powers of the Court Leet, though never abolished, have ceased to be exercised, the jury now confining themselves to the election of officers and the presentment of encroachments, or neglects in respect of highways, ditches, and the like, which presentments have usually been communicated to the persons in default, with the result that the matters have been set right without any legal proceedings.

The Court Baron consists of the copyholders of the manor, who are called "the homage," and take the place of a jury, and are also presided over by the steward of the manor, and, from time immemorial, has been held for two purposes :-the one, to receive the rents due to the lord; the other, to inquire into the state and condition of the estates held under the lord by copy or lease. Amongst other things the homage present the death of any copyholder who has recently died, so that his heir-at-law or devisee may come into court and be duly admitted tenant in his place, or, if he has left a widow, that she may be admitted tenant for her free bench, i.e., so long as she remains a widow and chaste. On the death of any copyholder proclamation of his death is made in open court by the bailiff at three successive courts; and, if no one comes at one of these courts and claims admission to the copyhold, the same becomes forfeited to the lord of the manor. It was one of these proclamations which evidently so much puzzled the reporter last week.

The homage also present all encroachments upon the waste or commonable lands within the manor, and trespasses upon the lord's demesne, removal of boundaries, exchanges, waste committed by copyholders, non-repair of copyhold houses, cutting timber without leave, forfeiture on conviction of felony, &c., and the dropping of the lives for which the copyholds are held.

In addition to the copyholders and leaseholders of the manor, there are a number of tenants-at-will, who occupy, generally at nominal rents, either cottages originally built by themselves or their parents upon the waste lands, or small allotments of pasture or arable land. At this court are also collected a number of small chief rents, varying from 1d. a year upwards, in respect of freehold property, and reserved by very ancient grants made at times when these small sums were doubtless of importance. In one instance a penny is an alternative for a pair of gloves, and, in another, for a pound of cummin.

The business transacted on this particular occasion was as follows:1st, the Court Leet re-appointed Mr. Frederick Organ constable, Mr. James Avery tything-man, and James Mason and Charles Smith haywards for the ensuing year. 2ndly, at the Court Baron, the roll of chief renters, copyholders, leaseholders, and tenants-atwill was called over, the reeve (or collector) stating whether or not the rents had been paid, and, if any question arose, it was discussed and disposed of; a proclamation was for the second time made of the death of Mr. J. H. Cooke, one of the copyholders of the

manor. And 3rdly, in due observance of ancient custom, an excellent dinner was provided by the landlord of the White Hart, Mr. Jordan, at the expense of the lord of the manor, and presided over by the stewards of the court, assisted by his lordship's estate agent, Mr. Peters, the various officers of the court, the jury, copyholders, and principal payers of rent. As usual, the dinner consisted of substantial provisions in the way of roast and boiled beef and mutton, hares, plum-pudding, pastry, cheese, and salad, followed by a substantial and thoroughly good dessert, the whole being washed down with a liberal quantity of beer, cider, and most savoury rum-punch. The health of Her Majesty, the lord of the manor, the officials, and principal persons present, having been duly honoured, the afternoon and evening were spent in convivial conversation and the singing of good old-fashioned after-dinner songs; and the recollection of the day cannot fail to produce neighbourly good feeling and friendship amongst all who were present. CHARLES SCOTT, Steward of the Manor.

Gloucester, 27 October, 1887.

P.S.-In describing the Court Leet as the court of the people, I have sought to give the practical, and not the etymological, meaning.

The word Leet is of Saxon origin; and the Court Leet is said to mean, either the "little court," as distinguished from the assize court, or perhaps the sheriff's court, or else the "court of censure."

The Court Leet is also known as the lord's "view of frankpledge," and is said to have succeeded, or to have been carved out of, the Folcmote.

The Court Baron is also called the Halimote court.

