MR. URBAN,

Oct. 18.

BAGINTON, in the county of Warwick, three miles from Coventry, was purchased in 5 Ric. II. (1381-2) from Sir Richard Herthul,* by Sir William Bagot, a younger son, it is believed, of the Bagots of Blithfield in Staffordshire, and who was one of the favourite ministers of Richard II. In the following year he was sheriff of the counties of Warwick and Stafford. It was at this place that the Duke of Hereford lodged, before his intended wager of battle with the Duke of Norfolk, upon Gosford-green, adjoining Coventry, on September 16, 1397. From hence (according to Holinshed) "about the houre of prime came to the barriers of the listes the Duke of Hereford, mounted on a white courser, barded with green and blew velvet, imbrodered sumptuouslie with swans and antelops of goldsmiths' woorke, armed at all points." The Duke of Norfolk (Thomas Mowbray) arrived at the same place, from his castle at Caludon, in the neighbourhood, his horsse being barded with crimosen velvet, imbrodered richlie with lions of silver and mulberie trees." There is nothing now remaining of Baginton Castle but a small portion of wall, scarcely sufficient to mark the place where it stood. Of the castle at Caludon, one fragment of a massy wall, in the inner part of which are two pointed windows now closed up, and a portion of the moat, are the only remains.

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When the Duke of Hereford superseded King Richard as Henry the Fourth, Sir William Bagot was, with other ministers of the late reign, committed to the Tower; but he was soon after released, and restored to his estate. He died on the 6th Sept. 1407.

In the year 1816 I frequently visited the Warwickshire churches, for the purpose of copying the monumental inscriptions, and taking rubbings of the ancient brasses. At this period I went to Baginton Church, remarkable for its "ivy-mantled tower," where I found deposited on the Bromley vault, covered with dust, the broken plates of Sir William Bagot and his wife Margaret, about four feet in length. The inscription given by Dugdale was gone. I suggested to the Clerk, and

Chetwynd MS. quoted by Lord Bagot, GENT. MAG. VOL. XXXI.

afterwards to the late Rector, that such valuable memorials of the ancient Lords of the Manor should be better preserved, and that they should be cleaned, restored, and affixed to one of the walls. A reduced copy of the rubbing was finally engraved, and published in 1824 in the "Memorials of the Bagot Family," by Lord Bagot, who has had the plates perfectly restored, and affixed in a public situation in the church.* Both the knight and his lady wore the collar of SS. testifying their loyalty to the new dynasty.

Baginton Castle was in existence in 1483; for it appears from the Coventry Annals that the bakers of the city, objecting to the ordinances of the Mayor relative to the price of bread, refused to supply the city with that article, and went in a body for refuge to Baginton Castle; but, on their return, they were heavily fined.

Sir William Dugdale states that Sir Henry Rainsford, of Clifford, Gloucestershire, sold Baginton in 1618, to William Bromley, Esq. He was descended from Sir Walter Bromley, Knt. of Bromley, Staffordshire, in the time of King John, and heir male to Sir John Bromley, who in 1416, recovered the standard of Guyenne, in the battle of Corby, for which he was knighted, and had the standard for his crest. This William Bromley probably built the mansion which was afterwards burnt in 1706 (of which there is a large painting in the present house), and married Katharine Millard, who, on his death, became guardian to her son in his minority in 1628. Sir William had two sons, William and Clobery, and two daughters, Ellen Campion and Margaret Clerke.

His son, Sir William Bromley, K.B. married Ursula, daughter of Thomas Lord Leigh, of Stoneley. He is eulogised by Sir W. Dugdale "as a person whose special endowments do show that he hath not degenerated from his worthy ancestors,"† and he dedicated

*They have subsequently been engraved in Mr. Boutell's "Monumental Brasses and Slabs." The restoration was beautifully executed by the Messrs. Waller.— Edit.

Two letters of Sir William Bromley to Sir William Dugdale are printed in Hamper's "Life, Diary, and Correspondence of that eminent man, pp. 241, 285,

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to him his map of Knightlow hundred, at the corner of which is engraved his armorial bearings. He was in arms for King Charles I. and suffering much by imprisonments and sequestrations for his loyalty, was made one of the Knights of the Order of the Bath at the coronation of Charles II. He died Jan. 1683.

William, his son, was a gentleman commoner of Christ church, Oxford, admitted B.A. in 1681, and created D.C.L. Aug. 27, 1702; and is described by Bishop Burnet as a Tory, of grave deportment and good morals. His intention to study the law, and his general prudence in domestic concerns at an early period of his life, are amply proved by the following letters, which I believe have never been before published. They were probably addressed to Nathan Wrighte, Esq. then of Barwell, co. Leicester, and Recorder of the town of Leicester, afterwards Sir Nathan Wrighte, of Gothurst, co. Bucks, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal.

Letters addressed by W. Bromley, Esq. to Mr. Wright.

