518

Curious Monument at Camberwell, Surrey.

On the subject, however, of Kent bearing the arms of a rampant white horse, with the motto "Invicta" attached, which your Correspondent does not appear to have directly noticed, I confess myself hardly satisfied. Whether the whole county bears the arms, or only East Kent, I am at a loss to determine; but waving this question, certain it is, that the motto "Invicta" must be attributed for some motive or other and for what, but the reasons before assigned? I presume none, And here I cannot but remark, though it may be somewhat irrelevant, upon the peculiar good fortune of the Saxons, in particular, of all invaders of this Island; to which cause we must attribute, the greater body of the people being composed of that race, as they still continue to this period; and although their favourite form of government, known by the title of the "Heptarchy," was totally subverted and abolished by the Normans, still the great interest of the nation was by no means united, till the period_usually known by the title of the "Saxon line restored." It is an indubitable fact, that both the Norman and Saxon factions were entirely obliterated and effaced from the minds of both parties, by this wisest of provisions, viz. the marriage of Henry I. with Matilda, daughter of Malcolm III. King of Scotland, and niece of Edgar Atheling, the rightful heir to the throne.

On the spot where Harold fell, it is a remarkable circumstance, that a tradition very generally prevailed, that an altar was erected; and upon investigation, it was actually discovered to be the case; the situation of which, if I remember right, is almost directly opposite the Dormitory, at Battel Abbey; from which a considerable degree of credit, in such cases, must be conceded to tradition, of course making, by deduction, reasonable allowance. Yours, &c.

J. D. OXON.

[Dec.

in he desires to be buried at Folkham in Norfolk in my Church, where a monument is there made already."... "And the next sabbath day," says he, "I would have Mr. Parson to make some good sermon to the auditory who came to Church."

Amongst other benefactions to the Parish of Camberwell, he left the sum of 2l. 13s. 4d. annually to be laid out in bread for the poor on Sundays *. He is nominated in the Letters Patent, as a Governor of "the Free School of Edward Wilson, clerk, in Camberwell," (which adjoins the Churchyard,)in connexion with "Thomas Grimes of the Parish of Cam. berwell in the county of Surrey, Kot." and many others of note in the village.

The Lady commemorated by the monument alluded to was one of the daughters of Thomas Muschamp.

The Muschamps, according to Mr. Lysons, came over to England with William the First. A powerful family of this name seems to have settled northward, shortly after the Norman Invasion; they bore "Azure, three but terflies Argent," which arms are widely different from those of the Camberwell branch. I am, however, inclined to think they have descended from one common stock, as the name appears to be Norman, and does not occur till after the arrival of William the First in Britain. Robert de Muskam was Seneschal to Gilbert de Gaunt, who had considerable possessions in various parts of England, temp. William I. Robert, his grandson, seems to have been a benefactor to Stanleigh Abbey (co. Derby), and though by inheritance from the father and grandfather (to whom it had been assigned by Gilbert de Gaunt), he held "manerium de Ilkeston, cum pertinentiis suis" in that county, either he or one of the same names must have been living in Durham, where he is de

* I know not the terms of this bequest, but if the bestowment of it were not conditional on their coming every Sabbath day to the place where his wife lay," saying the kind and Queen then reigning over them," Lord's Prayer, and praying to God for the as was the case in a similar testamentary donation to the poor at Folkham, who would perform the same ceremonies over his father's grave, I must charge the worthy knight with ingratitude, paralleled only by that of the man who cried turnips," but cried not when his father died."

scribed

1825.]

Curious Monument at Camberwell, Surrey.

scribed as occupying lands" super S. Cuthbertum circa 1150. Hugh his brother had issue Isabella, whose daughter Agnes married "Ralph, Lord of Gresley and Selleston."

Thomas Muschamps married Maud, or Matilda, daughter of William de Vescy, and in 19 Hen. II. "took part with young Henry against the King his father." He left issue Robert, to whom Henry the First gave the barony of Wollover (Northumberland). His son, of the same name, appears to have made some noise in the world; for Mat. Paris calls him "Vir magni nominis in partibus Anglia Borealibus;" and Camden, "the mightiest Baron in all these northern parts.' He died in 34 Hen. III. "circa festum Sanctæ Margaritæ."

Robert de Muscampe and Isabella de la Ford, one of his heirs, are mentioned in 1255. She was his grandchild by Cecilie the wife of Odonell de Ford, and married Adam de Wageion. Besides this daughter, Robert had other two, Isabella married to William de Huntercombe, and Margarette the wife of Malisius Earl of Stratherne.

Mr. Bray has traced their pedigree to Thomas Muschampe, to whose memory there was an inscription in the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, Milk-street;" and of whom, Weever in his "Funerall Monuments," says, he "was Sheriffe of this Citie (London) in the year 1463."

that a

The Magna Brit. et Hib. says of the Camberwell family, they were ranked among the Barons called to Parliament from the reign of King Henry I. to that of King Henry III." Although Mr. Lysons says Branch of the Family had been long settled at Peckham, I think that Thomas Muschamp, whom we have noticed as the father of the lady commemorated by the monument, is the first on record, who is described as belonging to that place, though his father William was resident at Camberwell.

A moiety of " Camberwell" manor was conveyed to Thomas Muschamp by Edward Scott in 1564. From him it passed to his daughter, who, as we have already stated, married Sir Thos. Grimes. Ralph Muschamp held the other moiety in 1588, and his grandson died seised of it in 1632, Mary his daughter married Edward Evers

519

field, who sold it to Sir Thos. Bond. He married a sister of Sir Thos. Grimes, and either by his means, or by purchase, became possessed of the other

half.

