NOTES 



Page 3. John Offley. Son and heir of Sir John Offley, of Madeley, in the 

 county of Stafford, Knight, and great-grandson of Sir Thomas Offley, who was 

 Lord Mayor of London in 1557. John Offley, to whom this book is dedicated, 

 succeeded his father in 1646, and was twice married ; first to Dorothy, daughter 

 of Sir John Lidcott, of Mousley in Surrey ; and secondly, to Mary, daughter of 

 Thomas Broughton, of Broughton in Staffordshire. He died in 1658, leaving, by 

 his second wife, John, who was thirteen years old in 1663, Thomas, then aged 

 twelve ; and Mary, who became the wife of Sir Willoughby Aston, of Aston, in 

 the county of Chester, Bart. John Offley, the eldest son, acquired Crew, in 

 Cheshire, in right of his wife, Ann, daughter and co-heiress of John Crew, of that 

 place, Esq., by whom he had, first, John ; second, Crew ; third, Mary, who 

 married Robert, Viscount Kilmorrey. John Offley, his son and heir, assumed the 

 name of Crew, and died in 1749, leaving John Crew, of Crew, Esq., his son and 

 heir, who was living in 1751, three other sons, and three daughters. Crew Offley, 

 of Wichner, in the county of Stafford, the second son, married Mary, daughter of 

 Sir Thomas Lawrence, of Chelsea; and dying in 1739, left, by her, two sons, 

 John Offley, of Wichner, in the county of Stafford, living unmarried, and aged 

 thirty-four in 1751, and Lawrence Offley, who died in 1749, unmarried. Records of 

 the College of Arms marked C 36 and 3 D 14. This dedication is not the only 

 evidence of a personal acquaintance between the families of Walton and Offley : a 

 John Offley proved the will of Agnes Walton, of the parish of Madeley, on the 

 22nd of April, 1573. N. 



The present Lord Crewe is a direct descendant of Walton's John Offley, and 

 the dedication of this latest edition of The Compleat Angler, is, therefore, so to say, 

 but the due payment of an hereditary compliment. 



Offley's house has been erroneously stated to be the large, timbered, Elizabe- 

 than house, near Madeley Pond, bearing across its front the quaint inscription, 

 Walk on knave, what lookst at. Actually it was situated about a mile to the 

 south of the village, and all that now remains of it is a ruined gateway, as 

 shown in Mr. New's sketch on page 5. About this ruin, which stands in the 

 middle of a field to the right of the road, there are many mounds and trenches, 

 which give some hint of the ground plan of the old house. The place is known 

 among the natives as " Manor Moat " (or Mote ;). 



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