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 NOTICE OF JOHN KNILL OF GRAY'S INN. 
 1733-1811. 
 
 On a hill near St. Ives, on the north coast of Cornwall, stands 
 a granite obelisk, which serves as a landmark to vessels at sea, 
 and is familiarly known in that neighbourhood as KnilVs 
 Mausoleum, because it was erected by a gentleman of that 
 name many years ago. 
 
 He was rather a remarkable man, and as no notice of him is 
 to be found in any Cornish history, except that of Mr. Davies 
 Gilbert, under the title of St. Ives, it has been thought that 
 a fuller account, derived from authentic sources, might be 
 interesting, at least to those who claim connection with him. 
 
 John Knill, who erected this obelisk, was born at Calling- 
 ton, in East Cornwall, on the 1st of January, 173f , and died 
 at his chambers, in Gray's Inn Square, London, on the 29th 
 of March, 1811, at the age of 77. 
 
 The family of Knill had been resident at Callington, and 
 were landowners in the neighbourhood some years before his 
 birth ; and although it does not appear certain that they were 
 descended from the old knight's family of that name at KniU in 
 Herefordshire, some colour is given to the supposition from 
 the reference which John Knill makes to that family in his 
 papers. Amongst them is a certified copy of the pedigree of 
 
 1 2351 87
 
 ^ NOTICE OF JOHN KNILL. 
 
 Knill of Knill, a rough but imperfect pedigree of himself, 
 and an account of his visit to the parish of Knill, in Hereford, 
 during his tour in 1792. 
 
 Knill of Knill had failed in the male line about the year 
 1600, at which date a co-heiress, Barbara, had married John 
 AValsham, whose grandchild, also an heiress, married a Garbett, 
 whose family were in possession of the Knill estate in Hereford 
 at the date of John Knill's visit in 1792. 
 
 The pedigree of the Hereford family was copied on parch- 
 ment from that in the Herald's College for John Knill, in 
 1775, as certified on its face, and it traces them through eight 
 generations from Sir John Knill, who must, therefore, have 
 lived not later than the year 1400, reckoning at the usual rate 
 of three generations to a century. No connection, however, 
 of this pedigree with that of the Cornish family is attempted to 
 be made in Knill's papers, nor does he positively state his belief 
 of such a connection in his journal ; but he appears, for some 
 reason, to have declined Mr. Garbett's hospitalities, making 
 this entry with respect to his offer of them. "Neither Mr. 
 " Garbett nor his daughters knew icho I teas, and I declined 
 " the invitation of the ladies, because, had I accepted them, I 
 " should have been obliged to have told who I was." If this 
 phrase is to be read as evidence of relationship, his reserve in 
 declining to reveal himself may have arisen from a disinclin- 
 ation to force himself on the representatives of an elder branch 
 which had failed in the male line, and who might have looked 
 on him as a possible aspirant to the family honours. 
 
 There was no necessity, however, for him to claim this 
 relationship, because his own family connections were sufl&ci- 
 ently respectable without it, for John Knill's mother was one 
 of the seven daughters of Mr. Pike of Plympton, Devon, who 
 married an Edgcumbe of Edgcumbe. 
 
 She was a woman of extraordinary powers of mind, and is 
 said to have managed the borough of Callington for the patron 
 for many years after the death of Mr. Jope, her second husband,
 
 NOTICE OF JOHN KNILL. 
 
 and was twice examined, as a witness before a committee of 
 the House of Commons, on contested elections. She was a 
 very handsome woman, and retained her beauty to a great age. 
 It is said of her, that the last time she was before " the House" 
 " a malapert young fellow," to use her own phrase, was ex- 
 amining her, as a witness, with less respect than she thought 
 was due to her age and sex, when, instead of answering his 
 question, she said, " Young man, have you a mother ? " and 
 on his replying, " No ! " she said, " If you had, you would 
 "have known better how to behave to an old gentlewoman." 
 After this, " Mr. Malapert " asked no more questions. 
 
 No record of John Knill's early years has been preserved, 
 and nothing is known with certainty of his education or pur- 
 suits until he reached the age of 30, except that he was 
 trained for the profession of the law, which, according to his 
 relative, Mr. Robert Hichens, who knew him well at sixty, 
 he did not follow as a profession ; whilst Mr. Davies Gilbert, in 
 his History of Cornwall, states that " he served his clerkship 
 " as an attorney in Penzance, and from thence removed to the 
 "office of a London attorney, where, having distinguished 
 " himself by application and intelligence, he was recommended 
 " to the Earl of Buckinghamshire, who, at that time, held the 
 " political interest of St. Ives, to be his local agent." In the year 
 1762, he accepted the office of Collector of Customs at St. Ives 
 in Cornwall, and held it during 20 j^ears, at the end of which 
 he writes to Mr. William Praed, March 30, 1782, " I purpose 
 " to be in London in May, in order to resign my office of 
 " Collector, which I shall finally quit at the end of next 
 "Midsummer quarter." 
 
 He performed the duties of this office with zeal and assiduity, 
 and the value of his services as Collector is shown by the fact 
 of his being selected by the Board of Customs in 1773, for the 
 special duty of inspecting all the ports of the island of Jamaica, 
 and reporting upon them to the Home government. His own 
 journal of that date shows that he left the DoAvns in H.M.S.
 
 D NOTICE OF JOHN KNILL. 
 
 Portland, on the IStli of March, 1773, and resting a few days 
 at Madeira, on the voyage, he reached Jamaica on the 5th of 
 ( May ; and, after spending more than 12 months in his tour of 
 '' inspection, he reached England again on the 25th of May, 
 > 1774, in the mail packet Thynnc, landing at Ilelford, because 
 f she was unable to beat into Falmouth that day. 
 
