county in the Parliament of 1715.

This gentleman voted in 1713 against the French Commerce Bill, in 1714 against the expulsion of Mr. Steele,* in 1716 for the Septennial act and repeal of the Triennial, in 1719 for the bill for strengthening the Protestant interest, and in the same year in favour of the Peerage Bill. He died 16 March, 1734.

CHERNOCKE. This ancient and once wide spreading family, the only remaining representative of which are the SMITHS of Aspley, received the honour of a baronetcy 21 May, 1661, in the person of Sir John Chernocke, of Hulcott. It has been long seated in Lancashire; its first member, who settled in Bedfordshire, was Robert Chernocke, Esq., who purchased the seat of Hulcott about the year 1500. This with the manors of Beadlon in Clophill parish, and of Salford, passed on the demise of the last baronet, and failure of male issue, into the family of Hervey of Chilton, in Bucks, as heir in the female line. It is now divided between the representatives of the Chernocke family, who are lay rectors and impropriators of Salford great tithes. In the interior of Hulcott church are monuments to the family from the time of Henry VIII. to the present day. Richard Chernocke served the office of High Sheriff 26-28-43 Elizabeth; as did also 22 Charles II.

SIR VILLIERS, Bart., who sat for the county in the Parliament of 1685, and who succeeded his father as second baronet in 1680. Dying in 1694, he was succeeded by his son

SIR PYNCENT, who sat for the county in the Parliaments of 1705-7-13, and who was High Sheriff of the same in 1703. He died 10 September, 1734, and was succeeded by his eldest son

SIR BOTELER, who sat for the borough in the Parliaments of 1734-41, being returned to the former on the demise of Sir J. V. Sambrooke, Bart. in 1740. He voted in 1742 against taking the Hanoverian troops into British pay. Sir Boteler died about 1756, when he was succeeded by his son Sir Villiers, on whose death in 1779, without issue, the baronetcy became extinct.

CHEKE, HENRY, sat for the borough in the Parliaments of 1571-2. The family of Cheke was originally of Motston, in the Isle of Wight. John Cheke, one of the most learned men of the age in which he lived, was Greek Professor at Cambridge, knight of the garter, and preceptor to King Edward VI. in 1551, chamberlain of the exchequer, secretary of state, &c. Dying in 1557, he left, with other sons, HENRY, the above named borough member, who married Frances, daughter of Sir Humph. Ratcliffe, of Elstow, in this county, and sister of Edward Ratcliffe, Baron Fitzwalter, and Earl of Sussex, who died without issue in 1643, whereupon Sir Thomas Cheke, Knt., son of the said Frances, laid claim to the Barony of Fitzwalter.

CHENEY, SIR HENRY, Knt., sat for the county in the Parliament of 1572. when he resigned his seat on being summoned to the House of Peers as BARON CHENEY, of Toddington, in the county of Bedford, 8 May, 1572. Speaking of this family, DUGDALE observes: Though none of this name stood rankt with the peers of this realm until the time of King Henry VII., yet were they of eminent note many ages before." Their

"

For particulars of this affair, see Memoir of MR. STEELE in our account of HAMPSHIRE.

possessions in this county consisted of the manors of Upper Dean, held by them for many generations, of Toddington, Chalgrave and Harlington, which came to them by the marriage of Sir Thomas Cheney, Knt., with Anne, daughter and coheir of Sir John Broughton. This Sir Thomas appears to have been a person of great chivalric renown in the reign of Henry VIII.; at the celebrated interview between that monarch and Francis I. at Ardres,* he was one of the challengers against all gentlemen, who were to exercise feats of arms, on horseback, or on foot for thirty days. He was a KNIGHT OF THE GARTER, warden of the cinque ports, and treasurer of the king's household. Upon the death of King Edward VI. he espoused the interest of Queen Mary, and was called to the Privy Council in the first year of Elizabeth, about which period he died, and was succeeded by his son, Sir HENRY, the above named representative of this county. On being summoned to the House of Peers, his lordship was one of those who sat on the trial of Mary, Queen of Scots. Dying in 1587 without issue male, the barony became extinct, when his estates devolved upon the family of his widow-the Wentworths.

