to resign the customership of Bridgwater to him, if your lordship consents. [cclvi. 98.] May 6. Wm. Spencer to Lord Burghley. Five years since Clement's your lordship was pleased to bestow the customership Inn. of Bridgwater upon me, but as the trade there is so small that it will not pay the fees, I am content to resign in favour of Wm. Benger, &c. [cclvii. 72.] Petition of Wm. Benger to Lord Burghley, &c. [cclvii. 73.] [May 6.] May 7. June 23. Bond by Nich. Porter, of Aston-sub-Edge, in 60%. for payment of 30l. to John Wigfall, junior, haberdasher, of Worcester, by Michaelmas next. (Latin and English.) [cclvii. 78.] Lord Hunsdon to Lord Treasurer Sir Wm. Cecil Southampton (sic). I recommend Wm. Lavington for the House. controllership of customs at Bristol, which his kinsman Jackson wishes to resign in his favour. [cclix. 23.] July 21. July 27. Sept. 22. 15961 1597. Indenture from Nich. Porter, of Aston-sub-Edge, to Edw. Greville, of Milcote, co. Warwick, of the manor of Mickleton, as let by the abbot and convent of St. Mary of Eynesham, co. Oxford, to Walter Barton, 20 Hen. VIII., from 1554, for 60 years, on rent of 937. 6s. 8d.; which manor has since come to Nich. Porter, who, by deed of 20 May, 1595, conveyed it to Greville, except Mickleton parsonage and tithes, and certain meadows; these exceptions he now, according to promise, includes in the lease, which he grants for the remainder of his term. [cclix. 76] Bond by Nich. Porter and Robt. Bloxham, alias Ingles, both of Aston-sub-Edge, in 407. for payment of 201. to Lewis Hobdale, of Ditchford, co. Worcester, at the house of John Jewkes at Chipping Campden on 20 Jan. next. [cclix. 80.] The Queen to Sir Drew Drury. Having appointed Sir Richd. Berkeley lieutenant of the Tower, we discharge you, and require you, in presence of Lord North, Treasurer of the Household, Lord Buckhurst, and Sir John Fortescue, Chancellor of the Exchequer, to deliver your charge and prisoners, by inventory and view of the said counsellors, to Sir R. Berkeley. (Draft.) [cclx. 18.] Liber Pacis, containing the names of the justices of the peace in the several shires of England and Wales for 1596. (46 pages. Case F., Eliz., no. 11.) [cclxi.] John Androwes, Customer of Bristol, to Lord April 9. April 22. June 4. June 11. Aug. 15. Aug. 18. Burghley. In answer to your letter, I cannot understand of any quantity of butter now to be had in the counties adjoining, as the time of year is spent for that victual; but if special restraint be made thereupon in cos. Monmouth and Glamorgan, and in the ports and creeks of the Severn, 100 barrels of butter may be provided before the end of May, for 31. a barrel, and another 100 at the same price in June. Malt is 568. the quarter at Tewksbury and Gloucester; but none can pass thence here without warrant from Lord Chandos and the commissioners there. A great quantity of oats is now to be had in Pembrokeshire, at 20s. the quarter, by assistance of Sir John Ogan [? Wogan] and other commissioners, otherwise they will suffer no grain to pass. The prices of these provisions in Bristol are far greater, and no quantity to be had, &c. (With notes by Burghley) [cclxii. 107.] Jno. Androwes, Customs' Officer, to [Sec. Cecil]. Concerning the 400 barrels of butter, if you will give me a warrant to restrain all other transportation from cos. Monmouth and Glamorgan, during this service, that it may be lawful for me and my assigns to buy and transport the said butter to Bristol, and there ship it for Ireland, I will deliver 100 barrels at Bristol before the end of next May, for 31. a barrel, allowing two kilderkins to each, and containing 216lbs. of butter, and will for the two casks of the two kilderkins 40lbs. Before the end of June I will deliver 100 barrels more, and in July 200, receiving for the 400 barrels 1,2007. The charge for transporting it from Bristol to Dublin is 2s. 6d. the barrel, if it be laden with the malt and oats, which will cost 3s. 4d. the quarter. It may all be delivered and received by indenture; if malt be sent, there ought to be some hops, as Ireland has but a small store of them. [cclxii. 133.] Pardon to Thos. Neaste, yeoman, of Tredington, for burglary. (Docquet.) [cclxiii.] Pardon to Robt. Vynor, of Badmington, for robbing John Allen of 47. 