Bound volume containing laid down and loose letters, papers and memoranda of the Brett family of Spring Grove, Wye, Ashford, Kent, mostly relating to work on historical, liturgical and biblical subjects in France and England, mainly from a non-jurist viewpoint, [1743-1776], including the following items: a note signed by Nicholas Brett, 13 Jan 1759; a letter written from Spring Grove on 25 Jul 1743, but not in the previous hand, addressed to 'Thomas Williamson, chez...George Waters, l'aisnè, Rue de Savoye, a Paris'; extracts of two letters in another hand to Bishop Robert Gordon, Nov 1757 and Aug 1758; fragment of a letter dated 16 Mar 1758 concerning 'the learned dissertation in your last concerning the antiquity of written liturgies'; autographed letter of 26 May 1773 from William Jones of Nayland [Suffolk] to Nicholas Brett; a list of printed books, on paper watermarked 1800, endorsed 'Books at Crewe not put up, and a list of those sent down'.
Brett , family , non-jurorsPremonstratensian Breviary from the abbey of Parc, diocese of Liège (now in the diocese of Malines, Belgium), with a calendar of folios 3-8v.
UnknownLegal papers created by the Committee for Plundered Ministers, 1646-1647, relating to the trial for delinquency of Dr. Henry Watkins, Rector of Sutton-upon-Brailes, Gloucestershire, including the following.
- Copy, certified by John Crisp, clerk, of depositions of witnesses taken at Banbury between January and March 1647. (8 leaves. 12" x 7¾").
- Copy of depositions of witnesses taken at Gloucester between March and November 1647, with a copy of the answer of Dr. Watkins to the charge exhibited against him, 8 May 1647. (18 leaves. 12" x 7¾").
- Copy, certified by Francis Harris, clerk of the court, of further depositions taken and cross-examinations made, October 1647. (2 leaves. 13¾ x 12").
- Copy, certified by John Phelpes, of a resolution of Parliament of 11 November 1647 that the wives and children of persons suffering sequestration shall have a fifth part allowed to them; signed by Henry Elsynge, clerk of the House of Commons. (Single sheet. 12" x 7¾").
- Interrogatories exhibited by Dr. Henry Watkins to certain witnesses produced by him before the Committee [of Plundered Ministers] appointed by ordinance of Parliament for the county of Gloucester. (4 leaves. 12" x 7¾").
- Petition by the inhabitants of 'Sutton under Brayles, Co.Glos.', to the Committee for Plundered Ministers to take action in the matter of Dr. Henry Watkins. (2 leaves. 12" x 7¾").
- Second copy, certified by John Phelpes, of articles exhibited against Dr. Watkins at the Committee of Plundered Ministers, 18 December 1646. (2 leaves. 12" x 7¾").
Letter from Emperor Ferdinand I of Prague to the Judge and Councillor of Enns, 10 May 1562. Refusing a petition, sent by his son Maximilian, for the closing down of a church.
Written in another hand and signed by the Emperor.
Ferdinand I , 1503-1564 , Holy Roman EmperorTwo paper leaves, formerly pastedowns and much mutilated, relating to Scottish religion. The date of the fragments is uncertain, and Professor Gordon Donaldson of the University of Edinburgh, who examined these two fragments in Jan 1965, inclined to a date in the 1630s for both items - his opinion is contained in a letter now accompanying MS 610.
The first fragment is part of a letter from 'your disciples & se[rvants?] to suffer with you: EL, AD [Andrew Duncan?], IC [Isaac Casaubon?], et cet.', which may have been written to Andrew Melville while he was imprisoned in England, which would date the documents to c 1609. Donaldson states that the text makes reference to what seems to be the Act of Revocation of 1625 and could relate to the opposition of Scottish Presbyterians to Charles I in that year.
The second fragment is part of a draft of a petition from Scotland against the attempt to re-establish episcopacy in Scotland, c 1609. Donaldson's view is that the terminology used associates it with the National Covenant of 1638.
