geo. iii. c. 84. On Thursday, the 24th of August, 1816, the Collegiate Chapel was consecrated by the Lord Bishop of London, visitor of the College, attended by the Earl of Buckinghamshire, President of the India Board of Controul, the Right Hon. Nicholas Vansittart, Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Right Hon. John Sullivan, &c. The number of Students which the building could accommodate was about 100, and the average number actually resident was about 80. Each of the Students paid 100 guineas per annum for board and education, besides 100 guineas on leaving College for the use of the library. No candidate for the College could be admitted until he had completed the i6th year of his age, nor admitted before he had passed an examination before the Principal and Professors in classics and arithmetic. The instruction of students was conveyed by means of lectures, as at the universities. There were two terms of collegiate residence in the year, the first commencing on the igth of January, and ending on the 3ist of May, the second commencing on the 27th of July, and ending on the 2ist of December. In the last week of each term examinations of all the Students were held by the Principal and Pro- fessors, who, at the conclusion of the Exam- IO4 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. inations, arranged the students according to their respective merits in the different depart- ments of literature and science. On this occasion the Hon. the Chairman, the Deputy Chairman, and such other Directors as thought proper, attended to distribute among the most deserving Students, in their several classes, such gold medals and prizes of books as were thought good. On the yth December, 1857, Haileybury College was formally closed, after nearly 50 years of useful activity, and on the i3th of August, 1859, the establishment of the Company was transferred to the Crown. CHAPTER VII. HAILEYBURY COLLEGE, SlNCE ITS FOUNDATION AS A PUBLIC SCHOOL IN l862. (Kindly contributed by a Master.) FTER the Indian Mutiny it was felt that it was no longer possible or desirable for India to be governed by "John Company." For a short time the remains of the Company's army were quartered in ^ the East India College buildings, but on August 30, 1861, the estate was sold by the Secretary of State for India to the British Land Company. It was owing to the far-sighted policy of Mr. Stephen Austin, who had been asked to take temporary charge of the College Library until its removal to London, that the buildings were saved from destruction and preserved to the county and country as a place of education. I cannot here repeat the story of the un- daunted energy of Mr. Austin, which was gracefully acknowledged by the Council in 1879, nor tell once more the generous help which was given by the Hon. and Rev. Lowther Barrington, the Rev. T. D. Hudson, 106 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. and others. A full account of all the pre- liminary negociations ; the advice of Dean Bowers ; the financial skill of Mr. J. W. Chesshyre, will be found in the Introduction to the second edition of The Haileybury Register. The article was written by W. E. Russell, an old Haileyburian, who has been Bursar since April, 1890, and has done so much for the development of the place. The Council were well advised in their selection of the first head-master, the Rev. Arthur Gray Butler, who had an anxious and busy task before him between his appointment in April, 1862, and the opening of the new School in September. Many of us have had an opportunity during the last year of seeing the photographs which Sir M. Monier Williams lent to the Indian Exhibition at Earl's Court, and to the Annual Exhibition at Haileybury. These give any one who knows the existing buildings a very good idea of many of the alterations which were made. There were between 60 and 70 students in the East India time, who each had a single room with a bed in a curtained recess. There were four blocks of rooms, lettered A, B, C, and D. A, B, and D were turned into long dormitories, block C was retained for ' studies ' for the upper boys. Since 1868 the six dormitories or houses in the quadrangle have been named after distinguished students of HAILEYBURY COLLEGE. IOJ the old time, Lord Lawrence, Sir Charles Trevelyan, and others. Hailey House retains its old name. It was for some years confined to the Lower School, but since 1879 has been on an equality with all the others. In 1879 three new houses were opened, and named after the three Principals of the East India College, Batten, Le Bas, and Melvill. With the exception of Trevelyan, Hailey, and Highfield (a boarding house built by Mr. Rhoades in 1868, and enlarged a few years ago) all the House