Manor of Crowle in Stonehouse

MANOR OF CROULE.

FTER descending the downland lawns, and passing through the fertile plain called Belton Field, the traveller enters a similar tract of land, where the town of Crul, or Croule, stands close to one of the branches of the southern Don. The word Crul is probably a corruption of the Dutch word Krol, which signifies a shed or small habitation of any kind. It is not difficult to account for the location of a human dwelling at this place. There were two ancient pathways of the aboriginal inhabitants, one leading from the Trent at Althorpe, and the other from the passage over that river at Burton Stather, which met near this spot, then no doubt a fertile glade, surrounded by forest and marsh, a situation generally selected by a barbarous people. In more civilized times, however, those who had passed the Trent at Althorpe or Burton, would want to pass over the Don at this place, in order to proceed on on the direct road to Thorne. The ferry would require a boatman, or if it was a ford, a guide, which the waste beyond would make almost absolutely necessary. One family at least, therefore, would be compelled to a perpetual residence, and would, in consequence, first erect his crul or habitation. “It is one of the best established canons of topography, that, in the early stages of the settlement of a country, if there be a place where one family is compelled to constant residence, others, who may have the liberty of choice in fixing their abodes, will be found to place themselves near it*.” A blacksmith would find this a situation where the passage over the ferry would bring his art into frequent requisition ; and then another family, for the same reason, would find it worth while to afford a little food and shelter to the benighted traveller. Thus it is that the germs of future towns have first made their appearance on the great continent of America.The ancient forest, so frequently alluded to in this work, girded the fertile field of Crowle on all sides; and, when it was destroyed, left extensive peat moors, marshes, and bogs. The navigable channel, however, of the Don gave the inhabitants free access to the Humber, as well as to Thorne and Doncaster ; and was probably the means, as I have already stated, that a Christian missionary visited this spot in very early times, and dedicated a Church before the Conquest, to St. Oswald, the pious King of North-Humber-Land, mention of which is made in the Domesday Book.

“Manor in Crule, Alwin had one oxgang less than six carucates of land to be taxed. Land to as many ploughs. Inland in Hubaldestorp. Now a certain Abbot of St.Germains in Selby has there, under Geoffrey, one plough in the demesne, and fifteen villanes and nineteen bordars, having seven ploughs, and thirty-one fisheries of thirty-one shillings. Thirty acres of meadow. There is a Church, and wood and pasture one mile long and one mile broad. Value in King Edward’s time £12, now £8. Tallaged at 40s.

From this entry we learn one or two curious particulars. That Croule, at the time of the Conquest, was the most populous and most valuable manor in the Isle of Axholme; that the original Lord Paramount, Geoffrey de Wirce, had established a demesne, dominium, or piece of land, which he kept in his own hands; that there was an ancient inclosure ; and that the great meres in this neighbourhood were then in existence, as they afforded situations for thirty-one fisheries, valued at a shilling each.

Croule must have suffered severely from the works of Vermuyden, for he took from them the navigable branch of the Don; and, by his imperfect works of drainage, left them surrounded by an extensive tract of soft ground, which before was passable in boats over the open surface of the meres, or by guts and lodes, which connected one piece of water with another. The high bank, formed by the earth cast out in making his drains from Hirst to Althorpe, might compensate in some measure for the loss of Croule Causeway, by which, in the more ancient times, the inhabitants had a road to the Trent.
In the Nona Villarum, the ninth sheaf, the ninth lamb, and the ninth fleece is valued at £lO; taken on the oaths of Hugh Caffingham, Galfri de Milford, Robert Scut, and John Worme.

THE MANOR,

AS I have already stated, was given at the Conquest to Geoffrey de Wirce. He held it but for a short time, but during that time he made a grant of an hundredum of land to the Abbey of St. Germains, which was founded by King William the Conqueror, ” Ut pro nobi* monacJius units temper in ecde*ia habeatur, et units pauper pascatur” During the time this manor was held by the Crown, William the Conqueror gave an hundredum of land to Selby Abbey. In the time of Edward* the First, the Abbot of Selby is stated to have held the soke of Croule, of the Crown, in capitc, and that it was worth one hundred pounds per annumf. Sclby, Selby, olim Salcbia Monastery, in the Deanery of Ainsty, and West Riding of Yorkshire, was founded by William the Conqueror, in the year 1069, for Benedictine Monks, to the honour of St. Mary and St. Germain, who quashed the Pelagian heresy. And the year after, the King repairing with his Queen to settle the endowment, she was delivered of her youngest sou, afterwards King of England by the name of Henry the First; on account of whose birth, 1 presume this place •was honoured by his descendants, Kings of England, with great privileges, as well as adorned with magnificent buildings, of which part of the Church, happily left standing, is a noble monument. This Monastery was pleasantly situated on the west side of the river Ouse. The chief buildings were on the south and west side of the Church, to which they joined the Chanter House, near and ad. joining the Minister’s house, with a row of four round stone pillars supporting its groined arched stone roof. The barn, with part of the granary and chief entrance, facing the north, are still remaining. On the side of the latter is the porter’s lodge. Over these, arched with stone, are two chambers in which the Abbots held their courts and transacted public business; and they arc still applied to the Earae use. The remains of the Abbey Church shew it to have been a most noble Gothic building, erected as is evident at different times, and likewise in different tastes. The body and nave of the Church is the oldest, but the choir is a newer erection, as is also the east end. The tower fell down on Sunday morning, March 3 169O, about eight o’clock, and destroyed a part of the Church, especially the south end of the transept and roof of the south-west aisle. The length of the Church, from cast to west, was two hundred and sixty-seven feet; the body, from north to south, fifty feet; the length of the transept one hundred feet. The monks stalls, twelve on each aide of the choir, arc yet in being, and are like the prcbendul stalls in York Minster. Within the altar “‘1^ in the south side partition, arc four stone scats; and, on the north side, are five wooden partitions. Adjoining to the east side of the north transept is a chapel, erected after the Church was built. The west end of the Church, on the outside, is very curious, although irregular. The entrance into it, and the porch on the south side, are worthy of observation. To me it seems very evident that it was. intended to have had three towers,—a large one iu the middle of the Church, and two •mailer at the . This seems to have been the intention from the thickness of that wall, and in the reign of Edward the Second, A D. 1311, a composition * was made between Sir John de Mowbray and the Abbot of Selby, when he quit claimed to the Abbot all his right and soil in the Manor of Croule, Estoft, Luddington, Gerlthorpe, Amcotts, Testlehay, and Eland; and the Advowson of the Church in Gerlthorpe, with eight oxgangs of land in Amcotts. And the Abbot and Convent agree, on their part, that Sir John de Mowbray should have a right of free chase in the manor and soke of Croule, reserving the privilege to the Abbot and his servants of driving away the wild beasts from their corn and meadows, as often as should be necessary; and reserving also their right of free warren of goats, foxes, wolves, conies, &c.; and the said Sir John was to take to his own use what he wanted off the waste lands, saving free pasture for the Abbot’s free tenants.

