12 S. V. JULY, 1919.]
NOTES AND QUERIES.
181
FISH-YARD. Can, any of your readers
kindly inform me, or give me references, as
to the meaning of " fish-yard," as found so
often in the ' Records of the Honour of
Halton ' ? A typical quotation is as
follows : " On Mar. 30, 1672, a tenant at
Thelwall was fined for the old offence of
making his fish -yard in the midstream of the
Mersey." G. A. DUNLOP.
Warrington Museum.
FENNER FAMILY. The Sussex Record Society's vol. iii. contains on p. 41 the following :
" John Fenner of Amberley, Esq., died 25 Dec., 9 th Elizabeth. Son and heir Dudley Fenner age 6 (?). Inq. at Steyninge 26 Sept., 9 th Elizabeth."
The ' D.N.B.' has an article on the Nonconformist Mr. Dudley Fenner (1558?- 1587), who is stated to have been born in Kent, " heire of great possessions," who was at Cranbrook in 1575-6 and again in 1583, ultimately retiring to Holland, where he died in 1587. Did the latter Dudley enter either of the Universities ? If so, is his parentage recorded ? R. J. FYNMORE. Sandgate.
BOULOGNE : REGISTERS AND EPITAPHS, &c. I have a note that the records of English births, marriages, and deaths at Boulogne-sur-Mer were transcribed by one Col. Tinley query when ? And where are they printed ? My note also says that some notice of these epitaphs in the Protestant Cemetery at Boulogne appeared in The British Architect in 1913. Is there any other work on these matters ? J. W. F.
THE MILLION BANK. In the 'D.N.B.' and elsewhere are mentions of Nathaniel Neal (the son of Daniel Neal, divine and historian, 1678-1743, and nephew of Nathaniel Lardner, Nonconformist author, 1683-1768) describing him as " an eminent attorney and secretary to the Million Bank." What was the institution thus named ?
W. B. H.
BLACKMAN AND SAMPSON FAMILIES OF SUSSEX. I should be obliged for any particulars concerning the ancestry of John Blackman of Hooe, Sussex (will dated June 7, 1789, proved at Lewes, Jan. 27, 1798), also of his wife, who was a daughter of Richard Sampson of Ninfield, Sussex. I have been unable to obtain a copy of ' Pedigree of Blackman of East Sussex,' by Mrs. Stephen Batson, 1901, broadside, which may contain some of the information I require. H. E. RUDKIN, Maj or.
21 Vanbrugh Park, Blackheath, 8.E.3. I
" THUNDER." Indian servants are said to
give the name " thunder -box " to a night-
stool. This is thought merely amusing.
But I find an evil odour, or rather the
mental effect of it, called " thunder " by
George Herbert (b. 1593). I quote from his
poem ' Content ' :
The brags of life are but a nine days' wonder, And after death the fumes that spring
From private bodies make as big a thunder As those which rise from a huge king.
The ' N.E.D.' does not seem to elucidate the usage. What I wish to know is : was it carried to India by English pioneers, or is its present existence a coincidence due to native ingenuity ? J. K.
South Africa.
BRESLAU. On looking through some un- published minutes of the Church of Scotland Presbytery of Shetland, I found that in the middle of the eighteenth century collections were made in the parish churches of Shetland for the churches in Breslau. Could any of your correspondents explain what it was in the circumstances of the time that called for this exercise of Christian charity ? JOHN WILLCOCK.
Lerwick.
THAMES TUNNELS : BIBLIOGRAPHY. In making some research into the biblio- graphy of the several Thames tunnels, both Brunei's achievement and its predecessors, I have met with some perplexing identifica- tions.
R. Dodd's proposal for the Gravesend- Tilbury " dry tunnel or passage " is familiar to me in his pamphlet ' Reports with Plans, Sections, &c.,' 1798, and the opposing critical " Observations on the Intended Tunnel,' &c., by Charles Clarke, F.S.A., 1799; but I believe Dodd's scheme was attempted so far as sinking a shaft on the Kent shore and then stopped owing to flooding from land springs. I am informed by a friend that he has seen pamphlets and lampoons on this failure of the project. Can any reader confirm this with a few bibliographical detail ?
On the Rotherhithe Driftway of 1809 I have failed to trace a single pamphlet or publication, yet it was actually constructed for over 1,000 feet or within 130 feet of the opposite shore. Did this undertaking and its partial success pass unnoticed and un- sung, except for the contemporary press ?
Apparently, M. J. Brunei's first pam- phlet was issued in 1824. The copy in my collection came from Sir William Tite's
