daughter and heir of Sir Nathan Wright of Cranham Hall, a member of a family of Essex recusants. In 1754 the "wholesale manufacture of titles to vote by splitting up freeholds, etc., was adopted," and as a result the Whig candidates scored a decisive victory against him. Dr. King, the venerable Jacobite leader in the University of Oxford, wrote an electoral ballad (now very rare) entitled the "Cow of Haslemere," a small hostelry which had eight calves,' each one of which represented two votes for the Whigs. Muilman and his colleague were unsuccessful, polling only 34 votes to 52 for their opponents. Their patrons also incurred severe censure, at the ensuing petition, for the way in which they still further split and divided their properties for the purpose of creating votes. One of the songs used on this occasion runs— A prig from the North all your Votes does Implore, (Chorus) Then vote for no Tike or Dutch Sooterkin, and true to your Party, for Molyneux and Webb Agen and Agen. The other verses are about up to sample, and contain nothing more pertinent than the line-" Shall Dutchmen presume to give Brittons their Laws," which came rather oddly from supporters of the Glorious Revolution. In view of these facts Peter Muilman's remarks, dated 1774,' read rather appositely I told the Ministry I had a Plan agst Bribery and Corruption at Elections Now as to Political Matters, Elections, &c., no man but an Essex man shd be permitted to stand for the County or Burrows a foundamental Rule, no ways to be gone off of, shd an East or West Indian or any other forreigners offer to force himself by Bribery, Corruption or Debauchery, he should be warned off. Perhaps the recollection of the electoral expenses incurred by his son some thirteen years before, moved the historian to this highminded protest against the prevalent electoral corruption. G. RICKWORD. 1 E.R., v. 5, p. 120. Colchester Gild of St. Helen.-Though somewhat late in the day, it seems desirable that the Transactions should contain a record of the sale by auction by Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods, on June 6th, 1913, of a fine bronze seal of the famous Colchester Gild of Helen, founded according to Morant in 1407. The catalogue entry is appended. There are two impressions from the seal in the Colchester Museum. Sigillum fraternitatis gilde. sce. Elene Colcestrie"; a large tau cross supported by two kneeling angels, the faces turned to the front; the whole within a Gothic niche with double canopy. Bronze, circular, 55 mm. diam.; massive handle with triloba head; late fourteenth century (sic). The price realized was 63 guineas. 66 G. R. REVIEWS OF ESSEX BOOKS: Walthamstow Antiquarian Society's Monographs Nos. 1-5. THE Walthamstow Antiquarian Society, founded in 1915, and affiliated with the Essex Archælogical Society, is doing most excellent work in this Metropolitan corner of the County, and, in addition to its other activities, has issued in the three years of its existence, five monographs. These are all from the facile pen of Mr. G. F. Bosworth, F.R.G.S., one of our own members, who has made a lifelong study of the town's history, the intention being, primarily, to deal with the manors. They are all in uniform large 4to. size and are illustrated with maps, plans, photographs, and reproductions of old prints, excellently printed, locally, and on good paper. Monograph No. 1, issued in 1915, deals with the manor of Walthamstow Toni or High Hall. At the time of Edward the Confessor there were two manors in Walthamstow, both held by Earl Waltheof, from whom they came to his wife Judith, a niece of William the Conqueror, and the entry in Domesday Book is given. Walthamstow, the larger of the two, came to the portion of Waltheof's daughter Alice, who married Robert de Toni, by whose name it was subsequently known. Its subdivision and descent through various owners is fully shown and details are given of the successive proprietors. A most valuable list of tenants, with their holdings, and an index of the field names on the map, which forms the frontispiece, compiled by Mr. G. E. Roebuck, is included. No. 2, issued 1916, is a history of St. Mary's Church, with three illustrations and a ground plan, specially prepared for this work. From its foundation in 1108 to the present day its story is told: the bells, church plate, monuments and the churchyard all are dealt with, and a list of the vicars, from 1326 to the present incumbent, is given with some biographical detail of the more noteworthy. No. 3, issued 1916, tells the story of George Monoux, Lord Mayor of London in 1514-5 and M.P. for that city in 1523, a Walthamstow resident and benefactor. Among other good works he built the tower and north aisle of the church in 1535, and founded and endowed the Grammar School and Almhouses in 1527, both of which institutions are still flourishing. He died in 1543 and is buried in the church, where there is a brass to him and his wife. This number has four illustrations of the Grammar School and the Almshouses. No. 4, issued 1917, contains the history of the Rectory Manor from its formation in 1108. From this date until the surrender to Henry VIII. in 1531 it belonged to the prior and canons of Christ Church or Holy Trinity, London. Its ownership until the sale of the estate in 1897 is fully traced, and some account is given of the Manor House, at one time occupied by Sir William Batten, where he was visited by Pepys. Its last occupier was Mr. David Howard, for long a member of our Society. The grant of the manor by the king to Paul and Edmund Withypool, in 1544, is printed in extenso, and a Calendar of the Courts held from 1544 to 1764 is also given. Two illustrations and three plans embellish this number. No. 5, issued 1918, is devoted to the manor house of Higham Bensted, now known as Essex Hall, a picturesque old mansion overlooking the Lea valley. This house, the most ancient in the parish, was visited by the Society on the occasion of the Walthamstow excursion in 1915. Queen Elizabeth is traditionally said to have presented the house to the earl of Essex and visited him there, and a spring in the grounds is still known as Queen Elizabeth's well. In 1801 the Rev. Eliezer Cogan, minister of the Presbyterian congregation in Marsh street, established his well-known school in this house and lived here until his death in 1855. Many boys who afterwards became celebrated received their education here, the best known being Benjamin D'Israeli, afterwards earl of Beaconsfield, who was under Dr. Cogan's tuition and roof from his thirteenth to his seventeenth year, and frequently visited his old school after he had become famous--the last occasion being in 1861. No less than eleven admirable illustrations and portraits are included in this Monograph. The whole five reflect the greatest credit upon compiler and printer, and are a striking illustration of the interesting features of a district which has completely changed its character during the last thirty years. Collectors would do well to secure copies of these Monographs, the issue of which is limited, and other Antiquarian Societies should emulate the laudable example of Walthamstow. STEPHEN J. BARNS, Local Secretary for the Becontree Hundred. Ye Olde Village of Hornchurch. BY C. T. PERFECT. WHILE making no pretence at profundity, our member, Mr. C. T. Perfect, has produced a very readable little handbook to this interesting village and parish. Most of the recognized authorities have been consulted and laid under contribution, and a full account is given of the ancient and modern industries, now, or formerly, carried on in the village. Space is devoted to local institutions, social and philanthropic, and sport, particularly cricket, receives its due meed of attention. The religious life of the parish is traced, and everything of local interest, from the parish pump to cockfighting, is touched upon in its turn. The most interesting feature is the full description of the many old houses and the personages who inhabited them. They are mostly of eighteenth and nineteenth century date, a period often presenting difficulties to the local topographer, and the information now permanently put upon record will prove of lasting value, if, and when, the development of building enterprise sweeps away these older houses and covers the spacious grounds with modern erections; a process already, unfortunately, begun. Well and plentifully illustrated, with a cover design by Mr. W. Gurney Benham, this little volume of 145 pages gives in popular form a pleasing sketch of the village and its life, and is furnished with a very desirable adjunct in a good and comprehensive index. S. J. B. |