 Provided with letters from Lord Dartmouth, who was then 
 at the head of the Board of Trade, and other influential per- 
 sons, he was most hospitably received in all parts of the island, 
 especially by the governor. Sir Basil Keith, the custos rotu- 
 lorum. General French, and his own old friend, the attorney 
 general ; and, in a letter to his mother, he thus sums up the 
 result of his ofiicial tour. 
 
 " I have the greatest satisfaction in having been able to get 
 " through the very important business which was intrusted to 
 " my management, with a degree of pleasure to myself and to 
 " all those with whom I have transacted business, excepting 
 " one man whom I was under an absolute necessity of suspend- 
 " ing from his office. I have further the very great pleasure 
 " of being conscious that I have been able to render essential 
 " services in the way of my duty, whilst I have no doubt but 
 " that they will be approved by my honourable masters. For 
 " these reasons, I feel myself extremely happy in having come 
 "upon this expedition, which I will confess I could have 
 " wished, with all my heart, to have avoided, but I thought 
 " myself bound in honour not to decline a piece of duty because 
 " it was difficult and dangerous. Adieu. I pray God to bless 
 " you all, and am. Madam, your obedient son, John Knill. 
 "Kingston, Jamaica, March 15, 1774." 
 
 From a another letter to his mother, who, after widowhood, 
 had married Mr. Jope, and was living at Callington, it appears 
 that Knill's intention was to visit North America on his return 
 to England, with his friend and companion Mr. Edwards, but 
 this intention was abandoned in consequence of Mr. Edwards 
 changing his mind about the voysige.
 
 NOTICE OF JOHN KNILL. 7 
 
 This gentleman was tlie well known Mr. Bryan Edwards, 
 who subsequently, in 1793, published a History of Jamaica 
 and the AYest Indies, and several other accurate works on those 
 colonies, and to whom Knill appears to have communicated in 
 1779 a notice of the religious belief of the Coromantee negroes, 
 which is to be foimd incorporated in his history. This was 
 procured by Knill, from his friend Mr. Alexander Campbell, 
 of Montego Bay, Jamaica, whom Knill mentions as having 
 mastered the native language of that wild and hardy race from 
 the African Gold Coast, whose energy and endurance made 
 their labour so valuable in the British plantations, before the 
 abolition of the slave trade. 
 
 Whilst in Jamaica, he took opportunities, in the intervals 
 of duty, to visit some of the principal sugar plantations and 
 factories, discussed the condition of the island with the Gov- 
 ernor, and received a deputation of coffee planters to consult 
 upon a plan to prevent smuggling of coffee into the island, 
 which Knill had proposed to them, and assisted them in me- 
 morializing Lord Dartmouth on the subject. 
 
 During his j^ear in the island he seems to have been only 
 once hindered by illness, when, in November, he caught a 
 fever, from which, through the affectionate attention of his 
 friends, of which he speaks most warmly, and by the aid of 
 skilled medical advice, he soon recovered. Before lea\ang, he 
 did not omit to return some of the hospitality which he had 
 experienced, and on reaching London he appears to have been 
 able to pay over to his bankers, Messrs. Gosling, the sum of 
 £1500, as the nett result of his Jamaica tour, besides receiving 
 the warm thanks of the Board of Customs. 
 
 The exact extent- of his powers under this Jamaica Com- 
 mission does not appear in his own papers, but Mr. D. Gilbert 
 speaks of it as one which was "highly honourable to his 
 " abilities and to his character, with an authority to inspect all 
 " the custom houses and their establishments, and, if sufficient 
 " cause should appear, with power to suspend any one, however
 
 8 NOTICE OF JOHN KNILL. 
 
 "high, from his office." The official position in which it 
 placed him in the island, is indicated in his journal, where, in 
 speaking of a public entertainment given to the Governor, 
 Sir Basil Keith, he mentions, that a seat was assigned to him 
 next but one to that of the Governor, " because he was con- 
 " sidered as a member of the council, tho' he had declined to 
 "take his seat at the board." 
 
 He mentions in another place, in the Jamaica Journal, that 
 the King had mentioned him to Sir Basil Keith, in strong 
 terms of approbation. 
 
 Returning to St. Ives in 1774, he resumed his duties as 
 collector of customs there, residing in a house of his own in 
 the Fore street. 
 
 On the 1st of November, 1767, he was elected mayor of 
 that borough, and in 1781 he commanded a corps of volunteers 
 there, continuing to reside there, in his office of collector, 
 until the summer of 1782, when, as has been already stated, 
 he resigned it and removed to London. He continued, how- 
 ever, in the service of the customs for two or three years as 
 inspector of some of the western ports, making occasional 
 tours of inspection from London, as appears from the journals 
 and pocket books. 
 
 In 1777, whilst still collector at St. Ives, Knill became 
 private secretary to the Earl of Buckinghamshire, upon his 
 being made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and accompanied the 
 Earl from London to Dublin, where he had rooms in the 
 castle ; but, as Mr. Davies Gilbert, who knew him well, 
 suggests in his County History (vol. ii. p. 268, under St. Ives), 
 " not liking the castle, nor, perhaps, the responsibility of this 
 "situation, he returned to St. Ives " at the end of six months' 
 service in that capacity. Lord Buckinghamshire, however, 
 honoured him with his friendship until his death, in 1793, 
 when he made Knill one of the trustees of all his estates. Knill's 
 private papers and pocket books contain abundant proofs of 
 the intimacy of this friendship, and the zeal with which he
 
 NOTICE OF JOHN KNILL. 9 
 
 executed the duties of his trust; and his large experience, ready- 
 wit, and unswerving integrity, secured to him, after the Earl's 
 death, the regard of the Countess and her four daughters.* 
 
 Mr. Da vies Grilbert relates (vol. ii. 267), that after Knill's 
 return to St. Ives from Jamaica, he "engaged in a very 
 " anomalous undertaking, at that time sanctioned and encour- 
 " aged by the government, which consisted in equipj)ing small 
 "vessels to act as privateers against smugglers;" that "he 
 "was hurried, by the force of circumstances, contrary to his 
 " inclinations and habits, and to his deep and frequent regret, 
 "into doing what others did, and participating in the un- 
 " hallowed gains " which arose from the system of plundering 
 vessels laden with private property upon the outbreak of the 
 Dutch war with America. Mr. Gilbert proceeds to say, that 
 Knill " showed every kindness in his power to some of the 
 " objects of compassion who were made prisoners, and that 
 " he restored several articles of their more valued property at 
 " his own individual loss." 
 
