GEORGE. John. Joseph.

Frances, an Austine nun, at Paris. This gentleman, a great sufferer during the civil wars, both on account of his religion and loyalty, d. 11th April, 1670, when his estates passed to his eldest surviving son,

GEORGE EYSTON, esq. who adhering, like his predecessors, to the religion of his forefathers, suffered both imprisonment and sequestration, and was obliged to compound heavily for his estates, at the corrupt period when the perjuries of TITUS OATES were hailed by a blood-thirsty faction, as a second revelation. He m. in 1644, Anne, daughter of Robert Dormer, esq. of Peterly, in the county of Bucks, by whom he had five sons, CHARLES. George. Robert. William. John.

Dying in 1691, he was s. by his eldest son, CHARLES EYSTON, esq. who m. in 1692, Winifred-Dorothy, daughter of Basil Fitzherbert, esq. of Swinnerton, in the county of Stafford, and had ten children, viz. CHARLES, his successor. Basil, d. s. p.

THOMAS-JOHN, who inherited the estates upon the demise, issueless, of his elder brother,

William-George.

Winifred-Anne.

Frances.

Jane. Mary.

Anne-Catherine. Catherine-Mary.

This Charles Eyston was a diligent and curious antiquary, and a friend and correspondent of Thomas Hearne, of antiquarian celebrity, of Dr. Rawlinson, and of several I other persons eminent in literary and scientific pursuits. He d. in 1721, and was s. by his eldest son,

CHARLES EYSTON, esq. who m. Mary-Magdalen, daughter of Thomas Hawkyns, esq. of Nash Court, in the county of Kent, but dying without issue, in 1747, in the 42nd year of his age, was s. in the estates by his next surviving brother,

THOMAS-JOHN EYSTON, esq. who m. Mary, daughter of George Bruning, esq. of East Meon, Hampshire, of an ancient family in that county, and had issue,

BASIL. John. William. George.

Matthew-Robert.

Mary-Magdalen.

Winifred, m. to Bryan Barrett, esq. of
Milton, in the county of Berks.
Mary, m. to the late Charles Butler,
esq. of Lincoln's Inn, an eminent
lawyer, and recently one of the king's
counsel. Mr. Butler obtained high
reputation by his literary labours, and
by his advocacy of religious liberty.
He was a Roman Catholic, and lived
to witness the total repeal of the law
which had so long and so unjustly
oppressed his brethren. He d. 2nd
June, 1832.

Mr. Eyston d. in 1796, at the advanced age of eighty-two, and was s. by his eldest son,

BASIL EYSTON, esq. b. in 1748, who m. Mary, daughter and heir of Richard Huddleston, esq. of Gray's Inn, by whom he had issue,

This is a branch of the noble and ancient house of BYNG, Viscounts Torrington.

ADMIRAL GEORGE BYNG, (eldest son of John Byng, esq. of Wrotham), one of the most distinguished officers in the naval annals of Great Britain, received the honour of knighthood from Queen Anne, 22nd October, 1704; was created a baronet 14th November, 1715; and elevated to the peerage 9th September, 1721, by the titles of Baron Byng and VISCOUNT TORRINGTON. His lordship m. in 1691, Margaret, daughter of James Master, esq. of East Langdon, in the county of Kent, and had eleven sons and four daughters, of whom

PATTEE, s. his father, as second vis-
count, but dying s. p. the honors of
the family passed to his brother,
GEORGE, third viscount, whose great-
grandson is the present George Byng,
VISCOUNT TORRINGTON.
ROBERT, of whom hereafter.

JOHN, the unfortunate Admiral Byng,
so unjustly executed in 1757, under
the sentence of a court martial.

His lordship's third son,

THE HON. ROBERT BYNG, M.P. for Plymouth, was appointed one of the commissioners of his majesty's navy, 21st June, 1731; and, in 1739, governor of Barbadoes. He m. Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir of Jonathan Forward, esq. and had issue,

GEORGE, his successor.

Robert, smothered in the Black Hole at Calcutta, 20th June, 1756.

John, d. in 1764.

Mr. Byng d. in 1740, and was s. by his eldest son,

GEORGE BYNG, esq. M.P. for Middlesex, who m. Anne, daughter of the Right Hon. William Conolly, of Castletown, in Ireland, and had issue,

GEORGE, present representative of the family.

Robert.

