UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES / / / 9^ • / /// /^ / .1/^ /ro/n an ancient can/ed fwarf /nr.s'errer/ at frrocers'I/al/. Some Account of the Mlorj^lnpful (Tompaui) of (liroccnv OF THE Bv JoHJV Bejsjamijy Heath Esq R ''^ ///'/'fx/'^fM /u<- <• /^//,j //f /(/m/^^- rjui' xH'^u- /yr/'/i//^ . /(//y/^j^y/ /// / //u 'yr r^ /uzl/^//y^c^ / a,m/f?My CM //u /uy Zo:viio:\-. /&2.9. TO THE MASTER, WARDENS, Nd AXn THE jHemftere of tTje OToutt of a00i0tattt0, Gextlemex, Ix presenting to you the following pages, I ought, perhaps, to express some diffidence it the reception they are likely to meet with, and to make a multitude of apologies for the inefficient i mode in which I have executed my undertaking. C All this I would willingly do were I an author by - profession, or even by pretension ; but, as I am neither the one or the other, I shall content myself with saying that I have endeavoured to do my best. 1 am conscious that my work abounds with faults, both of omission and commission ; but, when I assure you that it has been executed at those intervals which my avocations left mc, and that, a -1'884M DEDICATION. from the nature of the subject, it was impossible for me to derive assistance from any one, you will, I am sure, peruse its contents with that feeling of indulgence which I claim at your hands. I felt the strongest interest on the subject, and it was natural I should do so, considering that it treats of the origin and progress of the most ancient of the twelve Companies of London, a Company now composed of individuals in whose society I have passed some of the most pleasing hours of my life, and from whom I have received so many proofs of kindness and of friendship. With every feeling of gratitude and attachment I now present to you the result of my researches into the history and transactions of your prede- cessors ; and I subscribe myself, Gentlemen, Your obliged friend and servant, J. B. HEATH. London, January, 1830. P R E F A C E. The Grocers' Company is the most ancient of the twelve great Companies of London ; and as it was, un- doubtedly, the first commercial Corporation ever known in England, and one from which sprung, in aftertimes, some of our greatest mercantile establishments, it has frequently been a source of surprise and of regret, that there should exist no account of the origin and proceedings of this venerable body. In the year 1689, Mr. RavenJiill, their Clerk, at the period when the destruction of their property by the fire of London had placed them in a situation of difficulty, published, what he termed " The Company's " Case," to which he annexed " A short Account of the " Grocers." The object of " The Case" was, to demon- strate to the world, that the Company had acted towards their creditors in the most honourable manner, and that their inability to meet their engagements at that period, arose from circumstances over which they had no control, and principally from the want of faith on the part of those who had borrowed, or rather extorted from them, their IV PREFACE. funds. 3Ir. llavanldll's Account of the Company consists of a dozen pages, very superficially written, and composed entirely of materials gathered from Stowe, and from other authors who had obtained their scanty information from tradition, without any reference to the early records of the Company, of the existence of which 3fr. Ravenhill appears to have been ignorant. Mr. Bridgman, the Clerk in 1792, was the first person who ascertained that the records and journals of the Company were in a complete state ; and he was charged by the Court of Assistants to collect and arrange them in chronological order. He compiled, at the same time, a manuscript book, containing extracts from the earlier ordinances and regulations by which the Com- pany were governed, a few lists of the names of the original members, and some portions of the City charters, but he made no attempt at a history of the Company. I ought to state, that the service he rendered in making the above compilation, is in great measure neutralized by the irreparable injury he has inflicted on the first volume of the records, (written partly in Norman French and partly in old English), by transcribing on its margins his own modern version of the text. Since T was first enrolled as a Liveryman of this ancient Society, I have constantly lamented the want of a history, which could make the members acquainted with their origin, as well as with the principal events in which the Grocers' Company have been engaged since their forma- tion into a corporate body, and render them familiar with the lives and actions of those distinguished and illustrious personages whose names are inscribed on the records. PRKFACK. During the year I had the honour of presiding as Master of the Company, it became a part of my duty to inspect the journals with the view of confirming the correctness of the Hst of those Lord Mayors of London who had been members of the Company, and whose coats of arms were destined to adorn the Court-room at Grocers' Hall. In the course of my researches, I discovered materials which, if carefully digested and arranged, would furnish all the information required, and I perceived a series of names calculated to shed the brightest lustre on the City of London. Urged on by this discovery, I formed a plan for devoting my leisure hours to the arrangement of a History of the Company which I proposed to divide into three parts; first, an Account of the Hall itself, and of the prin- cipal events of which it has been the scene ; secondly, a brief History of the Company ; and lastly. Biographical Sketches of its most Eminent and Distinguished Members. The latter portion of the work encreased upon me so much as I advanced, that it became necessary to select the most distinguished names for the prosecution of my purpose, and simply to register the others ; for, had I done justice to all the individuals whose names grace the Grocers' list of Lord Mayors, I could have collected materials for another volume. As I proceeded, I found that the various specimens of early Wardens' accounts, of the details respecting the Irish Estate, &c. if incorporated in the narrative would impede the regularity of its course, and, therefore, I preferred adding a fourth part (o the work, in the shape of an Appendix, in which they all appear in chronolpgical order. vi PREFACE. In the composition of this work I do not presume to lay claim to much original matter ; the records have fur- nished me with the substance of my Account of the Com- pany, aiad I had only in addition to search for collateral information to illustrate certain points which, otherwise, would have been obscure. The Histories of England, of London, and the old Chronicles furnished me with all I sought ; and, for the Biography, I had recourse to County Histories, to the Journals of both Houses of Parliament, to records in the public offices, and to old tracts. I now lay the work before my brethren of the Company, and should it have the good fortune to receive their appro- bation, I shall esteem the time I devoted to its composi- tion as having been well employed, and hold myself amply rewarded for the labour I have bestowed upon it. CONTENTS. Page Dedication i Preface iii The Hall 1 The Worshipful Company of Grocers 42 Illustrious and Eminent Members 166 Anno. 1231 Andrew Bokerel 167 1245 Sir John de Gisors 169 1267 Sir Alan de la Zouche 172 1319 Hammond C Inkwell 174 1339 Andrew Aubery 176 1377 Sir Nicholas Brember 178 1378 Sir John Philpot 182 1385 John Churchman 184 1399 Sir Thomas Knolles 186 1411 Sir Robert Chicheley 187 1686 Sir Thomas Chicheley 190 1418 Sir William Sevenoke 191 1431 Sir John de Welles 197 1452 Sir Stephen Browne 198 1456 Sir Thomas Cannyng 199 1470 Sir John Crosbie 203 1487 Sir John Peche 208 1510 Sir Henry Keble 210 1544 Sir William Laxton 211 1562 Laurence Shireff 213 1563 Sir Thomas Lodge 217 1573 Sir John Rivers 220 1598 Sir Stephen Soame 221 1608 Sir Humphrey Weld 223 1622 Sir Peter Proby 226 1627 Thomas, Lord Coventry 227 1660 His Majesty Charles II 230 1660 George Monk. Duke of Albemarle 230 1660 Sir Thomas AUeyn 234 Vl'l CONTENTS. Anna. Vapt IGGl Sir GeoHry Palmer, Kniy,ht and Baronet 236 1065 Heneage Findi, Earl of Nottini^ham 238 1682 George, Earl of Berkeley 243 1682 Sir John iNIoore 244 1684 John Sheffield, Duke of Buckinghamshire 248 1688 Erasmus Dryden 250 1688 Sir John Cutler, Knight and Baronet 250 1689 His Majesty William III 258 1691 Charles, Earl of Dorset and Middlesex 260 1740 The Honourable Thomas Coventry 263 1757 William Pitt, Earl of Chatham , 263 1757 The Right Honourable Henry Bilson Legge 266 1761 His Royal Highness Edward Augustus, Duke of York.. 268 1761 The Right Honourable Arthur Onslow 269 1761 Sir John Phillips, of Picton Castle, Baronet 270 1761 George Cooke, Esq. M.P 271 1765 His Serene Highness The Hereditary Prince of Bruns- wick-Lunenburg 272 1764 Charles Pratt^ Earl Camden 274 1765 His Royal Highness William Henry, Duke of Gloucester 275 1784 The Right Honourable William Pitt 276 1792 Charles, Marquess Cornwallis, K.G 279 1792 Major-General Sir William Medows, K.B 282 1814 Robert Banks Jenkinson, Earl of Liverpool 283 1814 Charles William Vane, Marquess of Londonderry 288 1816 The Honourable William Knox, D.D. Lord Bishop of Derry 289 1824 The Right Honourable George Canning 289 1824 Frederic John Robinson, Viscoxxnt Goderich 298 1824 The Right Honourable Robert Peel 299 1829 Charles, Baron Tenterden 299 1829 The Right Honourable Sir George Murray, K.B 299 Appendix 301 THE WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF GROCERS THE HALL. " If any think those Halls were built merely for feasting and enter- " tainment (or at the most but for pompe) they are much deceived. '' Certainly they were both intended and improved to higher and better " uses." — Rolle's Burning of London, 1667, part iii, p. 55. Before I proceed to the history of this most ancient and honourable Company, it will not, I imagine, be deemed superfluous that I should make a few observations respect- ing the locality now occupied by the Grocers' Hall, and detail, briefly, the principal events of which it has been the scene. The earlier part of the subject is necessarily in- volved in some obscurity ; but I have reason to believe, considering the sources from which I have derived my information, that the following narrative may be relied upon. The first trace discoverable in the early records is that of The Site. a synagogue, which, before the expulsion of the Jews from England, in 1291, occupied a portion of the site of the present Hall, and which, after that event, was obtained and converted into a chapel by a religious society, called B COMPANY OF GROCERS. * Fralres de Saccd, or de penitentid Jesu CJiristi, or, in the familiar phraseology of the time, tJie Brethren of the Sack. These friars, so named from wearing sackcloth, subsisted, like the Capuchins of the order of St. Francis, extant to this day in Italy and in Spain, entirely by begging. They first came to London A.D. 1257, and settled without Aldersgate ; but King Henry III. in the 56th year of his reign, gave them the Jews' Synagogue on the south side of Lothbury, where they continued until their order was dissolved by the council of Lyons, A.D. 1307. It was there decreed " that the mendicants should not receive into *' their order any others save the Preachers, Minors, and " Carmelites ; but that they had license to enter into reli- " gions or societies of larger rule." From this time forth all mendicant friars began to decrease, and, except the preaching friars, were in a short time brought to nothing. The brethren above mentioned purchased the capital mansion of John Le Rus, opposite the chapel of St, Ed- mund ; but " because that messuage was of the fee of the ** Canons of Barnwell, prior John of Barnwell hindered " their being put into possession ; on which John Le Rus, " with the Brethren of the Sack, came to the said prior " and, on his request, obtained permission of the said John *' for them to have it." In the reign of Henry III. the Lord Fitzwalter, f here- ditary chastellain banneret, or standard-bearer of London, then residing at Baynard's Castle, prayed the king that the Brethren of the Sack might assign the said chapel to him ; or, in plainer terms, that they might be expelled from it. The family mansion of the Lord Fitzwalter, ;{; it appears, * " Eodem tempore novus ordo apparuit Londini de quibusdam fra- " tribus ignotis et non piffivisis, quia saccis incedebant induti, Fratres " Sacci vocabantur." — Matthew Paris, 1257. t Stowe, edit. 1633, p. 288. Newcourt, p. 516. Tanner, p. 316. X Fitzwalter's house, in Coneyhope-lane, seems to have been the same as is mentioned under the name of the stone house, in the Jewry, which in the reign of King John belonged to Heredei, the Jew, and was first granted by that monarch to William Earl of Surrey, tlie title of which grant is in the Calendar of the Charter-rolls in the Tower. THE HALL. 3 joined this building, the possession of which was considered as convenient to him, and therefore, as the chronicles state, *' the request was granted ; but on the condition that he " should maintain two chaplains for the daily performance ** of divine service."* In the year 1411, during the reign of Henry V. a de- scendant of the said lord sold the chapel to the Grocers' Company for the sum of 320 marks, and, in the subse- quent reign, the family mansion also became the property of the Company, who, having borrowed great sums of money for the purpose, built their hall upon its site. Pennant and other writers affirm that this house, after being used as the residence of sundry chief magistrates of London, who kept their mayoralties there, degenerated into an inn, f known in the time of Ben Jonson as the Windmill Inn, in the Old Jewry, and celebrated by him | as the favourite resort of the roisters and " master-spirits" of those days. " Revellers, whose lawless joy " Pains the sage ear and hurts the sober eye." |I The precise identity of the spot is difficult to establish, but it is certain that the ground occupied by the Windmill became, and is still, the property of the Grocers' Company. The fact itself is of little importance, and any further in- quiry respecting it would be attended with no satisfactory result. Every trace of the Whidmill has long since disap- peared, its orgies are remembered only in the pages of the dramatist, and the voice of riot and debauchery, which * In the original the grant is worded as follows : — " Quod possint " dare capellam suam in Coleman Strete, quae dudum fuit synagoga " Judffiorum, Roberto filio Walteri, ita quod inveniat duos capellanos '' divina singulis diebus celebraturos." — Paf. 33. edit. 1, p. 1. m.l6. vol. xvii. t " This place, first a synagogue, then a friery, then a nobleman's house, then a merchant's house wherein mayoralties were kept, and at last a tavern." — Archaologia, vol. iii. p. 125. X See the comedy of " Every Man in his Humour." II Pope's Odyssey. B 2 COMPANY OF GROCERS. once filled its chambers, is silent, and has given place to the more sober festivity which the hospitality of the Com- pany occasionally calls forth at the Hall. The Hall. The first founding and building of Grocers' Hall took place in the year 1427, and, as the details are preserved in the Company's records, 1 insert them verbatim. " John de Wellys, Alderman and governour, John Mel- " bourne . John Olyve . Maistres. " Remembrance — that in here (their) tyme, that is to wite the viij dai of Mai in the yeere of our Lord M.cccc.xxviJ — was the furste stoon leyd of the Gro- ceres Place in Conyhoope-lane* in the Warde of Chepe, ther being present our worshipefull Aldermen Thomas Knolles, William Cambrigge, John de Wellys, Rogere Otely and maney othir, and fro the seide viij dai of May unto the day of here accounte (that is to witen the v day of Juyn next followyng) was maade the foundement of the West gabylende of the Halle, with the ground, which coste as it foUoweth ; The wich be here ac- counte to. For iwritten Sm.*° Alsoe payd in the same yeere for the " purchase of y^ place £ " Sm.^ ... 290 15 3." £ 77 8 7 214 6 8 Then follows a list of sixty-three names of persons, with the amounts contributed by them towards the building ; among them is " William Sevenoke £6 13 " & of diverse persones iknWyd Bacheler is > ** to the glazyng of the parlore ... 5 9 13 4" * " Grocers' Alley was of old tyme called ' Coney-hope lane,' of the " sign of three coneys which hung over a poulterer's stall at the lane's " end; within this lane standeth the Grocers' Hall." — Stoive's Survaie of London. THE HALL. In 1428 is another entry in the books to declare the completion of the Hall ; it is thus worded : — *' In the name of Jhu. Wili.^m Cambrigge Alderman " and Governour. Will.^ra Wetenhale and John Godyn — " Maistres. " Remembrance that in here tyme, that is to wite, ** fro the v^^ day of Juin in the yeer of our Loord Jhu *' M.cccc.xx.vij untothe vjdaiof Juillij M.cccc.xx.viu " was alle the foundement of the Halle fully imade, except " the foundement of the west gabill ende as it apperith in " John Chyle and Melbourne' tyme. Alsoe in the seide " Will.^raWetenhalle and John Godyn tyme, alle the dores " in the halle fully maad, set up and iclosid. Itm. the " walle atte seid west gabilende was maad X fote in '• heyghte above the watir table ; alsoe the walle atte est " gabill ende was maad ix fote and a half above the seide " water table in heyghte. Alsoe the walle on the north " syde atte parlore ende xxvij fote in lengthe, was " maad to the fulle length that is to wite xxiiij fote " above the seide watir-table, with the dore into the " parlore and U wyndowes into the chapele and alle " the remenant of the seide walle was maade x fote in " heighte above the seide watir-table. Alsoe the cres- " table on the seide north syde of the halle was maad and " laydon." •' Alsoe the walle on the south syde joynyng to the " south dore was maad XX J fote in length and v fote in " heighte above the seide watir-table and so from them ys " xlviiij fote in length unto the west gabill ende is the " seide walle maade unto the watir-table and the said " watir-table ilaid on. Alsoe the foundement of the boterye " and pantrye was take and maad ; alsoe in the seyde yeer " was beginne and full maade the foundement of the par- " lore and chambre with the *vawte, chemeneys & previes " and the seide parlore and the tresance lattizid, glazid " and selyd with othir necessariis as it aperith, wich costc * Vault. COMPANY OF GROCERS. " in here tymes, as it aperith pleynely be here aconte, as " followyth— " Sm.»° £508.10" The following are a few of the items paid by the fellow- ship of Grocers towards the building ; they are curious, inas- much as they show the great difference between the prices of that period and those of our own times : — " For chalke and stoon and cartage ... £18 11 5 " For lyme 22 4 8^ '* sande and loom 10 6 6 " Mason's weages with maistre mason's " rewarde 5 9 2 *' Tymber with the coste and cariage .. 48 5 G *' Carpenter's weages with the maistre ** carpenter's reward 59 8 4| " Makyng of the celour, the batements " & kervying of the keyys in the " parlore and tresance withouten *' and in the baye wyndowe of the " chambre with werie boards and *• lattices in the seyde parlore and "chambre 10 8 8 " To dawbers 2 18 3 " For expences and costis maad on oure ** gardyne 10 " Payde for the new vynes that is sette " by fore the parlore wyndours.. ., 13 4 " Unwroughte Stapylton stoone ; reidy " hewe for the saame for wyndowes, ** wyndow jarabes and sills. Cres- " table raesth.* in stoon hewn for ** the sowth syde of the halle, ashler, " coyne, skew ragge, chalke, fluit- " tyles and estriche boarde 32 2 11 " For costages of the gardyne 4«. 8d. " and by the hand of John Godyn THE HALL, " for makyng of the Erher,* caiv- " yng newe ray ling off" alle the " vynes and gardyne £ 8 8 7" The finishing of the Hall appears to have been cele- brated by a dinner ; for, under date of the 5th February, 1428, is found the following entry, " For the fyrste dynner imade in the " parlore to oure Aldermen and othir *• many worthie men of the felli- ** shipp" £5 6 8 Five years afterwards, in 1433, the Company increased their property about the Hall, as, it seems, they paid for " the purchasyng the remaynder of the voide grounde, ** sumtyme the Lord Fitzwalter's Halle, c£31 . 17 . 8," and The with it enlarged their garden. I find, on examination of the accounts of expenditure, that they took great pleasure in their garden, on the cultivation and adornment of which they spent considerable sums : the item of *' costys at our *' gardyns" is of yearly occurrence ; and, no doubt, it was kept in a perfect state, for, to the beginning of the seven- teenth century, it was resorted to by the inhabitants of the neighbourhood, and, indeed, by the citizens at large, as a place of recreation. -f- It is described as containing alleys, hedge-rows, and a bowling-alley, with an ancient tower, of stone and brick at the north-west corner, which, probably, was part of the mansion of the Fitzwalters, and, in that case, was the oldest building within the walls of the city. J There must have been some pecuniary advantages derivable from the custody of the garden ; for, in the month of April, 1574, ** Thomas Hervey, our clerk," say the Ordinances, ** was humble suitor to have the keepinge of the garden ; * Arbour. t Malcolm's History of Loudon. I Northouck's History of London. Garden. COMPANY OF GROCERS. " whose suit being considered of, hoping that he will keep " it in better order than of late it hath been, finding all " plants, seeds, powles, and other things thereto belong- *• ing, it is agreed that he shall have the accustomed " stipend for keepinge of the same, which is £3. 6. 8, " upon condycyon that he shall not suffer any common ** bowling there, but only for brothers of the Companie " and foure or five ancient neyghbors dwellyng in the " Powlterie." The clerk, however, does not appear to have attended much to this caution ; for, in 1584, his negligence called forth the following remonstrance ; " The Court being " informed that the clerk of the Companie did suffer to " play at cards and tables in the tower, and alsoe in his " owne house, which was not thought good or convenient " to be any longer suffered or permitted, he was charged " thenceforth not to suffer such like playing, unlesse upon " the stone in the garden, but in no secret place, & that " no man should bowl in the garden unlesse of the Com- " panie or some of the honest & ancient neighbours " dwelling near about, and no common bowling to be per- " mitted in any wise." My conjecture of some pecuniary advantage accruing from the garden to the officers of the Company is founded on the following passage, inserted in the books in July, 1601 ; " The keepinge of the garden being most freely " and lovingly granted to Richard Gough, clerk of this " Companie, with all fees, herhes, and profits thereunto *' helongynge, reservinge onlie to Richard Tomkins, the " beadle, the keepinge of the bowling alley with the bene- " fit thereof during pleasure, on the condition that he suffer " no other companie to repair theretoe but brothers of the " Companie and neighbours of honest reputation within " the parish, whereby the garden may not be damnified " nor any disorder had, and after his death to return to the " clerk as heretofore." The garden remained unchanged until 1798, when the present Hall was commenced ; its dimensions were then THE HALL. contracted by the increased size of the buildings, and a still further alteration took place in 1802, when the Bank of England was extended to its present boundaries to the east of Prince's Street. The new carriage-entrance opened in this street in 1827, during the Mastership of Frederick Benjamin King, Esq. has procured for the Company a facility of ingress and egress, the want of which had been felt for many years. Among other appendages attached to the Hall was an The Ar- armoury, regularly supplied with weapons offensive and "^^'^'y* defensive, and which seems to have been resorted to by the city authorities in all cases of actual or apprehended tumult. The period of its first establishment does not appear in the books ; for, although the earliest notice of it is in 1558, it is clearly demonstrated that it had existed some time before. Under date of the 24th August of that year, is an entry, shewing that " John Edwyn, armourer, had a " grante of ISs. 4c?. yeerly from the Companie for kepinge '* of the harnesse and other thinges in the armorye made " unto him the 2G dale of April 1555, and having since " well and honestlie kept the said armorye in good order " and readynesse whenever it might be required, it was " agreede, on accounte of the arraes in the said armorye " being more than it was when said wages were graunted, " that the said Edwyn should have 12c?. a dale for every " dale's worke he should doe in byrnyrshing and dressyng " of alle the harnesse then remaining in the house, over " and above the 13s. 4c?." Besides the arms and hwnesse, the Company was at times called upon to furnish ammuni- tion and even men, both for military and naval service, as appears by the following extracts: — " In July 1557, the " Wardens were to provide 60 good, sadd and hable " men to be souldgears, whereof 2 to be horsemen, well " horsed and armyd, 20 of them to be harquebusiers or " archers, 20 to bear pykes, and 18 to be billmen, all " well harnyshed and weponed, mete and convenient, " accordynge to the appoyutment of our Soveraine Lorde 10 COMPANY OF GROCERS. " and Ladye the King's and Queene's Majestic ; as well ** for the securitie of the Queene's highness' most royal •* person, as for the suretie and safeguarde of their high- *' nesse's chambre and citie of London and the resistaunce " of such malitious attempts as may happen to be made *' against the same by anny foraigne enemie." In 1562, a precept from the Lord Mayor directs " XXXV good, apte and talle personnes to be souldgears, ** XXIV of whom to be armed with corselettes and wea- ** poned with pykes or bills." Another, in 1569, orders 60 men " of honeste behavioure" to be provided to serve the Queen, ** each to be well and sufficiently furnyshed " with a jerkyn and a paire of galley slopps of erode ** clothe, calyver matches withflaskes, a morion, a sworde ** and a dagger, and every of them to be paid 8d. for " presse money to marche against the rebels in the northe." Deposit of Shortly after, it was thought necessary that a store of gunpow- gunpowder should be kept by the different Companies in London, to be in readiness in case of need ; and, accor- dingly, on the 7th of June, 1574, the Lord Mayor, in pursuance of an order received from the Queen's Council, signified, " that certaine provysion of gunpowder should ** be made, to remain within the citie, as well for the " better defence thereof in times of peryl and daunger, " as well as for present service of the same, if need re- ** quired ; that this and the other Companies should, after " the rateable and proportionable allotment, provide their " shares thereof; the same to be kept in their owne hawls " or other convenient places, viz^ 14 fyrkins of the gun- " powder called corne powder, every fyrkin to containe " 60 pounds nett, at the least, and soe much more as ** should be thought goode by them." The only contribution made to Queen Elizabeth's navy appears under date of June 1578 ; and, I am afraid, a little violence and compulsion were resorted to on the occasion, for I find the order *' to provide 15 men for her " Majcstie's shippes," followed by the entry of a payment THE HALL. 11 " to the city chamber of £8 . 19 . 4 for 15 blew cotes made " for the 15 men which were pressed by this Comj}anie, ** to serve in the Queen's Majestie's shippes." Entries relating to the keeping up the armoury, the loan of arms to the city, and the stock of gunpowder, are continued in the records from time to time till the great fire of London in 1666, when all mention respecting them ceases. So much importance was attached to the powder being kept in good order that it was occasionally sold, and replaced by fresh. In July 1609, part of the stock of gunpowder was disposed of, to prevent spoiling, at the price of £3 per cwt. and the Company credited for the produce, which was £20 .5.6. In January 1650, the removal of the powder from the turret was resolved upon by the Court, in consequence " of the lamentable accident " which latelie happened;" and it was placed in some more remote part of the building. The accident alluded to was the explosion of 27 barrels of powder at a ship- chandler's in Tower-street, which blew up 60 houses, with ' their inhabitants, and caused an enormous destruction of property, as well as of human life.* The favourable situation of Grocers' Hall, being in the The Hall very centre of the city, rendered it a most eligible place tLair&^cV for holding meetings and assemblies, and the Company availed themselves of the advantage. It was frequently let for festivals, as I find an entry in 1564 setting forth that " Mr. Mallorie, sonne to the Lord Mayor, and others, *' praied the Wardens to have the use of the common " hall, parlore, and kitchyn of Grocers' Hall, on Fryday " 9 februarye, to make a supper to divers gentlemen of " Gray's Inne, for the great amitie betweene them and '* the Middle Temple gents," which was agreed to ; the same not to be taken as a precedent hereafter. In the course of time, some abuses appear to have arisen in this system of letting, for, in 1649, it was ordered ** tliat, • Maitland's History of London, vol. i. p. 420. 12 COMPANY OF GROCERS. " for the future, the Company's Hall shall not be lent or " made use of by strangers for burials, country feasts, and ** the like, without leave of the Wardens;" and, in 1678, the Company's officers made a formal complaint that, though they had the care and responsibiUty of the Hall and its appurtenances when it was let to strangers for dinners, funerals, country feasts, or weddings, they were oftentimes excluded ; whereupon it was ordered that, " in " future, the Hall is never to be let for such purposes, " unless the officers are retained and employed." The amount of consideration required by the Company on these occasions does not appear ; but I should imagine it to have been very moderate, because the whole interior of the Hall was, for many years, in a rude state. The Hall The apartments in the Hall were not wainscoted until improve . ^j^^ year 1591, and the undertaking was deemed so im- portant, that, after mature deliberation, the Wardens were ordered " to confer with a joynere of abilitie and a skilfull ** workeman how the same may be conveniently wainscoted " upon the view and sight of good and convenient " patterns ;" this was afterwards done under the direction of one Stickells, who was " to oversee the worke at " the weages of 20c?. a dale, his two chiefe workmen 18c?. " and the rest 16c?. a daie, and two boys 8c?. a daie." The great parlour was not boarded until 1631, up to which time, it had been strewed with rushes, according to the Fittings & old English fashion. On the 2d September in that year, the Court, " takyng into consideracyon the inconveniencie " and noysomeness of the rushes in the parlore, espe- " ciallye in the sumer time, and alsoe how subject they " were to the greate daunger of fyre in the wyntere," ordered that the Wardens should send for workmen, and take care that the same parlour should be well and suffi- ciently boarded " with all convenyent speede ;" and that three dozen of chairs, " beinge of the best Raushe leathere," for the furnishing the said room, should be provided. I should add, in futher illustration of my idea respecting the THE HALL. 13 ill state of the Hall, and its want of every kind of ac- commodation, that a formal resolution was passed in 1575, in consequence of the Court " beinge put in remembraunce " by the Wardens of the lacke of napery that is in this " house," to enable the said Wardens to incur the serious expense of providing " one table clothe of damaske and *• two table clothes of diapere, togethere with napekins, " as they shall thinke needefuU." There was, besides, to be provided " a new herseclothe of velvet, fayre and em- " broydered with the Companie's armes and other gode " thynges." To what object of utility or ornament this hersecloth was applied, I can form no idea, unless it was used at the funerals of members. It is consolatory, however, to know that the great oflficers of state, at the early period I allude to, were as scantily provided, in their domestic arrangements, as the Grocers' Company ; this is shewn to demonstration by a note in the books, dated January 1583, which sets forth, that " the two long tables in the parlour, with the tressels " and table-cloth belonging to them, were lent to the " Chancellor,* at his request, for the celebration of the '* marriage of his daughter." It is evident the Court of Chancery, in Queen Elizabeth's time, was not so fruitful a source of revenue as it is at present. Let the reader imagine my Lord Lyndhurst borrowing an oak table and table-cloth for the marriage of his daughter! Horresco referens ! The first member of the Company who gave the example Sir Steph. of liberality towards the embellishment of Grocers' Hall was Sir Stephen Soame : he had been Master of the Company, and had served the oflSce of Lord Mayor in 1598. In October 1617, it was recorded that " the ofFere '* of Sir Stephen Soame to new ciel the Hall, though it ** should cost him £500, is thankefullie and lovynglie " accepted by the Courte and Companie;" and £20 was ordered to be contributed towards it by the Wardens. * Sir Thomas Bromley. 14 COMPANY OF GROCERS. The work was completed, and Sir Stephen, having mag- nanimously refused the Company's £20, received a strong vote of thanks for his generosity : the details of this transaction will be found in the biographical sketch of this worthy citizen. Committee In 1641, when the forced adjournment of the House of ^^y- Commons took place, in consequence of the unguarded attack upon its privileges by Charles I., a grand Com- mittee of Safety was appointed to watch over the in- terests of the nation ; or, in plainer terms, to conduct the inflammatory business of the times.* This body, which was commissioned to hold its sittings in the Guildhall, not finding that a convenient place, by reason of the multipli- city of the city affairs, adjourned to Grocers' Hall, where they, " pretending fears," says Lord Clarendon, " for the '* safety of the friends of liberty ; and feeling, in reality, a " dread of the moderate men who had been pointed out to " the mob, as the enemies of their country, appointed a " sub-committee to draw up certain heads for their safe ** return to Westminster on the Tuesday following; and " who resolved that the Sheriffs of London and Middlesex " should raise the posse comitatus, to guard the King and " Parliament for that day." This Committee, although it occasionally held its meetings at the halls of other companies, continued to sit at Grocers' Hall, at intervals, for several years after. In the " Perfect Diurnal" a newspaper published at the time, I find a notice, dated the 8th April 1644, which states that " both " Houses adjourned till Saturday, and appointed to- " morrow to sit in Grand Committee at Grocers' Hall, " London, to hasten businesse for the advance of the " armies;" and, on the day following, that " the Com- " mittee of both kingdoms, and the several Committees " appointed to sit at Grocers' Hall, and to meet about " the militia, made a report to the House in what for- " wardnesse the forces were that are appointed to be at * Maitlaud's Histoid of London, and the other historians. THE HALL, 15 " the rendezvous : that the Earle of Manchester hath '* signified he will not faile to be at the rendezvous in " person, with horse and foot, and that his horse are on " their march accordingly towards Bedford." In 1648, that year so disgraceful to the English Annals, during which Charles I. was beheaded, General Fair- fax, Commander of the Parliament Army, arbitrarily levied a sum of £40,000 on the city, towards the payment and maintenance of his soldiers.* A demur taking place in the Attempted ^., . , , c J- xii- intrusion of raismg oi this sum, and symptoms oi discontent baving troops. manifested themselves about the same time on other ac- counts, the general ordered two regiments of foot and several troops of horse to march into the city to hasten the collection of the money. Under date of the 21st Decem- ber in that year, the Court of the Grocers' Company were informed '^ that a quarter-master had been to view the " hall for the taking up of quarters for the soldiers of the " army." A petition against this intrusion was instantly prepared and forwarded to Sir Thomas Fairfax, and, in the mean while, the Company's plate and paperswere ordered to be moved to a place of safety, under the care of the Wardens. The Company had been drained of the greatest part of their money during the reign of Charles I. and indeed, I may add, during several of the preceding reigns : whether this fact or the petition of the Company proved most efiBcacious, I do not know, but I find no record of their having been harassed on this occasion : their neigh- bours were less fortunate, for, after the troops had quar- tered at Blackfryars, and in the neighbourhood, they pro- ceeded, by order, to secure the treasuries of the Weavers', Haberdashers', and Goldsmiths' Halls, from the first of which they took ofSOjOOO.f This proceeding was endea- voured to be justified in an artful letter from the General to Sir John Warner, the Lord Mayor, who, by the way, was a Grocer, and, on that account, perhaps, influential with Sir * Rushworth's Col. vol. iv. p. 2. t Maitland's History of London, vol. i. 16 COMPANY OF GROCERS. Thomas in saving the Hall from the pollution which im- pended over it. Feast to In the following year, a grand entertainment was given and at Grocers' Hall, by the Corporation, to Cromwell and Fairfax. Fairfax, who had returned in triumph to London after the surprise at Northampton, of the mutinous regiments which had refused to go to Ireland. Fairfax was pre- sented with a basin and ewer of pure gold, and Cromwell with c£300 worth of plate and 200 pieces of gold, and " great rejoicing there was, and smiling too, at this the " cities kindness."* The sentiment of the citizens on this occasion were manifested in a variety of ways ; murmurs, " not loud, but deep," were uttered, and, as is usual in all cases where the public mind is excited, lampoons and pas- quinades issued from the press in abundance. One publi- cation, in particular, excited great attention and some mer- riment ; it ranks above those passing trifles which are read with avidity at the moment and afterwards forgotten. At the entertainment before alluded to, many speeches of compliment and congratulations to the generals were made, and a deal of what Casca, f more forcibly than elegantly calls " stinking breath," uttered by the republicans. It is a parody on these speeches that composes the little work referred to, and more keen and cutting satire was never committed to paper : as the scene is laid at Grocers' Hall, and as the matter is short, I cannot resist giving it here, verbatim, as I found it in Lord Somers's tracts.^ * Heath's Chronicle. t Julius Caesar. t First Collection, vol. i. p. 212. THE HALL. 17 ♦* OSrocerft* mull *' HosANNA; or, a Song of Thanksgiving sung by the Chil- Speeches, dred of Zion ; and set forth in three notable Speeches, at Grocers' Hall, on the late Solemn day of Thanksgiving, Thursday, June 7, 1649. The first was spoken by Alderman Atkins. The second by Alderman Isaac Pennington. The third by Hugh Peters (no Alderman but) Clericus in Cuerpo. " Risuni teneatis Amici. *' Alderman Atkins, Ids Speechihefore Dinner to the Speaker, i/te General, Lieut en ant-General, and Lord President Bradshaw, «< Grocers' Hall, Thursday, June 7. '• Mr. Speaker, *' On, this is a blessed day, Mr. Speaker, and marvel- lous in our eyes, to see you become our Supreme Head and Governor, now that we have cut off the King's head : and, as I take it, it is one main reason of this heavenly thanksgiving to my Lord Lieutenant-General and Mr. General's Excellency, for their great pains in the business : verily, Mr. Speaker, I cannot choose but weep for joy to think on't ; and yet I cannot tell you for what, though I shall tell you by and by. — In the meantime — (prythee, Mr. Steward, set aside a couple of custards and a tart for my wife). — In the meantime, I say, I see no reason but why I may cry as well as haul. I say, Sir, I can haul as well as my Lord of Pembroke here, or any man else ; my mouth was made for hauling ; and I think you all know it well enough in the house upon occasion. For you may remember, Mr. Speaker, how I bauld at the apprentices, two years since, when the House of Commons had like to have gone to wrack like a bawdy house. I am sure, Mr. Speaker, then, for you looked as white as the driven custard, and had neither tongue, nor eyes, nor ears, nor nose, nor brains, nor any thing else, but were in the same pickle as when the King came to demand the Jive members. I wonder he did not smell me out too for a traytor ; for 1 had my breeches full c IS COMPANY OF GROCERS. on't then, as I had half a year before in Finsbury, at the general muster of the New Militia,* at which time, I say. Sir, I was one of the City Colonels, and came off cleanly, though I say it ; for, being wounded in the belly, I re- treated home ; and, having asked counsel of a surgeon, the malignant knave would not undertake me ; and so the state might have lost a servant for want of plaister, but that my kitchen wench made a shift to cure me with a dish-clout. " But having scap'd this scouring, Mr. Speaker, and liv'd to see this glorious day, now let us sing the Song of Old Simeon, and depart in peace ; but first, let's have our bellies fulls. O, Death, I defy thee, for here's a good dinner coming in, twelve bucks out of Eltham-park, besides those of the City ; not a Presbyterian bit, I promise you ; therefore, sit down, gentlemen, and eat lustily ; I promise you it's well season'd, I'll pass my word for the cooks; for I was one of the committee that examined them, every man to their oaths, to forswear ratsbane, mercury, and monarchy, t Besides, here's my Lord President hath brought a dozen tasters along with him : I hope he will lend us some of them. And now, Mr. Speaker, you are welcome ; in the name of my brethren representatives of the City, I bid you heartily welcome ; you may eat, drink, and be merry, for you have laid up goods for many years ; and now you are laying up the king's goods ; more sacks to the mill still. Sit down, Mr. Speaker, you are a good old Speaker; you are the representative of the Supreme authority. It was the pope's first, next it was the king's, and now it is yours, thank the army ! How daintily things are come about, Mr. Speaker, as well as you and I ! For as * Some scandalous tale of this kind was probably circulated respecting this Alderman, which occasioued the filthy nick name given to him in a very scarce tract, in the Guildhall Library, of w bich the following is the title: — " Reverend Alderman Atkins (The S — t B — h), his speech, to Mr. Warner, the venerable Mayor of London, the wise Aldermen, and most judicious Common Councilmen, in relation to present affairs," &c. 4to. London, 1648. t Every cook was sworn. THE HALL. 19 I take it, you and I, and many more here have been at all thanksgivings these seven years. We have waited upon his old Excellency, Essex, and the Admiral Warwick, and sung psalms with the assembly men here over and over. And now those black birds are all flown, and out of tune ; here's not a man of them but Thomas Goodwin, and he is every jot as honest a man as his name sake John : for neither of them cares much for saying grace. Therefore, sit down, Mr. Speaker; we have his new Excellency here now, and General Cromwell's honour, that cares as little as they. Indeed, you must sit down first, and my Lord Mayor next ; for the Army I'm sure made us vote it so ; and that the City sword should be yielded up to you to make a thanksgiving trencher-knife : and so you were as good a man as the king, and a better than my Lord Mayor ; and so you might have been still, had you not given him his sword again ; for you lose your place in yielding up the sword, and leave the supreme authority in my Lord Mayor and the army. Howsoever, sit still. Sir, — I hope the General will not oppose the votes of the House, now that it is the army's own House, but let them pass, an't be but for fashion's sake; and, therefore, Mr. Speaker, for fashion sake, you may sit uppermost ; and next to you, my Lord Mayor. " I think too, for fashion's sake, my Lord General, your Excellency may sit down next. I would be loth to dis- please Mr. Lieutenant-General's honour ; I hope he will not be angry at your Excellency, nor me ; I could wish you had voted all your places before you came here ; but your Excellency may sit, I suppose, for Mr. Lieutenant- General looks as if he gave you leave ; on my conscience that's a meek humble soul, and will take some other time to set you beside the saddle. " And for you, my Lord President, I should have placed you uppermost, for I know none so fit to have re- presented the supreme authority as you that commanded the cutting off that head of it : O, how this scarlet gown becomes your honour ! It suits exceedingly well with mine c2 20 COMPANY OF GROCERS. and my Lord Mayor's ; for you sentenced the old king as a traytor, and we have proclaimed the young king to be no king, and a traitor when we catch him. It was a dangerous piece of work, indeed ; and I was afraid, as you are, of following Dr. Dorislaus ; the people did so threaten, as if they would have torn us for the very rags of authority, and cried up Charles the Second louder than we could cry him down. I think the rest of my brethren carried it little better than myself ; for my guts began to crow after their old tune, and wrought like bottle-beer, insomuch that I wished for Colonel Pride to stop the bunghole, till the troopers relieved us. " But now, my good Lord President, let's comfort one another; and though you deserve to be uppermost, yet sit down, and be content with your place. For fashion's sake, Mr. Lieutenant-General's honour is content to let it be so, till he finds it convenient to turn you off, as well as his Excellency. Pray take it not ill that I whisper this in your ear ; for, now that he hath made you serve his ends, he cares not so he were rid of you, since you may serve them all as you did the king, in a new High Court of Jus- tice, because you are pleased to let it be so. " The next place, Mr. Lieutenant-General, must needs be yours. By his Excellency's leave, you are the saviour of the three Jcingdoms. You are he that hath filled our hearts this day with thanksgiving and gladness. You trained the king into a snare at Carisbroke Castle, and fooled and routed all his party. You set up a High Court to cut him oflP, and you lie at catch for his son. You have made us a commonwealth, that is (as malignants say) you have given us power to put a finger into every man's purse and pocket. You have made the people the supreme authority, and left them no laws. And well done. Sir ! for what should we do with any law but the sword? or what law like liberty of conscience and power met together ? You it is that led his Excellency by the nose like a bear, and at last will bring him to the stake. You have new moulded the city. You are the joy of our hearts, the light THE HALL. 21 of our eyes, and the breath of our nostrils, though cava- liers call you the cut-throat of our lives and liberties ; for all which we set this day apart to give thanks to God, and a dinner to you, and somewhat else into the bargain, as you shall see after dinner. In the meantime fall to ; a short life and a merry (may it please your honour), a short life and a merry; and so give me leave to conclude heartily with part of the Lord's Prayer (though I do not use it) ' thy kingdom come ;' or, as the thief did upon the cross, ' Remember me when thou comest into thy kindom ;' and I promise you faithfully I will never b e the palace." " AldeRxMan Isaac Pennington's Speech at the presenting of the Golden Bason and Ewer unto the General, loith Plate of £300 value, and £200 in Gold to the Lieutenant -General. " Give ear, O heavens ! and regard, O earth ! May it please your Excellency to open your mouth wide, and I shall fill it. I, Isaac Pennington, Alderman of London, confess myself altogether unable to speak the praises due unto yourself, Mr. Lieutenant-General, and all the faithful officers and soldiers of your army. Yet why should I hold my peace ? - I will speak, though I cannot speak : and though I cannot speak, I will not keep silence. Some have been so bold as to brand me for a crack' t vessel, yet I have been meet for my master's use ; and they shall find me as sounding brass, or as a tinkling cymbal. Moses was a man slow of speech, yet he was a great leader ; and so have I been, and so is your Excellency. But as for Mr. Lieutenant-General, though he be such a one too, yet he hath the tongues of men and angels so much at his devo- tion, that the very noise of them drowns the fame of your Excellency, and swallows up your senses. " For my part, I bless God exceedingly for you both, for all your labour of love in gunpowder and gospel, and 22 COMPANY OF GROCERS. carrying on that glorious work of reformation, which, though it began in desperation, yet you have brought it into perfection. Henceforth, therefore, all generations shall call you blessed, and me no madman, though I have been as mad as any of you all ; and yet I think I am fit enough to deliver the sense of the city, who by me returns you thanks for the great pains you have taken in purging the malignant Presbyterians out of the Common Council as well as the House, by which means you made shift to new- model the city, as you did the army, turning out all that were not of your own temper ; so that we are all now of one soul and one mind, and lay all things in common for the use of the state, but what is our own. •' Add to these things your borrowing money of the city and never repaying it again ; your breaking all their privi- leges and putting daily affronts upon them ; your impress- ing, firing, assessing, taxing, excising, free quartering, and fleecing all their fellows ; your conquering them by treachery, and riding through their streets in triumph; your overawing them by the miUtary power, and destroying their trade by land, and traflSc by sea ; for all which inex- pressible favours, with the extirpation of Presbytery, and the suppressing of the Levellers, they conceive themselves bound to return an acknowledgment, and rejoice in the opportunity of dedicating this day of thanksgiving unto you and your bellies. " But, since man lives not by bread only, by killing of kings and loyal subjects, and seizing on their goods and estates, and turning them into money ; since gold is the only goddess of this Reformation, and the Saints cannot establish their kingdom without it ; since your Excellency and your Lieutenant- General guardian have vouchsafed us this favour of a visit, which you denied to the Presby- ters, we here present your Excellency with the same (/olden hasin and ewer which you refused from their hands. It cost them one thousand pound ; and, because it was of their providing, we can the more freely bestow it upon you. THE HALL. 23 I have been an old thanksgiving sinner, as well as Mr. Speaker, or any of thetn all, in the days of old Essex, who, I am sure, never received such a present for all his pains, but was content to be fobbed off with a close-stool and a pipe of tobacco ; which was the reason, I conceive, why my brother Atkins here, in those days, kept so close to him after dinner. And as for you, Mr. Lieutenant-General, though your merits outweigh whatever we can present to you, and though in all the before-named exploits we must allow you 'the greatest share, yet be pleased to accept of the less re- quital, — a poor pittance of £300 in plate, and a vision of golden angels in a purse, to the value of c£200, all the gift of our own fraternity. " As for the rest of the lords and gentlemen here pre- sent, I hope they will excuse us, and think themselves well satisfied with a good dinner: and, in particular, you, my Lord President, who deserve much in the settling of this republick. But having done but one single act towards it, if you expect more than a dinner, we must leave you to the consideration of Mr. Lieutenant-General, who set you on work, and will, no doubt, in the end pay you your wages. " I have but one word more to say, and that is this : we have great cause to rejoice in the settlement of this happy commonwealth, but I fear we shall not be quiet yet. God bless us from untoward dreams and restless nights, and send us well to digest this thanksgiving dinner, and to have no more of them, nor occasion for them in haste ; for the frights they put us into before hand are terrible, and the dinners themselves are chargeable indeed, if malig- nants speak" truth, who say this very day's thanksgiving will cost us no less than our heads, if not our souls too, into the bargain. Therefore, gentlemen, in a word, I think we have but one play, and that is, to hold up the state as long as we can, and to make sure of our heads and estates, and pillage other men's, when we can hold it no longer." 