mistake in saying that the impostor, Tom Provis, claimed to be the son of this baronet; he claimed to be his great-nephew. Sir Hugh Smyth, who succeeded his uncle as third baronet, was married once, and died without issue; but Provis asserted that he had been twice married, and that he himself was his son by the first wife. While the trial was in progress, Dr. Monk, Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol, declared his conviction of the falsehood of the claim, inasmuch as the clergyman who was stated to have celebrated the marriage between Sir Hugh and some Irish lady, was made to style himself "D.D." The Bishop was acquainted with him, and knew that though he was for some years of his life a D.D., he had not taken that degree at the time alleged.

J. G.

1528.-THE REV. JOHN PARSONS' HOUSE AT REDLAND, BRISTOL. (See vol. iii., p. 672; no. 1506.) The house at Redland, where the Rev. John Parsons, late fellow of Oriel, took pupils, is on the hill towards the Down, on the left as you ascend. It is one of two large houses standing very prominent, of a barrack-like appearance; and it has a raised terrace, with cloisters underneath, on the garden front. I was one of his last pupils. On his retirement he was presented with a very handsome silver salver; and I remember, among many letters from old pupils, a very hearty one from Mr. De Morgan, which ended thus:-"As I am addressing a gentleman who, but for a slight difference in our respective times of coming into the world, would have been a school-fellow of mine, allow me to subscribe myself most cordially yours, Augustus De Morgan." EDWARD ELTON.

Sherington, Newport Pagnell.

The reader may be glad to be referred to vol. ii., p. 528, for an extract from Miss Whately's Life and Correspondence of Richard Whately, D.D., late Archbishop of Dublin, in which mention is made of Mr. Parsons, and of his future father-in-law, Mr. Philips, who had a flourishing school at Redland, much resorted to by West Indians. EDITOR.

1529.-RESTORATION OF LECHLADE CHURCH.-The church of St. Lawrence, Lechlade, having undergone partial restoration, was on Thursday, July 27, 1882, re-opened for divine service. This fine old church was reported by the architect, Mr. Waller, who was called in to advise regarding its restoration, as having come down from its builders in the fifteenth century in a singularly complete and unaltered condition, with the exception of the internal fittings, all of which, consisting no doubt of oak seats, stalls, screens, &c., had given place to modern high pews and galleries. The walls, roofs, arcades, doorways, and windows exist as they were originally designed, and are all excellent of their kind, though necessarily more or less dilapidated after the wear and tear of more than four

hundred years. "Thus," said Mr. Waller, "there could be no excuse for interfering in any way with the structure excepting for repair, and when repaired the people of Lechlade would still have their church exactly as it existed in the fifteenth century, a work of far higher interest than any new building could afford, and one alike valuable to the town of Lechlade and to all lovers of art and archæology." According to Bigland, the church was built in the reign of Edward IV., by Conrad Ney, then vicar, and by the benefactions of the priory and inhabitants; while Sir Robert Atkyns gives it as his opinion that the church was built in the reign of Henry VII. Mr. Waller believes it to have been begun about 1470, as stated by Bigland, and that subsequent additions and alterations led to the confusion in the dates. The style of architecture is Early Perpendicular, and its effect, both in the inside and on the exterior, is exceedingly striking. Guided by the principle of preserving intact as much as possible of the old work, without alteration or addition of any kind, Mr. Waller prepared plans for the preservation of the structure, and for removing the pews and other fittings and the western gallery, and entirely re-seating the church, first covering the surface of the interior with concrete, but carefully preserving the old monumental slabs. He also indicated the necessary repairs to the windows, &c., and the best method of arranging the seats for the choir, the new position for the organ, and other necessary improvements. The estimated cost was from £1,600 to £1,800. The portion of the work which has been carried out has been confined to the interior of the building. It includes the removal of the pews, galleries, and other fittings, and the stone and wood floors; and the laying a bed of concrete over the whole surface, and the re-seating of the church, the floors under the seats and passages being laid with tiles. The dressed stonework of the windows, piers, and arches has been cleansed from the coats of white and yellow wash with which they were thickly covered, and the plastering made good where it was defective. The seats are of pitch pine and moveable. The choir has been raised, and has been made to take in the two easternmost arches of the arcade; and the stalls are of carved oak. The organ has been removed from the west end to near the choir at the east end of the north aisle, and the pulpit, prayer-desk, and lectern placed in their right positions. A handsome stained glass window, representing Faith, Hope, and Charity, has been erected as a memorial of the Edwards family, the other windows being glazed with cathedral glass. The base of the old stone pulpit was found half-buried in the vicarage garden; it has been restored to its proper place, and has a suitable superstructure designed by Mr. Waller. Hot-water pipes are carried round the walls above the floor, and this arrangement has been found to answer remarkably well. The Rev. Alfred Clementson, M.A., who was presented to the benefice (which is in the patronage of Emmanuel College, Cambridge) in 1879, is the present vicar.

