Communicated by Mr. James Waylen. 329 
in Devizes and a copyhold at Rowde, he was adjudged by the London 
Committee to pay £230. 
The examination of Richard Pearse, of the Devizes, woollen 
draper, June, 1646, touching the articles presented against William 
Thurman :— 
“Who to the first article, Saith—That Colonel Lunsford when he was Governor 
of Malmesbury for the King, sent a warrant unto the town of the Devizes for 
the raising of £400 to be brought unto him in short time ; upon which the said 
Mr. Thurman and Mr. Northey, with the consent of the Mayor and his company 
were sent to Malmesbury to the said Colonel to endeavour to get off or to mitigate 
the said fine of £400. And after their return home, not having prevailed in 
their message, a party of about two hundred horse were sent by the said Colonel 
to the Devizes to enforce the payment. Whereupon the inhabitants of the town 
endeavoured to raise the money, and having collected great part thereof, sent it 
to Malmesbury by the said Mr. Thurman and Mr. Northey. After which, a 
warrant arrived from one Captain Apsley, directing Mr. Northey to carry to 
Malmesbury the plate in his hands, which had been collected for the use and 
service of the Parliament; and about the same time, either another warrant from 
Colonel Lunsford or some other means were used to enforce payment of the 
residue of the £400; by which the said inhabitants were moved to collect it or 
as much as could be gotten, wherewith Mr. Thurman and Mr. Northey were by 
common consent to go a third time to Malmesbury. And this deponent saith 
that Mr. Northey took this opportunity to carry also the plate to Malmesbury, 
he having the particular charge and custody thereof; and Mr. Thurman meddled 
not with the plate as this deponent knoweth of; and he had moreover his 
travelling charges for these journeys borne by the town. As to the second 
article, he affirms that Mr. Thurman endeavoured to absent himself from the 
Assizes at Salisbury but was bound over, as this deponent discerned at the said 
Assizes by hearing him there called upon his recognizance.” 
The above evidence was taken by the section of the Wilts Com- 
mittee acting in the Parliament’s behalf, at that time sitting at 
Devizes, and consisting of John Goddard, Edward Martyn, Thomas 
Goddard, and Robert Brown, who thereupon expressed a desire that 
the London Committee would accept what Mr. Thurman had already 
paid as his “five and twentieth part” (the levy made on friends), 
and free him from further demands. Mr. Bradshaw being consulted 
on his case, said that if Mr. Thurman’s action at Salisbury constituted 
real delinquency, then the Wilts Committee’s power to compound 
with him might be questioned ; but if they were so authorised, then 
he must be distharged. Mr. Thurman evidently had the benefit of 
