Seats. Sherborne Lodge, Earl of Digby, Lord Lieutenant of the County. Lullworth Castle, Thomas Weld, esq. Langton, J. J. Farquharson, esq. Whatcombe, E. M. Pleydel, esq. Wimbourn St. Giles, Earl of Shaftesbury. Members to Parliament. For the County, 2; Dorchester, 2; Bridport, 2 ; Corfe Castle, 2; Lyme Regis 2; Poole, 2; Shaftesbury, 2; Wareham, 2; Weymouth, and Melcombe Regis, 4; total 20. Produce. Freestone, Chalk, Pipe Clay, Wheat, Barley, Flax, Hemp, Sheep, Butter, Timber, Apples. Manufactures. Sail Cloth, Cables, Twine, Nets, Shirt Buttons, Baize, Blankets, Flannel called Swanskin, Worsted Stockings, Ale. POPULATION. Grand Divisions, 5; Hundreds, 34, and the town and county of Poole; Parishes, 248; Market-towns, 22; Houses, 24,051. Inhabitants. Males, 57,717; Females, 66,976: total 124,693. Families employed in Agriculture, 12,982; in Trade, 9,607; in neither, 4,232: total, 26,821. Baptisms. Males, 1,796; Females, 1,657.—Marriages, 871.—Burials, Males, Melcombe Regis Shaftesbury 694 3,156 Wareham.. Houses. Inhab. 1,483 566 2,985 Swanwich, or Swanage .. 299 587 2,635 Sturminster Newton..... 325 1,461 Total, Towns, 14; Houses, 7081; Inhabitants, 36,115. HISTORY. A. D. 187, At Portland, landed the first party of Danish robbers that visited England. 833, Near Charmouth, indecisive battle between Egbert and the Danes; and 840, near the same place, indecisive battle between Ethelwolf and the Danes. 918, At Corfe castle, May 18, Edward "the Martyr," whilst drinking, stabbed in the back, by order of Elfrida, his step-mother. 1003, Dorchester taken and burnt by Sueno, king of Denmark. 1035, At Shaftesbury, November 12, Canute died. 1202, At Corfe castle, 22 nobles of Poictou and Anjou starved to death by order of the tyrant John. 1213, At Wareham, Peter of Pomfret, who had prophesied that John would lose his crown before Ascension day, hanged with his son, although, the day before the time predicted, John had resigned his crown to the Pope's legate. 1471, At 1471, At Weymouth, April 13, Margaret, Queen of Henry VI. her son Prince Edward, and Lord Wenlock, with some French troops, landed, and proceeded to Cerne abbey, where they were joined by the Duke of Somerset, and Earl of Devon, whence they advanced through Somersetshire to the fatal field of Tewkesbury. 1506, Into Weymouth, January, Philip, Archduke of Austria and King of Castile, driven by storm. 1643, Corfe castle heroically and successfully defended in a siege of six weeks against Sir Walter Erle and the Parliamentarians, by the Lady of Lord Chief Justice Banks. 1644, Lyme Regis gallantly defended by Colonel Ceeley and Lieutenant Colonel (afterwards Admiral) Blake, against repeated assaults of Prince Maurice and the Royalists, who lost nearly 2000 men. 1645, Sherborn castle, August 15, defended by Sir Lewis Dyves; after a siege. of 16 days, and several assaults, taken by Sir William Fairfax and the Parliamentarians. 1645, Near Dorchester, a detachment of Parliamentarians routed by General Goring. 1653, Off Portland, February 18, after three days fighting, the Dutch fleet under Van Tromp defeated by Admiral Blake, with the loss of 11 ships of war and 30 merchantmen. 1685, At Lyme Regis, June 11, Duke of Monmouth landed, and published his declaration against James II. 1685, In a ditch of an inclosure in the midst of Shag's heath, three days after the battle of Sedgemoor, in Somersetshire, the unhappy Duke of Monmouth taken prisoner. 