this life | Augst 12th, 1782, aged 82 years. Also of Elizth, their daugh", who departed this life June 29th, 1771, aged 42 years.

5.

Sacred to the memory of William Long, Esq, of this Parish, who died May 9th, 1815, aged 32 years. He was son of John Long, Esq, of the City of London, who died at Martinico July 26th, 1794. Frances, wife to the abovenamed John Long, Esq, | died Decr 5th, 1802, and was here buried.

6.

This aisle was erected by the Reverend William Hayward Cox, Rector of St Martin's, in the City of Oxford, Clerk, and John Surman Cox, of Cheltenham, in this County, Esqre, in memory of their father and mother, | John Cox, Lieutt Col1 in the Worcestershire Regiment of Regular Militia, and Captn H. P. in Her Majesty's 77th Regim of Foot; | and Charlotte, his wife, | daughter of William Hayward, of Poole, in the County of Dorset, Esqre. He died 25th of Dec, 1847, in the 70th year of his age. | She died 10th of Jan, 1846, in the 70th year of her age. They lie buried in a vault at the south door of this church.

7.
(South aisle.)

William Hamilton Ricketts, | Cornet 6th Madras Cavalry. | Born 1810-Died at Madras, 1830. Catharine | Elizabeth Ricketts. | Born 1826-Died 1827. | Sir Robert | Tristram Ricketts, | Baronet, | Doctor of Civil Law, | Vice-Admiral of the Blue. | Born 1772— Died 1842. | Simpson Hicks Ricketts, Esqre, | Commander R.N. | Born 1816-Died 1858. | Dame Rebecca, relict of Sir Robert Tristram Ricketts, Bart. | Born 1781-Died 1859. St Vincent William Ricketts, late Colonel Scots Greys. | Born 1807-Died 1866. Robert, infant son of Cornwallis Ricketts and Henrietta, his wife. Born Novr 6th-Died Nov 7th, 1835. | Henrietta, | wife of Cornwallis Ricketts. | Born March 17th, 1811. | Died at Florence Nov 13th, 1838.

8.

In memory of Henrietta, wife of Cornwallis Ricketts, Esq, Commander R.N., | eldest son of Sir Robert T. Ricketts, Bart, and daughter of Colonel John Plumbe Tempest, of Tong Hall, in the County of York. | Born March 17th, 1811. | Died at Florence Nov 13th, 1838. Interred at Leghorn, and reinterred in this churchyard Feb, 1839. Also of | Robert, their infant son. | Born Nov 6th-Died Nov 7th, 1835. | Her deeply afflicted husband, in rearing this monument, cannot withhold from the record of his own bereavement this just tribute of affection to the memory of one conspicuous for every endearing quality, which can | adorn domestic character, and whose Christian virtues | shed a lustre over her short life, sustained her | under severe sickness, and in death set a bright | example of the triumph of faith.

9.
(Tower.)

Sacred to the memory of Mary, the wife of William Surman, of the City of London, Gent., and daughter of John Jenner, of the said City, Gent., who died the 30th of April, 1772, | aged 31 years. Also of the above William Surman, who died March 29th, 1791, aged 44 years. | Elizh, his wife, died the 22nd day of Sept, 1812, in the 66th year of her age. | Also of Elizabeth, widow of John Hughes Goodlake, Esq, & daughter of | the above Willm Surman & Elizabeth, his wife, who died 26th Nov, 1 1843, aged 59 years. William, his son, by Elizh, his wife, died an infant.

10.

.*

In memory of Captain Edward Stopford, R. N., | eldest son of General the Honble Edward and Letitia Stopford ;* | who, after a lingering illness, which he bore with exemplary firmness and resignation, departed this life at Cheltenham the 17th of March, 1837, | in the 53rd year of his age. His mortal remains are deposited in the adjoining | burying-ground. This tablet is erected by his deeply afflicted and attached sisters.

11.

Sacred to the memory of Frances Vaillant, who died at Cheltenham on the 25th day of November, 1845, aged 79 years. Her afflicted sister, deeply deploring | her loss, has caused this tablet to be erected.

12.

(On brass in tower.)

The East Window of this church is dedicated to God and the Church in memory of—

John Surman, of this place, Gent., the second son of John Surman, of Tredington, in this County, Esquire, who departed this life the VIIth day of March, MDCCXXX, aged LVIII.