24 COMPANY OF GROCERS. In answer to this, Hugh Peters, being well whittled with wine, made the following reply : Reader, Peter, his being drunk is no fable (I assure you), and he fell out with the butler. " Hugh Peters, his Thanksgiving Speech for a farewell to the City, in the behalf of the General and Lieutenant- General. " Mr. Alderman Pennington, and the rest of the • Representatives of the City, *' I must tell you, I have been half the world over, and yet I am come back again ; and, by my faith, sirs, I must tell you, I never saw such a jolly, godly crew as are here, all high fellows together : 'Tis merry when maltmen meet ; and (they say) some of us here have been brewers, and of worse trades too. But, oh, oh, — let that pass. I defy brewing ; for I have been all over your wine cellar, and that's another world ; but it's as slippery a world as this, and runs round too. What a Nicodemus is the butler ! he was loth to own me but by night ; he bade me stay all night, and then I should have my belly full. Now, sirs, I conceive that a bellyfull is a bellyfull ; and, if a man hath not his bellyfull, it is no thanksgiving. And if you (gentle- men of the city) have not a bellyfull of this thanksgiving, I say you may have a bellyfull. " Had Dr. Dorislaus been so wise as to have staid at home, he might have had another kind of bellyfull than he had at the Hague : but a bellyfull still is a bellyfull, and at Grocers' Hall is a better ordinary than a Dutch ordinary for a bellyfull. Pox o' your Dutch ordinaries, I think they will become English, and give us all a bellyfull ; but in another kind (I fear) than I gave my Dutch landlady and her daughter. " But no matter for that, a bellyfull is a bellyfull ; their THE HALL. 25 bellies were empty, and so was mine ; for I had not so much as a stiver to bless myself, and they would never let me be quiet, and I scor'd up still, and so I got my belly- full, and they got their bellyfull ; which was one bellyfull for another, and so at length I was quit of them. " Then I went to New England, and there I saw a blessed sight, a world of wild men and women lying round a fire, in a ring, stark naked. If this custom should come up in London, (as I see no reason but it may, if the state will vote it,) then every woman may have her bellyfull, and it would be a certain cure for cuckolds and jealousy, and so the city would lose nothing by this thanksgiving. " But now I come home to the point in hand, my Lord Mayor, and you gentlemen of the city, I am commanded to give you thanks; but I would know for what? for your dinner ? yes, I will when I have my bellyfull ; but your butler is no true Trojan ; he knows not how to tap and toss the stingo. Sure he is some Presbyterian spy, that is slinkt into ofiSce ; some cowardly fellow, that pines away at scandalous sins, and the stool of repentance, and he will never do well till he be drench'd for the humour : so that now I see I am like to go away without my bellyfull ; and have never a jigg to the tune of Arthur of Bradley Sing O hrave Arthur of Bradley! — Sing O! " But if things go thus, what should 1 thank you for? — The state foresaw what slender good fellows you would be, or else some of you had been knighted, as well as my Lord of Pembroke. Nay, it was God's mercy you had not all been knighted : for it was put to the vote (I tell you) whether my Lord Mayor should be knighted; and whether you. Alderman Pennington and Alderman Atkins, should be dubbed Sir Isaac and Sir Thomas, of the state's own creation. But, since it is resolved otherwise, I pray you bid the butler bring up his bannikins, and I'll make you all lords like myself, for now I am no less in title than Lord Hugo de Santo Pietro Pintado, and every jot as merry as forty beggars. 36 * COMPANY OF GROCERS. '' Now, I warrant, you expect I should thank you for his Excellency' s golden bason and ewer? 'Tis true, I was commanded to do so ; but what care I for a bason and ewer! Give me a pipe and a chamher-pot ; I mean a pipe of Canary into the bargain, or else it shall be no thanks- giving-day for me. Oh, for a conduit from Malaga, and that we knew how to convey Middleton's pipes to the Canary Islands, then there would be no end of thanks- giving. " I am commanded, likewise, to thank you for the Lieutenant-General's plate and his purse of gold ; and I am so much the more willing to do it, because I hope to have a feeling out of it anon, when we come home. But (as I take it) you have more reason to thank him, than he you : for, you gave him a little purse of money, and 'tis his goodness he does not take all. I observe, too, you have given him but the value of of 500, and his Excellency, forsooth, as much more. Do you know what you do? Cou'd you not have ask'd my counsel before ? You may chance to be switch'd (i'faith) for not setting the saddle upon the right horse ; and well you deserve it, if I be not furnish'd with a pipe of Canary. Let me not be put oflF with nothing, like ray Lord President and Mr. Speaker; you know whither to send, sirs. My lodging is sometimes at St. James's, but most an end in Thames-street : there's my maid, a handsome lass, I tell you, will take it in as Avell as myself, or else I would never keep her. Farewell, sirs, here's nothing do (I see). " A pox on your butler, and his lean joules, There's liberty lies at the bottom of the bowles. " Thus it is in one of our modern authors; but I confess I can have none of this liberty, though it be the first year oi freedom, and then judge you, whether the state or the state's servants have any cause of thanks. Farewell, sirs, I am gone. Oh for a milk-howl, or his Excellency's hason THE HALL. 27 and ewer now to spue in, and make an end of thanks- giving." Tlie government of the Commonwealth appear to have Queen Eli- been tremblingly alive to the destruction of every memorial arms. of royalty, no matter how ancient or how trifling. The existence of Queen Elizabeth's arms at the upper end of Grocers' Hall appears to have given them umbrage ; for, on the 25th February, 1651, the Lord Mayor addressed a letter to the Wardens, directing the said arms to be taken down, and replaced by those of the Commonwealth, " or "" by some other piece." The Court of Assistants did not evidently approve of this interference ; for, after consi- derable hesitation, they agreed " that the fulfilment of " this order should be left to the Wardens, to cause the " same to be done at as easy a charge as they can, not " exceeding the sum of three pounds." Some further instances of the vexations practised by this precious go- vernment will be found in the notice of the Company's history in another part of this volume. The same spirit of dislike to the usurping Protector is observable in the conduct of the Company in the early part of 1654 : they knew " That to his power he would " Have made them mules, silenced their pleaders, and " Disproperty'd their freedoms ; holding them, " In human action and capacity, " Of no more soul, nor fitness for the world, " Than camels in the war ; who have their provender " Only for bearing burdens, and sore blows " For sinking under them."* On the 3d February, " notice was given to the Court " of the citye's intention of entertaining the Lord Protector " at this Hall, as it was lately agreed upon by the Lord " Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council." It was • Coriolanus, act ii. scone 4. 28 COMPANY OF GROCERS. Feast to General Monk. notified that something would be expected of this Company, among others, " for the gracing of this entertainment in " their standing railes, for which it was supposed some " express would be issued out in writing ; and, therefore, " the direction of the Court was desired what should be " done in this Company to give satisfaction therein?" In reply to this, it was agreed and ordered, " upon consider- " ation thereof, that if any expresse shall come, requiring " this Company's performance, that the managing of the " said business shall be referred to the care and direction " of the Wardens, and they to order and appoint, at the " charge of this Company, whatever shall he required by *' exjjresse." No express did come, and the Company were spared the humiliation of acting, upon compulsion, in direct opposition to those feelings of loyalty and of attach- ment to their legitimate sovereign which they had always professed, and afterwards displayed, in so eminent a de- gree, at the restoration. Under the constant influence of these principles, it is not surprising that the Grocers should seize, with eagerness, the earliest opportunity that offered of publicly testifying them. They invited General Monk and his commanders to a splendid entertainment at their Hall, on the -8th of February, 1660, that eventful year which restored King Charles to the throne of his ancestors. To render this festival the more remarkable, it was ordered that, in the course of it, the Master and Wardens " should tender the freedom of this Company to the Lord " General, as a mark of the particular respect and gratifi- " cation of this Society to his Excellency, for his pro- " fessions of tenderness and care for the honour and safety " of the city." This is the first instance of the Company's freedom being bestowed upon an individual, in approbation of public services; and surely one more deserving of such honourable distinction could not have been selected. To give the reader an idea of the splendour of this entertain- THE HALL. 29 ment, which created such a sensation at the time,* it is only necessary to state that it cost £215 ; a sura never before expended for such a purpose. On the 29th of May IGGO, King Charles the Second TheResto- made his public entrance into London ; and, on this oc- '■^^'°"" casion, the Grocers took a conspicuous part in the pageant furnished by the city. Sir Thomas AUeyn, Lord Mayor, a member of their Company, received his Majesty in a splendid pavilion erected, for the occasion, in St. George's Fields; and, after a suitable address, delivered the city sword into the King's hand, who, with it, conferred upon him the honour of knighthood. " The 29th of May," say the records, " being the day of His Majesty's birth, is " appointed to be annually observed for the restauration " of His Sacred Majesty to his dominions and dignity." The above resolution was passed after His Majesty had condescended to accept the office of Sovereign Master of the Company; and, since that period, an entertainment has been regularly given at the Hall on the 29th of May, under the name of " The Restoration Feast." I have now to advert to an event which caused a greater Y"^, °^ 1 •! 1 1 London. destruction of property, and entailed more severe and protracted distress upon the city of London than any that has occurred before or since ; not even excepting the great plague of 1661. The latter caused great temporary misery; but the former, in its effects, was felt for several genera- tions after. The Grocers' Company participated in the general ruin ; and did not begin to recover from the con- sequences for nearly a century after. It is not my intention to give a description of this great tire, because it is to be found, at length, in every book which treats of the history of London ;t and, besides, it would be foreign to my purpose to do so. The fire, which extended its ravages northward to far * See Pepys's Diary, vol. i. t See Maitland and Northouck's Histories. 30 COMPANY OF GROCERS. beyond Lothbury, in its progress, consumed Grocers' Hall and all the adjacent buildings, save the turret in the garden. With the exception of the Company's records, every particle of the property in the Hall was destroyed. Under date of the 9th November, 1666, are the particulars of an account given to the Court, by the Wardens, *' of the " Company's plate being melted in the Hall, in the late " violent and destructive fire, and the melted parcels " carefully taken up and put together, and of the Com- " pany's urgent occasions foi^ a supply of money ;" where- upon it was ordered, " that the same be sold and disposed " of to the best advantage and benefit of the Company." After a schedule of the Company's houses and rents, as they existed before the fire, had been read to the Court, Mr. Warden^ Webb declared " that divers matters of im- *• portance are behind, very behooffull to be taken into *' consideration, which, in regard of the shortness of the ** days, the distance of divers persons' abodes, and the " danger and troublesomeness of going, in the dark, " among the ruins, cannot, at present, be moved to admit " of time for debate and determination; and, therefore, " he and his brethren, the Wardens, did agree to have a " Court of Assistants here every Friday, in the afternoon, " for some continued time weekly, where they would " attend for settling the Company's business in some order " and form, and desired the members of this court to shew " their forwardness in appearing and giving their advice " and assistance for the concerns of the Company." The place of meeting was the turret-house, which served, also, as a residence for the clerk, whose presence on the spot was considered essential. The silver recovered from the ruins was remelted, and produced nearly 2001b. weight of metal, which was sold for present supplies ; and it was declared " that the parti- " cular parcels of melted plate shall be made up again, " and the arms and inscriptions of every person graved " therein, for the donor's memorial and future encourage- THE HALL, 31 " ment of succession, as money shall come in. This order " to be recorded and the Court put in remembrance when " the Company shall be in cash and condition to perform " the same." After the panic produced by this awful calamity had, in a great degree, subsided, the Court of Assistants naturally turned their thoughts towards rebuilding their Hall. The Company's funds were exhausted, and there were heavy debts outstanding, the liquidation of which was to have been effected by means of fines to be levied on the renewal of the leases which were about to expire. The houses were almost all of them destroyed, and, with them, vanished the hope of supplies from that quarter. No resource remained but that of an appeal to the liberality of the members of the Company in the form of a subscription. This was resolved upon, and the Wardens, who appeared very zealous in the cause, undertook to wait personally upon every individual, and to solicit contributions. Whether there existed a disinclination, or whether the losses by the fire had crippled the resources of the members, does not appear, but the subscription, in spite of the exertions of the Wardens, was not very productive ; for, on the 2d of May, 1667, Mr. Warden Webb informed the Court, " that " he accompanied some of his brethren to collect sub- " scriptions for the Hall, that they had been courteously " received, and had collected seven hundred pounds," according to particulars then read. This sum was far from sufficient for the purpose intended ; but, as it was found that the walls of the old hall had resisted the fire, and were sound, it was determined to new roof them, and to proceed with the money collected, in the hope that a further supply from the members might be procured. The work languished for many months, and, in all pro- Sir Jolin bability, would have been entirely suspended, had not that "^ ^'" strenuous supporter of the Company, Sir John Cutler, come forward. On the 6th of February 1668, he inti- mated to the Court, through Mr. Warden Edwards, his intention of rebuilding the parlour and dining-room, at his 32 COMPANY OF GROCERS. own charge, for the Company's accommodation. As the Company were at this time suffering the greatest inconve- nience, arising from their inability to discharge the debts contracted under their seal, for the service of the govern- ment and the city, in the years 1640, 1641, and 1643,* he suggested, at the same time, as a measure of precaution, " that the ground should be conveyed to him under a " peppercorn rent, for securing it, when built, against " extent or seizure." This proposal was referred, by order of the Court, to the Recorder, for a legal opinion thereon, and, as he strongly recommended it, " an indenture of sale " and demise of the grounds and buildings about the Hall " was made to Sir John Cutler" and other members, sixteen in number, who had contributed and subscribed c£20 and upwards, " according to the direction of the Committee, " for 500 years, at a pepper-corn rent." The buildings were then completed, and, in January 1669, a strong vote of thanks to Sir John Cutler, for his munificence, was passed ; and it was resolved that his statue and picture should be placed in the Hall, as memorials of the Com- pany's esteem and gratitude. The first meeting and festival held in the Hall, after the fire of London, were on Lord Mayor's day, 1668. Divine ser- The churclies were among the last edifices restored after the fire ; and the want of them was severely felt for a considerable time. The church of Saint Mildred, in the Poultry, had shared the common fate of the other buildings in the neighbourhood, and the parishioners made application to the Company, in 1670, for leave to have divine service performed in the Hall. Some doubts existed, in the minds of the Court, as to the propriety of permitting this without the sanction of the Bishop of London ; but they were removed by a letter from that prelate, in which he not only approved of it, but added, that the Company's acquiescence would be agreeable to his Majesty. The permission was. * The particulars of these transactions will be found in another part of this volume. vice in hall. THE HALL. 33 of course granted, and divine service performed regularly in tlie Hall for many months after. I cannot here omit the insertion of a curious article, which I find in the Company's books, dated the 8th of July, 1670 ; it serves to illustrate the habits of the time, and displays, I am sorry to say, a want of polish and good manners in our predecessors, which will startle their de- scendants. It is, however, consolatory to know that, even at that period, there were persons attached to the Company, to whom the proceedings complained of gave offence. The resolution is as follows ; '* Upon complaint and observation of the unseemliness Smoking " and disturbance, by taking tobacco and having drink f° ,i,^!.?„ ' " and pipes in the court-room, during Courts sitting; and, the sitting " for the better order, decorum, and gravity to be ob- Court. " served, and readier despatch and minding of debates " and business of the Court, and avoiding the occasion of " offence and disgust, it is agreed that, hereafter, there • " be no taking of tobacco or drinking used or permitted in " the Court-room, during the sitting of the Court ; and, if ** any person have a desire to refresh himself by a pipe of " tobacco or cup of drink, at a convenient time or interval " of serious business, to withdraw into some retiring room " more suitable and fit for the purpose. Any person in- " fringing this rule to fine five shillings, for each offence, " to the poor-box." There is no doubt that this wholesome regulation produced the desired effect, for I find no men- tion of a continuance of the above irregularities : it is true that what occurred soon after, was sufficient to banish from the minds of the members of the Court all ideas of indulgence and joviality. The Company, from the causes I have already stated, The Hall being deprived of funds, were compelled to stop the pay- ^^^"*''*^'^'"- ment of the interest due upon their debts, as well as of some of their charities. The detail of the circumstances which brought them into this distressing situation will be found in another place, it is, therefore, unnecessary to repeat it here. Suffice it to say, that the Governors of Christ's Hospital D 34 COMPANY OF GROCERS. Meetings oftheCourt at various places. The Com- pany re- instated. The Hall enlarged. obtained a decree in Chancery, in satisfaction of arrears due to them, under the wills of Lady Conway and Lady Middleton, by which they served a notice of ejectment on the clerk and beadle, in June 1G72, and, finally, took possession of the Hall, " which they strictly kept by a " guard." The books, papers, and seal were removed by order of the Court, and committed to the care of Mr. Warden Booth. The Court of Assistants, during a long period, were compelled to hold their meetings, for the conduct of business, at various places. In July 1673, a Court was held at Skinners' Hall; several meetings took place " at *' the Crown Tavern, behind the Exchange ;" and at the Irish and Old Council Chambers, at Guildhall. The first mention of the Company's return, occurs on the 14th of October 1674, but this was merely on sufferance, as pos- session of the Hall was still kept by the agents of Christ's Hospital. This state of things continued for several years, for, in July 1677, one Jackson applied to the Wardens for certain taxes which he was authorised to levy, and the answer he received was, " that the Hall was still under " sequestration and seizure, the Company's meetings being " at the pleasure and toleration of the disposers." After great difficulties and impediments, money was borrowed on security, and the Hall finally cleared of the intruders. The books and papers were brought back, and the Com- pany's officers reinstated in 1679, during the mayoralty of Sir James Edwards, one of the members. This was effected by a loan of c£2500, to the Company, by a Mr. Naylor, on mortgage of the Hall and other premises not connected with the charities. Two years afterwards, it was considered that the Hall, if enlarged and beautified, might become a source of con- siderable revenue, as the situation would insure its being constantly and profitably let as a residence for the Lord Mayors. " Sir John Moore (a worthy member) taking '* into his consideration the deplorable condition of the " Company, every year lessening in reputation, by reason THE HALL. 35 " of their Hall thus in ruins, (which not only discouraf]^ed '* men to take their freedoms and apprentices to be " bound there, and benefactors from their liberality, but " also rendered the society almost contemptible,) he was, " therefore, very inclinable, at his own charge, to repair " the great Hall, thereby to encourage other members, by ** his example, to contribute their assistance to re-edify " and augment it, so as to make it the most commodious " seat for the Chief Magistrate in this city, as the only " means to preserve a succession of members in this " Company ; which being made known by Sir James " Edwards, (then Master) in a Court of Assistants, it was " referred to the Wardens, together with some other ** members, to consider of and propound a model for *' such additional building, as might make the Hall com- " modious, both for ornament and use, to answer so " noble a design : upon report of which committee, soon " after, Sir John Frederic, Sir James Edwards, and " several other aldermen and worthy members, agreed to ** contribute liberally towards so good a work, as being " fully convinced that, if the Hall should long continue *• under these circumstances, not only all that had been ** done would be wholly fruitless, but all that remained *' (for which they were trustees to the generations to *' come) would soon waste into nothing, which would re- " proachfully render the present members most ungrateful " to their ancestors, whose names still blossom in what " remains of those pious monuments of their charities, " and obnoxious to those who should succeed happy " members of this society. " And, therefore, concluded this great work to be the " only leading means left to preserve the society ; and " that as Sir John Cutler had so long before, for those *' very ends, at his own charges, begun, and Sir John " Moore had now undertaken to repair and beautifye the " great Hall, so they held themselves highly obliged to " promote and carry on so excellent a work ; and having ** caused the scite and fabrick of the Hall to be surveyed, d2 36 COMPANY OF GROCERS. " and finding that with some more additional building" " (then already propounded to be erected) it might be made " a more commodious and convenient habitation for the " chief magistrate than any other ever was before, within " the City of London ; therefore, that it might answer all " these good ends, and might, with all possible speed, be ** carried on and finished, in order to invite and encourage " all the members to contribute towards payment of the " Company's debts, and arrears of charities (wherein Sir " William Hooker, then one of the sitting Aldermen and ** late Lord Mayor, and many other worthy members, had '* liberally contributed as good examples) they liberally *' subscribed and paid towards the raising and finishing of " such additional building, declaring themselves (if occa- " sion should be, afterwards) to be farther assisting to " compleat so good a work ; not doubting but their " brethren, the rest of the members, would every one " follow according to their degrees and qualities. " And that the beautifying and repairing their Hall might " not prove a bait to such creditors, if any should be, as " formerly seized the ruins of the same, to endeavour " again a sequestration against it, but might answer those " good ends so by them designed : the Company, by ad- " vice of learned counsel, after an inquisition taken before " the Commissioners for Charitable Uses, and pursuant to " a decree made by those commissioners, have conveyed ** the same and all their revenue, and the equity of re- " demption thereof (subject to the said former securities) " to trustees, to secure the yearly payment, not only of " those charities wherewith that revenue is charged by the " donors, but also with the overplus, (as the same will " extend) those other yearly charities, payable by the Com- " pany to several places, persons, and uses, by the appoint- " ment of other benefactors, who heretofore paid into " their hands several great sums of money for those uses, " for which now no fund remains, that they might also " thereby not only discharge their consciences towards " God, and the memory of such pious benefactors, but THE HALL. 37 " also avoid the chargeable prosecutions of the Commis- *' sioners upon the statute for charitable uses, who have, " of late, put this Company every year to exceeding great " charges and expences."* Sir John Moore's contribution amounted to the sum of £500, for which, as well as for the zeal he exhibited in in- citing others to follow his example, he received the cordial thanks of the Court, who ordered his picture to be painted and placed in the Hall, as a lasting testimonial of their grati- tude. He was the first chief magistrate who kept his mayoralty at Grocers' Hall, and he paid the Company a nett rent of c£200 for the use of it. It continued to be let for the same object for many years; and, in 1735, as the Com- pany's circumstances had much improved, it was ordered by the Court of Assistants that the Hall should not, for the future, be let but to a Lord Mayor attached to the Com- pany. In the year 1694, the Bank of England was established. Bank of and the first Governor chosen, was Sir John Houblon, Knt. °^ '^'^ a member of the Grocers' Company and one of the Court of Assistants. The first five general courts of proprietors were held at Mercers' Hall, in Cheapside, but, as the situ- ation was found to be inconvenient, a proposal was made to the Wardens of the Grocers' Company to treat for their Hall : this was entertained by the Court, and a committee appointed to arrange with the directors for the demise of the Hall, yard, and garden, for eleven years. Several meetings and discussions took place respecting the terms and conditions, and a final arrangement was concluded in October, 1694 ; on the 4th of that month the following memorandum was agreed upon and signed ; Memorandum, — ^Thatitis this day agreed and concluded, between the Wardens and Commonalty of the mystery of the Grocery of the city of London and the Governor and Company of the Bank of England, that the said Wardens * A short account of the Company of Grocers, by Wm. Ravenhill, 1689. 1 Bo-iX^i: 38 ' COMPANY OF GROCERS. and Commonalty shall demise Grocers' Hall, yard, and garden, as usually let to the Lord Mayor, to the said Go- vernor and Company for the term of eleven years from the five-and-twentieth day of December next ensuing, the agreement reserving to the Company, the clerk's and bea- dle's houses, with free ingress, egress, and regress, at all seasonable times, to and from the said clerk's house, and reserving also to the said Wardens and Commonalty all the present lights looking into the said yard and garden. That the said Governor and Company of the Bank of England shall advance and pay to the said Company the sum of five hundred pounds for a fine for the said term, as also the further sum of five thousand pounds more, to dis- charge a debt of four thousand five hundred pounds, and interest on mortgage, of the said Company's Hall and lands. That the said Governor and Company of the said Bank covenant to pay all taxes, parish duties, river water, and repairs, during the said term, and leave the Hall, garden, &c. in the same condition they now are, at the expiration of the said term ; and further shall mutually do as counsel shall advise. That the said Governor and Company of the said Bank advance and pay the said several sums of five hundred pounds and five thousand pounds on the said Wardens' and Commonaltys' assignment of the said mort- gage to the said Governor and Company, at any time after the first day of November next, and that the said Wardens and Commonalty, or their successors, shall only repay the said principal sum of five thousand poundsat the expira- tion of the said term of eleven years. That the said Governor and Company shall deliver to the said Wardens and Commonalty all such goods and utensils as shall be scheduled or mentioned in the said demise, that the said Governor and Company shall have possession of the said Hall and garden the first day of November next, that the said Wardens and Commonalty shall have the usual room in the said Hall to put their THE HALL. 39 trophies in on public occasions. Witness our hands the 4 day of October, 1694. John Sherwood, John Owen, RoBT. Dawson, Sen. Michael Godfrey, Daniel D'Orville, Wm. Gore, Thomas TucKFiELD, Wm. Scawen, Saml. Brewster, Gilbert Heathcote. Philip Scarth, At the expiration of the lease, a new arrangement was entered into with the Bank, for a period of fourteen years, at a peppercorn rent and a fine of five thousand pounds, with which the former mortgage was paid off and the Hall finally released. Eleven years were afterwards added to the term, and, in 1734, the last General Court was held at Grocers' Hall ; the Bank establishment was removed to the new offices in Threadneedle-street, and the Hall, now in the free and uncontrolled possession of its rightful owners after a lapse of sixty years, was ordered to be repaired and beautified, which was done in the following year, under the management and conduct of a committee. Matters appear to have gone on very smoothly for some Riots in time ; and the only event which, for a short period, dis- turbed the monotony of the usual routine of business, was the reception and quartering of a small party of troops at Grocers' Hall in 1780 ; they were a portion of the consi- derable body of military, which had been sent into the city to quell the riots excited by Lord George Gordon and others. The soldiers were liberally provided with food and bedding, and the officers treated with great attention and respect by the Court of Assistants. They were stationed at the Hall for several weeks. On Saturday, the 28th February, 1784, a grand enter- The Right tainment was given at the Hall, on the occasion of the pj""" Right Honourable WilUam Pitt receiving the freedom of the Company. His mode of accepting it appeared to give great satisfaction to the members, for he told them " that 40 COMPANY OF GROCERS. " he had previously declined a similar offer from the " Goldsmiths, considering himself as already connected " with the Company of Grocers, into whose freedom his ** father had formerly been admitted." The Hall About this period, various parts of the Hall began to in decay, gjjow symptoms of decay, and it became necessary to take the subject into serious consideration. Some of the mem- bers imagined that the constructing of two new rooms, in lieu of the court-room and great parlour, and a solid repair of the remainder of the building, would answer every pur- pose ; and, accordingly, Mr. Leverton, the Company's sur- veyor, presented, by order, a plan and estimates. These were afterwards rejected, because the result of such a step would not, it was conceived, justify the large expenditure required. The further consideration of the subject was postponed from time to time, without any apparent proba- bility of a final determination, until the year 1798, when the perilous situation of the roof, generally, and the totter- ing state of the lantern in the centre of it, clearly demon- strated the necessity of an entirely new building. The Hall Mr. Leverton, the architect, was ordered to prepare plans and estimates, which were approved and adopted, and the new Hall commenced: it was completed and opened on the 21st July, 1802, during the Mastership of Mr. William Clarance. Time, I regret to say, has shown that the Company's confidence and liberality were abused in the construction of their building ; they paid a price for it which justified the expectation that it would have lasted for a long series of years, but they were deceived. The careless manner in which the foundation was constructed soon became evident ; in 1814, cracks were discovered in various places in the walls, and some repairs were ordered, under the full expectation that the damage would extend no further. This, however, proved fallacious, as, in 1827, the evil increased, and the Hall was threatened with de- struction within twenty-nine ye£U"s after the first stone was laid ! The Company have been fortunate in obtaining the THE HALL. 41 assistance of an excellent architect in the person of Mr. Joseph Gwilt, a gentleman of known talent, and ranking among the first men in his profession. He has displayed great energy and zeal in the prosecution of the duty en- trusted to his care, and, I should add, considerable taste in the arrangement of the ornamental and decorative part. I am happy in having this opportunity of doing an act of justice to Mr. Gwilt's ability and perseverance, of which I had constant proofs during the year I had the honour of presiding as Master of the Company. Before I conclude this part of my subject, I cannot avoid remarking on the good taste and good feeling of the Court of Assistants in reviving, on the walls of their buildings, the names and arms of those illustrious and benevolent individuals, who, in ancient times, shed a lustre on the Company by their virtues and eminence, and augmented its power of doing good, by bequests for charitable pur- poses. An example is thus held up to future generations, which, I trust, will not be without its utility. Let me, in conclusion, express my hope that the liberal expenditure incurred by the Grocers' Company in the re- storation of their Hall may ensure its duration, and that it may long continue to rank among the most elegant build- ings in the metropolis. 42 THE COMPANY. " not a wind upon the sailor's compass, " But from one part or other was their factor " To bring them in the best commodities "" Merchant e'er ventured for." Beggar^ s Bush, Act 1. Sc. 2. The Grocers' Hall and its contiguous offices having been destroyed by the great fire of London, in 1666, as before stated, and, with them, all the property they con- tained, it is at once fortunate and extraordinary that the records of this venerable Company should have been pre- served entire. Singular care must have been taken to place them in safety, as the series of Ordinances and Re- membrances is uninterrupted and complete from the com- mencement, and from them I have gathered a great portion of the matter embodied in the following narrative. Pepperers. The original founders of the Worshipful Company of Grocers* were known, at a very remote period of English history, under the name of Pepperers ; and, although they bore this distinctive appellation, they were recognised as general traders, who bought and sold, or, according to the * " The word Grocer was a term distinguishing merchants of this ** society, in opposition to inferior retailers, for that they usually sold in " gross quantities, by great weights. And in some of our old books the " word signifies merchants that, in their merchandising, dealt for the " whole of any kind." — Ravenhill's Short Account of the Grocers. " Grocers, in libro statutorum nostrorum significat mercatores, qui ali- " quod mercium genus totum coemunt." — Skin. Etymologicon Linguce An- glicana;. -r: > THE COMPANY. ' 43 legal acceptation of the word, engrossed all kinds of mer- chandise. At the early dawn of commerce in this country, they established the first mercantile association on record, and, no doubt, suggested, at an after period, the first idea of the East-India and Levant Companies. " It is well known," says Ravenhill, * " this Company " hath bred the most eminent merchants in this city : and " this society hath been so prolific that many other socie- " ties have been branched out from hence, as will be owned " by the most worthy of them. The merchants trading to *' the Levant seas, and other societies, have originally " been the offspring of this society, as appears by ancient " records of indentures of apprentices to members of this " Company." The most authentic proof of the existence of the frater- nity of Pepperers, at an early period, is that of the name of Andreto Bokerel, pepperer, who, for seven consecutive years, namely, from 1231 to 1237, served the office of mayor of London. In the reign of Edward the Second, anno 1315, the 1315. fraternity came to be governed by rules and ordinances, which are extant in one of the books of the chamber of London, xmder this title, — " Ordinatio Piper arum de Soper-Lane," and written in Norman French, beginning thus : " Ces sount les pointz que les bons genz de Sopere- " lane del mestier des peverers, &c. By the assent of Sir " Stephen de Abyndone, mayor of London, John de " Gisors, Nicolas de Farindone, John de Wengrave, " Robert de Kelsby, William de Leyre, and others, made " for the common benefit of the whole people of the " land."t The first charter of incorporation of the Grocers was 134 granted by King Edward the Third, in the twentieth year of his reign, Anno Domini 1345. The foundation of the tion of the Company took place in the same year, when twenty-two * A Short Account of the Company of Grocers. 1089. t Strype's Stowc, First In- corpora- 44 COMPANY OF GROCERS. persons, carrying on the business of Pepperers in Soper' s Lane, Cheapside, agreed to meet together to a dinner at the town mansion of the Abbot of Bury, in St. Mary Axe, now Bevis Marks,* on the 12th of June, 1345, and committed the particulars of their formation into a trading fraternity, to writing. They then elected two persons of the company so assembled, Roger Osekyn and Laurence de Halywelle, as their first governors or wardens, chusing, at the same time, in conformity with the pious custom of the period, a priest, or chaplain, to celebrate divine ofiices for their souls' wel- fare. The details of this meeting, and the ordinances which emanated from it, both which were subsequently transcribed into the first volume of the minutes of the Company, are set forth, partly in Norman French and partly in old English, as follows, viz. — " En le hon^ de Dieu, & de sa douche Mere, & de " Sanct Antonin, & de touz Sancz, le viceseme jour de " Maij, en I'an de grace Mil cccxlv, & del Tierz Roi " Edward, apres le conquest, six, une Frat.''nite fuist " founduz des Compaignons Peveres de Soperes-lane, p^ " Am"^. & unite de plus avoir, maintener & entrester " ensem^. De quel Fraternite somes coraenseurs, fun- " deurs & doneurs de couserver la dite Fraternite. WiLLM. DE Grantham. ; John de Stanope. WlLLM. DE HaNAPSTEDE. WiLLM. DE COTOUN. Laurence de Halliwelle. JOHAN DE BrOUMSFORD. Richard le Zonge. Robert de Hatfelde. * " The hotel, or inn, of the Abbots of Bury ; a great house, large " of rooms, fair courts and garden plots, sometime pertaining to the " Bassets, but since to the Abbots of Bury, in Suffolk, and therefore " called Buries Marks, i;«/g-a)7 And several other parishioners. The prayer of the petition was granted, and Mr. Chambers was in- ducted. 102 COMPANY OF GROCERS. " to the direction of his Highness' letter, recited in the " last Court, and that Mr. Saxby was, by the same Court, *^ elected and presented to the said rectorie." Mr. Saxby thereupon presented himself, and, after thanking the Court for their preference, informed them that he had heard of the King's displeasure, and not wishing to be the cause of its continuance, freely tendered to the Company the surrender of the living ; the Court accepted his resignation, and voted him a benevolence of £20. The rectory being thus declared vacant, Dr. Howell was again sent for, and became a suitor to be admitted ** by the Com- ** pany's right." The Court, after deliberately advi- sing, declared the reverend gentleman elected parson of the vacant rectory, " by the free and unanimous consent of the whole Court!" We may fairly say, that the whole of this transaction aftbrds a striking specimen of the un- constitutional exercise of power in the Crown at this period. 1C30. King Charles made his last attempt to levy that odious money. impost, the Ship-money, in the year 1639.* On the 18th * A few words respecting this unpopular impost may not be unaccept- able. King Charles I. in 1634, determined on fitting out a formi- dable fleet, and commanded the City of London to send to Portsmouth, at their sole charge, their quota of ships, being seven in number, witli ordnance, tackle, and stores for twenty-six weeks, for the following year ; and similar commands were sent to the other sea-port towns for their proportionate quota, viz. One ship of 900 tons and 350 men. One ship of 800 tons and 260 men. Four ships of 500 tons and 200 men. One ship of 300 tons and 150 men. This is properly the first year of that King's ship-money project, which so much contributed to his ruin. In 1635, the King, bent on bringing the Dutch to acknowledge his sea dominion, had, beside other naval armaments, built the greatest ship of war that had ever been seen in England before, and gave it the superb name of the Royal Sovereign, of 96 guns and 1740 tons. To pay for this, and to fit out a superior fleet, he sent his special warrant to his Chancellor Coventry, for issuing writs to the sheriff's of the several counties, for assessing and collecting money " for suppressing of pirates, and for tlie guard of the seas." — Anderson on Commerce, vol. ii. ; M^Pherson' a Annals qf Commerce, \o\. ii.; Rymer's Fcedcra, vol. xix, p. 658. THE COMPANY. 103 of April, a letter, addressed to the Wardens, was received from the Lord Mayor, " for the loane of lOO^f from this ** Company for six months, towards the setting forth and " furnishing of a ship p." The proposal, or rather the order, was as unpalateable to the Court of Assistants as to the rest of the nation, and, consequently, after the subject had been gravely debated and considered, it was resolved, " that forasmuch as it appears that this Company is much *' indebted, and hath yearly payd the shipp money, and " hath heretofore lent several sums of money to this Citty ** for the like occasions, which are not yet repayd, and for ** divers other thinges, it is resolved and agreed by this ** Court not to lend the said money required by the said " letter, unlesse sufficient security be given for repayment ** thereof att the end of six months." This arbitrary mode of levying money by virtue of his sole prerogative, and without the consent of Parliament, hastened the crisis which, a few years after, deprived of throne and of life a monarch who, though possessed of many and great virtues, was ever eager to extend the power and influence of the Crown beyond all constitutional bounds. I have now to record the circumstance of the forced iwo. Forced loans to which I before alluded, and which, from the loans. injustice and bad faith committed towards the Grocers' Company, not only involved them in trouble and adversity for a long period, but, at one time, threatened to annihilate them altogether as a public body. In July, 1640, Charles the First wrote a letter to the Lord Mayor, demanding from the City a loan of £200,000 ; the occasion of it was this : the dangerous situation in which the King found himself at this period, in consequence of disputes with the Parliament, and of the discontent manifested by the Scots, induced him to grant the latter a renewal of the Covenant. The Scottish Parliament, fully aware of the King's position, further insisted on certain privileges necessary, they said, to freedom of debate, and required that the Estates of the Kingdom should be convened, at least, every three years. On receiving these demands, Charles thought he 104 COMl'ANY OK GROCERS. beheld a formed scheme for undermining his royal antbority, and instantly prepared to renew the war. The Scots did not wait till the King should invade Scotland, but boldly crossed the Tweed, and, entering England, attacked a detachment of the royal army, at Newburn, in August, 1640, and routed it. The King, surprised and alarmed at this defeat, retreated into Yorkshire, and commenced a negotiation with his insurgent subjects. The Scots for some time took up their quarters in England, but, gratified at length with a donation of three hundred thousand pounds, given under the delicate name of brotherly assistance, they retired homewards, and left the King and Parliament to settle their own afiairs.* It was to make up this sum that the King borrowed of the City the money I have men- tioned. By the Lord Mayor's precept the proportion of the Grocers was £4500, " to be by them lent on the " security of the Government;" and it was accordingly paid. 1642, Qjj the 7th of June 1642, a message from the Lords the Parlia- and Commons was read, thanking the Citizens for former ™^"*" loans, and asking the Companies for a further supply of one hundred thousand pounds, for one year, at eight per cent, per annum, and the interest to be regularly paid into the Chamber of the City. The message was signed " J. "■ Browne, Clerke of Parliament." The motive given for this loan was the relief and preservation of Ireland, where an insurrection had broken out, headed by Roger More and Sir Phelim O'Neale ; but there is abundant reason to believe that the money was intended to strengthen the Parliament party against the King.f The Grocers were, on this occasion, assessed in the enormous sum of £9000, and I cannot discover the reason why their proportion was so excessive. The application was considered, and, as may naturally be expected, the Court determined that the • Scott History of Scotland, vol. i. 2d series. t " They levied money under pretence of the Irish eicpedition, but " reserved it for purposes which concerned them more nearly." Hume, vol. vi. THE COMPANY. 