326 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2n'« S. VI. 147., Oct. 23. '58. 



METHOrOLlTAN ARCHITECTS : SOUTH SEA HOUSE : 

 EXCISE OFFICE. 



I li.ivc been for some years compiling a list 

 of the architecture and architects of the me- 

 tropolis, and during the time I have failed to 

 discover the name of the architects of several 

 buildings. Two of tliem were of much importance 

 in their" day, so that it is still more curious that 

 so little has been recorded of their designer.-!, and 

 the dates of erection. I^Iay I avail myself of your 

 valuable journal to in(iuire if any of your readers 

 possess the information, or can refer me to any 

 one who is lilcely to know ? The first is the build- 

 ing still called "the South Sea House" in Thread- 

 needle Street. No work has given the date of its 

 erection, but one published in 17G0 describes the 

 building; and within the last month only I have 

 seen an engraving of it, which very curiously 

 shows the date of 17'25 upon the heads of the 

 two water-pipes. These dates are now not in ex- 

 istence, having been removed perhaps in the late 

 alterations. As the South Sea Company was 

 formed in 1711, we may presume that " 1725 " is 

 the date of the erection of the building. Now, who 

 was the architect ? 



The second building is the E.Kcise Office in Old 

 Broad Street, lately pulled down. This I have at 

 last found out was erected after 17G8, say about 

 1770. Who was the architect ? It is often attri- 

 buted to George Dance, Sen., but on no great au- 

 thority, and he died in the beginning of 1768. I 

 have lately been interested in the biography of 

 George Dance, Jun., R.A., and do not find that 

 this building can be given to him. It has also 

 been attributed to James Gandon ; but his mi- 

 nutely written memoir shows that he was born in 

 174'2, and therefore old enough to have been en- 

 trusted with its erection, but it does not mention 

 the building in any manner. Among my late 

 father's MSS. I found a memorandum, " Excise 

 Office by Robinson," who held, I believe, some 

 department in the then Board of Works, AVhite- 

 ball, and may, therefore, have been employed. 



It was a building of great merit, and, with many 

 of my friends, I should be glad to rescue the name 

 of the designer from its present oblivion. It is 

 only those who wish for similar information, and 

 will take the trouble to search for it, that can ima- 

 gine the little attention paid to these points in 

 former days, and even by more recent publica- 

 tions professing to give them record. 



■Wtatt PArwoRTii, Arcb. 



Ma. Grc.-kt Marlborough Street, \V. 

 Oct. 12. 1858. 



folk, is an incised slab to the memory of John 

 Awcocke, IGGO, on which are the following em- 

 blems and inscription : a skull, beneath which, in 

 saltire, a sceptre and pickaxe. In the spaces of 

 , the saltire are the following words : " Mors li- 

 gonibus sceptra a?quat." Is this a quotation or 

 not ? if a quotation, where from ? Ivoueut Fitch. 

 Norwich. 



JicynoUIs' Portrait of Garrick. — Can any of 

 your correspondents inform me of the present 

 whereabouts of the portrait of David Garrick 

 painteif by Sir Joshua Reynolds, representing the 

 great actor with the hands clasped, and resting on 

 the MS. of a prologue, on the composition of 

 which he is engaged. It is no doubt a most ex- 

 cellent portrait, and the engraving is easily met 

 with, but I wish if possible to trace the painting. 



Ei)w. Y. LowNE. 



I'o Five and Five. — Perhaps some contributor 

 of yours can give the answer to the following : — 



" To five ami five and forty five 

 The lirst of letters !\ilcl, 

 'Twill make a thiiif!; that (ileasod a king. 

 Ami drove a wise man mud."' 



The insertion of this will oblige 



LUNIAC. 



SStnor CiiuciicS. 



" il/or* ligoiiibus sceptra <e(/iuit." — On the floor 

 of the chancel of Buckenham Ferry church, Nor- 



Qitotation Wanted. — The following is one of the 

 nuittos on the floor of St. George's Hall, Liverpool. 

 From whence is it taken, and to what does the 

 original apply ? 



" Fortia facta raonet curarum et dulce levamen." 



C. DE D. 



2'he Family of Ilcwett of Millbrooh and Ampt- 

 hill. — When did the estates in Bedfordshire, once 

 belonging to this family, pass away from it ; was 

 the lapse caused by default of heirs, and to whom 

 did the lands pass? Are there any memorials of 

 this family remaining in the parish of Ampthill, 

 and if so, what ? J. F. N. II. 



The Matches Famili/. — Can any of your cor- 

 respondents furnish me with the original and 

 proper spelling of the name of a family now called 

 " Matches." They settled in Cumberland some 

 thirty years ago, having previously lived in the 

 Orkney Isles. Dev. Mornet. 



Chai-les Steward of Bradford-on-Avon. — On 

 the north side of the chancel of the parish church 

 of Bradfbrd-on-Avon, near the east end, is a large 

 and striking marble monument in memory of a 

 " Charles Steward." It contains a full-length 

 figure, habited in the well-known costume of the 

 time of James II. Who " Charles Steward" 

 may have been is not known, but tradition says 

 that he was of the royal line of " Steward " (or 

 " Stuart"), though this may have arisen from the 

 fact of his crest being a " /■CirnZ crown." He lived 

 at Cuiuberwell, a hamlet in this parish, though 

 whether as owner or simply occupier is uscer- 



