NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. ix. JAN. 10, mi.
JOHN THURTELL'S FAMILY : " WIDOWS'
MEN," " DEAD MEN'S CLOATHES." Can any
Norwich reader help me with particulars
concerning the following ?
1. What was the education of John Thur- tell previously to his being gazetted Second Lieutenant of Marines in May, 1809 ? Was he a day-boy at Norwich Grammar School ? He seems, wherever educated, to have pro- fited very little by his lessons, for when " confined he was in Hertford Gaol " he w r as capable of writing " I am oblidge."
2. WTiere and when did his brothers Thomas and Henry die ? Had he more than one sister ? Canon Jessopp wrote to The Athenceum in July, 1893, that two brothers of the murderer " were prowling about Norwich " as late as 1873. Since then, I believe, some descendants of John Thurtell, senior, have emigrated to South Africa.
3. In the Muster Books of the ships Thur- tell served on from June, 1809, to February, 1814, I find many seamen entered as " widows' men " in lieu of names : I also find many seamen receiving an allowance for " dead men's cloathes." * What do these entries mean ?
4. What has The Norwich Mercury to say in its issues for 8, 15, 22 Nov., 1823, and 3, 10, 17 Jan., 1824 ? These are not in the British Museum, but have been referred to in * N. & Q.' or elsewhere.
ERIC WATSON.
[3. Annandale's four - volume ' Imperial Dic- tionary,' 1883, s.v. * Widow,' has : " Widows' men are imaginary sailors, borne on the books, and receiving pay and prize money, which is appro- priated to Greenwich Hospital (Marryat)." Fuller information will be found at 9 8. v. 254.]
THE IDEN BRASS AT PENSHURST. Could any one help me to elucidate the heraldry of the brass to Paul Iden in Pens- hurst Church ? He died 1514. In an early number of Walford's Antiquary, c. 1880, the writer says that one of the Iden impale- ments was that of Guilford ; but this must be an error, as the arms indicated in the brass have the saltire engrailed, whereas the Guilford saltire is plain. I suggest that it stands for Beaufitz, and possibly indicates the widow of Sir John Scott (ob. 1485), who was Agnes Beaufitz. Then of the four sur- rounding shields, whom could the third (lower dexter) one indicate ? and why does it stand alone, without any Iden attachment ? Is there any correlation between a deceased and the arrangement of arms round the brass ? I can find nothing in books on the subject. JCould the third shield aforesaid,
which has three lions ramp., stand for a
deceased ancestor of paramount import-
ance ? Paul Iden left a widow Anne, and
an heiress who married Edward Shelley,
ancestor of the poet, and The Antiquary
paper was in reference to a supposed Guil-
ford descent through Iden, which, as far as-
I know, has remained uncontradicted.
W. L. KING. Wadesmill, War .
GEORGE COTTERELL, BANKER, NAPLES.. Information is wanted respecting the above and the present whereabouts of any descendants. George Cotterell befriended Keats the poet when he arrived at Naples in October, 1820, and it is in connexion with a Life of Keats that I am asked by a friend to make the above inquiry. Any information as to Cotterell's antecedents or descendants will be appreciated.
HOWARD H. COTTERELL,
F.R.Hist.S., F.R.S.A.
Foden Road, Walsall.
MEDIAEVAL BELL. At the parish church of St. Michael-on-Wyre, in the Hundred of Amounderness, Lancashire, is a bell with the following inscription in black-letter characters, which has not, I believe, yet been noted :
en . Ian . m . cccc . e . Iviii . fu . fette . e . donnee . ceste . cloquee . par . Caterine . de . bernjeules demoiselle . clu . nieuchastel . e . darquenies . e . de.[ ]
The brackets denote a long word of some four- teen or fifteen letters, difficult to decipher, but which is something like "Bnincluingelen. ;r Possibly also what 1 read as " Darquenies " may be " darquemes." Can any of your readers throw any light on the inscription ,. or suggest who was Catherine de Bernieules ? There is no local knowledge or tradition con- cerning the bell as far as I am aware. I take it to be a French or Flemish bell which has found its way to Lancashire. Its diameter is 274 in. F. H. C.
OVER KENNETT, LANCASHIRE. Will any one familiar with Lancashire kindly tell mo where Over Kennett in the county of Lanes is to be found ? It was the only address to a will proved in January, 1656. Any in- formation that would be a guide to the- parish to which it belongs I should be grateful for. Was there at that date a house at Lancaster of that name ? la- there any tomb there to the memory of Thomas Robinson, who died December^ 1655 ? and if so, has it any coat of arms or other indication of the family to which he- belonged ? F. C. B.