John (Sir), K.C.B. G.C.H. and M.P. lieutenant-general in the army, and colonel of the 29th regiment of foot, a gallant and highly distinguished officer during the late Spanish war, and at the battle of Waterloo, who has twice received the thanks of parliament for his services, and who has obtained from the crown an honorable augmentation of his arms. Sir John m. first, Mary, eldest daughter of Peter Mackenzie, esq. by whom he has an only son,

George-Stevens, M.P. captain in the army and comptroller of the household to the lord-lieutenant of Ireland, b. 8th June, 1806; m. 7th March, 1829, Lady Agnes Paget, fifth daughter of Henry William, present Marquess of Anglesey, and has two sons,

1. George-Henry-Charles, b.
22nd February, 1830.
2. Another son, b. 21st August,

1831. Sir John Byng espoused, secondly, Marianne, second daughter of Sir Walter James, bart. and has further issue,

William-Frederick, an officer in
the Guards.

Harriet-Frances, m. in 1828, to
Captain Charles Ramsden.

Frances.

Caroline-Frances.

Mr. Byng d. in 1789, and was s. by his eldest son, GEORGE BYNG, esq. now M.P. for Middlesex.

Arms Quarterly, sa. and ar. in the first quarter, a lion rampant of the second. Crest-An heraldic antelope statant, erm. horned, tusked, maned, and hoofed, or. Motto-Tuebor.

Seat-Wrotham Park, Middlesex.

This family, one of the most eminent in the county of Stafford, was settled at CONGREVE Soon after the CONQUEST, and thence derived its surname.

RICHARD CONGREVE, esq. of Congreve, was one of the thirteen Staffordshire gentlemen upon whom King CHARLES II. intended to have conferred the order of the royal oak, were the institution of such a degree of knighthood persevered in. He m. Anne, daughter of Sir Thomas Fitz-Herbert, of Norbury, and grandaughter of Sir Anthony Fitz-Herbert, the eminent judge, by whom he had two sons,

1. JOHN, his successor.

2. William, a colonel in the army, father of

WILLIAM CONGREVE, the celebrated
DRAMATIST, b. in 1672.

This distinguished person is spoken of in terms of admiration by every English writer who has had occasion to mention his name. Steele made him the patron of his Miscellany, and Pope inscribed to him the translation of the ILIAD. Placed by circumstances beyond the pecuniary anxieties of an author's profession, he is said to have affected contempt for the profession itself. The anecdote of his telling VOLTAIRE when he came to visit him, that he desired to be considered as a gentleman SOLELY, and not in the light of an author, is one of the mortifying proofs that the highest gifted minds are not always the strongest. The latter years of Congreve's life were rendered miserable by sickness and infirmity. Catarrhs in his eyes produced at length total blindness, and repeated attacks of gout prematurely undermined his

from the waters at Bath, but the accident of being overturned in his carriage, left a permanent pain in his side, and, probably, accelerated his death, which occurred in January, 1729, in the sixtieth year of his age. The remains of the poet were interred with great solemnity in Westminster Abbey, and Henrietta, Duchess of Marlborough, erected a monument to his memory. To this lady, who is said to have entertained a most romantic regard for him, he bequeathed the great bulk of his fortune. Congreve's occasional poems are so far below mediocrity, that we have not deemed it necessary at all to allude to them. As a dramatist, his fame is imperishable, and he stands, if not at the head, in the very first class of writers of comedy. Not so much, however, for his humorous and natural portraits, as for those of eccentricity. His wit, indeed, flashes upon us almost to annoyance, and it is often difficult to distinguish the false humour of his fools from the genuine sallies of his lively characters. We shall conclude these observations with Congreve's literary character, from the pen of Doctor JOHNSON. Congreve has merit of the highest kind; he is an original writer, who borrowed neither the model of his plot, nor the manner of his dialogue. He formed a peculiar idea of comic excellence, which he supposed to consist of gay remarks and unexpected answers, but that which he endeavoured he seldom failed of performing. His scenes exhibit not much of imagery or passion; his personages are a kind of intellectual gladiators— every sentence is to ward or strike; but they are the work of a mind replete with images, and quick in combination."

66

Mr. Congreve was s. by his elder son, JOHN CONGREVE, esq. of Congreve, who m. Mary, daughter of Thomas Nichols, esq.

issue,

JOHN, his successor.

