538 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 162. 



Francis Waller was great-uncle, not grandfather, 

 to the poet. Several documents (among the rest, 

 the writ of " oustre les maynes " for Edmund 

 Waller the poet) all led to the presumption that 

 the poet's father, Robert, was the posthumous 

 child of Francis, alluded to in the said Francis's 

 will. But, from the evidences cited below, it 

 would seem that this Robert was the son of Ed- 

 mund, the brother and heir in remainder of 

 Francis. 



In my former communication, my object being 

 solely to answer the Query relative to Mrs. Pope, 

 I neglected to test my conjecture as to the rela- 

 tionship of the poet to Francis Waller, by a more 

 extended examination of charters, and lose no 

 time in acknowledging my error. 



Tewars asks for the early pedigree. I subjoin 

 the deductions I have made from the family mu- 

 niments, with the evidences. 



13th January, 1548-9. Francis Waller's will: — 

 *' To Anne, my wife, the lands, &c. which I late 

 bought of my brother Ralph, and my mansion- 

 house at Beaconsfield, as long as she remains un- 

 married." If she marry, to be put to the best 

 uses for the child of which she is now pregnant. 

 To which child he also gives all his lands, &c. in 

 Beaconsfield, in Bucks, or Herts, or elsewhere. 

 In default, " to my two brothers, Thomas and 

 Edmund AValler, to be divided between them. In 

 default, to Francis Waller, son of my brother 

 Ralph. In default, to the heirs of my sister Pope 

 and my sister Davys." " To my brother Dabney's 

 children, 20Z." " To my brother Pope, my black 

 gelding." " To my brother Davys, a standing cup 

 with cover." " To my brother Gretham, a goblet." 



1 2 



Robert Waller = Elizabeth = Thomas Ball, 



died 1558. I 1558. will 1558. 



13th October, 1558. Thomas Ball of Beacons- 

 field, yeoman, in his will leaves — "To my son 

 Edmund Waller, and his wife Cecil, 100/.," &c. 

 " To my god-daughter Francis Pope, 40.s., payable 

 at coming of age or marriage." " To my son 

 Robert Dawbeny, 20s." He states also, " My 

 wife Elizabeth acknowledges nothing of her hus- 

 band Robert AValler's will to be unpaid, but 

 Robert Waller's portion, which Thomas Waller 

 will see discharged;" to which Thomas he leaves 

 four messuages. " To Anthony Waller, 20/." 



15th June, 1644. A deed to lead to the uses 

 of a tine, wherein Edmund Waller (the poet) of 

 Beaconsfield, Esq., covenants to levy a fine of the 

 manor, advowson, &c. of Knotting, Beds., and the 

 lands, &c. which the said Edmund Waller has in 

 Knotting and Soulthorp, Beds., formerly pur- 

 chased by Edmund Waller, grandfather of the 

 said Edmund, and Robert Waller, Esq., father of 

 the said Edmund, from William Pope of Croxton 

 in Oxon., Esq., and the messuage, lands, &c. in 

 Knotting, Odell, and Soulthorp, heretofore pur- 

 chased by the said Robert Waller of Thomas 

 Boteler of Biddenham in Beds., Esq., free of all 

 charges, except the jointure of Anne Waller, 

 mother of said Edmund Waller, Esq. 



20th June, 1629. Writ of "oustre les maynes," 

 citing that Robert Waller died 26th August, 1616; 

 that Edmund Waller was his son and heir ; and 

 that, on 4th October in same year, the said Ed- 

 mund was ten years old. 



The subjoined pedigree may, I think, be fairlyy 

 though perhaps not conclusively, deduced from the 

 above documents : — 



Francis Waller = Anne, 

 will 1549. 1549. 



Thomas, 

 1549, 

 1558. 



I 

 Edmund 



1549, 

 1558. 



Cecil, 



1558. 



Ralph = 



Robert Waller: 

 ob. 1616. 



: Anne. 



Francis, 



1549. 



Four daughters, of whom — 



One married — Pope, who had a 

 daughter Fran- 

 ces inf. aet. 1558; 

 another married — Gretham ; 

 another married — Davys ; 

 another married — Dawbeny, 

 N.B. Apparently there was another, 

 Alice, married to — Smyth, 



Edmund Waller, 

 a;t. 10 in 1616, who lived in and owned the mansion-house in Beaconsfield. 



I have not been able to ascertain, from certain 

 authority, when the Wallers of Beaconsfield 

 branched off from the main stock at Groombridge 

 in Kent. 



In Sir Edward Dering's MS. copy of a Visit- 

 ation of Kent, by Mr. Philpot, Rouge Dragon, 

 1619 and 1620, we have Richard Waller, eldest 

 son of John Waller (the second son of John 



Waller of Groombridge, by Joan, daughter of 

 William Whetenhall), described as of Beacons- 

 field, and as having a son Robert by his wife Anne. 

 No dates are given ; but this Robert, by his posi- 

 tion in the pedigree, may well have been the 

 Robert at the head of our pedigree. 



Should Tewars wish for further information, I 

 shall be happy to give all that is in my possession ; 