 No trace can be found in Mr. Knill's papers of any such ( 
 transactions ; but in 1779 this fondness for adventure, which ( 
 they indicate, exhibited itself in another form, in a search ( 
 which he then commenced and continued for two years, for a f 
 valuable deposit of treasure supposed to have been left near the ( 
 Lizard Point, (not at Gunwalloe, as stated by Davies Gilbert, ( 
 ii. 128,) by a notorious pirate called Avery. 
 
 The story of this treasure is curious. Avery, a native of 
 Devon, is stated in one of Knill's papers, to have been the \ 
 captain of a band of pirates, who, in the year 1699, infested ^ 
 
 * This appears from letters to Knill, both from the Countess and from each 
 of her four daughters, as well as from other sources. 
 
 The Earl died without male issue ; his three elder daughters had married 
 before his death in 1793, and the youngest married in the following year. 
 Harriet became Marchioness of Lotliian. 
 Caroline became Lady SufEeld. 
 Sophia became Countess of Mount Edgcumbe. 
 Emily Anne became Marchioness of Londonderry.
 
 10 NOTICE OF JOHN KNILL. 
 
 the Island of Madagascar, and established themselves there in 
 such force as to resist successfully the attack made upon them 
 at that date by Commodore Warren, and a squadron of five 
 vessels of war, which were sent from England in order to dis- 
 possess the pirates. Warren failed to make any impression on 
 them, either by threats, bribes, or entreaties, and is said to have 
 returned home without effecting the object of his mission. 
 Avery amassed a vast amount of treasure, and on one occa- 
 sion was reported to have concealed in a cave, east of the 
 Lizard point, certain chests of treasure, containing jewels, 
 gold ornaments, diamonds, ingots, bars and coins of gold, of 
 untold value ; but of which, a rough catalogue, supposed to 
 have been from the hand of Captain Avery, was in the poss- 
 ession of one Cornelius Ffurssen, who, in the year 1702, 
 f obtained a grant from George, Prince of Denmark, to search 
 } for the treasure at any point between Helford haven and the 
 
 Loe Pool. 
 
 \ The search was, however, not carried out by Ffurssen, but 
 
 I the license or grant was duly assigned by him to others in 
 
 t succession for many years, until in 1779, two Cornishmen, 
 
 - resident at St. Michael's Mount, possessed themselves of the 
 
 ' original grant, and induced Mr. Knill to embark with them in 
 
 / a vigorous search. Ver}^ precise articles of agreement were 
 
 I drawn up by Knill, as was his habit in all matters of business, 
 
 I the coast carefully examined, and a fresh license applied for by 
 
 / petition to Lord North, who was Chancellor of the Exchequer. 
 
 J Several expeditions to the Lizard were made, and meetings 
 
 i of the CO- adventurers were held, imtil in October, 1781, a 
 
 \ descendant of the pirate Avery, was found, and was induced to 
 
 / attend a meeting at St. Ives, at which he related that his 
 
 father had told him that Captain Avery, after wandering about 
 
 in great poverty and distress, had died at Barnstaple, and was 
 
 buried as a pauper, and that it could not therefore be supposed 
 
 that any such treasure existed, for that if it had, Avery would 
 
 certainly have disclosed it and rescued himself from penury.
 
 NOTICE OF JOHN KNILL. 11 
 
 This statement appears to have satisfied Knill and the rest 
 that their bubble had burst, and after due consideration, it was 
 resolved, on the 31st of January, 1782, to abandon the search. 
 
 Avery will scarcely be considered to have deserved a better 
 fate ; but it may be doubted whether his fate need be taken as 
 decisive against the existence of such treasure, for Avery could 
 not have made good a claim against the crown, without giving 
 evidence of his property in it, which would have risked his life. 
 
 When Knill left St. Ives for London, in 1782, he resided 
 as a bachelor, in Arundel street, in the Strand, which was, at 
 that date, a respectable "West End" street. He had made 
 arrangements for being called to the Bar before coming to 
 London to reside. 
 
 On the 18th of September, 1778, he was admitted a member 
 of Graj^'s Inn ; in November, 1781, he purchased a set of 
 chambers in Gray's Inn Square, known at that time as Coney 
 Court, but did not take up his residence there until after 1784 ; 
 in 1787 he was called to the bar, and at a later date, in 1804, 
 he was called to the Bench of the Inn, filling the ofiice of 
 treasurer in 1806, and signalizing his tenure of that ofiice by 
 presenting a silver cofiee pot, duly inscribed in Latin, to the 
 bench. 
 
 It was in the year in which he ceased to act -as Collector at 
 St. Ives, 1782, that Knill erected the mausoleum on a neigh- 
 bouring hill ; and, as this act has often been ridiculed as a 
 piece of foUy, it is interesting to examine the motives which 
 led to this freak of humour, for such it will continue to be 
 considered as long as the monument lasts, unless a reasonable 
 explanation can be found. 
 
 His own papers throw much light upon this subject ; but it 
 is necessary, first, to describe briefly what the mausoleum is. 
 