Ralph, a colonel in the army, and lieutenant-governor of Gibraltar, who m. Anne, daughter of Hanmer, esq. and had a son and a daughter, viz. Ralph, M.P. an officer in the yeoman of the guard, m. Charlotte, only child of William Lord Stawell, by his wife Elizabeth, heiress of the Forsters, of ALDERSMANSTON. He d. without issue, but surviving his wife, bequeathed his estates (which had been settled on the survivor) to the elder branch of his own family. Anne, d. unmarried. William, a colonel in the army, and ancestor to Sir William Congreve, bt.

The eldest son,

JOHN CONGREVE, esq. of Congreve, m. Abigail, daughter of John Harewood, esq. of Shrewsbury, and had three sons, viz.

WILLIAM, his successor.

Charles-Walter, in holy orders, archdeacon of Armagh, d. unmarried, in

1777.

RICHARD, who eventually inherited the

family estates.

Mr. Congreve d. in 1728, and was s. by his eldest son,

WILLIAM CONGREVE, esq. of Congreve, who m. Jane, daughter of Waller, esq. of Ireland, a relative of the poet, Waller, but dying s. p. in 1779, the family inheritance passed to his only surviving brother,

REV. RICHARD CONGREVE, of Congreve, who m. Martha, daughter and heiress of John Jones, esq. of Fynnant, in the county of Montgomery, and had issue,

WILLIAM, present proprietor.
Richard, of Burton, in the county of
Chester, who m. Mary-Anne, daugh-
ter of George Birch, esq. of Hamp-
stead, in Staffordshire, and has a nu-
merous family.

Mariamne, of Iswyd Park, Flintshire. Mr. Congreve was s. at his decease by his elder son.

Arms-Sa. a chevron between three battle axes arg.

Crest-A falcon rising.

Motto-Non moritur cujus fama vivit.

Seat-Aldermanston-House Berkshire.

The family of BASTARD has been seated in Devonshire ever since the CONQUEST. Robert Bastard appears in Domesday Book to have had grants of Efford Meavy, Stonehouse, Blackford, Badestone, Haraldesore, Cumbe, Dunestantone, and Bicheford, all in the county of Devon. His descendants have intermarried with the heiresses of Crispin and of Killiowe, in the county of Cornwall, and into the families of Fitz-Stephen, Besilles, Damarell, Gilbert, Reynell, Hele, and Bampfylde, and have at different periods served as sheriffs of the county. Their seat for many generations was at Garston, near Kingsbridge, until about the end of the seventeenth century.

WILLIAM BASTARD, esq. by marriage with the heiress of Pollexfen, of Kitley, acquired that estate, which has since been the family residence. His son,

POLLEXFEN BASTARD, esq. of Kitley, m. Lady Bridget Poulett, daughter of John, first Earl Poulett, and was s. at his decease in 1733, by his eldest son,

WILLIAM BASTARD, esq. of Kitley. In 1779, a powerful French fleet appearing in the Channel, great alarm was excited for the safety of the Dock Yard and Arsenal at Plymouth, on account of a large number of French prisoners confined there, for the removal of whom no troops could be spared from the garrison, already insufficient for the defence of the place. Mr. Bastard, as

a reward for his services in conducting these prisoners to Exeter, assisted only by the gentry and peasantry of the neighbourhood whom he had collected on the occasion, was created a baronet by his late Majesty. The title was gazetted in 1779, but has never been assumed. He m. Ann, daughter of Thomas Worsley, esq. of Hovingham, in the county of York, and had issue,

JOHN-POLLEXFEN, his successor.

EDMUND, who inherited the estates, upon his brother's decease.

Mr. Bastard was s. at his decease, in 1782, by his elder son,

JOHN-POLLEXFEN BASTARD, esq. who was elected in 1784 member for Devon, which county he continued to represent until his death. Hem. Sarah, widow of - Wymonde-. sold, esq. of Lockinge, in the county of Berks, by whom he acquired the estates belonging to that family, but dying without issue in 1816, he was s. by his brother,

EDMUND BASTARD, esq. sometime M. P. for Dartmouth, who m. Jane, daughter and heiress of Captain Pownoll, R. N. of Sharpham, Devon, and had issue,

EDMUND-POLLEXFEN, present proprietor, John, a captain in the Navy, and M.P. for Dartmouth, who inherited the Pownoll estates, and resides at Sharpham. He m. Frances, daughter and co-heiress of Benjamin Wade, of the Grange, in the county of York, esq.