CHESTER. The Chesters had a seat at Lidlington, the manor of which place belonged to them for many years, but was sold in 1769. They were originally established in GLOUCESTERSHIRE, and afterwards at Chicheley, in BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. ROBERT, of this family, was of such note in temp. Henry VI., that he had a license with others to found a gild to the praise and honor of the Trinity, in Gloucestershire. RICHARD was an alderman of the city of London 16 Edward IV. Sir WILLIAM was a sheriff of London in 1544, and lord mayor in 1560. The dignity of a baronetcy was conferred on the Chesters 13 March, 1619, in the person of Sir Anthony, who attended Queen Elizabeth at Tilbury camp, and commanded a troop of horse destined to oppose the landing of the Spanish armada. The office of High Sheriff of this county was served by Sir Anthony Chester, 4 Charles I., and by Henry Chester, 12th of the same reign. Sir Anthony's grandson

Sir ANTHONY, Bart., sat for the borough in the Parliament of 1685. His father, a royalist, singularly distinguished himself during the civil wars for his valour and zeal, and subsequently escaped to Holland. From an inscription against the wall in the chancel of Chicheley, it appears that this gentleman, who died 15 February, 1697-8, in the sixty-fifth year of his age, was an honour to his family, and not more excellent by descent than by virtue. That there was seldom to be found one who so faithfully discharged all offices of a pious man, subject, husband, father or friend. He loved the good, and cherished the learned; he entertained all freely and hospitably; followed virtue, and excelled in that part which makes mankind honoured, triumphing in piety, innocence, constancy and faith.” His grandson

SIR JOHN, Bart., sat for the county in the Parliament of 1741,

and

* This plain where the monarchs met was long afterwards named the Field of Cloth of Gold, on account of the splendour and wealth displayed on that occasion. Feats of chivalry, parties of gallantry, and such exercises as were reckoned in that age manly or elegant, engaged the attention of both courts. After the wrestling between the French and English was concluded, in which the latter gained the prize, the two kings retired to a tent, and when they had drank together, the King of England seized the King of France by the collar, saying to him, "my brother, I must wrestle with you," and he endeavoured once or twice to trip up his heels; but the King of France, who was a dexterous wrestler, twisted him round and threw him on the earth with prodigious violence. The King of England wished to renew the combat, but was prevented.

died 8 February, 1748. He voted in 1743 against the motion for taking the Hanoverian troops into British pay. In 1740 he was requested by the Duke of Bedford to stand, in conjunction with Sir Roger Burgoyne, as a candidate for the representation of the county, in opposition to the minister of that day. He married Frances, daughter of Sir Edward Bagot, of Blithfield, co. Stafford, an ancestor of the present Lord Bagot. On the demise of the last baronet without issue, 17 May, 1769, the baronetcy became extinct.

CHRISTIE, THOMAS, sat for the borough in the Parliaments of 1685-88-89. This gentleman, by will dated 10 May, 1697, charged the rectories of St. Paul and All Saints in Bedford, of which he was seized, with the payment of fifty-two shillings a year for ever to the parish of St. Paul's, and the same to the parish of St. Mary, to be distributed in bread weekly to thirteen of the poorest inhabitants of these parishes, who were rendered unable to work from age or infirmity. This benefactor also built an almshouse for eight poor persons, to whom he bequeathed one shilling each, weekly, payable out of the great tithes of St. Paul's.

COLHOUN, WILLIAM, sat for the borough in the Parliaments of 1784-90-96, obtaining his return through the influence of his patron, the Duke of Bedford. His seat was at Wrotham in Norfolk. An assiduous attendant upon his parliamentary duties, we meet with his name in most of the divisions on the leading questions of the day; thus we find him, in 1785, supporting Mr. Pitt's motion for Parliamentary Reform; in 1793, siding with Mr. Fox in his Resolution against the war with France; in 1795, giving his vote for Mr. Sheridan on the motion for the Repeal of the Habeas Corpus Suspension Bill; in 1796, voting with the minority in favour of Mr. Grey's motion for negotiating a peace with France; in 1798, opposing Lord George Cavendish's motion for a change of system in Ireland, &c.

