By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 55 
in his army left in the house of Mr. Davison of Freshford, a pair 
of holster-pistols. Through a daughter of Mr. Davison who mar- 
ried the present Colonel Yerbury’s grandfather, the pistols came 
into the possession of that family. They were sent for exhibition 
in the temporary Museum formed on the occasion of the Meeting 
of the Wilts Archeological Society at Bradford, in August last. 
From 4.p. 1700.— 1800. 
We have now arrived at the commencement of the eighteenth 
century. By this time Bradford had considerably increased in 
population and in importance. Indeed, during the last quarter of 
the seventeenth century men and women flocked in from all quar- 
ters to obtain employment here. It was the custom in those days, 
that every such artizan, who might possibly become chargeable to 
the parish, before settling in Bradford should exhibit a certificate 
signed by the minister and churchwardens, and other public officers 
of his own parish, acknowledging his claim on them in the event of 
his falling into distress, and in such a case also covenanting to hold 
the parish in which he might settle harmless from all charges. A 
very large number of such certificates bearing date from 1670 
downwards, are still preserved in the parish chest. And even with 
this precaution, the parishioners of Bradford do not always seem to 
have been satisfied. They were evidently not a little jealous of the 
irruption into their borders of so large a company of ‘straungers.’ 
And hence the leading clothiers of the town often had to give an 
additional guarantee to the parishioners to prevent the possibility 
of their being put to any expense, even in the removal of the non- 
parochial residents. ‘Two deeds are now lying before the writer of 
these pages, one of them relating to a certain “Ann Lowden, of 
Bulkington,” who came hither in February, 1677-8, endorsed,— 
“Memorand: That Mr. Paul Methwin on Friday, Feb. 22, pro- 
mised the parish of Bradford to pay, at any time, for the removing 
of the sayd Anne Lowden to Bulkington ;”—and the other relating to 
a certain “John Emling of Standerwick, in the county of Somer- 
set,’’ who is described as a “ wooll-breaker,’ and who is said to be 
desirous of settling in Bradford, because ‘worke is more plenty 