Masterships are held by bachelor masters. The " Deanery " retains the old name, though it is now a small colony of masters. The professor's house in the opposite corner was, until the new buildings in 1879, used as a " Sick House," for non-infectious illnesses. Since 1890, there has been a resident Medical Officer. The present School Library was, until 1877, the Chapel. The appearance of the old building was very faithfully given by a small engraving from the Gentleman's Magazine. There was no alteration made when the School was started, except that some additional seats were put in front. The nave of the present Chapel contained the Library of the old College, and was the room in which the directors met the students at the regular prize-givings. There was much discussion when it was resolved to build, both 108 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. as to the style and to the site of the new Chapel. A Gothic building was out of the question when it was wisely decided to make it a part of the quadrangle, a centre of the centre of the school-life. The great dome which crowns the octagon is a familiar feature in the landscape for many miles round. Legends soon grow, so I will not vouch for the story, but it is said that Sir Arthur Blomfield, the architect, was travell- ing on October 3, 1878, past Broxbourne, and pointed out the dome to a companion. On his return next day, to his surprise, he could not see it. In the meantime the fire of October 4 had occurred, and the cupola had gone crashing down. Happily there was no wind and the fire did not spread. The necessity for re-building the dome encouraged Dr. Bradby to appeal for the decoration of the whole Chapel, which he had meant to leave for another generation. The memorial tablets, by Messrs Powell, of alabaster and opus sectile are a special feature of the .Chapel. One of the latest is that erected in memory of Dr. Bradby. No more appropriate place could have been chosen for it. Mr. Arthur Butler's health gave way, and afterwards, to the sorrow of all who knew him and Haileybury, he felt that he must resign. The choice of the Council fell on the Rev. E. H. Bradby, another old Rugbeian, and a HAILEYBURY COLLEGE. log master at Harrow. How skilfully he con- solidated and developed the School, which the devotion and enthusiasm of Mr. Butler and his assistants had created from a chaos of boys of all sizes and ages, the neighbour- hood knows very well. He emphasized from the first the importance of simplicity and the danger of extravagance, which so many have insisted on since then. But he was determined that the education at Haileybury should be as many-sided and as generous as at any of the older Schools, and was ever ready to foster and encourage the Societies Literary, Scientific, Antiquarian which the tastes of masters and boys suggested. The " Bradby Hall," which forms a great part of the new block of buildings which stands between the Terrace and Pavilion fields, will testify as long as the School lasts to the head-mastership of Dr. Bradby. The School authorities had long been forced to refuse many applicants for admission, and it was this alone which induced Dr. Bradby to open the three " New Houses," of which I have spoken, in 1879. Three or four terms were enough to fill up the School from 360 to 500. At the end of 1883, Dr. Bradby unselfishly thought that it was time for him to go, and his place was filled by the Rev. J. Robertson, who had also been for some years a master at Harrow. Mr. Robertson carried on the work IIO GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. on the same lines as his predecessor, developing the music of the School, and encouraging the Rifle Corps which was started in 1887. On Mr. Robertson's resignation, in 1890, the Rev. the Hon. Edward Lyttelton, one of the masters at Eton, was appointed to succeed him. Canon Lyttelton is too well known in the county and diocese in many various ways for it to be necessary to point out his qualifica- tions for the head-mastership. As under Mr. Robertson, so under Canon Lyttelton, the buildings of the School have gone on increasing. The School was happily not proprietary. Our wise advisers at the outset saved us from that disadvantage. We have gone on adding and improving as we have been able. As I write, new servants' quarters are rising on the site of the old " Grub Shop " by the back gates. The School authorities have been followed by many other of the Public Schools (others envy us, but from different circumstances cannot imitate us) in managing the School Grub Shop for the benefit of the School. The advantage is twofold. The hours when the shop is open and the nature quality and price of the goods are under our management it is not possible