 In figure it is a triangidar pyramid of granite, 50 feet high, 
 containing within its base a cavity sufficient for a single inter- 
 ment, and rising in courses of hewn stone, diminishing to a 
 point, which is capped with metal and provided with a light- 
 ning conductor.
 
 12 NOTICE or JOHN KN1T,L. 
 
 An arch constructed in the base gave admission to the 
 cavity, but has always been, from its erection, walled up. A 
 low guard wall of granite was added in 1829, to prevent injury 
 to the foundations by removal of the surrounding stones. 
 
 Worvas hill, on which it stands, is some hundreds of feet 
 above the sea, and this makes the pyramid a prominent object 
 to vessels off the coast, which use it as a landmark. On one 
 face of the pyramid the word " Resurgam " is carved high up 
 in bold relief, upon the granite blocks of which it is built ; on 
 a second face, " I know that my Redeemer liveth ; " and 
 on the third, the arms and motto of the Knill family, viz.: 
 gules, a lion rampant, surrounded by eleven crossed crosslets 
 fitchy, or; motto, "Ml desperandum." 
 
 Knill procured the design in 1779, from Mr. John Wood, 
 architect, of Batheaston, who furnished him with the most 
 minutely detailed drawings, which enabled him without diffi- 
 culty to complete it by the hands of John Dennis, "a joiner of 
 " Penzance." The total cost of the monument, including the 
 purchase of the land from Henry, Lord Arundell, for five 
 guineas, was £226 Is. 6d.. An acknowledgment of six-pence 
 is paid annually to Mr. Stephens of Tregenna (formerly to 
 Mr. Davies Gilbert), for a right of way to the mausoleum. 
 
 The fullest statement made by Knill himself with reference 
 to his motive in erecting it occurs in his will of 1809, a very 
 elaborate document, contained in five skins of parchment, which, 
 in order to save trouble to his executors, he made in duplicate. 
 
 He begins by referring to the motive of vanity, which he 
 thinks mankind would probably charge against him, for 
 building a "mausoleum," and then proceeds, "During a resi- 
 "dence of upwards of 20 years at St Ives, where I was 
 " Collector of the Customs, and served all offices within the 
 " borough, from constable to mayor, it was my unremitting 
 "endeavour to render all possible service to the town in 
 " general, and to every individual inhabitant, and I was so 
 " fortunate as to succeed in almost every endeavour I used for
 
 NOTICE OF JOHN KNILL. 13 
 
 " that purpose, particularly in respect to the building of their 
 " wall or pier, and in some other beneficial undertakings ; and 
 " it was my wish to have further served the place by effecting 
 " other public works, which I proposed, and which will, I dare 
 " say, in time be carried into execution. It is natural to love 
 " those whom you have had opportunities of serving, and I 
 " confess I have real affection for St. Ives and its inhabitants, 
 " in whose memory I have an ardent desire to continue a little 
 " longer than the usual time those do of whom there is no 
 " ostensible memorial. To that end, my vanity prompted me 
 " to erect a mausoleum, and to institute certain periodical 
 " returns of a ceremony which wiU be found in a deed bearing 
 " date 29th May, 1797, which hath been duly enrolled in his 
 " Majestj^'s High Court of Chancery, and now remains in a 
 " strong oaken box, placed in the Custom House at St. Ives, 
 " and an attested copy of which deed I shall leave for my 
 "executors hereinafter named." 
 
 It is singular, that neither in the will, nor in the deed to 
 which it refers, is any allusion made to the original idea from 
 which this fancy sprung, but it appears clearly enough to 
 admit of no doubt as to that origin, in a letter written by 
 KniU to Mr. W. Praed, jun., March 30, 1782, in which he 
 states that his reason for first thinking of erecting a mausoleum, 
 was that he abhorred the practice of burial within the body of 
 the church, which was then prevalent at St. Ives, and that the 
 churchyard was already too small for the people. 
 
 It is clear, therefore, that his original intention was to erect 
 a mausoleum in which, at the date of its erection, he desired 
 to be buried ; and the original design by Mr. Wood, which is 
 still extant, shows the central chamber which was designed for 
 the tomb. It is equally clear, also, that long before his death 
 he had, in consequence of difiiculties which stood in the way of 
 consecration, abandoned that intention, and subsequently, by 
 his will, gave directions for his burial at St. Andrew's, Holborn. 
 
 It was in 1797, fifteen years after its erection, that KniU, by
 
 14 NOTICE OF JOHN KNILL. 
 
 the deed already mentioned in the clause cited from his will, 
 charged his estate of Glivian, in the parish of Mawgan in 
 Pydar, with the rent-charge of £10 in order to secure the 
 repair of the mausoleum, with very precise directions as to the 
 disposal of the surplus, from time to time, in charitable objects 
 in St. Ives. His letter of April, 1797, to Mr. J. Stephens, then 
 mayor, in which he desires him to accept the trust, speaks 
 only of the charitable objects, and makes no allusion to the 
 ceremonies. 
 
 The deed was drawn by Mr. Kitson, a barrister of Gray's 
 Inn, and is curious for the minute precision of its injunctions, 
 which are so complete that it is difficult to imagine any possi- 
 bility of doubt arising, under any conceivable circumstances, 
 in the execution of the trusts. As these trusts have often been 
 quoted in print, but always incorrectly, even in the report of 
 the first performance of the quinquennial ceremony, which 
 appeared in the Morning Chronicle of August 14th, 1801, it 
 may be as well to state that the trusts of the deed of 1797 are 
 briefly, as follows. A rent-charge of £10 annually to be paid to 
 the mayor, collector, and lecturer (as the officiating minister was 
 then called) of St. Ives, to be thus expended : £5 yearly for 
 repairs if needed, the other £5 to accumidate and to be used as 
 follows, at the end of every five years, viz.: £10 for a dinner for 
 the trustees and six guests ; £5 equallj^ amongst ten maidens, of 
 ten years old at most, children of seamen, fishermen, or tinners, 
 who dance once round the mausoleum ; £1 for the musician ; 
 £2 to two widows chosen from the same classes as the children, 
 to accompany them ; £1 for white ribbons, &c,; £1 for clerk, 
 and a new account book when needed ; the remaining £5 to 
 the married parents, of the like classes, who have brought up 
 the largest family to the age of ten, without aid from the poor 
 rate or from property. 
 