1530.-A GLIMPSE OF EDWARD COLSTON.-Amongst some curious papers once belonging to Mr. Thomas Edwards, the friend and legal adviser of Colston, which by some means fell into the hands of the Rev. H. T. Ellacombe, and are now in the Bristol Museum and Library, there is a copy of a letter endorsed by Mr. Edwards :- -"3 June 1708. To Lord Windsor after wee had p'ted in anger." It appears from this document that Viscount Windsor, then the owner of the vast estates in Glamorganshire now divided between the Marquis of Bute and Lord Windsor, had been in some pecuniary difficulties, and that a suggestion had been made to raise £15,000 for the purpose of paying off certain incumbrances. The proposal, however, had fallen through, and Lord Windsor had intimated a suspicion that Edwards "had encouraged the creditors to hasten the prosecution," through his desire to get the estate under his control, and that he had also "set on Mr. Colston to require his money purposely to distress the embarrassed peer. In his letter Mr. Edwards repels the various suspicions which were entertained against him, but the only feature of present interest is the reference to Edward Colston, who, a few weeks previous to the date of the letter, as we know from other sources, had resolved to increase, from fifty to one hundred, the number of boys in his intended school. Mr. Edwards writes: "As to Mr. Colston, I was the procurer of his money, and you know our relaion* and the disadvantage yt may be, if his commands are neglected. He hath and is laying out above £30000, and calls in much money, and expressly directed yours to be called for, which was the true cause I spake to you about it, & not for any inclinaions I had to distresse yr affaires, so yt supposition serves only to confirme myne apprehensions of ye generall dislike to myne accons. And I cant help thinking it impossible to serve any man cheerfully & hartily who suspects myne integrity." J. L.

MONUMENTAL

1531. GEORGE THORNTON, OF VIRGINIA : INSCRIPTION. Some of your Virginian readers may perhaps be glad to have a copy of the following inscription on a tomb in the churchyard of Almondsbury, near Bristol, as given in Bigland's Collections, vol. i., p. 47:

"George Thornton, a native of Virginia, the beloved son of William Thornton, of Rhapahanock River, in the County of King George, was born the 19th Dec., 1724. He came to this place November last, and died the 19th day of Dec., 1740, having that day completed the 16th year of his age."

There are doubtless many such inscriptions in Virginia and other parts of America, which, though not in any wise remarkable, would probably be acceptable, and perhaps useful, to some of your Gloucestershire and other readers. GLOUCESTRENSIS.

• A common legal abbreviation. Edwards' son had married Colston's niece.

The following, which is on a tombstone in the graveyard of Old Oxford Church, Philadelphia, is given as a sample:

In memory of Toby & Hester Leech, who came from Cheltenham, in Glocester Shire, England, in the Year 1682. And were here Interred.