CRAWLEY, SAMUEL, sat for the borough in the Parliaments of 1832-35-37, and for Honiton, in Devonshire, in 1818-20. The Crawleys were settled at Luton about the year 1600. They purchased the manor of Keysoe, as also a manor in Thurley, of the Earl of Bolingbroke, about the year 1700. Great Hampstead manor came to them by the marriage of Sir John Rotheram with a daughter of Sir Francis Crawley, one of the justices of the Common Pleas, who died in the year 1649. John Crawley, grandfather of this Sir Francis, was of Nether-Crawley in the parish of Luton. Francis Crawley, son and heir of Sir Francis, one of the Barons of the Exchequer, died in 1682. They hold the manor of Yielden, as representatives of Sir Jeremy Vanacker Sambrooke, Bart. John Crawley, of Cadington, Stockwood, served the office of High Sheriff of the county 9 George II., as also Thomas Crawley, M.B. of Dunstable, 22 George II., and the above-named representative of the borough, Mr. Samuel Crawley, 58 George III. This gentlemen, of whig principles, has declared himself in favour of the ballot. He is lord of the manors of Bolnhurst, Keysoe, Limbury-cumBiscott, Stopsley, Thurleigh and Yielden, and is seated at Stockwood Park, Luton.

DIVE, LEWIS, sat for the county in the Parliament of 1547, and in the first Parliament of 1553. The manor of Brom.ham came into this family by female descent from the Wylds, in the person of Sir John Dive, who died in 1607, the manors of Carlton and Sewell were also part of its pos

sessions. The office of High Sheriff of Bedford and Bucks was executed by the Dives, 2 and 37 Henry VIII. and 14 Elizabeth, and that of High Sheriff of Bedford only, 25-36-45 Elizabeth, and 1 James. Sir Lewis Dive, who figures prominently in Clarendon's History of the Rebellion, is said by Heath to have been sent in October, 1643, with a strong party of horse and foot, into Bedfordshire, and to have taken the town of Bedford, which was occupied as a strong quarter by the rebels, where he captured Sir John Norris and the parliamentary officers. From thence he went to Sir Samuel Luke's house, and served that as Sir Lewis himself was served in the same county by the sequestrators.

DUNCOMBE, WILLIAM, sat for the county in the Parliaments of 1688-95. The family of Duncombe obtained the manor of Battlesden, by marriage with the Potgraves, about the reign of Queen Elizabeth, as also that of Mortaynes by marriage with the Brandreths sold in 1786.) The borough member was one of the lords justices of the kingdom of Ireland, in the reign of William III., and afterwards one of the comptrollers of the accounts of the army, in the reign of Queen Anne. "It was one of the family," says LYSON, in his Magna Brittania, "Sir Saunders Duncomb, a gentleman pensioner to King James and Charles I., that we are indebted for the accommodation of sedans or close chairs, the use of which was first introduced by him into this country, in the year 1634, when he procured a patent which vested in him and his heirs, the sole right of carrying persons "up and down in them" for a certain term.* The Duncombes, of Battlesden, have served the office of High Sheriff of the county, 34 Elizabeth, 12 James I., 24 Charles I., and 4 Anne. William Duncombe, the last Sheriff, removed to Yorkshire: he is the ancestor of the Duncombes, BARONS OF FEVERSHAM.

EDWARDS, RICHARD, sat for the county in the Cromwellian Parliament of 1656. This gentlemen's family, now represented by GEORGE NIGel EdWARDS, Esq. of Henlow Grange, has been seated for many generations at Arlsey, the present lord of the manor of which place is Samuel Bedford Edwards, Esq. In this family also were vested the manors of HenlowLantheny and Henlow-Warder, and the manor of Girtford, in the parish of Sandy, Richard Edwards, who died in 1691, is called on the epitaph over his monument in Arlsey, the last grand reader of the temple. Oliver Edwards, of Cardington, a citizen of London, served the office of High Sheriff of Bedford, 12 George II., 1738; George Edwards, of Henlow, the maternal uncle of the present representative of the family, the same in 1804; Samuel Bedford Edwards in 1825; and George Nigel Edwards in 1827. This last gentleman, who assumed the name of EDWARDS in lieu of his patronymic RAYNSFORD, on succeeding to his maternal uncle's estates, is a deputy lieutenant for this county.

