294
NOTES AND QUERIES. [n s. x. OCT. 10, 1014.
ADMIRAL LORD RODNEY (11 S. x. 249).
In an old newspaper -cuttings book in nay
possession are some references to Lord
Rodney's ancestry, probably collected by
a member of the family. A letter to "Mr.
Urban," dated 10 April (no year), corrects
Hie details in General Mundy's Life of the
Admiral, and states that he was " not at
all related " to the Duke of Chandos. The
writer states that Rodney was brought up by
" old George Rodney Brydges of Avington
and Keynsham, whose grandmother was the
heiress of the elder branch of the Rodneys."
Continuing, the writer, who signs himself
M. L., says :
"It is doubtful whether the Admiral could produce strict proof of his descent from a younger son of that venerable house ; though he is called grandson of Anthony, stated to be son of George by Anne Lake."
A second newspaper cutting commences as follows : " Splendid deeds of modern date, and not a lineage of extraordinary antiquity, distinguish the noble house of Rodneys," find only refers to the Admiral's father, " Henry Rodney, Esq., of Walton-on- Thames."
There are many other cuttings not perti- nent to the present query. One is worthy of notice, as it records the death of
- ' Mrs. dive, mother of Lady Rodney, at the
Penn of Sir George Bridges Rodney, Bart. Commander in Chief of his Majesty's Fleet at Jamaica."
There is probably an error in the name here, as the Admiral's second wife is said to have been Henrietta Clies, daughter of a Lisbon merchant ; and a pencil note refers to their marriage licence, which, it states, was " granted, in February, 1765, by the Faculty Office."
RAYMOND A. F. TURNER.
He was the second son of Henry Rodney and Mary, elder daughter and coheiress of Sir Henry Newton (1651-1715), the British envoy in Tuscany. Henry (1681-1737), son of Anthony, served with his father as a cornet in Leigh's Dragoons, and afterwards as a captain in Holt's Marines. When the latter regiment was disbanded in 1713 Henry settled down at Walton-on-Thames. Anthony, son of George, youngest brother of Sir Edward Rodney of' Stoke Rodney in Somerset, after serving through the wars of William III. as captain in Col. Leigh's regiment of Dragoons, was in 1702 Lieu- tenant - Colonel of Holt's regiment of Marines, and was killed in a duel at Barcelona in 1705. The Stoke Rodney estates were held by James Brydges, first
Duke of Chandos, through the marriage of
Sir Edward Rodney's daughter and heiress,
Frances, with Sir Thomas Brydges of Kains-
ham. A. R. BAYLEY.
G. E. C. in ' The Complete Peerage,' vol. vi., says of the Admiral's father that he was
" great-grandson of Sir John Rodney, of Stoke Rodney, co. Somerset (who d. 6 Aug., 1612, aged 61), by Jane, da. of Sir Henry Seymour, bro. to Jane, Queen Consort to Hen. VIII. His father Anthony Rodney, sometime an officer in the Horse Guards, was slain in a duel at Barcelona in 1705, being a yr. son of George Rodney, of Lyndhurst, Hants, 2d. surv. son of Sir John above-named."
S. A. GRUNDY-NEWMAN.
Walsall.
HANDEL'S ' HARMONIOUS BLACKSMITH * (2 S. iv. 200, 228 ; 8 S. ix. 203, 230, 311, 354, 456, 493 ; 11 S. x. 230). About two yeara ago I paid a visit to Little Stanmore with the object of ascertaining whether the church possessed sufficient interest to war- rant the organization of a visit by a society- of which I am secretary. I found the entrance barred by an official, who stood in the porch and demanded sixpence as the price of admission to the church. To this I demurred, and an argument ensued, in which two other intending visitors joined. We declined to submit to the exaction. I looked round the churchyard, for the inspection of which no charge is made, and I came upon a gravestone erected in 1868, said to mark the last resting-place of the Harmonious Blacksmith. In the upper part of the stone there is a musical stave, with two notes purporting to represent the opening of the well-known air. I am not a skilled musician, but I saw at once that they did not. The inscription states that Powell was parish clerk "during the time the immortal Handel was organist of this church." It also states that Powell was buried on 27 Feb., 1780, aged 78 years ; so that he must have been born some time in 1702.
At the first opportunity I looked the matter up, and foxtnd that Handel's con- nexion with Little Stanmore extended from 1718 to 1720 or '21. I ought, perhaps, to say that Handel's precise position is a matter of dispute, but there is no disagree- ment as to the two dates given above. From a comparison of these dates it is clear that Powell was only about 16 when Handel appeared on the scene. He could not have been parish clerk then, as the ninety-first