105 money should be raised on the Company's seal. Each member was asked to inscribe in a book, opened for the purpose, the sum which he was willing to lend upon the security of the Company; and it was further added, " that " if, at the end, any damage ensue, each member of the ** Company to be rated proportionably to repay the same." The whole amount was levied, and it will be seen, pre- sently, how faith was observed towards the Company. At the expiration of 1643, " severall persons, members of " this Company, applied to the Court for repayment of " their portions of the o£'9000, advanced for the benefit and " the relief of Ireland," whereupon the Wardens were ordered to take up enough to pay them, under the seal of the Company, and " at as easy a rate of interest as they " can." To shew the efforts which the Company made to meet ^, }^^', ^ . '' Sale of the the calls thus made upon them, I will cite an order of the Compauy's Court of the 8th May 1643, which directs, " that part of P^^^^" " this Company's plate, not exceeding the value of one *' thousand pounds, shall be taken out of the treasurie and " sold to the best advantage, for payment of debts, and " other necessary charges and affairs of this Company ; " and it is agreed that when the troubles of this kingdom " shall be composed, and this Company's stock returned, " the sayd plate shall be repayred and made good, to re- •* main for a memorial in this Hall, according to the gift " and intent of the donors." The troubles of the time, also, caused the following The Com- letter to be written, at the same period, by the Lord Mayor : amis bor- *' To his loving friends, the Master and Wardens of the ?"P^^'l'!.*'y " Company of Grocers. " After my hearty commendations ; according to an act " of Common Council, this day holden, for the better " forming a safety of this Cittie, in this time of eminent " danger, I am to desire you forthwith to send for the *' arming of auxiUiary forces raysed by the Cittie, all the " armes of your Company, which, by promised engage- " ment of the Common Council, shall safelv, in the same the City. 106 COMPANY OF GROCERS. ** condition, be restored unto you, or others of the same " goodness, and the full value thereof in money ; and ** Cap"? Hooker, Sargeant Major Turner, Cap"? Player, ** Cap? Tibborn, Cap"? Frans. Rowe, Cap"? Hunt, and *' Cap" Thomson, or any two of them, are appoynted by ** Common Council to joyne with such as you shall assigne " for the valuing of the said armes, to receive the same by *' inventory, for the purpose aforesaid ; and, therefore, in " regard of the present want and necessity of the said *' armes, I pray you to expedite the business, and cause " the said armes to be forthwith deUvered unto the afore- ** said parties. Thus, not doubting of your conformity " and readiness herein ; I rest, " Your loving friend, " IsAACK Pennington, Mayor." This was received at the time that the civil war was raging in the neighbourhood of Bristol, and when appre- hensions were entertained for the safety of the City of London ;* and so deeply were they impressed on men's minds, that all business and pleasure were suspended, as appears by the following notice of the month of June, 1643 ; " This Court, entering into a sad and serious consideration " of the miserable distractions and calamities of this king- " dom, threatning the ruin thereof by sickness and famine, " the certain attendants of an unnatural and bloody warre ** which now reigneth in this kingdom, agree and order " that the election feast shall be omitted." The last drain upon the Company's resources and credit was made towards the end of 1643, by the City itself. On the 22d August of that year, the Lord Mayor addressed a letter to the Wardens, stating, " that a sum of £50,000 is " necessary for the defence of the City in these dangerous * The King's party, after the taking of Bristol, " proposed, and " seemingly with reason, to march directly to London ; where every " thing was in confusion ; where the army of the Parliament was baffled, '* weakened, and dismayed ; and where, it was hoped, either by an " insurrection of the citizens, by victory, or by treaty, a speedy end " might be put to the civil disorders." — Hume, Hist . of England , vol. vi. THE COMPANY. 107 " times, as the parliament forces are approaching," and requiring that £4500, the usual proportion, should be ad- vanced by the Grocers' Company, for which they were to have interest at eight per cent, per annum, and the security of the City-seal and of the Excise-office.* Any attempt to resist this order, would, under such circumstances, have been useless ; the Wardens were directed to endeavour to levy the sum under the seal of the Company, and to pro- ceed, besides, to the sale " of all this Company's plate (save '* the value of c£300 for necessary use and service), towards " the sum of o£'4500, agreed and ordered by this Court to '* be lent to the Cittie : it is, moreover, ordered, that a " register of the same shall be kept, and the donors' names; " and that the same shall be replaced, upon the peace of " this country being restored." These repeated sales will give the Reader some idea of the large stock of plate pos- sessed by this Company in ancient times : there are frequent entries in the books, to shew that the members either pre- sented some article of silver to the Company as a memorial, or bequeathed one in their wills. I have preserved a list of some of the more ancient contributions of this descrip- tion, which will be found in the Appendix. I have already quoted several instances of the arbitrary icis. interference of the Crown in the affairs of this Company : ^°^""'/^*' ' •' of Safely. I shall now mention a fact to demonstrate that those pure reformers of state abuses, the Committee of Safety,t • ** The Commons ordered the Lord Mayor to summon a Common " Council, to meet the Monday after ; whither a committee repaired, to " desire the citizens to advance the money required ; and, as security ** for the repayment of the same, proposed the duty of excise and Bishop's " lands." — Maitland's History of London, vol. i. Besides the loans, there were other calls made on the Company for occasional contributions at this time, £30 per week was demanded by the Parliament towards the payment of their troops ; £6 was levied as the Company's proportion, " for the cost of chains and engines made and " employed about the City for the defence thereof;" and £8 for the relief of maimed and wounded soldiers. All this occurred in 1C43. I ought to state, that £1500, or one-tliird of the above amount, was repaid " out of the Excise-office," in August, 1G44, but another sum of £500 was borrowed by the Parliament on tlie same security, in IG15. t See page 14. 108 COMPANY OF GROCERS. went considerably further, in this particular, than either King James or King Charles. This Committee, sitting at Haberdashers' Hall in June 1645, sent for the Wardens and informed them that they had learned the Company were indebted in the sum of five hundred pounds, upon bond, to one Richard Greenough ; who, as they alleged, " was found to be a delinquent to the Parliament ;" and they, thereupon, required a speedy payment of the same to them. The Wardens were, naturally, startled at this proposition, and desired time to take the advice of the Court ; they were told to return, on the Friday following, with a definitive answer. It being ascer- tained, on discussion, that the demand was peremptory, and, if not consented to, might entail unpleasant conse- quences on the Company, it was ordered that the War- dens should borrow the sum required upon the Com- pany's seal and retire the bond ; which was accordingly done. 1840. The same Committee, in May 1646, summoned the Wardens " to answer the complaint of Bartholomew " Edwards for his having been suspended from a porter's " place in the weighing-house, on account of his relation " to that Committee and his employment in the Parliament *' service." The Wardens attended the call, and, as they succeeded in proving that the dismissal of this man had arisen entirely from his own misconduct, and from no other cause, the matter was abandoned, but not without a strong recommendation, from the Committee of Safety, that he should be again received into the Company's service on performance of his duty to them, and " that he might not " fare the worse for his relation to that Committee." The Court of Assistants accordingly called Edwards before them, and " lovingly admonished him to submit himself to " the orders and rules of the Court, which he obstinately " and contemptuously refusing, he was excluded, expulsed, ** and discharged." 1651. The Company, about this time, were compelled to sus- Colwall- ^j^ Mr. H.Walwvn, the master of their school at Col- School, r" THE COMPANY. 109 wall,* " on account of his imprisonment on a charge of a " supposed disaffection to the present government;" but they contrived, in July 1651, to restore him to his place, in consequence of a certificate of good conduct from the minister and inhabitants, which, as it alludes to " a former " distemper of his brain," procured his acquittal and libe- ration. A special committee, entitled " the Committee of Cor- _, ^^^?' ^ ' . . ^ Committee " porations," was appointed by the Parliament in 1652. I of Corpo- caunot precisely ascertain the object of this appointment, ^'*'°^- but I imagine they were instructed to ascertain the validity of the charters of the diff'erent corporate bodies existing ; as I find that, on the 1st December 1652, the Company's charter was called for by them. The Wardens were di- rected by the Court to proceed with caution, to take the original and a copy with them, and to endeavour to leave the latter, but " not the originall unless peremptorily re- " quired." A proposal for confirming and renewing the Crom- charter appears to have followed this interview; for, on the charter. 15th of the same month, it was ordered that " the business " concerning the renewing of this Company's charter to be '* left entirely to the discretion of the Wardens, to pro- " pound such alterations and additions therein, for the fur- " ther privilege and advantage of this Company, if they " shall see cause." Cromwell, who assumed the protec- torate in 1653, is stated to have granted the Company the charter by which they were empowered to make bye-laws for their government in future ; and, among other privileges, it conferred on them the power of levying a fine of £30 on every membei* on his admission. The Grocers' Company took a conspicuous part in the rejoicings and festivities with which was celebrated the tion restoration of Charles II. The Lord Mayor of London, • " Humphry Walwyn by his will, 10th December, 1612, gave to the " Company and their successors the rent of two houses to be purchased " with £600 by his executors ; the rents to be applied, inter alia, in the *' maintenance of a free-school at Colwall, in the county of Hereford, " the master whereof to be elected and removed by the Company." — The Company's Register of Grants. 1660. Restora- 110 COMPANY OF GROCERS. Oaths of Allegiance and Supre- macy. 1660. Stewards at Festi- vals. Thomas AUeyn, who was a member of the Company, went forth with a splendid train to meet his Majesty on his entrance into London, on the 29th of May, 1660; on which occasion he received the honour of knighthood at the King's hand.* In the month of June, the City resolving to give a magnificent entertainment to his Majesty and his royal brothers, a sum of three thousand pounds was levied upon the Companies towards defraying the expense, as appears by a precept addressed to the Wardens by the Lord Mayor, demanding o£'270 as the proportion of this Com- pany " towards the charge of entertaining His Ma"^, the " Dukes of York and Gloucester, the two houses of Par- " liameut and other persons of quality." It should be stated that the City required this money only as a loan, giving the security of the City-seal, and paying six per cent, per annum for the use of it. At this period, also, in consequence of a letter from his Majesty, the Lord Mayor wrote to the Master and Wardens, requiring " that no person be permitted to be in *' any office or publick employment or councell in the " Company, but such as have or shall take the oaths of " allegiance and supremacy, and bring certificate thereof " to be registered here." The above being read, '* it was " declared by the Lord Mayor, present here in Court, " that the said oaths had been administered and taken in " Common Council, and that the same ought to be taken " by the particular persons then present," which was ac- cordingly done. I have hitherto omitted alluding to the mode in which the Company's festivals were conducted. The custom of selecting two or three individuals from the Livery to act as stewards for providing the dinners and superintending the general arrangements, prevailed from the first esta- blishment of the fraternity to within the last century.f * For the details of this ceremony, see the Biographical Sketch of Sir Thomas Alleyn at the end of the volume. t On great occasions, an additional number of persons were named to assist the stewards, and their duties were pointed out to them, as appears THE COMPANY. Ill The office was one of considerable responsibility and some expense, as appears from the fact of a fine being levied on any individual wishing to be excused from serving ; the amount was varied from c£10 to c£30, according to circum- stances. The stewards were held responsible for the fitness as well as the sufficiency of the provisions, as is manifest from a complaint inserted in the journals against Messrs. Randal, Parris, and Hummerston, stewards for a dinner given on the 5th of November IGGO.* Complaint was made of the " scantiness of the provision, unfitting wine " and disrespectfuU carriage, unbeseeming the due ob- ** servance and entertainment of the Company." A vote of censure was passed by the Court and a fine ordered, the amount of which was to be fixed by the Master and Wardens. A few days afterwards one of the Stewards, Mr. Parris, " appeared in Court, to excuse himself from ** any share in the late miscarriage," and, after pleading inexperience in such matters, charged the faultiness of the wine upon the abuse of the vintner, whom Mr. Hummers- ton had employed. The plea was of no avail, and, as the whole of the arrangements appear to have given dissatisfac- tion, he was mulcted as well as his colleagues. The citizens resolving to demonstrate their respect and I66I. attachment to the King's person by a magnificent display ^f Charles at the ceremony of the coronation, passed an act of Com- ^I- mon Council empowering the Lord Mayor to levy the sum by the following entry in the year 1559. " Twelve of the liverie ap- " pointed to be waiters at the ensuinge Lord Mayor's feast, whereof three " to welcome guests, two to stand at the dressers and see meat served " in, two to receive in victuals, two to provide plate for the same feast, " two to see the Company served, and one to see the Hall garnished and " the tables set in order." * The anniversary of the gunpowder-plot was regularly observed for many years and a feast was given at Grocers' Hall ; this is shewn by the books under date of November, 1616. '« Ordered that the right wor- " shippfuU the Knights, Aldermen, Master, Wardens, Assistants, and " Livery, do assemble on Monday, theOth November, 1616, at the Hall, " whence they shall repaire to PauUs, there to hear a sermon and give " thanks for the safTe delivery of our deare Soveraign Lord King James " from the Powder Treason." 112 COMPANY OF GROCERS. of ofGOOO, " to be furnished by the Companies of London, " towards the charge of the intended preparations by this " City against his Majesty's coronation, signified to be in " April next." The proportion of the Grocers was o£'540, - which the Wardens were directed to raise on the security of the Company's seal. A further sum of £270, for the completion of the same object, was demanded of them in the month of May, but it was refused on the ground of inequality in the proportion of rates charged this Company, when others of greater revenue were assessed at less. Another and more pressing motive for refusal arose from the embarrassed state of the Company's finances, which, from the serious amount of moneys drained from them by former loans, and by their expenditure in Ireland, gave the Wardens and Court of Assistants great uneasiness. A Committee was appointed to superintend the recovery of the debts due to the Company, and to devise the readiest and most equitable mode of extricating them from their difficulties. The labours of this Committee produced no immediate result ; and another for the same object was appointed in 1663, which recommended that the interest on the sums due should continue to be paid until the principal could be redeemed by fines, to be levied on renewal of the leases which would shortly fall in. How this project was defeated will be seen in the sequel. Sir John On the 2d October 1661, Sir John Frederick, Lord Frederick, ^^^^^j. ^^^^^^ ,c moved the Court, through Sir Thomas " AUeyn, to be received into this Society upon his trans- ** lation from the Company of Barber-Chirurgeons, whereof " he is a member; and from which, by the rules and " customs of the City, he must remove into one of the " twelve great Companies, and that his Lordshipp had " expressed a friendly afl'ection to this Company upon the ** occasion of his motion."* It was thereupon agreed that * Mr. Norton, in his valuable Commentaries on the History and Fran' chises of the City of London, published in 1829, has this passage : — " It " even became a common impression, that the former (i. e. the Lord " Mayor) must belong to one of the twelve great Companies, as they THE COMPANY. 113 the said Sir John Frederick should be admitted a member of the Company and of the Court, and that " some •' pubhck show of solemnity and triumph, by pageantry, '* bachelors, gownsmen, and other ornaments, bee pro- " vided at the charge of this Company, to be in readiness *' against the day of his Lordship." Hume, in allusion to what was termed the Corporation ^c>c>'^- Act, says, " During the violent and jealous government tion^Act. " of the Parliament and of the protectors, all magistrates, " liable to suspicion, had been expelled the Corporation ; ** and none had been admitted, who gave not proofs of affec- ** tion to the ruling powers, or who refused to subscribe the " covenant. To leave all authority in such hands seemed " dangerous; and the Parliament, therefore, empowered " the King to appoint Commissioners for regulating the ** Corporations, and expelling such magistrates as either " intruded themselves by violence, or professed principles " dangerous to the Constitution, civil and ecclesiastical."* The Commissioners above alluded to, in the exercise of their functions, made a communication to the Grocers' Company, which is registered, on the 13th December 1G62, in the following terms : — ** This day, the Wardens " acquainted the Court that they had received an order " (sent unto them) from the Commissioners for regulating " of Corporations, which was produced and read ; the " tenor whereof is as follows : '* Luncs vicesimo nono die Novemhris 1662 " Anno Caroli Secundi Angl. Regis quarto decimo. *' At a meeting of his Majesty's Commissioners, for " & in the city of London, authorised by his Ma*^'* com- " are called ; though it would be difficult to assign any ground for such " a dogma." He adds, in a note, " there is a precedent, however, of " the Lord Mayor being elected from the Coopers' Company, whicii is *' not one of the twelve chief companies, as early as 1742." It is clear, from the fact I have adduced of Sir John Frederick's translation into the Company of Grocers from that of the Barber-Chirurgeons, that tlie custom was in vigour as late as 1G61, although I can quote no legal authority for it. * History of England, vol. vii. I 114 COMPANY OF GROCERS. " mission, under the great seal of England, for putting " in execution an act of the present Parliament for the '* well governing and regulating of Corporations ; ** Ordered, that Mr. John Owen, one of the late Wardens " of the Company of Grocers, Sir Stephen White, Richard '' Waring Esq. Thomas Gower Esq. & Matthew Shep- '' pard Esq. late Assistants of the said Company, being " lately displaced by the said Company of and from the " said places and all other places of trust or other em- " ployments relating to or concerning the government of " the City of London, shall not henceforth sit in the Court " of Assistants in any affairs of the same Company from " time to come, and the Master and Wardens of this " Company are to see this order accordingly performed. " William Avery." The nature of the offence committed by the individuals named is not alluded to, but I take it for granted that they were adherents of the Puritan party. On perusing the above, there is no denying that, whatever might have been the offence, politically, it was rather a strong measure that a Committee appointed to examine into and regulate the proceedings of Corporations, should proceed in so arbitrary a manner to deprive members of the Company of their privileges. 16G3. On the 29th December 1663, the Company purchased lowsStain- *^® impropriation of the living of Allhallows Staining, in *DS- Mark-lane; it was worth, at that period, £6^ per annum, and they paid ^£650 for it.* * " On the south side of Langbourne Ward, and somewhat within " Mart Lane, on tlie south side thereof, is this parish church of Allhal- " lows, commonly called Stane-Church, for a difference (as may be *' supposed) from other churches of that name in the city, which of old " were built of timber, but since were built of stone, for Scan, in the " Saxon language, signifieth a stone. It is subject to the Archdeacon, " save only as to wills and administrations, which belong to the Com- " missary. This, of old, was a rectory, and in the patronage of the De " Walthams, and, after them, of William Hyneland, priest, who pre- " seuted to it in 1^66."— Stowe's Survaie, p. 282. Archill. Commissar. Loud. Sion College, MS. THE COMPANY. 115 On the 2d May 1664, the following notice was entered ir.oi. on the books: — " Divers members of this Company, ''"'■"''' • *' trading in drugs, made request and suit for the connte- " nance and protection of the Court in the freedom of " their trade, against the invasion of the College of " Physicians, who, having lately obtained from His " Majesty a patent, with new and strange power and •* privilege of search, seizure, fine, and imprisonment, " were attempting the passing of a bill in Parliament for *' the ratification of the same ; which, if efl'ected, will be " an insupportable inconvenience and prejudice." They prayed the aid of the Court, which was granted, and a Committee appointed to consult and instruct counsel to defend them before the Committee in Parliament ; it was likewise ordered that the charges incurred by the druggists, for the defence of their right against the physicians, should be defrayed by the Grocers' Company. " A sum of two thousand pounds was granted by this ^ iGdl. " Company as a loan to his Majesty tor his present charksn. " supply; the money was paid into the Chamber of " London, and a receipt taken for the same." This was the Company's proportion of £200,000, lent by the City of London to his Majesty, to enable him to prosecute the war with the Dutch. Such was the alacrity displayed on this occasion by the City, that the following vote of thanks was passed by Parliament: — " Die Veneris, 25 " Novem. 1644; Ordered, by the Lords Spiritual and " Temporal, and Commons in Parliament assembled, that " the thanks of both Houses of Parliament be given unto " the City of London for their forwardness in assisting " bis Majesty; and in particular by furnishing him with " several great sums of money towards his preparations " for the honour, safety, and trade of this nation."* About the beginning of May 1665, one of the most icoi. terrible plagues that ever infested this, or perhaps any p"i(i'* ings if their demands were not liquidated ; attachments were laid on the rent due by the tenants ; and, in short, every mode of compulsion which legal ingenuity could sug- gest was resorted to. On the other hand, one of the most fruitful sources of emolument, that which arose from fines levied upon new members, was stopped, owing, as the records state, in July 1680, to ** many persons having " been alarmed at taking up their freedoms and livery in ** this Company, on account of the heavy charges for " which the members have been liable." It became evident that if these apprehensions were not removed from the public mind, the Company would, in a few years, be- come extinct; to prevent which, the Wardens and Court of Assistants redoubled their zeal and exertions to stem the torrent which was rushing with such force against them. It was agreed that the most effectual mode of regaining pub- lic confidence would be by rebuilding the Hall, and thus retrieving that constant and regular revenue which arose from its being let to the Lord Mayors. Sir John Moore had the glory of being the first to hold forth a liberal ex- ample to the members, by contributing ofSOO towards this desirable object; he was followed by Sir John Cutler, Sir James Edwards, Sir Henry Tulse, Sir William Hooker, The Hall restored 126 COMPANY OF GROCERS. Sir Thomas Foote, and others ; * " all being fully con- " vinced that if the Hall should long continue under these " circumstances, not only all that had been done would be " wholly fruitless, but all that remained (for which they " were trustees to the generations to come) would soon " waste into nothing, which would reproachfully render " the present members most ungrateful to their ancestors, " whose names still blossom in what remains of those pious " monuments of their charities, and obnoxious to those " who should succeed happy members of this society." -f- 1081. After innumerable obstacles and delays, the restoration of the Hall was completed at Michaelmas 1681, in sufficient time to allow Sir John Moore to keep his mayoralty there. Ravenhill describes it as " far excelling any hall that now is, " or, probably, ever was in London ;" but he adds, " that " the charge of completing the same, although regulated " with as good husbandry as was possible to be managed, " yet swells to double the sum which was at first propounded *' to be disbursed, and therefore called for farther assis- " tance of our members than at first was designed, to con- " tribute to the same ; which work being so completely " finished, manifestly appears to have been the only means " left to keep the Company upon a foundation, which, " otherwise, must, in a short time, have naturally dissolved " of itself ; for that the apprentices and freemen, of any " estate or value, who, before wholly declined, have now " (that is, in 1689) daily encreased, as having a prospect, " by what is visible, of a prosperous carrying on the whole " work answerable thereto : which work, now compleated, " is in itself of far greater value than all the other part " of the Company's revenue (over and above the charities " issuing thereout), and that those several summs so sub- " scribed were thus freely given by several worthy mem- •' hers on purpose for this great work ; that it might incou- * For particulars respecting the restoration of the Hall, see page 34. t Ravenhill. THE COMPANY. 127 *' rage the whole members, freely and liberally to contribute " towards the residue of this work and the debts." This appeal, on the part of the worthy Mr. Ravenhill, however pathetic in his opinion, had but little weight with the Liverymen of the Company ; the additional burthen laid upon their shoulders by the excess of the estimates for building was not to their taste, and the money came in very slowly. Measures of security became necessary, in order to prevent a second sequestration, the Hall having become more valuable than before ; and, accordingly, the worthy clerk goes on to state " that the beautifying and " repairing their Hall might not prove a bait to such creditors " (if any should be) as formerly seized the mines of the " same, to endeavour again a sequestration against it, but " might answer those good ends so by them designed: the ** Company, by advice of learned counsel, after an inqui- " sition taken before the Commissioners for Charitable " Uses, and pursuant to a decree made by those Commis- '* sioners, have conveyed the same and all their revenue, ** and the equity of redemption thereof (subject to the said " former securities), to trustees, to secure the yearly pay- " ment not only of those charities wherewith that revenue " is charged by the donours, but also with the overplus " (as the same will extend) those other yearly charities, " payable by the Company to several places, persons, and " uses, by the appointment of other benefactors, who " heretofore paid into their hands several sums of money " for other uses, (for which now no fund remains,) that they " might also thereby not only discharge their consciences " towards God and the memory of such pious benefactors, " but also avoid the chargeable prosecutions of the Com- " missioners upon the statute for charitable uses, who " have, of late, put this Company every year to exceeding " great charges and expences." To secure an accession of influence and talent for the Increase of support of the Company's affairs, a considerable number of g^^j ^1" freemen was called to the Livery, and, in August and Sep- ^^T- tember 1681, eighty-one members were added to the Court 12^ COMPANY OF GROCERS. of Assistants. Every exertion was made to forward the subscription, and thus, gradually, to extricate the Company from its embarrassments ; a task of no small difficulty, for, although the energy of the leading members of the Court had achieved much, a great deal remained to be done. 1682. O" *^^® 1^*^^ ®^ February 1682, I find a circumstance A freeman recorded which gives evidence of a privilege of the Lord byredemp- ^^^^^^ ^f London at that period, and which, I believe, is now obsolete. It is thus recorded in the journals : — " This " day Mr. Thomas Prettyman appeared in Court, and " produced an order of the Court of Aldermen of the 9th " instant, whereby it appears that the Right Honourable " the Lord Mayor had presented him to that Court to be " made free of the City, as the first of three due to his " Lordship by prerogative, and that, thereupon, it was " ordered he should be taken into the freedom of the City ; " upon which this Court, at his humble request and the " recommendation of his Lordship, do order he be taken " and admitted into this fellowship ; and accordingly, here " in Court, the Wardens being present, he is admitted, as " by redemption, a member of this society of the Grocers." I ought to state that Sir John Moore, a member of this Company, was the Lord Mayor of that year, jggo The greatest difficulty which the Court of Assistants had Arrange- to encounter, in their endeavours to conciliate the cre- Christ's ditors, was with the body of Governors of Christ's Hospital. Hospital. A^sj they had been the most prompt in acting against the Company, so, on the present occasion, they opposed ob- stacles to any arrangement, save that of an immediate pay- ment of their whole demand. They claimed arrears and charges as follows, viz. On £20 per annum for Lady Conway's gift for nine years, and £140 for charges. On £10 per annum on Lady Middleton's gift. On £5 per annum on Mary Kobinson's gift. Besides arrears of allowance under Lady Slaney's will, and a debt of £500 bequeathed to them. After much debate, it was agreed that the matter should be left to arbitration, THE COMPANY. 129 and five persons were chosen on each side, whose decision should be considered as final. They decreed that a part of the claim should be paid in fourteen days, and the re- mainder by yearly instalments : this decision gave great satisfaction to both parties, and was highly advantageous to the Company, as it paved the way towards bringing their other refractory creditors to a similar arrangement. The situation of the Company improved by degrees, and every expectation was entertained that, by economy and by per- severance in the course pointed out by the arbitrators, they might, at length, become free from all embarrassments, and recover their ancient importance in the City ; but an event occurred which threatened to neutralize the expected benefit, and to defeat the hopes which had been cherished. The event to which I allude is the issuing of the cele- 1684. brated writ of quo warranto by Charles II. in 1684, o«o m,^". against the City charters and liberties. The circumstances '""'*'• which gave rise to tbis arbitrary proceeding arose from the illegal interference of the court with the privileges of the citizens in their election of Sheriffs, and are detailed at length in the biographical sketch of Sir John Moore, at the end of this volume. The court party, with his assis- tance as Lord Mayor, succeeded in forcing the election of their own candidates for that time; but, being conscious that to accomplish their purpose a fresh struggle was to be encountered every year, they resolved to strike a blow that should at once obviate all future interruption in their progress, that should fetter parliament altogether, and leave the lives and liberties of the subject entirely at the mercy of the Crown. Their project was to seize the charters of all the corporate boroughs in England. Saw- yer, the attorney-general, with a previous understanding in the proper legal quarters, intimated that he could under- take to prove a forfeiture of the city charters and liberties.* A writ of quo warranto, that is an inquiry into the validity of the charter, was authorised to be prosecuted ; and * Maitland, vol. i. p. 477. Burnet, History of his own Time. K 130 COMPANY OF GROCERS. Measures taken by the Com- pany. Charles well knew that a victory over this strong hold of liberty, would be followed by the implicit surrender of all other corporations, where the establishment of the Court influence might be thought necessary. The pretence of forfeiture was, first, an act of Common Council, passed nine years previous, by which a new rate of tolls had been levied on persons using the public markets which bad been rebuilt after the great fire : secondly, a petition pre- sented to the King two years before, in which it was alleged that, by the King's prorogation of parliament, public justice had been interrupted, and which petition the Court of Common Council had caused to be printed. Whether any corporation could forfeit its existence, as a corjyoration, by any abuse of its powers, or even by volun- tary surrender, was not at this time clearly settled, nor in- deed is it now.* Whether the representatives of a cor- poration, such as the Court of Common Council, could efl'ect a forfeiture of the rights of their constituents (which would imply that they could, by an act of their own, defeat the trust reposed in them, and alter the essential constitu- tion of the body at large) may still more reasonably be doubted ; and ample authorities may be referred to, showing that it cannot. But that a bye-law, if bad or doubtful, or a disrespectful address to the King, however reprehensible, could legally produce any such effect, is a position hardly requiring to be confuted ; especially when it is known that, by one of the city charters, it is specifically provided, that none of its liberties or franchises are to be forfeited by any abuse of them whatever.f Having thus, by way of preliminary, stated the causes which induced Charles to take this impolitic and unpopular step, I shall briefly relate how the Grocers' Company acted on the occasion. On the 28th of March 1684, the Wardens acquainted the Court " that they had received his Ma- * Kyd on Corporations, vol. ii. t Charter 7th Richard II. The above account is, in great measure, taken from Norton's Commentaries on the Franchises of the City of London. THE COMPANY. 131 " jesty's writ, in the nature of a quo warranto, returnable " the first day of the term;" and they stated, furtlier, that the same had been served on the other chief Companies. The first step resolved upon was the election of a com- mittee to conduct the proceedings on the part of the Com- pany ; and the chief persons who composed it were the Lord Mayor, the Earl of Berkeley, who had served the office of master the year preceding-, Sir William Hooker, Sir John Cutler, and others. A deputation, attended by the clerk, waited on Mr. Secretary Jenkins, on the 9th of April, " in order to be informed what might be acceptable " to his Majesty as expected to be done by this Company " in obedience to the said writ, to the end the Committee *' might so report to the Court, that the Cora[)any might, " without delay, act as became loyal subjects and pru- " dent members, having also regard to the trust in them ** reposed? They received for answer, from the Secretary, " that his Majesty designed not to intermeddle or take " away of the rights, property, or privileges of any Com- *' pany, nor to destroy or injure their ancient usages or " franchises of their Corporations, but oiihj a reyulation of " the governing part, so as his M'^'y might, for the future, ** have in himself a moving power of any officer therein for " misgovernmeiit, in the same way and method that they " themselves now used and claymed to have by power '* derivable from the Crown," or, in other words, that they should be incapable of exercising that free control over their own affairs which all their charters, even that granted by Cromwell, had so solemnly conferred upon them. Resistance was considered fruitless, and, therefore, in order to derive all possible advantage from their ready submission, the Clerk was ordered to prepare an instrument of surrender to pass the common seal, and to accompany it by a petition to his Majesty, " in order to obviate his further " displeasure in prosecution of the said writ, and to ob- " taiue his grace and favour of the ancient charters, rights, " and privileges of this Company." In pursuance of an order of the Court, the Wardens were directed to consult K 2 132 COMPANY OF GROCERS. Mr. Holt, the counsel, respecting the same writing or in- strument; and he gave the following opinion, viz. "that *• the writing, so to be passed under the seal of the Com- " pany, does not in any way amount to a surrender of their " charter or corporation, or any way to extinguish or •• weaken any franchise or liberty of the Company, but " only their power of naming and chusing their Wardens " and Assistants, and Clerk, under such regulations for " the future, as His Majesty shall, in his great wisdom, " think fit for the well governing of the Company; " and, notwithstanding such surrender when made, the " Corporation will still remain upon its old foundation, '• and shall enjoy all its ancient rights and liberty, and " be in the same capacity every way, under such regula- " tion as it was before such surrender made. All which " being debated in Court, and information given that " other Companies in London are already prepared and " very forward to attend His Majesty with cheerful and " ready compliance with his gracious demands by his said " writ, this Court thought fit, in order to the security and ** welfare of the whole Society, that this Company, which " his Majesty has been graciously pleased so highly above " others to honour, in condescending himself to become a " member of it, might not come behind otbers in demon- " stration of their loyalty and submission, herein have " thought fit to order that the whole Commonalty be sum- " moned to meet here at the Hall this afternoon, at two •' of the clock, in order to have their application and com- " plete the whole matter of a speedy address to His " Majesty." Although the notice was short, the Assistants, Livery, and Commonalty assembled in great numbers, and the petition to the King, with the instrume?it before alluded to, were submitted to them, couched in the following terms : — THE COMPANY. 13'3 THE PETITION. " To the Kiaors's most excellent Majesty. Petition ° ■' *' to his * The humble Petition of the AVardens and Commonalty Majesty. " of the Mystery of the Grocerie of London, " In most humble manner sheweth, that your Majesty's " royal progenitors, Kings and Queens of England, did, " by the several letters patent under the great seal, incor- '■' porate your petitioners, by which divers immunities, " privileges, and franchises were granted to your petition- " ers, and for that, lately, your sacred Majesty in your " princely wisdom has thought fit to bring a quo tvarranto " against your petitioners, which has given your petitioners " just occasion to feare they have highly offended your " sacred Majesty, whom in duty and allegiance they ought " to obey; " Your petitioners earnestly beg that your Majesty " would be graciously pleased to pardon and remit what is " passed, and to accept of our humble submission to your " sacred Majesty's good will and pleasure; and that your " Majesty will further graciously be pleased to continue " our former Charters, with such regulations for the " government of the said Company as your sacred Majesty " shall think fit. " And your petitioners, as in duty bound, shall ever " pray," &c. THE INSTRUMENT. " To all whom these presents shall come, the AYardens " and Commonalty of the Mystery of the Grocerie of the " City of London send greeting ; " Know ye, that we, considering how much it imports " the concernment of our Company, to have men of known - " loyalty and approved integrity to bear ofiices of magis- ** tracy and places of trust in the said Company, the said *' Wardens and Commonalty have granted, surrendered, " and yielded up, and by these presents do grant, surren- " der, and yield up unto his most gracious Majesty King 134 COMPANY OF GROCERS. " Charles the Second, by the grace of God, King of " England, or his heirs and successors, all and singular " the powers, franchises, privileges, libertys, and autho- " ritys whatsoever, granted, or to be used or exercised by " the said Wardens or Commonalty, by virtue of any right, " title, or interest vested in them by any charters, letters " patent, custom, or prescription in force, of or concerning " the electing, nominating, constituting, being, and ap- " pointhig of any person or persons into, or for the several ** and respective offices of Wardens, Assistants, and Clerk " of the said Company ; and the said Wardens and Com- *' monalty do hereby humbly beseech His Majesty to •* accept of this their surrender, and do, with all submis- " sion to His Majesty's good pleasure, implore his grace " and favour, to re-grant to the said Wardens and Com- " monalty the naming and choosing of the said offices, and " the said libertys or franchises, or so many of them as " His Majesty, in his great wisdom, shall judge most " conducive to the government of the said Company, and " with and under such reservations, restrictions, and " qualifications, as His Majesty, in his princely wisdom, " shall be pleased to appoint. In witnesse whereof, the " said Wardens and Commonalty have hereunto affixed " their common seal, the eighth day of April, in the six- " and-thirtieth year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord " Charles the Second, by the grace of God, of England, " Scotland, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the " Faith, &c. and in the year of our Lord Christ, one " thousand six hundred and eighty-four." The above documents having been solemnly read, and the question for their adoption put, it was carried unani- mously, and the Company's seal ordered to be affixed to them. A deputation was also appointed to attend His Majesty therewith at Windsor. Interview The Wardens reported, on the 9th of May, that pursuant Clr'\ II ^^ ^^^ order of the Assembly, met the 12th of April last, they, with Sir James Edwards, Sir John Moore, and divers other members, attended His Majesty, at Windsor, on THE COMPANY. 13o Sunday last. That His Majesty, being informed that a deputation of the Grocers was in attendance, " came forth ^* &, with a very kind aspect, received them ; where Sir " James Edwards, at the request of the rest of the mem- " bers, presented the petition and instrument, and de- " Glared to His Majesty, in the presence of the Lord " Keeper, Lord Chief Justice, and many of the nobility, that " his loyal subjects, the Grocers, (the Company His Ma- " jesty had been graciously pleased to make with a double '* stroke of his favour, in condescending so low as to " become a member of their fraternity,) had no sooner " read the writ of quo warranto but they called their *' Assistants and consulted, and soon resolved upon their ** duty ; and, summoning their commonalty together, they " had, unanimously, (not one dissenting member,) agreed " that a short, humble address, which, together with the " instrument under their common seal, in the name of " the whole Company of Grocers, they humbly prostrated " at His Majesty's feet ; and so on his knee presented '* them, which His Majesty most graciously received, *' declaring to them he was a member of their Company, " and they might assure themselves of all kindness and " favour he could, according to the laws, bestow upon " them ; and so His Majesty went to Chapel, dismissing " the whole assembly, without hearing any other persons; ** and committed the Company's petition to the care of " Sir Lionel Jenkins, with particular command to take " care of this Company ; and that Sir Lionel Jenkins has " since got the same referred, and declared himself very " zealous and affectionate to serve this Company to the " utmost of his power ; Ihat all care and diligence have " since been used to search records and make preparation, " that the Company may have a confirmation of their " Charter to the best benefit and advantage." The King having obtained, by means of corrupt judges. Judgment a verdict on the quo icarranto against the City, the ^qi""stthe following sentence was pronounced by Justice Jones, on the 12th of June, 1684, in Trinity term : — 136 COMPANY OP GROCERS. " That a City might forfeit its charter; that the malver- " sations of the Common Council were the acts of the " whole City ; and that the two points set forth in the " pleadings were just grounds for the forfeiting of a " charter; upon which premises the proper conclusion " seemed to be, that, therefore, the City of London had " forfeited their charter !" But the consequences of enforcing the forfeiture were so much apprehended, that it was not thought fit to venture upon it immediately ; and the Attorney General moved, contrary to the usual custom in such cases, that the judge- ment might not be recorded.* The citizens, in the meanwhile, after much debate and consideration, agreed to submit themselves and their case to the King : the Lord Mayor and a deputation repaired to Windsor, where they had an interview with His Majesty, who'^accepted their submission on the following conditions : viz. that, " in future, no Lord Mayor, Alderman, Sheriff, *• Recorder, or other officer, should be allowed to enter " upon his office without the previous sanction of the King; " that, if persons elected to any of the above offices did *' not meet His Majesty's approbation, that he might elect ** others, by commission, if he pleased." The Lord Mayor communicated the six conditions, of which the above is the substance, to the citizens in Common Hall assembled, where, after violent opposition, they were carried by a majority of eighteen, to the surprise of all the friends of liberty .-j- 1685. The natural consequence of this servile submission was, r h^*^i^ °TT ^^^^^> ^^ ^ short time, all the Aldermen obnoxious to the Court, were got rid of, and others chosen in their room by royal commission. A new Lord Mayor and Recorder, and new Sheriffs were appointed, in the same manner, to act during pleasure. In short, the City and the Companies of London, at the death of Charles II., in February 1685, * It was entered a short time afterwards, when the citizens had made tlieir submission. — Kennct's History of England. t Rennet's History of England. — Maitland's History of London. THE COMPANY'. 137 were left with charters scarcely deserving the name, which placed their liberties and municipal privileg-es at the dis- posal of the Crown, in a manner unprecedented in the annals of English history. That " unreal mockery," miscalled the charter of the Clmrter of Grocers' Company, was in no degree more favourable than ^^ ^^ • that of the City. It commences with a recital of the Li- striimenf, or surrender of the Wardens and Assistants, and goes on to state that His Majesty is graciously pleased to grant them another charter, under such restrictions as he shall think Jit. He incorporates them by their ancient name of " The Wardens and Commonalty of the Mys- tery of Grocery of London," to have perpetual succes- sion ; and to have power, yearly, to choose Wardens, with the proviso, however, that they must hold communion with the Church of England, and that they shall have received the holy sacrament according to the forms prescribed by the church, within six months before ; that after their elec- tion they shall, before they act, take the several oaths, and subscribe the declaration appointed by act of parliament. The Wardens' and Clerk's names are, by a special clause, to be first presented to the King, and if approved, under the sign manual or privy signet, they may proceed to take the oaths ; if, on the contrary, they are rejected, the Court of Assistants are to elect others, and so on, from time to time, until His Majesty is satisfied : every election made contrary to this clause to be null and void. The King reserves to himself the power of removing, by an order of privy council, any Wardens, Assistants, or Clerk. The said Wardens and Commonalty are to be subject to the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen, who are to approve all persons proposed to be admitted to the clothing. In short, although there are several apparent privileges de- tailed in this charter, all liberty of will and of action is effectually absorbed, and the Company are allowed to exist only during the pleasure of the King ; and, as if in bitter irony of the rest, this memorable document closes 138 COMPANY OF GROCERS. with '* a confirmation of all charters, grants, usuages, and " privileges in and by all things; so that the Company *' shall not be troubled or molested by the King, his heirs, " or successors, or any of their ministers, for or by reason " of any abuse or misusage for the past !" 