Legal commonplace book, [1708-1732], containing miscellaneous memoranda, mainly relating to ecclesiastical courts, including the following:
- Tables of fees, including those payable to officials in the archdeaconry of Leicester (c 1708); visitation fees; 'Fees due to the Clerk of the Peace and other Officers at the General Quarter Sessions of the Peace'; fees taken by Proctors at Norwich and Leicester and by officials of the archdeaconry of Sudbury; lists of stationery required for legal transactions, available at 'Mr. Moley's near the Cross in Bury St Edmunds'; and 'Mr. Nelsons account of artificers servants & labourers wages etc', giving 61 occupations.
- List of deaneries in Norfolk and Suffolk giving the churches in each, and the apparitors of each deanery, with a 'Table of fees where the court proceeds of its own accord', and a note of activities of Mr. Clagett in 1732.
Acknowledgment by Edmund Scambler, bishop of Peterborough, of the receipt on 20 Oct 1571 of an instrument of resignation (with the attestation of Mark Broughton, notary public) of Dr James Ellis (Ellys) as rector of Middleton Cheney. Signed and sealed [seal wanting] at Northampton on 26 Oct 1572 [sic]. Endorsed: 'The bysshappe of Peterboroo Reyleyse for monny I pd' hym'.
UnknownMiscellaneous collection of manuscripts, comprising:
- Fragment of a printed receipt, completed in manuscript, issued to Admiral Sir Clowdisley Shovell by the Exchequer for 3 months interest for a loan at 8 %, 15 Apr 1697.
- Order by Shovell as Admiral to Philip Stanhope, Captain of HMS Milford, to receive a Lieutenant and 30 marines from [HMS] Tilbury, 29 Aug 1706.
- Printed receipt, completed in manuscript, for payment to Shovell by the Exchequer of a 6 monthly installment of an annuity, 20 Nov 1706.
- Map of Blakeney channel and Cley channel, Norfolk, mounted and coloured, from Greenvile Collins, Great Britain's Coasting Pilot (1693). With an engraved inscription by Collins dedicating the map to Shovell.
- Modern reproduction of a reduced plan of Soho Square, London, inscribed 'House of Sir Clowdisley [Shovell]'. The original plan, probably made in the 18th century, was that of 'the late Duke of Portland's estate in the neighbourhood of Soho Square'.
- Leaf from a letter-book, with copies of 5 letters initialled 'E.K.', dated 29 Aug 1797, Dublin, to Robert Eyre at Tallow (Co. Waterford); Thomas Osbourne at Fort Charles, Kinsale (Co. Cork); Edward Mapoller at 'Killeoan(?) near Roscommon'; William Hailey at 'Fore Park(?) near Athlone'; and 'Dr. Toves(?)'. The writer had just reached Dublin from London, and intended to travel to Roscommon and Galway. The letters to Eyre and Osbourne(?) mention payments to be made to John Kelly at the Treasury in the castle at Dublin; those to Eyre and Toves(?) refer to 'Davies (who is in custody in London)'. The leaf was formerly part of a binding.
- Fragment of a list of deeds concerning the property of Richard and Mary Chiswell at Finchingfield, Essex, written in the 18th century.
- Printed bill for an exhibition of the picture of the battle of Lodi of 1796 by Robert Ker Porter, with a sketch of the picture and explanatory notes.
- Printed matter including Rules and Regulations of the St James's Loyal Volunteers (1797).
- Recipes for 'Ginger Bread Nuts', various drinks, and for medicines; instructions for cleaning 'black straw hats', dating from the early 19th century.
- Three engraved certificates completed in manuscript for William Buchanan, (1) for training in midwifery by John Haighton, dated 18 Nov 1814, (2) for attendance of courses on anatomy, signed by John Abernethy, dated May 1815, and (3) for honorary membership of the London Vaccine Institution, dated 26 Aug 1816.
- Genealogies of families, endorsed 'Hussey, Barons of Galtrim, Feypo and Maurward, Barons of Scune', relating to the medieval period, written in the 19th century.
