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Zi)t lUjgmctr (ZEfjroutclc of gfo^u i^avestaffc. 



SUDBURY AND THE VERNONS. 



Edited by the Rev. J. Charles Cox, LL.D., F.S.A. 



]NE of the most interesting manuscripts in the valuable 

 library of Sudbury Hall is a volume of rhymed annals 

 of the family of Vernon, written by one who for 

 fifty years was their faithful agent and confidential clerk. The 

 book, which is of paper with a parchment cover, is endorsed, 

 " John Harstaff's Poetry whilst he lived at Sudbury, 1635, OI " tne 

 Vernon family and concerns ; " it is in good condition, and seems 

 to have been always valued. For its better preservation, the late 

 Lord Vernon placed it in a morocco case. In 1876 I had the 

 opportunity kindly afforded me of making considerable extracts 

 from the original manuscript, and of carefully examining it 

 throughout. The present Lord Vernon (the seventh Baron) has 

 now (1887) given generous permission for the whole of Hare- 

 staffe's poetry to be copied for the benefit and instruction of the 

 members of the Derbyshire Archaeological Society. These annals 

 give a singularly vivid picture of country life in the time of Eliza- 

 beth and James, and a wonderfully close insight into the tortuous 

 and not very limpid streams of litigation ; they also afford a few 

 most interesting glimpses into national history, giving some realistic 

 touches pertaining to the great men of the time, such as Sir 

 Robert Cecil and the unhappy Earl of Essex. 



John Harestaffe wrote by far the greater part of his chronicle in 

 161 5, but the latter part could not have been penned till some 

 years later, as mention is made of the new manor house. The 