1686. Mr. Ravenhill states that the Grocers' Company, ** when laws. " the quo warranto was brought against them, awwol684, " were (of all Companies in London) under the most " irregular government, as to bye-laws and ordinances, to ** warrant their actions and proceedings, not having any " extant (that he could find), made and legally confirmed, ** since the time of King Henry VIII. ; in whose reign, '* (continues he,) by search, I found on record, in the ** town-clerk's office, many suited to the distempers and na- ** ture of the mystery of the Grocery in those days :" having taken copies, amounting to nearly one hundred sheets, he found most of them obsolete and inapplicable to the time. The renewal of the charter offered, in the opinion of the Court of Assistants, an excellent opportunity of framing a new set of bye-laws ;* and, availing themselves of the assistance and influence of the Earl of Mulgrave,-]- their Master for the year, they procured, what is termed in the records, *^ an enlargement of their charter," with the fol- lowing advantages, viz. a confirmation of the charter of Henry VI., granting the oflfice of garbling to the Company, in all places in this kingdom, the City of London excepted, and '* declaring the species of the mystery, which in former " charters was expressed under the denomination of Gro~ " eery, but, in the present, was declared to include all ** druggists, tobacconists, and tobacco-cutters." Accession It had been suspected that Charles II., naturally a good- II anThis ^^^t^J^^d man, had been influenced in those measures against tyranny, the liberty of the subject, which impressed so deep a stain on • They were not finally completed and approved until the beginning of 1688. t Afterwards created Duke of Buckinghamshire. THE COMPANY. 139 the latter part of his reign, by the counsels of his brother, the Duke of York. The conduct of James, on attaining the crown, fully confirmed these suspicions ; for his first act was an infringement of the most sacred right of the citizens. His jealousy respecting the election of members in his new parliament was so excessive, that on the 6th of May 1685, he directed the Lord Mayor to issue precepts to the Companies, the object of which was to influence the selection of voters. The one addressed to the Master, Wardens, and Assistants of the Grocers' Company, re- quired " a return of such loyal and worthy members as " may be judged worthy and fit to be, by the Lord Mayor *' and Court of Aldermen, approved of as Liverymen to " elect members to serve for the City of London at the ap- ** preaching parliament." The allusion to the judgment of the Court of Aldermen was the more insulting, as the com- mission issued at the commencement of the year, to which I have already alluded, had appointed sixteen new Aldermen, and had degraded eight of the old ones, known to be of independent principles. He next proceeded to wreak his vengeance on Alderman Cornish, who, together with one Bethel, had been chosen Sheriff in op- position to the Court, and who had shewn himself a staunch supporter of the Exclusion-bill. The proceedings against Cornish excited universal indignation ; he was thrown into prison, and after remaining there for a few days, was sud- denly informed, on Saturday at noon, that an indictment for high treason was prepared against him, and that he would be tried on the ensuing Monday. Plis children petitioned the King for time to prepare their father's defence, and for a copy of the indictment, the nature of the charge being unknown to the prisoner ; they urged that his witnesses were at a distance, and that he was, in consequence, unable to establish the proofs of his innocence. The subtle monarch referred the petition to his venal judges, who, of course, rejected it. The trial took place on the Monday, and a conviction followed, obtained on the sole evidence 140 COiMI'ANY OF GROCERS. of two pardoned traitors.* He was executed within a week of his committal, and, a few days afterwards, his in- nocence and the perjury of the witnesses for the prosecu- tion were so clearly established, that the King; could not for- bear returning the forfeited estates to the injured family. This execution was, of itself, sufficient to alienate, for ever, the affections of James's subjects, had they enter- tained any towards his person ; but his subsequent acts, in levying duties without the authority of parliament, in dis- pensing with the operation of the Test-act, and, finally, in prosecuting the seven bishops, so completely detached the body of the people from his interests, that they adopted the resolution of expelling him from the throne, and of inviting William, Prince of Orange, to reign in his place. The instant James was apprised of his danger, he sent for the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, and voluntarily declared his determination to restore the City charters and liberties as they existed before the issuing of the writ of quo ivarranto. His great legal adviser, JefFeries, accordingly came to Guildhall and delivered the charter, with two grants of re- storation, to the Court of Aldermen. -f- 1687. In August 1687, the Court of Assistants, taking into Mr. Raven- consideration the many and valuable services rendered to 1"11- the Company by Mr. Ravenhill, their clerk, during the period of their embarrassments, and the pains taken by him in drawing up and printing what was termed the Com- pany's case, a publication eminently useful, as it explained the true causes of their inability to discharge their charities and other obligations, and thus rescued them from the obloquy incurred at the period of the sequestration of the Hall, and of the suits prosecuted against them, voted him a gratuity of two hundred pounds, and another of one hundred to his son for his assistance. • Goodenough, the seditious under-sheriff of London, who had been engaged in the Rye-house plot, and was taken prisoner after the battle of Sedgemoor, and Colonel Rumsey. — Hume, vol. viii. t Norton's Commentaries, p. 315. Repertoriuni, 1688. THE COMPANY. 141 James II. had hardly left London, with the view of encountering his opponents, when several lords of parlia- ment assembled at Guildhall, and in the Court of Aldermen, issued a solemn declaration in favour of the Prince of Orange ; this was followed by an Address of the Court of Common Council, in which they implored that Prince's protection, and promised him a welcome and joyful reception. Wil- liam shortly afterwards arrived in London, and received from the Corporation a warm address of congratulation through the hands of the Recorder. The nation having thus emancipated itself from oppres- sion, resolved to secure, at this opportunity, that free and constitutional form of government which had been so ardently desired, and which has since distinguished it above all the empires of the earth. This was accomplished by that memorable statute termed the Bill of Rights. The security of the City of London and of its immunities and privileges, being considered essential to the national welfare. Parliament passed a law, * declaratory that the judgements obtained upon the late quo warranto, and all the consequent proceedings, were illegal and arbitrary ; " and it was enacted, not only that such judgement should •* be reversed, annulled, and made void, but that the " Lord Mayor, Citizens, and Commonalty, should for " ever, thereafter, remain a body corporate and politic, " without any seizure or fore-judger, or being thereof ex- " eluded or ousted, upon any pretence of forfeiture or " misdemeanour, whatsoever, theretofore or thereafter to " be done, committed, or suffered." -j- In November 1688, the King and Queen published a pro- clamation, " for restoring Corporations and members of bo- *' dies politique to their state and degree in which they were " at the time of the quo warranto, brought against them." On this being read to the Court, the clerk stated that as there was some obscurity in the wording, which threw a doubt as to the Companies in London, and in order to * 2 Will, aud Mary, sess. 1, c. 8. t Norton's Commentaries, p. 316 1G88. The Revo- lution. The quo warranto declared to be illegal by Parlia- ment. 1688. Cancelling oftheCom- pany's surrender. 142 COMPANY OF GROCERS. avoid unpleasant consequences, it had appeared to him desirable to procure back the Company's surrender, if not enrolled, and to cancel it. This he had done, and pro- duced it in Court, for which act of foresight and precau- tion, he received the thanks of the Assistants. 1689. The 22d of October 1G89, is a day memorable in the HanfiiL^' ^""a^s of the Grocers' Company. His Majesty, King Sovereign William III., the restorer of the liberties of the nation at the Com- large, and of those of the City, condescended to be enrolled pany- ^ brother of the Company, and to take upon himself the office of its Sovereign Master for the year. The detail of the proceedings is so curious, that I am unwilling to diminish any portion of the interest it inspires, by offer- ing it to the reader in any other form than that in which it is registered in the Company's books ; the extract is as follows: — 1689. " The 22d October 1689. Gugl. et Mari(B, Regis et 22d Oct. (, Hggifirc, annoprirno. At a Court of Assistants assembled " in Grocers' Hall upon this solemn and happy occasion, " the right honourable Charles, Earl of Dorsett and " Middlesex, Lord Chamberlain of His Majesty's house- " hold, came here in person this day, and acquainted the ** Wardens and Assistants, that our most sovereign lord ** King William, of England, &c. is graciously pleased, of ** his special grace towards this Company, to assume the " title, and graciously permitting their election to be re- " corded Sovereign Master of this Society, upon which the " Wardens and Assistants here assembled do with most " humble and grateful sense of such His Majesty's con- '* descension, with thankful hearts, embrace His Majesty's " royal favour therein, and do, with most submissive alle- *' giance, in humble manner, elect and receive his Sacred " Majesty for their Sovereign Al aster accordingly; most " humbly beseeching His Majesty's gracious acceptance " thereof, in an exemplified copy of this entry, together " with their most humble duty and thanks, in the name of *' the whole Company of Grocers, to be presented in a " gold box to His Majesty, by the Wardens, and such THE COMPANY. 143 " members as they shall take to their assistance, attending " his honour in so solemn a duty to His Majesty. " God save the King and Queen." And afterwards the Clerk read the following account of the Company, in Latin and English, viz. " Aula Aromatariorum (vnlgariter Grocers' Hall,) olim " nominahatur Donius illustrisshni Domini Fitzivalter, " unius regni hiijns Paribus, quam reynante Henrico " Sexto, societaii Aromatariorum vendidit. Sita est in " ipso urhis mediiuUio, cui adjacet Jiorfns, qui aeri liheri- *' ori spatium del, nection area prce forlhus satis ampla, " qua Senatorurn, vice Comitumque, dam Prcetori, re- " husque jjuhlicis inserviunt, Nohilium etiam quacunque '* de causa hue accedeniium, currus recipiuniur ; ac ea de '* causa Communitas Aromatariorum, post conjlagratio- " nein urhis horrendam, re-edificahat, avipHorem fecit &i " omnis generis necessariis adornavit, lit domus adsuramum " magistratum magnijice recipiendum prce omnibus aliis " maxime comjnoda videretur : Sumynis enim Magistratus " vicem gerlt ipsius Regis ; nullis igitur sumptibus jnper- " cit Aromatariorum socieias, ut receplaculum esset tanto " officio, tanto Magislraiu dignum; nam in hoc opere " perficieudo, multa expenduntur millia soUdorum, ut " cedificlum esset splendidnm, apturu (S^" snis civibus conve- ** niens, qui in loco hoc sese solemnibus conviviis, amicitiam ** suam invicem testantur ^ ang of Eminent Mtmf)tv^. ANDREW BOKEREL. Andrew Bokerel, Pepperer, was Mayor of London in the reign of King Edward I. for seven consecutive years, namely, from 1231 to 1237. The traces of the Bokerel family, of which this distinguished citizen (the first noticed in the Civic annals as a Pepperer) was a member, are faint, and very widely scattered. The Bokerels, there is no doubt, came originally from Italy, where they were known by the name of Boccherelli, (a family whose de- scendants are still to be found at Pisa, in Tuscany,) as in the Hundred-rolls, or Inquisitions,* of the second year of Edward I., William Bokerel is named, together with Gregory de Rokesly, the Busings, and divers other great city men of the time, as being one " among other Lom- " hards of whose names the jury were ignorant:" it is further said, of the same William, " that he held the " fourth part of a knight's fee, or about 170 acres of " land, in the manor of Chatham ;"t and, moreover, that King Henry III., having extorted 1500 marks from the City of London, for suffering William de Bokerel, who had been sentenced to an exile of twenty years, to live in it, the Londoners offered to prove that the King had pardoned Bokerel long before : but the wily monarch, prepared with a subterfuge, replied, that Bokerel had been pardoned by him when he was in his minority, and, there- fore, the pardon was not obligatory.]; * Calend. Rotulm. Hundred, No.l, p. 115. t Ibid. p. 222. t Northouck's Hisl. of London, I77S. p. 16. 168 COMPANY OF GROCERS. Stephen Bokerel, Sheriff of London with Henry Oocham in 1228, in the mayoralty of Robert Duke, was also of this family; a citizen, and, most probably, of the same trade as Andrew.* In the return to an inquisition on a writ of Quo Warra7ito against him and William de Hadstoke, in which they are styled *' Masters of the " Bridge of London," in the 14th year of Edward I., re- specting the repair and keeping up of the bridges in the county of Herts, the jury returned ** that a certain tene- " ment therein described, and which was appropriated " towards such repairs, had come into the hands of the " said Stephen and William, as Sheriffs of London, and " had not been so applied;" and they, being summoned before the justices itinerant at St. Alban's and not ap- pearing, were ordered to be distrained upon.f Of Andrew Bokerel, the chief of this family, the only mention made is in Stowe, and that is confined to regis- tering his name in the roll of the Mayors of London. By that it appears that he first served the office of Sheriff for two successive years, viz. in 1223 and 1224, with John Travers, during the mayoralty of Richard Benger. He was Chief Magistrate, as before stated, from 1231 to 1237, and the following are the most remarkable events which took place in the City during his long mayoralty: — In 1232, a fire broke out which destroyed a great part of the City ; notwithstanding which, King Henry exacted from the citizens £20,000 to obtain his favour :| probably he had not forgotten the tumult at Westminster, three years before. This year, also, the King sent a precept to the Mayor, to summon all the citizens, who could bear arms, to assist in taking, alive or dead, the Chief Justice Hubert, from the sanctuary in Merton Abbey and in bringing him to London. The citizens joyfully assembled to the number of 20,000, resolving to execute the order * Strype's Stowe, 1754, vol. ii. p. 213. t Calend. Placita de Quo Warranto, 14 Ed. I. p. 286. J Strype's Stowe, 1754, vol, ii. p. 213. BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. lt>9 without mercy ; but the difference between the King and the Chief Justice was afterwards accommodated. In 1235, Walter le Bruin, the farrier, had a grant of a piece of ground to erect his forge upon, for which the quit-rent of counting the horse-shoes and bob-nails is still rendered by the Sheriffs, though the City at present has no claim to the ground. In 1236, on the 14th of January, was solemnized, at Canterbury, with the utmost magnificence, the marriage of the King with Eleanor of Provence. On their way to London they were met by Bokerel, the Mayor, with the Aldermen and principal citizens, to the number of three hundred and sixty, riding upon stately horses, sumptuously accoutred, and each man carrying a gold or silver cup in his hand, in token of the Mayor's claim to the chief but- lership. The streets of the City, through which the caval- cade passed, were adorned in the richest style, and the Mayor attended the Sovereigns to Westminster, and had the honour, according to custom, of officiating as butler at the Queen's coronation. At night, the City was bril- liantly illuminated ; and this is thought to have been the most pompous show that ever was seen in Loudon till that time. This same year the foreign merchants, who were pro- hibited landing their goods in London, and had been compelled to sell them on ship-board, purchased the liberty of landing and housing them, for 50 marks per annum and a fine of c£100, towards supplying the City with water from Tybourn.* SIR JOHN DE GISORS. The remote period at which the family of Gisors flou- rished renders it difficult to obtain accurate information * Northouck's Hist, of London, 1773, p. 43. 170 COMPANY OF GROCERS. respecting them. As I find the name written Gisorio in some of the early records, it is probable that they were of Italian origin, and that they came to England with the Bokerels, the Basings, and other Lombards named in the Hundred-rolls, or Inquisitions taken in the reign of Edward I. Two of the family were Pepperers, and Mayors of London. The first of them mentioned by Stowe is John Gisors, Mayor of London in 1245, 1246, 1250, and 1259; the Sheriffs with him being, in 1245, Robert of Coi'tihill and Adam Bewley; in 1246, Lawrence Frowicke, Pepperer, and Simon Fitz-Mary ; in 1250, Humphrey Bat and William Fitz-Richard ; and, in 1259, John Adrian and Robert of Cornhill, The printed calendars of the public records furnish us with a few additions to these meagre notices. Among the Patent-rolls, in the 37th year of Henry III., is one which empowers John Gisors, the King's Chamberlain of London, to regulate the price of wines; and, early in the reign of Edward the First, in the Placita de Quo War- ranto, John Gisors is summoned to answer the King as to his making claim to tronage and poundage, in the town of St. Botolph Lincoln, without the King's license ; he an- swered that he had such right (as John, the son of Nicholas, had before him) by grant from John, Duke of Brittany ; and, thereupon, a day was assigned to hear the plea. In the same documents, John Gisors, as Mayor, in the 26th year of Henry III., is said, in conjunction with the Cor- poration, to have purchased of Richard, Earl of Corn- wall, the King's brother, his fee-farm of Queenhithe, in Thames-street, with all rights, customs, and appurtenances thereunto belonging, for which they were to pay the said Earl a quit-rent of £50 per annum. This purchase was rendered valid by a charter of confirmation from King Henry, which may be seen at length in Maitland's History of London. In 1245, an order was made, by the Mayor, that, in future, all houses should be covered either with slates or BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 171 tiles, instead of thatch, more especially those that stood together and in the principal streets which were then but few in number ; for the heart of the City, where Cheapside is now situate, was an open space, called Crown-field, from the Crown inn, which stood at the east end of it.* In 1250 the King- granted that the Mayor of London should be presented to the Barons of the Exchequer, and that they should admit him. Sir John Gisors was the first Mayor who had the honour of performing this ceremony. He died in the reign of Edward II., when his son and heir, John, was called on to answer for his father, as King's Coroner of London.f By this John Gisors was built the noble mansion, in Basing-lane, called Gerrard's, or Gisors' Hall, of which there still remain the fine stone crypts, or vaults, now occupied by a wine-merchant. They are of considerable extent, divided into a double aisle by a row of columns, which support a series of pointed arches, and, by their solid construction, indicate the importance of the mansion of which they once formed a part. Another Sir John Gisors, Mayor of London and Con- stable of the Tower, in 1311, and also a Pepperer, was grandson, as we may presume from the data, of the first John. He was one of the representatives of the City in the Parliament held at Westminster in the year 1315, and also resided in the mansion, in Basing-lane ; but having assumed, in his magistracy, the illegal power of taxing the citizens, complaints of his conduct were made to the King, and he was obliged to abscond. Nothing more of him is known but that he died in 1329, and was buried in our Lady's Chapel, Christ Church, in the ward of Farringdon Within. * Stowe's Annals. , t Placita de Quo Warranto, 14 Ed. II. The original runs thus: — '' Isti fiierunt Coronatorcs post ullimum iter, viz. Johcs de Gisors obiit per " quo. Johts filius ejus et h.^c. as much as belongs to us, we approve and " confirm. So that they may not hereafter be sued, " either by ourselves, our heirs, successors, or our justices, *' on occasion of these deaths." — ** Teste Rege, ajmd Tur- " rim. Lond. 4 June."* * Record in the Tower. 178 COMPANY OP GROCERS. Aubery appears, also, to have been very popular with the foreign merchants established in the City, for they raised, among themselves, a contribution, amounting to fifty marks, which they gave towards the support of his Mayoralty. SIR NICHOLAS BREMBER. " Sotto un crudel impero " Troppo mai non si tace. Un sogno, un ombra " Passa per fallo e si punisce." Metastasio. II Ciro, Act 2. Of the family of Sir Nicholas Brember, I have been able to discover nothing; but, that he was a man of great consequence in his time is certain, for he took a con- spicuous part in the troubles which shook this kingdom to the centre, in the reign of Richard II. He was four times Mayor of London, namely in 1377, 1383, 1384, and 1385 ; and Member of Parliament for the City, in 1382. He received the honour of knighthood from the hand of King Richard II., at the same time with the celebrated Sir WiUiam Walworth.* The assertion so frequently made respecting the par- tiality of historians in narrating facts connected with emi- nent persons, and colouring them according to their own political prejudices, is particularly borne out in the case of Sir Nicholas Brember. Maitlandf calls him " a perfi- dious and cruel man," and " one of the wicked favourites of Richard," while Pennant J styles him " the stout Mayor who suffered for his attachment to his royal master," and Hume,§ who, in feeling and indignant terms, alludes to the mockery of the trial at which he was condemned, considers him as one of those, who was treated by the faction of the ambitious Duke of Gloucester " without any * Stowe's Survaie. Edition 1633, p. 557. t History of London, vol. i. p. 179. X Account of London, $ History of England, vol. iii. BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 179 " regard to reason, justice, or humanity." Grafton in his Chronicle, mentions him as " a worthie and puissant man " of the City, -which was the King's draper, called " Nicholas Bremher." It is not my intention to make any attempt to reconcile these contradictions ; I will, there- fore, content myself with giving a brief narrative of the events in which Sir Richard was concerned, and leave my readers to draw their own conclusions, entreating them, at the same time, to bear in mind, that he lived at a period when " the laws were so feebly executed that no subject " could trust to their protection,"* when men openly asso- ciated themselves under the banner of one or other of the great political parties of the day, which parties were con- sidered legitimate in proportion to the success they ob- tained. This was particularly observable in the following reign, when Henry IV. patched up his title to the crown in the best manner he could, and became the lawful sovereign of England, with no ground of right but his present posses- sion. " Ille crucem sceleris pretium tulit, hie diadema." t The first remarkable event which occurred in 1377, was a dangerous riot, occasioned by the conduct of the Lord Piercey, Marshal of England, who committed a citizen of London to his prison of the Marshalsea, contrary to the rights and immunities of the City. The Mayor and Com- mon Council assembled to deliberate upon the affair ; but, in the meanwhile, the populace, having learned that one of their fellow citizens was in duress, and, being instigated by the Lord Fitzwalter, the City standard-bearer, broke open the Marshalsea, liberated the prisoner, and spoiled the Marshal's house ; they then ran to the Savoy, a palace in- habited, at that time, by the King's son, the Duke of Lan- caster, to attack it. They had a grudge against him, on account of his having endeavoured, in parliament, to abridge the liberties of the City, by having the office of * Hume, vol. ii. page 62. t Juvenal. N 2 180 COMPANY OF GROCERS. Mayor abolished, and a Custos, as in ancient times, set over it, and also by giving' the Marshal liberty of arrest therein. The Duke, having notice of their approach, escaped, but a priest was murdered by the mob, under the idea that he was Lord Piercey, in disguise.* The Mayor and Commonalty, apprehensive that a storm would burst upon the City in consequence of these events, sent a deputation of their principal citizens to deprecate the King's wrath. They produced a momentary impression upon the royal mind ; but the lower orders, whose dislike of the Duke of Lancaster was unconquerable, continuing to insult hira by means of lampoons and pasquinades, the Mayor and Aldermen were summoned to attend the King at Sheen, for the purpose of apologising to the Duke in the City's name. They entreated the King not to permit the innocent to suffer for the guilty, and offered to use every exertion to discover and bring to punishment the delin- quents, but they declined the apology : the result was, that Adam Staple, the Mayor, and several of the Aldermen, were dismissed from their offices, and others, by the King's writ, appointed in their places. Sir Nicholas Bremher was then named Mayor. A few weeks after this event, Richard II. ascended the throne, and Sir Richard, with the assistance of Parlia- ment, succeeded in obtaining a confirmation of the City's charter and the King's interference for the accommodation of the dispute with the Duke of Lancaster, which was brought about without any compromise of dignity on either part. In 1383, the second year of Bremhers mayoralty, the City charter received further confirmation and additions, as was announced to the citizens, in a remarkable proclama- tion, issued by Sir Richard, " on the Friday after the feast " of the B.V. Mary, and in the seventhyear of the King."-!- Great and beneficial changes also took place in the Com- mon Council, which, it was ordered, should consist of * Stowe's Annals. t Maitland, vol. i. BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 181 " sufficient persons," four of whom, the Aldermen were ordained to cause to be chosen from each ward, in lieu of the ancient mode of taking them from certain mysteries or crafts. By means of Sir Nicholas Brember, most of the Aldermen were turned out by the Common Council, and new ones elected in the respective wards. The return of the Lord Mayor himself, for the ward of Bread-street, is thus recorded ; — " Bread Strete — Dominus Nicolas Brem- " bre, Miles, electus est in Alderman. Warded prcedicteBt " per prohos homines ejusdem Warda." The maladministration of affairs by De la Pole, Earl of Suffolk, the Chancellor, and Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland, widened the breach which then existed between the King and his nobles. These favourites saw the impos- sibility of engrossing the royal favour during the life of the Duke of Gloucester, uncle to the King, and they entered into a conspiracy to kill him. Sir Nicholas Brember is said to have been concerned in it ; and when the Duke, who secretly assembled his adherents at Hornsey, got possession of the King's person, Suffolk, the Duke of Ireland, Tre- silian, and Brember, were declared traitors and enemies to the state. A charge of thirty-nine articles was delivered in by the Duke and his friends ; but, as none of the ac- cused, except Sir Nicholas, was in custody, the rest were cited to appear,* and, upon their absenting themselves, the House of Peers, after a very short interval, without hear- ing a witness, without examining a fact, or deliberating on one point of law, declared them guilty of high treason. Sir Nicholas Brember, who was produced in court, had the appearance, and but the appearance, of a trial : he denied the charges, and insisted, as a knight, on the privilege of defending himself by single combat, but this was refused to him. -I- His words, on this occasion, deserve to be re- corded : — " Whoever has branded me with this ignomi- " nious mark, with him I am ready to fight in the lists to • Hume, vol. ii. t Malhaia's History of Enghmd, vol. i. 182 COMPANY OF GROCERS. " maintain my innocency, whensoever the King shall ap- " point. And this he spoke with such a fury, that his eyes " sparkled with rage, and he breathed as if an -^tna had " laid hid in his breast, chusing rather to die gloriously in " the field than disgracefully on a gibbet."* The peers, though they were not, by law, his proper judges, pro- nounced, in a very summary manner, sentence of death upon him.-f- He was adjudged to be drawn and hanged, which sentence was accordingly executed upon him at Tyburn. ;j: Froissart thus alludes to the death of Sir Ni- cholas : — " His dethe was sore complayned of some men " of London, for he hadde been Mayre of London before, " and had well governed his offyce, and dyde one day great " honour to the Kyng, whan he slewe, with his owne " handes Lyster, whereby alle the rebelles were discon- " fyted, and for that good servyce the Kyng made hym " knyght."§ He was afterwards buried in Christ Church, Newgate-street, where a monument was erected to his memory. SIR JOHN PHILPOT. Sir John Philpot was born in Kent, at Upton-Court, in the parish of Sibbert's Wood ; he was a Citizen and Grocer, and became Lord Mayor of London in 1378. The following account of him, by Fuller, || is quaintly and curiously worded, and I give it verbatim: — " In the second " of Richard the 2d. our English seas wanted scouring, " over run with the rust of piracies, but chiefly with a " canker fretting into them, one John Mercer, a Scot, " with his fifteen Spanish ships, to represse whose inso- " lence, our Philpot, on his own cost, set forth a fleet ; * Harleian Miscellany. t Maitland's History of London, vol. i. t Stowe's Survaie. § The Chronycle of Froyssart, vol. ii. p. 393. II "Worthies of England, vol. i. to, 509, art. Kent. BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 183 " a project more proportionable to the treasury of a " prince than the purse of a private subject. His success " was as happy as his undertaking honourable, and Mercer " brought his wares to a bad market, being taken with all " his ships, and rich plunder therein. " Two years after, he conveyed an English army into ** Brittaine in ships of his own hiring, and, with his own ** money, released more than 1000 arms there, which the " souldiers formerly engaged for their victuals. But this " industry of Philpot interpretatively taxed the lazinesse " of others; the nobility accusing him (drones account all " bees pragmatical) to the King for acting without a com- ** mission. Yea, in that ungrateful age, under a child- ** King, pro tanlorum sumptuuvi p>r(Bmio veniam vix oh- *' tinuil ; however, he who, whilest living, was the scourge ** of the Scots, the fright of the French, the delight of the ** Commons, the darling of the Merchants, and the hatred " of some envious Lords, was, at his death, lamented and " afterwards beloved of all, when his memory was restored " to its due esteem." Another version of Philpofs courageous conduct, on this occasion, is as follows: — " John Mercer, a merchant of Scotland, who used to " trade with France, and was in great favour with the " King of that country on account of his prudence and " good services, when returning home to Scotland, in the ** year 1377, was driven by stress of weather, upon the ** coast of England, seized, and confined in the Castle of " Scarburgh, till an order from Court effected his dis- *' charge. His son, to revenge the injury, cruised before *' Scarburgh, with a fleet composed of French, Scots, and " Spaniards, and took several vessels. John Philpot, an ** opulent citizen of London, thereupon took upon himself ** the protection of the trade of the kingdom, neglected by " the Duke of Lancaster, who, without the name of regent, " governed the kingdom in the minority of his nephew, and, ** having hired a thousand armed men, sent them to sea in *' search o^ Mercer, whom they took, together with his prizes, 184 COMPANY OF GROCERS. " and fifteen Spanish vessels, his consorts, all richly " loaded."* It should, however, be stated, in justice, that Richard II. as a reward for his services, g'ave him an estate of o£40 per annum, -f- Sir John Philpot was, likewise, an honest and indepen- dent Member of Parliament ; for, about the year 1377, J " when a bill was brought in, in the name of the King, by *' means of the offended Duke of Lancaster, that the City " should be no more governed by a Mayor, but by a " Custos, as in times before, and that the Marshall of " England, who was then Lord Percie, should have all the " power of making arrests within the City, with other " petitions tending to the like derogation of the liberties " of the City, he stood up and said. Such a matter was " never heard of before, and that the Mayor of London " would never suffer any such arrest to be brought into " the City; with more such words of the like stoutness." Sir John Philpot had a handsome residence in Lang- bourne Ward, upon the site of the present Philpot-lane, which was named after him. He departed this life in 1384, and was buried in Christ Church, Newgate-street, together with the Lady Jane Stamford, his wife. § JOHN CHURCHMAN. John Churchman, Grocer, served the oflHce of Sheriff in 1385, during the mayoralty of Sir Nicholas Bremher, and to him the trade of London is indebted for the esta- blishment of the first Custom-house. Whether that fact is of itself sufficient to justify his being handed down to pos- terity, as a favourer and supporter of commerce, is a ques- tion which I shall not attempt to decide.; but his claims to • Macpherson's Annals of Commerce, vol. i. page 587. t Speed. t Strype. $ Stowe's Siuvaie. BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 185 the remembrance of the Company rest on a different basis. It is to him, undoubtedly, that the Grocers are indebted for the management of the Weighhouse and the King's Beam, which were entrusted to them, and from which, for many years, they derived both emolument and patronage. I conjecture this from the following passage in Strype:* — " I read that, in the 6th year of Richard II. John Church- " man, Grocer, for the quiet of merchants, did newly " build a certain house upon the key called Woolwharf, in " Tower-Street-Ward, Allhallows Barking parish, betwixt " the tenement of Paul Salisbury on the east part, and " the lane called the Watergate, on the west, to serve for " troynage,f or weighing of wools, in the port of London ; " whereupon the King granted that, during the life of the " aforesaid John, the said troynage should be held and kept " in the same house, with easements there for the heames " and weights, and a convenient place for the customer, '• comptrollers, clerks, and other officers of the said troy- " nage, together with ingress ant* egress to and from the " same, even as was had in other places where the said " troynage was wont to be kept, and that the King should ** pay yearly to the said John, during his life, 40 shillings, " at Easter and Michaelmas, by even portions, by the *' hands of his Customer, or farmer of the Customs, with- " out any other payment to the said John, as in the said " indenture more at large thereof appeareth." It is more than probable that Churchman, being unable of himself to control and manage so considerable a concern as the pub- lic scale, was induced to obtain the assistance of the Com- pany to which he belonged ; and as this Company, at a period when commerce was restricted to few hands, was of the first importance in the port of London, the King must have found it highly advantageous to him to commit the management of the Weighhouse, and the appointment of the officers connected with it, to so influential a body. • Vol.i. p. 513. t Before Churchman built the above, the tronage of wool was at Wool- rhurch-Haw, by Stock's Market. 186 COMPANY OF GROCERS. The Court of Aldermen more than once laid claim to the management of the Weighhouse on the part of the City, and occasional discussions with the Company took place in consequence ; but the latter retained their influence until the privilege fell into desuetude, and the public scale gradually came into the hands of the government. The general Weighhouse and King's Beam were in Cornhill, upon the site of the present Sun-Court, the houses in which are the property of the Grocers' Com- pany. SIR THOMAS KNOLLES. " Though none of this family, says Dugdale, arrived to " the honor of Peerage till the beginning of King James his " reign, yet were some of them men of great note in their " times, for Robert Knolles (ancestor of Sir Thomas), who '* was at first a person but of a low fortune, betaking " himself to a military course of life, made such advantage " by the troubles in Normandy and Brittany, that, in the ** 32d year of King Edward the Third, abounding with " riches gotten by the wars, he became an eminent Com- " mander in those parts. He was, thereupon, chosen " by Prince Edward (commonly called the Black Prince) " to accompany him into Spain, to the aid of Don Pedro, " then King of Castile and Leon, against Henry the " Bastard, son of King Alfonso." Sir Thomas Knolles, a member of the Grocers' Company, was twice Lord Mayor, namely, in 1399 and in 1410, and was, likewise, a benefactor to it. By his will, dated 12th July 1432, he bequeathed them a messuage in St. An- tholin's, Budge-Row, " for a pure and perpetual alms for ** the support and relief of the poor of the said Company." Here-edified, at his own cost, the said church of St. An- tholin's, and was buried there. His son, Thomas Knolles, caused the following doggrel epitaph to be inscribed on his tomb : — BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 187 Here lyeth graven under this stone Thomas Knowles, both flesh and bone, Grocer and Alderman yeeres forty, Sheriffe and twice Maior, truely ; And for he should not lye alone. Here lyeth with him his good wife Joane : They were together sixty yeere, And nineteen children they had in feere of God. William Knolles, descended from the same common ances- tor as Sir Thomas, was, by letters patent of the 13th May 1603, in the first year of King James the First, created a Baron of the Realm, by the title of Lord Knolles, of Grays, in the county of Oxon, first Viscount Wallingford, Earl of Banhury, in the county of Oxford, on the 18th of August 1626. This William died, without legitimate issue, in 1632, when all his honours became extinct. This Earldom was claimed, in 1813,* by General WiUiam Knolles, as heir male of Nicholas, son and heir of the Earl, of whose legitimacy there was much doubt; and the House of Lords decided, March the 9th 1813, that the petitioner had not made good his claim, and, consequently, established the illegitimacy of the said Nicholas. SIR ROBERT AND SIR THOMAS CHICHELEY. Two individuals of this ancient family have been dis- tinguished members of the Company ; and the following is the best account I have been able to obtain of their origin : — Thomas Chichele of Higham Ferrers, the father of Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury, was of low * Nicholas's Synopsis of the Peerage. 188 COMPANY OF GROCERS. extraction and of mean station in life.* He is commonly imagined to have been a tailor, and it is probable that this idea originated in the insult offered to his son, by one of the courtiers of Henry VI. who sent him a present of a rag pie, though there is nothing in the mode of relating the story which fixes upon the father the trade of a tailor.f In the older pedigrees, particularly that in the Harleian collection, some of his ancestors are mentioned as esta- blished at Higham Ferrers, though their rank and station in the world is not ascertained. Dr. Hoveden, (warden of All Souls, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth) who wrote the life of the founder, in Latin, says that he was " hones tis " natus parentibus" which would imply that his parents were of some repute and credit, on account of their extraction. Thomas Chichele married Agnes, the daughter of Williatn Pyncheon, who is allowed in the pedigrees, to have been a gentleman, *' as he hath coat-armour thus " blazon : Or, a bend, 3 plates, with a bordure counter- " changed azure and sable." Thomas Chichele died the 25th February 1400, as may be seen by the inscription on his tomb-stone, in the north aisle of the chancel at Higham Ferrers, known heretofore by the name of the Lady Chapel. He had, by his wife Agnes Pyncheon, three sons, Henry, Archbishop of Canterbury and founder of All Souls, Robert, and WilHam, and a daughter whose name is not ascertained, and of whom we know no more, than that she married a gentleman of the name of Tooke. • Stemmata Chicheleana. t " One of the courtiers in Henry the 6th's time, sent, by one of the " King's Servants as from the King, a pye full of rags, as a present to " Cardinal Chichele, as a scorn to his extraction, son of a broker or " draper. The Cardinal received the messenger very civilly, desired " him to present his duty to his Majesty, and give him many thanks for " reminding him of a very worthy and affectionate parent; and to tell him " that he should make it his constant prayer that his Majesty might as " much out-go his father, Henry the 5th in all acts of prowess and virtue, " as he had done his in honor and preferments." — Harl. MSS. No. 991, fol. 27. BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 189 Robert Chichele, the second son of Thomas, was a Citizen and Grocer, and lived in the parish of Saint James Garlyke-Hythe, in the City of London. By his ^eat application to business and industry, he became possessed of great wealth ; and, by means of his fair character, attained great importance among his fellow-citizens. He was the intimate friend of Sir Richard Whittinglon, whom he emulated in knowledge of trade, as well as in acts of charity and munificence. He had an estate and residence at Romford, in Essex, where, in the year 1410, he con- tributed largely towards re-building the chapel (which was a chapel of ease to Hornchurch), and obtained for it, through his influence with the Warden and fellows of New College, who are the patrons, the privileges of sepulture and cemetery, for the parishioners who frequented that chapel. In the year 1428, he gave to the parish of St. Stephen Walbrook, a plot of ground two hundred and eight feet and a half in length, and sixty-six feet in breadth, where- upon to build their church and for their churchyard. In the year following he laid the first stone of the new church, and gave one hundred pounds more towards the expense, and bore the charges of all the timber-work on the proces- sion-way, as well as those of the lead upon it. In addition to many other charities, he gave, by his last will dated the 17th December 1438, several tenements in the parish of Saint Antbolin, to the Master or Warden and the College of the Blessed Virgin, St. Thomas the Martyr, and Edward the Confessor, of Higham Ferrers, (which his brother, the Archbishop, had founded,) that the said Warden should pray for the souls of Thomas and Agnes, his father and mother; Elizabeth, Agnes, and Agnes, his wives; William Chichele,* his brother, and Beatrice, his wife. It is said, by Weever, that he ordered by his testament, on his birth-day, a competent dinner to be provided for two thousand four hundred poor men, householders of the City of London, and every man to have two-pence in * Also a member of the Grocers' Company. 190 COMPANY OF GROCERS. money, but the copy of his will in All Souls College does not notice this legacy.* He was Sheriff of London in the year 1403, Lord Mayor, for the first time, in 1411, and again in 1421, when he received the honour of Knighthood. -f- Sir Robert Chichele died in 1440, and, if we may believe Stowe, and, if the positive directions in his will were observed, he was buried in the church of St. James, Garlyke-Hythe, of which he calls himself a parishioner: but Weever, by one of those errors in the arrangement of his collections to which he was occasionally liable, gives the following epitaph upon him, in black letter, as transcribed from the church of St. Mary Bothaw :— " Chich. , . . vocitatus ........ Robertus, ** otnni bonitate refertus, pauperibus largus, plus extitit ad " mala tardus, moribus ornatus, jacet isthic intumulatus, " corpore procerus, bis Maior et arte Grocerus, Anno milleno " C quater, X quater anno " SIR THOMAS CHICHELEY, who descended in a right line from the said Sir Robert, was Master of the Ord- nance, afterwards Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster to King Charles the Second, and to King James the Second, and member of their Majesties' most honourable Privy Council. He was a Liveryman of this Company, and Master thereof in the years 1686 and 1687. After the church of St. * Fun». Mon». p. 409. f An entry occurs in the Company's books, during his mastership, shewing the authority which the law allowed them to exercise over those of their trade : — " Ordered, that all the ginger, maces, and other wares, " which are falsely coloured, shall be viewed by the Masters with one of " the Mayor's servants, who shall search and overlook all goods of " Grocers brought in the galleys as well as in the City of London ;" and the same year, 1415, a barrel of maces, which were falsely coloured, was taken before William Walderne, Mayor, and his Aldermen, when they adjudged the merchant who owned the same to be bound in a fine of £1, not to sell, or cause to be sold, the said maces, in England, at any price. At the same time, also, certain other Groceries were condemned, and their sale prohibited. BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 191 Stephen's Walbrook was destroyed by the great fire of London in 1666, he laid the first stone of the new church, and was a liberal benefactor towards the cost of the re- building. He also built the Company a new barge at his own charge, and purchased for them the tenant right of a barge-house. In grateful remembrance whereof they caused his picture and an inscription to be set up in the Hall. SIR WILLIAM SEVENOKE. " I see lord mayor written on his forehead ; " The cap of maintenance and city sword, " Borne up in state before him." Massinger. City Madam. About the latter end of King Edward the Third's reign, there was found, by Sir Willimn Rumpsted, in the hollow of a tree, as some report, in the street of Sevenoke, a poor child, whose parents were unknown, and who, for that reason, was named after the place, where he was dis- covered, William Sevenoke. This orphan was, by the assistance of Sir William and other charitable persons, brought up and put apprentice to Hugh cle Bois* a citizen and Ferrer of London ; and the term of his apprenticeship being expired, in the eighteenth year of King Richard II., he petitioned, as his master had used the trade or mystery of a Grocer, and not a Ferrer, to be admitted to the freedom of the Grocer's Company,f which was granted. By degrees he accumulated wealth, and rose to be Lord Mayor of London ; which office he served in 1418, the sixth year of King Henry V., and received the honour of Knighthood, then bearing for his arms — seven acorns, three, three, and one.J • Lanb. Peramb. p. 574. t Strype's Stowe's Surrey, book v. p. 117. t Ibid. p. 118. 192 COMPANY OF GROCERS. At which time calling to mind the goodness of Almighty God, and the favour of his patron, Sir William Rumpsted, and the inhabitants of Sevenoke extended towards him, he determined to leave behind him a lasting memorial of his thankfulness ; therefore, at his own cost and charge, he founded an hospital, consisting of certain Alms-houses for twenty poor people ; and a Free-school for the educa- tion of youth, within that town ; endowing them with a proper and sufficient maintenance.