26 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1794. 



A dreadful fire took place at Bos* 

 ton nearly ^t the the same timca? zhe 

 late shocKing firt at Radcliffe, Lori- 

 don ; and, what is very rt markable, 

 from the same ciuse (the b' 'img 

 over a pitchrk'^ttle), which bur it 

 yf\i\i such rapidity as to cuiibun;'; 

 pearly oncTfouith of the place, di^r 

 •troying severiil \vharfs and sto es in 

 a few hours. The IoS3 of prf jcrty 

 is estimated at ioo,opol. st- rlmg, 

 and, it is hclievcd, the whi^l- is un- 

 insured; if that is true, it will occa- 

 sion the ruin of many very rtspi-ct- 

 ijble families. 



An action was tried at the last 

 'Shrewsbury assizes, before a special 

 jury, brought by two young gentle- 

 men of the name of Passinghann, 

 jigainst a Mrs. Llpyd* of Chester, to 

 recover estates of the value »f 

 1 50,oocl., which she had enjoyed 

 for 20 years, The plaintiffs pro- 

 fJuced 104 witnesses in support of 

 their claim, which was clearly esta- 

 blished 5 and the jury returned a 

 verdict m their favour. 



One hundred and five snakes, in 

 pne nest, were discovered and kiU 

 led in a dunghill, at Haksbury, in 

 AVilts. 



Stanley, who was lately executed 

 at llcliestcr, was about three year> 

 since elected king of the G> psies.— - 

 Ills wife and daughter attended at 

 the place of execution, and were 

 not more remarkable for the beauty 

 of their persons than for the very 

 costly appearance of their dress. 



The Duchess of Marlborough has 

 just built and endowed six aims- 

 houses at Elcnlnini ior the residence 

 of as many indigent females, who 

 arc to have an annu'ty of lol. each, 

 and linen and fuel, for life. 



Died. AtPaidmgtoi, Georpe 

 Colraan.esq. patentee of the theatre- 

 royal Haymarl.ct, Further particu- 



lars of this gentleman will be given 

 in a subsequent part of this volume. 

 In the Fleet prison, after an im^. 

 pilsonnicnt of eleven years and three 

 months, in his 67th year, Benjamin 

 Pope, ci-q. He was iicarly as re-« 

 markabic a character a$ old Elwes, 

 of penurious memory. He wa? 

 originally a tanner in Souihwark, 

 and deult so largely and extensively 

 in this branch, that his stock in 

 trade was for in:'.ny years supposed 

 to be worth 6(j or yo.cqol, In the 

 latter p^rt of his time in thjs trade, 

 and when he was well known to be 

 worth so much rr^oncy as to be 

 called Piumb Pope, he took to the 

 lending of money, discounting, 

 and buyii.g annuities, mortgages, 

 iVc In this branch of business, it 

 appears, Mr. Pope was not so suc- 

 cessful as in his former trade ; for 

 the name of Pope the usurer every 

 now fir^d then appears in the pro'. 

 ceedings of cure -rirts pf law, when 

 our sagts in the iavv comqionly dif-? 

 fercd widely from Mr. Pope in 

 their opinion of his, practices in this 

 branch of business. The most rt^ 

 niarkable spd the last instance of 

 this sort, was, when he was cast in 

 jOjCpoI. damages for sonie usurious 

 01 illegal practices in some money 

 transaciions witli sir Alexander 

 L-itir. This was gpncrally thoyght 

 a smart sentence, aud perhaps the 

 wpll-known and well acogted cha^ 

 nicter of ilie man ontrlbute^J not a 

 little tov/ards it, Mr. Pope himself 

 thought it so oppressive and uii-. 

 just, thitt he never, in all his life 

 afterwards, left •'F complaining 

 loudly of it, and even printed ^ 

 case, setliiig fqrth the hardship 

 and great loss he suffered. At first 

 Mr. Pope, to be even with hid 

 plaintiff, went abroad to France 

 with all his effects aud property, 



where 



