472
NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. XL JUNE 12, im
THE MYSTEBY OF HANNAH LIOHTFOOT
(10 S. viii. 321, 402, 483; ix. 24, 122, 264).
Through the kindness of MB. J. G.
CTJPPLES of Boston, Mass., I have received a
delightful little book, called ' How the
Coreys went West,' written by Mrs. Permolia
Thomson, nee Corey of Coronado, Cali-
fornia, who claims to be the great-great-
granddaughter of King George III. by
Hannah Lightfoot. According to Mrs.
Thompson's account her grandmother
Prudence Corey was the daughter of a man
named Parks, who himself was the son of
Prince George and the " Fair Quaker."
This is what she says on pp. 10-11 of her
book :
"King George the Third, while Prince of Walest with the throne before him, met at Waterloo Place, London, a beautiful young Quakeress, Hannah Lightfoot, and falling desperately in love, he determined to win her heart and hand and at once marry her, knowing the opposition that would naturally follow such a marriage with a plain Quakeress. He gained his suit and the marriage was said to have been duly solemnized according to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England, and was witnessed by William Pitt and Anne Taylor. Their first-born son was denied recognition and the family name, and was christened by the name Parks, after the beautiful parks nearby. When older he was induced to renounce all claim to the throne, and was sent to America for his home ; and Prudence was his daughter."
Prudence Parks married one Alvin Corey of Almond, Allegheny County, New York.
The above version of the story, savouring as it does of the Olive Serres legends, is not worthy of serious consideration, for it has been shown that it is impossible that there was a secret marriage between George and the Fair Quaker. It is quite possible, however, that Prudence Parks had royal blood in her veins, and it is not improbable that, as in the case of Catherine Augusta Ritso (see 10 S. ix. 266), the sins of another member of his family have been laid at the King's door. HOBACE BLEACKLEY.
"KEMPISHAWE" (10 S. xi. 329). As it may be of assistance in locating the field in question, we quote the parcel from the deed (884 Middx. List) :
"All that theyr tenement curtilage baron stable garden and two crofts of land called Buntings and
Kempishawe conteyning by estimation fyue acres
ot lande be it more or leise set lying and being in the parish of Ickenham aforesaid between the lands ot the seyd Raffe Pexsalle sometime Charletons lands on the west partye and the Church of Icken- ham on the east partye."
Failing an answer from another reader we suggest that MB. HITCHIN-KEMP might perhaps usefully consult the Inclosure
Award and Plan. The Act was passed in
1780, and probably a copy could be seen at
the Bishopsgate Institute. It contains no
mention, however, of field-names.
W. McB. AND F. MABCHAM.
DTJKE OF WELLINGTON : A STBANGE EPITAPH (10 S. xi. 347). The following, which appears in " A Collection of Epitaphs ... .by Silvester Tissington, 1857," p. 45, is probably the one referred to in Digby's ' Compitum.' 1848-54, and is given as " in St. Paul's Cathedral " :
" Erected at the public expense to the memory of Lieutenant-Colonel Sir William Myers, Bart., who gloriously fell in the battle of Albuera, May 16th, 1811, aged 27 years. His illustrious commander, the Duke of Wellington, bore this honourable testimony to his services and abilities in a letter to Lady Myers, written from Elvas, May 20th, 1811 : ' It will be some satisfaction to you to know that your son fell in the action, in which, if possible, the British troops surpassed all their former deeds ; and, at the head of the Fusilier Brigade, to which a greater part of the final success of the day was to be attributed. As an officer he had already been highly dis- tinguished, and, if Providence had prolonged his life, he promised to become one of the brightest ornaments to his profession, and an honour to his country.' "
W. B. H.
HANGING ALIVE IN CHAINS (10 S. xi. 221, 303, 404). The following passages are, perhaps, not of much value as evidence of the fact, but they seem to show that the idea of hanging criminals alive in chains was not unfamiliar to writers of the first half of the seventeenth century :
"Yea, rather than they would have tryed the extremity of Famine, they would have gnawne their owne flesh, suckt their owne blood, as some Fellons have done that have hung in Chaines." 'The Arraignment of the Whole Creature, Att the Barre of Religion, Reason and Experience,' London, 1631, p. 35.
A thousand wounds were nothing to endure, Or mounted on a gybbet, there chain'd sure, And live to gorge the Ravens.
Heywood, ' Pleasant Dialogues and Dramma's,' London, 1&S7, Dial 3.
G. THOBN-DBTJBY.
The following extract may be of interest. It is taken from the letters of Cesar de Saus- sure, a French gentleman who travelled in England between 1725 and 1736, and wrote accounts of his travels to his friends :
" After hanging, murderers are, however, punished in a particular fashion. They are first hung on the common gibbet ; their bodies are then covered with tallow and fat substances ; over this is placed a tarred shirt fastened down with iron bands, and the bodies are hung with chains to the gibbet, which is erected on the spot, or as near as