* To effect which, he, by his last will and testament, dated July 14, 1432, devised all his lands and tenements, with other appurtenances, which he lately had by feoffment from Margaret Walton in Petty- Wales- Street, in the parish of All Saints Barking in London, to the rector, vicar, churchwardens, and other parishioners of the town of Sevenoke, for ever, upon trust, that they, out of the rents and profits of them, should find and maintain for ever, one master, well skilled in grammar, and a Bachelor of Arts, who should keep a Grammar Scliool, in some convenient house within the said town, to be purchased with his goods, at the discretion of his executors ; and likewise, out of the said rents and profits, for ever, to give and pay twenty poor men and women of the said parish, quarterly, ten shillings apiece, who should live within the said town, in houses to be purchased by his executors, and for other charitable purposes, in the said will mentioned. After which, in the second year of Queen Elizabeth, through the care of Sir Ralph Bosville, Knt., and several of the inhabitants there, not only the yearly stipends were much increased, but their former litigated possessions were set- tled and quietly established ; the Queen's letters patent, dated July 1st, that year, having been procured, which * Sir William Sevenoke (or Sevenocks, as he is called in the Act of Parliament relating to his chantries,) served in Parliament for the City of London, in the time of King Henry V. He was, by his will, a bene- factor to the parish of St. Dunstan-in-the-East, and, dying, was buried in the church of St. Martin Ludgate. — Strype's Stowe's Survey, Append. II. book ii. p, 47, book iii. p. 76. BIOGRAPHY OF RMINRNT MKMBERS, 193 directed, that '* there should be for ever in the town of " Sevenokes, a free Grammar School, called the Grammar " School of Queen Elizabeth, for the education, institution, " and instruction of Children and Youth in Grammar and " other learning: and that, in the parish of Sevenokes, " there should be an Incorporation, to consist of the two " wardens of the said parish and of the free-school, and " of four assistants, inhabitants of the said town and parish, " by the name of the wardens and four assistants of the " town and parish of Sevenokes, and of the free-school " of Queen EUzabeth, in Sevenocks." All which was con- firmed by an act passed in the 30th year of that reign, not only as to this school, but the said Incorporation was more firmly established as to the said hospital or alms- house, for the reUef of the poor, which had been for many years in the said town and parish, at first erected by the said William Sevenokes, and endowed by his will; which endowment of both had been augmented afterwards by others.* The Lady Margaret, daughter of Sir Ralph Bosville, Knt., before her death, which happened in 1692, settled a farm, called Hallywell-in-Burnham, in Essex, upon cer- tain trustees and their heirs, for ever, to pay and dispose of the rents and profits, to the founding and endowment of two scholarships in Jesus' College, Cambridge, of £12 per annum each, the scholars to be called " Sir William BoswelVs scholars," and to be chosen out of Sevenoke- • John Potkine, D,D. " sometyme scholar" in this school, by his will, dated the 8th of April 1543, gave £9 per annum to the school, payable out of his capital house, called " The Sterre, in Bred-streate," in London. Anthony Pope, Gent., by his will, dated the 19th of December 1571, gave a tenement in Petty Wales, within the Cittie of London, towards the " meyntenance of God's glory, and the eruditione and bringinge up of the pore schoUersof Sevenoke invertuouse disciplyne, godly learninge, and good and civill manners." John Pett, Gent., by deed, dated the 16th of September 1589, gave an annuity of £5, issuing out of his lands and tenements, called Ryver- Hill," to the use of the poor of the almshouses of Sevenokes. 194 COMPANY OF GROCERS. School ; and, for the want of lads fitting there, out of Tunbridge School ; and upon every vacancy, £3 a-piece to two of the fellows of Jesus' College, to come over to prove the capacity of the lads. She also left £12 yearly to a school-master, to instruct fifteen of the poorest children, born in this parish, in the Catechism of the Church of England, and to write and cast accounts ; and £18 per annum more, to be kept in public stock, to place those so taught, to handicraft trades or employments. In the 8th year of King George I. 1722, the leases of the warehouses, which had been erected on part of the lands called " Wool Key," in the parish of All Saints Barking, devised for these charitable purposes, being expired, and the School and Almshouses being much out of repair ; and it being thought that it would prove of great advantage to the charity, if the Wardens and Assistants were enabled to raise by the disposal of those premises, a competent sum of money, to be employed in re-building, repairing, furnishing, and fitting up the Free-School and Almshouses, and in enlarging them, and for other charita- ble uses, appointed by the founder's will ; and, likewise, to obtain a settled revenue, for the support and maintenance of the said charities in future ; on a proposal made to the Wardens and Assistants, for the purchase of them for the use of Government, an act passed, to vest the fee of the above-mentioned wharf, quay, and premises, in trustees, for the use of the king, his heirs, and successors, for the use of the Crown, as lying contiguous to the Royal Cus- tora-House, that they might be fitted up for warehouses, offices, and other conveniences for merchants, or the Com- missioners and officers of the Customs ; and the king, to promote this so beneficial a charity, having agreed that £2,500 should be paid to the Wardens and Assistants, towards the re-building the school, almshouses, &c. that sum was confirmed to them by the act then passed. And the said wharf, quay, and other premises were made sub- ject, by the said act, to a yearly rent of £550 to be paid, fof the future, to the said Wardens and Assistants, and BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 195 their successors for ever, for the perpetual support and maintenance of the charitable uses, by the founder and all other benefactors, in time to come. In pursuance of which, the present school-house was erected upon the old foundation in 1727; and the Hospital, or Almshouse, was completely repaired and fitted up. There are six exhibitions belon^ng to this school; four of which are of £15 a-year, and are not confined to any college or either University.* The following poem is both curious and interesting; but whether that part of it which attributes the germ of Sir William Sevenokes fortune to the purse given him after the Battle of Agincourt, by the Dauphin of France, is true, I have no means of knowing. The existence of the poem proves, at all events, that Sir William was a man of great celebrity in his time, and, therefore, I insert it. In Johnson's " Nine Worthies of London," 4to. 1592, and re-printed in the Harleian Miscellany, 4to. London Edit. 1811, edited by Mr. Park, Sir William Sevenoke, who ranks as the third Worthy amongst the Nine, is thus noticed. SIR WILLIAM SEVENOAKE. My harmlesse byrth, misfortune quite contemn'd, And from my pappe did make my youth a prey ; So scarcely budd, my branches were unstem'd. My byrth-howre was deatlie's black and gloomie day : Had not the Highest stretched forth his might, The breake of day had beene the darkest night. Some monster, that did envie Nature's worke, (When I was borne, in Kent,) did cast me forth, In desert wildes, where, though no beast did lurke To spoyl that life the heavens made for woorth : Under seaven oakes yet Mischiefe flung me downe, Where I was found, and brought unto a towne. • Hasted's Hist. Kent, v. i. p. 755. Carlisle's Endowed Grammar Schools, V. i. p. 616. O 2 190 COMPANY OF GROCERS. Behold an ebbe that never thought to flowe, Behold a fall unlikelie to recover, , Behold a shrub, a weed that grew full lowe, Behold a wren that never thought to hover; Behold yet how the highest can command, And make a sand foundation tirmelie stand. For when my infant's time induste more yeares, After some education in the schoole, And some discretion in my selfe appeares. With labour to be taught in manuall toole, To learne to live, to London thus being found, Apprentice to a Grocer I was bound. To please the honest care my master tooke, I did refuse no toyle nor drudging payne ; My hands no labour ever yet forsooke, Whereby I might increase my master's gayne. Thus Sevenoake liv'd, for so they calde my name. Till Heaven did place me in a better frame. In time, my prentise yeares were quite expir'de, And then Bellona, in my homelie brest. My countrie's honour with her flames had fir'de, And for a souldier made my fortune prest. Henry the Fift, my king, did warre with Fraunce ; Then I with him, his right to re-advance. There did courageous men with love compare, And strive, by armes, to get their prince renowne ; There sillie I, like thirsty soule did fare, To drink their fill would venture for to drowne : Then did the height of my inhaust desire Graunt me a little leasure to aspire. The Dolphyne,* then, of France, a comelie knight. Disguised, came, by chaunce, into a place. Where I, well wearied with the heats of fight, Had layd me downe, for warre had ceas'd his chace ; And, with reproachfull words, as " layzie swaine," He did salute me, ere I long had layne. I, knowing that he was mine enemie, A bragging Frenchman, (for we tearm'd them so,) 111 brook'd the proud disgrace he gave to me, And, therefore, lent the Dolphyne such a blowe As warm'd his courage well to lay about. Till he was breathlesse, though he were so stout. • Dauphin. BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 197 At last, the noble Prince did aske my name, My birth, my calling, and my fortunes past ; With admiration he did heare the same. And so a bagge of crownes to me he cast ; And when lie went away, he saide to mee, Sevenoake, be proud, the Dolphyne fought with thee ! When English had obtainde the Victoria, We crossed backe the grudginge seas againe, Were all my friends supposed warre to be For vice and foUie, virtue's onlie bane : But see the simple, how they are deceav'de. To judge that horrour honnour hath bereav'd. For, when my souldier's fame was laid aside. To be a Grocer once againe I framde ; And He which rules above my steps did guide, That, through his wealth, Sevenoake in time was fam'de To be Lord Maior of London by degree, Wherejustice made me sway with equitie. Gray haires made period unto honour's call, And frostie Death had furrow'd in my face Colde winter gashes, and to sommers fall, And fainting Nature left my mortall place; For with the date of flesh my life decayde, And Sevenoake died ; for every flower must fade. By testament, in Kent, I built a towne. And briefly called it Sevenoake from my name ; A free-schoole to sweete learning, to renowne, I plac'de for those that playde at honour's game ; Both land and livinge to that towne I gave, Before I tooke possession of my grave. Thither I bare my flesh, but leave my fame. To be a president for London wights ; And you that now behold fair vertue's maime, Thinke he is happie, for his countreye fights ; For, for my guerdon to this pleasant field, My carkas did my dying spirit yeeld. SIR JOHN DE WELLES. ' Sir John de Welles, son of John de Welles, of the city of Norwich, was a Liveryman of the Company of Grocers, 198 COMPANY OF GROCERS. Lord Mayor of London in 1431, in the lOth year of King Henry the Sixth, and representative for the City of Lon- don in four parliaments. The family of De Welles is of great antiquity, as may be seen in Dugdale, whose authority, however, does not clearly prove from which branch Sir John was descended. The principal estates of the family were in Lincolnshire; and it is certain that, from 1299 to 1421, one of the branches was possessed of a Barony by writ. Leo de Welles, the last who held the Barony, was slain in 1461 ; when, being attainted, his honours became forfeited. Sir John de Welles, according to Stowe, " builded the Standard in Chepeside," and was, also, a great benefactor to the new building of the chapel by Guildhall, which was pulled down, a few years ago, to make way for the new law courts. He, also, built, at his own cost, the south aisle of the choir of Saint Antholin's church, " which," says the City Historian, " by " his picture, (strangely there found,) his motto, and " armes, doth yet plainely appeare ;" and he left, by will, a sum of money to repair the highway leading from London to Westminster.* This was substantially performed, under letters patent from the king, by his executors, Thomas Knowles and John Chichley. SIR STEPHEN BROWNE. Sir Stephen Browne, son of John Browne, of New- castle-upon-Tyne, was Lord Mayor of London in 1438, the 17th year of King Henry the Sixth, and Member of Parliament for the City in 1452. In his mayoralty, wheat was at the extraordinary price of three shillings the bushel, and, so great was the dearth, that bread was made of vetches, pease, beans, and fern-roots.f The famine was considerably alleviated by the conduct of Sir Stephen, who sent into Prussia, and caused to be brought from thence * Arnold's Chronicle. t Strype. BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 199 certain ships laden with rye, which was a great relief in so extreme a necessity. Fuller s account of this action of Browne's is so curious, and so quaintly worded, that I cannot refrain from inserting it verbatim. " He was Lord Mayor of London in 1438, ' in which year happened a great and general famine, ' caused much by unseasonable weather, but more by ' some (huckstering) husbandmen, who properly may be ' termed knaves in grain, insomuch that wheat was sold ' for three shillings a bushel, (intollerable, according to ' the standard of those times,) and poor people were ' forced to make bread of fearn-roots. But this Sir ' Stephen Brovme, sent certain ships to Danz, whose sea- ' sonable return with rye suddenly sunk grain to reasonable * rates, whereby many a languishing life was preserved. ' He is beheld one of the first merchants who, in want of * corn, shewed the Londoners the way to the barn-door, * I mean into Spruseland, prompted by charity (not ' covetousness) to this his adventure. It may be said * that, since his death, he has often relieved the city on the ' like occasion, because, as Symmachus well observeth, ' Auctor est honorum sequentium, qui bonum relinquit ' exemplum."* SIR THOMAS CANNYNG. " The noble merchant " Who, living, was for his integrity " And upright dealing, (a rare miracle " In a rich citizeD,)^London's best honour." Massinger. City Madam. The family of Cannyng, or Canning, were originally of Bristol, and belonged to that class which has contributed so largely towards the splendour, the honour, and, it may be added, the respectability of the English nation. — They were Merchants. William Cannyng was of distinguished eminence as a * Worthies of England, vol. ii. p. 192. 200 COMPANY OF GROCERS. principal merchant and foreign trader, as the friend and patron of learning and religion, the able magistrate and charitable benefactor of his city, (Bristol,) the wealthy and the wise, (sapientissimus et ditissimus, says William of Worcester,) he was the second son of John Cannyng, Mayor of Bristol in 1392 and 1398, the son of William Cannyng, six times mayor, buried in St. Mary's Chapel, in the Church of St. Thomas.* John Cannyng inherited a considerable estate from his father, and pursued a mercantile life, increasing his for- tune by marrying Joan, daughter and heiress of John and Margaret Wotton. He left his children, in money, £72 : 12 : 6 each, which at that period was esteemed a con- siderable sum, when wheat was Ad. per bushel, a fat ox sold for 5s. Ad. and a sheep for 16c?. Thomas Cannyng, who, at his father's decease, was ten years old, was sent to London, where he became a Grocer, and served the office of Lord Mayor in 1456 ; while William, his brother, who had remained in his native place, and had been bred up to merchandize, in which he was very successful, was chosen Mayor of Bristol ; so that the first and second cities in the kingdom had two brothers for Mayors in the same year. On reference to Rymers Fosdera,f I find two curious documents, which prove the estimation in which the Cannyngs of Bristol were held by their sovereign. They are in the form of recommendatory letters from King Henry the Sixth, in 1449 ; one to the Master-General of Prussia, and the other to the Magistrates of the City of Dantzic, both in behalf of two of Cannyng's factors, residing in Prussia ; requesting all possible favour and countenance to be shown them. The king stiles Cawwyn^ " his beloved, and an eminent merchant of his City of " Bristol." The following is a brief sketch of the pedigree of this family. * Barratt's History of Bristol. Corry's ditto, t Vol. xi. p. 226. BIOGRAPHY OP EMINENT MEMBERS. 201 William Cannynge, six times mayor of Bristol, tpe E. iij. John Canninere. John Canninge. -A. John Canninge, of *Thomas Canninge,=pMargarct, daur. Bristol. (Stowe.) I-" Sir Thomas Canninge, Kt. Citizen & Grocer, Lord Mayor of London, anno 1456. of Foxcote, CO. War- wick, jure uxore, tpe H. vi. andheirof John Solman, of Fox- cote, CO. War- wick. Cannings, of Foxcote. See page 291. Sir William Canninge, Kt. ob. 1474, bu. in Redcliffe-church, Bris- tol, (vide Rowley's Poems,) which he re- built ; five times mayor of Bristol. John Canninge. * From this Thomas is descended the Right Hon. George Canning, elected a Brother-Grocer in 1824. See account of his life, page 280. The pedigree of this family printed in Barratt's History of Bristol is incorrect. 202 COMPANY OF GROCERS. The period of his Mayoralty was very tumultuous, riots taking place frequently. The most violent and dangerous of these was suppressed by Sir Thomas Cannyng, whose firmness on the occasion merits to be recorded. In 1456, a simple and passionate young mercer, who had been denied the liberty, or had been punished, for wearing a dagger in Italy, contrary to the laws of that country, where he had resided for some time, being returned to this city, met an Italian in Cheapside with a dagger by his side, which so enraged him, that, without considering the dif- ferent laws and customs of countries, he insolently told him that as the English were not allowed to wear swords in Italy, neither ought he to wear any weapon in England. The Italian, somewhat irritated at this manner of address, returned an answer not agreeable to the furious temper of the young censor, who not only snatched the stranger's dagger from his side, but broke his head with it.* The injured foreigner applied to the Lord Mayor for redress, who, greatly concerned at the indignity offered to the stranger, summoned the mercer to appear and answer the complaint next day, at the Guildhall, before him and a full Court of Aldermen. They committed the aggressor to Newgate, he not being able to urge any thing in alle- viation of his offence. But the servants of the Mercery way-laid them near the end of Lawrence-Lane, in Cheap- side, and rescued the prisoner in a tumultuous manner; after which the baser sort of the populace, availing them- selves of the confusion, rose in a body, and, running to the houses of the most eminent Italian merchants, pillaged them. The Mayor and Aldermen, assisted by a number of the principal citizens, seized upon divers of the ring- leaders, and committed them to Newgate. The tumult was not appeased without some bloodshed, and the offender, who contrived to escape, took sanctuary in St. Peter's, Westminster, till the affair was finally determined.f The * De Worde. Ad. Polychron. Maitland. t Fabian's Chronicle. BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 203 Court were alarmed at the report of the riot, fearing it might prove the beginning of troubles against the State by the faction of the Duke of York. The Queen sent iito the City the Dukes of Exeter and Buckingham, and ( -hers of the nobility, with a special commission to assist tue Lord Mayor and Aldermen in the trial and punishment of the transgressors. But, while the Mayor, as chief judge, assisted in the Commission by the said nobles, was calling the panels of the inquest at Guildhall, the rabble assem- bled in greater numbers than before, and uttered loud threats of vengeance if the trial of their fellow-citizens was persisted in. The Commissioners were so alarmed at this, that they, without executing their Commission, hastily took leave of the Mayor and retired from the bench. The Lord Mayor, wisely considering that if a stop were not suddenly put to the dangerous practices of the mul- titude, all government of the city would be at an end, summoned a Common Council, ordered all Wardens to assemble their fellowships in their respective Halls, and there to charge every member to keep and use the best endeavours to maintain the peace of the city ; and, if they should discover any persons favouring riotous assemblies, or the forcible delivery of persons committed to prison, they should, by gentle means, try to dissuade them, and give their names privately and expeditiously to the Mayor. By such excellent measures an effectual stop was put to the riot, the Commissioners returned to the city, and, in conjunction with the Mayor, tried and condemned divers persons. Three were afterwards hanged at Tyburn, and several others amerced in pecuniary mulcts. SIR JOHN CROSBIE. " Happy were London, if, within her walls, " She had many such rich men." Massinger. City Madam. The Company of Grocers have reason to refer, with feelings of pride and satisfaction, to the name of Sir John 204 COMPANY OF GROCERS. Crosbie, as to that of one of their most honourable mem- bers. Among the many eminent citizens of London, whose wealth and extensive dealings, when trade was in its infancy, contributed to lay the foundation of that com- mercial pre-eminence for which this kingdom is celebrated, was Sir John Crosbie. That his family was ancient and highly respectable is certain, although a silly tradition re- specting him was current in the time of Stowe, who says, " I have heard that he was named Crosbie, of being found " bt/ a cross." This absurdity is effectually negatived by the following pedigree : — JOHAN DE CrOSSEBIE, King's Clerk in Chan- cery, tpe Ed. ij. Sir John Crosbie, tpe Ed. iij. Kt. and Aid. of London. John Crosbie, Esq. Called in a Patent of Hen. iv. " The King's Servant." 1st Wife, Annys,=pSir John Crosbie, Kt.::^2d Wife, Anne Ched- or Agnes t founder of Crosbie- house. Aid. and Sher. of London, M.P. for the said city. Died in 1475, buried at St. Helen's. S worth, his Widow, in 1475. S.P. Johanna Talbot, otherwise Cros- bie. BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 205 The first mention that occurs of John Crosbie in our records, is in the will of Henry Lord Scrope, of Masham, who was beheaded at Southampton, for being concerned, with Richard Earl of Cambridge and others, in the plot against Henr^i V., and who left him " a woollen gown with- " out furs, and one hundred shillings."* In the seventh year of Edward IV. we find Sir John Crosbie returned to parliament as representative for the City of London, together with Ralph Jocelyn, Thomas Urswick, Recorder, and John Warde. He was soon after elected an Alderman, served the office of Sheriff in 1470, and, finally, was promoted to the important post of Mayor of the Staple, f at Calais. In 1470, also, he attained the honour of Knighthood, which was conferred upon himself and eleven others in the field, by King Edward the Fourth, for their fidelity and valour in resisting the attempts of the bastard Falconbridge to surprise the City. In 1471, Crosbie was appointed one of the Commis- sioners to settle the differences with the Duke of Burgundy, and to treat with the Governors of the Hanse Towns.;]; He had previously served, on several occasions, the office of Warden of the Grocer's Company, to which he made some liberal bequests in his will. Stowe, in describing the magnificent mansion in Bishops- gate-Street, known by the name of Crosbie- House, says, *' It was built by Sir John Crosbie, Grocer and Woolman, " in the time of King Edward the Fourth, in place of " certain tenements, demised to him by Alice Ashfeld *' and the Convent of Saint Helen's, for 99 years ; — viz. " from 1466 to 1565, and was finished in 1471. This ** house he builded of stone and timber, very large and • Rymer's Foedera, ix. 278. Dugdale Bare. i. 660. t " The English word staple is, in the civil law Latin style of those " times, termed stabile emporium, that is a fixed port or mart for the im- " porting of merchandize. From whence, probably, the contracted " word staple, used, with some small variation of orthography, all over " Europe, has its derivation." — Anderson's History of Commerce, t Rymer's Foedera, xi. 738. 206 COMPANY OF GROCERS. ** beautiful, being esteemed, at that time, the highest in *' London. Sir John died in 1475: so short a space " enjoyed he that sumptuous building." The mansion is described as a residence fit for a prince ; and, soon after its founder's death, was actually inhabited by royalty itself, in the person of the Duke of Gloucester, Lord Protector, afterwards Richard the Third. Although Sir John Croshie inherited a liberal patrimony, he early embarked in trade, and, by his success, consi- derably augmented his wealth ; the extent of his dealings is proved by his intimacy and connection with the Frisco- baldi, of Florence, who, with the Medici, were the great bankers and engrossers of the commerce of Europe.* Some notion may be formed of his property by the pro- visions made in his will, of which the following is an abstract. The will is dated March 1471, and was proved 6th February 1475. After bequeathing considerable sums to the nuns of St. Helen's, Holiwell, Stratford and Sion, to the Augustin and Crutched Friars, the friars, minors, preachers, and carmelites, the Hospital of St. Mary without Bishopsgate, Bedlam, St. Thomas Southwark, Elsing and St. Bartholomew, the minoresses and the Charterhouse, and to the gaols of London and Southwark, for their prayers and relief, and instituting a solemn obiit anniversary, or twelve months' mind, at which the Grocers' Company were to assist, (and, after the decease of his wife and all his executors, they were to be the trustees for that purpose,) he gave to the repair of St. Helen's Church five hundred marks ; and his arms were to be seen in Stowe's time, both in the stone- work, timber, roof, and glazing; among poor housekeepers in Bishopsgate ward £30 ; to the repair of Hanworth Church, Middlesex (the manor of which belonged to him),t • See the letters of this family in the British Museum. t Mr. Gough, who wrote a very brief memoir of Sir John Crosbie, is mistaken in his conjecture that Sir John purchased his manor of Hanworth, in consequence of having amassed a large fortune in trade. The manor and advowson of Hanworth, mentioned in an instrument of Edward the Black Prince, appear to have belonged to the Sir John who was Alderman of London, in the reign of Edward III. and were com- BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 207 £40 ; of Bishopsgate and London-Wall £100 ; towards making a new tower of stone at the south-east of Lon- don-bridge, if the same were begun by the Mayor and Aldermen, within ten years after his decease, £100 ; to the repair of Rochester-bridge £10 ; to every prison in London liberally. Also, he gave to the Wardens and Commonalty of the Grocers in London, two large pots of silver chased, parcel-gilt, weighing thirteen pounds five ounces, troy weight, to be used in their Common Hall.* To his daughter Johanne two hundred marks; to his viii'e £2000, as her dower, besides all her and his clothes and furniture, and his lease under the Prioress of St. Helen's, for her life. The above sums were to be raised by sale of his manor at Hanworth, and other lands in Feltham in the same county, within two years after his decease ; or, if there were a sufficiency without such sale, the estates to go to his wife, or the child she might chance to be great with at his death ; or, in default thereof, to his daughter Joan and her heirs ; failing these, to his cousin Peter Christemas and his heirs ; and, in default thereof, to the Grocers' Company, to be sold, and the amount divided among themselves, and in charitable uses, as in his will specified. Our historians celebrate the liberality of this worthy citizen in these public repairs. -f- The residue of his effects, after the decease of his last wife being distributed agreeably to his will, one instance of this distribution remains to the church of Theydon Gernon, in Essex, commemorated in the following inscription, in raised letters, on a stone in the south face of the steeple : — " Pray for the soules of Sir John Crosbie, Knyght, late " Alderman and Grocere of London ; and,alsoe,of Dame " Ann, and Annys, his wyves, of whose godys was gevyn " li toivard the makyng of thys stepyll, ao V«. . " que d'ni, 15204 mitted to the tnist of Thomas Rigby till the next John Crosbie, the heir and " King's servant," attained his majority. — I. B. H. * Although there is a detailed list of the Company's plate in the re- cords of that period I cannot lind any trace of these " pots." As articles of less value are caiefuUy noted, these would hardly have been omitted. t Gough. X Morant, in his Historyof Essex, says the steeple was finished thisyear. 208 THE GROCERS' COMPANY. SIR JOHN PECHE, KNIGHT. Sir John Peche, Knir/ht, was descended from Gilbert de Peche, who was summoned to Parliament as a Baron of this realm, in the 13th year of King Edward 11. He had two sons. Sir William Peche, and Sir Robert Peche, who both accompanied King Edward I. in his victorious expedition into Scotland, in the 28th year of his reign, and assisted at the siege of Carlaverock in that kingdom : for which service they, with their company, received the honour of knighthood. Sir John Peche, Knight, bought the manor of Lulling- stone, in Kent, from the representatives of Gregory de Rokesley, Lord Mayor of London, in the year 1361 ; and the same year, making it his seat, he obtained from Edward III. a charter of free warren for all his lands there, which was the next year again confirmed to him. He died in the 4th year of King Richard II., possessed of LuUingstone, when it was found, by inquisition taken after his death, that he was then seized, jointly with Mary his wife, of one messuage, two hundred and fifty acres of arable land, three acres of meadow, twelve acres of wood, 505. rent, and forty-two hens in LuUingstone and Peyfrere, of the feoffment of John Constantyn, Edmund de Claye, and Richard Peche, which premises were held of the King as of the honour of Leedes, as the fourth part of one knight's fee, by the service of one pair of gilt spurs, of the price o^Qd. He was succeeded in his estates by his son Sir William Peche, Knight, whose widow, the Lady Joan, died, seized of them, in the 11th year of King Henry IV. and lies buried in St. Mary Wolnoth Church, in London. Their son. Sir John Peche, Knight, at his death, which happened April 5th 1487, was found to be seized of the manor of LuUingstone Rosse, and LuUingstone Peyfrere, and Cokerhurst, with their appurtenances, which were held of the King as of the Duchy of Lancaster. He is interred in LuUingstone Church ; and on his grave-stone «10GRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 209 the arms of this family still remain : — viz. Azure, a lion rampant, ermine, a la queue four chee, crowned or. He left a son. Sir John PecJie, and a daughter Eliza- heth, who married John Hart, Esq. This Sir John Peche was a man of great reputation at that time, being created a Knight Banneret, and made Lord-Deputy of Calais. He was sheriff of Kent, in the 10th year of King Henry VII. ; in which year, when the Lord Audley and the Cornish men, who had risen in support of Perkin Warleck, would have collected pro- visions and men in that county, he, with other gentry of it, valiantly opposed them, and obliged them to turn towards London : soon after which they were vanquished on Black- heath. During his lifetime he paid £500 into the hands of the Masters and Wardens of the Grocers' Company, in Loudon, of which he was free, for the performing of certain obits, alms-deeds, and works of piety for his soul's health, espe- cially for the maintaining of the almshouses founded by him, at LuUingstone, for keeping a solemn obit, yearly, on the 1st of January, in the church of that place, and for the paying of 53s. 4fZ. yearly to the parson of LuUingstone, and his successors. He died, seized of LuUingstone manor, and was buried under a magnificent monument in LuUingstone Church, leaving his wife, the Lady Elizabeth, surviving, to whom King Henry VIII., of his special favour, in his Slst year, granted an annuity of ten marks for life. On his death, without issue, Elizabeth, his sister, was found to be his heir ; upon which her husband, John Hart, of the Middle Temple, Esq., counsellor at law, in her right, became entitled to these premises.* * Halsted's Hist. Kent, 1, p. 511, ot 5cq. 210 COMPANY OF GROCERS. SIR HENRY KEBLE. The events connected with the life of this worthy and charitable citizen are of so little interest, that they are not worth recording, and I should not have inserted his name in this place, did not his munificence and generosity entitle him to rank among the eminent members of the Grocers' Company. Henry Kehle, or Herry Keyhull, as he is styled in the Company's books, was the son of George Kehle, Grocer, of London ; he was six times Master of the Grocers' Company, was made an Alderman in 1508, and, finally, presided over the City as Lord Mayor, in 1510. He gave the sum of one thousand pounds towards the building and finishing of his parish church of St. Mary Aldermary in Budge Row. Strype, describing this church, mentions this fact in the following terms : " Henry Kehle " aforementioned, deceased, and was here buried in a ** vault by him prepared, with a fair monument raised over '* him on the north side of the choir, now destroyed and " gone. He gave, by his testament, £1000 towards build- " ing of that church, and yet was not permitted a resting " place for his bones there."* Sir Henry Kehles bequests to the Grocers' Company are thus particularized in the report made by the Commis- sioners for inquiring concerning Charities, appointed by Parliament in 1818. " Sir Henry Kehyll, knight and alderman, by his will, " dated 20th March 1514, devised to the Grocers' Com- " pany two messuages, with a garden and other appurte- " nances, in Broad- alley, in the parish of Saint Margaret " Lothbury ; and also that great messuage, with the garden " and appurtenances in the parish of St. Peter the Poor ; " and also a piece of ground, with the stables and other * Stiype's edition of Stowe's Survaie. Tiiis monument was taken down, ;iiul otiier pfMsoiin buried in his vault. BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 211 houses erected thereon, in the parish of St. Olave, in the Old Jewry ; and directed, after various payments to superstitious uses, that the said Company, with the rents and revenues thereof should pay weekly to seven poor men of the mystery of Grocers, such as had been lease- holders or occupiers of the same mystery, in the City of London, and fallen into decay and poverty, Ss. 6d. ster- ling ; that is to say, to each 6d. Such poor men to be selected by the Wardens and Associates of the said mystery of Grocers^ for the time being-, as the room of any of the said seven persons happened to be void." SIR WILLIAM LAXTON. This worthy member of the Company was the son of John Laxfon, ofOundle, in the county of Northampton ; " he was bred a Grocer in LontTOn, says Fuller,* where " he so prospered by his painefull endeavours that he was " chosen Lord Mayor, anno Domini 1544." He founded an almshouse and " a free school, at Oundel, with con- ** venient maintenance, well maintained at this day by " the Worshipfull Company of Grocers,t and hath been, ** to my knowledge (continues the same author), the " nursery of many scholars most eminent in the uni- " versity.":J; The beneficence of Sir William is recorded in the two following inscriptions, which are placed over the entrance to the school -house: — Undellce natus, Londini parta labore Laxlonus posuit, senibus puerisque levamen. * Worthies of England, vol.ii. p. 173. t The bequest is entered in the books in the following terms : — " The " bequeste of Sir William Laxton, of certaine lands in London, to this " Companie, for finding a free Scole, and maintaining of certaine poor " persons, is accepted by them, with thanksgiving for his gentil reuieni- " braunce." t Worthies of England, vol.ii. p. 173. p2 212 COMPANY OF GROCERS. AQXa d io«(7xo»!oiv 7r£n; O 0) ^^ SO r. o J= 3 bD « 3 -« ^ N ^ O "$■ o tf -^ 03 ,J3 ns ^3 -5^ T3 o fl ^ ^ ^^ O o £ rt s — O) « o _: ^ _ oj o ^ CO Ih a 2 c m Ih -a be I — o '\ c3 a> 'O o 03 fi Ol c; C -C ^ ptH ^s o (/i ,J3 CO f- g fee CO o p a 3 CZ2 BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 225 The Weld family were inliabitants of the parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, at an early period, as the name of Mr. Edward Weld is mentioned in the assessment-book for re- building- the church of that parish in 1G83. Humphrey Weld, Esq. eldest son of the Mayor, was many years a magistrate of that district, and his autograph, in that capa- city, occurs frequently in the parish books. Wild-street, Lincoln's-inn-fields, or Weld-s,{vee\, as it should be called, occupies a portion of the house and grounds formerly the property of this gentleman. The mansion was built in the early part of the reign of Charles I. by Sir Edward Strad- Ihiff, on ground then called Oldwick close, and sold to Mr. Humphrey Weld in 1651 ; its magnitude sufficiently indicates the opulence of the owner. The contemporary deeds describe this mansion as having a centre and two wings, and its street-front as extending 150 feet in breadth, and its depth behind, with the garden, 300 feet. One of the wings furnished a sufficient residence for the Countess of Exeter, and the other for the Portuguese and Spanish Ambassadors successively. It was in the year of Sir Humphrey Weld's mayoralty, that James I. granted to the City, what was called his second charter, in which the City liberties and jurisdictions were considerably extended, and the Mayor, Recorder, and Aldermen past the chair, were appointed justices of Oyer and Terminer. By this valuable charter, all the ancient rights, liberties, and immunities of the citizens were con- firmed in the most ample manner, and the precincts of Duke's Place, St. Bartholomew's the Greater and Less, Black and White Friars, and Cold-Harbour, added to the bounds of the City. This year, also, Aldgate is stated to have been *' sub- " stantially and famously finished,"* and that over one of the arched passages was fairly engraven, " Senatus populusque Londinensis " Feci 1609. " Humfrey Weld, Major. * Stowe's Survaie. •226 COMPANY OF GROCERS. Dame Margaret, wife of Sir Humphrey, by her will, dated 12th February 1G22, gave, inter alia, the sum of £300 to the churchwardens and parishioners of St. Olave's, in the Old Jewry, in trust, to purchase lands and tene- ments, the rents of which were to be employed for a divi- nity lecture to be preached every Wednesday throughout the year for ever, " except from the 1st of June until the " feast of St. Michael the Archangel." Sir John Frederic, also a member of the Grocers' Company, left £225 to be laid out in land to the value of £12 a year, to be added to Lady Weld's lecture.* SIR PETER PROBY. Randolph Prohy, of the city of Chester, settled at the close of the fifteenth century, at Brampton, in the county of Huntingdon, and, by a daughter of Bernard, Esq. had two sons, namely, Ralph of Brampton, who died in 1605 without issue, and Sir Peter of Brampton, Citizen and Grocer, who was Lord Mayor of London, in 1622. He married Elizabeth, daughter, of John Thoroughgood, of Chivers, in the county of Essex, Esq. leaving five sonsf and one daughter. His eldest son. Sir Heneage Prohy, succeeded him, and was Sherifi'of Bucks in 1600; he married Helen, daughter of Edicard Allen, of J'inchley, in the county of Middlesex, Esq. and, by her, had Sir Thomas, the first baronet in 1662, whomarried Frances daughter of Sir Thomas Cotton, of Con- nington, Bart., by whom he had issue, Thomas, who died unmarried, and Alice, who, by Thomas Wentworth, of Harrowdeu, in the county of Northampton, Esq. was mother of Thomas, first Marquess of Rockingham. Sir Thomas represented the county of Huntingdon in several parlia- ments ; and died, without male issue, in 1689. He was * Endowed charities of London. t The second son was a considerable benefactor to Jesus College, Cambridge. BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MKMIJFRS. 227 succeeded in his estates by his brother John, who married Jane, daughter of Sir Richard Cusf, Bart., ancestor of the Earls of Brownlow. John died without issue male, in 1710, when his estates devolved to the heir male, William Prohy, Esq., Governor of Fort St. George. His only son, John, represented the county of Huntingdon in several parliaments ; and, by the Honourable Jane Leveson Goiver, eldest daughter of Jolm Lord Goicer, and grand- daughter of John Duke of Bedford, had issue, among other children, 67;- John Prohy, eldest son, member for Huntingdonshire, in three successive parliaments, K. B., Lord of the Admiralty in 1757, a Privy Counsellor, and created Baron Carysfort, of Carysfort, in the county of Wicklow, in 1752. Sir John married the Honourable Elizabeth Allen, sister and co-heir of John, third Viscount Allen, by w'hom he had John Joshua, the present and second Lord, who was advanced to the dignity oi Earl of Carysfort, in 1789, and created a Peer of England on the 13th of January 1801, by the title of Baron Carysfort, of Norman Cross, in the county of Huntingdon. In 1616 our Sir Peter Prohy, who had previously been appointed governor of the colony of Ulster, in Ireland, by special commission from the King and the City of London, repaired thither, attended by divers of the most eminent citizens, to regulate certain affairs belonging to the plantation, taking with him two rich swords of state, as a present from the City, to be carried before the Mayors of Londonderry and Coleraine, the former having been some time before erected into a City, and the latter into a Mayor-town.* THOMAS, LORD COVENTRY, OF AYLESBOROUGH. Thomas Lord Coventry was descended from a long line of ancestors, the first of whom, on record, was John Co- * Maitland's History of London. Q 2 228 COMPANY OF GROCERS. ventrijy Mercer, of the City of London, and Lord Mayor in the 4th year of Henry VI. He was born at Croome d'Abitot, in Worcestershire, in 1578, became a gentleman commoner of Baliol College Oxford at the age of fourteen, and, three years after- wards, was entered a member of the Inner Temple. His father Thomas Coventry^ who died in 1606, having been one of the Justices of the Court of Common Pleas, he pursued his steps in the study of the municipal laws; and, in the 14th year of James I., was chosen autumn reader to the above society ; in the month of November, in the same year, he was elected Recorder of London, and, in March following, constituted Solicitor-General, and re- ceived the honour of Knighthood at Theobald's. Four years afterwards he was made Attorney-General, and, from thence, advanced to the eminent oflBce of Lord- Keeper of the Great Seal of England, by King Charles I,, in November 1625. He was created a Baron of the realm in 1628, by the title o^ Lord Coventry, of Aylesbury.* Lord Clarendon says of him that " he was a man of won- ** derful gravity and wisdom ; and understood not only the " whole scienceandmysteryof the law: at least, equally with " any man who had ever sat in that place ; but had a clear " conception of the whole policy of the government both " of church and state ; which, by the unskilfulness of some •' well-meaning men, justled each the other too much." Further, continues the same author in another place, •• He discharged all the offices he went through with " great abilities, and singular reputation of integrity ; " that he enjoyed his place of Lord-Keeper with an uni- " versal reputation (and sure, justice was never better " administered) for the space of about sixteen years, even '• to his deathjf some months before he was sixty years of ** age" His patent of creation, as a Baron of the realm, enumerates the services rendered to the crown, and to the country at large ; and the following extract from it • Collin's Peerage, vol. v. t History of England, vols. i. and iii. BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 'J'^l) will shew the estimation he stood in with the King: — " Nos igitur in persona pradihcti &" perquam Jidelis " consiliarii nostri Thoma Coventry, Militis, custodis '* magni sigilli nostri Anglia, gratissima et dignissima *' servitia, qua idem consiliarius noster tarn pracha- " rissimo patri nostro Jacoho Regi heattz memorice per *' multos annos, quam nobis ah ipsis regni nostri primis ' ' auspiciisjidelissime etprudentissimeprcestitit et impendit, ** indiesque impendere non desistit; necnon circumspec- " tionem, prudentiam, strenuitatem, dexteritatem, in- " iegritatem, industriam, erga nos et Coronam nostram " anifno henigno b{ regali intime recolentes constantiam " et Jidelitatem ipsius Thomce Coventry, Militis, ^c. In " cujus rei, &)C. T. R. apud Westm. decimo die Api'ilis, " anno regni Regis Caroli 4°." One of the most honourable testimonials of this learned Lord's success in the discharge of his arduous functions as Chancellor, is borne by Fuller, who says — " I must not " forget that it hath been observed, that never Lord- " Keeper made fewer orders, which afterwards were •* reversed, than this Lord Coventry ; which some ascribe " to his discretion, grounding most of his orders on the •* consent and compromise of the parties themselves inte- " rested therein, whose hands, so tied up by their own act, " were the more willing to be quiet for the future."* Lord Coventry was admitted a member of the Grocers' Company, in the year 1627, and is the first lawyer who ever received that honour.-l- He died at Durham-House in the Strand, in London, on the 14th January 1629, and was interred at Croome d'Abitot, in the same vault with his father. • Worthies of England, vol. ii. p. 470. t His Lordship must have been popular with the Company for several years before his admission into it, as I find in the books that, on the 15th Dec. 1G25, twenty sugar-loaves, and such other spices as the wardens should think fit, to the full value of £20, were ordered to be given to Lord-Keeper Coventry, " as a free and loving gratuity from the Court." 230 COMPANY OF GROCIiRS. CHARLES THE SECOND, by the Grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France, AND Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c. &c. In 1660, the year of his restoration to the throne of England, His Majesty was graciously pleased to permit his name to be enrolled as a Member of the Worshipful Com- pany of Grocers, and as their Sovereign Master for that year. The Company erected a statue of His Majesty, in the Royal Exchange, in 1684, as a testimonial of their grateful respect and attachment to his Royal person. GEORGE MONK, DUKE OF ALBEMARLE. " He is a soldier, fit to stand by Caesar " And give direction." Othello. Act II. Sc. 3. The details of the life and actions of this illustrious nobleman are so generally known that it becomes unneces- sary to repeat them here at length. He was descended of a family, settled, so early as the reign of Henry III. at Potheridge in Devonshire, where he was born, on the 6th day of December 1608, and was educated by his grand- father, Sir George Smith, with whom he almost entirely resided. As he expected no inheritance from his father, Sir Thomas Monk^ he dedicated himself to the profession of arms from his youth. His father's reduced fortune was the means of exciting the first ebullition of spirit in him, and of compelling him to enter into military service at the age of seventeen, which was earlier than was intended. f Sir Thomas, it appears, was in danger of being taken in execution at the time that King Charles the First made a progress into the west and came to Plymouth, to review . * Biographical Dictionary, vol. v. t Skinner's Life of Monk. BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 2-i\ the forces intended for the Spanish expedition : and, being willing- to make an appearance suitable to his rank on that occasion, he sent his son George to offer a present to the under-sheriff of the county, and to entreat him not to execute his warrant against him at that particular time : the under-sheriff accepted the gratuity and promised for- bearance ; notwithstanding which, he afterwards publicly arrested Sir Thomas in the face of the county. The young man was so irritated at this scandalous treatment of his father, that he went to- Exeter, and, first upbraided, and then caned, the under-sheriff for his double-dealing. The attorney immediately applied for legal redress, and, in order to avoid the suit, young Monk was obliged to shelter himself in the king's service. Whether this induced his adversary to drop the prosecution, or whether the matter was afterwards arranged, is not known. George Monk began by serving in the Low Countries, under the Lords Oxford and Gowring. In the civil wars, he at first adhered to the king, but, having suff'ered a tedious imprisonment for his loyalty, he entered into the service of the parliament. He signalized himself at the battle of Dunbar, where he had a principal share in that important victory. He was, subsequently, employed by Cromwell in reducing Scotland, which he did effectually, and was entrusted with the chief management of affairs in that kingdom.* He was afterwards the great instrument of the Restoration, and was rewarded with the Order of the Garter and with the Dukedom of Albemarle, by Charles the Second. f He signalized his courage in an astonishing manner in the memorable engagement with the Dutch, which began the 1st of June 16G6, and continued four days. He was very near being overpowered by numbers, when he was joined, on the third day, by Prince Rupert, who ravished the victory from the enemy's hands. The last display of his courage, equal at least to any other act of his life, was in • Granger's Biographical History, vol. iii. + Skinner's Life of Monk. '232 COMPANY OF GROCKRS. exposing himself to the cannon-shot of the Dutch, when they burned the Enghsh ships at Chatham. This effort of valour, which looked like rashness, was then absolutely necessary to encourage others to do their duty. The love which the seamen entertained for him had as great an influence on board the fleet as his personal bravery. They frequently called him '* honest George Monk."