Elizabeth, his wife, second daughter of Ludowick Packer, of Cheltenham, Esqre, who departed this life the XXIVth March, MDCCLI, aged LXXVI.

Thomas Packer Surman, son of the said John and Elizabeth Surman, Gent., who departed this life the Xth July, MDCCLXV, aged L.

Mary, his wife, daughter of John Hale, of Stoke Orchard, Esqre, who departed this life the XVIth January, MDCCLXXX, aged LXVII.

Elizabeth, daughter of the said Thomas Packer & Mary Surman, who departed this life the XXVIth August, MDCCXCIX, aged LXI, a spinster.

• General the Hon. Edward Stopford, second son of James, first Earl of Courtown, married, 1st October, 1783, Letitia, sixth daughter of William Blacker, Esq., of Carrick, co. Armagh, Ireland, and died 22nd October, 1794, leaving issue. She survived him until 15th February,

1841.

John, son of the said Thomas Packer and Mary Surman, Gent., who departed this life the XXVIIth Novbr, MDCCCXIX, aged LXXVI, a bachelor.

Mary, daughter of the said Thomas Packer and Mary Surman, who departed this life the XIXth November, MDCCCXIX, aged LXII, a spinster.

John Hughes Goodlake, Gent., second son of Thomas Goodlake, of Lescomb Regis, Berks, Esqre, nephew by marriage of the above John Surman, Bachelor, who departed this life the XXVIIIth October, MDCCCXX, aged LXII.

Elizabeth, his wife, daughter of William Surman, Gent., and Elizabeth, his wife, niece of the above John and Mary Surman, who departed this life the XXVIth November, MDCCCXLIII, aged

LIX.

Requiescant in pace.

The above John Hughes Goodlake and Elizabeth, his wife, left issue six children,* by whom the said East Window of this church was erected.

13.

(On flatstone in south aisle.)

In memory of Thomas Packer Surman, | Gent., who departed this life the 10th of July, 1765, aged 50. Also in memory of Mary, his wife, who died Jany 16th, 1780, aged 67. | Elizabeth, their daughter, | died Augst 26th, 1799, aged 61. | In this place lieth Ann and Mary, | their daughters, | who died in their infancy.

There is another flatstone in same aisle over members of the Surman family, but with very little of the inscription legible.

Авива.

1595.-"MOTHERING SUNDAY."—(See No. 673.) The following communications have appeared in Notes and Queries, 7th S. v. 245, 316, and will serve as a sequel to what was given upon the subject in this publication, vol. ii., p. 230 :—

1. It may be interesting to put on record that one of the customs of "merrie England "-mothering-still survives in some of the rural parts of Gloucestershire. The fourth Sunday in Lent is the anniversary of this festival, which has come from an ecclesiastical ordinance to be a family gathering. Instead of looking forward to meet in "mother church," young people away from home look

The late John Surman Surman, Esq., J.P., of Swindon Hall, the late Rev. Thomas Wm Goodlake, M.A., Rector of Swindon, and four others. The will (dated April 27, 1860) of Mr. John Surman Surman, who died August 8, 1880, was proved at Gloucester on the 2nd of the following month. Among other legacies, the testator bequeathed £2,000 to the Gloucester Infirmary; £1,000 each to the Cheltenham General Hospital and Dispensary and the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge; £500 to the minister and churchwardens of Swindon, to be invested, and the dividends distributed as they think proper among parishioners living in cottages of less yearly value than £6; £500 to the minister and church wardens of the parish of Prestbury; £500 to build a school-room at Swindon, if not built in his lifetime; but if this has been done, the money to be invested, and the income applied in paying the schoolmaster; and £150 to purchase a piece of land on which to build such schoolroom if not built in his lifetime.

forward to this day to assemble once again beneath the old roof-tree. Servants who ask of their mistresses permission to leave their duties for a few hours, consider "It is Mothering Sunday" as quite a final argument. The only accessory in connexion with this institution known to me is the cake, a suspicious-looking creation, coated with white and embellished with pink. To the sorrow of heart of many, Mothering Sunday, March 11, this year [1888] was a very wet day. EDWARD DAKIN, Selsley, Stroud.

