the male line and connected with the county. It would take far too much
space if justice were done to the numerous families now represented in
the female line—such as the Skipwiths, Ayscoughs, Wrays, Saundersons,
Copledikes, St. Pauls, Meres, Fitzwilliams, Granthams, Armynes,
Angevines, Amcotts, Asfordbys, Billesbys, Husseys, Ogles, Tournays, and
many others. It may be enough to say that in the fifteenth century the
Skipwiths, Copledikes, and Tyrwhits took the lead in county matters,
at any rate in the Lindsey division; while in the Isle of Axholme
the Sheffields, who became eventually Dukes of Buckinghamshire, were
paramount. The Skipwiths and Copledikes dwindled down to extinction in
the seventeenth century, and the Tyrwhits in the eighteenth, so far as
Lincolnshire is concerned, though Skipwiths and Tyrwhits still hold
baronetcies, but in other counties.
The Monsons, Heneages, and Wrays came into prominence in the sixteenth
century. The seventeenth witnessed the Civil War, which rivalled the
Wars of the Roses in its effects on families and their estates. A
new class sprang up as the old families succumbed to the fines and
sequestrations which befell them as a consequence of being on the Royal,
_i.e._ the losing side. On turning to the list of High Sheriffs after the
Restoration this is very evident. In 1670 Thomas Browne of Saltfleetby,
of a family which was distinctly a yeoman one before the Commonwealth,
served that office. The names of Lodington, Hatcher, Rothwell, Toller,
all belong to families which had only recently risen from the ranks of
the yeomanry.
With the eighteenth century the same change may be observed. Henry
Andrews, High Sheriff in 1728, was of a family which had grown rich in
trade. Joseph Banks of Revesby, High Sheriff in 1736, was a successful
attorney; so also was Coney Tunnard in 1737; while St. John Wells, in
spite of his aristocratic Christian name, had been a tanner. Richard
Popplewell in 1740 belonged to an Isle of Axholme family of no high
standing; so also Henry Herring in 1744. To multiply more instances would
be needless.
But the eighteenth century witnessed also a change almost as striking
as that produced by a convulsion like the Civil War; and this was the
formation of a great estate on the North Lincolnshire Wolds which
engulfed a number of manors belonging to impoverished families sinking
under the weight of mortgages and incumbrances. In 1763 Charles Pelham
of Brocklesby died childless, leaving his estates, which during his long
life had been greatly increased, to his great-nephew Charles Anderson of
Manby, who was then a child. During his minority the trustees bought up,
by degrees, what at last constituted a magnificent property, greater than
that of any other family in Lincolnshire. But this was not done without
the inevitable disappearance of many families of the lesser gentry.
It has often been noted as a disastrous circumstance that the
yeomanry, as a class, has vanished out of the country, and certainly
the contemplation of the long list of those under that category, who
contributed towards the defence of the country against the Spanish Armada
in 1588, gives rise to many reflections and regrets. It may also be a
subject of reflection how many of what might be called the lesser gentry
have also ceased to exist. Here and there a small manor-house, now turned
into a farmhouse, attests the previous habitation of an ancient family
which never perhaps rose to the rank of what is now called a county
family, but which had been in the county a great deal longer than many
who were much higher in the social state. The name of Newcomen suggests,
of course, the idea of a “Newcomer,” but the race under the name of “le
Newcomen” were in Lincolnshire as early as the twelfth century. They
never rose to be High Sheriffs, nor were any knighted, but they put out
several branches which all possessed landed estates, and sent to Ireland
a branch which was graced with a Baronetcy and Viscountcy. Not one of
these branches is now to be found. The very name in Lincolnshire is
almost extinct.
In writing the above paper one is conscious of not having by any means
done justice to the subject. To give an exhaustive list of all the old
families in this county, and to trace their fortunes, would be absolutely
beyond the scope of this paper. All that can be done is to give a
sketch of those families which still survive in the male line after the
vicissitudes of several centuries. They are not numerous. Others, such as
the Turnors of Stoke Rochford, the Sibthorps of Canwick, the Nelthorpes
of Scawby, came in with the Commonwealth. A multitude sprang up in the
eighteenth century, and have been largely recruited in the nineteenth.