FANSHAWE, THOMAS, sat for the borough in the Parliament of 1601.

Farrer, WILLIAM, sat for the borough in the Parliaments of 1695, 17015-7-8-10-15-22. The family of this gentleman is described as of Harold, in this county; its principal possessions however were in Buckinghamshire, consisting of the manor of Brayfield-castle, manor of Lavendon, and the manor of Newenton. Mr. Farrer, who died in 1737, was for many years

* It is a remarkable fact that Captain Bayley first introduced the use of hackney coaches in London, in the same year.

chairman of the committee of Ways and Means. In 1710, he voted for the act for Naturalizing Foreign Protestants; in 1710, against Dr. Sacheverel; in 1713, against the French Commerce Bill, in 1716, for the Repeal of the Triennial Act; and in 1719, for the Bill for Strengthening the Protestant Interest, and the Peerage Bill. He was a bencher of the Inner Temple, and was made in 1715, Master of St. Katherine's Hospital. The present representative of this family is WILLIAM FREDERICK FARRER, Esq. of Brayfield House.

FITZPATRICK. This family originally styled Princes of Ossory, and elevated to the Peerage by Henry VIII., in 1541, by the title of Baron of Upper Ossory, is of the most illustrious origin, being descended from Heremann, son of Milesius, King of Spain, and the first Irish monarch of the Milesian Race.* John Fitzpatrick, of Castletown, the ancestor of this branch of the family, who suffered severely during the usurpation of Cromwell, for his fidelity to the royal cause, was involved in King James' general act of attainder, in 1689, and died in 1693. His elder son, EDWARD, who in the Revolution of 1688, had a regiment given him, was made colonel of the Royal English Fuzileers, in 1692, and promoted to the rank of a brigadier-general, in 1694; but was subsequently drowned in his passage from England to Ireland, in 1696. Dying unmarried, he was succeeded by his brother RICHARD, who being bred to the sea service, had the command of a ship of war, in which station he so signalized himself by his valour and conduct, that he and his brother, for their faithful services, received, 12 October, 1696, from King William, the extensive estates in Queen's county, of Edmond Morris, which had become forfeited by that gentleman's death, at the battle of Aughrim; these Mr. Fitzpatrick considerably enlarged by purchase and marriage. He was further rewarded. by George I., for his fidelity to the crown, in promoting the Protestant succession, by being elevated to the Peerage of Ireland, on 27 April, 1715, as Baron Gowran, of Gowran, and took his seat in Parliament, 12 No. vember following, and two days afterwards was one of the lords appointed to prepare an address, to congratulate his majesty on his accession to the throne. His lordship married in 1718, Anne, younger daughter and coheir to Sir John Robinson, of Farming Wood, in the county of Northampton, Bart., dying 9 June, 1727, he was succeeded by his eldest son—

JOHN, EARL OF UPPER Ossory, who sat for the county in the Parliament of 1754, and who was elevated to the Earldom in the Peerage of Ireland, 5 October, 1751. His lordship's family first settled in Bedfordshire, in 1736, when Ampthill park was purchased by his mother, Lady Gowran, as was also the manor of Houghton-Conquest in 1741. He was born in 1719, and was appointed in January, 1745, master of Farming-Wocd forest, part of the forest of Rockingham, for the term of ninety-nine years. He was also Custos Rotulorum of this county. In July, 1744, he married the Lady Evylyn Leveson Gower, eldest daughter of John, Earl Gower, and deceased 23 September 1758, when he was succeeded by his eldest sonJOHN, 2nd EARL OF UPPER OSSORY, who sat for the county in the Parliaments of 1761-68-74-80-84-90, succeeding to the first on the demise of

Barnaby Fitzpatrick. the second Lord of Upper Ossory, was the intimate friend and companion of Edward VI., as is fully evinced by the many letters still preserved, which the young monarch wrote to him in 1551, while he served as a volunteer in France, under Henry II., against the Emperor. His descendant, Bryan, the seventh Baron, died in 1696, since which the ancient barony has not been allowed, in consequence of an attainder.