for the inconsiderate sweet-toothed lower school boy to stuff himself with jam puffs before dinner ; and secondly, the profits go to helping the games, improving the grounds, and benefiting other school institutions. Local HAILEYBURY COLLEGE. Ill and diocesan charities are also aided by the committee. In the course of the last few years, as opportunity has served, the land immediately surrounding the College on south and east has been quietly purchased. On the north we have "The Heath," the beautiful wooded strip for which we are more thankful every year ; and on the west, the heath and the avenue, and enough of our own grounds, to make us fear no speculative builders of villas when Haileybury becomes a suburb of London. It was only natural that, with an old Rugbeian for head- master, and prominent old Rugbeians on the staff, the School was one of the earliest to join the Rugby Union. Members of the Haileybury team are always elected to Richmond without difficulty. E. T. Gurdon has been taken by Vanity Fair as the representative of Rugby Football. He and his brother Charles represented England in international matches for many years. The list of University players is too long to give. In this year's match there were two O.H.'s in the Oxford, and one in the Cambridge team. Some years ago the Cambridge captains for three years in succession were O.H.'s J. M. Batten, E. T. Gurdon, S. R. James. We play at present, Cheltenham, Dulwich, S. Paul's, and Bedford. The last few years have shewn that inter-school matches can be played without fury and bloodshed. 112 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. It is much better for boys to play boys than men apart from the additional interest of the games. In cricket the School has not been so suc- cessful, somehow. We have played Wellington and Uppingham for many years, and for the last four years have had breathlessly exciting matches with Cheltenham at Lord's. Many of our best players have not been able to go to Oxford or Cambridge. Our boys cannot afford the time or money in many cases, but have to go into the army or into business. Only one of the Hamiltons; could go to Oxford. Major J. Spens (so well known as a racquet player), J. D.F. Campbell, W. S. Gurney (whose School average was 68), and others at once occur to the mind. Improved organization and more systematic coaching have produced a very marked improvement in the standard of play throughout the school in the last few years. We have not been successful for the Ash- burton Shield owing to the difficulty we hope it will not prove the impossibility of getting a range ; but for intelligence and smartness the Haileybury Corps has from the first had a very high place, thanks to the skill and keenness of its officers. In the Public Schools' Camp our corps won the Wantage Bugle for general efficiency all the four years that it was offered. There are many O.H.'s in metropolitan and other corps, as well as in the army, who owe, and gratefully acknow- HAILEYBURY COLLEGE. 113 ledge, a great debt to their training in their School Corps. As we do not row any longer on the Lea we are well satisfied with our proportion of University oars. In the famous year of the dead heat we had two in the Cambridge and one in the Oxford crew. In gymnastics, ever since the opening of the new gymnasium in 1887 we have had systematic compulsory instruction for all new boys. We have only actually won the Public Schools' Shield once, but our representatives have many times acquitted themselves with distinc- tion. We are not at present sending com- petitors for the boxing (which we won three or four times). In fencing we have done equally well. So much for the athletic side. Intellectually, although we have had no rich foundation scholarships, we have held our own. Whether it was by the chance of having some boys of exceptional brilliancy, or through the inspiration of Mr. Butler's teaching, the young School, in two successive years, had the second and third in the Classical Tripos at Cambridge (C. E. Raskins and A. F. Kirkpatrick, the latter the present Regius Professor of Hebrew), and the Senior Classic (J. H. Pratt, afterwards a Master at Harrow). The first non-Etonian Fellow of King's was an O.H. In more recent times our reputation has been sustained by P.V. M. Benecke (Fellow of Magdalen) famous 114 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. alike for the number of half-holidays he won for the School and for his musical ability ; by G. B. Dibblee, Fellow of All Souls', and Manager of the Manchester Guardian; by R. C. Gilson, Fellow of Trinity, Cambridge ; and by what promises to be a succession of Fellows of Pembroke, Cambridge, of whom the last, M. S. D. Butler, as President of the Union, carried