Bagginton, March 27, 1683. "Sr.-Knowing that ill newes is generally swift-footed, I was much surprised to find by yours, the last post, that you had not as yet heard of the great affliction which has happened to our family by the Ideath of my deare Father, which was in January. Considering with my self the great esteem & value my deare Father had of your worth, I am very desirous to encrease my acquaintance with you, in order to which (hoping yt you might have come ye last Circuit) I sent a servant to Coventrey, at the Assises, to begge yt you would make Bagginton in your way to Warwicke, but there he was informed yt you came no farther then Leicester; & therefore what I then intended personally to have requested, I now am forced to doe by a letter. Wee are now breaking up housekeeping, & shall remoue within a fortnight or 3 weeks to ye Lady Isham's, at Shangton, where wee purpose to continue till Michaelmas, & then resolve for London. Had not a hurt (which I received 13 weekes since by a rush against a gate a hunting) prevented mee, (being yet scarce able to walke about my chamber,) I had intended for London at Easter, but now I shall defer it 'till Michaelmas, by which time I hope I shall be perfectly recouered of all lameness. It is my intention (having spent aboue 4. yeares in the University) to apply my self seriously

to the study of ye Laws of England, in
which respect I propose to my self a great
deal of happiness & satisfaction in being
known to so ingenious a person as Mr.
Wright. I begge your advice whether you
thinke it convenient yt I should be entred
at ye Middle Temple, before I can be re-
sident, wth wt ever else you shall thinke
fitt to impart, to
"Sr.

"Your faithfull freind & servt.
"WILL: BROMLEY."

"My Lady* desires to be very
"kindly remembred to you."

"Leichfeild, Dec. 22, -83.

"Tho' your former letter was most complaisant, Sr, as intended (as you thought) cheifly to complye with my desires, yet your last argued most true freindship, which, where it resides, will sooner disclose an unpleasing truth, then flatter one with more pleasing, tho' in the end lesse satisfactory, pretences. What you concluded to be my desire, let me tell you, was only secondarily, in order to gratifie the incessant & importunate requests of others. For I alwaies thought yt nothing could be so advantagious for mee, as continuing unmarried till 25 (as the literall sense of the Will enjoins), bec: yt at that age, having then seen more of the world then at present, & having made some progress in the study of the Law, it is highly probable I may then make a more agreeable choice, &, it is possible, more profitable. 2. Bec: I looke upon yt age full soon enough for a young man to begin oeconomicks, it being y" to be supposed yt he will have attained to a greater degree of discretion yn he had before he had seen so many years over his head; & when he settles himself in ye countrey, may approue himself to be something more then a meer Countrey - Esquier, which, in the most genuine & comon acceptation, is but a periphrasis whereby to express a fool. But, however your opinion may either be answerable to my wishes or not, I think it depends very much upon reason. to wt I told you yt the Trustees had consulted lawyers, & were advised, &c. I have heard it often from them. I have desired the reasons; they have told mee yt ye design of ye trust reposed in them was to see the Will fulfilled, viz. in paying my Brothers' & Sisters' portions, &c. so yt if I were married, & gave them good security for my faithfull performance herein, the end of their trust was thereby obtained, & they might justly surrender. But when I urged to them the Remainder yt was in my Brothers (wch I must confess,

* His mother.

As

There is a full-length portrait of the Secretary in the mansion at Baginton, and another in the Picture Gallery at Oxford; an engraving has also been published, M. Dahl pinx. 1712. J. Smith fec. et excudit.

Mr. Secretary Bromley married Elizabeth, second daughter of Ralph Lord Stawell, and had issue two sons and two daughters, Elizabeth and Anne: Thomas, the elder, was created M.A. by the university of Oxford, July 21, 1716. He dying unmarried, William, the younger, became heir to his father. He was of Oriel college, Oxford, created D.C.L. May 19, 1732. At the time of his father's death, he was M.P. for the borough of Warwick, having been returned at the general election of 1727. He was afterwards elected for the university of Oxford, on the death of George Clark, LL.D. in Feb. 1737; but died himself on the 12th of the following month. He married in 1725 Lucy Throckmorton, an heiress, whose father died before she was born, and her mother in childbirth of her.* She was the last of the family of Haseley, Warwickshire, and on his death she married Richard Chester, Esq. She died 1773.

His son and successor was William Throckmorton Bromley, Esq. who was elected M.P. for the county of Warwick in 1765 and 1768, but died in 1769, aged 42, having married Bridget, eldest daughter of Richard Davenport, of Calveley, co. Chester, Esq.

