208 A HISTORY OF LONGRIDGE. [Chap. 8. 



attract the attention of the many generations he lived to see, although attention 

 was the last thing he sought. Living at Leagram, the last portion of their old 

 property in this district which the Weld family have retained, in a position, even 

 in these days, with difficulty accessible, he has for many years lived a life «f un- 

 common solitude. Those, however, who were privileged to see him at home can 

 bear witness to the great activity of mind which supplied him with ample resources 

 for enjoyment ; and the "Stouyhurst Magazine" must on no account omit to record 

 its obligations to one who enriched its pages with so much and such valuable in- 

 formation. His knowledge of the antiquities of the district was probably unmatched, 

 and the store of deeds and documents belonging to the Weld and Shireburn families, 

 which had been removed to Leagram, when his grandfather parted with Stonyhurst, 

 had been diligently studied by him and its information arranged and registered. 

 No Roman load, old buiUliug, inscription, or church font for miles around was 

 unremarked by him. He was able to point out the localities where Hint hatchet, 

 Roman coins, or Saxon weapons had been found or might be looked for. He had 

 also diligently collected the oral traditions of the neighbourhood, and was full of 

 information upon ancient fire-worship, Scandinavian folk-lore, and the Jacobite 

 risings. The natural history of the district was also familiar to him, and we may 

 in particular recall the fact that his notes were the foundation of our recent bird- 

 list. He was an excellent draughtsman, and his portfolios abound with sketches 

 of the tombs of the Counts of Flanders, notes of foreign travel, old farm houses, 

 manor houses, and churches, birds, mollusoa, fungi, and in particular the animsls 

 of the shore to which he paid so much attention during his visits to tho sea-side. 

 He also much improved Leagram, of which it is interesting to note that all the fine 

 trees by which it is surrounded were planted by his father or himself. In particular 

 he built from his own designs the beautiful chapel, in the vault beneath which he 

 now lies. As was recorded by the Bishop of Salford in the few words spoken at 

 his funeral, that lie had for years made it his rule to recite every day not only the 

 Rosary of Our Lady but also that of the Precious Blood, and the character he most 

 resolutely maintained was that of a staunch and devoted Catholic. Two years ago 

 he was President of the Stonyhurst Association, and the generous gift with which 

 he marked the close of his office should live in the grateful memory of those who 

 still feel the benefit of it in the boys' libraries. Mr. Weld, who was born in 1S13, 

 came to Stonyhurst in 1823, and succeeded to the Leagram property in 1866. He 

 died after a very short illness on Sunday, November 25th, 1888.— R. LP. 