3s. 4d. (Docquet.) [cclxiii.] Bill for silks, satins, velvets, and taffetas, sold by Baptist Hicks, merchant, to Sir Thos. Wilkes, on his going to France; total, 687. 3s. 2d. [cclxiv. 83.] Bond of Nich. Porter, of Aston-sub-Edge, and Richd. Dyrham, of Worcester, baker, for payment. of 508. to Rowland Barkeley, of Worcester, gent, on Sept. 24. Oct. 15. Nov. 11. 19 Feb. 1598. Sealed and delivered in presence of Edw. Hicks, senior and junior. [cclxiv. 87.] Pardon to Simon Mason, of Eayford [Eyeford, or Eyford], for being accessory to horse stealing. (Docquet.) [cclxiv.] Grant to Wm. Hill, B. D., of the next vacant prebend in Bristol.* (Docquet.) [cclxiv.] Lease in reversion by the Commrs. to Thos. Collins, yeoman, of the Male, and Richd. Ridgdale, of Tottenham, co. Middlesex, for fifty years, of tenement, orchards, waste ground, &c., in Campden; rent, 187. 118. 6d. ; no fine, because he takes upon him to repair the decayed houses. (Docquet.) [cclxv.] (To be continued.) 1932. THE PATRONAGE OF PAINSWICK VICARAGE.-(Reply to No. 1909.) I think I can give GLOUCESTRENSIS a little information on this subject which may interest him. I have been unable to learn when the choice of their vicar was first entrusted to the parishioners of Painswick, but it was some time before 1684; for by an indenture of March 1 in that year, one George Clarke, heir of the surviving trustee, conveyed the right of presentation to new trustees, upon trust that they "do and shall, as often as occasion shall require, present some fit person or persons, such as the inhabitants and parishioners of the said parish of Painswick, or the major part of the chiefest and discreetest of them, should nominate to the said vicarage." These trusts were, it seems, altered (or attempted to be altered) on a subsequent appointment of new trustees; for by a deed dated October 30, 1810, it was provided that "the inhabitants and parishioners who should have received the Sacrament in the church of Painswick within one year before the vacancy, or the chiefest and discreetest of them," should nominate. The terms of these trusts were, as might be expected, a fertile source of dispute and litigation. It seems that the Rev. John Moseley was presented to the living by the trustees, although another clergyman had been elected by the parishioners. A suit in equity was instituted to establish the election of the latter, but was ultimately abandoned. This is, I presume, the litigation referred to in the Gentleman's Magazine, vol. lxiv. Mr. Moseley died October 14, 1794, and at a parish meeting on the Thursday following, the election of his successor was fixed for January 5, 1795. The candidates were the Rev. John Fearon and the Rev. Charles Palmer. The poll was kept open till January 11, and Mr. Fearon was nominated by a majority of 251; but the trustees refused to present him, and a bill was filed to compel them to do so. In their • William Hill, S.T.B., exhibited the Queen's mandate for the next vacancy 9th Dec. 1597, and was admitted 26th Feb. 1606-7.-Le Neve's Fasti Ecclesiæ Anglicance, ed. Hardy, vol. i., p. 232. answer, relying on the precedent at Mr. Moseley's presentation, they claimed the right to nominate without the interference of the parishioners, on account of the vagueness of the terms of the trust. They also alleged that at Mr. Fearon's election non-ratepayers, paupers, servants, and infants had voted, and that the conduct of the election had been disorderly. The suit was heard,* February 2 and 4, before Chief Baron Macdonald, who, in giving judgment for the plaintiffs, described the words "chiefest and discreetest of them" as "a badge of antiquity," and said that the only construction he could put upon them was, that "the chiefest" meant those who paid parish rates, and "the discreetest" those who had attained twenty-one years of age. The last election was on June 23, 1823, when the successful candidate was the Rev. Robert Strong, and his opponent the Rev. William Knight, who was for many years rector of St. Michael's, Bristol. According to parochial tradition the "treating" which took place at this election, surpassed anything revealed by parliamentary election petitions of later days. It was doubtless mainly owing to the scandals on this occasion that steps were taken to obtain, by the aid of Parliament, some improvement in the mode of presentation. Accordingly an Act (1 Vict. cap. 