on the traditions of his name, as J. A. V. Magee did by his Presidency of the Union at Oxford. The School is only thirty-four years old, and therefore cannot expect as yet to have many very distinguished men among her sons, but we hope before many years are past to have our share. We we e proud to have our memorial of Dr. Bradby built by Reginald Blomfield, one of those who had learnt thoroughness (as he owned at the luncheon when the buildings were opened) in the sixth form under Dr. Bradby. When we wanted to have a portrait of Mr. Robertson to hang in the Library, with G. Richmond's portrait of Rev. A. G. Butler, and H. Herkomer's of Dr. Bradby, we felt we could not do better than commission C. W. Furse. Rennell Rodd has made a name for himself in diplomacy in Africa as well as in poetry. He is second to Lord Cromer in Egypt at the present time. A. H. Behrend is well known as a successful writer of songs, even if we ought not to claim A. Gorin'g Thomas, as he was too delicate as a HAILEYBURY COLLEGE. 115 boy to stay long at a public School. F. W. Bourdillon, H. Morse Stephens, Rev. H. A. Macpherson, to name only a few, have all come to the front in various departments of literature. We have only one Bishop at present, the Bishop-Coadjutor of Capetown ; and only one Dean, the Dean of Bloemfontein ; and only one Archdeacon, Archdeacon Upcher, of Mashona- land. But these names shew that the School has sent of its best to the Church abroad. India, a recent letter says, " swarms with Haileyburians." It is very pleasant to learn that the Civil Servants of Old Haileybury have been always prompt to hold out the hand of welcome to Haileyburians of the present School in India. There are a very large number of O.H.'s in the army, and as they are mostly men of moderate means a large proportion are in India. We are proud of the part which B. E. M. Gurdon took in holding Chitral. It can hardly have been forgotten that it was his coolness and determination which averted the danger in the early days when he was alone in the fort with only a few Sikhs. To take this one campaign, there were besides Gurdon two other O.H.'s who received the D.S.O. The paintings of the four Evangelists in the Chapel are a memorial of the death of N. J. A. Coghill, who died with an old Harrovian " saving the colours " after Isandl- whana. Il6 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. Sir George Clarke, K.C.M.G., who presided at the last Triennial O.K. Dinner, is one of the great authorities on Imperial Defence. There is a wonderful fellowship between Old Public School boys, and Old Haileyburians yield to none in loyalty to their old School. The " Jullundur Cup," a challenge trophy for inter-house gymnastics, was presented by some O.H.'s who were stationed at Jullundur ten years ago. The silver football, which goes for the year to Cock House in football, was bought with subscriptions from O.H.'s in in all parts of the world. Within the last year an "Old Haileyburian Society" has been formed to link together old boys and keep them in touch with the School. It is proposed to have correspondents in Australia, Africa, India, America, and else- where abroad, who shall have the addresses of those who are in those countries, and so be able to put old boys in communication with each other. There have been several O.H. dinners in Melbourne, Calcutta, and other places out of England already. A keen O.H. has founded a township called " Haileybury " on the shores of Lake Temiscamingue, in Canada. Haileybury was early among the Schools to start a " Mission." It was only natural that with the old connection so real, India should be selected as the field. Since 1873 150 has been sent annually to support a " Haileybury HAILEYBURY COLLEGE. 117 Lecturer," who has been for many years Head of the Christian School in connection with St. John's College, Agra. Lord Lawrence was a subscriber from the start until his death. The new building of the Christian Hostel at St. John's have just been erected under the supervision of an O.H., a captain in R.E. In 1890, soon after the present Head Master came, the " Haileybury Guild " was begun. It now has some 350 members, whose object is to help the clergy in town and country parishes in any way they can. By the end of this year we hope that a Boys' Club will be built in Stepney Parish, where O.H.'s are already working. It was felt desirable to have a definite centre to point to. There are many sides of our life at Hailey- bury which one cannot mention in so short a record, but I must say a word of the choir, of which we are justly proud. The Guild Fund has been benefited, and the neighbourhood delighted several times during the last two years, with the musical dramas composed by Mr. Lewis, the