46 Bradford-upon- Avon. 
and other places in Somerset. At all events, we know that both 
Horton and Lucas were thriving clothiers here before the Refor- 
mation. And the words of Leland, already quoted, imply, that in 
the middle of the sixteenth century ‘cloth-making’ was very ge- 
neral here; the means, in fact, by which the town was supported. 
And from that time to the present, the history of our town is little 
more than a record of steady and often successful pursuit of the 
clothing trade; of large fortunes made, and frequently generously 
spent; in more instances than one, of coronets obtained by descen- 
dants of our wealthy manufacturers. Of some of them we shall speak 
presently ; meanwhile we must resume the regular course of our 
narrative. 
From a.p. 1600—1700. 
The seventeenth century, at which we have now arrived, was an 
important one in the history of our town. At the beginning of 
this period, we have the erection of that beautiful mansion, now 
called Kingston House, which has recently been so well restored by 
its present owner, Mr. Moulton. As its history has been so fully 
elucidated in a paper contributed to this Magazine! by our Secre- 
tary, Canon Jackson, it is unnecessary to say more than that it 
was probably built by John Hall, the head of the family at the 
time. For the same reason we need only mention that through 
the marriage of Elizabeth Hall (the heiress of another John Hall, 
grandson of the one who probably built the house, and who was 
Sheriff of Wilts in 1670) with Thomas Baynton of Chalfield, and 
the subsequent marriage of their daughter, Rachel Baynton, with 
the son of Evelyn, Duke of Kingston, the property came into the 
possession of that ducal family, and from that time the mansion 
has been called Kingston House. The issue of this marriage was 
the second and last Duke of Kingston, the father having died be- 
fore he came to the title. The second Duke married Elizabeth 
Chudleigh, adias the Honorable Miss Chudleigh, alias Mrs. Harvey, 
alias the Countess of Bristol, a lady whose career, to say the least, 
was not irreproachable. As they had no children, the property 
passed to the Duke’s sister, Frances Pierrepoint, who married 
1 Wilts Archeological Magazine, i. p. 265. 