There were also several minor grants of lands in this parish to Selby Abbey. Ralph, the son of Elias de Crule, gave his lands here and in Esgarth; and

Geoffrey, son of Peter de Croule, quit-claimed eight acres ; Humphrey BeTretun gave one messuage; Agnes, daughter of John lc Wrok, one messuage and two oxgangs; Roger de Mowbray gave the fishery here and at Esgarth; and Walter, son of Walter de Estoft, gave three selions of land here.the bulk of the two first pillars within the Church, which are nearly of the same form and diameter as those supporting the great tower; betwixt which, and those at the west end, are six pair of pillars, of four different diameters and forms; but those of the choir are all of one sort.
This Abbey abounded with painted glass : for now, in the the great east window, is represented the Root of Jesse, or the Genealogy of Christ, of which Dr. Johnson, A. D. 1670, gives us the following account. “There are,” says he, “seven partitions, and in every row eight pictures desient, each habitual according to their degrees and branches, prettily drawn to every one, to shew their succession. The middle partition is bordered about with crowns; and the two panes on either side with lions passant; the two next upon each side with squirrels upon filbert branches; the two outmost with calices, argent or rather or: above, in the middle, is the Crucifixion. In two.places are the Crowns of England, and other angels, and naked penitentiaries in many places.”Burton’s Ecclesiastical History of Yorkshire.These possessions were granted quit, in cities and boroughs, markets and fairs, throughout England of all tolls, tenure service, and secular exaction; also of all suits of counties, hundreds, wapentakes; and of all aids to the Sheriff and the King’s Ministers; also free from making the King’s eldest son a knight, and from marrying his eldest daughter. Burton’s Ecclesiastical History of
After the dissolution of the religious houses this manor, together with that of Armthorpe, which had formerly belonged to the Priory of Rowthe, were annexed by the King in Council, under the authority of an Act of Parliament, to the Level of Hatfield Chase, A. D. 1548; from which time the said manors were declared to be under the control of the officers of the Chase; all offenders declared to be subject to the forest laws; the manor courts to be under the rule and survey of the Court of Augmentation ; and all the issues and profits to be paid to the Chancellor of the said Courts. A lease of the manor of Crowle was conveyed and assigned, in the reign of Charles the First, to the Corporation of the City of London; from whom it was purchased by Sir Gervas Elwes, Jeromy Elwes, and Nicholas Hammerton, Esq*; and from thence it passed into the family of’Pierrepoint, now Earl Manvers, the present lessee.

THE CUSTOMS OF THIS MANOR.

IT appears from a copy of the boundaries of the lordship of Croule, made the 7th day of November, A. D. 1607, that “the Lord may at his pleasure drive, as is accustomed, from Dirkness Crook lineally to Callendike, and so through the Star Car by Hirst Syke, to the Monks Stone, and thence to a certain powle, or stoupe, set in the moors by an order of the Right Honourable Edward Lord Sheffield, between the townships of Croule and fielton, and so lineally towards the north, as the powles and stoupes were set by the said said order, to Briscoe Dyke north east; and from thence all on the east side of Don to the Moor Dyke bank, and from the Moor Dyke bank to the Black Sykes in the Hoop, and from thence to Duckling Syke*.” Most of the lands in this manor are copyhold, and the fines are at the will of the Lord, who takes, on a purchase, one year and a half’s rent, and by descent one year and three quarters. The antient documents concerning the customs of this manpr have been destroyed.In ancient times the tenants of this manor having enjoyed right of common on certain waste grounds between Ducklinledge and Eastoft, in the manor of Hatfield, and the privilege of many copyhold fisheries, it was decreed by the Exchequer, in the fifth year of the reign of Charles the First, that the Commoners should have one hundred acres allotted them as a compensation for the said fisheries (which allotment to this day is called the fishing grounds), and six hundred and fifty acres on the common, which are now called the Croule Yorkshire Moors.
THE CHURCH,

DEDICATED to St. Oswald, which is of Saxon origin, contains at the west end some remains of the original fabric. There is a very antient doorway, formed by a large stone, resting on two other large stones, having on one side some grotesque figures, carved in a very rude manner; and on the other side, next the present belfry, a wreathed pattern is carved; and above this stone a circular arch, filled up with small square stones, very neatly put together in the diamond pattern. This I conceive to be a remnant of the pure Saxon architecture; and to have been the principal entrance to the Church, before the steeple was erected. The illuminated letter A, at the beginning of this chapter conveys a correct representation of this curious piece of antiquity on the west side; and the wood cut below gives a fac-simile of the figures on the east side. The Saxon part of the building may still be distinctly traced by the masonry. The stones are all square, and of the same size, and are a different sort of stone from the other parts. This is very plain at the west end, above the antient door-way before alluded to.

On the south side, the walls seem to have been pulled down*, and the old Saxon
materials used as far as they go; the remaining part having been finished with Roach Abbey stones, well wrought, but of various dimensions. The south door and the porch are as early as the time of Henry the First. It consists of one of those highly ornamental semicircular arches, which are scarcely ever to be found at all in buildings of a later age. It is a very” fine specimen of Norman Saxon architecture, and the capitals of the pillars are exactly of the same pattern as those in the clear story of the nave of the Church of St. Trinite, at Caen, which was founded about the time of the Conquest. Just above the principal windows of the Church, on the south side, the architecture of which belongs to the fourteenth century, is a very singular line of heads, similar to a string course, only they are carved on separate stones, and inserted in the wall alternately with plain stones, as represented in the wood cut below. On the same side, above this string course,

 

is an elegant clear story of three windows. The north aisle has been re-built, and the arches destroyed, for the purpose of erecting a gallery, in the year 1792, on the old pillars, which are circular, and sufficiently indicate the age to which they belong. Between the body of the Church and the chancel there stills remains a small portion of a very handsome screen, the same pattern as that in Althorpe Church. The antient stone stair-case to the rood loft is through a buttress on the north side, and now leads tb a singing gallery*. The tower is built of good ashlar stone, and has a beautiful window, which shews the transition from the Saxon to the Norman style of architecture, though the ornamental part of the work is somewhat decayed. I should conjecture, from the present appearance of the Church, that the original rial Saxon building consisted of a nave, north aisle, and chancel; that the tower and south door-way were afterwards built by the Abbots of Selby, when they rebuilt the south wall.
* At the north end of the screen, in many old churches, the entrance of a small staircase seems worthy of attention. This leads up to a door at a moderate height from the pavement. At this door was the entrance to the pulpit or rood loft, as appears from the following rubrics. “Jncepta tero ultima cralione ante epistolam subdiaconus, per medium chori ad Agendum epistolam, in pulpitum accedat.” “Quando cpistola legitur duo pueri in superpelleciis, facta inclinalione ad alt are ante gracluiit chori in pulpilum, per medium clwri ad yradale incipiendum sepreparani ad tuum versum cantanduto.” dum.” There is also another for reading the gospel, to the north, in the same place, by the deacon, attended by the sub-deacon, who holds the book: as also by two clerks bearing candles, with a third, having the thuribulum. As it would be impossible for so many to perform their duty with propriety, circumscribed in the narrow limits of the present pulpit, it is natural,to conclude that the pulpit and the rood loft were one and the same place, particularly as the rood loft was placed immediately over the screen, as is manifest from the will of Henry the Sixth. From this place the sermon was delivered, the curate being obliged to preach four times in the year, by an ecclesiastical constitution of Archbishop Peckham, in which this injunction is worth remarking,—“Exponat popuio vulgariter absque cujuslibet sublilitalis texiura fantastica.” Antiquities of Churches.