It may be questioned whether Gervase Holles would recognise many of the
names which would meet his eye in the lists of magistrates. It is still
more open to question whether a herald of 1562 would not “respite for
further proof” a good deal of modern heraldry. To bear another man’s
coat-of-arms because you happen to be of the same name would scarcely
pass muster with a sixteenth century herald, but it is an innocent
appropriation by no means uncommon at the present day.
I may add a word on the subject of the extinction of old mediæval
families. Are they really extinct? Names are found among the peasantry
which at first sight suggest a negative to that question, but I have
never yet met with an authentic instance of such descent. The one that
occurs to me as most probable is that of the Bushey family. Families of
that name were at Leverton, Leake, and Friskney three hundred years ago,
and doubtless there are descendants in the male line. The name Bushey is
identical with Bussy; in fact, the pronunciation of the name at the time
of the execution of Sir John Bussy, Richard II.’s favourite, in 1398, was
undoubtedly Bushey, as the punning rhymes made upon it by writers of
that day testify, _e.g._—
“Ther is a _busch_ that is forgrow,
Crop hit welle and hold it lowe,
Or elles it wolle be wilde.”
There is therefore some ground for supposing that these yeoman families
may have descended from cadet branches of this race which held so high a
position in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, though positive proof
is wanting.
It would be extremely interesting to trace, if possible, the descent of
such families, but the difficulties are very great. The absence of wills
of yeoman families prior to the fifteenth century is one great obstacle;
the dearth of documents in that century is another.
SPALDING GENTLEMEN’S SOCIETY
BY MARTEN PERRY, M.D.
“_If thou hast gathered nothing in thy youth, how canst thou
find anything in thy age?_” (Motto on title-page of 1st vol. of
S.G.S. Minutes.)
At the very commencement of the eighteenth century, a number of gentlemen
interested in antiquarian pursuits were in the habit of meeting weekly
in London at various coffee-houses in the vicinity of the Temple. At one
of these places Maurice Johnson was introduced by John Gay, the poet, to
Pope, Addison, Steele, and other learned men. The _Tatler_ was here read
and discussed, but one of the principal subjects for discussion seems to
have been the resuscitation of the London Society of Antiquaries. It was
then agreed that, so soon as sufficient funds should be obtained, a start
should be made. Among other arrangements, Maurice Johnson was designated
its first librarian.
Johnson, however, having completed his studies, and been admitted a
member of the Inner Temple, removed to his native town of Spalding.
Born in this town (baptized June 26, 1688), a member of a very
influential family in Lincolnshire, he soon met with several professional
and other appointments. These led him into the society of many eminent
men. He also continued in touch with his friends in London, and retained
his love for antiquarian pursuits.
In 1709 he took up his residence in Spalding, and the same year married
Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph Ambler, and granddaughter of Anthony
Oldfield, who was lineally descended from Sir Thomas Gresham. He,
perforce, exchanged the society of the wits at Buttons’ Coffee-house and
of antiquaries at the Temple ’Change, for the ordinary society of a small
country town. So great, however, was his love of learning and science
that he at once entertained the bold design of establishing a literary
society in the very heart of the Fens of Lincolnshire. It was, as he
very truly said, “an endeavour new and untried before.” Those to whom he
looked for assistance “were unaccustomed to such a mode of spending an
evening.” He took care not to alarm the country gentlemen by premature
mention of antiquities, but endeavoured to allure them into the more
flowery paths of literature.
The _Tatler_ came into service; it was read at a coffee-house in the
Abbey Yard to some friends who were induced to meet him there.
“These papers being universally approved as both instructive
and entertaining, they order’d ’em to be sent down thither when
they were read every Post-day, generally aloud to the whole
company, who could sit and talk over the subject afterwards.