- Drafts of two essays by Edwin Hadlow Wise Dunkin, headed 'Our Satellite. Sent for insertion in the City of London School Magazine...January 1865' (ff. 1-12), and 'The Lesser Light [i.e. the moon]...August 1866. Sent to Chambers Journal, 4 Sep 1866' (ff. 15-19).
- 'A Short Tour on the Cornish Coast', with remarks on weather and monuments, historical anecdotes, and sketches in pencil and pastels, 1879.
- 'Voyage of the Lioness', from Scalloway, Shetland, to Foula and Fair Isle. The Lioness was commanded by Captain Robertson; the passengers were described as 'the doctor and the professor'. The journal describes the inhabitants of the islands, and birds and animals seen. Written in the early 20th century.
- Monologue in pidgin English, probably written for entertainment, in which Kassim Ali describes his activities during the bombardment of Alexandria, his going on board the Condor, his delivery of a letter to [Ahmed] Arabi, the flight from Alexandria to Cairo, and his prevention of the explosion of the magazine in the fort of Ras-el-Jin. The account probably refers to the bombardment of Alexandria by the British fleet on 11 Jul 1882; see The Times for 22 Jul 1882, p. 5. Written in the 20th century on note-paper addressed 'Kenley, Surrey'.
- Modern brass rubbing from the tomb of Thomas Potter (d 6 Jun 1531), taken from Westerham Church, Kent.
- Collection of miscellaneous printed ephemera dating from the early 19th to the early 20th century. Includes a receipt for a share in the 'Strand [i.e. Waterloo] Bridge', London, 1812; a card for the White Lion Hotel, Bala, Merioneth, early 19th century; a plan of the Great Exhibition of 1851; pictures of Plymouth pier, early 20th century; a birthday card of 1887; a prospectus for an auction of shares of the Ilford Gas Co., 1907; tickets for books from the Officers' Library of the Royal Marines at Woolwich and Forton, and from B.O. May's Circulating Library, Teignmouth; a book-plate (?) of H.C. Sharpin, Ripon, 19th century; and bank notes of the Republic of Argentina, late 19th or early 20th century.
Contemporary manuscript copy of a proclamation 'concernynge paymente of tythes and oblations as well wythin the Citie of london as ellys wher' wythin the realme', which was made in February 1535. The proclamation contains no date, but an endorsement assigns it, incorrectly, to 36 Henry VIII.
UnknownVolume containing material relating to the life and execution (in 1621) of Rodrigo Calderon; the Aragon conspiracy of 1648; and the expulsion of the Jesuits by Charles III in 1667. The latter includes copies of letters exchanged between Charles III and Pope Clement XIII.
UnknownManuscript volume lettered 'Memoire de Finance' containing two works written in the same hand, probably mid 17th century, and attributed by an inscription on the fly-leaf to Charles de Marillac, Archbishop of Vienne (c 1510-1560) and his nephew, Michel de Marillac (1563-1632). The first section of the volume comprises three Gallican tracts, namely 'De patrimonio ecclesie', in Latin and French (latest date mentioned is 1646), arguing that secular patronage was the source of ecclesiastical wealth; 'Cura et authoritas in his quae pertinent ad fidem', defending control of the church by the Chritian prince, with much reference to the early church; and 'La Jurisdiction en generale est un pouvoir et autorite publique', arguing that independent ecclesiastical jurisdiction was confined to spiritual matters, citing papal and royal legislation up to 1639.
The second part of the manuscript contains a treatise entitled 'Du Conseil du Roy', in French and dated to [1611], being a discussion of the personnel, functions and rules of the King's Council (begins on folio 110 + 2, latest date 1629).
The attribution to the Marillacs is made in a later hand than that of the main text.
Manuscript 'Valuation of Pickton tithes to Michaelmas 1835', giving the property values of 9 farmers and the amounts for which they were liable. Includes 'Parish rates and cesses paid as per voucher to Michaelmas', and totals received from Kirk [Leavington] and Castle Leavington tithes to the same date.
Unknown