A vicarage was endowed in this Church as early as the year 1288, as it i« mentioned in Pope Nicholas’ valuation.*

Crule, Abbot de Selby, 16 0 0

Vicar, ejusdem, 4 0 0

And in the Valor Ecclesiasticus of Henry the Eighth, the entry concerning the vicarage is as follows.

•

Dns. Thomas Holgyll, vicar, idm. ulta, x. ps.
p. x. c. et sinod, xiii. x.

Inde p. xraa. xxix.

The The sepulchral memorials in this Church are as follows.

WHO WAS ONE OF THE BEST
OF HUSBANDS AND FATHERS,
LEAVING A DISCONSOLATE
WIDOW, DAUGHTER OF
JAMES STOVIN, OF THIS

PARISH, ESQ.
AS ALSO TWO YOUNG
CHILDREN, VIZ.—
THOMAS AND ANN.

Here lieth the body of Ann, daughter of William and Sarah Johnson, who departed this life the 9th day of July, 1785, aged 9 years.

Here lies the body of William Johnson, who departed this life April the 22nd, Anno Dom. 1725, aged 66 years.

Here lies the body of John, the son of William Johnson, who departed this life February the 2.9th, Anno. Dom. 1731, aged 43 years.

Here lies the body of Catherine Johnson, who departed this life July 23rd, 1723, aged 58.

Here lies the body of Thomas Johnson, sen. who departed this life, December the 16th, 1771, in the 75th year of his age.

Here also lieth Betty, the daughter of William and Sarah Johnson, who died February the 21st, 1772, aged 2 years.

Here lies the body of Jane Johnson, who departed this life the 18th of September, 1795, aged 58 years.

Here

Here lies, in the grave of his dear wife formerly deceased, the body of Solomon Ashbourn, M. A. late vicar and patron of this vicarage, who died the 18th of January, in the year of our Lord’s Incarnation, 1711, and of his own age 67

And after his many years labours for the lasting happiness of the whole parish, he being dead, yet speaketh to such parishioners as are still under strong delusion and wickedness,

T 4, , r. “) St. Stephen, Acts 7. 51.

In the words of ftnd

TO THE MEMORY OF
WILLIAM JOHN EGREMONT,

SON OF THE
REV. GODFREY AND MARIA FRANCES

EGREMONT,

LATE MIDSHIPMAN ON BOARD
HIS MAJESTY’S FRIGATE

S ALDAN HA,
COMMANDED BY
THE HON. WILLIAM PAKENHAM,

WHO, WITH
HIS CAPTAIN, BRAVE OFFICERS, AND CREW,

PERISHED,
BY THE SHIP BEING WRECKED

IN LOUGHSW1LLY BAY,
N. E. COAST OF IRELAND, DEC. 4TH, 1811,
IN THE Igth YEAR OF HIS AGE.

THIS TABLET

IS ERECTED BY

PARENTAL AFFECTION.

UNDERNEATH
LIE THE REMAINS OF ISABELLA,

WIDOW OF LIEUTENANT COLONEL ROYAL,

WHO DIED ON THE 16th OF APRIL, 1804,

IN THE 35th YEAR OF HER AGE.

ALSO OF HARRIET THOMASINA CATTANEO,

WHO DIED

ON THE 8th OF APRIL, 1809,

IN THE 27th YEAR OF HER AGE,

DAUGHTERS OF THE LATE

HORACE CATTANEO, OF LEEDS, MERCHANT.

Sacred to the memory of Jonathan Margrave, Gentleman, who died May 1st, 1835, in the 60th year of his age.

Ceorge Mitchinson Johnson, aged 4 months, June 6th, 1S29.
Also, Robert Johnson, aged 5 months.
Lucy Allen, 1816.

Here lies the body of Catherine, daughter of John Cowley, Gentleman, who died 3rd of November, 1742, 10 months old.

Dedicated to the memory of Mathew Lee, Gentleman, eldest son of Thomas H. Lee, Gentleman, of Ebford, Barton, Devon. J. P. died the 12th day of December, 1817, A. E. 40 years.

Here lies the body of Elizabeth Johnson, wife of Thomas Johnson, of Croule, who departed this life, the 9th of April, 1789, aged 78 years.

Here lies the body of Abraham, the son of John and Elizabeth Venney, who departed this life July the 26th, 1779, aged 18 years.

Here

Here lies the body of Elizabeth Venney, who departed this life December the 24th, 1771, in the S8th year of her age.

Also, Betty Venney, daughter of the above, who departed this life the 17th day of February, 1825, in the 62nd year of her age.

Also, Ann Johnson, who departed this life the 21st day of February, 1825 aged 82 years.

SACRED

TO THE MEMORY

OF MARY JOHNSON,

WIDOW OF THE LATE

THOMAS JOHNSON,
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE
ON THE 29TH DAY OF APRIL,

1831,
AGED 60 YEARS’

Here lieth the body of John Venney, of the Levels, who departed this life the 19th of September, 1787, aged 61 years.

Also, Abraham his son.

LIBERTAS ET PROPRIETAS.

Here lieth interred the precious remains of George, Son and Heir aparent of Geo. Stovin, Esq. and Sarah his wife, daughter of James Empson late of Goole, in the County of York, Gentleman.

He was ever dutiful to his parents, tender over his brother and sisters, and affable to all: well beloved, and a pattern of virtue to all young men.

He

He was, in February last, entered a Member of the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn; but was gathered, in the bloom of youth, into the bosom of his heavenly Father.

Natum An. Dom. 1717, January 12th
Mortuum An. Dom. 1734, March 12th.

NEAR THIS PLACE
LIE INTERRED THE REMAINS OF
JOHN STOVIN WOODRUFF, ESQ.

WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE
THE Iotii DAY OF NOVEMBER, 1795,
AGED 23 YEARS.