This insensibly drew the men of sense and letters into a
sociable way of conversing, and continued ye next yeare,
1710, until the publisher desisted to their great regret,
whose thoughts being by this means bent towards their own
improvement in knowledge, they again in like manner heard some
of the _Tatlers_ read over, and now and then, a Poem, Letter,
or Essay upon some subject in polite literature; and it being
hapily suggested that as they take care to have these papers
kept together, it would be well worth their while to take into
consideration the state of the Parochial Library, where there
were some valuable editions of the best authors in no very
good condicon, and they did accordingly agree to contribute
towards the repairing of the old and adding new books to it.
But being by ye two worst enemies to understanding, Ignorance
& Indolence, prevented doing much for it, they turned their
beneficial intention towards the royal and ffree Grammar
School, in which there was at that time a large but empty
desk capable of being made a press or class on wᶜʰ ye one
only solitary volume then belonging to the school lay (viz.)
‘Langius Polyanthæa,’ bestowed upon it by Sir John Oldfield,
Bart., some years before, & to this these Gentlemen did now
voluntarily add several other Authors in Gram̅atical, Critical,
or Classic learning, wᶜʰ was to ye great pleasure & convenience
of the worthy Master.”
The use of both these Libraries was, however, reserved for the members of
the Society.
According to the Society’s book-plate, which was engraved by George
Vertue, after a design submitted to him by Maurice Johnson, the date of
the institution of the Society is 1710. This date is also frequently
referred to by the founder as that of its institution.
In March 1711, the _Spectator_ came out, and was duly read here as the
_Tatter_ had been.
“From the time of its first foundation in 1709,” says Johnson,
“it was only a meeting at a coffee-house upon trial, how such
a designe might succeed, to the time when it was fixed upon
yᵉ rules signed and subscribed in 1712. Yet I constantly kept
every paper communicated to the company, and read and left
there, tho’ these being for the most, part printed papers no
minutes were made thereof. Upon the proposal being signed or
subscribed, I attempted taking minutes, that some account
might appear to be serviceable for conducting this good design
and assisting other gentlemen, my acquaintance and friends in
Lincoln City, Peterborough, Stamford, Boston, Oundle, Wisbech,
and elsewhere, to institute and promote the like design and
hold correspondence with us. In some places this succeeded.”
Proposals for the carrying on of the Society having been submitted on
November 3, 1712, the same were on that day agreed to, and the Rev.
Stephen Lyon, minister of Spalding and rector of Mereworth, in Kent, was
elected the first president. On January 5, 1712/3, Mr. William Ambler
was, on the proposal of Mr. Lyon, elected to succeed him; and, it having
been proposed to elect a secretary “to minute their proceedings, and keep
all papers, &c., in good order for the furtherance of their laudable
design,” the Society elected to that post Mr. Maurice Johnson, “who very
willingly accepted that office.” At the meeting held on 2nd February
the Rev. John Wareing, headmaster of the Grammar School, was elected
president for the month of February; but, he being much indisposed, Mr.
Johnson, senr., was on the 25th elected president for a month. The Rev.
S. Lyon was again chosen to act as president from 25th March, but on the
30th of the same month it was decided that, as so frequent a change was
not beneficial to the Society, the president should remain in office
“_quam diu se bene gesserit_.”
This year the _Lay Monk_ and _Memoirs of Literature_ were taken in. A
resolution was also passed for the admission of extra-regular or honorary
members, to the number of fourteen, each of whom was to give to the
library of the church a book or books to the value of one pound.
In 1715-16 a little room in the old part of the parsonage-house was
fitted up, and by favour of the Rev. Timothy Neve (subsequently
Prebendary of Lincoln and of Peterborough, and Archdeacon of Huntingdon),
who hired that part, the Society met there at the usual times, until the
number of members having increased they were obliged to find a larger
room, and agreed to take one in the “Markett-stead.”
“The Society, having resumed their intention of advancing the
Parochial Library, effected it with vigour answerable to their
strength; and the books belonging to it were by these gentlemen
removed from a damp, little, and inconvenient room, with a
chimney difficult of access, and deposited in the Vestry.”
After the death of the Rev. John Wareing, the Society purchased from his
widow the very valuable collection of books which he had formed, and
divided them between the libraries at the church and Grammar School.