1532.-PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION COMPROMISE, 1842.—In Lord Beaconsfield's Correspondence with his Sister, 1832-1852, (2nd ed., London, 1880), p. 177, in a letter dated April, 1842, we may read as follows:-"The Shrewsbury petition is withdrawn. This great coup, almost, in the present state of affairs, as great as my return, was effected in the most happy manner by my agent, Bailey, of Gloucester, without any interference and knowledge of either of the great parties. On his own responsibility he paired off Shrewsbury against Gloucester. The committees work so ill, under the new system, that I really despaired sometimes of keeping my seat, and was convinced that the Shrewsbury people would succeed. But the Gloucester Whigs prevailed upon them to sacrifice themselves for the extrication of their neighbours."

The foregoing piece of information is, I think, noteworthy. It may be well, too, in connection with it, to give the following particulars from Dod's Electoral Facts, from 1832 to 1853 (London, 1853), pp. 127, 283:

The first two in each case were elected, and, as explain

in the above extract, they were enabled to maintain their position. For some particulars of Mr. Disraeli's connection with Gloucestershire, through his happy marriage with Mrs. Wyndham Lewis in 1839, see vol. ii., p. 104. GLOUCESTRENSIS.

1533.-COURT LEET AND COURT BARON.*-A somewhat extraordinary notice has appeared in the Gloucester and Bristol papers

▲ communication from Charles Scott, Esq., appeared under this heading in the Gloucester Journal, October 29th, 1887. Having been carefully revised and improved, with additions, by the writer, it is here reprinted.-ED.

of last week, under the head of "An Ancient Custom," and the like, of the proceedings at the Wotton Foreign Annual Courts held at North Nibley on the 17th inst. The reporter, whilst doubtless anxious to give a very correct account, was evidently unacquainted with the nature of the proceedings; and many a shudder or hearty laugh must have been produced as the notice was read by an antiquary or other person familiar with the business.

For instance, the notice states that there were present the necessary copyholders to form a court, who had summoned a jury to attend; whereas the copyholders have nothing whatever to do with the jury or the summoning of the same. Again, it is said that since the death of Mr. Cooke, who held the double capacity of steward and copyholder, a proclamation has to be made three successive years of the right to hold a court for Lord Fitzhardinge. The late Mr. Cooke was not steward of the manor, nor, correctly speaking, a steward at all; but rather the land or estate agent of Lord Fitzhardinge, the lord of the manor; but whatever office he may have filled, it is absurd to imagine that the lord of the manor's right to hold a court was in any way affected by his much lamented death.

On the day in question two courts, that is to say, the Court Leet (or court of the people) and the Court Baron (or court of the copyholders), were held at the White Hart Inn, at North Nibley, in and for the manor of Wotton Foreign, which comprises so much of the parish of Wotton-under-Edge as is outside the ancient municipal borough of that name, and also the whole parish of North Nibley.

The Court Leet consists of twelve or more jurymen summoned by the manor constable, from amongst the inhabitants of the manor, presided over by the steward of the manor; and according to the ancient custom all the inhabitants of the manor are bound to attend the court yearly, and are liable to be fined in case of absence, even though absent on lawful business.

The court used to inquire into all kinds of felonies, nuisances, encroachments on or obstructions of highways, neglect to scour ditches and lop trees by the road sides, diversions or pollutions of watercourses, eavesdroppers, common barretors, scolds, and other breakers of the peace, unlicensed or badly-conducted ale-houses, the wholesomeness of all kinds of food sold to the public, pound breach, all kinds of offences in respect of game, and the due discharge of their duties by the constables, haywards, and other officers of the court. The court used to present the more serious offences by indictment at the assize courts, but used also to punish those guilty of minor offences by fines, which fines were recovered by action in the Berkeley hundred court, held by the steward every third week at Berkeley. The court also has from time immemorial appointed a constable, tythingman, and haywards to look after the pounds and (formerly) the common pasture lands. Gradually, however, as more efficient courts and authorities have been constituted, the