THIS MONUMENT WAS ERECTED,

IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF A KIND PARENT,
BY HIS AFFECTIONATE SON.

SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF

GEORGE LISTER, OF GIRSBY HOUSE,

IN THIS COUNTY, ESQ.

WHO DIED AT TETLEY,

THE 22ND OF SEPTEMBER, 1797,

AGED 53 YEARS.

A TRIBUTE OF AFFECTION

TO THE MEMORY

OF CORNELIUS STOVIN, OF

HIRST PRIORY, IN THIS COUNTY, ESQ.

WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE

THE 21sT DAY OF OCTOBER,

1814, AGED 76 YEARS.

NEAR THIS PLACE LIES INTERRED
THE BODY OF SUSANNAH STOVIN,

LATE LATE WIFE OF CORNELIUS STOVIN, OF

HIRST PRIORY, IN THIS COUNTY, ESQ.

WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE THE 6th DAY OF SEPTEMBER,

1795, AGED 55 YEARS.

IN WHOSE MEMORY THIS MONUMENT IS ERECTED.

Near this place lies the body of John Stovin, son of Cornelius and Susannah Stovin, of Hirst Priory, in the Parish of Belton, who departed this life the 2nd of April, 1763, aged 1 year.

Also, Cornelius, son of the said Cornelius and Susannah Stovin, who departed this life the 8th of October, 1763, aged 6 months.

Also, lies interred, Cornelius, third son of Cornelius and Susannah Stovin, who departed this life the 27th of June, 1768, aged 1 year and 8 months.

Also, lies interred Mary, Ann, daughter of Cornelius and Susannah Stovin, who departed this life the 3rd of February, 1770, aged 3 months.

Also, lies interred, Harriet, daughter of Cornelius and Susannah Stovin, who departed this life the third of June, 1778, aged 10 months.

Here lies interred, Elizabeth Stovin, daughter of Cornelius and Susannah Stovin, who departed this life the 26th of March, 1784, aged 13 years and 7 months.

THEY DIED IN JESUS AND ARE BLEST,

HOW SWEET THEIR SLUMBERS ARE:
FROM SUFFERING AND FROM SIN RELEASED,

AND FREED FROM EVERY SNARE.

IN MEMORY OF

MARY, THE YOUNGEST DAUGHTER OF
CORNELIUS AND SUSANNAH STOVIN,

OF HIRST PRIORY,

WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE ON THE Uth
DAY OF DECEMBER, 1830.
AGED 56 YEARS.

IN MEMORY OF

SALLY BRUNYEE, DAUGHTER OF

NATHANIEL AND ANN BRUNYEE,

WAS BORN, MAY 23RD, 1814,

AND DEPARTED THIS LIFE,

DECEMBER Srd, 1835.

ALSO IN MEMORY OF SUSANNAH, THE ELDEST DAUGHTER OF CORNELIUS AND SUSANNAH STOVIN,

OF HIRST PRIORY,

WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE ON THE 25rji
DAY OF MARCH, 1831, AGED 70 YEARS.

SACRED

TO THE MEMORY OF
ELIZABETH LISTER, WIDOW,

OF THE LATE,

GEORGE LISTER, ESQ.

OF GIRSBY HOUSE,

IN THIS COUNTY.

SHE WAS THE YOUNGEST DAUGHTER
OF JAMES STOVIN, ESQ. OF REDNESS,

IN THE COUNTY OF YORK,
BORN IN MAY, 1746, AND DIED AT DONCASTER,
THE FOURTH OF JANUARY, 1820.

SACRED SACRED

TO THE MEMORY OF
THOMAS LIGHTFOOT, ESQ.
OF THIS PLACE, WHO DIED

NOVEMBER 5, 1825,
AGED 37 YEARS AND 8 MONTHS.

SACRED
TO THE MEMORY OF

ANN, THE WIFE
OF THOMAS LIGHTFOOT,

OF THIS PLACE,

BORN THE FOURTH OF SEPTEMBER,

1749, DIED JULY 5, 1821,

AGED 71.

I HEARD A VOICE FROM HEAVEN, SATING UNTO ME, WRITE,

BLESSED ARE THE DEAD WHICH DIE IN THE LORD.

REV. CHAP. 14, V. IS.

These memorials to the memory of his parents were erected by Thomas Lightfoot, Esq. their Son, who greatly honoured and highly respected them.

After the dissolution of the religious houses the rectorial tithes were disposed of to laymen, and are now the property of R. P. Johnson. Esq. Temple, as the heir of Robert Popplewell. The Vicarage passed into the family of Ashbourne, who built the house in 1710, then into that of Egremont, who sold it lately to Mr. Buncombe, of Lincoln’s-Inn Fields.

The following is a list of the Vicars, as far as can be ascertained from the records at Lincoln.

Guliclmus de Northfolk

Gulielmus de Nichtegale 1304

Adam, the Son of Henry de Stretton in the Clay 1348

This parish has the benefit of three Charities, one for the use of the poor, and two for the purposes of education. Thomas Walkwood surrendered five acres and twenty perches of land, lying in Ealand and Croule field, with a messuage wherein he then dwelt, with the orchards, stables, and buildings thereto belonging, situated in the north end of Croule, with the appurtenances, to the Minister and Churchwardens of Croule for the time being, and their successors, for the use of the poor for ever. Likewise, the same Thomas Walkwood surrendered two acres one rood twenty perches of land, lying in Croule Field; the yearly rent of the said land to be disposed of by the Minister and Churchwardens of Crcule, for the time being, and by their successors, for the teaching and well educating of certain poor children of the said parish for ever, according to the discretion of the said Minister and Churchwardens.

Richard

Richard Brewer, of Gainsbrough, by his will bearing date 1687, left a messuage and farm house in Croule, with the arable land, meadow, and pasture, known by the name of the Town End Farm, to the Churchwardens, and their successors for ever; the rents thereof to be employed for the learning of twenty poor children there, to read English, and to buy books for their use.

Walkwood’s estate is now let for ^§15 per annum, and Brewer’s for ^§44.

In the year 1813, Croule obtained the benefit of an Act of Inclosure, in which the error of leaving the arable fields open was avoided. By this act» all encroachments on the commons and waste lands, which had been made for twenty years, were to remain. So much of the Yorkshire common allotted to the Lord of the Manor of Hatfield as should be equal, in the judgment of the Commissioners, to fifteen acres of the average value thereof, in lieu of his manorial rights in that part of the lordship. And the Lord of the Manor of Croule was to have one-twentieth part of all the residue of the commons, in lieu of his right. An allotment of lands was set out for the Sectorial and Vicarial tithes. On the Lincolnshire copyhold moors, each Copyholder, after the Lord of the Manor had received his twentieth part, had an allotment according to their respective rights and interests therein. The same method was pursued in the open fields.