* General Monk was elected a member of the Grocers' Company in February 1660, and the freedom presented to him at a magnificent entertainment, given at the Hall, the particulars of which are detailed at page 28. The Duke of Alhemarle deceased on the 4th of January 1669, leaving one son, named Christopher, who was ap- pointed Governor of Jamaica in 1687, and who died there the same year, leaving no issue. The remarks which I had occasion to make in relating the life of Sir Nicholas Brember, respecting the partiality of historians, in narrating the actions of illustrious men, and colouring them according to their own political feelings, are nowhere more strongly illustrated than in the case of the Duke of Albemarle. The contemporary writers, one and all, are loud in his praises as a loyal and devoted sub- ject; but those of more modern times diff*er in their opinions respecting his motives ; the facts, of course, they cannot alter. " Never subject, in fact," says Hume, " pro- " bably, in his intentions had deserved better of his king *' and country. In the space of a few months, without " efi'usion of blood, by his cautious and disinterested con- " duct alone, he had bestowed settlement on three king- " doms, which had long been torn with the most violent " convulsions. And, having obstinately refused the most ** inviting conditions offered him by the King, as well as " by every party in the kingdom, he freely restored his *' injured master to the throne." Opposed to this are the sentiments of Charles James Fox, which he thus expresses ;— " The army, by such a • Granger's Biographical History of England, vol, iii. BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 2^y■^ concurrence of fortuitous circumstances as history teaches us not to be surprised at, had fallen into the hands of one, than whom a baser could not be found in its lowest ranks. Personal courage appears to have been Monk's only virtue ; reserve and dissimulation made up the whole stock of his wisdom. There is reason to believe that, from the general bias of the Presbyterians, as well as of the Cavaliers, monarchy was the prevalent wish ; but it is observable that, although the parliament was, contrary to the principle upon which it was pretended to be called, composed of many avowed royalists, yet none dared to hint at the restoration of the King, till they had Monk's permission, or rather command to receive and consider his letters. It is impossible, in reviewing the whole of this transaction, not to remark, that a General who had gained his rank, reputation, and station in the service of the republic, and what he, as well as others, called, however falsely, the cause of liberty, made no scruple to lay the nation prostrate at the feet of a mo- narch, without a single provision in favour of that cause; and, if the promise of indemnity may seem to argue that there, was some attention, at least, paid to the safety of his associates in arms, his subsequent conduct gives reason to suppose that even this provision was owing to any other cause rather than to any generous feeling in his breast ; for he not only acquiesced in the insults so meanly put upon the illustrious corpse of Blake, under whose auspices and commands he had performed the most creditable services of his life ; but, in the trial of Argyll, produced letters of friendship and confidence, to take away the life of a nobleman, the zeal and cor- diality of whose co-operation with him, proved by such documents, were the chief ground of his execution ; thus, gratuitously, surpassing in infamy those miserable wretches, who, to save their own lives, are sometimes persuaded to impeach and swear away the lives of their accomplices." This is strong language, and quite in- compatible with the calm, dignified, and impartial tone 2S4 COMPANY OF GROCERS. which the writer of history ought, on all occasions, to adopt. It is worthy of remark, however, that since Fox wrote the passage I have just quoted, the memoirs of Evelyn and of Pepys have come to light. These writers, whose diaries were' never intended for publication, and who, from their characters, are entitled to credit, are agreed in their opinions of General 3Ionk ; the latter, in particular, has the following passage : — '* The General, " boldly and fortunately, brought to pass that noble revo- •' lution, following it, to his eternal honour, by restoring a " banished prince and the people's freedom."* Opinions to a similar effect are several times repeated in the above- mentioned works. Prince^ in his " Worthies of Devon, "-f- writes as follows, on the same subject. " At this time " many endeavours were used to persuade the General to " assume the supreme government of England to himself, " especially by many of those who were concerned in the " late King's murder, and the possession of the crown and " church's lands; but the General renounced all such sug- *' gestions with the greatest anger and aversion ; holding a " greater honour to be an honest subject than a great *' usurper." Such statements, coming from persons who lived at the time, are, surely, more worthy of credit and confidence than the mere conjectures of authors who wrote a century and a half later. SIR THOMAS ALLEYN, BART. Sir Thomas Alleyn, son of William Alleyn, of Hat- field-Peverel, in Essex, was Lord Mayor of London at the Restoration of King Charles the Second, in 1660. He went forth to meet the King on the 29th of May in the same year, the day of His Majesty's entrance into London in triumph. The Grocers' Company, on that occasion, for their portion of the pageant, provided ** thirty • Memoirs of John Evelyn, vol. iii. 8vo. edit. t Danmonii Orientales Illustres. Edit. 1810, page 93. BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 2''io " persons as riders, and each a man, in livery, to attend " him, (the Lord Mayor,) for the more magnificent recep- " tion of the King-'s most excellent Majesty, in his passage " through this City."* J, On the 7th of June 1G60, as appears by the Company's records, he acquainted the Court of Assistants " that he " had, by special friendship at Court, procured the moving " of His Majestic to ov?ne the Company of Grocers for " his Company ; and that His Majestie was pleased to " hearken to the motion, and express his willingness to be " of the Company. His Lordship further related that, " being to attend His Majestie shortly after, he had taken " occasion to present His Majestie with the humble thanks " of this Company for his gracious concession of so high a " favour, and that he would be ready, at some convenient " time hereafter, to accompany the Master and Wardens " to wait upon His Majestie, which, he conceived, was " very fitting ; which was very well accepted and approved " of by this Court, and hearty thanks returned His Lord- " ship for his respect and favour to the Company." Accordingly, on the 18th of July following, Sir Thomas Alleyn notified to the Court that the presentation of the Master and Wardens to the King had taken place, and the transaction is recorded in the journals in the following terms : — " This day, the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor " made relation to the Court that, on Friday last, the " 13ta of July instant, he did accompany the Master and " Wardens, and some others of the Company to White- " hall, to attend the King's most excellent Majestie, " according to the appointment of this Court, to present " the humble suit and desire of this Company to His " Majestie, for his gracious acceptance and owning of " them for his Company, which had been before-hand " moved to His Majestie by a person of quality, upon " His Lordship's request, and favourably hearkened unto ; " That His Majestie, upon their address, was pleased to * The Company's Journals. 23(3 COMPANY OF GROCIiRS. " vouchsafe them a favourable audience and gracious con- " descension, and, with much cheerfulness of countenance " and expressions of princely complacency, to declare his " readiness to satisfy their desires in owning the Company, " and being admitted thereof, and recorded for a membc,^ " of the society, with other free expressions, also ol *' princely grace and favour towards the City, and was " pleased to give them all his royal hand to kiss, and to " confer the honour of knighthood upon the Master of " the Company," (Mr. Stephen White,) "the care and " effecting whereof is received by this Court as an accept- " able service, and offer of much respect and honour to " the Company." SIR GEOFFRY PALMER, KNT. AND BART. This learned and distinguished member of the Grocers' Company, was descended from an ancient family originally seated at Holt and Stonistanton in Leicestershire, the first noted individual of which, was William Palmer, Esq. " a " person very eminent in the knowledge of the law" in the reign of Henry IV. Sir Geoffry Palmer was advanced to the dignity of a Baronet soon after the restoration. He was, at first, a manager against the Earl of Strafford, but lost all his credit with that party and never recovered it, for using a decency and modesty in his carriage and language towards him ; though the weight of his arguments pressed more upon the Earl, than the noise of all the rest.* He was, says ray Lord Clarendon, " a man of great reputation and " much esteemed in the House of Commons; and in the " debate about the remonstrance, his speech not being " agreeable to the prevailing party in the House, he was " committed to the Tower, they having borne him a long " grudge for the civility he shewed in the prosecution of " the Earl of Strafford; but he was in a few days enlarged * Kimbei's Baronetage, vol. ii. p. 10. BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 237 " and returned again to the House," and did his Majesty great service, and was one of the Commissioners appointed by his Majesty at the treaty of Uxbridge. He was after- wards Attorney-General to King Charles II. Antliony Wood says of him ; " He was chosen a burgess for Stam- " ford in Lincolnshire, to sit in that parliament which " began Nov. 3d 1640, wherein he was a manager of the " evidence against Thomas, Earl of Strafford, and seemed " to be an enemy to the prerogative: but, afterwards, " perceiving well what mad courses the members of the " said parliament took, he boldly delivered his mind " against printing of that declaration, called the grand " Remonstrance ; for which he was committed to custody " in November 1642; afterwards being freed thence, he " retired to Oxon, sat in the parliament there, and was " esteemed a loyal and able person in his profession. " Upon the declining of the King's cause, he suffered, as " other royalists did, lived obscurely in England, and upon ** pretence of plotting with the cavaliers against Oliver the *' Protector, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London, " in the month of May, 1655. On the 1st May 1660, his " Majesty being then restored, he was made Attorney- *' General and about that time Chief'justice of Chester and " a knight, and, on the 7th June following, he was created •' a baronet." Sir Geoffry Palmer was elected a member of the Grocers' Company in 1661, at the same time with Sir Heneage Finch, the Solicitor-General. He died at Hamp- stead in Middlesex, on the 5th of May 1670, at the age of seventy-two, and having lain in state in the hall of the Middle Temple, attended by the heralds at arms, he was, from thence, conveyed in a hearse, followed by a long train of coaches of the nobility, the judges, and others, through the town to Carlton, his seat in Northamptonshire ; he was there interred among his ancestors, in the family vault within the parish church.* • Kimber's Baronetage, vol. ii. 238 COMPANY OF GROCERS. THE RIGHT HON. HENEAGE FINCH, FIRST EARL OF NOTTINGHAM. " Avea per altro il don della pai-ola, ** E gli uscian bei periodi di bocca." Casti. This eminent character was born in 1621, received the rudiments of his education at Westminster school, whence he removed to Christ Church, Oxford, and afterwards commenced his legal career as a student of the Inner Temple.* At the Restoration, he was chosen M.P. for Canterbury, and for the borough of St. Michael's in Corn- wall, and was one of the leading members of the House of Commons. So that on the first appointments by the King to the benches and courts of judicature (June 6, 1660) he was made Attorney- General, and was the next day knighted, and created a baronet under the denomination of Raunston in com. Bucks. The year following he was chosen trea- surer of the Inner Temple, as also Autumn or Summer Reader of that Society, when his readings on the statute 39 Eliz. concerning the payment and recovery of debts of the Crown, not only attracted general attention, but led to his attaining the highest honours. During these readings and entertainments, which lasted from the 4th to the 17th of August, he was honoured with the presence of the nobility and privy-counsellors ; the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and principal citizens of London ; the whole College of Physicians, who came in their formalities ; the judges advocates, doctors of the civil law, and all the Society of Doctors' Commons; the archbishops, bishops, and chief clergy; and lastly, on finishing his course, Aug. 15th, by that of the King himself, who accepted an invitation to dine with him in the Society's Hall ; and to confer the greater honour, came in his barge from Whitehall, accompanied by the Duke of York, the great officers of the Crown, and many of the prime nobility and other distinguished personages. • Collins's Peerage. BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 239 This incident is related by a contemporary author in the following strong terms.* *' This moneth of August 16G1, " was the reading of that excellent lawyer and accom- " plished gentleman Sir Henecige Finch, his Majestie's " solicitor at the Inner Temple, whose nobleness and gene- " rosity were herein equal to his matchless abilities in the " laws, as his magnificence in this solemn occasion did " make appear, especially in that particular treatment he " gave the King, who to honour this, one of his best " servants, was graciously pleased to accept of it, and to " dine in that Hall, — a favour not before indulged to any '* of these famous Societies by any of his royal progenitors. " The most illustrious Duke of York was present, and " dined there with his brother to both their likings and " approbations." In 1661 Sir Heneage was returned M. P. for Oxford ; and, in 1665, after proroguing the Parliament which had sat there, was created, in full convocation. Doctor of the Civil Law : he being one of the four members who, by order of the House of Commons, had communicated the thanks of that House to the University, for their reasons concerning the Solemn League and Covenant, &c. made in 1647. Soon after this, on the debate about what was termed the " Five-Mile Act," when VaugJian, afterwards Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, moved in the House, that the word legally might be added to the words com- missioned by the King, Sir Heneage Finch said it was needless : " for, if the commission was not legal, it was " no commission ; and, to make it legal, it must be issued " out for a lawful occasion, and to persons capable of it, " and must pass in the due form of law;" whereupon the Bill passed in the House of Commons, and, when it came before the Lords, the Earl of Southampton moved for the same additions, who was answered by the Earl of Anglesey, on the same grounds and reasons Sir Heneage Finch gave ; with which that House was satisfied, and the Act passed. * Heath's Chronicle. 240 COMPANY OP GROCERS. It was in this year that he was chosen a member of the Grocers' Company. On May 10th 1G67 he was constituted Attorney-General, and made Keeper of the Great Seal. Shortly after which he was advanced to the degree of a Baron, by the title of Lord Finch, of Daventrij, in the county of Northampton, (being the owner of that manor) ; and, on surrendering the Great Seal, Dec. 19th 1675, it was immediately delivered to him again, with the title of Lord High Chancellor of England ; and the same year he was constituted Lord Lieutenant of the county of Somerset. It is said of him, by Anthony Wood, (who took more delight in reflecting on persons than giving their just characters,) — " that, in " the most boisterous and ticklish times, when the swoln " waves beat highest (occasioned by the Popish Plot), " ho behaved himself with so regular, exactly poised, " and with such even steadiness, whilst others, whose " actions not being so justly balanced, either were dis- " charged from their offices, or else they themselves, by " an ungenerous cowardice, voluntarily resigned them up, " as unwilling, manfully, to encounter approaching diffi- " culties, of which they pretended to have prospects, that " he still stood firm in the good opinion of his Prince; " and, which is more to be admired, at that time, when " many worthy ministers of state were, by the malice of " designing men, branded with the old infamous character " of evil counsellors, in order to have them to be run " down and worried by the violent outrages of the un- " thinking, giddy, and headstrong multitude: during all " which time and clamour against persons, (which con- " tinned from October 1678, to the beginning of the year " 1681, after the Oxford Parliament was dissolved,) he '• was neither bandied against, or censured in the more " private seditious cabals, nor was his master publickly " addressed to for his removal." In 1677, he was Lord High Steward of England, on the trial of Philip Earl of Pembroke, who was then found guilty of manslaughter. In March 1679, on the BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 241 impeachment of the Earl of Danhy, and the King sign- ing his pardon, the Commons appointed a Committee to repair to the Lord Chancellor, to inquire into the manner of setting forth that pardon, whereupon the Lord Chan- cellor informed the Committee, " That the pardon was " passed with all privacy, the King commanding him to ** bring the seal to Whitehall; and, being there, he laid it ** upon the table: whereupon His Majesty commanded the ** seal to be taken out of the bag, which his Lordship was *' obliged to submit unto, it not being in his power to " hinder it; and the King writ his name upon the top of '* the parchment, and then directed to have it sealed ; ** whereupon the person that usually carried the purse, " affixed the seal to it." Upon this report from his Lordship, the Commons re- solved, " That an humble address be made to His Majesty, " to represent the irregularity and illegality of the pardon " mentioned by His Majesty to be granted to the Earl of ** Danhy, and the dangerous consequence of granting " pardons to any persons that lie under an impeachment " of the Commons of England." In April following, the King resolved on choosing a new Privy Council to consist of a number not exceeding thirty, whereof fifteen to be the chief officers, privy counsellors by their places, ten out of the several ranks of the no- bility, and five commons of the realm, " whose known " abilities, interest, and esteem in the nation, should ren- " der them without all suspicion of either mistaking or " betraying the true interest of the kingdom." This change of the Council was proposed by Sir William Tem- ple, who was ordered by the King to communicate it to the Lord Chancellor Finch, the Earl of Sutherland, and the Earl of Essex, but one after the other ; and there- upon the Lord Chancellor said, it looked like a thing from Heaven fallen into His Majesty's breast. And the King valued himself so much on it, that, finding those three noble peers concur therein, he acquainted the Parliament of his having made choice of such persons as were worthy R 242 COMPANY OF GROCERS. and able to advise him, and was resolved ^ia all weighty and important affairs, next to the advice of his great coun- cil in parliament, to be advised by the Privy Council. The Lord Chancellor in all affairs shewed such wisdom and such moderation, that he was then usually styled the English Cicero. He laboured to bring about the ac- cepting of the limitations on the next successor, as the wisest and best method, knowing the King would never be brought to consent to the Bill of Exclusion. And, in the case of the Earl of Danbij, though he never favoured him, yet, whea the debate arose in the House of Lords, concerning the bishops' right of voting in any part of a trial for treason, the Lord Chancellor by his arguments carried it for them ; it being agreed, that though the bishops did not vote in the final judgement, yet they had a right to vote in all preliminaries. On the 30th of Nov. 1680 he was Lord High Steward on the trial of the Earl of Stafford, and, on his being- found guilty of high treason, pronounced judgement in one of the most impressive speeches he had ever made. May 12, 1681, he was created Earl of Nottingham, as a re- ward of his faithful services ; but a long attention to business had now worn him out, and he survived the honour only till the next year. He died at his house. Great Queen-Street Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, Dec. 18, 1682, in the sixty-first year of his age, and was buried on the 28th of the same month, in the church of Rauston, near Olney Bucks, where a superb altar monument, with his efiigy, &c. was erected by his son, the second Earl. In an epitaph are set forth his name and titles, with the particulars of his descent, the successive offices he filled, his marriage, offspring, &c. and an ample and deserved panegyric on his talents and virtues. BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 243 GEORGE, EARL OF BERKELEY. This distinguished nobleman was the son of George Lord Berkeleij, Knight of the Bath, who died in 165S, and whose ancestor, Hardhig,* accompanied WiUicnn Duke of Normandxj to England, and was with him at the memorable battle of Hastings. The subject of this memoir manifested the greatest loyalty to King Charles the Second, whose restoration he was instrumental ia promoting: for this, and for other emi- nent services, as the patent expresses it, he was advanced to the degree of an Ecirl by the title of Earl of Berkeley ; and in 1678 was sworn a member of the Privy Council.+ Having been made free of the Grocers' Company in 1660, he served the oflSce of Master in 1682. His lordship was appointed Gustos Rotulorum of the county of Gloucester by King James in January 1684, and, in the subsequent year, became one of his Privy Council. On that Mo- narch's withdrawing himself, he was one of the Lords who assembled at Guildhall; and, having sent for the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, subscribed a declaration, " That " they would assist his Highness the Prince of Orange, " in obtaining a free parliament, wherein our laws, liber- " ties, and properties may be secured ; the church of Eng- " land in particular, with a due liberty to Protestant Dis- " senters ; and, in general, the Protestant religion over " the whole world, may be supported and encouraged, •' &c." On the accession of King William and Queen Mary, he was appointed one of their Privy Council, and in July 1689 constituted Custos Rotulorum of the county of Surrey. This noble Fkirl departed this life in October 1698, and was interred at Cranford in Middlesex. * This Harding descended from the royal line of the Kings of Den^ mark. — Ahbot Neivland's Pedigree in Berkeley Castle. t CoUins's Peerage of England, vol. iii. R 2 244 COMPANY OF GROCERS. SIR JOHN MOORE, KNT. With the exception of Si?- John Cutler, there is no in- dividual to whom the Grocers' Company are under greater obligations than Sir John Moore. At a period when their affairs were in the greatest confusion, their revenues en- tirely suspended and their Hall in ruins, he gave a noble example of liberality to his brother liverymen: his conduct is noticed in the Company's books, in the following terms: " Sir John Moore, a worthy member of this society, " taking into his serious consideration the deplorable con- '* dition of this Company, every year much declining in " reputation, by reason of the ruinated condition of their ** Hall, offers, as an encouragement to strangers to join it, " to repair it at his own costs, hoping to induce other " members, by this example, to contribute liberally to- " wards the Company's debts." The estimate of the pro- posed repairs amounted to £500, which Sir John paid to the Wardens on the 14th of March 1681 ; he exerted, besides, all his influence to prevail on his brethren to assist him in the laudable work, and succeeded to so great a degree, that, in January 1684, the Court of Assistants ex- pressed their sense of his services by passing the following resolution : — " This Court being deeply sensible of the great kind- " nesse done to this Company by Sir John Moore, Alder- " man of this City, a worthy member, in so large and " liberal a summe of money freely given for repairing and " beautifying of the Company's Hall at his own proper " charge, by whose example the rest of that great work " was so commodiously carried on and perfected, to the " great encouragement of all members and benefactors, " doe, therefore, in great acknowledgment, order that " the Wardens (to whom it is wholly referred to contract " for the same on the best terms they can to have the same ** well done) do forthwith procure his picture to be drawn BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 245 *' to the life, and set up in a fair frame in the Hall at the " Company's charge." The period of Sir John 3Ioores mayoralty was very tumultuous ; it occurred in 1682 at the latter part of the reign of Charles the Second, whose proceedings towards the City being arbitrary and violent, naturally excited all the vehemence of party spirit. Sir John, eager to support the Court interest, interfered in an unusual manner in the election of Sheriffs, by nominating Dudley North, Esq., and issuing to the respective Companies a precept in an unusual form. It ran thus: — ** By the Mayor, " These are to require you, that on Mirsummer-day " next, being the day appointed as well for confirmation " of the person who hath been by me chosen, ac- " cording to the ancient custom and constitution of this " city and county of Middlesex, for the year ensuing, as " for the election of the other of the said Sheriffs and " other officers, you cause the livery of your Company to ** meet together at your common hall early in the niorn- " ing, and from thence to come together decently and " orderly in their gowns to Guildhall, there to make the " said confirmation and election. Given the nineteenth of " June, 1682. " John Moore."* This dictatorial mode of proceeding gave great offence to the citizens ; so much so that when they assembled at Guildhall on Midsummer-day, and the Common-Crier made proclamation and said, ** You, Gentlemen, of the livery ** of London, attend your confirmation," they interrupted the proceedings, exclaiming, with one voice, " No con- " firmation ! no confirmation!" The business was sus- pended for nearly half an hour, and, at length, after a speech from the Recorder, it was allowed again to proceed according to the ancient method, and the four following gentlemen were put into nomination, Dudley North, ' Miiitland's History of London, vol. i. p. 474. 246 COMPANY OF GROCERS. Ralph Box, Thomas PapilUon, ancl John Dubois, Esquires. The show of hands was clearly in favour of the two lat- ter gentlemen, but a poll was demanded and granted for the four candidates. The Lord Mayor, after some time, finding that the elec- tion would probably fall upon Messrs. Papillion and Du- bois, attempted to adjourn the meeting, and retired ; but the sheriffs kept the poll open till nine o'clock at night, and resumed it again on the following morning. In the meanwhile, the Lord Mayor and some of the Aldermen were assaulted by the mob,* and the result was, that the sheriffs Pilkington and Shute and Alderman Cornish, were committed prisoners to the Tower of London by a warrant signed by twenty-four Privy-Councellors, who, at the same time, ordered the Attorney-General to exhibit an information against them, as promoters and encouragers of the late tumult. On the Friday following, the prisoners were, by a writ of habeas corpus, brought, by the Lieutenant of the Tower, to the bar of the King's Bench, and, having pleaded not guilty, they were admitted to bail. On the 1st of July, the Sheriffs met at a Common-hall, when the Lord Mayor, though indisposed, sent an order to the Recorder to ad- journ the Hall to the 7th of the month, but the Sheriffs, denying the validity of such adjournment, proceeded in the election and declared Papillion and Dubois duly chosen. This elicited from the government an order in Council, in which it was stated, that His Majesty, having been inform- ed that disorders had taken place in the City in consequence of irregular proceedings at the election of Sheriffs, order- ed, that, at the Common-hall to be held on the following- day, all proceedings should be begun de novo. This order, on being read to the citizens, occasioned great clamour, as having a tendency to invade the privileges of the City ; nevertheless, the Lord Mayor, in obedience to its contents, declared North duly elected by bim, without the sanction * Buinefs History of his Own Time. Rennet's History of England. BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 24'4 of a Common-hall, and then proceeded to a poll for another Sheriff, to which none coming that had voted for Papillion aud Dubois at the former election, Box was chosen with- out opposition, and North and he were declared duly elected ; while Papillion and Dubois were left to seek their remedy at law. On the 27th July, the citizens petitioned the Court of Aldermen that Papillion and Dubois might be sworn in as Sheriffs for the year ensuhig, and the Court returned them the following ungracious answer, — ** Gentlemen, " This Court has considered your petition and will take " care that such persons shall take the office of Sheriffs " upon them as are duly elected according to law, and " the antient customs of this City; and, in this and all " other things, this Court will endeavour to maintain the " rights and privileges of the Chair, aud of the whole " City; and wherein ye think we do otherwise, the law " must judge between us." Mr. Box, it appears, being sensible that the manner of his election could not be legally justified, prudently de- clined serving the office of Sheriff, and paid the accustom- ed fine of exemption. A new election, therefore, became necessary for which a Common-hall was summoned, and Mr. Peter Bircli*^ was chosen ; he and Mr. North were then sworn before the Lord Mayor. Thus terminated a transaction which shows that the Court of that period, when determined to carry a point, spared neither violence nor injustice, and which, after- wards, gave rise to the unjustifiable attack upon the City charter and liberties, by the issuing of the writ of quo warranto, of which more detailed mention is made in another part of this volume. -f- Sir John Moore died in 1702, and was interred in the church of St. Dunstan's-in-the-East ; the following epitaph, * Burnet's History of his Own Time. Burnet, by mistake, rails him Rich. t See page 12!>. 248 COMPANY OF GROCERS. which contains some other particulars respecting his life, will shew how justly he merited the eulogiums bestowed on him for his charity and benevolence. " In a vault, near this place, is deposited the body of " Sir John Moore, Knt. sometime Lord Mayor of London, " one of the representatives of this City in Parliament, *' and President of Christ's Hospital ; who, for his great " and exemplary loyalty to the Crown, was empowered by " King Charles 11. to bear, on a canton, one of the lions *' of England, as an augmentation to his arras. Who, *' out of a christian zeal for good works, founded and en- " dowed a free-school at Appleby, in Leicestershire, his " native county,* and was a good benefactor to the wor- " shipful Company of Grocers ; to the several hospitals of " this City ; to his own relations in general ; and to this *' parish. He departed this life the 2d of June, 1702^ " aged 82." JOHN SHEFFIELD, DUKE OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. '' That wit, which, or in council, or in fight, " Still met the emergence, and determin'd right." Pope's Odyssey, book xiv. The family of Sheffield was eminent, so far back as the reign of Henry HI., in the person of Sir Robert Sheffield, Knt., who, by Felicia, his wife, daughter and heir of Ter- neby, had Robert, his son, who married Anne, daughter and co-heir of Sir Simon Goure, and had issue, Thomas, who died S.P., and Robert Sheffield, grandfather of Ed- mund, created first Baron Sheffield, in the first year of Edward VI. His grandson Edmund, who greatly distin- guished himself in the reigns of Queen Elizabeth, of James I., and Charles I., was, by the latter, advanced to * This corrects the error committed by Strype, who says he was a native of Stretton, in Derbyshire. BIOGRAPHY OP EMINENT MEMBERS. 249 the dignity of Earl of Muhjrave, in Yorkshire.* His great grandson was John, the subject of the present memoir. He became one of the most eminent noblemen of his day, appeared in various places of honour and trust, and was advanced to a degree of dignity beyond all his prede- cessors; being created Marquis of Normanhy, in the sixth year of William and Mary, and in 1703 the second of Queen Anne, Duke of Normanhy and Duke of Buck- inghamshire. -f At the breaking out of the second Dutch war in 1672, he went to sea as a volunteer under the Duke of York, and behaved with so much gallantry at the battle of Sole- bay, that, on his return to London, the King gave him the command of the Royal Katharine, the best second- rate ship then in the navy ; and it is not a little curious, that notwithstanding this, we find him, in the ensuing year, though at sea, yet acting in the post and with the commis- sion of a Colonel, having himself raised a regiment of foot, to serve with the forces sent under the command of Mar- shal de Schomherg. The Duke was a man of great literary attainments, and was author of several works, in prose and in verse, which were published shortly after his death. Walpole, in his catalogue of noble authors, speaks in rather slighting terms of these productions, as he says, '^ It is certain, that /' his Grace's compositions in prose have nothing extraor- " dinary in them ; his poetry is most indifferent, and the *' greatest part of both is already fallen into total neglect." This opinion, however, must be received with caution, as it is well known, that when Horace Walpole took the critical lash in hand, he laid it on unsparingly. The Duke successively filled the offices of Chamberlain to James II., Privy Seal, and afterwards President of the Council to Queen Anne. He died in 1720, leaving one • Banks's Dormant and Extinct Baronage, vol. iv, t Beatson's Political Index. 250 COMPANY OF GROCERS. son, who died when quite a youth, and with whom the title became extinct. His Grace, while Earl of Mulgrave, was elected a Member of the Grocers' Company ; and, in 1684, was chosen Master for the year ensuing. ERASMUS DRYDEN. In the journals of the Grocers' Company there is an entry, dated the 14th of May, 1688, in which, mention is made of Erasmus Dry den, " who for many years has used " the mystery of Grocerie." As there is nothing remark- able in the life of this individual, I should not have inserted his name here, had I not ascertained that he was the father of John Dryden, the poet. This fact is of itself sufficient to entitle Mr. Erasmus Dryden to a place among the worthies of the Grocers' Company. He was the third son of Sir Erasmus Dryden, of Canon's Ashby, in the county of Northampton, the first baronet of that ancient family, and married Mary, daughter of the Rev. Henry Pickering, by whom he had fourteen children, viz. four sons, John, the poet, Erasmus, Henry, and James, and ten daughters.* SIR JOHN CUTLER, BART. '' On rend quelquefois justice bien tard." Voltaire. Essay on the Emperor Julian. There is no part of the work I have undertaken, to which I feel myself so incompetent to do justice, as the vindication of Sir John Cutler's memory from the obloquy and calumnies by which it has been assailed for nearly a century and half. In endeavouring to refute the assertions of a man like Pope, I am conscious that I have no light task to perform ; but, as I shall adduce nothing in defence * Malone's Life of Dryden, BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 251 of Sir John Cutler, which is not susceptible of proof, I trust I shall succeed in removing, at least, a part of the prejudice which has been created against him by a poet, who, in the words of his eulogist, Johnson, " was some- " times wanton in his attacks," and many of whose efforts *' exhibit nothing but cool malignity."* Although the satire in question is familiar to most readers, I have thought it best to insert it here, in order to place the " bane and *' antidote" by the side of each other, and thus give the reader an opportunity of judging for himself. It forms a part of Popes third epistle, addressed to Lord Bathurst, on the use of riches. " His grace's fate, sage Cutler could foresee, " And well, he thought, advis'd him, lire like me. " As well, his grace reply'd, like you, Sir John ? " That I can do when all I have is gone ! " Resolve me, reason, which of these is worse, " Want, with a full or with an empty purse ? " Thy life more wretched, Cutler, was confess'd ; " Arise, and tell me, was thy death more bless'd ? " Cutler saw tenants break, and houses fall, " For very want he could not build a wall. " His only daughter in a stranger's pow'r, " For very want he could not pay a dow'r, " A few grey hairs his rev'rend temples crown'd ; " 'Twas very want that sold them for two pound. " What! e'en deny'd a cordial at his end, " Banish'd the doctor, and expell'd the friend ? " What but a want, which you, perhaps, think mad " Yet numbers feel, the want of what he had ! " Cutler and Brutus, dying, both exclaim, " Virtue and wealth, what are ye but a name?" All this is extremely bitter; and, if founded on fact, would stamp Sir John Cutler as one of the basest and most loathsome characters that ever lived ; and it is to be lamented that Pennant, whose good-nature might have taught him better, should give additional currency to the calumny, by dwelling on it twice in his Accotint of Lon- don, and, without taking any trouble to inquire into the * Lives of the Poets, vol. iii. p. 134 and 136, 252 COMPANY OF GROCERS. truth, speaking of Sir John as " the notorious," and as " a character so stigmatized for avarice." I shall now " a round unvarnished tale deliver," which, I trust, will demonstrate that the charges of the poet and of the antiquary are unfounded. Sir John Cutlers name derives no lustre from his ances- tors, as he came of a family whose descent or whose arms are not to be traced at the Heralds' College. His father, Thomas Cutler, likewise a member of the Grocers' Company, was engaged in commercial pursuits ; but whether Sir John was his eldest son, or whether he inherited any fortune from him, I have been unable to dis- cover. Sir John was established in London as a merchant, and, in that capacity, attained great celebrity, as well as wealth ; and his opinions, it appears, were respected and esteemed, for Pepys, a man of acute observation and insight into the characters of individuals, makes the follow- ing mention of him : — " 23d January 1662. Mr. Grant " and I to a coffee-house, where Sir John Cutler was ; *' and he did fully make out that the trade of England '* is as great as ever it was, only in more hands ; and that " of all trades there is a greater number than ever there " was, by reason of men's taking more prentices. His '• discourse was ivell worth hearing.''* Sir Johns attachment to his legitimate sovereign, and to the ancient institutions of his country, induced him to take an active part in the measures adopted in the City for bringing about the Restoration, by promoting the subscrip- tions raised for the use of Charles II. His important services on the occasion were duly appreciated by the King, who showed his sense of them by creating him a Baronet in November 1660. At a later period, he obtained a grant of arms from the Heralds' College, attached to which is the following pedigree of his family, extracted from Le Neve's MS. Pedigrees of Baronets,-}- and which is con- sidered an official document. * Diary, vol. i. page 367. t Vol. ili. in the College of Arms. BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 253 Cutler, Sir John Cutler, of London, Knight and Baronet, -^, 1660, had a grant of arms 27th March 1693, in the fifth year of our Sovereign Lord and Lady William and Mary, by Thomas St. George.* Eliz. daughter and: co-heir of Sir Tho- mas Foot, of Lon- don, Knight and Baronet, buried in St. Benedict Gras- church-street, Lon- don. ^Sir John Cutler, ci-: tizen and Grocer of London, created Baronet lit supra. He dyed 15th April 1693, being eighty- five years old, and was buried in St. Margaret's Church, Westminster. -/ :First wife, Elisa, daughter of Sir Tho- mas Tipping, of Wheatfield, Com. Oxon, Knioht. \. Elizabeth, daughter, mar- ried to Sir William Port- man, of Orchard, Somer- sett, Bart. She dyed, without issue living, afore Sir John Cutler's death ; he gave for portion £30,000. I Elizabeth, only daughter and heir, married to Charles BodvilleRobartes, Earle of Radnor. She dyed, without issue, in 1696. Here is, at once, a refutation of a daughter " in a stranger's pow'r, " For very want, he could not pay a dow'r." And, further, to show that Pope's observation could not apply to the daughter by the second wife, I have ascer- tained that Sir John Cutler bought the magnificent mansion and estate called Wimpole-Hall, in Cambridgeshire, which he settled upon her, on her marriage with the Earl of Radiior.f • Clarencieux, King of Arms. t Lyson's Magna Britannica, vol. ii. part i. page 287. Cambridge. Sir J. C. bought it of Thoinas Chichley. It is now the property of Lord Hardivicke. 264 COMPANY OF GROCERS. Having thus rescued him from the charge of being an unnatural father, let us now observe upon what grounds the vice of avarice is so pertinaciously affixed to him. I have already stated that the Grocers' Company were bound by the strongest ties of gratitude to Sir John Cutler * not only for his munificence in building, at his sole charge, a court-room and parlour after the fire of London, and in contributing, at various times by sub- scriptions, towards extricating them from their pecuniary difficulties, but for their very existence, which is owing to his readiness in serving the office of Master, and in under- taking the management of their affairs, at a period when all the members shrunk from the charge, as one involving risk and responsibility, besides a great loss of time. All which savours of anything but parsimony ; and, to convey to the reader, in the original words, the feeHngs of the members of the Company at that time, I shall here tran- scribe the resolution passed by the Court of Assistants on the 27th January 1669 :— •' In consideration of Sir John Cutlers extraordinary " kindness and bountifuU intendments to the Company, " expressed in the progress and forwardness of his stately " and sumptuous buildings in the garden, undertaken at " his sole charge, and of his own accord and inclination, " in this time of exigency and desolation, for the Com- " pany's future benefit and commodiousness, It is thought " fit and agreed, that his Statue and Picture be erected " and placed, at the charge of this Company, in the upper " and lower rooms of his buildings, in gratefull acknow- " ledgment and memorial of his singular bounty and " affection to the Company, and to remain as a lasting *' monument of his unexampled kindness. The execution " thereof to be left to the Assistants, any five of them '* to form a Committee, and one Warden to be of the " number." An inscription was likewise placed in the Hall, of which the following is a copy: — • See pages 31 and 118. BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 255 " Sir John Cutler, Knight and Baronet, a worthy " member of this Company, having fined for Sheriff and " Alderman, jiigh forty years since, was chosen and held " Master-Warden, Annis 165f, and did, immediately " after the dreadful fire, Ajino 1G66, at his own proper " charge, erect (out of its ashes) the fair pile of building, " now the great parlour, and entertaining-room over it; " and again was chosen and held Master- Warden Annis " 1684. And also, in kindness to the Company, Annis " 168f, was Assistant, and locum tenens to the Right ** Honourable, their then Master- Warden.* And this " present year 1688, in their greatest exigence, (when " others, whose turn it was, declined them,) consented to " be chosen the fourth time their Master-Warden. Under " whose happy conduct the Company's revenue hath been " settled, (as a most righteous sanction,) to secure the due " payment of their yearly charities." This inscription has lately been restored ; and I cannot here refrain from paying my tribute of gratitude to the Court of Assistants for their good taste in ordering Sir John's statue, which had suffered from the ravages of time, to be repaired and replaced in the Hall, and thus fulfilling the original intentions of their predecessors in 1669, who intended it as " a lasting monument" of Sir John Cutlers services. The love and encouragement of science are indubitable marks of a liberal mind, and I have now before me a proof of Sir John Cutler s generous support of it : — " In " 1664, Sir John Cutler, having founded a mechanic " lecture at Gresham College, with a salary of fifty pounds ** a-year, settled it upon 3Ir. Hooke, the professor of " geometry, for life ; the President, Council, and Fellows ** of the Royal Society being entrusted to appoint both " the subject and number of lectures. "f A further confirmation of this fact occurs in a letter, written by Henry Oldenburg, of the Royal Society, to the * Sir Thomas Chichley. t Ward's Lives of the Professors of Gresham College. 25G COMPANY OF GROCERS. celebrated Mr. Boyle, in Nov. 1664, of which the fol- lowing is an extract : — " The Society did, yesterday, chuse Sir John Cutler an " honorary member; and ordered, that he having declared *' his resolution to settle upon Mr. Hook, during his life, " an annual stipend of fifty pounds, and to refer to the " Society the direction of the kind of employment the " stipendiat shall be put upon, should have solemn thanks " returned to him for this singular favour expressed to one ** of their members, and for the respect and confidence " showed to the whole body ; and that Sir William Petit/, " Dr. Wilkins, Dr. Whistler, and Captain Graunt, " should attend the said Sir John Cutler in the name of " the Society, and to represent to him what a sense they " have of his generosity, which they have more reason to " value, as being the first donation they have been en- " trusted with of this kind, and which they hope will " procure a leading example to others."* Nightingale, -f speaking of the church of St. Margaret, Westminster, states that " it had been repeatedly repaired, *' particularly in the years 1641, 1651, and 1682, when " the north gallery was rebuilt at the sole charge of Sir " John Cutler, Knight and Baronet, for the benefit of " the poor." J Surely, these are not the acts of the man who — " saw tenants break, and houses fall. " For very want he could not build a wall." Strype, in his edition of Stowe's Survey, speaks of him thus : — " One of the wealthiest citizens of later times, " and a great benefactor to the publick, (particularly his *' buildings in Grocers' Hall, and the College of Physicians, " since the great fire,) was Sir John Cutler, Knight, " Grocer." Sir John's will, dated the 4th July 1690, is a further ♦ Boyle's Works, vol. v. p. 322. t Beauties of England and Wales, vol.x. part iv. p. 416. t He also gave an annual sum of £37 to the parish, for their relief. BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 257 evidence of the goodness of his heart, if any evidence of that fact were wanting. After bequeathing legacies to public charities and to more than fifty individuals, and munificent provisions to his servants and their children, he has this very re- markable passage: — "Also, I give and bequeath, and " hereby direct and appoint that, my said executor, " (Edmund Boulter, Esq.) shall distribute two thousand " pounds amongst such of my friends or relations as " he shall imagine that I might have neglected or for- ** gotten to mention in this my last will, in such proportion " and proportions as he shall think fit." The whole of the will, in short, breathes a kindly and truly religious spirit, which never found place in the bosom of a miser. In a work recently published* the author remarks that " Sir John Cutler, whom the rancid satires of Pope, and '• the ironical representations oi Pennant, have damned to '* immortality, as a complete picture of avarice, has been " unjustly stigmatised ; and, were the particulars of his " life known and fairly detailed, his character would be " seen to be very far removed from that disgustingly " iniquitous and unblushing parsimony which those writers " have attributed to it." Such was my impression on the first perusal of Pope's satire: and, as I had engaged to commit to paper some account of the Company of which this calumniated individual was a member, and of which I may truly call him the preserver, I was, naturally, anxious to rescue him, as far as I was able, from the obloquy thus wantonly attached to his name. I feel that the limits of my work have prevented my' doing the subject due justice : but it affords me some satisfaction to have been able to collect sufficient evidence to remove the stigma which malice has affixed to his reputation. Should the subject be hereafter taken up on a more extended scale, by an abler and more experienced pen. Sir John Cutler s * Londiniana, by E. AV. Braley, vol.iv. p. 138. S 258 COMPANY OF GROCERS. character will shine forth in its full brightness, and be established in a way to prove him to have been an orna- ment to the City of London, and not a reproach, as the writers quoted have made the world believe. How truly does the effect of calumny, as detailed by Beaumarchais, apply to the case before us! — " La calomnie. Monsieur? *' j'ai vu les plus honnetes gens pres d'en etre " accables. Croyez qu'il n'y a pas de plate mechancete, " pas d'horreur, pas de conte absurde qu'on ne fasse " adopter aux oisifs d'une grande ville en s'y prenant bien, " et nous avons ici des gens d'une addresse !"