 If less than £5 be required yearly for repairs, the surjalus 
 to accumulate till it reaches a fixed sum, a moiety of which to 
 be left for repairs, the rest to be divided, in stated proportions,
 
 NOTICE OF JOHN KNILL. 15 
 
 amongst deserving women and boys of the classes above named 
 who have distinguished themselves in their diflPerent pursuits, 
 or amongst the Friendly Societies of St. Ives, &c. A schedule 
 contains forms of accoxmt, vouchers, and other entries to be 
 made in books to be provided from time to time. 
 
 The first performance of the public ceremony took place in 
 Knill's lifetime, on St. James's day, July 25th, 1801, i. e., in 
 the fourth year from the execution of the deed ; and con- 
 tinues to be repeated, according to the trusts of the deed, at the 
 present date. 
 
 With such cumbrous care is this useful landmark, on a 
 rugged coast, preserved for the fishermen of St. Ives ; and 
 thus it vrSl continue until the feeling of the age may induce 
 *^^he Charit}^ Commissioners to intervene, in case they should 
 Leem it desirable to undertake the trusts of so small a sum. 
 
 It has been already stated, that after Knill's resignation of 
 the office of Collector, at St. Ives, in 1782, he resided in 
 London until his death, in 1811. For a short time he lived 
 in Arundel street, but soon removed to his own chambers, at 
 8, Coney Court, now Gray's Inn Square. He mixed much in 
 good society, where his ready wit and the genial humour of 
 his well-stored mind made him a welcome guest. He culti- 
 vated the friendship of men of letters and wits of the day, 
 whom he often entertained at Gray's Inn. 
 
 For many years he was in the habit of recording dailj^ some 
 of his occupations and engagements, with the minute care 
 which characterizes every docimient which has survived him. 
 Seven complete pocket books and journals of these entries 
 remain, and contain abundant evidence of his industrj^, his 
 patriotism, his habit of inquiring closelj^ into everything that 
 concerned the history, arts, and manufacturers of his country. 
 He was a member of the Society of Arts and of the Cornish 
 Club, which, in 1800, held its meetings at the " Shakespeare ; " 
 and in that year he qualified as a magistrate for jNIiddlesex,- 
 and often sat at the Sessions House, and at the Police Court in
 
 16 NOTICE OF JOHN KNILL. 
 
 Hatton Garden. In 1784 he attended the first festival com- 
 memorative of the birth of Handel, when a most successful 
 performance was witnessed in Westminster Abbey, and £6000, 
 realized by the Committee, was presented to the society of 
 musicians. The tickets were a guinea each. The next* 
 commemoration was in 1834, at the close of the third 
 half-century from Handel's birth in 1684. 
 
 Knill loved art as well as music, and when, at the close of 
 the last century. Alderman Boydell issued his sumptuous 
 edition of the text of Shakspeare's plays, Knill was one of the 
 subscribers to that great illustrated work, and also to the 
 larger set of engravings from the paintings which formed the 
 Shakspeare gallery. There never was a period when art needed 
 more encouragement in England than at that warlike and 
 revolutionary date, and Boydell's liberal and judicious eflforts 
 to elevate the character both of historical painting and of the 
 sister art of the engraver deserve the highest praise. 
 
 His success, in attracting to them the patronage of the 
 crowned heads of Europe as well as that of the wealthier classes 
 at home gave, undoubtedly, a fresh stimulus to those civi- 
 lizing arts, from which the country has not yet ceased to 
 benefit. 
 
 Amongst the Knill papers are also journals of tours, which 
 he seems to have taken on horseback, in the years 1784, '89, 
 '90, '91, '92, and 1800. He was 50 years old when he made 
 the first of these, which appears to have been partly a tour of 
 official inspection of custom houses, and partly for pleasure, 
 lasting from August to December. He usually rode the whole 
 distance on horseback, accompanied by a trusty man-servant, 
 and was absent from London from two to four months, visiting 
 different parts of England ; at one time commencing with a 
 visit to the Earl of Buckinghamshire in Norfolk, and riding 
 across to Worcestershire, skirting the borders of Wales, turning 
 south through Bristol and Bath to his beloved St. Ives, and 
 after resting there, working his way back to London through
 
 NOTICE OF JOHN KNILL. 
 
 17 
 
 the sotithern counties. Once, in 1789, he left London for 
 Greenwich and Cauterbnry, and visited almost every port and 
 harbour between Ramsgate and Plymouth, taking notes of all 
 that concerned their commerce and the security of their har- 
 bours, throwing himself in the way of those who could best 
 inform him upon all points of historical interest ; and calling, 
 as he passed, at the houses of any influential persons with 
 whom he had mixed in London society. The greatest amount 
 of mileage covered on horseback during these tours, is in the 
 year 1790, when he rode 630 miles through the midland 
 counties to Liverpool, and thence across south Yorkshire and 
 Lincoln to Norfolk, where he visited Lord Buckinghamshire 
 for a few days, before returning to London. 
 
 His notes abound in curious details of his expenses and 
 mode of living, which it would be tedious to give ; but it may 
 be interesting to state, that he paid seven shillings a day for 
 the hire of his two saddle-horses, and that the total cost of his 
 tours averaged from £1 8s. to £1 12s. daily, including every 
 expense of himself and his servant. 
 