The commons and waste grounds in the several townships of Croule, Eastoft, and Eland, were to be allotted in severalty as follows: two-thirds to the Lord of the Manor, the Impropriator of the great tithes, the Vicar, and to the other Proprietors of messuages, cottages, and frontsteads, excepting certain lands and grounds commonly known by the name of the fishing grounds, and the Participants’ scotted lands; and the other third amongst the proprietors of open field lands or ings; but owners of estates at Eastoft are to have no share in the allotments of Croule and Ealand commons. The celebrated warping clause, which required another act to enable the Commissioners to cut drains to the Trent at Keadby, as I have before stated in the introductory chapter to this work, has produced the most beneficial effects on the low grounds in this district. About 1500 acres have been warped, at the expence of *425 per acre; and when the

whole whole is completed, above 2000 acres will have been brought into cultivation. A small decoy yet lingers on part of the common, which remains uncovered with warp, where a few wild fowl are occasionally taken, just sufficient to remind the modern sportsman what a diversion the antient fowler found in these extensive and wild resorts of the feathered race; and which now, by the ingenuity and labour of man, have been converted into a fertile and valuable soil, producing most abundant crops of grain, potatoes, and other vegetables. So different is the country now from what it was even in the latter part of the last century, when “the great bulk of the inhabitants knew no other kind of bread than that composed of horse beans and coarse flour*.”

“Agricolffi prisci fortes parvoque beati.”

In the reign of Richard the Second, the antient Market and Fairs were removed from Garthorpe to this place, on the petition of the Abbot of Selby.

One of the Keepers of the Game of the Hatfield Chase had a station at Croule.

Croule presents the appearance of a very long straggling village rather than a town, though it contains a few houses of the better class. The streets and open Market Place are unpaved, and the shops are such as may be found in every other country village. There is a Society of Baptists, ‘similar to that at West Butterwick. They have a small Chapel and burial ground, which contains a few sepulchral memorials of the family of Hind.

* Wainwright.

EASTOFT.

EASTOFT,

IS a small Village, situated on the southern branch of the Don, about three miles north of Croule. It contains nothing remarkable, except the remains of the old channel of the river, which now exhibits the appearance of a Jorg narrow pond. Formerly the keepers of the game had a station here also. King Henry the Third gave the Abbot of Selby free warren in this part of the Manor, with the proviso, of its not being within the limits of the forest. There is a Hall here, the property of James Lister, to whom it descended from his father, George Stovin. To the latter it was left by Thomas Lister, of Girsby house, his first cousin, on condition of his taking the name and bearing the arms of Lister only. Thomas Lister was descended from Sir John Lister,* a merchant at Hull, who acquired a large fortune, and left a numerous family, from which the present Lord Ribblesdale is descended.

About a mile from the town of Croule, where the canal from Keadby to Stainforth crosses the Belton road, is Croule Wharf, in antient times called

the the Beggar’s Tree, under the shelter of which, most probably, some wandering mendicant solicited the charity of travellers, as they passed along Croule Causeway on their way to Althorpe. The neighbouring towns of Belton and Epworth obtain, from this wharf, a regular supply of coals, lime, stone, and all other productions from the west part of Yorkshire.

* This family was residing at Hull in the reign of Charles the First, as appears from the following curious letter, from William Lister to his brother Samuel, now in the possession of James Lister, Esq. of Ousefleet Grange, to whose kindness the reader is indebted for its insertion here. “On Friday last the Duke of York, the Palsgrave, the Earl of Newport, my Lord Willoughby, Sir Thomas Glenham, Colonel Vavasour, and some five or six cavaliers, came to Hull. The Governor hearing, by Alderman Watkinson, that night of their coming, went out to meet them as far a* Newland, and was taken into their coach. They supped at Alderman Watkinson’s, and the Governor invited them to breakfast next day, being St. George’s Day; and the Mayor to a banquet. In the morning they went to the South-end, and were on the float, and were shooting off the ordnance there, observing the grazing of the bullets. From thence they intended to take boat, and view the castle and block bouses, when a letter was brought by Sir Lewis Dives, to say that the King intended to dine with

him,

The small Hamlet of Aland or Ealand is mentioned in the composition made by Sir John de Mowbray and the Abbot of Selby : and so also is Testlehay, or Tetley, which at that time of day must have been a small holme, surrounded in a great measure by woods and marshy grounds.

Tetley, from very remote times, has been the property of the family of Stovin: for Gorge Stovin, who lived in the reign of George the First, declar-‘

ed that he was the eighth or ninth in descent who had possessed that property. Several residences have been erected nearly on the same spot; and, at a short distance from the house, is a small burial ground, containing several sepulchral memorials of the Stovin Family.

HERE LIES THE BODY OF MARY, DAUGHTER OF

GEORGE AND SARAH STOVIN, OF CROULE. SHE

DEPARTED THIS LIFE THE 21st, DAY OF NOVEMBER,

ANNO DOM. 1719, AGED 7 MONTHS AND 18 DAYS.

THET

him, which startled Sir John Hotham, the Governor, he heing determined not to admit the King to come in. Upon which all the gates were presently shut, and the drawbridge drawn, and every man commanded to keep his house. Betwixt eleven and twelve o’clock the King came, and commanded Sir John Hotham to open the gates. Some say there were in company betwixt two and three hundred. He, upon his knees, craved pardon of his Majesty, and told him he was commanded by them whom he served to the contrary. Many messages there were, too tedious to write, at length he caused Sir John Hotham to be proclaimed if he would not open the gates within an hour. Sir John was determined what to do. The King walked there three or four hours; the Prince was with him, the Duke of Lenox, the Earl of Lindsey, Marquis of Hertford. The Prince was very hungry, and went to Henry Potter’s house, a carpenter, without the gates, and there was given him such as the house could afford, some bread and cold beef. Afterwards they got a pye, and desired he, the Prince would be pleased to taste of it; “Nay,” said he,” this shall be for my father, for he is as hungry as I am.” The Duke of York, the Palsgrave, and the Earl of Newport, went out of the gates to see his Majesty, and about five or six of the clock, they went to Beverley, and lay at Sir Thomas Remington’s his house. Sir John Hotham bestiring himself very much, and a strict watch is kept.”

April 26, 1642.

THEY SHALL LIE DOWN

ALIKE IN THE DUST,

AND THE WORMS SHALL COVER THEM.

Job 21, V. 26.

HERE ALSO LIES CORNELIUS, SON OF THE SAID

GEORGE AND SARAH STOVIN, OF CROULE,

WHO DIED IN MAY, 1721.

AGED 7 MONTHS.

HERE ALSO LIES

MARY, DAUGHTER OF GEORGE AND SARAH,

WHO DIED 19 FEBRUARY, 1723,

AGED 12 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS.

M. S.

HIC JACET JACOBUS GEORGII ET SARA STOVIN,

FILIUS ET DELICLE DOMUS, OBIIT DII.