* WILLIAM THE THIRD, by the Grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, etc. His Majesty King William III., in the first year of his accession to the throne of England, graciously conde- scended to become a member of the Grocers' Company, and honoured them still further by consenting to preside as their Sovereign Master, for the year 1689. The proceedings of the Court of Assistants, relative to His Majesty's election, are detailed in another part of this volume :f but the record of his admission is registered in the following terms : — " Here follows the instrument of His Majesty's Election " and Freedom, presented to his Majesty, at Whitehall, " on the Thursday following, in a gold box, by the War- *' dens ; upon which His Majesty, returning them hearty " thanks, was graciously pleased to confer the honour of '* Knighthood on Ralph Box, Esq., then Master Warden, " and afterwards they and the members attending them * Le Barbier de Seville, act ii. sc. 8. t See page 142. BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 259 ** were entertained by the Lord Chamberlain at his own " house, at a very splendid dinner. RECORD OF HIS MAJESTY'S ELECTION. ** Ad curiam assistentium conventorum in aula Aroyna- tarioruia in hanc solennem b) felioem occasionem, vicesimo secundo die Octohiis 1689, annoque re Wardens. " John Stracey, y THE RIGHT HONOURABLE HENRY BILSON LEGGE. " A man of matchlesse might, " and wondrous wit to manage high affairs." Spenser. Faerie Queene. The Right Honourable Henry Bilson Legge, fourth son of William the first Earl of Dartmouth, was born on the 29th March 1708.* He represented the Borough of * Collins's Peerage, vol. viii. BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 267 Eastlow in Cornwall, in part of the 8th parliament of Great Britain, at which time he was a Commissioner of the Navy, and, soon after, Joint-Secretary of the Treasury. He re- presented the Borough of Orford in Suffolk, in three succeeding parliaments, and was, afterwards, chosen Knight of the Shire for the county of Hants. On the 16th July 1752, he had a grant of the office of Surveyor- General of all His Majesty's Woods, in the lands of the ancient inheri- tance of the Crown on the north and south sides of the river Trent, at which time he resigned his place of Secretary to the Treasury. In 1745 he was constituted one of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, and in 1746 a Lord of the Treasury, In 1748 he was appointed Envoy- extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the King of Prussia, and, on his return, in the following year, was named Trea- surer of the Navy. He became Chancellor and LTnder- Treasurer of His Majesty's Exchequer in April 1754, and resigned the office in the November of the same year. He was again appointed to those great offices in November 1756, from which he was removed in April 1757, and was succeeded therein by Lord Mansfield; but the nation in general, shewing their regret thereat. His Majesty was pleased, on the 2d July, the same year, to constitute him, once more. Chancellor and Under-Treasurer of the Exchequer, and one of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury. He continued in those offices to the universal satisfaction of all parties, till, upon a change of ministry in 1762, he was turned out, as he chose to express it, and the Lord Viscount Barring ton appointed in his room. His health for some time sensibly declining, he retired to the sweets of domestic happiness and private friendship, and departed this life on the 21st August 1764. His death was sincerely lamented by all good and virtuous men, and all true lovers of their country. It was after his removal from office, in 1757, that he was elected a Member of the Grocers' Company. He was the friend and coadjutor of the great Mr. Pitt, afterwards Lord Chatham, whom he supported in all his endeavours to check 268 COMPANY OF GROCERS. the Whig faction,* whose intrigues, at that period, distracted the nation. They were elected the same day, and the freedom of the Company was accompanied by the following letter to both, written at the unanimous request of the Court of Assistants : — " Sir, ** In testimony of the grateful sense which the " Grocers' Company entertain of your noble efforts to stem " the general torrent of corruption, and lessen the extent ** of ministerial influence, and to revive, by your example, ** the almost extinguished love of virtue and our country, ** the Court of Assistants do themselves the honour to pre- " sent you with the freedom of their Company, and have " ordered their clerk to attend you with the copy, taken " out of their Book of Admission ; " Alderman Geo. Nelson, Master. Shute Adams, '^ Thomas Heath, > Wardens. John Stracey, 3 \Qth Day of April, 1767. HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS EDWARD AUGUSTUS, DUKE OF YORK. The details of the life of this Royal Member of the Gro- cers' Company are so well known, that it would be super- fluous to repeat them here. It is sufiicient to state that, in 1760, Prince Edward Augustus K.G., next brother to his late Majesty George the Third, was created Duke of York and Albany, by his grand-father George the Second. He died, without issue, on the 6th September 1767, at Monaco in Italy, and was interred at Westminster the November following.f * Bisset's Reign of George the Third, vol. i. + Bolton's Extinct Peerage, page 315. BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 269 In June 1761, he was presented with the freedom of the Grocers' Company, which was delivered to his Royal High- ness in a gold box of the value of one hundred guineas. The event is thus recorded in the Company's books; John Lane, Master. Daniel Bayne, Samuel Wollaston, (. Wardens. BoYCE Tree, S " His Royal Highness Edward Augustus, Duke of York " and Albany, Earl of Ulster, Knight of the Most Ho- " nourable Order of the Garter, one of His Majesty's « Privy Council, and One of the Rear-Admirals of the '^ Blue Squadron of His Majesty's fleet, having most gra- " ciously condescended to accept the freedom of the War- " dens and Commonalty of the Mystery of the "Worshipful " Company of Grocers of the City of London, was ac- " cordingly admitted the 17th day of June 17G1, pur- " suant to the unanimous resolution of the Court of Assis- " tants, held the same day. " John Alexander, Clerk." THE RIGHT HON. ARTHUR ONSLOW. " The gentleman is learn'd, a most rare speaker, " to Nature none more bound ; his learning such " that he may furnish and instruct great teachers, " and never seek aid out of himself." Shakspeare. Henry VIII. Act. I. Scene 1. Arthur Onslow, was son of Foot Onslow Esq. and grandson to Sir Arthur Onslow Bart. He was chosen representative for Guildford in the year 1719, and also in the succeeding parliament. In January 1720 he took his seat for the county of Surrey, and, having been unanimously • Collins's Peerage, vol. vii. edit. 1779. 270 COMPANY OF GROCERS. elected Speaker of the House of Commons, was approved of by His Majesty on the 27th of that month. In July 1728 he was sworn one of His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, and, in 1729, appointed Chancellor and Keeper of the Great Seal to Queen Caroline. In 1734 he was constituted Treasurer of the Navy, but resigned that office in 1743. Such was the respect which the House of Commons entertained for his character and talents that they elected him Speaker for five consecutive parliaments; and, on his resignation of that honourable ofiice in 1761, he received an unanimous vote of thanks from the House accompanied by an address to His Majesty " that he would " be graciously pleased to confer some signal mark of his ** royal favour on the Speaker, for the great and eminent " services performed to his country for thirty- three years *' and upwards, during which he had, with distinguished " ability and integrity, presided in the chair of that house. " On the 20th of April 1761, the King granted him, in con- sequence, a pension of £3000 a-year out of the Civil-list revenue. In this year, after receiving the freedom of the City of London in a gold box, he was presented with that of the Grocers' Company, which he accepted with many kind expressions of thankfulness. This worthy man and illustrious patriot died on the 17th February 1768 in the 77th year of his age and was buried at Thames- Ditton. He married Anne, daughter of James Bridges Esq. of Thames-Ditton, and had one son and one daughter. His son George Onslow afterwards became Lord Onslow and Cranley, of which title he was the fourth peer. SIR JOHN PHILLIPS, BART. Sir John Phillips of Picton-Castle in the county of Pembroke and of Clogy varne, in the county of Caermarthen Bart, is a member of one of the oldest families in Wales, his descent being clearly traced from Kadivor Vaior, Lord BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 271 of Blaene-hych, mentioned in the division between his sons, A. D. 1084, who was buried in the Priory of Caermarthen. Sir John Phillips was appointed in 1744 a Commissioner of Trade and Plantations, and represented in parliament the borough of Petersfield. In 1754 he was chosen Knight of the Shire for the county of Pembroke, and in 1761, was sworn a Member of His Majesty's Most Honour- able Privy Council. He received the freedom of the City of London, as a reward for his public services, and was admitted a member of the Grocers' Company in March 1761. Sir John Phillips died in June 1764 and was buried at Haverfordwest. GEORGE COOKE, ESQ. M.P. George Cooke Esq. one of the Prothonotaries of the Court of Common Pleas and representative in parliament for the county of Middlesex, received the freedom of the City of London in 1761, at the same time with Sir John Phillips, Bart. The circumstances which induced the citizens to confer this honour upon them are thus recorded by Mait- land.* " Sir John Phillips Bart, and Member of the House " of Commons, having, at all times, and on all occasions, " espoused the cause of liberty, and to show his firmness *' and independency, had thrown up the profitable place of " a Lord of Trade and Plantations, rather than submit to " the dictates of a minister, directing the minions of power " to vote in the House of Commons, had, for some years, " been a standing toast amongst the friends of public " liberty, and the maintainers of the rights and privileges " of his fellow-subjects ; and he, having heartily joined *' with Mr. George Cooke, one of the Knights of the " Shire for the county of Middlesex, in managing the " business of the City of London, in the House of Com- * History of Loiulon, vol. ii. Appendix, page 31. 272 COMPANY OF GROCERS. '< mons, for some time past," a motion was made and carried, that they should be presented with the freedom of the City. Mr. Cooke was, consequently, elected a mem- ber of the Grocers' Company in March 1761. HIS MOST SERENE HIGHNESS THE HERE- DITARY PRINCE OF BRUNSWICK - LU- NENBURG. " Fair flower of Knighthood, famed for noble blood, ** For courtly grace and warlike hardihood." Bland. Edwy and Elgiva, Book I, Charles William Ferdinand, Hereditary Prince of Wolfenhuttel-Bevern, was the eldest son of Charles the reigning Duke of that State in 1764, by the Princess Phi-, lippina Charlotta, second sister to the then King of Prussia. The hereditary Prince became connected with England in the year mentioned, by marrying her Royal Highness the Princess Augusta, sister of his late Majesty George III. The degree of consanguinity between the family of the Prince and the Royal House of England was, previously, of the nearest kind, both being branches of the same house oi Brunswick , the two lines of which, Brunswick-Wolf en- huttel and Brunswick- Lunenburg had the same common founder, viz. Ernest the Confessor, who first introduced the reformation into his dominions, and from whom sprung ihe Dukes of Brunswick- Wolfenbuttel, and the Electors of Hanover. Prince Charles, although only twenty-nine years of age at the time of his marriage, had already signahzed himself in war. When the Hanoverians resumed their arms, in consequence of the infraction of the convention of Closter Seven on the part of the French, Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, brother to the reigning Duke, was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the British Army. The heredi- tary Prince, then in his twenty-third year, joined the troops and behaved with the greatest gallantry. From BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 273 that time to the period of his arrival in England, he is stated to have taken part in no less than twenty-nine actions, in all of which he displayed great military science and bravery, and in the last of them narrowly escaped death. He had been twice before wounded ; once in the shoulder and afterwards in the leg (having his horse killed under him) ; but, in the battle alluded to, which he fought with Count De Stainville, near Friedburg, in 1763, and in which, after a brave resistance, he was un- successful, he received a musket ball in his side. He was transported from the field of battle successively to Hom- berg, Fritzler, and Munden, at which place the wound was opened. This operation, a most painful one, was succeeded by a fever occasioned by irritation arising from a splinter, and the Prince was for several days in great danger; but a strong constitution and skilful treatment saved him, and, in three weeks, he was declared to be convales- cent. This was the last action in which he took part, as in less than three months after that event hostilities ceased. His reception in England was enthusiastic, for he not only had been engaged in defending the hereditary domi- nions of the house of Hanover against the French, but he came for the purpose of espousing a Princess to whom the nation was peculiarly attached on account of her virtues and amiable character. The City of London, always fore- most on occasions of this kind, presented addresses of con- gratulation on the Prince's arrival, to himself and to his royal bride, offering him at the same time the freedom of the City in a gold box of 150 guineas value. His Serene Highness selected the Grocers' Company as the one to which he wished to be attached, and his name was enrolled among the list of members on the 18th of October 1765, the record of his admission being presented to him in a gold box of the value of one hundred guineas. He is therein described as " a Prince who has rendered himself *' glorious for his heroic actions, eminent for conjugal " affection to his most amiable consort, and every other " private virtue.'' T 274 COMPANY OF GROCERS. CHARLES PRATT, FIRST EARL CAMDEN. " It doth appear you are a worthy judge ; " You know the law — your exposition " Has been most sound." Merchant of Venice. Act. II. Sc 1. Charles Pratt, first Earl Camden, the son of Sir John Pratt, presided, for many years, in the Court of King's Bench. He was educated first at Eton and afterwards at King's College Cambridge. After taking the two first degrees, which facilitated his call to the bar, he became a member of Lincoln's Inn and, emulating the example of his predecessors Cowper, Talbot, and Sotners, and of his contemporaries Yorke and Murray, soon acquired a high reputation.* After sitting for some time in the House of Commons, he rose in succession to all the great offices appertaining to his profession, and, as Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, he not only distinguished himself greatly, but rendered himself the most popular judge that had sat on the bench since the revolution, by his decision in the case of John Wilkes., in consequence of which a general warrant was declared to be unlawful. In 1765 he was created Baron Camden ; in 1766 he became Lord Chancellor, but resigned soon after from an avowed opinion of the injustice of the American war. In 1782 he was President of the Council ; in 1786 was created an Earl ; and, unchanged by the favours of the Court, he, to his honour, persevered in his original prin- ciples to the last moment of his life, having contributed much to the success of the bill for explaining the law of libels, and expressed his decided opinion, " that the jury " was competent to decide both on law and fact." This illustrious man, for many years the friend and colleague of William Pitt Earl of Chatham, died April 18th 1794, in the 75th year of his age. Lord Camden was author of two tracts ; one on the writ * Index to the House of Lords. BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 275 of Habeas Corpus, the other in the case of Doe on the demise of Hindsdon, which contains a refutation of Lord Mansfield's argument in the case of Wyndham versus Chetwynd. He was presented with the freedom of the Grocers' Company on the 24th February 1764, while Lord Chief Justice of His Majesty's Court of Common Pleas, and ac- cepted it with many expressions of regard and thankfulness. HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS WILLIAM HENRY, DUKE OF GLOUCESTER. This Prince was the third son of Frederick Prince of Wales, father of his late Majesty King George III., and was born at Leicester- House on the 14th November 1743; he was baptized eleven days after by the name of William Henry. At the marriage of the late King George III. and Queen Charlotte on the 8th September 1761, His Royal High- ness walked on the Queen's left hand to and from the Chape) ; and, having no right at that time, he not being a peer, to form a part of the public procession at the Coronation on the 22d of that month, he handed his mother, the Priyicess Doivager of Wales, who, with her younger children and attendants, made a lesser procession to and from Westminster Abbey. On the 27th of May 1762, His Royal Highness was elected a Knight of the Garter, and was installed at Windsor on the 25th Sep- tember following, when the King and Queen honoured the solemnity with their presence. A few days before His Royal Highness was of full age, His Majesty was pleased to grant to him and to the heirs male of H. R. H., the dignity of a Duke of the Kingdom of Great Britain, and of an Earl of the Kingdom of Ireland, by the names, styles, and titles, of Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, and Earl of Connaught. On the 29th of March 1765, His Royal Highness was t2 276 COMPANY OF GROCERS. elected a member of the Worshipful Company of Grocers ; and the freedom, curiously written on vellum and blazoned with their arms and other decorations, presented to him in a gold box of the value of one hundred guineas. THE RIGHT HONOURABLE WILLIAM PITT. " And shall not his memory to Britain be dear, " Whose example with envy all nations behold ; " A statesman unbiass'd by int'rest or fear, " By power uncorrupted, untainted by gold ?" The Pilot that weathered the Storm. WilliatJi Pitt, second son of William first Earl of Chatham and of Lady Hester only daughter of Richard Grenville, Esq. was born at Hayes in Kent, on the 28th of May 1759. He was educated at home under the imme- diate eye of his father, who, as he found him very early capable of receiving, imparted to him many of the principles which had guided his own political conduct, and, in other respects, paid so much attention to his education, that at fourteen he was found fully qualified for the university ; and, accordingly, at that age, he was entered at Pem- broke-hall, Cambridge, where he distinguished himself by his application and by his success in attaining those branches of knowledge to which his studies were particu- larly directed ; nor have many young men of rank passed through the probation of the university with a higher cha- racter for morals, abilities, industry, and regularity. He was intended by his father for the bar and the senate, and his education was regulated in a manner to embrace both these objects. Lord Chatham died while Mr. Pitt was in his nineteenth year, but the cloud which such an event could not fail to cast over the prospects of a younger son, was quickly dispelled by those qualities which cleared to him the path to eminence by his own exertions. In the spring of 1780, Mr. Pitt became resident in Lincoln's Inn and regularly attended Westminster Hall ; he had pre- viously kept the necessary terms, and, being called to the BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMliERS. 277 bar on the 12th of June, went the western circuit in the summer of that year. At the general election in the autumn of 1780, he was an unsuccessful candidate to represent the university of Cambridge in parliament ; and in the following year, through the influence of Sir James Lowther, was returned for the Borough of Appleby. It is not my intention, in this sketch, to enter into those details which belong to history ; first, because I feel I could not do justice to them; and, secondly, because I am convinced that Mr. PitVs character, as a statesman, can never be duly appreciated, if detached from the great events which he attempted to control ; and any attempt at a narrative of them here would far exceed my limits. I, therefore, recommend those who wish to be more inti- mately acquainted with the particulars of Mr. Pitt's public career, to peruse the memoirs of him written by Mr. Gifford and by Dr. Tomline, late Bishop of Winchester, his tutor. Mr. Pitt's first speech in the British senate was deli- vered on the 26th of February 1781, on Mr. Burke's motion respecting a retrenchment in the civil Hst. It is a curious fact mentioned by Dr. Tomline that 3fr. Pitt en- tered the House of Commons without any intention of taking part in the debate ; but, being called upon by the house, he rose, and beginning in a collected and unem- barrassed manner, argued strongly in favour of the bill, and acquitted himself in a manner which astonished all who heard him, and convinced the world that the expecta- tions formed of him were completely answered. At this period Mr. Pitt had not completed his twenty-second year.* The death of the Marquis of Rockingham and the con- sequent dissolution of his ministry, caused the elevation of the Earl of Shelhurne to the post of First Lord of the Treasury, and Mr. Pitt, for the first time, became a * Memoirs of the Right Honourable William l'i(t. vol. i. p. 22. 278 COMPANY OF GROCERS. cabinet minister, by accepting the oflBce of Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he had just completed his twenty- third year. A general peace with America, France, Spain, &c. soon followed, and, in April 1783, the famous coali- tion ministry took the places of those whom they had expelled. Their triumph, however, was of short duration ; for the rejection of the celebrated India Bill by the House of Lords, compelled them to resign their places ; and Mr. Pitt, whose talent for the office was no longer denied, was made, at the age of twenty-four. First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer. His firmness of purpose, and uncompromising rectitude of conduct, carried him triumphantly through all the cabals and oppo- sition levelled against him at the commencement of his career, and, subsequently, through the difficulties of the Regency Question in 1788, and through the dangers with which the country was menaced at the period of the French revolution. What has been termed the system or principle of Mr, Pitty in commencing and continuing the war with France, cannot be better explained than in the language of Lord Grenville, who, when it was proposed to make peace with the Republican Government of France, found the propo- sitions and explanations of the French minister to be insults rather than concessions and apologies, and said, that his Sovereign never could discontinue his preparations for war, " wliile the French retained that turbulent and aggressive " spirit which threatened danger to every nation in Eu- " rope."* On this principle the war was instituted, and on this principle itwas supported, at a risk and at an expense beyond all precedent. Mr. Pitt, however, did not live to witness that glorious and wonderful termination, which was, at last, brought about by a continuance of the same system he had constantly pursued ; and which, finally, ended in the con- quest of France, the annihilation of her armies, and the * Biographical Dictionary, vol. xxv. — Tomline's and Gifford's Lives of William I'itt. BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 270 banishment of her Ruler. Mr. Pitt, after a short illness, died, at four o'clock in the morning, on the 23d January, 1806, in the 47th year of his age, and was shortly after- wards interred in Westminster Abbey. The freedom of the Grocers' Company was voted to Mr. Pitt in February 1784, and his obliging mode of accepting the honour gave great satisfaction to the Mem- bers.* The record was richly emblazoned on vellum, and was accompanied by the following letter : '« Sir, ** In testimony of the lively sense which the *' Grocers' Company entertain of your able, upright, and ** disinterested conduct, as First Commissioner of the " Treasury and Chancellor of His Majesty's Exchequer, ** and in gratitude for, and approbation of your steady " zeal, in supporting the legal prerogative of the Crown ** and constitutional rights of the people, in the present ** alarming and critical juncture of affairs, the Court of " Assistants do themselves the honour to admit you into *' the freedom of their Company, and have directed the ** Wardens to present you with the copy taken from their *' book of admission. " John Finch, Master. " William Hill, ^ " James Tyres, ^Wardens." " Thomas Jackson, ' CHARLES, MARQUESS CORNWALLTS, K.G. " He was a man of rare redoubted might, " Famous throughout the world for warlike prayse, " And glorious spoyles purchast in perilous fight. " Full many doughtie knights he in his dayes " Had doen to death, subdued in equall frayes." Spenser. Faerie Queene, Canto V. The family of Cornwallis sprung originally from com- merce, and settled honourably in Suffolk nearly five cen- turies ago. * See page 39. 280 COMPANY OF GROCERS. William Harvey, Esq. Clarenceux King of Arms, in his visitation of the county of Suffolk, made anno 1561, states, that Thomas Cormvalleys, of London, merchant, the first of this family mentioned in the said visitation, " was a younger brother, and born in Ireland, from " whence the surname cometh, (where at this day be *' found divers of that name), as appears by a deed in- " dented in the forty-first year o^ Edward III., and that " this Thomas gave the same arms which the house, at the " time of the said visitation, did bear, with afess dancette; " the like whereof (he says) is engraven in stone upon the " church porch of Ocley near Broome ; nevertheless, they " do now bear, and of long time have borne, the fess plain; " which deed, with the seal of arms, and the escutcheon " upon the porch, as is aforesaid, the said Clarenceux " testifies to have seen in his said visitation." This Thomas Cormvalleys was Sheriff^ of London in 1378, and dying in 1384, was buried in the church of St. Martin's Vintry, London. From him descended Frederick, the first peer, who on the 20th of April 1661, was created a Baron of the realm, by the title of Lord Cornwallis of Eye in the county of Suffolk. Charles, the fifth Lord, one of the Grooms of the Bed- chamber to George J. was constituted Lord Chief Justice, and Justice in Eyre of all the King's forests, &c. south of Trent, and was elevated to the rank of an Earl, by the style and title of Viscount Broome, in the county of Suffolk, and Earl Cormoallis. Charles, his eldest son and heir, the subject of this memoir, was born on the 31st of December, 1738. He represented the Borough of Eye in Parliament, until he succeeded his father in the peerage in 1762. His Lord- ship, choosing a military hfe, was appointed aide-de-camp to Geo. III. in August 1765, with the rank of Colonel of foot. He became Major-general in 1775, Lieutenant- general in 1777, and General in 1793. The history of this distinguished soldier's active life, to be fully appreciated, BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 281 must be read in the annals of his country. He had an important, though not always fortunate, command in the American war; and in 1786, his Lordship was sent out to India with the double appointment of Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief; and, arriving at Calcutta in Sep- tember of that year, found the different Presidencies in rising prosperity. Not long after, the Government of Bengal judged it necessary to declare war against the Sul- tan of Mysore, for his attack on the Rajah of Travancore, the ally of the English. The campaign of 1790 was inde- cisive ; but in March 1791, Lord Cornwallis invaded the Mysore, and came in sight of Seringapatam, which he was prevented from investing by the floods of the Cavery. In 1792 he besieged that metropolis ; when, as the attack advanced, Tippoo Saib sued for peace, and obtained it, on terms dictated by his Lordship. By his integrity, puncti- lious regard to faith, and disinterested and generous con- duct, he increased the reputation of the British name in India; and, by his measures for its improvement, amelio- rated the condition of our empire there. On the 5th of August 1792, he was advanced to the dignity of Marquess Cornwallis. In 1798, the rebellion in Ireland appearing, both to the Viceroy Lord Camden and to His Majesty, to require a Lord Lieutenant, who could act in a military as well as in a civil capacity, the King appointed Marquess Cormcallis his successor. ** The rebellion being finished," says Bis- set, " the new Viceroy adopted a plan of mingled firmness '• and conciUation, which, executed with discriminating *• judgment, tended to quiet Ireland, and prepare matters '* for a permanent plan to prevent the recurrence of such *' pernicious evils, and to promote the industry and pros- " perity of the country."* He retained his high appoint- ment till May 1801, when he was succeeded by the Earl of Hardwicke. In 1804 his Lordship had the honour of being appointed * History of England, vol. vi. p. 215. 282 COMPANY OF GROCERS. a second time Governor-General of India, on the recal of Marquess Wellesley ; and in that station he died, at Gawnepoor, in the province at Benares, October the 5th 1805, worn out with an active life spent in the service of his country, and covered with glory and honours.* On the 31st of October 1792, the Marquess Cornwallis was elected a Member of the Grocer's Company, at the same time with his friend and companion in arms. Sir William Medows. MAJOR-GENERAL SIR WILLIAM MEDOWS, K.B. In the pedigrees preserved at the College of Arms I find that Daniell Meadowe, of Chatisham St. Mary, in the county of Suffolk, in the year 1630, purchased the Lord- ship of Witnesham of Sir Robert Kytcham. His son. Sir Philip Medows, Marshal of the King's Palace, and Knight of the order of the Elephant of Denmark, was appointed His Majesty's Ambassador to the court of Sweden. His great grandson, Charles Medows, representative in Par- liament for the county of Nottingham, took the name and arms of Pierrepoint, and was raised to the peerage in 1796, by the title of Viscount Newark, of Newark-upon- Trent, and Baron Pierrepoint, of Holme Pierrepoint, both of the county of Nottingham. His third brother. Sir William Medows, Knight of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, was a Major-general in the army, and Colonel of the 73d regiment of foot, Highlanders. He was the companion in arms of the great Marquess Cornwallis, under whom he highly distinguished himself in India. He received the freedom of the Grocers' Company at the same time with that gallant commander, namely, in October 1792, and it was presented to him with the following address : • Collins's Peerage, by Sir E. Brydges, vol. ii. p. 537. BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 283 '' Sir, " To manifest the unshaken loyalty of the Wor- shipful Company of Grocers to their most gracious Sove- reign, and in testimony of the high sense of approbation and regard which they entertain for His Majesty's oflScers, most nobly and eminently distinguishing them- selves in the service of their country, the Court of Assistants of the Company of Grocers, truly sensible of the success which has attended His Majesty's arms in India under your command and wise conduct, most humbly request you will be pleased to honour them by your acceptance of the freedom of their Company, famed for antiquity, and distinguished in having His late most gracious Majesty King William IH. of illustrious memory, and many other august and noble personages, as members of their community. " James Tyars, v - Thomas Jackson, / Wardens:' ' ** William Sutherland, i " Launcelot Sharpe, ^ THE RIGHT HONOURABLE ROBERT BANKS JENKINSON, EARL OF LIVERPOOL. " If the sun of his career, as Prime Minister of England, rose amidst " the war of elements, amidst clouds and lightnings and thunder, it set " in splendour and in glory." — Obituary. Sir Robert Jenkinson, of Walcot, in the county of Oxon, Knt. had the honour of knighthood conferred upon him by James I. a7iTio 1618. He is said to have been descended from Anthony Jenkinson, an eminent merchant and navi- gator, in the reigns of Edward VI., Queen 3Ia7'i/, and Queen Elizabeth, who was Ambassador from England to Constantinople and to the Czar of Muscovy. Sir Robert's son was created a Baronet by Charles II. anno 1661, and the title remained unchanged in the family until the year 1786, when Charles, son of Sir Banks Jenkinson, was 284 COMPANY OF GROCERS. elevated to the peerage by the title of Baron Hawkesbury in the county of Gloucester, and advanced to be Earl of Liverpool, on the 28th May 1796. Robert Banks Jen- kinson, the subject of this memoir, was his eldest son, and succeeded to the title in 1808.* His Lordship was born on the 7th June 1770 ; and, after having been educated at the Charter-house, was entered as a student at Christ Church, Oxford, where he formed an acquaintance, which ripened into intimacy and friendship, with Mr. Canning. Lord Liverpool's first en- trance into public life was as Member of Parliament for Rye, in 1791 : he had been elected the year preceding, but could not take his seat, as he had not attained the age of twenty-one. In 1793 Mr. Jenkinson was appointed one of the Commissioners of the India Board, the duties of which station he performed with equal satisfaction to the Company and to the Government. In 1796, in conse- quence of the elevation of his father to the peerage, he assumed the title of Lord Hawkesbury. The first introduction of Lord Hawkesbury into the cabinet took place in 1801, when, at the temporary retire- ment of Mr. Pitt from power, Mr. Addington was appointed Prime Minister. Lord Hawkesbury then be- came Secretary of State for the Foreign Department, and was actively engaged in the debates which ensued on those changes. In one of those debates Mr. Pitt took an oppor- tunity of warmly eulogising him ; and asked the gentlemen on the opposite side of the House " if they knew any one ** among them superior to the noble Secretary — saving, ** indeed, one person, unnecessary to name, whose tran- " scendent talents made him an exception to almost any " rule?" On the resignation of Mr. Addington in 1803, the ad- ministration was, of course, dissolved : Mr. Pitt returned to the head of the ministry, and Lord Hawkesbury received the seals of the Home Department. The death of Mr. Pitt, * Collins's Peerage, by Sir E. Brydges, vol. v. BIOGRAPHY OP EMINENT MEMBERS. 285 which took place on the 23d of January 180(>, afforded Lord Hawkeshury, who had continued with distinguished zeal and ability, to manage the duties of his own office, and materially to assist Mr. Pitt in the general concerns of that changing time, the first opportunity that occurred to him of having a supreme control in the councils of the nation. His late Majesty, in the first instance, honoured him with his confidence and commands respecting the formation of a new ministry ; but Lord Hawkeshury, well knowing the situation and the relative strength of public parties, with that discriminating good sense which always distinguished him, declined the flattering offer. He re- ceived, however, a decided proof of the King's attachment, by being appointed to the vacant situation of Warden of the Cinque Ports. On the return of Mr. Pitfs friends to power in the following year. Lord Hawkeshury resumed his station in the Cabinet as Secretary for the Home Department, still declining any higher, and especially avoiding the highest office. At the latter end of 1808, Lord Hawkeshury was summoned to attend the death-bed of his father, who, after a protracted illness, expired on the 17th December, in that year, thus leaving his son at the head of his family as second Earl of Liverpool. When the duel between Lord Castlereagh and 3Ir. Canning induced them to resign their situations in the government, and the Duke of Portland to withdraw from its head, Mr. Percival, still finding the Earl of Liverpool averse to the Premiership, united in name, as he had already done in effect, the two offices of First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Lord Liverpool consented to become Secretary of State for the War Department. At length an event, as unexpected as it was calamitous, the assassination of 3Ir. Percival in May 1812, left the ministry in so disjointed a state that Lord Liverpool yielded to the request of the Prince Regent to place himself at its head ; and it may be truly said that no man 286 COMPANY OF GROCERS. ever rose to an exalted station by more gradual or more natural steps than those by which Lord Liverpool attained the Premiership. He had been in Parliament twenty years, taking, in each house, successively, a leading part in every debate of national importance, and he had been for more than half that period in the confidential service of the Crown. It would be superfluous to follow his Lordship through his bright career during the eventful period of the Spanish war, on the success of which the fate not only of England but of Europe seemed to depend, or to detail the measures which he adopted, during the disturbances of 1816 and 1817, for preserving and restoring the internal tranquillity of the country ; they are present to the recollection of all of us. Lord Liverpool continued to discharge the duties of his elevated station until February 1827, when his Lordship was suddenly seized by a fit of an apoplectic and paralytic nature, which aff'ected the whole of his right side, and from which he never recovered. He lingered on in a hopeless state until the 4th December 1828, when an attack of spasms and convulsions terminated his existence. Lord Liverpool was admitted a member of the Grocers' Company on the 12th July 1814, and the freedom was presented to him with the following address : — " To the Right Honourable Robert Banks, Earl of " Liverpool, Knight of the Garter, &c. &c. &c. '* May it please your Lordship, " We have the pleasure to express, in the name of the " Worshipful Company of Grocers, the high gratification " they derive from your Lordship's condescension in " becoming a member of our Society. Could we have ** devised a better mode of testifying the gratitude, re- " spect, and attachment which we feel for your Lordship " than by presenting you with the freedom of the " Company we should undoubtedly have adopted it; but, ** humble as the tribute may appear, we have thought that BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 287 " your Lordship would feel some gratification in having " your name inscribed on a roll already graced with those " of King William III. the first Earl of Chatham, and " the late Mr. Pitt, whose example it has been your care ** and pride to follow. " Glorious and dear as are the recollections which those '* names inspire, they are not more fondly cherished by the " present generation, nor will they be courted by posterity '* with more enthusiasm, than the memory of the events *' which have marked the course and crowned the efforts " of your Lordship's administration. To the wisdom and " perseverance, the unshaken firmness, and exemplary " moderation, manifested by your Lordship in the most ** difficult times and under every vicissitude of fortune, " this country is already signally indebted, and we doubt " not that the same eminent qualities which have so ** greatly contributed, in war, to advance its military cha- " racter and extend its renown, will now be employed, *' with equal success, in improving its resources, promoting " its commercial prosperity, and cultivating all the arts of " peace. " Robert Inglis, "^ '. Robert HOLDEN. Wardens." '* Edmund Larken, ( ** Thomas Day Frampton,3 The entry of the freedom in the Company's books runs thus : — " The Right Honourable Robert Banks, Earl of Liver- '* pool, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, ** and First Commissioner of His Majesty's Treasury, was, ** on the 12th day of July 1814, admitted into the freedom " of the Wardens and Commonalty of the Mystery of *' Grocers of the City of London, pursuant to the unani- " mous resolution of a Court of Assistants holden the same " day. " Thomas Nettleshipp, Clerk." 288 COMPANY OF GROCERS. CHARLES WILLIAM VANE, MARQUESS AND EARL OF LONDONDERRY. The branch of the ancient house of Stewart from which the noble Marquess descends, is that derived from Sir Thomas Stewart of Minto, second son of Sir William Stewart of Garlies, ancestor to the Earls of Galloway. William Stewart, of Ballylawn Castle, county of Donegal, Esq. (great grandson of John Stewart, Esq. who had a grant from Charles I. of the manor of Stewarts' Court, where he erected the castle of Ballylawn) took an active part in the transactions in the north of Ireland, to prevent the subversion of the Constitution, which James II. and his chief governor, Lord Tyrconnel, were attempting to effect : he raised a troop of horse at his own expense when the City of Londonderry was invested, and did essential service to the Protestant interest in that part, by protecting those who were well affected to King William III. and was appointed Lieutenant-colonel in the regiment commanded by Sir William Stewart, Viscount Mountjoy. The present Mar- quess is the fifth descendant of that William Stewart. The Marquess of Londonderry is a Lieutenant-general in the Army, and Colonel of the 10th Dragoons, Governor and Custos Rotulorum of the counties of Londonderry and Down, G.C.B. G.C.H. K.T.S. K.S.G. K.R.E. K.B.E. and K.S. He was elected a member of the Grocers' Company in July 1814, at the same time with the Earl of Liverpool. HIOORAPHY OP RMINFNT MEMBKRS. i289 THE HONOURABLE WILLIAM KNOX, D.D. LORD BISHOP OF DERRY. The noble family of Knox assumed their name from the estate of Knox, in the Barony of Renfrew in Scotland, where they were anciently seated. The Bishop of Derry is fourth son of Thomas, who was created Baron Welles 16th January 1781, and Viscount Northland, 5th July 1791, and brother to the present Viscount. He was consecrated Bishop of Killaloe in 1794, and translated to the See of Derry in 1803. His Lordship was elected a member of the Grocers' Company on the 29th of May 1816. THE RIGHT HON. GEORGE CANNING. " Statesman, yet friend to truth, of soul sincere, " In action faithful, and in honour clear ; ^' Who broke no promise, served no private end, " Who gain'd no title, and who lost no friend, " Ennobled by himself." George Canning, the late Prime Minister of England, was born, in London, on the 11th April 1770. He was descended of a respectable and ancient family. For three centuries and upwards, the Cannings of Foxcote* have been among the most respected members of the resident- gentry of Warwickshire. In 1618 George, the fourth son of Richard Canning of Foxcote, obtained a grant of the Manor of Garvagh in Londonderry, from James I. • See the pedigree of the Cannings, at page 201. Mr. Canning is descended from Sir Thomas Cannynge, Lord Mayor of London in 1456. U 290 COMPANY OF GROCERS. This royal bequest induced him to go over to Ireland, and settle there. His grandson, of the same name, who married a daughter of Robert Stratford, Esq. of Baltin- glass, (an aunt of the first Earl of Aldborough,) had a son named Stratford, after his maternal parent. Stratford Canning had three sons, George, Paul, and Stratford. George, the eldest of the three, was the father of the late minister ; Paul, the second, had one son promoted to the peerage in 1818, by the title of Baron Garvagh ; Stratford Canning, the third son, had several children, one of whom, the Right Honourable Stratford Canning, is a distinguished diplomatist, and was, for many years, ambassador from this country to the Court of Constan- tinople. The pedigree of Mr. Canning, derived from an authen- tic source, is here introduced although its insertion may not serve to augment his fame, for he was the most illustrious member of his line. He was one of those mighty master-spirits which " peep out once an age ;" his name may shed lustre and honour on his posterity ; " but " he had in himself a salient spring of generous and manly *' action, which needed not to resort to any stagnant " wasting reservoir of merit in any ancestry." To those, however, who may be disposed to stickle for the point of the respectability of his descent, the subjoined pedigree will suffice to show that his family belonged to an indepen- dent and honourable rank in life. BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT MEMBERS. 291 THOMAS CANNING, of Fox Margaret, da. and heir of John SoJman, of Coll. Arm. C 7, )5. G 19, 66. C21, 41. Vine. Warw cote, CO. Warwick, jure uxoris temp. Hen. VI. Seep. 201 Foxcotc, CO. Warwick. ./ Richard Canning, of Foxcote, Alice, da, of Humphrey Compton. son and heir. T _/ Thomas Canning, of Foxcote. Joan, da. of Boughton, ofCondycote, CO. Gloucester. T y Kichard Canning, of Foxcote. .Elizabeth, da. of Richard Petty, of Ilmington, - CO. of Warwick. I Richard Canning, of Foxcote, 1619. y\-. William Canning, of Bassishaw, near Blackwell-Hall, a merchant, I619. Free of Ironmon- ger's Company. C. 21, 41 b. (Coll. Arm.) A quo Cannings, of EUenham, co. of Essex. Eilward Canning, of Euston, in co. Oxon, 3dson, 1619- George Canning, 4th son, had a grant of Garvagh, co. of Lon- donderry ; living in Ireland, 16I9. .\nne & Mary, both married. Paul Canning, of Garvagh, Esq. living 1619, ob. S.P. William Canning, of Garvagh, Esq. killed by the Papists, 1641. George Canning, of Garvagh, attainted in the Parliament, held at Dublin, by James II. 1690. 7 George Canning, of Garvagh, Esq. lieut.-col. of , 6th da. of Robert Stratford, aunt to John, tlie Derry militia, only child. — i— Viscount Baltinglass, co. Wicklow, M.P. 1 -' Stratford Canning, of Garvagh, Esq. lieut.-col. of Letitia, da. and heir of Obadiah Nevtburgh, of the Derry militia, eldest son and heir, ob. 30tli~r" Ballyhaise, co. Cavan, Esq. living 1777. Sept. 1775, bu. at St. George's, Dublin. 1 ard Ca Stratford Canning, of Mary, eld. da. London, merchant, ob. Frances. May, 1787. Elizabeth. -J-^ George Canning, of Mary-Anne, da.of Paul Canning, 2d the Middle-Temple, "FJordan Costello, son, but heir to barrister-at-law, ob. 8th Apr. 1771,a;t.37. of CO. Connaught, ob. at Bath, 1827. Geo Right Hon. George Canning,- bo. 1770. Joan, da. and co-heir of Gen. John Scott, created Viscountess Canning. Thomas Canning, ob. 1774. A'o... ^ Edward III. 1325^ 1327 1 329 Sir John de Grantham 1339 1 1 "^dO C ^^'" •'^'i^r^w Aubrey, (the last year a 135l3 ^^^""^^ •••• The Incorporation having taken place in ^ Edward III. 1345, the folloAving are all Grocers. 1360 Simon Dolsely 1363 JohnNotte* 1375 JohnWarde 1377^ 1 ^84 / ^^^ Nicholas Brember 13853 1 378 Sir John Philpot >Richard II. 1 393 C ^^^ John Hadley + 1389 Sir William Vinor 1392 ]o. wn- c. J f Richard II. 1407 1 ^'' ^^"^^^ ^^^'^'^^^ I Henry IV. 1410 V ^^^ Thomas KnoUes Henry IV. 1421 } ^^"^ ^"^"'•* ^^'""^^^y { Henry V^' 1418 Sir William Sevenoke ")„ vr 1420 William Cambridge • • • • | "^^'^^ ' 1431 Sir John de Welles ^ 1434 Sir Roger Oteley | / 1438 •) - - V 1448 1443 oir rvoger wieiey ; w > Sir Stephen Browne / ^ Thomas Catworth / * Notte distinguished himself by passing, during his mayoralty, the bye-law, called Notte'sLaw against Usury. In 1390, the citizens greatly oppressed by usurers, petitioned the King, Richard II., against the horrible vice of usury then termed Schefes, and entreated, that " the " order made by John Notte, late Mayor," might be executed through- out the realm. The answer was, that the King willed those ordinances to be revised; and, if the same be found to be necessary, that they be then confirmed. t In Hadley's second mayoralty, Farringdon Ward was, by order of Parliament, appointed to be divided into two wards, to wit, infra et extra. t A great frost, of fourteen weeks' duration, occurred in Sir Roger Oteley's mayoralty. APPKNUIX. .30.3 Anno Domini 1450 1455 1456 1460 1466 1468 1471 1484 5 1504 1510 1515 1516 1531 1544 1554 1562 1563 1573 1577 1589 1598 1608 1613 1617 1622 1641 1648 1650 1652 Reign. Nicholas Wyfold Sir William Marowe ' ( Hpnrv VI Sir Thomas Cannyng^ C Sir Richard Lee Sir John Young t 1 Sir William Taylor V Edward IV. Sir William Edwards I ) Sir Thoma^ HilU J Richard III John Warde ) Sir John Wyngar H enry VII. Sir Henry Keble '\ Sir William Butler f Sir John Rest > Henry VIII. Sir Nicholas Lambert I Sir William Laxton J Sir John Lyon Q. Mary. Sir Thomas Lodge ^ Sir John White || / Sir John Rivers V Q. Elizabeth. bir 1 homas Kamsay (^ Sir John Hart V Sir Stephen Soame ^ Sir Humphrey Weld "1 Sir Thomas Middleton > James I Sir George Bolles C Sir Peter Proby J Sir Edmund Wright H Charles I. Sir John Warner 1 Sir Thomas Foote ? Commonwealth. John Kendrick ) • Sir William Marowe bequeathed to the Grocers' Company, by his will, £215 to have masses said for the repose of his soul and for those of his father, mother, and two wives, in the Church of St. Botolph Bishopsgate, for the period of thirty years. t Sir John Young was knighted in the field of battle with Sir John Crosby and others, for repulsing the Bastard Falconbridge, in his attack upon the City. t The water-conduit, in Aldermanbury, and the standard, in Fleet- street, were this year finished. § This was the year of the sweating sickness in London. There were three Lord Mayors and three SheriS's this year, and two of each died of the disease. Warde, a member of the Grocers' Company, was the sur- vivor among the former. II There was a great plague in London during the mayoralty of Sir John White. f Sir William Acton had been elected Mayor for this year ; but he was discharged by the House of ('ommons, and Sir Edmund Wright consti- tued in his place. X 306 APPENDIX. Anno Domini • Reign. 