 It is quite refreshing to see the lively interest with which 
 he notes everything which comes under his observation. At 
 Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and Liverpool, he visits the 
 local manufactories and docks ; has interviews with Boulton, 
 Wedgwood, Wilkinson, and other celebrities of the day, who 
 have stamped their names deeply upon the records of our 
 national progress in arts, science, and manufacture. At 
 Stratford, he revels in the memories of Shakspeare ; he visits 
 every historical ruin within reach of his line of march, enters 
 fully into the enjoyments of works of art in the mansions of 
 the wealthy, and sets down with the minuteness of Mr. Murray 
 himself, the vices and the merits of the homely inns at which 
 he rests. On one occasion, in 1790, he seems much shocked 
 at the state of dilapidation into which the mausoleum and 
 monuments of an historical family had been allowed to fall 
 from mere neglect ; and he moralizes so feelingly upon the
 
 18 NOTICE OF JOHN KNILL. 
 
 necessity for making some provision for the preservation of 
 such relics, that it is very probable that his own plan for 
 securing the repair of his mausoleum at St. Ives, may have 
 originated here. 
 
 When, in these riding tours, he reaches Cornwall, we find 
 him a welcome guest at many of the best houses in his native 
 county, of which, as well as of ^Middlesex, he was a magistrate. 
 He visits Mount Edgcumbe, Whiteford, Trebursey, ( then 
 Mr. Eliot's, ) E,estormel, ( then called Trinity, ) Tregothnan, 
 Trevethoe, Tehidy, Chiverton, ( at that time the residence of 
 Yice- Warden Thomas, ) Trevayler, Poltair, Trewithen, besides 
 visits paid to his relations at St. Clere, Callington, and 
 Tavistock. At the latter place, he notes, August 29, 1789, 
 "breakfasted with my cousin, Dolly Edgcumbe, who is as 
 lovely as she was 38 years since." This was Mrs. Dorothy 
 Edgcumbe of Chilliton, mentioned in his will. 
 
 Occasionally, amusing anecdotes are set down, for Knill 
 had a keen appreciation of humour, in whatever shape it pre- 
 sented itself. 
 
 Here is a droll epitaph from a churchyard in Norfolk, on 
 a poor man's tomb. 
 
 " Life is a city, full of crooked streets, 
 " Death is the market-place where all do meet : 
 " Were life a merchandise that men could buy, 
 " The rich alone would live, the poor must die." 
 Collectors of sun-dial mottoes may prefer the following, as 
 certainly more classical. They are copied from the four dials 
 of the handsome market cross, at King's Lynn in the same 
 county. 
 
 " Moneo dum moveo. 
 " Dum spectas fugio 
 " Sapientis est numerare, 
 " Sic praeterit aetas." 
 Modern improvements have occasioned the removal of this 
 ornament of the town.
 
 NOTICE OF JOHN KNILL. 19 
 
 During another of these tours in 1795, he visited three 
 endowed scliools at Exeter, Phnnpton, and Plymouth, for the 
 purpose of drawing up a report upon them, by desire of the 
 four daughters of the Earl of Buckinghamshire, for their 
 guidance in the administration of the charity funds which 
 had been left at their disposal by their father. 
 
 The report is amongst his papers, and shows that he ex- 
 amined thoroughly into the matter ; visiting the school- rooms 
 and dormitories, learning how the boys were fed and clothed 
 as well as taught, noting defects in the premises, inquiring 
 into the management of the trust property, and in one case, 
 submitting a fresh scheme for approval of the ladies. 
 
 In his native county he took an active part in public affairs ; 
 helj)ing to raise a Cornish regiment in 1779, when war had 
 been declared against England by Spain as well as France, 
 and serving as a volunteer at St. Ives, in 1781, as he did 
 afterwards in London ; and when the abominable habit of 
 plundering wrecks had become notoriously prevalent, and had 
 given a bad name to his native comity, Eaaill is found in 
 1792, drawing up an elaborate scheme for its suppression by 
 arming the civil power with fresh authority for dealing with 
 wreckers and protecting the coast. This scheme, originating 
 as it seems entirely with him, was first submitted to Henry 
 Dundas, then Home Secretary of State, through Lord Eliot, in 
 April, 1792, was printed* in June, for cii'culation b}' post and 
 otherwise, and submitted to the consideration of a county 
 meeting, held at Bodmin, during the Summer Assizes in that 
 year, under the presidency of Mr. Davies Giddy, afterwards 
 Davies Gilbert, then High Sheriff. 
 
 At that meeting, a committee was foi-med for the purpose of 
 framing a biU embodying Mr. Knill's suggestions, with the 
 view of passing it into a law. The committee consisted of the 
 
 * Pocket Book of 1792 has this entry: "Jan. 25, Paid for 500 plans for 
 " amending the laws respecting ships wrecked, &c., £2 7s. Oc?."
 
 20 NOTICE OF JOHN KNILL. 
 
 county and borougli members, together witli the acting magis- 
 trates in the county, with Lord Falmouth as chairman ; and 
 the thanks of the meeting were conveyed by the Sheriff "to 
 " Mr. Knill, for his zealous exertions to prevent the plundering 
 " of wrecks on the coasts of the kingdom, and for the plan 
 " communicated by him for effecting that desirable purpose, &c." 
 
