_Catharine Barton_ (Vol. iii., pp. 328. 434.).--A correspondent has
asked what was the maiden name of this lady, the widow, as he calls her,
of Colonel Barton. I have a note of Charles Montagu, writing of her as
"the beautiful, witty, and accomplished Catharine Barton," and have
marked her as the daughter of Major Barton, but cannot find my
authority. What follows is hardly likely to be of use to your
correspondent, though it may, possibly, suggest to him a channel of
inquiry. The Rev. Alexander Chalmers married Catharine Ekins, a niece of
Mr. Conduitt, to whose daughter he was guardian after her father's
death. Mrs. Chalmers had a brother who was rector or vicar of Barton,
Northamptonshire. Alexander Chalmers was rector of St. Katharine
Coleman, London, and of Burstow, Surrey; clerk of St. Andrew's, Holborn;
chaplain to the forces at Gibraltar and Port Mahon: he died in 1745, and
was buried in St. Katharine's: his wife was of the family of Ekins, of
Rushden, in Northamptonshire. On August 12, 1743, Alexander Chalmers
writes, "This will be delivered you by my cousin Lieut. Mathew Barton,"
probably his wife's cousin: in another letter he speaks of Miss Conduitt
as his wife's cousin. Mr. Conduitt died 23rd of May, 1737, and his
widow's "unexpected death" seems to be alluded to in a letter in 1740.