Papers called the _Englishman_, _Guardian_, _Entertainers_, and _Lovers_
were taken in, and (so long as they meddled not with politics) were read;
as were also the _Honest Gentleman_ and the _Spyes_, so far as they were
non-political.
At first the various acts and regulations of the Society were recorded on
odd sheets of paper of various sizes and shapes. These were subsequently
bound together and entitled “the first book of Minutes or the Institution
Book.” Subsequently other volumes of minutes were duly kept; the sixth
volume being in use at the time of the death of the founder. The entries
in these books are chiefly by Maurice Johnson, and the illustrations are
numerous, and several of them beautifully coloured by him. Each is bound
in vellum, and has a book-plate engraved by Vertue. A motto, differing in
each case, is affixed to each of the first four volumes. They form some
of the most valued works belonging to the Society.
The varied nature of the communications received by the Society is
indicated by the earliest of those recorded in the Institution Book.
Thus, on November 10, 1712, there is a sketch of “The forme of a Tomb in
the Cemetery of the Cathedral Church in Peterborough, in the County of
Northᵗᵒⁿ on the south side near the choir, with yᵉ inscription thereon—
✠ AI̅A IOHANNIS DE SC̅O IVONIS QND̅M P̅ORIS Ꝑ MIÃM DI̅ IN PACE
REC̅ESCAT. MDXII.
Anima Johannis de Sancto Ivone Quandam Prioris per
Misericordiam Dei. In pace requiescat. M.D.xij.”
At the next meeting, held on 17th November, Mr. Maurice Johnson
communicated to the Society “2 copies of Verses from the Revᵈ Mr.
Francis Curtis, the one an Epistle from a Gentleman at Eaton to his Fʳᵈ
at Cambridge, in Latine Hexametre and Pentametre; the other in English
upon the D. of Marlborough’s goeing for Germany, where he commanded the
Allyd army agᵗ the French and their allies.” He also gave a list of
materials for painting in miniature, &c., collected from the directions
of Albert Dürer and others, with the method of preparing them. The next
week’s proceedings were of great interest. A Spalding halfpenny of 1667,
showing a view of the old Town Hall, was exhibited by the secretary. The
Rev. J. Wareing gave a “Description of a Journey to Bath, and of the
Antiquities and Natural Curiosities of the City of Bath, in several Latin
Epistles, attended with Drawings.” Next followed the “Exhibition of an
Impression in Wax of a Brass Seal of Elizabeth Lady, Dutchess of Severki,
in Poland.” This shows the figure of a lady seated on a side-saddle,
with a hawk perched on her left hand, and a lure in her right hand.
Thereupon followed a dissertation on hawking, on ladies’ habits, and
on side-saddles, with reference to their introduction into England in
1382, by Queen Anne (daughter of Charles II. of Bohemia and Emperor of
Germany), the wife of our King Richard II. Lastly comes “Inscriptum
Picturæ Reverendi Martyrologistæ et S.T.P. Dni Johannis Foxij, Anno
Domini 1509. Ætatis 70, penes Johan. L. Toley. Armiger apud Boston, ubi
idem doctiss. Autor natus fuit.”
The admission of regular members was very strictly guarded.
“Persons proposed to be elected and admitted members, whose
names, titles, degrees, and places of residence must be
certified in writing by the regular member proposing them, with
any two other members signifying also their assent thereto,
must be minuted, notified, and put up by the Secretary at the
two next succeeding meetings, and be balloted on the third.
The proposer to be answerable for the donation of a guinea,
or to that value, and for the first 12 months payment of such
person or persons proposed, if a resident and elected member,
at 12d. a month; saving all noblemen and gentlemen invited
by the Society to become members, and of all foreigners,
for the honour of the institution and carrying on a learned
correspondence.”
It is evident that the Society was now in a most flourishing condition,
and had obtained a position seldom, if ever, equalled by any Society in
a provincial town. Extraneous assistance was, however, needed to sustain
the interests of its members and maintain its prosperity. Papers were
contributed, valuable books given, and interesting letters written by
many who were not resident in the neighbourhood. These donations are
still preserved with religious care. Some of the communications, _e.g._
from such men as Roger and Samuel Gale, Stukeley, the Earl of Oxford, Sir
John Clarke, and others are of considerable interest. Four portfolios of
drawings and engravings, several ancient manuscripts as well as books
of reference, and many books printed in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and
seventeenth centuries are still in the library. A commencement was also
made towards forming a museum.