AUGTI. 28VO. ^ETATIS SU/E FERE 4TO.

DOMINIQ. NOSTRI, 1724.

O! TERQE. QUATERQA BEATUS.

HERE LIES THE BODY-OF

SARAH, DAUGHTER OF GEORGE STOVIN, ESQ.

AND SARAH HIS WIFE, SHE DIED AUGST. 3, 1733,

AGED 3 MONTHS AND 3 DAYS.

HERE LIES THE BODY OF

JAMES STOVIN, ESQ. LATE OF CROULE,

WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE

OCTOBER 11, 1739, iETAT. SU^E 61 AND 10 MONTHS,

LEAVING BEHIND HIM, BY HIS WIFE JOAN,

DECEASED, 5 SONS AND 3 DAUGHTERS,

VIZ. GEORGE, JAMES, CORNELIUS, JONAH, AND

RICHARD; MARY, ANN, AND SUSANNAH.

HERE

HERE LIES INTERRED THE BODY OF JOAN, THE
BELOVED WIFE OF JAMES STOVIN, OF CROULE, ESQ.

WHO WAS A DOER OF GOOD WORKS,

AND THE MOST INDULGENT CAREFUL MOTHER.

SHE LEFT BEHIND HER EIGHT CHILDREN,

FIVE SONS AND THREE DAUGHTERS,

AND DIED MUCH LAMENTED

THE 25 OF OCTOBER, 1?29,
IN THE 54th YEAR OF HER AGE.

IN HER PRAISE I REFER
TO PROVERBS, 31st. CHAPTER,

BEGIN AT THE 10th VERSE.

SHE WAS POSSESSED OP ALL THB VIRTUES
THERE EXPRESSED.

Tetley was left by George Stovin to his daughter Elizabeth, married to John Henry Maw, late of Epworth, who left it to his son, Henry Lister Maw. The latter built the present handsome and substantial mansion.

Some notice of both these ancient families of Stovin and Maw, may properJy be introduced into this part of the History of the Isle of Ax holme.

FAMILY OF STOVIN.

It Has been handed down by tradition, in this family, that they came into England with the Conqueror, and that the first settler was chief of the bow itringers who attended his army. To this tradition, it is evident, the crest

of

IITGIFT, &C.

ring drawn, and the arrow ready to be discharged.

— Empson, of Goule

le, grand-daughter of Richard Brewer

.ear Sheffield, but afterwards th in descent, was living at id Parliament; and is stated ;royed Sandtoft Church, and ts’ lands in Epworth and

Robert-Cornelius Thomas-Henry

itremely probable that the n accusation was preferred i an unlicenced place, cont complied with the terms le family tradition, as relate soldiers came in search of 1 in. One of the soldiers lis, however, the mother had the retreat of her husband,

conveyed him part of the >w, where he was found by

second visit of the soldiers,

concealed in the oak woods the weather for a considerld was betrayed by an old ence of severe treatment in l his health had experienced

a man of property, and a to carry him to his grave.

Job xx i, 23d. verse, “One net. His breasts are full of nd another dielh in the bitter< ‘ley shall lie down alike in the ich text the preacher would

no

of the family refers. They were first located near Sheffield, but afterwards removed to Tetley. George Stovin, the seventh in descent, was living at Tetley, during the civil war between the King and Parliament; and is stated to have confederated with the Rebels*, who destroyed Sandtoft Church, and to have obtained possession of the Participants’ lands in Epworth and Croule.

After the restoration, however, I think it extremely probable that the loyalists were determined to pay him off; for an accusation was preferred against him, for attending a religious service in an unlicenced place, conducted by a Minister, Mr. Durant, who had not complied with the terms prescribed in the Act of Parliament. This is the family tradition, as related to me by the present owner of Tetley. “The soldiers came in search of him twice. The first time his wife had just lain in. One of the soldiers said, “take the calf, and the cow will blate.” This, however, the mother had the firmness not to do, and rather than discover the retreat of her husband, she suffered them to take her eldest son. They conveyed him part of the way to Croule, and then threw him into the snow, where he was found by an old servant, who brought him home. On the second visit of the soldiers, which took place in the winter season, Stovin was concealed in the oak woods behind Tetley. After standing the severity of the weather for a considerable time, he sought refuge in his own house, and was betrayed by an old servant. He died in Lincoln Castle, in consequence of severe treatment in his conveyance thither, or from the injury which his health had experienced during his lurking in the woods. Joseph Isle, a man of property, and a native of Epworth, his fellow prisoner, helped to carry him to his grave. Mr. Durant preached his funeral sermon, from Job xxi, 23d. verse, “One diethinhis full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet. His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow. And another dielh in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure. They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them.” From which text the preacher would

no no doubt enlarge upon religious intolerance, and the hardships of the prisoner’s fate; but I conjecture that he said not a word about the lawless violence of the proceedings at Sandtoft, or the share which George obtained in the spoils of the Participants’ lands. He married Mary Clarke, of Croule, the grand-daughter of Richard Brewer, for his first wife; and for his second, Ann, daughter of Robert Stovin. He was one of those persons who assumed the motto, Libertas et Proprietas, and who armed themselves with clubs during the troubles of the civil wars, and whose object was to resist effectually the military marauders of both parties, declaring themselves neither for the King nor Parliament, but for their own liberty and property”. George, his eldest son, succeeded to the property at Tetley, but sold it to his brother James. This gentleman was High Sheriff of the County of Lincoln, in the reign of George the First, and, in consequence of his large property and independent character, possessed great influence in the Isle of Axholme. He had five active sons, who inherited his pro* perty and influence. George, the antiquary, was the oldest. He was born about 1695, and, before the death of his father, married an heiress of the ancient family of Empson, of Goulef. This gentleman was not brought up to any profession, but led the life of a country gentleman, which afforded him abundant leisure to prosecute the topographical and antiquarian researches, to which, from early life, he was addicted. He took great interest in the affairs of the Levels, being a very assiduous Commissioner of Sewersf and at the same time a Justice of the Peace. He scarcely ever left the Levels, living at Croule and in its vicinity; and, with the true feeling of a native antiquary, thinking no part of England equal to Axholme, and no town comparable to Croule. In the latter part of his life, however, he crossed the Trent, and fixed his residence at Winterton. There he spent the concluding years of a long life, living in a little cottage, which he had made arcadian with honey-suckles and other flowers, where he was to be seen with his pipe every morning at five: and was accustomed to amuse his

* History of the First Nine Years of the Drainage. * Hallam’s Constitutional Hutoiy. t Hunter’s History of the Deanery of Doncaster.

neighbours neighbours with a variety of anecdotes with which his memory supplied him.