1660 Sir Thomas Alleyne 1662 Sir John Frederick* 1665 Sir John Lawrence 1673 Sir Robert Hanson t \pi i tt 1 674 Sir WilHam Hooker >onaries . 1679 Sir James Edwards 1682 Sir John Moore 1684 Sir Henry Tulse X 1693 Sir John Fleete 7 William & 1696 Sir John Houblon § J Mary. 1710 Sir Samuel Garrard 1| Anne. 1 729 Sir Robert Bayliss 1 730 Sir Richard Brocas 1731 Humphrey Parsons » ^ ,» 1738 Sir John Barnard ^ereorge 11. 1 748 Sir Robert Ladbroke II 1757 Marsh Dickenson • Sir John Frederick originally belonged to the Company of Barber- Surgeons ; but, as he could not serve the office of Lord Mayor without being attached to one of the twelve great Companies, he was translated to the Grocers in 1661. He resided in the Old Jewry, in a large mansion, the site of which is now occupied by Frederick's Place. t At the period of Sir Robert Hanson's inauguration, a magnificent pageant was furnished by the Grocers' Company, the printed description of which is thus intituled, " London Triumphant ; or, the City in Jollity " and Splendour. Expressed in the Shews, Sir Robert Hanson entering " upon his Mayoralty. At the cost and charges of the right worshipfull " Company of Grocers. Written by Thomas Jordan, 1672," The King dined at Guildhall on the occasion. } Strype mentions the following fact of Sir Henry Tulse : — " Let it " remain upon record, for the lasting honour of this Mayor, that when " one had offered to present him with a thousand guineas, to procure him " a lease of the City's duties of Scavage, Package, Portage, &c. at " £400 a year rent to the City, Sir Henry generously refused it ; and, " moreover, used his endeavour to advance the rent of the said duties " for the benefit of the City ; by which means it came to pass that £1200 " yearly rent was paid for the same by the same person." § Sir John Houblon was the first Governor of the Bank of England. II It is observable, that three of this name and family have been Mayors in three several Queens' reigns, viz. Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, and Queen Anne. ^ A dreadful fire occurred during Sir Robert Ladbroke's mayoralty, wiiich was attended with great loss of property. It broke out at a peruque-raaker's in Change-Alley, Cornhill, destroyed upwards of one hundred houses, and caused a loss of property amounting to, at least, £200,000. Sir Robert's conduct on the occasion is thus mentioned by Maitland : — " It is allowed, that the preservation of a great many persons " and effects, as well as the stopping the flames, was chiefly owing to " the presence, industry, and happy directions of the Right Honourable " Sir Robert Ladbroke, Knt. Lord Mayor." This is considered as the most calamitous fire that ever occurred in London, excepting the destruc- tive one, known as " the great fire of London," which took place in 1666. APPENDIX. 307 Anno Domini Reign. 1761 Sir Matthew Blackiston '\ 1765 Sir William Stephenson f ^ ttt 1766 George Nelson ( ^^""'^^ "^• 1792 Sir John Hopkins 3 No. 2. FURNITURE, AND ORNAMENTS BELONGING, FOR THE ALTAR OF THE GROCERS, IN SAINT ANTHONY'S CHURCH. 1349. A Chalyce weighs 15 ownces Troie vv'- and a gode myssale whch costen £3.6.8. given by Sir Symon de Wy, Parson of Barnes. 1398. 1 Missale. 1 Gr* Portarie. 1 Chalyce sylver gylte. 1 other sylver chalyce parcell gylte. 1 P""- of viales of sylver. 1 P''- ditto of tinne, (stanno.) 1 Latyn candelstyke. 2 Longe Chestes with 4 boltes of yron. 1 RydoUe of red bawdkyn wth crosses, to hang before y^ altare. 1 Crucyfix & 2 images. 1 vestyment wth a corpus of redde bawdkyn for a preste. 1 vestyment of white for a preste. 2 whyte cur tens for y^ chappel. 1 long whyte curten wth crosses for y* same. 2 old prestes' vestyments. 2 altare towelles. 2 surplises. The above are enumerated, as being delivered to the Priest, Sir John Whyteby, by the Wardens, Robert Pep and Henry Hulton. x2 iOS APPKNDIX. No. 3. LIST OF MEMBERS OF THE GROCERS' COMPANY IN 1373, THE 47th YEAR OF EDWARD III. En le honeur de Dieux, ceux sont les psones del fraternite des Grosers en le temps q. John Maryns et Richard de Aylles- bury fFurent Gardeynes de le dit Comp. en I'an du grace MCCCLxxiij, et du Roi Edward III. apres la conqste xlvii. John Aubrey. Berth. Frestlyng. John Warde. Rob»- Hatfeld. Rich"^- Brembre. Thomas Hanapsted. Rich*^- Preston. Will">- Warde. Will™- Venor. Reynold Lone. John Gesors. Adam Chaungeor. John Haddel. Fowke Horewod. John Hoo. Rich'^- Odilman. John Goly. John Maryns. Rich^- Dillesbury. John Hotham. Adam Carbell. Adam Donakyn. Will'"- Cuhlman. Berth. Opyne. Will™- Herkested. Geffry Ormelsford. Thomas Wyth, Richd- Hatfeld. Walter Frowyk. Thomas Thornaye. John Lerdefeld. John Gaddelowe. Mark Passelewe. Phil«- Zonge. John Zonge. Geffry Adam. Mark Ornele. John Hanefeld. John Thomelyn. John Gonach. Phil. Steer. Rich"^- Loseye. Will. Werthman. Will. Waddesworth. John Cosyn. Steven Evronne. Rich'i- Owr. Thomas Walden. Waif- Walden. Rich<*- Sproch. Rich**- Bodewynd. Will""- Wrylkes. Tho^- Guyshman. Rich<*- Morell. John Churcheman. Roger del Panterye. Will'"- Waddeby. Reynold Bleyn. APPENDIX. 3()il Rob'" Osspring. Roger Wrintaby. Peres Wedyngton. John Wythir. Geflfry Haddlyman. John Wrygeford. John Hert. John Foxston. Thomas Lenyngdon. Will""- Zepyswith. John Leyr. Thomas Garthwyth. John Oxelkirk. Will"'- Addewell. Rich'^- Menge. Will""- Warde. Thomas Makewilliam. John Godard. Andrew Hoo. John Lokes. WilP- Wyrthman. Et ceux ssont les psones q ssont entre en le dit Comp^- en temps de John Maryns ^ Rich^- de Ayllesbury. Sir John Goffeld. Sir Rob^- YUerika. Will""- Dirneshman. Rich such vnder- takers as the Cittie of London shall thinke good for theire best profitt, payeinge onlie for the same the easy rent of the vnder- takers. His Ma''^ may be likewise pleased to graunte to theis townes the benifit of all the customes of all goods to be imported thither or exported thence, as well pondage as tunnage, as the greate & small customes for xx*"^i yeares payeinge yearlie vis. x'md. Irishe, as an acknowledgement. Further, that his Ma'^ wolde be pleased to buye from the possesso""* the Salmon Fishings of the rivers of Ban & Lough - z 2 340 APPENDIX. foyle, and, out of his piincelie bowntie, bestowe the same ^'ppon theis townes for theire better encouragement, w^^ some yeares prooveth verie plentifull & proffitable. As likewise to graunte them licence to transporte all prohibited wares growinge vppon theire owne lands. And, lastlie, the admiraltie in the coasts of Terconnell and Colraine, now (as is supposed) in the Lorde Deputie by the Lord Admiral's graunte niaye be by his Ma^'^'^ meanes transferred vnto them for the like term of xxj yeares. The Land Commodities w'^''- the Northe of Ireland affordeth. The countrie is well watered gen'"allie by aboundance of good springs, brooks, and rivers, and plentie of fewel, either by meanes of wood, or, where that is wantinge, of good & wholesome turfe. It yeildeth store of all thinges necessarie for manne's suste- naunce in such measure as maye not onlie maineteyne ytselfe, but alsoe furnishe the Cittie of London yearelie Av'h manyfolde pro- vision, especiallie for theire fleetes, as, namelie, w*'' beeves, porke, fishe, rye, beare, pease, & beanes, wch will also in some yeares helpe the dearthe of the Cittie & countrie about, & the store- howses appoynted for releife of the poore. As it is fitt for all sortes of husbandrie, soe for breedinge wares, & increase cattell it doth excell, where may be expexted plentie of butter & cheese, hides & tallowe. English sheepe will breede abundantlie in Ireland, the sea-coast & the nature of the soyle beinge verie whollsome for them ; and, if neede were, wool might be had cheaplie & plentifuUie out of the west pts of Scotland. Itt is held to be good in many places for madder, hoppes, and wood. Itt affowrdeth fells of all sortes in greate quantitie, redd deare, foxes, sheepe, lambe, conye, martin, squirrell, &c. Hempe & flax doe more naturallie growe theare than else- wheare, w^h being verie well regarded might give greate provision for canvasse, cables, cordage, and such like requisites for shippinge, besides the redd lynnen cloth, & all stuffs made of lynnen yarne, w*^** is both fyner & more plentifull there than in all the rest of the kingdome. Materialls for buildinge — tymber, stone, lyme-stone, slate, and APPENDIX. 9til shingle is aflfowrded in moste pts of the countrie, and the soyle is good for briche and tyle. All materialls for buyldinge shippes (excepted tarre) is here to be had in greate plentie; &, in countries nere adioyninge, the goodliest & largest tymber in the woods of Clancunkene & Kil- letroughe that maye be, & maye compare w"^ any in his Ma*^'^'' domynions, w^** maye be easilie brought to the sea by the Lough Eagh &■ the river of the Ban. The firre masts of all sorts maye be had out of Lochabar in Scotland, not farre distant from the northe of Ireland, much more easilie then from Norweye. Other sorts of wood doth affowrde other manner of services — of pipe-stafes, hoggesheade-stafes, hoopen-stafes, clapboarde- stafes, waynescott, soape & dyeinge ashes, glasse, & iron workea for iron & copper oare are there plenty fullie founde. The countrie is verie fitt for honnye & waxe. Sea and River Commodities. First, The harber of the Derrie is exceeding good, & the roade at Portrushe & Loughville (not farre distant from the Derrie) tollerable. The sea-fishinges of that coaste are verie plentifull of all manner of vsuall sea-fishes, especiallie herrings & eeles, there beinge yearelie after Michaelmas, for takinge of herrings, above seaven or eight score of sayle of his Ma*'^'^ subjects & straingers for loadinge, besides an infinitt nomber of botes for fishinge &: killinge. Greate & proffitable fishinges are in the next adjacent Isles of Scotland, where many Hollanders doe sitt all the somer season ; and doe plentifullie vent theire fishes into Spayne and the Strayghts. Much trane or fish oyle of seale, herringes, &c. maye be had vppon that coast. As the sea yieldeth verie greate plentie & varietie of sea fishe, soe doth the coaste affowrd aboundaunce of all kinde of sea fowle, and the rivers greater store of freshe fishes then any of the rivers of England. Theare be alsoe some store of good pearles uppon this coaste, especiallie w'''in the river of Loughfoyle. Theis coastes be reddic for traffique w"' England Si Scotland. 342 APPENDIX. and for supplie of provision from or to' them ; and doth lye open & convenyent for Spayne & the Streights, & fittest & nearest for Newfoundelande. The profitt that London shall receive by this Plantacon. Iff multitudes of men were ymployed proportionablie to theis comodities wh^'' might be there by theire industrie atteyned many thousands wolde be sett on worke to the greate service of the Kinge, strength of his realmes, advancement of sev'^all trades, & benifitte of the p'"ticuler psons whome the infinitt increasing greatenes (that often doth minister occasion of ruyne to ytselfe) of this Cittie might not onlie convenientlye spare, but alsoe reape a singuler comoditie hereby, by easinge of an insupportable bur- then w*^** so surchargeth all the p^^ of the Cittie, that one trades- man can scarce live by another, w*^*^ in all probabilitie wolde be a meanes alsoe to free & p''serve the Cittie from infeccion, & by consequence the wholle kingdome, w"^** of necessitie must have recourse thither, which pions pestered or closed vpp togeather can neither otherwise or verie hardlie avoyde. Adhuc the profitt that London shall receive by the sayde Plantacon. Theis colonies maye be a meanes to vtter infinitt comodities from London to furnisshe the wholl northe of Ireland & Isles of Scotland, w'^'' maye be transported by meanes of the river of Ban & Loughfoyle, into the Counties of Colran, Dunnegall, Tyronne, Armagh, & Antrym. The Cittie of Dublyn beinge desolate by the slaughter of the Easterlinges, who were the auncient Inhabitants thereof, was given by King Henry the Second vnto the Cittie of Bristol! to be inhabited, w"^*^- without any chardge to the Kinge, Bristoll did vndertake & p'formed, whose posteritie doth there continue vnto this daye. This plantacon thus p''formed to the p'"petuall prayse of Bristoll was not the least cawse of civilizinge & securinge that p'^'^ of the countrie. It were to be wished this noble precedent were followed by the Cittie of London in theis times, w*'' soe much the more alacritie, as in abilitie & meanes they doe excell them, & soe much the rather that the tomodities w'^'' the Cittie of London shall reape APPENDIX. 'i4''i hereby doth farre surpasse the proffitt that vvoulde redownde to Bristoll by th' other. And therevppon the sayde Mr. Wardens, togeather w^*> the sayde Assistents here assembled, advisedlie consideringe, as well of the sayde p''cepte & motives or proiecte, as of the sayde printed Booke, have accordinge to the sayde p''cepte nominated Mr. Anthony Loda, Mr. Will'"- Pennyfather, Mr. Will-"- Millett, & Mr. Robert Johnson of this Companie, beinge thoughte to be men of judgement & experience, fitt to joyne w*'' the like nomber off fowre men of eVrie of the other Companies of this Cittie, amongest themselves to consider of & sett downe in wrytinge such reasons, orders, demandes & other circumstaunces as are fitt to be remembred, required, or performed in the vnder- taking of soe worthie & ho*''^ an accon. And therevppon Certificate was made & given to the Right Ho^'^- the Lord Maior, in answers of the foresayde precepte, as followeth. The form of Mr. Warden's \ To the Right Ho'''«- S""- Humfrey Welde, Certificate to the Right / Knight, Lord Maior of the Cittie of Hob I e. the Lord Maior, V - ., - '[ London.* in answere of the fore- k sayde precepte. J The Certificate of vs, Robert Cocks, Edmond Peshall, & Tymothie Batherst, Wardens of the Compa- nie of Grocers, w"'in the sayde Cittie. Accordinge to the tenor of yo'' Lordshipp's p''cepte to vs di- rected, bearinge date the firste of this instant Julie, wee, to- geather w"^- certen of the Assistants of ow''- sayde Companie, havinge assembled o'"selves, & uppon advise & delibate consi- deracon had, as well of the sayde p''cepte, & of the coppie of the motives & reasons to induce y^ Cittizens of this Cittie to vndertake a Plantacon in the northe p'^ of Ireland, as alsoe of a prynted Booke conteyninge a colleccon of such orders & condicions as are to be observed by the sayde undertakers vppon the distri- bucion of the escheated lands in Ulster, latelie received by yo"^ Lord**!" from the Lords of his Ma'^- most Ho*'''^- Privie Coun- sell, & to the sayde p'"cepte annexed, beinge read unto vs, we have nominated Mr. Anthony Loda, Mr. Will'"- Pennyfather, Mr. ♦ It is rather rurious, that tiie Lord Mayor at this partinilar period, was himself a Grocer. 344 APPENDIX. Will'"- Millett, & Mr. Robert Johnson, brothers of this Compa- nie, beinge by us tliought to be men of judgem' & experience, fytt to joyne w''> the like nomber of fowre men of everie of the Companies of this Cittie, amongest themselves to consider & sett downe in wrytinge, such reasons, orders, & demandes, w'*' other circumstaunces as are fytt to be remembered, required, or p''formed in tie vndertakinge of soe worthie & ho*^'^- an accon : Humblie referringe the further consideracon thereof to yo"" good Lordshipp. JoHJj Grove. 26 July, ) Lord Mayo^'' precept as to the Plantat" of Ireland, 1609. J was read this day to a Cowrt or Gen' Assembly of the Company, as follows : To M- and Wardens of the 7 g^ ^^^ ^^^^ Company of Grocers. 3 Whereas two several precepts have been heretofore directed to you and other Companies, concerning a Plantation in Ireland, with an intent and purpose that " the Committee by you named " should have conferred with his Ma*^'^'® Counsel of the realme of " Ireland concerning the same: But, by reason of some mis- " taking, the Committees of yo"^- sev'^all Companies made awn- " swere in writinge, before anye conferrence had w***- his Ma"^'^ ** s"^ Counsell of Ireland, which Avas ill accepted by the Lords of " his Ma*'^'* most ho. Pri^-y Counsell, as hath been publicklye " delivered at a full assemblye : Whereupon, I and my brethren " th' Aldermen, with the advice of divers of the chief commoners, " entreated Mr. Recorder to enforme the Lordes, that the " answere formerly made, proceeding out of mistaking, and not " entent of any undutiful entent or purpose ; and, therefore, " there was nominated for conferrence av"' the Counsell of Ire- " land, towching the matter projected, — Sir Thomas Bennett, Sir " Thomas LoAve, Sir Leonard Hallydaye, Sir Henrye Rowe, Sir " James Pomberton, Mr. Bond, Mr, Leate, Mr. Wheler, Mr. " Meggs, Mr. Greene, Mr. Sade, Mr. RoV- Middleton, Mr. " Fox, Mr. Speringe, Mr. Claxton, Mr. Creyford, commoners, " to treate and conferre concerninge the sayd Plantacon, and to " make report to me and my brethren th' Aldermen, what should " passe in that conferrence, that such furtherance may be given " to the accion in hand as the honor of .such an ofter deeerveth. APPENDIX. 345 *' Now forasmuch as the said Commyties, after a full and large " conference had with the Counsell of Ireland, have receaved ** Buche satisfaction, as well for the honour of the accion, the " good that may come to this kingdom and Cittie by the same, " as the profitt that is likelie to redownd to the particuler adven- " turers as have given good encouragem^ to the Committees and " others to become adventurers therein ; and libertie is also given " for further satisfaction, that all things shall be answerable to " that which is reported, that certen men be chosen and sent by " us, to vie we the place, and make returne unto us ; soe that yf " it prove not conformable to that w"^'' be reported and profBtt- " able for the vndertakers, wee may be at libertie to leave this " vndertaking ; anye thing now done nof'^'standing. These are, ** therefore, in his Ma"*'^ name, to •will and require you, upon ** AVednesday mornS next, to assemble in yo"" Comon Hall all " the Aldermen of yo"" Company, &: the fowre Committees by " you formerly named, and all other, the Assistants, Livery, and " men of note of yo'' yeomanrye, by especiall summons then and " there to understand and be enformed of the whole proceedings, " &c." He further orders a book to be made of all their names, and what each would willingly contribute, in order that his Maj>' might be informed of the readiness of the City, and to the end that any of the Comp^ then absent with*^ proper excuse, might be fined for his contempt, and afterwards dealt with accord- ingly. Deliberation having been had, a list follows of subscribers, be- ginning with Humphrey Weld Lord May''- £50, and a Certifi- cate of the result, directed to his Lordship. Tlie whole sum subscribed by the City was £20,000, of which the Grocer's Com- pany paid, by instalments, their proportion of £1748. The definitive allotment of the lands did not take place until 1617. the year 1617, as is manifest from the following particulars ^^ the"*^" inserted in the Company's books.' lands. • " At a Court of Common Council convened soon afterwards, Mr. " Alderman Cockayne, the Governor of the Irish Society, represented " to the Court, and to the Masters and Wardens of all the several " Companies then assembled, that a division of the estates, which was " proposed to be made in Ireland, belonging to the Plantation, had been " made into twelve parts, which were particularly expressed on twelve " several sheets of paprr, the same being numbered from one- to twelve 346 APPENDIX. " A view of the proportion of the country lands allotted unto " the right worshipfuU the Company of Grocers of London, made " the 12th of February 1617, " Upon the Moyes, alias the Muffe, are situate, " One stone house of one story, and half slated, containing " from out to out, or within the walls, 36 feet in length, 20 feet " in breadth, having a flanker or outlet of stone of 12 feet " square; the walls are 14 feet high. The shafts of the " chimneys, the door-cases, windows and coigns, both within " and without the house, are made of free stone. This house " contained a kitchen, hall, buttery, and three lodging-cham- " bers, and hath four chimneys. " One other house of the same materials and contents. " Two other houses conjoined, of the same materials and " contents severally. " The walls of two other houses conjoined, of the same " materials, brought up to the heighth of 10 feet, having timber, " lath, slate and lime in place for the finishing thereof, " One house of one story, and half the roof slated, con- " taining within the walls 32 feet in length, 18 feet in breadth, " and 14 feet high, and hath 4 rooms & 3 chimneys," " Upon the Cregan. " One stone house of one stoiy, and half the roof in slating, " containing without the walls 38 feet in length, 18 feet in " breadth; the walls are 14 feet high, whereunto is added, on " the one side thereof, 2 rooms for a buttery and a milk-house " of stone in form of fish -head. This house hath otherwise " 4 rooms with chimneys." " Upon Gortney. " One stone house of one story and a garret slated, containing " within the walls 30 feet in length, 20 feet in breadth; the " inclusive ; and that, answerable to those proportions, the Committee *' for the Plantation had prepared twelve pieces of paper, each piece " having one of the aforesaid numbers thereon, which were rolled and " tied up severally, like lots, each lot referring to some one of the same *' twelve proportions of land ; which twelve lots were brought into the " Court, by the Governor, in a box by themselves." Concise View of the Irish Society, page 34. APPENDIX. 347 " walls are 10 feet high. It hath 2 rooms, 2 garrets and " chimneys." " All these houses stand within view of each other." " Upon Belud. " One stone house, not yet covered, of 2 stories and a garret, " containing' within the walls, in length 42 feet, in breadth " 21 feet, whereunto is added a porch and stair-case of stone. " The walls are 7 feet high. A hall, kitchen, pantry and a " parlour upon one floor, and, under the parlour, a cellar ; over " which rooms are intended to be made 10 other chambers, " garrets and closets; the roof, slate and lime are ready for " the covering thereof, and it has 4 chimneys." " Ujyon the Mornceys. " One stone house of one story and half slated, containing " within the walls, in length 30| feet, and in breadth \5\ feet; " it hath 14 rooms and 2 chimneys. These two buildings last- " mentioned are within a quarter of a mile of each other." " Upon Midown. " One mill, with a house of stone and timber, are building. " The stone and timber in the place." '* Upon Edenreaghmore . " One stone house is to be builded before Bartholomewtide " next, by one Andrew Rinningtham, Gent", according to the '* covenants in that behalf made." N.B. The tenants of all the houses are named. To the preceding list is added a notice from the Governor and Committee of Irish Lands, requiring the speedy finishing and furnishing of a church by this Company upon their proportion of land, for the honour of God. It also enjoins the providing of sufficient arms and powder for defence of the country. On the 23d July 1619, is inserted a long letter from a Mr. 1019. Goodicyn of Londonderry, informing the Court that he had made wyn's' Let- Liver)' of Seisin of their manor to their proper use and behoof, in ter. presence of a competent number of witness ; namely, to Mr. Freeman, tenant of the Goldsmiths, for their proportion, which next adjoined this Company's land, and Jaines Vaughan, Gen- tleman, a tenant of the Fishmongers' proportion. As touching 348 AI'PENDIX. their Barony and Castle, he adds, " such are the difficulties " accompanying this plantation, that take we never so sure and " orderly course in our best judgments for the execution of our *' affairs, yet many times the success does not answer our care " and travel ; for so it is, that a proclamation being published *' the last year, commanding' the Irish to depart upon certain " pain before the first of this month, and afterwards to be at " His Majesty's pleasure, that the most of them are fleed from " off the land, to our great loss in rent and hindrance in build- " ings, wherein they served us as labourers, and to bring materials " in place ; our Avorkmen, also, are but few, of little skill, and " less honesty; to whom, if Ave make any payment beforehand, ** they leave our work behind, and many times are, by unneigh- " hourly practices, enticed from us." He states, in continuation, that their timber-work is framed at Coleraine, and from thence brought through some part of the sea into the river of Lough-foyle to their proportion ; in which passage part of the Goldsmiths' frames, as well as theirs, had miscarried : yet they had, notwith- standing, finished the Barony and brought up the Castle to the second floor, and were in hopes to finish the whole before St. James's tide. Concerning the church, he states that he had viewed and mea- sured the ruins of the one they proposed to have repaired, which stood within half a mile of their town, and found it to be thirty-six feet in length, and eighteen feet in width ; and, on conferring with the inhabitants around, they seemed to be averse to its being restored as a church, as it was not large enough for the parish- ioners, and was too far from the town, subjecting, on that account, all who would repair to it to surprisal. They further objected that the site had only been " a burial-place for children dying " without baptism, and for such as had misdone themselves." That the parish church of Faughan Vale, wherein the town lies, with most part of the Company's proportion, extended seven miles, or from the river of Faughan unto the common wood, along by the river of Lough-foyle, in the mid^vay whereof their tOAvn was situate, on the highway leading from the city of Lon- donderry to Coleraine, which rendered their town a more indiffe- rent situation for the parish church of Faughan Vale than the ruins mentioned ; and the parishioners offering, therefore, them- selves rather to contribute towards buildino- a church in the town APPKNUIX. 34}) for its ornament, good, and conveniency, than have one in the place proposed. He concludes by advising the building of a new church in the town, sixty feet in length and twenty feet in breadth, the charge whereof to the Company would only be one year's rent. He adds that the Fishmongers, their next neigh- bours, had built a church in their town : in addition to w-hich the inhabitants had also repaired part of a monastery and left their parish church. The Drapers likewise had built a chapel of ease to their castle. This letter having been read, and its contents discussed, the Company voted the sum of £150 towards building a new church, as recommended by Mr. Goodtvyn. In the year 1622 the Governor and Committee of the plantation 1622. in Ireland, sent a number of queries to the Wardens of the f^^^ jjjg Grocers' Company ; I insert the replies because they clearly shew Irish So- the particulars of the Company's possessions at that period. 1. " We have, upon our proportion of land in Ireland, builded a faire, stout, and substantial Castle, with a faire tower upon it of 12 feet high above the ground, well coped, and strongly builded like the wall of a town of war, with loop-holes and spaces on the top of the wall for ordinance or other pieces of defence. Also there are 34 substantial and tenantable houses, fully built and finished, upon our said portion, inhabited by British tenants. 2. *' Our freeholders' names are Devereux Chichley Gent., Joh7i Chichley Gent., John Wray Gent., Robert Goodwyn Gent., John Lewis Gent., & Elias Smyth Gent., all or most of them, as we are informed, residing upon our said portion. The names of British tenants are Rich''- Griskin, Tho'- Da- vis, W^- Taylor, Andrew Gingham, Walter A lip ine, Jeremy Rose, John Wyer Scn^-, John Wyer J''-, Frayi^- Burrell, John Todd, John Taylor, John Jeleson, John Clerk, Edward Widstone, John Appellis, John Wright, Edward ap Edward, Robert Haverley, Kich'^- Cooke, Mr. Leivis, Mr. Woodroffe, Mr. Roney, John Todd, John Fowler, besides others, of which we have not yet received informations of their names. 3. " We have in readiness, upon our said portion, 24 corsletts, 31 muskets and calivers, all completely furnished for defence of the country. 4. " We have erected and builded upon our portion a Faire 350 APPENDIX. " Church. The Dean of Deny claimeth to be rector thereof, " as we are informed ; and that tenant hath disbursed much money ** upon enclosing, ditching, and quick-setting our good pro- ** portion. 5. " We have let our proportion unto Thomas Harrington " Gent", for the term of 54 years, yet to come, for the yearly " rent of £116 : 13 : 4, who hath covenanted with our Company " not to let or set any of our said proportion to any tenant, but " unto such as were born within the realms of England or Scot- " land and shall take the oath of Allegiance to his Majesty afore " their plantation there ; and concerning the natives residing " upon our said portion, we will endeavour for their expulsion *' and supplantation by degrees as soon as may be. We have " expended and disbursed in buildings, upon our said portion of " land £2000, or near thereabouts, over and besides £5000 paid " by our Company to the Chamber of London for our said " plantation. 6. " We have received for rents since the first allotment for " our said plantation, £850. 7. " We have also received of Cap". Marcus Ochan, who is " estated a freeholder of 2000 acres of land by the Governor and " Committees of the said plantation, and holdeth of our manor " there, the yearly rent of £2 1 : 6 : 8, the which we yearly pay " to the said Governor and Committees, according to our cove- " nants in our assurance from the said Governor and Committee." A particular of such Churches, Castles, Mills, Barnes, Houses of English building, British families, number of British men arid arms, that are upon the portion of lands belonging to the Right Worshipfull Company of Grocers of London, January the 2%th, Anno Domini 1622. " One fair Church new built of stone and covered with " slate, with pulpit, reading seat and communion table, and " many seats built therein by the parishioners. " One sufficient grist mill. " One faire and strong Castle, withalarge and strong " bar about it, with 4 flankers at each corner, every flanker " being two stories and a half high, with a roof thereon and " slated at the top. " Sixteen fair and strong stone houses, the most of them APPENDIX. 3.j1 " having' the door cases, windows, and chimneys, all of free " stone, and all of them slated. " One other house ; the walls and gable ends of stone, and " thatch on the roof. *' Five timber-houses well built after the English form, besides " divers of the houses built with copiers, and inhabited by the " English. " Forty-four house keepers with their wives and families of " British men, in all, between the ages of 60 and 16, eighty " and two persons. " Twenty-five corslets compleat, nineteen long pikes, five hal- " herds, four brown bills, 33 full muskets, eight long pieces, " 18 calivers with belts, head pieces, flasks, and touch boxes; " 100 swords, two horsemen's pieces, and 160 pounds of powder " with a competency of bullets and 100 weight of lead, ready " upon any occasion." In the year 1625, his Majesty Charles I. ascended the 162.i. throne, Lord Wentworth Avas appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and Dr. Bramhall, who was afterwards elevated to the see of Derry, accompanied him as chaplain. In the beginning of his Majesty's reign, Sir Thomas Phillips * who appears to have entertained hostile feelings against the Citi- zens of London, as undertakers of the plantation, transmitted to the King a violent accusation against them, charging them with a breach of the original articles and conditions, and urging his Majesty to revoke the charter and seize into his own hands the territories in Ulster : in addition to this circumstance, varioiis in- formations were sent from Ireland, at the instigation of Dr. Bramhall, against the citizens, accusing them of crimes and misdemeanors, in consequence of which a writ of sequestration was issued, and the County of Londonderry seized into the King's hands. In 1631, the matter was submitted to the High Court of Star 1631. Chamber, who appointed Commissioners to examine into the par- ^^"'J°'^^° ticulars, and the result was a sentence against the Londoners. Chamber. In 1632 the whole County of Londonderry was formally seques- tered and the rents levied for the King's use. Bishop Bramhall • Sir Thomas Phillip.s was Governor of Coleraine in 1611. He made a survey of the plantation in 1622, which is preserved in Lambeth Palace. 352 APPENDIX. being- appointed chief receiver; and in 1634, the Court of Star Chamber decided that the letters patent of James I. should be brought into court to be cancelled. Commissioners were ap- pointed for managing- the estates and for entering into contracts for leases Avith the tenants on the plantation, and, accordingly, the said Commissioners made grants and demises of the manors, lands, and possessions belonging, as well to the twelve chief Com- pany's as to the Irish Society.* 1641. By the books at the Heralds' College it appears that on the return from Scotland of Charles I. in 1641, he was invited to dinner by the Coi-poration of London, on which occasion he pub- licly declared that he was much troubled at the judgement that had been given for taking away his father's grant of the Irish estates, and he promised the City they should be restored. He accordingly ordered that the Irish Society and Companies should recover their possessions ; but the rebellion afterwards breaking out, his Majesty's intentions were not fulfilled. 1642. During the rebellion in Ireland in 1642, the City of London Relief sent gent four ships to Londonderry, with all kinds of provision, derry in clothing, and accoutrements ; the Grocers' Company having, in provision j^e month of March, received a letter from the Lord Mayor and arms. , . . . " desiring this Company's care and provision for the furnishing " of Londonderry in Ireland with some pieces of artillery, being " in great danger by reason of the rebellion ;" it was resolved, that the Wardens should inquire what the other Companies pro- posed doing, *' and that they should have the power to do the " like." The twelve chief companies contributed each, two pieces of ordnance. Revoca- In August the same year, the Mayor and Citizens of London, tionofthe on behalf of themselves and of the Companies, presented their sentence of . _ , * , ^ , the Star petition to parliament, and, upon mature consideration had and Chamber, taken of the judgment and sentence against the City, it was voted ment. in parliament that the sentence in the Star Chamber was unlaw- * The various grants and agreements were engrossed on vellum and regularly signed. They were preserved among the records of tlie Irish Society till the fire which happened in the Irish Chamber in 1784, when these important documents were damaged ; the fragments, however, which remain are valuable and interesting as they establish the titles of the twelve chief companies to their manorial town lands which are described by name. APPENDIX. 353 ful and unjust, that the Citizens of London, and all those against whom the judgement was so given, in the scire facias, should be discharged of that judgement ; and that both the Citizens of London, and those of the new plantation, and all under-tenants and all those put out of possession, should be restored to the same estate which they were in before the said sentence in the Star Chamber. In 1655, during the protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, a Mr. 1655. Saimders, who was the representative of the Grocers' Company ^^^^^^ iTi^ , ,^, ^ A ■ Cromwell, m the Irish Committee, communicated to the Court of Assistants the recommendation of the said Committee, " that agents should " be sent over to make formal claim to the lands at Londonderry, " in Ireland, in behalf of the Companies, which was well approved " of by the Court, and it was ordered and appointed that the , " writings concerning the Company's proportion, be perused " and notice taken how the same was leased out, and the time " yet to come therein, and when the last rent was paid, and " whether any rent be due to the Company, and inquiry made " how long the tenant enjoyed the same or received the rent " thereof after the sentence in the Star Chamber? That if the " Company's tenants shall claim his interest therein, upon the " recovery of the same, the dues to the Company may be called " in question." In the month of May in the same year, it was signified to the Court that " whereas it has pleased His Highness the Lord " Protector and his Council to restore the Companies unto their " former estates in Londonderry, and their lands and other their " rights there, and that new letters patent are to be issued forth " for the consideration of the same, and Commissioners sent over " for settling these affairs," it was requested that the Company would contribute £50 towards defraying the charges to be in- curred in carrying the resolution of the Council into effect ; which was immediately done. Letters patent were accordingly granted, in which the Protector restored the Irish Society as originally ordained, and conferred on them the same rights as they enjoyed under the charter of James I. In August 1658, the Society in virtue of the above letters patent, made new conveyances to the twelve chief Companies of their respective proportions of land in Ulster. 354 APPENDIX. No rent having been paid for the estate to the Company for many years, and " one Mr. Harrington, who pretends to an in- " terest in the lease thereof from this Company, having gone " over to collect rents and arrears," the Court appointed as their agent Lieutenant- Colonel Tristram Beresford, who being furnished with a power of attorney, was sent to Ireland to look after their interests. The following letter received from him in November 1658, will afford some idea of the state of the Com- pany's affairs in Ireland at that period. " To the Worshipfull the Master and Wardens of the Grocers' Company : " Right Worshipfull, " According to the power and authoritie by you given unto " me, I came upon the lands in the County of Londonderry, and " there called the tenants together and read to them the letter of " attorney unto me given. I found in them a general opposition " against me, and not only by the tenants but by the agent left " by Mr. Harrington, who had particular orders not to pay me " one penny, soe that I was forced to go roundly to worke with ** them, and begin with Mr. Harrington s agent, one Mr. Paxil " Brasher, taking his distresse, making him and the rest a " little tamer; to bee short I got up £100 from them and this " account from the agent which is as followeth : — £ s. d. " The whole rent of your proportion, from the " 16th October 1654 till May 1658, is, besides " the arrears of the freeholders 451 " Paid in contribution to the said time and the " collector's fees 200 16 " Paid by Mr. Harrington • 37 14 " Expended in prosecuting the claims of the free- " holders 15 " Sent you herewith a bill of exchange, payable " by the Treasurer of the Army, at twenty days' " sight 97 10 £451 A H F K N I ) I X . 355 " This should have been £100, but the carrying of it up to " Dublin and the exchange of it thence took up the £2:10. " Thus I have given you a relation how I found things, and " what I have done. " Now I will give you my advice, but take your own resolu- " tions in doing what seems best in your judgments. Your " tenants are in a very unsettled condition. Leases they have " none; then you may imagine what kind of houses they live " in. There is very much land in Ireland waste, and if these " few tenants of yours go off your land, as it is hazardous they " will if a speedy course be not taken to settle them, your land " will not be planted again in haste. My advice is that you " either settle Mr. Harrington again in your land, or else eject " him by a legal course of law, or else purchase him out, the " last of which I conceive may be the best way; for what with "^ his arrears which he is owing before the rebellion, and his " arrears since, I conceive some small sum may doe it, which, " if you compasse, I will (making me a lease of the said pro- " portion for sixty-one years) pay you Mr. Harrington s rent, " which is £138 a-year, over and above all fees and contribution, " and haply give you something towards the buying out of Mr. " Harrington. " Of this and other your resolutions I pray, with as much " speed as conveniently you may, let me receive your resolution " and commands, and by the next post pray let me receive an " acquittance or receipt for this £100, now sent unto you by bill " and in expense; soe takes leave " Your very huuible serv'^ant, " Dublin, this 26 October, '' Tristram Beresford. " 1658." About the time this letter was received, Mr. Harrington applied to the Company for a lease of the estate ; but the consi- deration of his proposal was postponed, and Mr. Beresford con- tinued to act as the Company's agent. At the restoration of King Charles the Second, the City of Ifi62. London, to make sure of the possession of the estates, petitioned ^^^ gg. the Crown for a reversal of the judgment given against their first cond. letters patent; but, as it was thought that the proceedings neces- sary to be adopted in this respect would be tedious, the King proposed to grant a new charter, which should embraco all the possessions and rights the City and the Companies originally 35() APPENDIX, 1GG4. Letter from the Irish So- ciety. 1675. The estate demised to Mr. Finch. possessed: and accordingly, on the 10th of April 1662, letters patent were made out, which contained, with very little alteration, all the clauses of the first charter of James the First, and thus the title of the Grocers' Company to their estate was fully con- firmed and established. In June 1664 the Wardens received the following note from the Governor of the Irish Society : — " To the Master and Wardens of the Comjmyiy of Grocers ; " by the Society for the Irish Plantation. " Whereas the Right Honourable the Lord Chancellor of " England was heretofore pleased to declare that it was expected " by His Majesty that especial care should be taken by those to " whom we granted any estate in the lands and other things, in " Ulster in the kingdom of Ireland, then lately granted and " confirmed to by His Majesty's letters patent under the great " seal of England, and that the English be therein preferred; " and that such ministers as we should present to any living or " spiritual promotions should be able and orthodox divines, and " certified so to be by the Lord Bishop of Londonderry for the " time being: Now, forasmuch as we have lately conveyed to " your Company a considerable quantity of the lands and pre- " mises so granted, Ave thought it requisite to acquaint you " therewith, to the end that, as well in your presentments as " also in granting any estate in the lands and premises so con- " veyed unto you, you may have respect thereunto and observe " the same, as you will answer the contrary. Dated at Guildhall, " the 7th of June 1664. " By order of the said Society, '' John Sprackling, Sec" In 1675 the Company being greatly embarrassed in its circum- stances, on account of the forced loans, which had never been repaid, and of the losses incurred by the great fire of London,* came to the determination of raising a sum of money to relieve their immediate wants, by granting a long lease of their Irish estate for a fine in hand, and at a trifling rent. Advertisements for tenders were circulated, and the result was that they demised the lands to Mr. George Finch, for a period of thirty-one years from Allhallov. tide 1676, at a rent of £10, and a fine of £3600. See pages 29 and IIG. APPENDIX. 357 In 1689 the Company's possessions in Ireland were placed in ic89. jeopardy by the siege of Londonderry, which lasted 10.5 days, Sie^e of and which, after the rebels had been beaten off with enormous derry. loss, left the city almost in ruins, and the inhabitants in a state of extreme distress.* At this juncture, Mr. George Walker,^ who with such courage and constancy had conducted the defence, applied in person to the Irish Society for a contribution to relieve his suffering fellow citizens. This naturally induced the Society to address the twelve Companies of London, as the most interested in the prosperity of Ireland ; and the result of the application was, a gift of £100 from each of them. This had the desired effect of inducing those who had abandoned the city to return and build their houses again. The tenant, Mr. Finch, dying about this period, his widow addressed the Company by letter, in October 1693, stating that in consequence of the estate having been devastated, and the houses upon it burned during the defence of Londonderry, she would be totally ruined, unless the Company granted her an ex- tension of time on her lease ; which being considered, the Court resolved to add seven years to her term. A Mr. Connolly, having purchased from the Finches their interest in the lease, made an arrangement with the Company, by which their Irish estate was let to him for 61 years, and three lives, from the lOlh of October 1760. Mr. David Babington, law-agent to the Irish Society, afterwards bought the lease of the Connolly family ; and, at the expiration of the third life, which was that of his late Majesty George III. testified great anxiety that a new term should be granted to him, which the Company • " Of seven thousand five hundred men regimented in Derry, four " thousand three hundred only remained to be witnesses of this deli- " verance ; and of these more than one thousand were incapable of " service. The wretched spectres had scarcely tasted food, when they " had tlie hardiness to march in quest of the enemy; and some few men " were lost by adventuring too boldly on their rear guard. They retired '* in vexation to Strabane, having lost eight thousand men by the sword, " and by various disorders, in a siege of one hundred and five days." — Leland's Historij of Ireland. t " 3fr. Walker, so justly famous for his defence of Derry, (when Lundy, " the Governor, would liave surrendered it to King James,) was a Clergy- '* man, and Rector of Donougiunore, near Derry. He received the thanks " of Parliament and a gift of £.5,000 for his valour, and was created D.D. " by the University of Oxford in ICDO." — Derriana. 358 APPENDIX. declined granting. The system of underletting in Ireland having given rise to general and well-founded complaints, the Court of Assistants resolved to do all in their power to ame- liorate the condition of the occupiers of the soil, by enabling them, without reference to the more or less quantity of land I they rented, to hold immediately from the Company. When the estate Avas surrendered up they proceeded to carry their pro- ject into effect : lands have since been enclosed ; the town of Muff rebuilt, with every attention to the wants and comforts of the tenants ; schools have been established, and all the public esta- blishments in the vicinity, whether for the improvement of the mind, or the relief of the body in sickness, have been munificently aided. Deputations have from time to time been appointed, to inspect in person the progress of the works and the improved con- dition of the people, and an active and intelligent agent appointed to reside on the spot. The result of these measures has, so far, been most gratifying ; and when the Company's plans are carried into full effect, there is no doubt that the condition of the peasantry in these districts, will hold out an inducement to the possessors of lands in other parts of Ireland to follow so noble an example.* * 1 ought not to dismiss the subject of the Company's Irish estate without stating, that Erasmus Smith, a Grocer, and the friend and con- tempoi-ary of Sir John Cutler, in 1669, obtained permission bj' charter, to erect and endow, at his own expense, three public schools, in Drogheda, Gahvay, and Tipperary. This is known by the designation of Erasmus Smith's Charity. The Company gave the Governors of it, in 1810, a piece of ground, not exceeding two acres, near the church, at Muff, for a school. THE END. ERRATA. Page 12, last line, for futher, tend farther. 75, line 4, for orginal, read original. 172, line 23, for 1627, read 1267, 279, line 24, for Tyres, read Tyers. 283, line 17, for Tyars, read Tyers. This book is DUE on the last date stamped below SEP^l ,^ \r^^ f% C< w \^ MAIN " LOAN SEP 22 A.M. 7|8'9I1 0L11L12 Form L-9-15?/K7,'^il^^=»^ DESK 1964 P.M. 1I2I3I4I5I6 1977 vs UCLA Young Research Libf. HD6461.G8 H3 y L 009 536 189 5 ALIPOlRlJU Y