1688, At Sherborne lodge, William, Prince of Orange, was joined by George, Prince of Denmark, the Dukes of Ormond and Grafton, and Lord Churchill, afterwards Duke of Marlborough. BIOGRAPHY. Ashton, Thomas, divine, Wareham, 1716. Baley, Walter, physician to Elizabeth, Portisham, 1527. Basket, Thomas, soldier, Dewlish (died 1530.) Bastard, Thomas, poet and divine, Blandford (died 1618.) Bingham, Sir Richard, commander in Irish wars, temp. Eliz. Bingham's Melcomb. Bridport, Giles de, Bp. of Salisbury, consecrated 1256, Bridport. Bush, John, non-conformist, author of sermons, Gillingham, 1631. Case, John, empiric, Lyme Regis, flor. temp. Jac. II. Chapman, John, divine and critic, Wareham, 1704. Churchill, Sir Winston, author of "Divi Britannici," Wooton Glanville, 1620. COOPER, ANTHONY ASHLEY, first Earl of Shaftesbury, Statesman, Wimborne Coram, Thomas, founder of the Foundling Hospital, Lyme Regis, 1668. Doddington, George Bubb, Lord Melcombe, politician and poet, 1691. GRANGER, JAMES, biographical historian, Shaftesbury, 1776. Hallet, Joseph, non-conformist divine, and author, Bridport (died 1688.) Hutchins, John, historian of the county, Bradford Peverel, 1698. Lambe, Philip, non-conformist divine, and anthor, Cerne Abbas, 1622. Lewis, Jobn, divine and antiquary, Poole, 1675. Larkham, Thomas, non-conformist divine, and author, Lyme Regis, 1601. Lindsay, Thomas, Abp. of Armagh, Blandford, 1654. Lisle, Samuel, Bp. of Norwich, Blandford. Mather, Nathaniel, non-conformist divine, and author, Dorchester, 1680. Miller, Miller, James, poet and dramatic writer, 1703. Morton, John, Cardinal, Abp. of Canterbury, Bere Regis, 1409. Pitt, Christopher, poet, translator of Virgil, Blandford, 1699. Russel, John, first Earl of Bedford, Statesman, Kingston Russel (died 1554.) Ryves, Bruno, Dean of Windsor, Author of "Mercurius Rusticus," Blandford, 1596. Ryves, George, Warden of Winchester, Divine, Blandford. Ryves, Sir Thos. civilian, Author of "Sea-battles," Little Langton, died 1652. Stafford, John, Abp. of Canterbury, Chancellor of England (died 1452.) Summers, Sir George, discoverer of Bermudas, Lyme (died 1610.) Swaffield, John, Nonconformist, Author of Sermons, Dorchester, 1625. Templeman, Peter, Physician, Dorchester, 1711. Thompson, William, with one man and a boy, took a French privateer and sixteen men, in 1695, Poole. Thornhill, Sir James, painter, Melcombe Regis, 1676. Towers, Joseph, biographical, critical, and political Writer, Sherborne, 1737. Turberville, Sir Pagan, one of the conquerors of Glamorgan in 1091, Bere Regis MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS. Corfe Castle for a short time, in 1327, was the prison of Edward II.-The first chemical experiments of Boyle were made at Stalbridge in 1647.-Sixtyseven persons were executed in different parts of this County, by order of Judge Jeffreys, for rebellion in 1685.-At Wimborne St. Giles, is one of the finest grottos in England: it cost 10,000. From Weymouth, Packets sant for Jersey and Guernsey. In 1789, their Majesties first visited that place. In St. Mary's, Wareham, is the Monument of Hutchins, Historian of the County-In Sherborne Church is a tablet to the memory of a son and daughter of William Lord Digby, with an Epitaph by Pope.Aug. 6, 1616, at Dorchester, 2 Churches and 300 houses; and June 4, 1731, at Blandford Forum, 14 persons, the Church, Town-hall, Alms-house, Free-school, and all the houses, excepting 40, were destroyed by fire. Mr. URBAN, Jun. 6. SHOULD be much gratified by any particulars of the Rev. Wil liam Smith (or Smyth) of Queen's College, Oxford, M. A. 172..; who was six years Rector of St. John's, at Nevis; and who in 1745, published some account of that Island, being at that time Vicar of St. Mary's, in Bedford. When was he presented to that Living? When did he die? A copy of his Epitaph, if he has ope, would, perhaps, answer these queries. Might I also ask some Correspondent at or near Beverley, for the EpiGENT. MAG. January, 1817. BYRO. Symbolical Illustrations of the His tory of England, by Miss Rundall of Bath, to possess myself of that VoJume; and it is but justice to acknowledge that I have found no occasion to regret the purchase. Having for some time been occupied in the education of youth, and become deeply impressed with a conviction of the difficulties which lie in the way of success, arising from the volatility and distaste so often manifested by the object of my care and attention, I felt no prejudice against any plan which professed to facilitate my purpose and