60 SPORTING PARSONS OF THE OLD SCHOOL : 



Sir Francis Wolley, M.P. for Hazelmere, son of Sir 

 John Wolley, Latin Secretary to Queen Elizabeth, in 1609, 

 bequeathed his Lordship of the Manor of Thorpe St. Mary, 

 Surrey, to his cousin, the above William Minterne, Lord of 

 the Manor of Batcombe and "Woodward and Custos of 

 all the woods in Dorset," whose family in the female line — 

 the Leigh-Bennetts — own the Manor at the present day. 



This was a very important Court appointment, when the 

 "wooden walls" constituted England's first line of defence, 

 and the extensive forests were also closely preserved for the 

 diversion of the Court. 



In the Church of Batcombe, dedicated to St. Mary, is a 

 chapel built as a burying place for the Minterne family, and 

 in the south aisle, formerly belonging to the Minterne's of 

 Newland, upon a broken stone which belonged to a monu- 

 ment now destroyed, were the arms of Minterne, viz. : 

 " Azure, two bars barry ar. between three lions passant 

 guardant or " : the same as on a monument in Yetminster 

 Church impaling Browne of Frampton Court. 



Descendants of this ancient sporting family are to be 

 found in the U.S.A., where the name is spelled Minturn ; 

 here they settled in 1620, and have attained considerable 

 eminence as Senators, Judges, Lawyers and Merchants ; 

 their public spirit and philanthropy being manifested in 

 the erection and endowment of hospitals and other institu- 

 tions in the City of New York, and elsewhere.* 



An i8th Century Sporting Parson. 



In the " Alumni Oxoniensis " Members of the University 

 of Oxford, 1715-1886 (by T. Foster, 1888), maybe found 

 the name of " Henry Mintern, matric. 10 March 1717, B.A. 

 1721," who was Rector of Cheddington, Dorset, 1723-41 ; 



* Within the last half-century several members of the expatriated branch have 

 become re-united to the Old Country by marriage into families who may be found in 

 the Peerage, Baronetage, and landed gentry of Great Britain. 