1534. THE ACCIDENT AT OLVESTON CHURCH ON CHRISTMAS DAY, 1838. (See vol. iii., p. 137; no. 1113.) In one of the county newspapers within the last five or six years a correspondent wrote to the following effect:

"The account of the destruction of the spire of St. Mary's, Olveston, impels me to send particulars of an accident which happened to the same building about forty-five [now nearly fifty] years ago. As an eye-witness, I will endeavour to tell the correct facts of the case. On Christmas day, in the year 1838, just after the Rev. Dr. Charlton had ascended the pulpit and commenced his sermon, the rope of the large weight of the tower clock broke, and let the weight, about 250 lb., fall about 17 ft., upon the belfry floor, with a tremendous noise, which was heard over the village. Under the tower, and in the transepts, on rows of wood benches, the school children sat. The master, the late respected Mr. Williams, sat in the corner, and had the weight come through the floor it must have killed him, and probably some of the children; but a stout plank

stopped it from coming down into the church. The children, as may be imagined, were frightened nearly out of their wits, and made a rush to the Little door, as it is now called, loudly screaming, with frantic efforts to get out of the church. In a pew near this door sat the worthy village doctor; he also was one of the first to make a rush for the same door, and in so doing was sadly pulled about by the children, so much so that, on his way home, his coat was anything but becoming to his honourable profession. I was sitting in what was then called the singing gallery, at the west end, and well remember the venerable vicar standing in his pulpit unmoved, watching part of his congregation making frantic efforts to escape from the church, but who were unable to do so on account of the door opening inwards. His curate-assistant, who was sitting in the reading-desk beneath the pulpit, was not so self-possessed, for the instant the weight fell, he bounded from his seat into the aisle, and bursting open the door, threw up his arms over his head, struck with terror at the tremendous noise above, while particles of lime and dust from the roof fell upon him and about him. The cause of this great commotion was soon discovered, and the vicar dismissed the remaining portion of his congregation."

I may add that the interesting account of the great storm and the destruction of the church steeple was written by Thomas Haines, parish clerk and schoolmaster, who died in 1646. He has left an excellent transcript of the registers from their earliest date (1560) down to 1646, the year of his death, and the books are in good order.* The Rev. Ralph Greene was vicar at the time of the destruction of the steeple, and, as stated in a quaint inscription on a freestone slab in the floor near the chancel steps, he held the incumbency for forty-nine years. He died on the 3rd September, 1639, aged 87. About twenty-five years ago the chancel was restored, and the floor relaid with tiles. The workmen found the old stone some depth below the surface, and under it, there is no doubt, Mr. Greene was buried. Having been thus brought to the light, it was placed in its present position. It was visible when Sir Robert Atkyns wrote his History; see 2nd edition, p. 311. Bigland has not mentioned it under the head of Olveston, vol. ii., pp. 299-302; and we may presume that in his time it was concealed from view. CLERICUS.

1531.-THE ANNUAL TRANSCRIPTS OF PARISH REGISTERS.—In the Bristol Times and Mirror, Nov. 7th, 1887, a correspondent has written as follows:-"I call attention to a serious matter, viz., the growing neglect of the clergy to send to the diocesan registrars the annual transcripts of the parish registers, as required by the Act of 1812. Lately, having been told that four marriages were in the registers of a certain parish, I looked at the transcripts in the registry. I found one-of the year 1862. But after that year

• See vol. iii., p. 109, for the parliamentary return respecting them.

they had ceased to be sent. The archdeacons and rural deans do not, so far as I know, stir up the clergy to attend to this matter."

The writer of the foregoing note styles himself "A Rector," and seems to have had good reason for writing as he has done. I know the answer which some persons will be ready to give. I wish, however, through your pages, briefly to impress the importance of the matter upon the clergy in general, and of Gloucestershire in particular. J. G.

1536.-DYER FAMILY, OF WOTTON-UNDER-EDGE.-I should be glad if any genealogist could inform me as to the maiden name of Mary, wife of William Dyer (d. 13 August, 1740), who died 25 November, 1762, aged 68 years, both of whom were buried at Wotton; and the same of Mary (d. 6 April, 1695), wife of John Dyer, of Burrington, Somerset, father of the abovenamed William, who died 24 April, 1697, and was buried at Burrington. I should also be glad to know who was the father of John Dyer. Bedford.