 The original di'aft of this scheme, in Xnill's handwriting, 
 is extant, together with copies of the printed statement and 
 reports of committee meetings, and correspondence with Lord 
 Falmouth, Lord Eliot, Mr. Gregor, M.P., Sir Francis Basset, 
 and others, who took a leading part in the matter. It appears 
 that Knill's scheme was adopted with very few alterations ; 
 and that upon Lord Adam Gordon desiring that it should be 
 extended to Scotland, that question was referred by Mr. Dandas 
 to the Lord Advocate ; but for reasons which do not appear, 
 possibly the outbreak in that year of the terrible revolution in 
 France, the bill was not carried through Parliament, and the 
 question was allowed to sleep once more, until 1818, when the 
 late Mr. Tremayne made a fresh attempt to alter the law by a 
 modification of KniU's plan, which he placed in the hands 
 of Lord Sidmouth, then Home Secretary, in the hope that 
 the Government would introduce it. This expectation, how- 
 ever, was disappointed, and the law remained for many years 
 imaltered. 
 
 Happily, in our day, although the annual number of wrecks 
 has frightfully increased, a better feeling prevails on the shores 
 of our maritime counties, and whilst every encouragement is 
 given to the preservation of life, depredations of wrecked 
 vessels are more vigilantly prevented. 
 
 Previouslj^ to the date of his wreck scheme, Knill had shown 
 the readiness as well as the skill with which he could throw 
 himself into the preparation of a plan, by framing, on the 
 very day on which Lord George Gordon's riots reached their 
 alarming crisis, a detailed plan for quelling the riots and 
 placing London in a position of safety, in a long letter
 
 NOTICE OF JOHN KNILL. 
 
 21 
 
 addressed anonjTnously to Sir Grey Cooper, Secretary of the 
 Treasury. This was on the 7th June, 1780, when Knill's 
 indignation was yery naturally roused by the reckless conduct 
 of the mob in burning Lord Mansfield's house. It would be 
 tedious to quote this letter. Enough to say of it, that it was 
 composed in the spirit of a true patriot, without the least token 
 of a vindictive feeling against the rioters, but with a cautious 
 regard for the safety of peaceable citizens. 
 
 It is to be regretted that no trace can be foimd in any of 
 Knill's papers of any professional engagements at the bar, but 
 it is believed that during Mr. Pitt's administration, he was 
 employed in preparing Parliamentary bills for the government, 
 and it was asserted by his near relation, the late Mr. Robert 
 Hichens, that he drew the Income Tax Act for Pitt. Once 
 only, is any reference made to that statesman's name in his 
 pocket book, viz. : " Dined at DoUey's with Mr. Smith, Secre- 
 " tary to Mr. Pitt," ( Jany. 12, 1792 ; ) but in this year, and in 
 1800, the next year of which there is a pocket book, he makes 
 frequent entries of calls upon Mr. Long,* " at the Treasury." 
 Some of these calls are specified to have been on business on 
 behalf of other persons, e.g., for Col. Des Barres who was 
 Governor of Prince Edward's Isle, and apparently on intimate 
 terms with Knill, and others ; but some may possibly have 
 been on business for the government. 
 
 Entries also occur in 1792, of several attendances at the 
 House of Commons " on Plymouth Dock Committee," which 
 was eventually "deferred till next year," but he may have 
 attended as a witness and not as counsel. 
 
 Thus, in 1800, he enters "attended the hearing of Lady 
 "Buckingham's cause in Chancery," which he attended as a 
 Trustee, under the Earl's will. 
 
 Some entries in the pocket books, scattered through the 
 different years were for some time a hidden mystery, until it 
 was found that they were entries of a more private nature, 
 
 * This was Charles Long, afterwards Lord Farnborongh.
 
 22 NOTICE OF JOHN KNILL. 
 
 such as he might desire to conceal from his servant, and 
 written in a cursive Greek character, but English language • 
 such as "made my will, &c." 
 
 Some of the letters which have been preserved contain 
 expressions of the warmest gratitude for valuable acts of 
 kindness done to friends, of which no trace appears in his own 
 memoranda. One friend testified his sense of Knill's dis- 
 interested friendship by inscribing a gold snufi" box, which he 
 did not live to present, but which Knill received, as he himself 
 has recorded in Latin on the box, from the widow of the donor. 
 
 The inscrij)tion is curious and creditable to both donor and 
 recipient. 
 
 "The gift of John Moore Knighton, of Greenofen, in the 
 "county of Devon, Esquire, and Marj^ his wife, to John Knill 
 " of Gray's Inn, in the county of Middlesex, Esquire, in grate - 
 "ful acknowledgment for his successfid exertions (without 
 " charge) in the years 1800, '1, '2, '3, and '4, whereby a benefi- 
 " cial lease of certain lead mines at Grinton, in the county of 
 " York, from the Crown to Mr. Knighton, was obtained. And 
 " also, for that through Mr. Knill's friendly mediation, a law 
 " suit which must have proved tedious, expensive, and per- 
 " plexing, between Josias Readshaw Morley, Esquire, (who 
 " claimed the lease,) and Mr Knighton, was prevented." 
 
 Underneath these words, Mr. Knill has engraved in Latin. 
 " Recepfum a Maria Knighion, Vidud, 21 Janrii, 1806." 
 
 Mr. Knill died a bachelor in 1811. His last will is dated two 
 years previously ; it is of unusual length, and after making 
 his half-brother. Rev. John Jope of St. Clere, his sole executor, 
 the remainder of the five skins of parchment upon which it 
 was engrossed, is occupied by an immense variety of bequests 
 to friends and relations, some of them of substantial character, 
 but the majority being mementoes only. 
 
 One of these is curious as showing a trait of the donor's 
 character, viz. : " To James Edge, of 8, King's Bench "Walk> 
 " Temple, Attorney, my silver stewpan, cover, and stand, silver
 
 NOTICE OF JOHN KNILL. 
 
 23 
 
 " smoking candlestick, with Chinese and Turkish tobacco 
 " pipes, which I request him to accept as marks of my esteem 
 " and acknowledgment for the trouble he has kindly and 
 " generously been at in transacting the business of several 
 " poor people whom I recommended to him, in whose behalf 
 " he acted with as much diligence and zeal, gratuitously, as if 
 "he had been paid ample fees." 
 