He died in May, 1780, and was buried in the Chancel of the Church, at Winterton. We owe to him the best account of Lindholme, from which some extracts have been already given in this work. This was printed on a single sheet, together with an engraving of the Hermit’s Cell, and a Poem, written by Samuel Wesley, a copy of which I have not been able to procure. He also communicated to the Royal Society an account of the discovery of the body of a female, in the turf moors of Amcoats, which I have narrated at length in the topography of that place. He left in manuscript many notes of Roman Roads and stations, in the counties of York and Lincoln, the result of personal observation. But the most important of his topographical works, is a small thick quarto volume, bound in rough calf, consisting of transcripts of all documents which in any way he could obtain, interspersed with many curious topographical notes, relating to the Isle of Axholme. At the end of the manuscript, are proposals for printing by subscription, in one volume, folio, with marginal notes, the History of the Drainage of the Great Level of Hatfield Chase, in the Counties of York, Lincoln, and Nottingham, by George Stovin, Esq. near forty years an acting Commissioner of Sewers in the same Levels. The price was to be a guinea in sheets. The work, most probably, from want of encouragement, was never published. This valuable manscript is now in the possession of the widow of the late Rector of Rossington, by whose kindness, through the friendly offices of Henry Lister Maw, Esq. the author of this work has been allowed to avail himself of its contents. The only surviving son of the antiquary, was the late James Stovin, Esq. who built the house at “Shooter’s Hill,” in the parish of Rossington. From this place he removed to Whitgift, where he inherited a handsome mansion and a good estate, from his uncle Cornelius Stovin, the youngest brother of the antiquary.

FAMILY

FAMILY OF MAW.

I Have not been able to obtain any information concerning the origin of this very numerous and ancient family. They have resided in all the principal places in the Isle of Axholme, for the last three centuries, as substantial freeholders: and wherever I have made inquiries of families, of this name, now residing on the east side of the Trent, they all state that their ancestors came out of this part of the country. The family name of M’Coglan, is, in Irish, beautifully abbreviated into Maw, and hence some persons have supposed that this family came originally from Ireland; but I think it more probable that Maw is an abbreviation from Mowbray, and that the present Maws are descended from some minor branch of that ancient and honourable family, the original progenitor of which was enfeoffed by the owners of the soil with considerable freehold property. It appears, from an entry in the Herald’s Visitation Book, 1561, for the county of Suffolk, that Symon, the eldest son of John Maw, of Epworth, had migrated to Randlesham, in that county; and from the proceedings in Chancery, about the same period, we learn that his brother Robert was also settled in the same county, he having filed a bill against Edward Grimston and others, respecting a promise made by Harbottle Grimston, Esq. to provide for plaintiff’s son, his grand-child, in performance of which, the bill stated, that the defendant Joan, his widow, purchased the manor of Crowfield in that county.

Leonard, the fourth son of Symon Maw, was fellow of Peter-house, at Cambridge, and afterwards Master of Trinity College, Prebendary of Wells, and Chaplain to Prince Charles, on whom he waited when his Royal Highness went to Spain to court the Infanta. On the translation of Laud to London, he was promoted to the Bishoprick of Bath and Wells; but he enjoyed that preferment but a short time, as he died at Chiswick, in Middlesex, 2d. September, 1629, where he was buried.

The descendants of his uncle, John Maw, continued to reside at Epworth,

until

 

until a few years past, when John Maw, who married Elizabeth Lister, removed his residence to Doncaster. Captain Maw, the eldest son of this gentleman, of the 23rd regiment of Royal Welch Fusileers, was killed at the storming of Badajos, in Spain, on the night between the 6th and 7th of April. He had served on the Quarter Master General’s staff, at the battles of Vimiera and Talavera, in the Peninsula, and previously in the same department of the army, under Lord Cathcart, in Scotland.

Henry Lister Maw, another son, now resident at Tetley, also distinguished himself as a naval officer, not only in action, but also by his enterprising passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean, crossing the Andes, in the northern provinces of Peru, and descending the river Maranon or Amazon, and who has obtained an honourable name in literature, by the admirable manner in which he has described his voyages and travels, and the scenes of warfare in which he has been engaged. A short account of this enterprise, from the Author’s Journal, cannot be otherwise than acceptable to readers in general.

Mr. Maw being at Lima in November, 1827, as a lieutenant on board his Majesty’s ship Menai, having heard that there existed much interest about the interior of Peru, and that a rout across Peru and down the river Amazon, though little known, was supposed to be practicable, he resolved, having obtained the consent of his superior officers, to undertake the expedition at his own expense.

H aving crossed the Andes, he embarked in two canoes at Balsa Puerto, on the 12th of January, 1828, on the Cachi Zaco river, which he describes as a broad but shallow river, accompanied by Mr. Hinde, and seven Indians. Proceeding down the stream, for the distance of about one hundred miles, they arrived at its junction with the Guallaga, the current being at the rate of about four miles an hour, and its depth inconsiderable. After making a short stay at the village of Yurimaguas, they proceeded down the Guallaga to Santa Cruz, and from thence to Laguna; where the Indians, who had brought them thus far on the voyage, were paid off, and fresh ones procured.

Having procured fresh canoes and Indians, the voyagers proceeded down

the the Guallaga, to its conjunction with the Maranon or Amazon, the largest river in the world, though at this place only fit for the navigation of vessels drawing five to six feet water; the basin, at the point of junction, is about a mile across. Supposing themselves to be the first persons who had ever embarked on the trunk of the Maranon, this little company drank the health of the Lord High Admiral, and joined by the Indians gave three cheers. The next place they came to was Omaguas, which stands on a sudden turn of the river, which here forms a basin, with a very extraordinary current, and which, from Mr. Maw’s description, is similar to a current in the river Trent, at a place called Kelfield Pit. The river now began to assume a very supe rior character; and they continued to descend the stream, without meeting with any accident, until having passed the Province of Peru, they arrived on the 31st. of January, at Tabitinga, the frontier post of Brazil.

From Tabitinga they pursued their voyage in a vessel called a galatea, a boat the size of the cutter of a large frigate. After passing lea, the Indians jumped on shore, and deserted them, and the two navigators were obliged to float down the stream by themselves, though exposed to very considerable dangers, until they arrived at a chacra inhabited by Antonio Diez Guerrero, who received them with civility, and being about to send a galatea down the river, they proceeded in company to Casara. From St. Pablo, the river increased considerably in width, with numerous islands ; and, after leaving Diez Guerrero’s chacra, they seldom saw both banks of the river at the same time, owing to the islands which intervened. “What appeared to me,” says Mr. Maw, ” one of the most extraordinary features of the Maranon, and which may tend to convey an idea of the vast body of water running down, was that, in pulling across the river, and even across the broader passages, we observed three currents, one down each bank, and a third towards mid channel, the water between them not appearing to run so fast; and of the three currents, that running down the bank towards which the last reach set, was generally the most rapid. There were frequent eddies setting up the river, close unto the bank, but they did not continue far ; the current was generally the most rapid where the bank was most broken. The earth frequently fell in whilst we were passing; and in some parts, the trees that were fallen, were lying in masses; whilst in others, those whose roots had a firmer hold, stood in the water, the bank having been washed away from them ; and as the current rushed rapidly past, it required attention, when drifting, not to get drawn in and entangled.”—” The country on the banks is, with a few slight deviations, one continued level, or rather an inclined plain, descending imperceptibly towards the Atlantic; but though flat, it is not swampy, the banks being several feet above the level of the river, and covered with wood, among which are some large trees.”

