'62 
THE CHIGWELL ROW MEDICINAL SPRINGS 
itself and his is the only name appearing anywhere. I have been 
unable, however, to identify any person of that name, either 
physician or artist, who seems likely to have been the writer. 
The only other suggestion I am able to make is that the 
manuscript was not improbably written by the Rev. Dr. 
William Martin Trinder (1747-1818), author of two other works 
on medicinal waters. At all events, at about the date when the 
manuscript seems to have been written, he was resident at 
Romford, about four miles from Chigwell Row. Moreover, his 
literary style and his general treatment of the subject, as seen 
in his two other works referred to above, closely resemble those 
of the manuscript. 9 
If, however, Trinder really did write this manuscript and 
at about the date suggested (namely, 1775-1785), it seems 
strange that he should have made no reference to the Chigwell 
Row well in his Medicinal Waters of Essex (1783), which is 
one of the two mentioned above. He must have been aware 
of the existence of the well in question, inasmuch as it had been 
long known. Indeed, Morant, had noticed it fifteen years earlier, 
in 1768. 10 The only suggestion I can make to explain this 
anomaly is that possibly the omission was intentional—that 
Trinder, when he wrote his work in question in 1783, had just 
written for publication, or was about to write, the manuscript 
dealt with herein and did not wish to anticipate or give away 
the matter therein. It is likely that, unless evidence comes to 
light unexpectedly, the point will never be cleared up. 
A perusal of the Introduction prefixed to The Mineral Waters 
and Medicinal Springs of Essex (1910) will throw light on various 
9 Trinder, a son of David Trinder, of Shadwell, in Middlesex, esquire, was born in 1747. 
He matriculated at Exeter Coll., Oxford, on 31st October 1763, at the age of 16, and after¬ 
ward- proceeded to the University of Leyden, where he took the degree of M.D. On the 
31st October 1770, he took the degree of B.C.L. at Oxford, afterwards proceeding to that of 
LL.B. For some time, he appears to have resided at Romford, where he either held a living 
or practised medicine, or did both. His earliest published work was An Essay on English 
Grammar. His next was his Enquiry, by Experiments, into the Properties and Effects of the 
Medicinal Waters in the Countv of Essex (London, Chelmsford, and Romford, 1783), the 
preface of which is dated from Romford. The work was dedicated to Robert 9th Baron 
Petre, and it described ten Essex Mineral Springs. Later, he published Practical Set mans 
(Lond., 1786) and .4 Sermon on the Defence of our Country (Lond. 1798). About 1800, he 
appears to have removed to Barnet, in Hertfordshire, where he took up his residence at 
Rowley Lodge. Here he published A Sermon on the Parables (Barnet, 1816) and a work 
entitled The English Olive-Tree, ... to which are subjoined Chymical Experiments on 
the Harnet Well Water (Lond. ? 1812), which reached a third edition. This was a curiously- 
discursive discourse on medical and religious topics, intended mainly to urge the cure 
of diseases by anointing the body copiously with olive oil. It abounds in classical 
quotations. In his remarks (pp. 61-68) on the Barnet Well, he says that he had noticed, 
since 1800, a decrease in the potency of its water for medicinal purposes. He detailsmany 
tests to which he had subjected it. Trinder died at Rowley Lodge on 18th December 
1818, in his 73rd year.— See Catal. of Graduates at Oxford, 1659-1850, p. 670 (1851) ; 
Alumni Oxon., 1715-1886, iv , p. 1439 (1888) ; and Genii. Mag., lxxxviii., pt. 2, p. 574 (1818). 
10 Hist, of Essex, i. p. 164 (1768). 