 Amongst the other bequests are no less than fifty- six gold 
 rmgs, of five guineas each, distributed in neai'ly equal ntimbers 
 to friends and relations. Those intended for the ladies are 
 mounted with a small plait of hair surrounded by twelve 
 pearls, whilst those for gentlemen had a similar de\dce sur- 
 rounded by twelve small diamonds. A handsome annuity was 
 also settled on the faithful servant who kept his chambers. 
 
 Thus has John Knill's path through life been traced so far 
 as authentic materials permit, and they afford means for 
 judging very fairly of his character also. 
 
 Endowed with abilities and energy of more than an average 
 order, with a ready wit and genial humour, he seems to have 
 availed himself of a liberal education to gain a position of 
 credit and honour in the different duties which he performed, 
 both in a public and a private capacity. As he was employed 
 during twenty years iu a fiscal department of the state he was 
 familiar with accounts, and this, combined with his legal 
 knowledge gave value to his services as a trustee for others. 
 His cultivated taste and vigorous intellect secured him the 
 society and friendship of many Kterary and public men of his 
 day, whilst his polished manners, genial humour, and general 
 kindness and consideration for those who came to him for 
 advice or help, made him a welcome guest wherever he was 
 known. 
 
 Amongst many whom he had opportunities of serving after 
 he came to London in 1782, was a Dr. Brooke, of Bath, who 
 was sent to Italy in 1785, by the Duke of Leeds, ttien Foreign 
 Secretary, on a mission connected with British Trade with
 
 24 NOTICE OF JOHN KNILL. 
 
 that country, and wlio was accompanied to Downing street by 
 Knill, to receive his final instructions. This gentleman, who 
 seems, after the death of the Duke, to have been very shabbily 
 treated by the government after several years of service for 
 them, thus speaks of Knill in a printed statement of his claims. 
 
 " Mr. Knill, a gentleman of honour, independent fortune, 
 "and of well known integrity to government, most kindly 
 " engaged to receive my despatches from Italy and ofi&cially 
 "deliver them." 
 
 This was during Mr. Pitt's administration, and is another 
 proof of the access which Knill had to more than one depart- 
 ment of his government. 
 
 Knill' s kindness of heart was further shown in his fondness 
 for children, whom, though a bachelor, he delighted to please. 
 He was fond of taking presents into the country for them, and 
 woidd amuse them by his playful way of opening the package 
 of toys with great ceremony, and only allowing access to the 
 contents by a series of peeps and hidings, imtil at last the full 
 beauty of the present was displayed to the eager eyes of his 
 little friends. 
 
 This amiable trait peeps out also through passages in the 
 school reports which he drew up in 1795, where he seems 
 much interested in the welfare and happiness of the children ; 
 and in his pocket book of 1800 he notes the pleasure he had 
 dei'ived from attending the festival of charity children at St. 
 Paul's Cathedral, adding, " the best meeting of children and 
 " company that ever was, on this occasion." 
 
 During the few years of which there are pocket books, he 
 seems to have been most punctual in his observance of Sunday, 
 generally attending Divine service twice in the day, once at 
 the chapel of Grray's Inn, and once elsewhere, as he did also 
 on thanksgiving days and the great festivals of the church. 
 Sometimes a brief entry occurs of the sermon, and in more 
 than one instance an entry is made here again in Greek
 
 NOTICE OF JOHN KNILL. 25 
 
 characters. Passages from Scripture are frequently quoted 
 as appropriate to particular days and events of liis own life, 
 and sometimes moral sentences from Latin classical authors 
 are interspersed with them. The references are often obscure 
 from want of the clue to their application, but never from 
 inaccuracy in quoting them. 
 
 A kitcat portrait by Opie, painted in 1779, represents 
 Knill very pleasingly. A bright smiling hazel eye, well 
 arched eye-brow, and full but not lofty forehead, a resolute 
 lip, dark unpowdered hair, and close-shaven chin and cheek, 
 in a plain suit of blue with frilled shirt and ruffles, sitting 
 in an easy attitude at table, give you the thorough gentleman^ 
 as he was when Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant. He was 
 then in the prime of life, at the age of 43, and this is his only 
 portrait. 
 
 He was a man of unswerving integrity, nice sense of honour, 
 and generous patriotism ; devotedly fond of his native county, 
 affectionate and liberal in his domestic relations, and exhibiting 
 zeal and assiduity in the performance of public duties and of 
 private trusts. His tastes were elegant and refined, whilst 
 his manners possessed the finished courtesy of the times in 
 which he lived ; and whilst he always was deferential to those 
 who were above him in station, he had too much pride to bear 
 rebuke or disdain, and expected to be treated as a gentleman 
 by those with whom he mixed. It has been charged against 
 him that he was eccentric, and it cannot be denied that his 
 fancy of a mausoleum and its ceremonies supports the charge, 
 though the intention of burial there was soon abandoned ; the 
 vein of humour which he possessed, may also, have sometimes 
 betrayed him into drolleries inconsistent with the gravity of 
 mature age. But it is fair to say, in his excuse, that he was 
 by no means singular in that failing at the time in which he 
 lived ; and he never allowed his fondness for fun ( which was 
 aways harmless), to interfere with business or duty.
 
 26 NOTICE OF JOHN KXILL. 
 
 And if the present age is less tolerant of what it calls 
 eccentricities of the past, may not faults of character be 
 found amongst us now, which are, at least, as inexcusable ? 
 
 " De mortuis nil nisi bonum." Let us forget the foibles of 
 his character, if indeed they deserve the name, and rather 
 dwell in memory on the sterling worth and energy which so 
 far outshone them. 
 
 J. J. R. 
 
 Penrose, 
 
 July, 1871.
 
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