Mr. Maw gives an interesting account, in this part of his book, how the brancos, or white population, catch the red men, or native Indians, in order to make slaves of them; or, if they are not fortunate in catching them, the next plan is to purchase them, from such petty chiefs as have taken prisoners, and who keep them in corals, or high uncovered inclosures, to kill and eat or to exchange for goods. Incredible as these accounts may appear, in the present generally advanced state of civilization, and in such a country as England, we had them too repeatedly confirmed to doubt. When at Egas, expressing my opinion that some of these accounts were figurative, the next person we happened to meet was generally referred to, when the answer would be a smile at our incredulity, with some further particulars, such as, they would shew us people living in the villa, who had ate human flesh, describing the manner of cooking, &c. It is said the Indians consider the palm of a white man’s hand a delicacy ; and it was a joke amongst the brancos at Egas, that I, being whiter than most people who had been there, should be more esteemed to cook by the Indians. A remarkable point, and which tended to show that it is from necessity these Indians are cannibals, we were told that, although the prisoners are kept in corals* the owners do not treat them with cruelty. When a human being is wanted to cook, the owner takes his pucuna, and, having fixed upon his object, blows a poisoned arrow, the victim falls, and is dragged out without the others regarding it.”

The next place they came to was Egas, which is described as a neat clean village; and from whence, having procured a fresh supply of Indians, they

proceeded proceeded down the river, until they came to the lake of Peixi Cuma, and a little below, the Maranon swelled out more like a sea than a river, being about two leagues and a half in breadth. The city of Barra was the next place they touched at, where they were received by the commandant of the village with great politeness, and found better entertainmant and more civilization. From this place they started on board a river craft, which was proceeding to Pura. Mura Puebla and Passa were passed, and found to be places fast going to decay, which the author considers was owing to the injustice and cruelty with which the Spanish population treated the Indians. They stopped for a short time at Villa Nova, while the commander of the vessel discharged some part of his cargo. At Ovedos the channel of the river was contracted to about half a league, but a little below it expanded so that the navigators could not distinguish both banks.

Before day-light on the 27th of March, they anchored abreast the village of Santarem, where they met with an Englishman, whom a merchant had left in charge of his house. After leaving Santarem, they met with a very disagreeable occurrence, being seized as prisoners by order of the commander of the district, and brought back to Santarem, under the idle pretence that the safety of the district depended on their apprehension; but soon afterwards they were sent down to Para. During their voyage from Santarem to Para, Mr. Maw says, “the river continued of great width, and bearing about E. N. E. until Thursday evening, April the 3d. when we entered a narrow channel, between the right bank, and what must have been an extremely long island, as we did not get out of the passage until the following morning. We then, I believe, passed the mouth of the river Xingu, coming from the southward, and in the afternoon arrived at Gurupa, one of the oldest stations, or settlements in this part of Brazil.”

After leaving Gurupa, they never saw the left bank of the river Maranon; but having entered some narrow passages, forming a sort of delta, the effects of the tide from the Atlantic ocean became evident. “There was at first a rise and fall of about a foot and a half, increasing as we went down, to two feet. The third or fourth day after, there was a rise and fall of four cr fire

feet,

feet, with regular ebb and flood currents.” Early on Saturday morning, the 19th of April, they had the satisfaction of seeing the city of Tara, where, after a short stay, they embarked on board the brig Douglas for England, and on the 16th of May were clear of the land, and in the regular N. E. trade-wind.

The author thus concludes his narrative of this very interesting voyage. “At the commencement of our route, we, step bjr step, receded from the light of civilization, passing towards people little advanced from a state of savage wildness. Amongst these, the utensils they needed, and the ornaments they admired, were received in payment for natural productions, or for personal services; whose vices were those only of savages. Continuing our route, we reached marks of, not European civilization, but of European demoralization. The uneducated, unenlightened branco, finding himself unchecked by those laws and authorities which existed in the country which he had left; finding himself among a people inferior to his countrymen, and not comprehending the advantage or necessity of restraining his inclinations, assumes arbitrary power, and commits uncontrouled enormities; whilst the unfortunate wretches among whom he fixes, suffer from his tyranny and acquire his vices. It is perhaps not possible to behold human nature more degraded: and, with just retribution, the evil recoils on the offender, if not in his own time, at least in that of his descendants, who following his example either compel the Indians to fly from oppression, or are destroyed by its effects. Slowly and with difficulty we passed through this state of things, until we again met with a general commerce, which, in such cases, may be said “to bring healing on its wings,” by importing true civilization, and proving the necessity of just laws and well regulated authority

“Returning to the figure of light, it can hardly be conceived the glare that bursts forth on first arriving in a highly civilized country, after being so long immersed in so deep a gloom; indeed, on being beheld, it can hardly be comprehended. What a population! few of whom are not superior to the lords of the land passed through! What buildings ! What wealth! What power f What an excessive cultivation, and what an extraordinary value of

the

the soil, the price of districts being incalculable, which in the country left might have been had for occupation.”

After his return to England, Mr. Maw was again sent to India, and served as naval aide-de-camp to Major General Sir Archibald Campbell, during the early operations of the Burmese war. He had the misfortune to be desperately wounded by a musket ball, which hit him in the mouth, and split his tongue into three pieces. During his passage home, several pieces of his teeth and jaw exfoliated from the wound ; and three years after, the ball itself worked out, during a winter’s passage round Cape Horn, in his Majesty’s ship Menai. Since his retirement from active service, Mr. Maw has added to his other literary labours a very interesting Memoir of the scene of action in India.

The following Pedigree is from the Herald’s Visitation of the County of Suffolk, 1561 and 1577.

John Maw, of Epworth, County of==Atis, daughter of Symond Finder,
Lincoln, gent. j of Croule, Connty of Lincoln.

Symon Maw, of-
Randlesham,
County of
Suffolk.

Margery, daughter Thomas Robert 3 son, married Alexander J

to Thomas Wylde, 2 son. Ann, daudghter to 4 son. 5 sou.

of Selby, Richard Wingfield..

County of York,

Francis 1 son. George 2 son. Thomas 3 son, Leonard 4 son, Bishop of Jane. Anne. Man. Bath and Wells.

AbMs—Azure two bars ermine, between six martlet;, three, two, and one.