152 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2nds. N»34.,AvG, 23. '56. 



preserve tbem nov?^ than fifty years ago ; but they 

 are yet very much exposed to decay, wanton 

 nuitllation, and loss. I could point out more than 

 one parish in this county where they have, of 

 late yenrsj suffered much from damp ; and many 

 where the clerk has the key of the box in which 

 they are kept, and will show them to any well- 

 dressed stranger who will give him a shilling. A 

 pamphlet by William Downing Bruce, Esq., F.S. A., 

 on the condition of parish registers *, contains an 

 accumulation of facts bearing on this point, suffi- 

 cient 1o convince any one that they are now fre- 

 quently not in safe custody. For instance, the 

 writer states, that in 1845 he made copious ex- 

 tracts from the register of Andover, in Hampshire, 

 " but, that on visiting that place for the purpose 

 of a supplementary search, I found that these 

 books were no longer in existence; and those 

 which remained Avere kept in the rectory-house, 

 in a damp place under the staircase, and in a 

 shameful state of dilapidation." A few lines 

 farther on, we read of a register book discovered 

 " in a tattered state behind some old drawers in 

 the curate's back-kitchen." Of another rescued 

 by an antiquary from " among a quantity of waste 

 paper in a cheesemonger's shop." And of a parish 

 clerk who used all the registers of South Otter- 

 ington, preceding the eighteenth century, con- 

 taining entries of the families^of Talbot, Herbert, 

 and Falconberg, for waste paper : a considerable 

 portion going " to singe a goose." 



If some means were taken for binding and re- 

 storing those that are torn and decayed, many 

 would be preserved. 1 have more than once sug- 

 gested, when examining a torn, coverless document 

 of this kind, that it should be well bound, and other- 

 wise cai'efully mended ; but have almost always 

 been met by the objection, that it ought not to go 

 out of the possession of the minister of the parish. 

 In one case where that difficulty had been re- 

 moved, the churchwardens refused to pay the 

 necessary expense. 



It is, I suppose, generally known that transcripts 

 of parish registers exist, or ought to exist, in the 

 various episcopal registries. I have never had 

 occasion to consult any excepting such as relate 

 to this county. Those preserved at Lincoln, I 

 found very badly kept. When I made a search 

 there in 1854, some of the early ones were ar- 

 ranged in years : the later ones, written on the 

 printed forms, were thrown about in bundles on 

 the floor. No return whatever could then be 

 fdund for the parish of Kirton-in-Lindsey, al- 

 though I have certain proofs that returns had 

 been made. I asked the elerkj who was assisting 

 mej what Was contained in a large deal chest or 



* A Litter tt> R. Monckton Milnes, Esq., M.P., on the 

 Condition and Unsafe State of Ancient Parochial Registers 

 in England and the Coloniesi 1850. London ; liidgway. 



packing-box, then standing in the room we were 

 in. He did not know, he assured me. However, 

 I had had some experience of the place before, 

 and thought it might very possibly contain the 

 transcripts I wanted; so I looked within, and 

 found it nearly full of copies of parish registers 

 (many of them very old) in such a state of dis- 

 order, dirt, and decay, as I am loath to describe. 

 On my remarking to the clerk that, of course, now 

 that these tilings were discovered, the registrar 

 would take care to have them cleaned and ar- 

 ranged, he said : " No, it is not likely he will 

 spend any money on them now, as the court will 

 soon be abolished. 1 am sure he will not meddle 

 with them." 



These copies are, I believe, legal evidence, and 

 are the more valuable, as they will almost always 

 supply the vacancies caused by the loss or injury 

 of the originals in the parish churches. It is to 

 be hoped that when the wills, and all other testa- 

 mentary documents, are removed to the proposed 

 new offices (see the Solicitor General's Wills and 

 Administration Bill), these records will not be 

 permitted to remain in their present custody, but 

 be deposited with the Registrar Greneral ; in whose 

 hands they will be well cared for, and easily 

 accessible. Edwaud Peacock. 



Manor I'arni, Bottesford, Brigg. 



GREAT EVENTS FROM SMALL CAUSES. 

 (2"'J S. il. 43.) 



Your correspondent F. S. says truly that co- 

 pious instances might be cited in illustration of 

 the truth that " great events from little causes 

 spring." One pregnant with mightier results 

 could not perhaps be quoted than that which I am 

 about to mention, and which is doubtless familiar 

 to most of your readers. 



When many Puritans emigrated or were about 

 to emigrate to America in 1637, Cromwell, either 

 despairing of his fortunes at home, or indignant at 

 the rule of governmetit which prevailed, resolved 

 to quit his native country, in search of those civil 

 and religious privileges of which he could freely 

 partake in the New World. 



Eight ships were lying in the Thatiies, ready to 

 sail ; in one of them, says Hume (quoting Mather 

 and other authorities), were embarked Hazelrig, 

 Hampden, Pym, and Cromwell. A proclamation 

 was issued, and the vessels were detained by Order 

 in Council. The king had indeed cause to rue 

 this exercise of his authority. In the same year 

 Hampden's memorable trial — the great case of 

 Sliip Aloney — occurred. What events rapidly 

 followed ! 



In the last Number of the Quarterly Review 

 (1 97), upon Guizot's works on the civil war, the con- 



