ever, are more highly deserving of that character than the rest, that superiority must be given to the

Godington) well expresses the strength of his frame and constitution. In the windows of the staircase at Godington are collected all the family arms, quarterings, and mottoes, in painted glass, formerly dispersed throughout the house; which are numerous, and well preserved. Leaving no male issue by either of his wives, he devised Godington, with the rest of his estates, to his nephew and heir at law, Sir Nicholas Tooke, alias Toke, of Wye (son of his next brother, Henry Toke, M. D. of Offhain); who in 1701 raised a large vault for his family against the North Wall of the church of Great Chart, where several of an early date are recorded on flat stones, enriched with their figures, and shields of arms, in brass. By marriage with the daughter of John Cockınan, M. D. the manor and Priory of Little Dunmow and the manor of Bernstow came to his family, and descended to John Tooke, Esq. who was High-sheriff of Essex in 1770.

The manor of Popes in Hertfordshire is reputed to have been once in the manor of Essendon, though at present in Hatfield parish. Being sold to one Holbeach, it was for a time called after his name. From that family it was sold to Pope, and ever since retained that owner's name. Three parts of it passed afterwards, through various possessors, to Fulk Woodhall; who, joining with Bellamy, owner of the fourth, sold this manor to William Tooke, Esq. of Popes, (son of Ralph Tooke, of Godington, by Anne daughter of William Meggs of Canterbury) Auditor of the Court of Wards and Liveries; who married Alice, one of the daughters of Robert Barley, of Bibbesworth, Herts. They lived together 56 years, and had nine sons and three daughters. After he had been an Officer of the said Court 44 years, he died Dec. 4, 1558, aged 80; and was buried, with his wife, in Essendon church.

William Tooke, of Hertford, second son of the Auditor, and his successor in the manor of Popes, obtained in 1554, jointly with Edward Beash, a grant of the manor and advowson of Chettle in Dorsetshire. He married Mary daughter of Nicholas Tychbourn, of Roydon, Essex; and died Feb. 12, 1611; his widow Aug. 29, 1613. Christopher, their fourth son, died Aug. 19, 1630.

At the dissolution of the Monastery of Waltham Holy Cross, King Henry VIII. granted the manor of Wormley, Herts, and the advowson of the Rectory, to Edward North and his heirs, at an annual rent of 11. 13s.; who sold it to Elizabeth Woodcliffe, from whom it came to William Woodcliffe; who left a daughter Angelot, married to Walter Tooke, of Popes, the Auditor's eldest son; and in 1588 the successor to his father's office of Auditor. This Angelot, as appears by her Epitaph* on *Here lieth interred the body of Angelot Tooke, wife of Walter Tooke, of Popes, in the parish of Bishops-Hatfield, in the county of Hertford, Esq. who had issue by him 8 sons and 4 daughters; which said Angelot VOL. IX.

M

was

four Dissertations on the antient History of Northern Europe by the learned Professor Schloetzer. Here

the North side of the chancel of Wormley church, was a second daughter, in right of whom her husband presented to the living alternis vicibus. It appears by Mr. Purvey's epitaph, who married Lord Denny's sister, that he also was patron alternis vicibus. From hence it has been conjectured, that Mr. Purvey's father, John, married the elder sister, and they were sharers in right of their wives, both of the manor and advowson, till it fell entirely to Tooke upon the elder sister's death. The Purveys presented twice, and the Tookes four times; and the first presentation was Purvey's, as probably marrying the elder sister.

Walter Tooke had six sons; 1. Ralph; 2. William; 3. John, who was Auditor of the Court of Wards and Liveries in 1609; 4. George; 5. Francis; 6. Thomas.

Ralph Tooke, Esq. the eldest son, married Jane, the daughter of Edward Bysh, of Smalfield, Surrey, and died Dec. 22, 1635, aged 77 years. She died Dec. 8, 1648. They were both buried at Essendon. Leaving no issue, he gave the manor of Wormley to two of his younger brothers, George and Thomas.

George Tooke, Esq. of Popes married Anna Tooke*, eldest daughter of Thomas Tooke, of Bere. He bore a very active part in the expedition against Cadiz in the year 1625; from whence returning, after various adventures, he passed the remainder of his days at Popes, where he wrote several pieces of prose and verse, of very considerable merit-"The Danaids," a Poem; "The Eagle Trusser's Elegy, a Poem; in honour of Prince Rupert ;" the latter of which, though consisting of not more than 100 pages, sold for three guineas at the sale of the books of Mr. Stace, bookseller in Scotland Yard, in the year 1910. Mr. Greaves's learned account of the Pyramids of Egypt, 2 vols. 8vo. is dedicated to George Tooke, Esq. who was in long habits of intimacy with that profound scholar. Mr. Tooke, in taking leave of him when embarking in the expedition against Cadiz, concludes by saying, Il faut quitter la plume, pour dormir sur le dur.-George Tooke sold his portion of the manor of Wormley to Richard Woollaston, Esq. who was Gun-founder to Oliver Cromwell; and whose grandson Richard was second daughter, surviving sister, and coheir of William Woodcliffe, Citizen and Mercer of London, Esq.; and Elizabeth his wife, daughter Fisher, of Longworth, in the county of Oxford, Esq.; which said William Woodcliffe was Lord and Patron of this manor of Wormley. And after the decease of William her husband, the said Elizabeth married Edward Saxilby, Esq. one of the Barons of the Exchequer, who, toge ther with her two said husbands, lies also here buried. The said Angelot Tooke died May the last, 1598."