2. My own experience, for the past thirty-seven years, in country parishes shows me that this Mid-Lent observance is still a valued institution, chiefly among cottagers. The Rev. S. Baring-Gould, whose experience of rural life is considerable, bases the sketch of his sermon for Mid-Lent Sunday on "The Motherhood of the Church" (One Hundred Sermon Sketches, 1877). I imagine that Mothering Sunday about half a century ago was also observed by middle-class people, and in the families of professional men, much after the same fashion that now obtains among cottagers. I was born on Mothering Sunday in the year 1827, a circumstance that naturally prevented my mother from attending the annual Mothering Sunday dinner. that had always been held on that day in her father's home. And my advent, I have been told, broke up that Mothering Sunday festival, which was held for the last time in my mother's family on the day of my birth.-CUTHBERT BEDE.

3. Cake was not the only attraction of Mothering Sunday at the "Swan Inn," Wotton-under-edge, Gloucestershire; there was wine also for all the servants, who were at liberty to bring their friends and sweethearts, and doubtless the same custom prevailed in other houses. The old landlady who nearly twenty years ago dispensed these "motherings," was then over ninety, and has passed away; but I am told that the custom still survives.-E. WALFORD, M.A.

G. A. W.

1596.-GOLDSWORTHY GURNEY'S ROAD LOCOMOTIVES.-From Wonders and Curiosities of the Railway, by W. S. Kennedy (Chicago, U.S.A.), p. 8, I take what follows:-The device of legs to assist traction was applied by Goldsworthy Gurney to his road locomotives, which from 1827 to 1835 were in very successful operation in the neighbourhood of London, where they ascended the highest hills with ease. In 1831 one of his carriages ran for about four months between Gloucester and Cheltenham. But there were several explosions of these road-engines, and with the rapid growth of the railroad idea the other method of locomotion gradually dropped out of sight. CECIL T. DAVIS.

1597. "THE ROBIN FAMILY": GLOUCESTERSHIRE.-In 1880 a "private edition" of Gleanings of "the Robin Family," by a Robin [Mills Robbins, of Rochester House, Oxford], issued from the press.

I had

"The origin of this little work," the author states in his preface, "is the result of an attempt to trace as far back as possible the branch of the Robbins family, of which I am a member. not proceeded very far before I found I was obliged to extend my researches more widely than I had intended. Thinking, therefore, that these notes might be of some interest to other members of the Robin, Robins, or Robbins family, I determined to publish a few copies of them merely for private circulation." The author has further written in a letter to a friend to this effect, that since printing his volume he has been "able to connect nearly all the different branches in England into two great families, viz., those of Cornwall and Gloucestershire."

The portion of the book under the head of Gloucestershire, pp. 23-29, is as follows* :

ARMS OF ROBYNS OR ROBBINS.

Arms-Per pale, sable and argent, two flaunches and three fleursde-lis in fess, all counterchanged.

Crest-Between two dolphins haurient respecting each other, or, a fleur-de-lis, per pale argent and sable.

Motto-Deus pro nobis, quis contra nos

From the subsidy rolls of Gloucestershire in the year 1327 we get the following names:

Robert Robyn, XIII. d.
Walter Robinos, XV. d.g.
Richard Robines, XV. d. ob.

The manor of Matson is pleasantly situated on a hill called Robin's Wood Hill (derived from a wealthy family who lived here), two miles from the city of Gloucester.

In the year 1346 Edward III. granted it to the abbey of S. Peter, Gloucester. It was held by Humphry de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, and others.

In the year 1526 Abbot Parker granted a lease of the manor for seventy years to Thomas Robins and Joan, his wife.

The family of Robins continued to hold this manor as lessees after it had been allotted by Henry VIII. to the dean and chapter of Gloucester Cathedral as part of their endowment. Members of this family appear on many occasions subsequently as freeholders of Matson.

John, the son of Thomas Robins, took possession of the manor of Matson in the year 1553, and left it to his son Thomas, who married Joan, daughter of Lawrence Singleton, Esq., of Singleton Hall, Lancashire.

Richard Robins gave the living of Matson to Lewis Crones in the year 1570.

This note has been appended, p. 29:-"With exception of names under date of 1327, all are of the same family. I have not inserted pedigree of this family, it being so incomplete: for arms see front page."