456
NOTES AND QUERIES. [11 s. vi. DKC. 7, 1912.
There was also a son, William Pretty
(born about 1695), who was of Clare College.
Cambridge, in 1720, when he was made
LL.B. He was inducted to the living of
Thruxton by the St. Johns on 22 Sept.,
1720, and died on 30 Nov., 1747, at the age
of 52. His wife was Anne, daughter of
Dutton Gifford of Wooley Green in the
parish of Hursley (born 1689), and they
were married at Farley Chamberlayne on
17 Oct., 1723, by " John Pretty, Rector.
After the death of Anne, widow of the Rev. W. Pretty, in 1776, their daughters, Catherine Wade and Elizabeth Parry, erected a mural monument to their parents at Farley, which is still extant.
The Rev. Thomas Pretty was buried at Winchfield on 11 Feb., 1725/6, administra- tion of his effects being granted to his son William of Thruxton.
John Pretty was entered in the Register of Christ's College, Cambridge, at the age of 16, on 31 May, 1671, as "son of William Pretty, born at Tangely near Tarn worth," and " educated at Tarn worth School. Ad- mitted Sizar under Mr. Andrews." He was appointed Rector of Farley Chamberlayne (Hants) ; as Chaplain to the Duke of Bolton, licensed to hold also the living of Thruxton (2 April), 1709; Rector of Middleton alias Long Parish, Hants, 30 Dec., 1724'; and Master of St. Mary Magdalen's Hospital. He was appa- rently a bachelor, and is so familiar a figure in the local history of his times that further information relating to him could not fail to be of interest. He was a trustee not only for the St. John family's marriage settle- ments and of their wills, but for various other county magnates^ and was a trustee for the making of new roads and various local improvements. In fact, " Parson Pretty " was everywhere in evidence, and even appears in the transfer of Hursley from the Cromwells to the Heathcotes. He figures, too, in the correspondence of 1718 of the then Mr. William Heathcote (later, the first baronet), in his letters to his mother (nee Mary Dawsonne) as to some negotiations which Mr. Heathcote entrusted to him for the purchase of Lainston Manor from " old Mrs. Dawley." The late Rev. Evelyn Heathcote, Rector of Sparsholt and of Lainston, in some interesting MSS. on the latter (demolished) church identifies this " Mrs. Dawley " as the daughter of George Coney, and says that her tombstone, with the arms of Dawley impaling Coney, may still be seen in the ruins of Lainston Church. Her personality is somewhat inter- esting from the fact that her sister, Margaret
Coney, was mother of Dr. William Delaune
of St. John's College, Oxford. At the time
of "Mrs. Dawley 's " marriage in London, on
10 Sept., 1670, to Henry Dawley (widower)
of Lainston. she was "aged about 38" and
" widow of Hall."
Mr. John Pretty's futile and cold journey in a post-chaise with " Mrs. Dawley " is rather amusingly told in the letters, as is also that cleric's rebuff at the hands of the "tough" old dame. She appears to have held some power over the presentation of the- living of Hursley, and her chances of longevity are freely discussed.
There is no memorial at Farley to Parson Pretty, nor can his will be found at Win- chester or in London, but his burial was entered at Farley for 27 June, 1729.
F. H. SUCKLING.
DICK TURPIN'S PISTOL (US. vi. 107, 31 6>. With reference to the query which ap- peared as to literature regarding this man's life, I find I have a bound pamphlet con- taining the
"Genuine History of the Life of Richard Turpin the Noted Highwayman ; the whole collected by Richard Bayes at the Green Man at Epping Forest. Fourth Edition, 1739. London. Printed for J. Sanden at D'Anvers Head, opposite Sergeants' Inn in Chancery Lane."
Is this a scarce book ?
THIN. COLL. CAMR,
The dates given in the ' Newgate Calendar ' and in Kyll's York pamphlet for the exploits of the Essex gang in February, 1735, are confirmed by the contemporary press.
Beginning a series of outrages on 11 Jan., the gang continued busy till the offer of a 501. reward on 11 Feb. put a temporary check to them. For detailed accounts of the affairs at Shirley (where Mr. Sheldon was the victim), at Charlton (Mr. Sanders), at Edgwarebury. near Edgware (Mr. Law- rence), and at Dayot's Farm, near St. Marylebone (Mr. Francis), see The London Evening Post for 14 and 21 Jan. and 6 and 11 Feb. Thus the pistol was presented be- tween the attack on Lawrence and that on Francis. On 8 March the Post says that " the gang are all dispersed."
Turpin comes prominently into notice again in 1737, a reward of 200f. in the Gazette of 25 June following his murder of Morris on 4 May. He was " about 5 ft. 9 in. high," " his visage short," and pock- marked. The Old Whig, Read's Weekly Journal, and other papers (5 and 7 May) describe the attempt of Mr. Bays to appre- hend Turpin and the two Kings on 2 May,