lighten my labours; and I confess I have found Miss Rundall's Book a most happy auxiliary. But while I do justice to ingenuity and labour, laudably bestowed by a female on one of the most important objects which can interest society, I cannot refrain from expressing some surprise and regret at the treatment her Work has experienced from a contemporary critic, the Quarterly Review. The sarcastic speers of that Writer, Mr. Urban, may, perhaps, gratify the vicious taste of the age, but will do little towards promoting the real interests of Science; with reference to which I besitate not to affirm, that no man, who has them really at heart, can treat with contempt any projected improvement in education. I looked in vain, in the Article in the Quarterly Review, for any thing like a discussion of the merits of Miss Rundall's Performance, or any estimate of her ingenuity and applica tion; instead of which I found misapprehension and mis-statement in abundance. In uo part were these more evident, than in the unfounded notion that Miss Rundall's plates were designed to explain her letter-press, and in giving a quotation from M. Von Feinagle's Treatise on Pneumonics, as a sample of Miss Rundall's Work. Thus much I deemed due to truth and candour, which appear to me to have been as egregiously violated by the Quarterly Reviewer, as they were punctually observed in your own Critique (just referred to) on the same Book. I will not further trespass upon you, Mr. Urban, thau by merely expressing my regret that the public taste should be, in any, even the smallest degree, subject to the direction of such blind guides; because, though the adage is trite, it stands ou high authority, that "If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the pit." CANDIDUS. IN one Another Shaksperian Pedigree, and "SHAKSPERE" the true mode of spelling the Name. Mr. URBAN, London, Dec. 8. N furtherance, primarily, of an attempt to ascertain and establish certain mode of spelling the NAME of SHAKSPERE, (viz. the mode used by himself, or his Contemporaries, and if possible, the Contemporaries of his family), and secondarily, of a desire to elicit, elucidate, and accomplish (by degrees) a more ample and authentic HISTORY of the Family, I some months ago began the compil ation of the accompanying PEDIGREE, which I now request of you to insert in your highly-respected Magazine, from the alleged Transcript of the Parish Registers of Stratford-uponAvon, given by Mr. Malone, in his Edition of Shakspere of 1790. * You have, I observe, recently published exact copies from the Stratford Registers, of the entries thereon, in memory of the family and connexions of Shakspere, together with a PEDIGREE of the Shakspere and Hart families, for Mr. R. B.Wheler of Stratford. Without here entering into details, in evidence of the composition of my Pedigree having originated with myself, it may, I hope, be suffi cient for me to state, that Mr. R. Wheler saw it, before his appeared in print; as will be found proved by the European Magazine for September last; and that his seeing it arose from my sending it to him to correct, as to the spelling of the Sir-name of Shakspere, by the Registers themselves. By the print of Mr. R. Wheler's copies of the Registers, I have corrected my copy of Mr. Malone's imperfect transcript; and from that, so far as it extends, perfected my Pedigree: but as I found, upon compar ing it with Mr. R. Wheler's Pedigree, that he had deduced it from other sources than the Stratford Registers (though not minutely) to so recent a period as 1806, I have taken advantage of his collections, and, without further investigation (though with direct acknowledgment of it, * In the Number for Sept. last, p. 204. aud and in a distinct type), added the latter part of his Pedigree to mine. For the two Pedigrees themselves, they differ materially: mine embracing some biographical notices that may be depended upon, which will at least be of use, I hope, as an index to assist