choirmaster. But the Chapel Services are his chief work, and in these he has worthily followed the traditions of his predecessors. The whole School, too, make good use of their opportunities, as those can testify who have been fortunate enough to be present at an " Upper School Singing." The "Pastimes" at the end of the Christmas term are a feature in the year. But I must Il8 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. not ramble on. I trust that an Old Boy will be forgiven for his loving praise. I will end with the closing words of Dr. Bradby's Carmen Haileyburiense : 11 Et nos, quotquot eunt dies, Laeta voce precabimur, Ter, quater resonabimus, Laeta voce iterabimus, O dilecta canentes Haileyburia floreat ! " CHAPTER VIII. THE NEW RIVER. PON the east side of the Amwell, at the foot of the steep bank on which the Church is situated rises a con- siderable spring, which, together with that of Chadwell, forms the New River, of the origin and progress of which the following account may not be unacceptable to the reader. The spring is known as Emma's Well, and undoubtedly gives the Parish its name. It has been enlarged into a spacious basin ; in the centre of which is a small islet, where, beneath the mournful shade of weeping willows and other trees, a monumental pedestal was erected in the year 1800, by the celebrated architect, Robert Mylne, to the memory of Sir Hugh Mydleton. On this pedestal are the following inscriptions : South, to Amwell Spring. SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF SIR HUGH MYDELTON, BARONET, WHOSE SUCCESSFUL GARB, ASSISTED BY THE PATRONAGE OF HIS KlNG, CONVEYED THIS STREAM TO LONDON. AN IMMORTAL WORK: SINCE MEN CANNOT MORE NEARLY IMITATE THE DEITY, THAN IN BESTOWING HEALTH. I2O GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. West, to Chadwell. FROM THE SPRING OF CHADWELL, TWO MILES WEST; AND FROM THIS SOURCE OF AMWELL, THE AQUEDUCT MEANDERS FOR THE SPACE OF XL MILES : CONVEYING HEALTH, PLEASURE, AND CONVENIENCE, TO THE METROPOLIS OF GREAT BRITAIN. North, cross the vale of the Lea. M.S. HUGONI8 MYDELTON, BARONETTI, QUI AQUAS HASCE FELICITER ADSPIRANTE FAVORE REGIO IN URBEM PERDUCENDAS CURAVIT OPUS IMMORTALE HOMINES ENIM AD DEOS NULLA RE PROPIUS ACCEDUNT QUAM SALUTEM DANDO. East, towards London. THIS HUMBLE TRIBUTE TO THE GENIUS, TALENTS, AND ELEVATION OF MIND, WHICH CONCEIVED AND EXECUTED THIS IMPORTANT AQUEDUCT, IS DEDICATED BY ROBERT MYLNE, ARCHITECT, ENGINEER, &c. A.D. MDCCC. THE NEW RIVER. 121 On the smaller island is another pedestal, containing the following inscription : " Am well, perpetual be thy stream Nor e'er thy spring be less Which thousands drink who never dream Whence flows the boon they bless. Too often thus ungrateful man Blind and unconscious lives, Enjoys kind Heaven's indulgent plan, Nor thinks of Him who gives." Then follows the name of Archdeacon Nares (the author), and the date 1818. The first design of bringing a river to the northern parts of the City of London, appears to have originated in the i3th year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, when an Act of Parliament was passed for the bringing of the river Lea, in this county, to the north side of the City of London, within the space of ten years. We are told also by Stow, that, about the year 1580, a person of the name of Russell com- municated to Lord Burghley a project for bringing the river of Uxbridge, in the County of Middlesex, to the north side of London, by means of a geometrical instrument ; and that the Lord Treasurer was so much pleased with the design, that he drew, with his own hand, in Russell's paper, the course of the proposed river, and the situations of the towns adjacent. It is probable that these designs, though never carried into execution, gave rise in the suc- ceeding reign to the foundation of the New 122 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. River Company, which was laid in an Act ot Parliament procured in the 3rd year of the reign of King James the First, A.D. 1605, by the Lord Mayor, Commonalty, and Citizens of London, who were thereby empowered to bring " a fresh stream of water to the north part of the City of London, from the springs of Chadwell and Amwell, and other springs in the County of Hertford, not far distant from the same, &c., by means of a trench of the breadth of ten feet and not above ; upon condition of their maintaining and preserving the same ; making satisfaction to the owners of the grounds through which the new cut or river should be made ; and making and main- taining convenient bridges and ways, for the passage of the King's subjects over the said river or cut." In the following year, a second Act was passed explanatory of the former, by which the Mayor and Commonalty of the City of London were vested with further powers "to cause, in places where need might be, the water to be conveyed in a trunk or vault of brick or stone inclosed, and, if necessary, raised upon arches, rather than in open trench or sewer." The citizens, however, alarmed at the difficulties and expense of this enterprise, forebore to embark any further in the undertaking, which lay for a long time neglected, until Mr. Hugh Midleton, Citizen and Goldsmith of London, made an offer to the Court of Common Council, THE NEW RIVER. 