of

Here lieth the body of Anna Tooke, eldest daughter to Thomas Tooke, of Bere, in East Kent, and wife of George Tooke, of Popes, in the county of Hertford, Esq. groaning under corruption till that great day. She departed this life December 9, 1642." Wormley Church.

con

the Antiquary and the Historian may derive information concerning the Sclavi, the Goths, the Huns,

conveyed it to William Fellowes, Esq. whose eldest son Coulston Fellowes, Esq. was the possessor in 1727.

Thomas Tooke (the sixth and youngest son of Walter) possessed the other moiety of the manor, called Wormley Bury, and held it during his life. He succeeded his brother John as Auditor of the Court of Wards and Liveries; and married Elizabeth daughter of Sir Richard Atkins, of Clapham, Bart. By his will, dated 1670, he charged his estate in Wormley, Cheshunt, and Broxborn, with 201. per annum to the rector of Wormley, and forty shillings to the poor per annum. He gave 10l. to repair the Church and Steeple, and 401. towards the repair of the Parsonage-house. He also gave 50l. to bring water to a conduit in the market-place at Hertford, or to the poor. His executors paid 301. of it to the poor. He also gave 31. per annum, amongst six poor men, on St. Thomas's day, out of his estate at Wormley. After his death, Wormley-Bury was sold to Thomas Winford, Esq; who sold it to William Wallis, Esq. the possessor in 1729, in which year Mr. Fellowes was Lord of the entire manor, this part of the manor having been purchased without the lands.

The manor and advowson of Wormley are now [1814] in possession of Sir Abraham Hume, Bart.

James Tooke, Esq. of Hertford, one of the Auditors of the Court of Wards and Liveries, had issue by his wife Dorothy 20 children. He died Nov. 21, she Nov. 28, 1655.

Richard Tuke, Gent, a branch of the original Kentish stock (though in this and other parts of the family the name by deprecution was called Tuke), was Tutor to the Duke of Norfolk and Lord Thomas Howard; and had arms assigned him by King Edward IV.; viz. A fess dancette between three Lions passant.

His son, Bryan Tuke, Esq. was in 1508 appointed to the Patent-office of King's Bailiff and Verger of Sandwich, with the wages and fees of twelve pence sterling a day. He was for some time Secretary to Cardinal Wolsey; and in 1522 Secretary to the King for the French tongue; Treasurer of the King's Chamber; and Clerk of the Signet. In 1528 King Henry VIII. granted to Bryan Tooke, Esq. and his heirs, the manors of Thorpe, Thorpe Hall, and East Lee, all in the parish of Southchurch, Essex; and in the same year was knighted, and was sent Ambassador to France with Bishop Tunstall. In 1533, being then of Hatfield, he was Sheriff of Hertfordshire and Essex; and at the dissolution of the Abbey of Waltham Holy Cross, the King further gave him the manor of South Weald, and the Rectory, together with an estate called Boswells, for 8831. 68. 8d. Sir Bryan Tooke married Grissel, daughter of Sir Edward Boughton, of Woolaston, and had three daughters; Elizabeth, wife of Sir Reginald Scot; Aleana, of John Maynard, of London; and Mary, of George Tuchet, Lord Audley.

the Vandals, and the other populations that emitted their swarms to overrun the Roman Empire, from

He had also three sons, Maximilian, who died young; Charles, and George. He was a man of learning. Leland highly commends him for his wonderful eloquence in the English language, "Anglicæ linguæ eloquentiâ mirificus ;" and, in his " Encomia illustrium Virorum," celebrates him, in eight distinct little Latin Poems, as his Benefactor, and as a Patron of the Muses.

"Bale saith, that he wrote Observations on Chaucer; as also against Polydore Vergil, for injuring the English; of whom, still alive, he justly and generously demanded reparations; though since, his unresponsable memory can make us no satisfaction. Dying Oct. 26, 1536, he lyeth buried with Dame Grissel his wife (deceas ing two years after him) under a fair tomb in the North Isle of the Quire of St. Margaret's in Lothbury." Fuller's Worthies, Essex.

