448 Lesbury Parish, by the late George Tate, F.G.S. 



in 1718 to the school by Henry Strother of Bilton ;* and 

 subscription and school fees. The endowment and subscri- 

 tions amount yearly to about £5 ; and the school fees are 

 three or four pence weekly, from each pupil. The attend- 

 ance in 1870, averaged 65 scholars. 



Lesbury House was built by Hay, a merchant of 



Alnmouth, and tenant of Lesbury Mills. Wm. Hay of Aln- 

 mouth voted at the election of the county, in 1774. The 

 Hays were Presbyterians, and attended the Pottergate Meet- 

 ing House at Alnwick. One of them had an entire 

 double seat to himself, curtained round, so that when tired 

 with sitting, he could pace backward and forward during 

 the sermon. John Herclman, M.D., married Miss Hay, the 

 daughter of C. Hay, and on the death of his father-in-law, 

 succeeded to great wealth, and he lived for several years at 

 Lesbury House. He was bom in Fifeshire in 1762, graduated 

 at Edinburgh, and became a licentiate of the Royal College 

 of Physicians, London. For several years he practised in 

 London, and was one of the physicians in ordinary to His 

 Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex ; and he was the author 

 of several medical treatises. He altered his opinions on medi- 

 cine and abandoned his profession, considering that to "min- 

 ister to nature and to conform to her operations by sobriety 

 and regularity of life, were the only safe means to secure 

 health ;" and in his own conduct he acted according to this 

 principle rejecting the use of medicine, even during his last 

 illness. After abandoning the medical profession, he was or- 

 dained a minister of the Church of England; and he frequently 

 preached in the churches of Alnwick and the neighbourhood. 

 He was a liberal supporter of public institutions, a patron 

 of the fine arts, and a kind benefactor to the poor. He died 

 at Lesbury on Feb. 26th, 1842, aged 80 years.-f- [Lesbury 

 House belongs to the Duke of Northumberland, and is occu- 

 pied by Major Browne, who has, at his own expense, en- 

 larged both it and the premises.] 



Lesbury Church. It is pretty certain that there was a 

 church at Lesbury in Saxon times, when it was the most 

 important in the district. Evidence of this is furnished by 

 the Saxon Cross found in Alnmouth chapel, which was sub- 

 ordinate to Lesbury church, and it is confirmed by the 



[* A field beyond Hipstrarn, called Coulthard's field, of about 7 acres, was 

 left by one of the Coultbards, who died in 1790, to the School of Lesbury. 

 This endowment appears to have been lost. — Mr. Tate's Notes.] 

 f Table Book, v., p. 357. 