123 on the 28th of March, 1609, of commencing it, at his own risk, within the space of two months, and of using his best endeavours to finish it in the space of four years from the time of its commencement ; whereupon, the Court accepted his offer, and agreed to transfer to him the powers vested in them by the two Acts of Parliament before mentioned. This extraordinary person was a native of Denbigh, in North Wales, and a descendant of a younger branch of the respectable family of Midleton, of Chirk Castle, in Denbighshire, and brother of Sir Thomas Midleton, Alderman of London. His surname has been differently spelt by different authors, but is written as we have given it here in his autograph affixed to his agreement with the King, preserved in the office of the Auditor of the Land Revenue. After having carried on this work for near a twelvemonth, he represented to the City that he had dug a trench ten miles in length, but that he was prevented from proceeding by reason of some complaints exhibited against him by the owners and occupiers of lands in the intended course of the river ; upon which, a term of five years was allowed him ; and, at the end of another year, he obtained an addition of seven years for perfecting the work. Having contrived to satisfy these complaints, and having brought the water to the neighbour- hood of Enfield, he was assailed by more serious difficulties, arising from the want of 124 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. money ; in consequence of this, he applied to the City of London for assistance, but, upon their refusing to embark in the undertaking, he made application to the King, who agreed to pay one half of the whole expense, upon one moiety of the concern being made over to him, which Hugh Midleton consented to do, pro- vided the interests were kept in a subject, and not in his Majesty, which was agreed to by the King, and ratified by an indenture, dated the 2nd of May, in the xoth year of his reign. The money advanced by the Crown between Easter, 1612, and Michaelmas, 1614, was ,6,347 43. n^d., which enabled him to finish the projected undertaking on the 2gth of September, 1613; by which a river, 38 miles, 3 quarters, and 16 poles, had been cut, furnished with between 200 and 300 bridges, and 40 sluices ; when, according to Stow, in the afternoon of Michael- mas-day, a grand cavalcade was formed, con- sisting of Sir John Swinnerton (Lord Mayor), Sir Thomas Midleton (Lord Mayor elect), Sir Henry Montagu (Recorder), many Aldermen, and other persons, who rode in state to the great Cistern, in the parish of St. James, Clerkenwell, denominated the New River Head, at Islington, where a number of labourers dressed in uniform were assembled ; where, after a pompous eulogy had been pronounced upon the progress and completion of the work, by a person selected upon the occasion, which the curious reader may see in Stow, the flood- THE NEW RIVER. 125 gates were at once thrown open, and the water rushed from the river into the cistern, amidst the beating of drums, the sounding of trumpets, and roaring of cannon. From this reservoir, the water was afterwards conveyed by sluices into large cisterns built of brick, from which it was conducted by means of wooden pipes to different districts of the cities of London and Westminster ; which subterraneous conduits have been rapidly increased, by the extensive erection of buildings in the north west part of London, chiefly in consequence of the making of the new road from Islington to Paddington, in the year 1756. Soon after the commencement of the original undertaking, the .property of the New River was divided into seventy-two shares, of which one moiety was vested in Hugh Midleton and twenty-eight other persons, who were in- corporated by charter of King James the First, dated the 2ist of June, 1619, and considered proprietors of the thirty-six shares, which were called the adventurers' moiety, in consequence of which there have ever since been only twenty-nine sitting members Directors of the Company. Many of the adventurers' shares being, by alienation, divided into fractional parts, the Lord Chancellor Cowper, in the year 1711, decreed in favour of their several