15) was passed on June 11, 1838, intituled "An Act for the Sale of the Advowson of the Vicarage of Painswick, in the County of Gloucester." In the preamble it is stated that "the existing method of electing a vicar has been found to be productive of riot and disorder, and to be in many respects inconvenient, and the same is detrimental to the interests of the said parish, and injurious to the cause of religion." It was provided by the Act that the monies arising from the sale should be invested in Consols in the names of trustees, and that the dividends therefrom should be applied in the reduction of such parochial rates as the trustees should direct. Shortly after the passing of this Act the advowson was advertised for sale. In the advertisement inviting tenders the income of the benefice was estimated at about £600 per annum; viz., £420 from tithe rent charge, £125 from glebe, and about £60 from Easter offerings, etc. It was sold in 1838 or 1839 for £2,000 to (I believe) Mr. Biddle, of Stroud, Mr. Strong, the then vicar, being forty-four years old. After Mr. Strong's death, Mr. Biddle presented his son, the Rev. John Arthur Biddle; and subsequently it was sold for £2,500 to Mr. Barnard, who sold it to the trustees of the Hon. and Rev. Percy George Willoughby for £5,000. Mr. Willoughby, after spending £1,000 on the vicarage-house, sold the advowson for £6,000 to Henry C. McCrea, Esq., who, in 1876, presented his son, the Rev. Henry Herbert McCrea. At that time the annual value of the benefice was £500. I have reason to believe that its annual value now (1890) is not much more than half what it was in 1838. F. A. HYETT. Painswick House. Reported 14 Ves. 13. 1933. "CURIOSITIES OF THE CHURCH." An interesting volume by Mr. William Andrews, of Hull, has been published under the above title, London, 1890. "It would be impossible," the author tells us, "to prepare a book of this class without having recourse to the works of other authors, more especially some of the older writers. I have tried, however, to render every acknowledgment to those to whom I am indebted for information." The following portions, in which a few inaccuracies may be observed, refer to Gloucestershire : 1. P. 87.—“Rudder, in his History of Gloucestershire [p. 307], and other writers notice a quaint scrambling custom at St. Briavel's, Gloucestershire. The best account of the ancient usage is given in the pages of the Gentleman's Magazine for 1816 [vol. lxxxvi., pt. ii., p. 364], which [slightly revised] reads as follows:-'On Whitsunday, at St. Briavel's, in Gloucestershire, several basketsfull of bread and cheese, cut into small squares of about an inch each, are brought into the church; and, immediately after divine service is ended, the churchwardens, or some other persons, take them into the galleries, whence their contents are thrown among the congregation, who have a grand scramble for them in the body of the church. This occasions as great a tumult and uproar as the amusements of a village wake; the inhabitants being always extremely anxious to attend worship on this day. This custom is holden for the purpose of preserving to the poor of St. Briavel's and Havelsfield [Hewelsfield] the right of cutting and carrying away wood from 3,000 acres of coppice land, in Hudknolls and the Meend, and for which every housekeeper is assessed 2d., to buy the bread and cheese which are given away.' This is the most remarkable of the scrambling customs which have come under our notice." This strange custom has been already noticed in your pages, vol. ii., p. 266; iv., 188. 2. P. 100. "It is recorded in Frosbroke's [Fosbroke's] British Monachism [], that it was the practice of a rector [Benjamin Wynnington, 1641-1673] of Bilbury [Bibury], Gloucestershire, to take a couple of hours in the delivery of his sermons. The squire of the parish [Mr. Sackville] had no taste for his wordy expositions; and after hearing the text given out, withdrew to enjoy his pipe, returning to be present at the benediction."* 3. P. 163. "A famous fool, named Dicky Pearce, died in 1728, at the age of 63 years, and was buried at Beckley [Berkeley]," etc. The familiar epitaph ascribed to Dean Swift has appeared in vol. i., p. 85, and need not be repeated. • See Rudder's Gloucestershire, p. 287, where the anecdote is somewhat differently recorded. |