10* s. in. FEB. is, 1905.] NOTES AND QUERIES.
135
of Coutances. The Bishop of Winchester's
claim was finally approved by an order in
Council dated 11 March, 1568/9. One wonders
whether the Bulls of 28 October, 1496, and
20 January, 1499, were ever communicated
to the French bishop. Xo record of any
act of the Privy Council in the reign o'f
Edward VI. dealing with this matter seems
to remain. JOHN B. WAINEWRIGHT.
ENGLISH BURIAL GROUND AT LISBON (10 th S. ii. 448 ; iii. 34). There is a little about this burial-ground in 'Portugal illustrated in a Series of Letters, 3 by the Rev. VV. M. Kinsey, B.D., second edition, London, 1829. The letter which contains the references is No. iv. and is dated Lisbon, 1827. The author speaks of the burial-ground as near to some barracks, "at the moment of which we are speaking, occupied by one of our regiments of guards." *
The author says, "We sought in vain for the tomb of Fielding, whose remains were, we knew, nevertheless deposited here." He speaks of the cypress trees and of there being " a variety of trees not usually seen in our northern churchyards." Also, "among the monuments, we found one erected to Thomas Parr, by order of the general court of Governors of Christ's Hospital in 1792 : and on the portico of the receiving house, looking down an avenue in the cemetery, we observed the following inscription, which shows that this sacred spot was purchased by the British and Dutch merchants united,
Impensis Britannorum et Batavorum, 1794."
Pp. 103-5.
It may be that the inscription refers to the receiving house, and not to the piece of land. ROBERT PIERPOINT.
St. Austin's, Warrington.
SIR THOMAS CORNWALLIS (10 th S. iii. 29, 73). The document described by MR. HERON- ALLEN is evidently one of the Writs of Privy Seal for Loans a kind of royal promissory note or Exchequer bill issued by James I. to raise money, after he had indignantly told his grudging Commons that he did not want their " supply," which, however, we are told, they had no intention of granting him. It is a document well known to students of old records. These writs were directed to all persons of means in each county, requiring them to pay to the county collector the amount mentioned in the writ, which in those I have seen appears to have varied according to individual circumstances or
- A force of 5,000 men was sent to Lisbon in
December, 1826, to give aid to Isabella, Princess Regent of Portugal, against the absolutists. It left in April, 182$.
assessment. The writ then passed into circu-
lation as paper currency, and sometimes was
not presented at the Exchequer until two
or three years after the date specified for
its redemption had elapsed. A note of its
repayment was then made upon it, signed
by the Teller of the Exchequer who paid it
as well as by its then holder or assignee. Its
phraseology is very curious, and may be of
royal composition, or more probably it was
merely the usual form of such writs. It
is certainly a document of much " con-
stitutional" interest. A perfect specimen
should have a large papered impression of
the Privy Seal affixed to it, and the name of
the person to whom it was directed, and who
had to make the advance, written upon the
fly-leaf of it. It is printed in " Secretary :>
not " Court-hand type. G. B. M.
SAMUEL WILDERSPIN (10 th S. ii. 528). It has been stated by a correspondent ( th S. i. 332) that the portrait by Herbert, R.A., was then (April, 1898) in the possession of Mr. J. W. Young, of Belgrave Road, Rathmines, Dublin, who married one [of Wilderspin's daughters. This portrait " was engraved by Agnew, but for some unknown reason prints were not published." For a list of Wilder- spin's works and the families into which his son and daughters married see 9 th S. i. 270.
EVERARD HOME COLEMAN. 71, Brecknock Road.
EXTRAORDINARY TIDE IN THE THAMES (10 th S. iii. 47). In view of the possibilities of the Thames Harbour Bill, which is shortly to claim the attention of Parliament, and. which, if it becomes law, will settle all ques- tions of tide in the Thames above Gravesend regardless of the forces of nature, at the absolute will of a committee of men, it is due to that little band of volunteers who are promoting the Great Thames Barrage Scheme that present records should be fairly stated, and the assertion in The Times that ' no damage appears to have been done" is- open to correction. As a matter of fact, there was very considerable loss and incon- venience in Kent and Essex by breaches and overflow of the river walls, and large tracts were inundated, as there is plenty of local newspaper evidence to show ; and many of us remember having to travel on the London and Tilbury Railway through floods so deep that it was only by the greatest caution that the engine-drivers could prevent the water from putting out their engine fires.
The Barrage Scheme, if carried out, will revolutionize the Lower Thames, by keeping the tide always high, but no higher than