proprietors, viz., that the possessors of two or more fractional parts of a share might jointly depute a person to represent them in the 126 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. government of the Company; whereupon, every person so deputed becomes capable of being elected one of the twenty-nine representatives who are intrusted with the direction of the Company's affairs. The moiety of this under- taking, which was vested in the Crown, and which was formally ratified by the Company on the 28th of October, 1619, was, by King Charles the First, re-granted by deed dated the i8th of November anno ii. Car. to Sir Hugh Midleton (who had been created a Baronet on the 22nd of October, 1622, by the name of Hugh Midleton, of Ruthyn, in the county of Denbigh, Esq.) his heirs and assigns, upon condition of their paying, for ever, to the King's Receiver-General, or into the receipt of the Exchequer, the yearly rent of ^500, for the use of his Majesty, who, on his part, covenanted that he would not grant or assign the same, but that it should for ever continue united and annexed to the Crown. However, the holders of the shares which form this moiety re-granted by the Crown have no voice in the management of the concern, as having been the property of the King, who was ex- cluded from taking part in the management thereof. The whole of the King's moiety being thus restored to the possession of Sir Hugh Midleton, in order to assure and facili- tate the payment of the ^500 with which it was burthened, he subjected a share and a half of the adventurers' moiety, which must THE NEW RIVER. 127 have remained in his own possession, and twenty-nine shares and an eighth part of a share of the King's moiety, to the payment of the same, for ever, in small remit charges. We do not, however, seem to have any record left of the then flourishing state of the Com- pany ; for no profit appears to have accrued to the proprietors till after the death of their illustrious founder, viz., in 1633, when a dividend was made of 11 igs. id. per share: the next year they received only ^"3 43. 2d., when a call was apprehended ; however, in the year 1635, the dividend rose to ^"14 143. 3^d., since which period, the following divi- dends have been paid : s. d. In the year 1640 ... 33 2 8 1680 ... 145 i 8 1700 ... 211 16 7^ 1720 ... 214 15 8 1794 ... 431 5 8 1795 ... 231 18 o [An adventurers' share in the New River Company was considered in the year 1811 to be worth ^11,500. The present value is reported to be worth ^122,800. W. J. H.] When the river was first formed, it is probable that no idea was entertained that there was any danger of the failing of its two springs. This, however, proved, at least in part, to be the case, and led the Company to 128 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. borrow, as they had occasion, of the overplus water of the Mill Stream of the River Lea, near Ware Mills, to be measured by a balance engine and guage ; in consequence of which, they first purchased those mills and certain other premises in the parishes of Ware and Great Amwell, formerly parcel of the estate of Thomas Byde, of Ware Park, but after- wards the property of his great grandson, Sir Thomas Plumer Byde, which purchase was confirmed to them from the aoth of June, 1738, for ever, by a private Act of Parliament, passed anno n Geo. III. c. 14, which binds them to the payment of a perpetual yearly rent charge of ^400, free from all deductions except the land tax, and declares that the mills and lands so purchased shall in future be deemed and taken to be part and parcel of the Manor of Ware, and to be held as of the said Manor by the rent of a pepper- corn. The abstraction of the water of the River Lea produced continual disputes, and in order to put an end to them an Act was passed anno 12 Geo. II. c. 32, entitled, "An Act for ascertaining, preserving, and improving the navigation of the River Lea, from the town of Hertford to the town of Ware, in the county of Hertford, and for preserving and improving the said river from the said town of Ware to the New Cut or River made by the Mayor, Commonalty, and Citizens of London ; and THE NEW RIVER. I2Q for enabling the Governor and Company of the New River the better to supply the Cities of London and Westminster, and Liberties and Suburbs thereof with good and wholesome water." This Act recites that, "Whereas the Com- pany have for many years received into the New River, made," says the Act, " by the Mayor, Commonalty, and Citizens of London, in pursuance of an Act passed anno 13 Eliz., entitled, ' An Act for the bringing of the River of Lea to the north side of the City of London,' a considerable quantity of water issuing out of the River Lea, at or near the