By the Eev, J. E. Jackson. 243 



previous conduct of the parties towards one another, and, so far, help 

 to throw considerable light upon the whole transaction. 



2. Official Papers from the Public Record and State Paper Offices. 

 These supply undeniable evidence of the truth of the facts in the 

 Narrative, and many other circumstances of the case hitherto un- 

 known. 1 



A short general account of the places and persons to be referred 

 to may be useful to make the Narrative more intelligible. 



On the borders of Somerset and Wilts lie the two contiguous 

 parishes of Kilmington and Stourton, Kilmington being in the for- 

 mer, Stourton in the latter county. The history of Kilmington 

 will be introduced presently. The manor of Stourton used anciently 

 to be held under that of Castle Cary in co. Somerset, and in the 

 14th century it was so held by the Fitz Payne family from whom 

 it was called Stourton Fitz Payne. The family who adopted their 

 name from the place were resident there in remote times, but they 

 do not appear to have become owners of the manor until about the 

 reign of Henry VI. In the sixth year of that reign a License was 

 granted to John de Stourton to enclose a park of 1000 acres. A 

 curious large house was erected, a representation of which (made 

 up from the annexed rude outline by John Aubrey) is given in the 

 Wilts Arch. Mag., vol. L, p. 194. It stood a little in front of the 

 present mansion of Stourhead. By fortunate marriages, first with 

 the heiress of Moigne, and afterwards with the heiress of Chidiock, 

 the Stourtons obtained large possessions in Gloucestershire, Wilts, 

 Somerset and Dorset. 



John Stourton the first Baron died in 1462 (2 Edw. IV.) His 

 great grandson William, 6th Baron Stourton married Elizabeth 2 

 daughter of Edmund Dudley, and sister of John Dudley, Duke of 

 Northumberland, by whom he had Charles his eldest son and heir 



1 For assistance in searching for these, and in unravelling some of the diffi- 

 culties attending them, the writer is indebted to Mr. Clarence Hopper, of No. 1, 

 Albert Place, Denmark Road, Camberwell. 



2 In Sir R. C. Hoare's pedigree (Mere p. 48) she is said to have been, when 

 William Lord Stourton married her, the widow of his younger brother Peter, 

 but Edinondson's pedigree does not notice this irregularity. 



