87 



2Tf)e Jfttanorg of ^crfcgBijtrc. 



By C. E. B. Bowles, M.A. 



j)HE original manuscript, of which the following is a 

 literal translation, belongs to Mr. G. H. Marples, 

 of Thombridge Hall, near Longston. It measures 

 14 ins. by 9 ins., and consists of forty-eight pages. 

 It is written on rough paper, and for the most part in Latin, 

 with very occasionally a word or two in Norman French, and 

 there are one or two instances in which an English expression 

 occurs. It is in good condition. The handwriting is of about 

 the time of Queen Elizabeth, and not difficult to decipher, 

 except for its very abbreviated style. 



It seems quite impossible to trace the original owner of the 

 manuscript— which information might possibly have thrown 

 some light upon the cause for which it was prepared. 



It was given to Mr. Marples some thirteen years ago by 

 Mr. Harington Shore, the late owner of Norton Hall, who 

 found it among the contents of the Muniment Room at The 

 Hall when, on his father's death, he was examining and sorting 



his deeds. 



His family became possessed of the Manor and Hall of 

 Norton* by the marriage of Samuel Shore, about the year 

 1755, with Urith, the eldest daughter, and eventual co-heir, 

 with her sister, of Joseph Offley, who in 1727 had succeeded his 

 father, Stephen Offley, of Norton Hall (H. S. 17 15). who was 

 the son of Robert Offley, of Norwich, to whom the estates had 



Lysons' Derbyshire, p. 220. 



