(Vol. viii., pp. 12. 134. 200. 375. 452. 471.)
It is pleasing to find so much interest excited among the readers of "N. &
Q." relative to the parentage of this lady; and we may fairly hope that the
spirit of research which has thus been awakened, will not die away until
the last spark of error and mystery has been extinguished.
T. L. P. has favoured us with quotations from a little pamphlet, entitled
_Historical Facts connected with Nantwich and its Neighbourhood_. Now,
after giving this work a most careful perusal, I cannot but think that the
title of the book is, in this instance at least, a misnomer. The authoress,
for it was written by a lady long resident in the vicinity, has evidently
wrought upon the foundations of others; and taking the veteran Ormerod as a
sufficient authority, has given full vent to her imagination, and pictured,
with "no 'prentice hand," the welcome visits of Milton to Stoke Hall, a
place which, in all probability, was never once honoured with the presence
of this great man. There is no evidence whatever adduced to give even the
semblance of colour to this unfortunate error; whereas, on the side of the
Wistaston family, the proofs of its identity as the family of Mrs. Milton
are numerous and, to my notion, incontrovertible.
As if, indeed, to give us "confirmation sure" of the truth of this
position, our old friend CRANMORE starts up, "like a spirit from the vasty
deep," and, after an absence of many months from our ranks, pays off his
ancient score by producing the evidence he so long ago promised us. From it
we gather that Thomas Paget, the father, named his _cousin_ Minshull,
apothecary in Manchester, overseer of his will; and that his son, Nathan
Paget, eighteen years afterwards, names in his will John Goldsmith and
Elizabeth Milton as _his cousins_, and makes bequests to them accordingly.
Now, it so happens that Thomas, son of Richard Minshull of Wistaston, was
an _apothecary_, and that he settled in _Manchester_, and thereupon founded
the family of Minshull of Manchester. This {545} gentleman was doubtless
the _cousin_ referred to in the will of the elder Paget. It farther
happens, that Thomas Minshull, the grandfather of this Manchester
apothecary, married a daughter of Goldsmith of Nantwich. The John Goldsmith
of the Middle Temple would then doubtless be the nephew or grand-nephew of
this lady, and in either case a _cousin_ of Thomas Minshull of Manchester,
and of Elizabeth Minshull of Wistaston. This is another, if not a
completing link in the genealogical chain, and convinces me, now more than
ever, of the correctness of my conclusions.
I may add that the whole of the deeds referred to by MR. SINGER are now in
the safe and worthy keeping of Mr. J. Fitchett Marsh of Warrington; and
that they are published _in extenso_, together with a valuable essay on
their historical importance by their present possessor, in the first volume
of _Miscellanies_ issued by the Chetham Society.