THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. 
103 
gate Street. This oil painting is now in our Public Library ; it was pre¬ 
sented to the Walthamstow Council in 1917 by the Misses Filliter, des¬ 
cendants of the famous original. This picture was engraved by Samuel 
Cousins, and copies are very occasionally to be met with. Mrs. Cogan 
died in 1850, in her 82nd year,after a married life of 60 years, and the worthy 
doctor passed to his rest five years later, on Jan. 21st, 1855, and was buried 
on Jan. 27th in the grounds of the Old Gravel Pit Chapel at Hackney. 
In 1861 Mr. Joseph Cooper, a member of the Society of Friends, and 
a prominent and untiring worker n the cause of the abolition of negro 
slavery and general philanthropy, came into residence here with his family, 
and afterwards purchased the property ; it is to the kindness of his daughr 
ters, the Misses Cooper, that we owe the privilege of meeting here to-day. 
These ladies still conduct a Sunday School in these rooms, which has had 
a continuous existence of over 50 years, and their name for good works 
is as a household word in the neighbourhood. 
Following the reading of the above paper a detailed inspection of the 
house and gardens was made, under the personal conduct of our hostesses, 
who pointed out many objects of interest, including the bell attached 
externally to the wall of the house, which the worthy Doctor rang to sum¬ 
mon his pupils. After the Hon. Secretary had expressed the thanks of 
the visitors to the Misses Cooper, leave was taken, and the party again 
took tram for the Central Library, passing en route the remains of Elm 
Lodge, the birth-place of William Morris, and the Winns, where he lived 
as a youth. 
Lunch was taken at the Central Library, the splendid lecture hall having 
been kindly loaned to the party for the occasion of the meeting by the 
District Council. 
After lunch our indefatigable guide, Mr. S. J. Barns, read a short 
account of Walthamstow, briefly tracing its history and development 
from prehistoric times, and particularly from the time of the Domesday 
Survey down to its present status as a large and still-growing town of 
some 120,000 inhabitants. Mr. Barns went on to speak of some of the 
many historical characters who have in their day been associated in some 
way or other with Walthamstow. He said :— 
“ It was adjoining the churchyard that in 1527 George Monoux built 
the almshouses and school which he endowed, and the old buildings still 
stand as a monument to his charity to the poor and care for education. 
George Monoux lived at a house called ‘ Moones,' in what is now Billet 
Lane, at Chapel End : he was a great benefactor to the parish, providing 
it not only with the above institutions, but with a constant supply of pure 
water and a safe causeway over the frequently flooded marshes. The 
place of his birth is uncertain, but he was a prominent London citizen 
and merchant, although also identified with Bristol, in which city he 
served the office of mayor. Seven times Master of the Drapers' Com¬ 
pany, thirty-four years alderman of the ward of Bassishaw, Sheriff in 
I 5 ° 9 - I °, Lord Mayor 1514-15 and re-elected in 1528, he refused the office 
on the grounds of ill-health and after some trouble was released on pay¬ 
ment of a fine of /i,ooo. He was also M.P. for the City of London in 1523. 
George Monoux died on 9th February, 1543-4, and was buried under an 
altar tomb in the Church ; the tomb has gone, but his brass, with that of 
his wife, still exists. 