The Society annually added to its list of members the names of some of
the most learned men of the day. Amongst these we find Sir Isaac Newton,
Sir Hans Sloane, Edward Harley (Earl of Oxford), Roger and Samuel Gale,
Dr. Stukeley, Beaupré Bell, Dr. Jurin, Dr. Mortimer (Sec. R.S.), Dr.
Massey, Archdeacon Neve, Joseph Banks (father of Sir Joseph Banks),
Samuel Wesley, Rev. Dr. Desaguliers (mathematician, a noted Freemason),
Dr. Richard Bentley (at that time Master of Spalding Grammar School,
but soon afterwards preferred to the Mastership of Trinity College,
Cambridge), William Bogdani, George Vertue, R. Collins and Samuel Buck
(the engravers), Lord Coleraine (Pres. Soc. Ant.), Dr. Dodd, Emanuel
Mendez da Costa, Charles Jennings (Solyman the Magnificent), Dosithæus
(Archimandrite, Abbot of the Monastery of Pantocrateras on Mount Athos),
Martin Folkes (the numismatist), Captain John Perry (engineer to the
Czar, Peter the Great, but about that time engaged in the drainage of
Deeping Fen), Archdeacon Sharp, Rev. Richard Southgate, Thomas Sympson
(of Lincoln), Chancellor Taylor, Browne Willis, John Grundy (engineer),
and many others of eminence, who are too numerous to mention separately.
The attention of the Society was not confined to antiquities, but
was also given to discoveries in natural history, to literature, to
chemistry, to paintings, sculpture, mathematics, music, and, in fact,
anything worthy the attention of cultured men of that period. It had
a valuable collection of electrical apparatus. It possessed a physic
garden. “We deal,” says Johnson to Archdeacon Neve in 1745-46, “in all
the arts and sciences, and exclude nothing from our conversation but
politics, which would throw us all into confusion and disorder.”
Antiquarian pursuits, however, are shown by the minute books to have
been the favourite study. Scarcely a single meeting was held at which
some antique specimen was not exhibited, or an address given on some
antiquarian subject. Not only were papers concerning the monastic
remains of the district and the architecture of its churches eminently
interesting, but the secretary had inherited from his ancestor, Sir
Richard Ogle, several manuscripts which had formerly belonged to the
mitred Priory of Spalding. He had access also to many other documents
in public and private collections. From these and other sources he was
able to produce a history of the Priory, with an account of each Lord
Prior in succession. This account was entered _in extenso_ in the minute
books. It is also recorded that he wrote an account of his native town.
He exhibited charters of the Priory and various documents belonging to
other places. He had an ample collection of ancient coins, some of which,
judging by the illustrations in the minute books, were of considerable
value. These were at times shown to the members, and his remarks thereon
must have been of great interest. He wrote an essay on the Mint at
Lincoln, which was published. He also wrote a lengthy account of the
coins of Carausius and Allectus, which is in MS. in the keeping of the
Society, as are also many other of his dissertations.
Encouraged by Mr. Secretary Addison, and Captain (afterwards Sir
Richard Steele), Maurice Johnson prepared “a true, succinct, historical
account of the Royal Society, as also of the restoration of our
Antiquarian Society of London. These documents were obtained from him
by Dr. Mortimer, under the assured promise of publishing them, and so
introducing the better and fuller knowledge of us to the learned world,
in a dedication, preface, or preamble to some volume of the Philosophical
Transactions, wherein he proposed to give an account of all the Societies
of Great Britain and Ireland, restored, re-established, or founded
since the Royal Society.” It appears that the Society of Antiquaries
was pleased with this account (and desired a copy of it), as was also
the Royal Society. Dr. Mortimer, however, never published the account,
and Maurice Johnson was unable to obtain the paper back again, though
he several times applied for its return both personally and through his
friends.