THE THOROTON SOCIETY.

President:

HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF PORTLAND.

Vice-Presidents:

HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE

THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL MANVERS

THE RIGHT REV. THE LORD BISHOP OF SOUTHWell

THE RIGHT HON. LORD BELPER

THE MAYOR OF NOTTINGHAM, ALDERMAN FRASER, D.C.L.

THE VERY REV. R. GREGORY, DEAN OF S. PAUL'S, LONDON REV. CANON TREBECK, M.A.

JOHN E. Ellis, Esq., M.P.

JOHN G. B. THOROTON-HILDYARD, ESQ.

G. W. MARSHALL, ESQ., LL.D., ROUGE CROIX

Council:

THE RIGHT HON. LORD HAWKESBURY, F.S.A., Chairman

WILLIAM BRADSHAW, Esq.

PERCY J. CROPPER, ESQ.

REV. A. J. L. DOBBIN, B.A.

James Gow, Esq., M.A., LL.D.

M. I. JOYCE, Esq., LINCOLN'S INN

MRS. CHAWORTH MUSTERS, OF WIVERTON

JOHN RUSSELL, ESQ., M.A.

MRS. STAUNTON, of STAUNTON
W. H. STEVENSON, ESQ., M.A.

G. H. WALLIS, Esq., F.S.A.

JAMES WARD, Esq.,

REV. R. H. WHITWORTH, M.A., F.R.H.S

JOHN C. WARREN, ESQ., M.A., Hon. Treasurer
REV. J. STANDISH, B.A.,

W. P. W. PHILLIMORE, ESQ., M.A., B.C.L.,

} Secretaries,

Hon.

CONTENTS.

I.-Coins, Medals and Tokens.

II.-Books.

III. Bookbindings.

IV. Manuscripts.

V.-Letters, Documents, &c.

VI. Ex Libris and Seals.

VII.-Newspapers.

VIII. Paintings in Oils and Water Colours.

IX.-Miniatures.

X.-Engravings, (Portraits and Views).

XI.-Maps and Photographs.

XII.-Lace and Embroideries.

XIII. Silver and Pewter.

XIV. Bronzes and Brasses.

XV. Pottery, &c.

XVI.-Miscellaneous.

ELBECK ABBEY, the seat of the Duke of Portland, lies about four miles south of Worksop, within a magnificent park, possessing all the varied charms of English scenery. One entrance to Welbeck is through magnificent hammered-iron, bronzed, oak-leaf gates, between the second and third of the five lakes. Shortly after entering the park we come into a green dell where stands the "Greendale Oak," a "Methuselah of trees" computed by different authorities to be from 800 to 1500 years old. In 1724 an aperture was cut through its bole large enough for a carriage and four to be driven through. An etching by George Vertue, in 1727, of this tree, shows a carriage and six horses being driven through. The Greendale Oak Cabinet, made for the Countess of Oxford, is one among the chief treasures of Welbeck furniture.

Before the coming of William the Conqueror, Welbeck, one of three manors in the parish of Cuckney, was in the hands of Sweyn the Saxon, and was subsequently held by Gamelbere as part of his manor of Cuckney. This with many other manors in Notts. was granted by the Conqueror to Roger de Busli. Gamelbere as a special privilege retained, says Thoroton, two carucates of land at Cuckney, on condition that he shod the King's horses, whenever the King came to his manor of Mansfield. Gamelbere died without issue, and Henry I. gave his portion to Joceus de Flamangh or Coste, who married a cousin of Earl Ferrers. Thomas de Cuckney, their son, a favourite of Henry I.,

nutritus in curiâ vir bellicosus in totâ guerrâ, built a castle at Cuckney (traces of which remain) and took an active part in the wars between Stephen and Henry, afterwards Henry II. When peace came, Thomas founded the Abbey of Welbeck, dedicated it to God and St. James, and granted it to the Order of the Premonstratenses. They were habited in white cassock, cloak and cap, and hence known as "White Canons.” In 1512 the church of St. James had become so great and famous that the custody of all the houses of this order (35 in number) was conferred on its Abbot.

Welbeck Abbey was dissolved by Henry VIII., and most of its lands sold to George Perpoynt for £617 6s. 8d., "the site of the Abbey and all the houses and lands beneath the site of it," Henry granted to Richard Whalley, and his heirs. Eventually this estate was purchased by Elizabeth, the Countess of Shrewsbury (Bess of Hardwick) and settled by her upon Sir Charles Cavendish, her third son, by her second husband, Sir Wm. Cavendish. William, the son and heir of Sir Charles, afterwards became the first Duke of Newcastle. There is a charming life of this great man by his second wife, Margaret Lucas. He was an unwavering follower of the fortunes of the Stuarts, and the mainstay of their cause. When defeat came, he spent sixteen years in exile, and was sometimes "so near being forced to starve, as not to know where his next meal was to come from." All his estates were confiscated, and Welbeck so thoroughly stripped by the spoilers, that nothing was left but “a few old feather beds fit for no use.”

The Abbey, says Thoroton, "lay buried in the ruin of its roof, when he inherited it. Upon and out of these ruins he raised his fine house." What is now the servants' hall may very well have been the refectory of the monks. Besides this, there are six smaller apartments, one with Norman doorway. These are on the right of the main passage; on the left are two others, and remnants of a staircase which led to the story above.

In 1623, while yet Viscount Mansfield, he built the old riding house just off the north-west corner of the Abbey. Besides being the greatest master of horsemanship and weapons of his time, he was something of a lyric and dramatic poet (“" as good as any" his wife says); fond of architecture and music; an incomparable master of his servants, who lived and died in his service; and though abstemious himself, a generous, bountiful, and splendid dispenser of hospitality. In 1676, he ended a life of varied fortunes amid the most stirring events, at the good old age of 84,