2»« S. VIII. Oct. 29. '69.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



357 



ten da3'S after the murder of Charles I. It ought to 

 have Marshall's plate, which occupies two pages, placed 

 after the Errata at the end of the Contents. The paginal 

 figures 253. are correctly printed in the copy before us. 

 Another edition appeared in the same year with the fol- 

 lowing imprint on the title-page: "Reprinted In R. M. 

 [Regis Memoriam] An. Dom. 1648." Pages 268. Mal- 

 colm Laing observes, that " had this work appeared a 

 week sooner, it might have preserved the King."] 



SIB RICHARD NANFAN AND CARDINAL WOLSEY. 



(2"^ S. viii. 228, 294.) 



In starting this subject, Armiger made three 

 inquiries. (1.) " Is it the fact that Cardinal Wolsey 

 was ever chaplain to Sir John Nanfan at Morton 

 Court, Worcestershire ? (2.) Can any of your 

 readers inform me how long Cardinal Wolsey was 

 an inmate of Morton Court ? and (3.) Who is 

 the representative of the ancient Cornwall family 

 of Nanfan ? " The answer to the two first ques- 

 tions is, that Wolsey was never chaplain to Sir 

 John Nanfan, and never at Morton Court. The 

 writer in p. 294. who signs Red Hat and Stock- 

 ings — and who, from his adopting the eulogistic 

 phrases of that " great and good man," and that 

 " fine baronial seat," seems to be a perfect echo 

 of Armiger, if not an alter idem, — too readily 

 assumes for granted that Morton Court was 

 " once the abode of that eminent ecclesiastic," 

 and that there must be " equal recognition of the 

 honour once conferred " on the " fine old baronial 

 residence " by " the presence of the cardinal," — 

 that " pious and learned priest," as he was called 

 by Armiger. The second writer proceeds to 

 say that " It appears that the cardinal was chap- 

 lain to John Nanfan, Esq., son and heir of Sir 

 Richard Nanfan, who was sheriff of Worcester- 

 shire in the first year of the reign of Henry VII., 

 Captain of Calais, and a knight and esquire of 

 the body to Henry VII." Now, the answer to 

 all this misapprehension lies in the passage (quoted 

 by T. E. W. in p. 294.) from Cavendish's Life of 

 Wolsey. We are told by that charming ^old 

 biographer, that Wolsey, having fallen into ac- 

 quaintance with " one Sir John Nanphant, a very 

 grave and ancient knight who had a great room 

 in Calais under King Henry the Seventh," be- 

 came his chaplain. In the position of a chaplain 

 it was then usual for clerks to acquit themselves 

 as the active servants of their patrons in secular 

 as well as spiritual matters, and very often they 

 were more busily engaged in the former than in 

 the latter capacity. So it was with him whom 

 Armiger styles " this learned and pious priest," 

 Thomas Wulcy, as he then wrote his name. 

 " Ilissaid master" (writes Cavendish) "admiring 

 his wit, gravity, and just behaviour, committed 

 all the charge of his office unto his chaplain, and 



(as I understand) the office was the Treasurer- 

 ship of Calais." Consequently, it was at Calais 

 that Wolsey was chaplain to Sir Richard Nan- 

 fant, and not at Morton Court ; for, as Cavendish 

 proceeds to relate, on the old knight returning to 

 England, " his chaplain was promoted to the 

 King's service, and made his chaplain." The late 

 Mr. Holmes, the last editor of Cavendish's Life 

 of Wolsey, has appended the following note to 

 the name of " Sir John Nanphant" : — 



" Probably a mistake for Sir Richard Nanfan of Birts- 

 morton in Worcestershire, who on the 21 Sept. 1485, was 

 made hereditary sheriff of Worcestershire, which ofHce, 

 however, he held onl}' two years, returning to the wars. 

 He was captain of Calais, and esquire of the bodj' to 

 Henry VII. The family became extinct in 1704." 



There is no doubt that Cavendish made a mis- 

 take in the old knight's Christian name, but he 

 was probably right in that of his office. Sir 

 Richard Nanfan was not Captain of Calais, i. e. 

 Captain of the Castle ; but Treasurer of the gar- 

 rison and government — an office especially re- 

 quiring able administration, and one in which 

 Wulcy would have the best experience that the 

 times afforded for " a sucking statesman." Dr. 

 Nash, the historian of Worcestershire, who was 

 not a very precise writer, has led the way to the 

 mistatement respecting the office : in his pedigree 

 of Nanfan he styles Sir Richard " treasurer of 

 Calais, and deputy-lieutenant of the same," but 

 in his narrative (vol. i. p. 86.), " Captain of 

 Calais." This misled Mr. Holmes, who fell into 

 another error in stating that Sir Richard " was 

 made hereditary sheriff of Worcestershire," for he 

 was only so appointed for life — ad terminum 

 vitce. (Nash, vol. i. pp»-xiv. xvii.) It may be 

 added, that he appears to have been living in 

 1502, when he presented to the church of Birts 

 Morton, and died before 1510, when his son John 

 presented to the same. 



Before I conclude, allow me to ask Red Hat 

 AND Stockings what are his authorities in speak- 

 ing of " Empson's house in Fleet Street, iier r 

 Temple Bar, which was occupied by the Cardinal 

 whilst Dean of Lincoln." I am aware of the ex- 

 istence of the painted board which designates a 

 certain hairdresser's shop as the palace op 



HENRY the eighth AND CARDINAL WOLSEY, and 



thereby " announces that it was once the palace 

 of that great and good man ; " but I have never 

 learned the origin of that proud assumption. 

 Among the few remains of old domestic architec- 

 ture that now linger in our metropolitan streets, 

 the house in question certainly presents an in- 

 teresting example of a decorated front : its car- 

 vings, however, are evidently complimentary to 

 the Trince of Wales in the reign of Charles the 

 First, or in that of James the First at the earliest. 

 To call it " the palace of Henry the Eighth " is 

 unquestionably the height of absurdity : and I 



