160
NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. x. AUG. 23, 1002.
or from personal preference. Mr. Dale quotes the
following from the Report of the Commission on
Registers other than Parochial (1838) : " Some of the
earlier registers of the Independents and Baptists
had their origin during the troubles which occurred
in the reign of Charles I. But the registers of this
early date are rare." Mr. Dale states that " so far
as Yorkshire is concerned they are indeed rare.
Without taking into account those of the Society
of Friends, there is only one which properly
belongs to this period viz., the Topcliffe register."
"A register of the Society of Friends at Malton
bears the date of 1621, which was three years before
George Fox was born." It is strange to remember
that it was not until July 1st, 1837, when Lord
John Russell's Bills were passed, that there was any
uniform register of births, deaths, and marriages.
In 1840 non-parochial registers were admitted as
evidence in Courts of Justice. These had been
deposited at Somerset House, with two exceptions :
those of the Jews, who had refused to part with
their registers (these had been kept with great
care since they had been permittee to settle in
England by Oliver Cromwell), and those of the
Roman Catholics, Cardinal Wiseman having
declined on their behalf.
The second paper, ' Dr. Watts's Church Book,' is by the Rev. T. G. Crippen. The Rev. C. Silvester Horne contributes ' From a Diary of the Gurney Family,' and another paper by Mr. Crippen is a valuable contribution to ' Early Nonconformist Bibliography.' These are contained in Nos 2 and 3. This, we take it, is to be as far as possible a com- plete Nonconformist bibliography, embracing Non- conformists generally. The learned Dr. Angus com- menced some few years ago a bibliography of Baptist authors. This has been completed from 1527 to 1800, but he has not been able to complete it on account of his ill health. Dr. Angus possesses fifteen hundred of the books he mentions.
We regret that space forbids us to do more than refer to Nos. 2 and 3. These contain, among other papers, two on 'John Bunyanand Thomas Marsom,' the first by Dr. John Brown, and the second by Mr. W. H. Gurney Salter ; ' The Puritans in Devon,' by Mr. Edward Windeatt ; ' Devonshire and the Indulgences of 1672,' also by Mr. Windeatt ; and ' The Trendall Papers,' by the Rev. T. G. Crippen, with some new facts relating to Archbishop Laud.
In accordance with a recommendation of the British Association, the size of the publication has been reduced since its first number, so as to be in uniformity with the publications of other learned societies. We have one suggestion to make, and that is that a contributor should have but one paper in a number. While fully Recognizing the value of the contents, we hold that it would increase the interest in the Society to have as many contributors to its Transactions as possible. The Congregational Historical Society has commenced well. It has for its officers Dr. McClure as President, for its secre- taries the Rev. G. Currie Martin and the Rev. T. G. Crippen, and among its members are to be found many well-known Nonconformist names. It should have a long career of useful work before it.
Transactions of the Hampstead Antiquarian and
Historical Society. (Hampstead, Mayle.) THIS volume, which is issued by order of the Coun- cil of the Society, and edited by the honorary secre- tary, Mr. Charles J. Munich, F.R.Hist.S., gives a full and trustworthy account of the proceedings
during the year 1900. These include some outdoor,
some indoor meetings, which were, no doubt,
enjoyable, and in course of which the members
were shown over Caen Wood by the Earl of Mans-
field, and Charlton House by Sir Spencer Maryon
Wilson and Lady Wilson. Many papers of interest
were read before the Society during the session.
Whether the work now issued is a continuation of
the ' Hampstead Annual ' (see 9 th S. v. 100) we are
unable to say.
WE have received the following humorous pro- test :
In an advertisement that I have just received of Mr. F. Boase's ' Modern English Biography ' we are told that " special care has been taken about the dates of birth and death. Church registers, the books of the Registrar-General at Somerset House, printed sources, and private individuals have contributed to secure the utmost accuracy on these points." In the obituary notice of myself in this work it is stated that I held my fellowship until my death in the year 1883. 1 am not writing to dispute the fact, but I do think that I have some cause of complaint of the neglect to assign the date. It was not necessary to go to Somerset House. A postcard to the College would at once have obtained the month and year. Mr. Boase seems not to have seen the ' Cambridge Calendar ' of the last eighteen years, nor to have looked up the obituaries of Fellows of the Royal Society or of that of Antiquaries. I may add that a few minutes spent over the British Museum Catalogue would have enabled him to enlarge his notice by a list of five or six posthumous works. J. VENN.
Caius College, Cambridge.
to C0mspxmJrntiss.
We must call special attention to the following notices :
ON all communications must be written the name and address of the sender, not necessarily for pub- lication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
WE cannot undertake to answer queries privately.
To secure insertion of communications corre- spondents must observe the following rules. Let each note, query, or reply be written on a separate slip of paper, with the signature of the writer and such address as he wishes to appear. When answer- ing queries, or making notes with regard to previous entries in the paper, contributors are requested to
Eut in parentheses, immediately after the exact eading, the series, volume, and page or pages to which they refer. Correspondents who repeat queries are requested to head the second com- munication " Duplicate."
HERBERT SOUTHAM. The substitution by us of July 26 for June 26 is duly noted, ante, p. 140.
NOTICE.
Editorial communications should be addressed to " The Editor of 'Notes and Queries'" Adver- tisements and Business Letters to " The Pub- lisher" at the Office, Bream's Buildings, Chancery Lane, E.C.
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