438 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 110. 



The bust is a mean and ill-executed one; al- 

 thou<Th a late "lady" authoress has a diiferent 

 opinion of its merits. It is stiff and wooden- 

 looking, and, still worse, the right cheek, and side 

 of the head too, are comparatively y?a<te)jefZ. Within 

 it, built into the wall, are the " restos," the dust 

 and bones, in the urn. Beneath the epitaph is a 

 date of " 1822" — the year, I presume, of the bust 

 being " set up." It stands abreast of the altar, 

 and on the right hand, the head of the bust being 

 about six feet from the ground. I visited the in- 

 teresting spot only a few days ago, as soon as pos- 

 sible after my landing, for the first time, in that 

 truly noble city the Havana (or, in the Spanish, 

 Habana). A. L. 



West Indies. 



caurrifiS. 



ADDITIONAi QUERIES RESPECTING GENERAL JAMES 

 WOLFE. 



(Vol. iv., pp. 271. 322.) 



I beg to thank the six gentlemen who have so 

 promptly and courteously responded to my Queries 

 respecting this admirable soldier. The informa- 

 tion they have communicated is valuable and in- 

 teresting, and tends to remove much of the ob- 

 scurity that had attended my researches into the 

 earlier portion of his history ; and I feel greatly 

 obliged to your correspondents. Still, some of my 

 Queries are unanswered, and I venture to repeat 

 these, in the hope that the information wanted may 

 be elicited. 



1. Where was James AVolfe educated ? 



2. Tl\s, first, and subsequent, military services? 



3. How long was he stationed in Scotland; on 

 what duty ; and in what places ? [He was in the 

 North in 1749 and 1750; but I have reason to 

 believe some years earlier.] 



4. Was he at the battle of Culloden, in 1746 ? 

 As some of the gentlemen, in kindly answering 



my inquiries, have raised certain points on which 

 additional information may be mutually given and 

 received, I take leave to offer the following re- 

 marks to these respondents, sei'iatim. 

 I. - To H. G. D. 



In corroboration of your statement, that the 

 correct date of Wolfe's birth is 2nd January, 1727 

 (not 1726, as alleged by some), I am enabled to 

 cite bis own authority. One of his autograph 

 letters in my possession, dated Glasgow, rSnd 

 April, 1749, states, "/am but twenty -two and three 

 months;" which answers precisely to your time. 



You mention that his mother came from, or near, 

 Deptford, and that her Christian name was Hen- 

 rietta. I am enabled to mention that her surname 

 was Thompson, and that her brother Edward was 

 member of parliament for Plymouth, prior to 

 1759. Does tUis give you any clue to AVolfe's 



mother's family ; and particularly whether his 

 maternal grandfather was a military man? 

 May I further inquire — 



1 . Whether Vfo\iV a father was a native of Wes- 

 terham ; or merely quartered there when his il- 

 lustrious son was born ? 



2. You allude to two houses at Westerham. 

 Were these General Edward AVolfe's property ; or 

 if not, what had led to the family residing there so 

 long, as they seem, from your remarks, to have 

 done ? 



3. Who was Sir Jeffrey Amherst, and in what 

 manner did he "patronise Wolfe"? Was he any 

 relation of the General Amherst, commander-in- 

 chief in British America, who was to have sup- 

 ported young Wolfe in the attack on Quebec in 

 1759. 



4. Who is the present representative of Wolfe's 

 family ? 



You mention that you are uncertain when and 

 where James Wolfe first served. I have expe- 

 rienced the very same difficulty. It seems strange 

 that his biographers have been so meagre in the 

 details of his life. It has been said that Wolfe's 

 first effort in arms was as a volunteer iinder his 

 father, in the unlucky expedition against Cartha- 

 gena, in 1740, commanded by Lord Cathcart. But 

 I cannot find proper authority for this. 



You farther state, that Wolfe was ardently 

 attached to Colonel Barre. It is curious enough 

 that their introduction to each other was chiefly 

 in consequence of a letter which Barre carried to 

 Wolfe, from the officer to whom Wolfe's letters in 

 my possession are addressed. In one of these, 

 dated "Portsmouth, 7th Feb. 1758," Wolfe, after 

 speaking favourably of Barre, states — 



" 1 did not know that Barre was your friend, nor 

 even your acquaintance. Now that I do know it, I 

 shall value him the more. . . I trust I shall have good 

 reasonto tlifink the man that mentioned him. Nay, I 

 am already overpaid, hy the little that I did, by draw, 

 ing out of his obscurity so worthy a gentleman. I 

 never saw his face till very lately, nor ever spoke ten 

 words to him before I ventured to propose hira as a 

 Major of Brigade." 



And he adds : 



" Barre and I have the great apartment of a three- 

 decked ship to revel in, but, with all this space, and 

 fresh air, I am sick to death. Time, I suppose, will 

 deliver me from these sufferings [sea-sickness], though 

 in former trials 1 never could overcome it," &c. 



I cordially assent to your encomium on Eng- 

 land's young general. 



II.— To YUNAFF. 



The lady to whom the affectionate and touching 

 lines you have quoted vrere addressed was ISIiss 

 Louther, a sister of Sir James Louther; rich, 

 highly accomplished, and most amiable. Wolfe 

 was to have been married to her, had he returned 