the memory; and Mr. R. Wheler's extending to names and dates only and even those names not being spelt (as in mine) according to the Registers and they not only differ as to the limits of their contents, but also, in some degree, in arrangement; being founded upon distinct hypotheses respecting the marriages of Shak pere's father, and the number of children he may have had: and which of them is nearest the truth must remain undecided, till chance discovers testimonies not at present known to exist. It is a pity that the Stratford Registers extant do not commence till 1558, 20 years after their first institution, as in the Registers of those 20 years, perhaps the testimonies want ing might have been found t. Mr. R. Wheler has cited Gibbon's "Introductio ad Latinam Blazoniam," as stating Church Registers not kept till 1540; and "Jacob's Law Dictionary," as an authority that they were instituted by Lord Cromwell, while he was Vicar-General to Henry VIII. in 1523: Neither of those dates, however, seems to be quite correct: They certainly originated with Lord Cromwell whilst he was Vicar-General; but he was not appointed to that office till the 18th of July, 28th Henry VIII. being in 1596; and his injunction for keeping the Registers is, no doubt truly, recorded to have been issued in Sept. 30 Henry VIII. being in 1538. See Stowe's Chronicle, by Howes, edit. 1631, pp. 573, and 575--6; Gibson's Codex, 229; and Nelson's Rights of the Clergy, title Register. Cardinal Wolsey did not die till 1580, and till 1529, Čromwell was hardly known; and upon the 28th of July, 1540, (then Earl of Essex) he was beheaded. As to other variances between the * Old English. two Pedigrees, they will hest speak for themselves: Mr. R. Wheler's comprehends more than mine, as to collaterals of the Shakspere connexions, which seemed to me unnecessary, and of conjectural matter, which I considered "improper; but with regard to persons of the name of Shakspere, or even of the same name and æra with any of the Shaksperian connexions, between whom, though at present undetected, there may have been some degree of kindred, and some other little matters of peculiar circumstance, or curious concurrence together, mine will be found rather more diffusive than his. My motive for inserting those particulars was to assist future researches into the family-history; and for the same reason I could now communi cate some others of the same description of an interesting character, and as yet unpublished, shewing new sources opened for inquiry by the curious, as to the History of the Poet's family. But want of leisure at present compels me to abstain. My adoption of the antiquated spelling of "SHAKSPERE," in preference to either of the modern readings, "SHAKSPEARE" and "SHAKESPEar," is upon the principle, that the orthography of names, which is arbitrary, should continue certain, and undeparted from, in all ages. But for the difference in spelling, between the names of Ben Jonson and Dr. Jonnson, we should have great difficulty in understanding which of them was intended, upon finding them quoted without their primary distinctions. The orthography of the ParishRegisters, adhered to in the following Pedigree, shews clearly, that THE PATRONYMIC of our Burd was "SHAKSPERE;" and that the sirname of his Children, upon their Baptism, as well as of himself, upon his Burial, was the same, and I think it must be admitted, that " SHAKSPERE" was the most general, and approved mode of spelling the Name, till AFTER the Bard's time. Yours, &c. Φιλαρχαιότητος. + If, however, such Registers ever existed, it is possible they may still be extant (though perhaps not known to be so) in the Registry of the Bishop's Court, to which they were annually to be returned: the Canon of James I. under which the present Registers have been preserved, was imperative upon the Parishes to keep and preserve them from so far back only as 1558, the first year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. |