mouth or opening of a certain place known by the name of Manifold Ditch, between the towns of Hertford and Ware, the property of which watercourse or ditch, and the water running through it to the New River, is, by this Act, vested in the Company for ever : and whereas several disputes have arisen between the Corporation of Hertford, the inhabitants of Ware, and the Company, touching the said water and the course of the navigation ; for preventing the like for the future, and for improving the navigation of the river, the said Corporation, Inhabitants, and Company have agreed that the navigation between Hertford and Ware Bridge may be fixed in the present channel, and the quantity of water to be taken from the River Lea ascertained." The Act therefore proceeds to enact "that it shall be 130 GREAT AMWELL, PAST AND PRESENT. lawful for the Company, at all times, to take from the River Lea into the New River a quantity of water, at the said mouth of Manifold Ditch, through a timber guage, or trough, there then lately placed, being of the clear dimensions within the same, of six feet in width, two in depth, and fourteen in length." Then follows a clause, prohibiting in the fullest manner, the doing of any kind of damage to the river, or any of its water- courses, pipes, cisterns, guages, banks, bridges, &c., &c., and confirming totidem verbis, the clause in the Charter which prohibits the casting of anything into the river, or washing of anything therein. Another clause em- powers the Company, by the name of " The Governor and Company of the New River, brought from Chadwell and Amwellto London," to sue and be sued in all Courts of Record. And another clause, fixes the remuneration to be made by the Company to the Trustees of the River Lea ; namely, that the Company shall pay to the said Trustees, at the Company's office in London, on 2gth September, 1739, the sums of ^2,500 and ^750, and an annuity of 350 for ever, from that day, to be applied to the payment of debts already incurred by the inhabitants of Ware and Hertford, in improving the River Lea, and to the further preservation and improvement of the naviga- tion thereof. THE NEW RIVER. This Act, as has justly been observed, "is the great corner-stone of the New River Company, and preservative of their rights, as well, indeed, as of those of the Trustees of the River Lea." CHAPTER IX. BENEFACTIONS. V MNILLIAM Purvey, of the Parish of VV Wormley, by his will, dated the i5th of May, anno n Jac. I., and proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury the 28th of October, 1617, gave to the poor of this Parish the yearly sum of 135. 4d., to be paid on the Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle, which he charged on his estates in the several parishes of Amwell, Broxbourn, and Cheshunt. Thomas Johnson, of this parish, in the year 1628, gave seven penny loaves to seven of the poorest inhabitants of this parish, to be furnished out of the rents of two cottages in Hoddesdon, which is partly situated in this parish. Silvius Elwes, esq., impropriator of the vicarage of this parish, gave, in the year 1638, to the poor of this parish 403. to be disposed of yearly by the Vicar and Church- wardens, which he charged upon a piece of land in Highfield, between Aniwell and Hertford. Mrs. Elizabeth Sprainger, daughter of John Sprainger, M.D., sometime owner of the hamlet BENEFACTIONS. 133 of Hailey, in this parish, gave 503. yearly to the poor of this parish, which is secured by a rent charge on Hailey Hall. The rents and profits of a piece of land called Hailey Orchard, which formerly let for 5 per annum, but is now sold and the proceeds invested in Consols, was applied to the relief of the poor of this parish ; but its donor is un- known. [Colonel Coker- Adams tells me that a Symon Adams, an ancestor of his, who died in 1644, in Northamptonshire, at the residence of his son, the Rev. Simon Adams, Rector of Aston-le- Walls, and also the above-mentioned Simon Adams, junior, both left by will sums of money to the " poor of Amwell." There is not, however, any record with us of this bene- faction, unless possibly the proceeds were expended in the purchase of Hailey Orchard. This is merely a suggestion of my own. W. J. H.] The revenues arising from these Charities are distributed by Trustees, nine in number. Since the passing of the Local Government Act of 1894, the Charity Commissioners have decided that these Charities are Parochial and non-ecclesiastical. The Churchwardens ac- cordingly cease to be ex-offlcio Trustees, and two members of the Parish Council are elected to fill these vacancies. In other respects the Charities remain the same. The total income is about CHAPTER X. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. V A