F. A. BLAYDES.

"

1537.-SIR NEVILL POOLE, KNT., M.P. FOR CIRENCESTER, 1626. -He was M.P. for Malmesbury in 1614; for Cricklade in 1623-4; and again for Malmesbury in both parliaments of 1640, being one of the Long Parliament members excluded in "Pride's Purge,' Dec. 1648. He was knighted at Newmarket, Jan. 1612-13, and was living in 1659. In the parliamentary return for 1626 he is described as "of Oxsey, Co. Wilts." I shall be glad to have some genealogical particulars respecting him. Was he akin to the Pooles of Pauntley, Gloucestershire, two of whom, Sir Giles Poole and his son, Sir Henry, were members for the county temp. Elizabeth? Leigh, Lancashire. W. D. PINK.

1538.-SIR JOHN SEYMOUR, KNT., M.P. FOR GLOUCESTERSHIRE, 1646.-He was elected, 16 November, 1646, in the place of John Dutton, Esq., disabled as a royalist, and was one of the members excluded in "Pride's Purge," Dec. 1648. He was, I think, the "Sir John Seymore" of Somerset, knighted by James I. at Greenwich, 2 April, 1605. Can any reader oblige me with particulars of him? His name does not appear among the excluded members of the Long Parliament surviving in 1659-60, so that he was probably dead before that date. W. D. PINK.

1539. -THOMAS HODGES, ESQ., OF SHIPTON MOYNE. — He married first, Dulcibella, daughter of John Symes, of Poundsford, Somerset, and secondly, Mary, daughter of Sir William Cooke, of Highnam, near Gloucester, leaving issue by both marriages. According to the Visitation of Gloucestershire, 1682-3, he and his eldest son, Thomas, died about the same time, i.e., about 1670. I suspect this to be an error, and that the date applies to the son's

death only. Thomas Hodges, sen., was elected M.P. for Cricklade, Wiltshire, in both parliaments of 1640, and was one of the members excluded by Colonel Pride in December, 1648. From the circumstance that he is not named in any list of such excluded members living in 1659-60, I infer that he had died. Is the precise date of his decease on record? He heads the pedigree in the abovenamed Visitation. What was his parentage? and are any of his descendants extant? W. D. PINK.

See two notes, headed "The Hodges Family, of Shipton Moyne," in vol. i., pp. 360-63, 455-57; also vol. ii., p. 27. EDITOR.

1540.-REV. HENRY RICHARDS' LETTER ON HORFIELD MANOR.— I shall feel much obliged to anyone who will kindly lend me, or tell me where I may find, a copy of a Letter from the Rev. Henry Richards to Bishop Monk on Horfield Manor, which was published many years ago. F. BINGHAM.

Horfield Rectory, Bristol.

1541.-INSCRIPTIONS ON EARLY ENGLISH POTTERY.-Believing that not a few collectors in your part of the kingdom and elsewhere would appreciate a list of the names, initials, or inscriptions occurring on pieces of English pottery of the earlier fabriques, I am collecting particulars with a view to publication. I have already notices of such specimens as are to be found in the public and larger private collections; but I am desirous of including likewise as many as may be, of those in private hands; and my objection asking you kindly to insert this letter is, to encourage possessors to communicate with me. The principal varieties of potteries which I propose to insert in my list are the following:-Slip ware, including Toft; Marble ware; Lambeth, Bristol, and Liverpool delft; Salt glazed ware; Jackfield, Nottingham, Fulham, and Lambeth stone ware.

Porcelain, and the later descriptions of pottery, such as Leeds and Wedgewood, are outside the scope of my inquiries.

Replies, stating size of specimens, and giving full particularsof he inscriptions or dates, will be gratefully received.

Childwall, Richmond-on-Thames. J. ELIOT HODGKIN, F.S.A. 1542.-RUTTER FAMILY, OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE.-If you can find room for the following extract from Notes and Queries I shall feel obliged, as I am anxious to obtain particulars of the Rutters of Bisley, Bourton-on-the-Hill, Brimscombe, Cirencester, Dorsington, Quinton, Slimbridge, Stow-on-the-Wold, Weston-sub-Edge, and other districts in the county:-

"RUTTER OF KINGSLEY, CHESHIRE.-Some members of various branches of this family are collecting materials for a history of it, and will be grateful for any information sent to G. Rutter Fletcher, Solicitor, 14, Finsbury Square, London, E.C."

VOL. IV.

G. RUTTER FLETCHER.

C