William, the father of this Thomas Muschamp, held a moiety of Bretynghurst manor (Peckham) in 1539. From him it passed to his son, grandson, and great grandson in succession. Mary, sister of the last-named, married Edward Eversfield, who in 1672 sold it

to Sir Thomas Bond.

for

The North aile in Camberwell Church was the burial-place of the Muschamps, and is still claimed by the Lords of the Peckham estate. An inscription, soliciting your prayers the good estate of William Muschamp and Agnes his wife, once ornamented its East window: a similar one occupied one of its North windows, and there yet remain two or three memorials for members of the family there.

The monument which I have mentioned was, until recently, partly hidden by the gallery; but in the late repairs, a place above it has been appropriated to its reception. It is situ. ate near the North-east corner of the Church, and consists of a niche containing the effigies of Jane the daughter of Thomas Muschamp, and wife of Sir Thomas Hunt, kneeling at a fald stool. The pilasters on either side are ornamented with carvings of fruit, flowers, and "emblems of mortality," gilt and coloured; the hands of the figure and the base of the stool are gone, but, with the exception of a few other "impressions of Time," the monument is in a perfect state.

Over it are the arms of Hunt. Per pale Argent and Sable, a saltire counterchanged; on a canton of the second, a lion passant gardant of the first; and below, is a shield of lozenge form, probably once ornamented with the arms of Muschamp.

The inscription is as follows:

"Lo! Muscha's stock a fruitful braunche
did bri'ge

Sir Thomas Hunt o' may dayes pleasant
Adorned with vertves fit for lad's bright

springe

Posest y Frwe y' was his soules' delight-
And daughters three

With welth and vertues me't for their degre'
Whe' twis VII yeares VI months x ways

were spent

In wedlock's bond, and loyall love's delight

Novem'r

1825.]

[ 521 ]

REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS.

91. The Progresses, Processions, and magnificent Festivities of King James the First, his Royal Consort, Family, and Court. Collected from Original Manuscripts, scarce Pamphlets, Corporation Records, Parochial Registers, &c. comprising the splendid Masques exhibited at Court, the Triumphal Pageants of the City of London, numerous Original Letters, and annotated Lists of all the Knights of the Bath, Baronets, and Knights Bachelors, who received those Honours during the Reign of King James. Illustrated with Notes, Historical, Topographical, Biographical, and Bibliographical. By John Nichols, F.S.A. Lond. Edinb. and Perth. 4to. Nichols

and Son.

HE EIGHT PARTS of this enter

hands of the Publick, conclude the First Volume, and contain 300 pages of the Second; and we know not whether most to admire the persevering industry of the Veteran Editor, or the multifarious interest of the articles he has collected. In particular we allude to the large assemblage of early Tracts, which are reprinted from originals of the greatest and most costly rarity, curiosities "not to be separately obtained but with great difficulty, and at an enormous expense. Amongst them, we are told, will be included more than thirty Masques, and as many of those curious productions called "London Pageants," as the Editor has been able to procure. Nor are the intervening matters mere dry history, or dull record; the Royal and Noble correspondence, introduced in strict chronological succession, affords a living picture of the Court, its pursuits, and its amusements. There is no deficiency of sensible remark, enlivening wit, or sarcastic scandal.

In this point of view, the Progresses of James the First may rank with Lodge's Illustrations (from which they have largely borrowed), the Paston Papers, or the universally-admired Memoirs of John Evelyn; with this material distinction, that, whereas works of that description have been generally the production of some one family record-room, we are here put in possession of a complete body of Court History, an assemblage from all attainGENT. MAG. December, 1825.

6

able sources, and a selection of all that is apposite and to the

From the letters of Mr. Chamberpurpose. lain especially, much entertainment history little is known; but he appears may be expected. Of that gentleman's Government, and to have resided in to have always held some office under the immediate vicinity of the Court, if not within the Palace of Whitehall. His great friend and patron was Sir Ralph Winwood, Secretary of State; and his constant correspondent during reign of Elizabeth, continuing during a long series of years, beginning in the the whole reign of Jumes, and not ceasing till far in that of Charles, was Sir Carleton,

dor at Venice and to the States, and afterwards likewise Secretary of State, and Viscount Doncaster. The pen of the communicative Chamberlain is as remarkable for its intelligence and vivacity as for its unwearied constancy. So uninterrupted a series of communication between two individuals, in any rank in life, does not frequently take place. In the absence of the yet uninvented newspaper, an Ambassador in a foreign Court must have found such a correspondent invaluable.

While Sir Ralph Winwood was resident at the States, Mr. Chamberlain as constantly addressed him, as he did Sir Dudley Carleton; and those dispatches are undoubtedly the most entertaining papers printed in Winwood's Memorials. But this correspondence ceasing on Sir Ralph's return, Mr. Chamberlain became doubly attentive to his other friend, who preserved his communications with due care, and the originals are deposited in the Lambeth Library. "The indefatigable Dr. Birch," as he has frequently been styled, transcribed them with a view to publication; but this being, ou his death, one of his unexecuted projects, his transcript in two quarto volumes remains still unpublished with his other collections in the British Museum. It is from this original source that Mr. Nichols promises to derive some of his most curious and interesting materials, With respect to his mode of selection, the domestic news, the solemni

ties,

REVIEW.-Nichols's Progresses of James 1.

ties, the festivities, and the "secret"Accession" of the new Monarch. history" of the Court and of No- More than one Proclamation used on ble families, caunot fail to prove more that occasion is introduced, and a colacceptable to the public taste than lection is formed of accounts of the state affairs or conjectures on foreign proclamation ceremony at different politics. towns, at London, York, Bristol, Winchester, Leicester, Norwich, Shrewsbury, Hull, and other places, and to the army at Flushing.