Merchant Taylors'.
[It was Dr. John Hartcliffe, of Merchant Taylors', that wished to
become Provost of King's College: but the mandate was obtained from
King William, not from James II. Hartcliffe's _Discourse against
Purgatory_, 1685, which Anthony à Wood thinks was publicly burnt in
France, was not likely to recommend him to the favour of the latter
king. The affair of the Provostship is thus stated by Cole (_Hist. of
King's College_, vol. iv. Addit. MSS. 5817.)--"On the death of Dr.
Copleston, Hartcliffe made a great stir, in order to become Provost,
and actually obtained a mandate of King William to the society to
choose him; but he was far from being agreeable to the Fellows of the
college, who, when they heard he was in town, and upon what errand he
came, directly shut up the college gates, and proceeded to an election,
when Dr. Roderick was chosen, with the odds of ten votes to one. This
being transacted in the infancy of King William's reign, he chose not
to stir much in it; but after having shown the Fellows, by the very
petition they made to him, which was presented by Mr. Newborough and
Mr. Fleetwood, that he had a right to present, he dismissed them." A
biographical notice of Dr. Hartcliffe is given in Nichols's _Literary
Anecdotes_, vol. i. pp. 63, 64., and in Wood's _Athenæ_ (Bliss), vol.
iv. p. 790.
No one appears to have continued Ward's _Lives of the Gresham
Professors_. Maitland, in his _History of London_, has brought the
history of the institution down to 1755. Dr. Ward himself had prepared
a new edition, containing considerable additions, which was presented
to the British Museum by his residuary legatee. Among the Additional
MSS. also will be found a large mass of papers and correspondence
relating to the _Lives_. From one document, entitled "Minutes relating
to the Lives of the Professors of Gresham College, being Additions to
the printed Work," we extract the following notice of "William Cokayne,
who was the son of George Cokayne, of Dovebridge in Devonshire, clerk.
He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, in London, and from thence
elected probationer Fellow of St. John's College, where he was
matriculated 9th July, 1736. He commenced A.M. 9th July, 1744; made
Junior Proctor 1750; and B.D. 4th July, 1751." The date of his
appointment as Astronomy Professor is not given; but his resignation,
in 1795, will be found in the _Gentleman's Magazine_, vol. lxv. p. 711.
He appears to have died in 1798 (see _Ib._, vol. lxviii. p. 641.), when
the Rev. Joseph Monkhouse succeeded him as Rector of Kilkhampton, co.
Cornwall.
{432}
The MS. "Minutes" also contain a notice of William Roman, the
thirteenth Geometry Professor, "who was educated at Merchant Taylors'
School, London, and from thence elected to St. John's College, Oxford,
in 1740, being matriculated as the son of Richard Roman, of London,
Gent., ætat. 17. He commenced B.C.L., May 5th, 1747; Deacon at Christ
Church, 21st Sept., 1746; Priest at Christ Church, 20th Sept., 1747."
No date of his appointment, but he was Professor in 1755, when Maitland
wrote his account of the college. Dr. Samuel Kettilby succeeded the
Rev. Samuel Birch as Geometry Lecturer, and died June 25, 1808.--See
_Gentleman's Magazine_, vol. lxxviii. p. 657.]
"_Haulf Naked._"--In poring over an old deed the other night, I stumbled
upon the above name, which I take to be that of a manor in the county of
Sussex. Is it so? and, if so, by what name is the property now known?