Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 8.djvu/259

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12 s. vni. MARCH 12, 1921.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 209 on the opposite side to their old house, and that was their home till 1821. There appears to be no monument, not even a tablet, in the city to commemorate its most distinguished nineteenth-century native. J. J. B. (SJuems. WE must request correspondents desiring in- formation on family matters of only private interest to affix their names and addresses to their queries in order that answers may be sent to them direct. MERIDIANS OF LONDON AND OF GREEN- WICH. When was the meridian of London first used by map-makers ; was it always taken as passing through St. Paul's ; and when did that of Greenwich supersede it on maps ? In J. Adams's 'Index Villaris,' 1680, the "respective difference of longitude " of the cities, market-towns, &c., is "Eastward or Westward from London." The given longi- tude of London is zero. Next but one in order to London is London House, Bishop of London (Dr. Henry Compton), also zero.

  • A Description of the Windward Passage '

(Anon.), 1739, p. 4, says : "The Longitude is counted upon the Equator in Degrees proportionable to that of the Latitude, beginning at the tirst Meridian (which with us is that of London), and from thence is reckoned East and West for 180 Degrees each Way." In Thomas Salmon's ' Modern History ; or, The Present State of All Nations,' 3rd edn., 1744-46, the maps, by Herman Moll (d. 1732), give the longitude from London, excepting two world maps in which the first meridian is that of Ferro. Incidentally, I may mention that Salmon (vol. iii. p. 93) writes : "Ferro, the most westerly island of the Canaries, situate in 27 degrees odd minutes north latitude, and 'till lately made the first meridian by most nations." In Gough's Camden's 'Britannia,' 1789, excepting two appearing in the prefatory matter, all the maps have London as the first meridian. Several of these particu- larize St. Paul's, e.g., vol. i., in the 'Map of Surry ' the line is marked "Meridian of St. Pauls," and passes through the cathe- dral. Again, vol. ii. the ' Map of Middlesex ' has "Meridian of St. Pauls," the line passing through the cathedral. Some of these maps are inscribed " E. Noble, delin. & curavit," while all, excepting the aforesaid prefatory maps, have "En- graved by J. Gary." I presume that this J. Gary was the John Gary, Engraver & Map -seller, 181 -Strand, who published Jan. 1, 1793, 'Gary's New and Correct English Atlas : Being a New Set of County Maps ' ; and June 11, 1794, 'Gary's New Map of England and Wales, with Part of Scotland.' In the former the map of " South Britain " and the county maps have the longitude east or west from London. In the latter the general map and the sectional maps have the longitude east or west from Greenwich. This difference would prima facie indicate 1793-94 as the date of the change, but the work of drawing and engraving would no doubt in each case take a long time, so that probably their actual dates would be a good deal earlier. Indeed, although in the former nearly all the maps are dated Jan. 1, 1793, that of Leicester- shire is dated May 1, 1792, and those of Monmouthshire and Worcestershire, Sept. 1, 1787. In the latter all the sections which are dated, as nearly all are, have 1794, most of them June 11, while about a fifth of them are dated June 1. In any case it would appear that tha Greenwich meridian did* not supersede that of London on maps until over a century after the foundation of the Observatory. Was there ever in St. Paul's a meridian line like that in the church of San Petronio, Bologna, traced by Giovanni Domenico Cassini in 1652 or 1653 ? ROBERT PIERPOINT. THOMAS BUTLER (obit. 1621). In the south aisle of Frindsbury Church, near Strood, Kent, is a curious old memorial (apparently of painted or varnished wood) bearing the following inscription : Here Doth Thomas Buttler remaine That Sarved Queen Elizabethe all her Raine In Ingland France and Spane In Ireland Scotland with The Best And Heare in Grave his Corps doth Rest. A. D. 1621. Dennis, The wife of Thomas Buttler Was Buried The Second day of January A N O. Dom. 1607. Margaret, The wife of Thomas Buttler Was Buried The Third day of February A N 0. Dom. 1617. Could any reader of ' N. & Q.' supply any information concerning the services ren- dered to "Good Queen Bess" by this gentleman ? Were they of a naval or military nature ? H. HARDWICK. 8 Hallswelle Road, Golder's Green, N.W.ll.