Their son, William Davenport Bromley, Esq. died in 1810 unmarried, and was the last heir male of the family. His sister and heiress, Lucy, was married to Captain Cromwell Price, an Irishman; but she died, also without children, in 1822. She left Baginton

*Gent. Mag. vol. vii. p. 189.

to her cousin, the Rev. Walter Davenport, youngest son of Davis Davenport, Esq. of Capesthorn House, co. Chester, and he assumed the name of Bromley. He has been twice married, first (in 1818) to Miss Gooch, daughter of the Archdeacon of Sudbury, and granddaughter of a former Bishop of Ely (her brother, the Rev. Frederick Gooch, is the present Rector of Baginton); and secondly (in 1829) to Lady Louisa Mary Dawson, aunt to the Earl of Portarlington. The Rev. Walter Davenport Bromley is the present lord of Baginton; but, residing at Wootton Hall near Ashbourne, he lets it to William Yates Peel, Esq. brother to the Right Hon. Sir Robert Peel.

In Dr. Thomas's edition of Dugdale's Warwickshire is printed the epitaph at Baginton of Mrs. Ellen Campion, daughter of William Bromley, Esq. who died in 1632; but the following epitaphs to the family have not as yet been published:

"P.M.S.

"In the repository adjoyning lie the bodys of Sir WILLIAM BROMLEY, Knight of the Honble Order of the Bath, and of URSULA, daughter of the Lord Leigh, his beloved wife-a lady worthy such a husband. His endowments and eminent vertues shewed he did not degenerate from his renowned ancestors. Firmly adhering to King Charles the Blessed Martyr, and taken fighting for him, he shared in the common calamities of sequestrations and imprisonment; and at last was obliged, till the happy restauration delivered him, not to go above two miles from home withto this Church for ever, and perpetual out leave. He gave a Farm and the Tithes

Charities to the Poor.

"William Bromley erected this monument, as an instance of filial duty and affection, when he beautifyed this chancel,

A.D. 1723."

"P.M.S.

"In the vault belonging to the family lies the body of the Right Honble WILLIAM BROMLEY, Esq. His behaviour grave, but not austere, his conversation instructive but unaffected, a true and steady member of the Establish'd Church, which by his influence. He had many great he adorn'd by his example, and supported trusts of several famileys reposed in him, all which he executed to their intire sattisfaction and advantage. In the public busness of the State he shone with uncommon lustre; was chosen to serve this countey in two Parleiments, and unani

mously desired at a meeting of the Lords and Gentlemen to continue their Member in the succeding one, but at that time he prefer'd retirement to public business. He could not long remain in privacy, being soon forced into it by the University of Oxford, who elected him one of their Representatives in the year 1700, and he served that learned body with fidelity and honour in ten successive Parliments. Refusing imployment offer'd him in the State, he was twice appointed by Act of Parliment one of the Commissioners for

stating the Public Accounts of the Kingdom, which trust he discharged with great wisdom and integrity. In the reign of Queen Anne he was with great unanimity chosen Speaker of the Honble House of Commons, and fill'd the chair with singular credit and authority. Upon the dissolution of that Parliment he was appointed by her Majesty one of the principal Secretarys of State, in which office he continued during that good Queen's life. Her successor was pleased to offer him another employment, which he did not think proper to accept. He merited the greatest honours, never sought but often declined them. In all times and changes prefer'd integrity to the highest titles, and allow'd no views to interfere with the love of his country, in whose service he died February 13, 1731, aged 69, much lamented by those who had the honour of his acquaintance, and in the highest esteem and veneration of all good men."

"In the family vault, near this place, lies Mrs. ELIZABETH BROMLEY, eldest daughter of the Right Honble William Bromley, Esq. Speaker of the House of Commons, and Secretary of State to the late Queen Anne, by his last lady, Elizabeth daughter of the Right Honble Ralph Lord Stawell. She dyed Jany 26, 1742.

During the whole course of her life she was constant in the practice of every Christian duty, and remarkable for an uncommon sweetness of temper; these good qualities indear'd her to her relations and freinds, and made her an example worthy to be follow'd by posterity.

"Mrs. Anne Bromley erected this monument as a testimony of that sincear affection and esteem which she retained for the memory of the best of sisters."

"In memory of WILLIAM, son of the Right Hon'rable WILLIAM BROMLEY, Esq. who died March the 12th, 1736, Also of his son, WILLIAM aged 38. THROCKMORTON BROMLEY, Esq. elected Knight of the Shire for this county, in January, 1765, and re-elected in the spring of 1768, who died March the 4th, 1769, aged 42. And BRIDGET, his relict, the eldest daughter of Richard Davenport, of Calveley, in the county of Chester, Esq. who died February, 1778, aged 45, Of their daughters, BRIDGET, who died Apr1 1787, aged 28, and MARY, who died June, 1787, aged 25. And of their son, WILLIAM DAVENPORT BROMLEY, Esq. who died June 29, 1810, aged 47.

"This monument was erected A.D. 1813 as a mark of sincere and affectionate respect, by Lucy, the relict of Cromwell Price, Esq. and second and only surviving ley and Bridget his wife." daughter of William Throckmorton Brom

These lines are on the vault:-
REPOSITORIVM BROMLEIGHORVM,
AN: DO: 1677.

The following inscription is on a plain tomb in the churchyard :