Charles Tooke, second son of Sir Bryan, succeeded to the paternal estates; and had in 1545 a further grant of lands from the Crown. He died March 29, 1547; and was succeeded by George, who had licence, in the same year, Dec. 10, to alienate South Weald to Sir Richard Riche; and in 1567 was Sheriff of Essex. He married Margaret, daughter of William Morrice, of Cheping Ongar, Esq. by whom he had four sons, Peter, Bryan, Thomas, and Morrice; and, dying in 1573, his son Peter sold Layer Marney to Sir Samuel Payne; and the manor of South Church, in 1590, to Robert Petre, Esq.

Thomas Tuke, M. A. was presented by King James I. in 1617, to the Vicarage of St. Olave Jewry; but was sequestered March 16, 1642-3, plundered, and imprisoned, for his Loyalty†. His son Thomas was also a hearty sufferer in the same cause: but had the honour of presenting a Bible and Common Prayer to Charles II. on his landing at Dover; and the zealous attachment of the family was acknowledged, at the Restoration, by such rewards as Royal hands tied down by promise and compositions could afford. The last-named gentleman, who inherited the family mansion of Bere Court, was the father of Dr. Thomas Tooke, whose education was first at St. Paul's school, under the learned Dr. Gale, and more especially under the care of Mr. Fox, to whom he owned many obligations, and to whose family he was a constant and generous benefactor. He was admitted in Bene't College, Cambridge, under the tuition of Dr. Cory, 12 Oct. 1635; B. A. 1689; and, the learned Dr. Spencer with the body having a just regard to his talents and improvement, he was chosen a Fellow * Samuel Tuke, Esq. of Cressing Temple, Essex, a younger son of this Thomas, was created a Baronet in 1664.

+ "May 25, 1654, died Mrs. Tuke, wife of old Parson Thomas Tuke, Vicar of St. Olave's, Old Jury."--"Sept. 12, 1657, buried old Mr. Thomas Tuke, (once Minister of St. Olave's, in the Old Jury), at the new chapel by the new market place in Lincoln's Inn Fields." Smith's Obituary, in Peck's Desiderata, II. 534, 537.-Another Mr. Tuke, a Nonconformist of the Congregational persuasion, an old man and blind, was ejected in 1663 from the Chapelry of Sutton in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire.

20

sources which only the indefatigable researches and profounderudition of this Author could have explored.

20 Nov. 1690, upon the cession of Mr. Jolland. He took the degree of M. A. 1693; having about that period been appointed Master of the ancient Grammar School at Bishops-Stortford, at a time when its reputation was quite in ruins, and had nothing to recommend it but the name of Leigh (father and son) not even yet out of mind; but he raised it to a great degree of fame, as the numbers sent by him to his own and other Colleges attested: and considerably increased the trade of the town by such a beneficial concourse. The gentlemen of Hertfordshire and Essex having, at his earnest request and intreaty, rebuilt the school, he took great pains to procure the sums necessary for completing it, from those who had been educated in that town. The new school stood in the High-street, with the West-front to the church-yard, consisting of three rooms, which, with the stair-case, made a square building, one of which was the Grammar-school, and took up the half of it, all the front to the street; the other two were a Library and Writing-school. These were upon arches, under which were a market and shops, the property of the parish. June 23, 1699, on his marriage with Anne one of the daughters of Richard Lydal, M. D. Warden of Merton College, Oxford, he resigned his Fellowship; and having, by honest application and industry, raised the school to great repute, and acquired a large fortune, he purchased, in 1701, the manor of Bumpstead Hall in Essex. He took the degree of D.D. in 1702; by which time the Library was well furnished by his diligence; as he continually added to it at his own expence, and procured a great number of valuable authors from gentlemen who had been his scholars. By his interest also and care, the gallery in the church for the use of the school was erected. He revived the annual School-feast, charging his estate with a yearly present to the Preacher on that occasion; and gave, by his will, 101. for books to be added to the Library, and to the church a chalice of 201, value. [The books of this Library, to the amount of some thousand volumes, together with two fine original Portraits in oil, the one of Dr. Leigh, the venerable Founder, and the other of the no less meritorious Dr. Thomas Tooke, the Refounder of the School, lie now thrown together in a hired room at Bishops Stortford, under the custody of Dr. Robert Dimsdale, brother to the late, and uncle to the present, Baron Dimsdale, the only surviving Trustee. What is to be their destiny hereafter it is not possible to divine. Perhaps, upon application to the Lord High Chancellor, a decree might be obtained for incorporating them with some other Public Library, or, at least, for disposing of them in such way as to be of permanent service to the community.]-June 17, 1707, Dr. Tooke was presented by John Sandford, Esq. to the Rectory of Lamborn in that county; in 1712 he bought the advowson of Lamborn; and in the same year he purchased Manuden Hall in the same county

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