Old Family Names.

It is interesting to notice that as early as 1694 many names of old Madeley families occur. Ashwood, Easthope, Brooke, Lloyd, Smytheman, Bowdler, Glazebrook, Boden, Bartlam, Hodgkiss, occur from 1689 to 1711, either as proprietors, or collectors of the Poll tax, Land tax, Window tax, or the tax on Births, &c. The following were holders of the 2073 acres mentioned on p. 58:—

Tenants’ Names.

Quantity.

Yearly Value.

A.

R.

P.

£

s.

d.

Demesne Lands

547

2

39

294

3

2

Mr. Purcell

256

0

11

129

0

1

Mr. Heatherley

149

2

28

87

17

6

Mr. Wm Ashwood

111

9

24

72

11

11

Mr. Twyford

109

1

33

45

9

5

W. Ashwood, Ground

91

1

39

5

2

6

Stanley’s Old Park land

76

3

15

24

2

6

Fra. Knight’s Ten., and Old Park Lands

38

0

36

13

14

9

Duddell’s Ten. and do.

21

2

25

6

13

10

Mrs. Webb

46

3

13

23

7

3

Widdow Cooper

31

2

16

11

18

0

Mrs. Smitheman

38

3

12

22

5

2

Audley Bowdler

118

0

11

54

18

5

Thos. Roberts

7

1

14

4

0

9

Mr. Farmer

112

2

31

46

3

2

Giles Goodman

27

0

13

14

5

2

Eliz. Garbett

10

3

39

6

6

5

Mrs. Evans

7

2

17

5

1

10

Fra. Glazebrooke

9

3

22

6

15

2

Jno. Hutchinson

4

0

16

2

11

10

Hum. Prices

14

0

37

6

14

8

Wid. Turnars

84

3

3

40

15

0

Roger Fosbrooke

54

2

8

28

19

1

Mr. Stanley

92

1

38

36

3

9

Wid. Roberts

36

0

4

20

7

8

Thos. Easthope

11

3

1

3

6

11

Geor. Glasebrache

42

2

11

8

14

1

Total

2073

2

36

£1021

10

0

FOOTNOTES.

[35] Did this designation—arising, we presume, from making frequent attestations—give rise to “Attenbrooke,” “Addenbrook,” and similar surnames?

[37] On another page we have spoken of a later member of this family, who, by indenture, dated 29th of May, 1706, bequeathed a sum of money to the poor of Madeley, and of Comerford Brooks, who, in consideration of the said sum, £40, and a further sum of £30 paid him by Audley Bowdler and others, granted three several cottages in Madeley Wood, the rent and profits of which were to be devoted to the use of the poor of the parish of Madeley, in such manner as the grantees, with the consent of the vicar and parish officers, should think lit. This is the latest notice we have obtained. The Basil Brooke here spoken of is the one also previously referred to in our introduction, as fourth in descent from a gallant knight in the reign of King Charles, and who is said to have secreted his Majesty in a square hole behind the wainscoating of the chapel, which the inmates of the Court-house describe as “King Charles’s Hole.” Of the charity we shall speak under the head of “Benefactions,” later on.

[40] It was from a subsequent sale of this property that the old Poor-House was built.

[54] For further particulars relating to King Charles’s Visit, see Appendix.

[121] We have before us an octavo book, of a hundred pages, written as late as 1820, by James Heaton, entitled “The Demon Expelled.” In his introduction he laments that Christians have of late years “lightly ridiculed the existence of apparitions, witches, and demoniacs.” In the days of our fathers, venerable divines and “learned men, ornaments of the church and the state,” he tells us, believed in these things, and he quotes Wesley, Samuel Clarke, and others in support of his views. He commences by gravely telling us that the boy “had been frightened by being shut up by himself in a school, that he had been blistered all over the head, bled repeatedly, and was taking medicines, and that these produced fainting, profuse perspiration, and sickness. They prayed and sang around him for four or five hours at a stretch, twenty or thirty of them at a time, the boy being tied down to prevent him running away, till at last the lad refused to hold a testament in his hands, and the sight of a hymn-book put him into convulsions. Although seven preachers and thirty other people were present, praying and singing did not avail till they adjured the evil spirit, mentally, telling him to depart, and after arguing and talking to them for some time through the lad’s nose the demon finally took his departure.”

[175] Mr. Brown is an innkeeper; the sign is the “Turner’s Arms,” and over a glass of his home-brewed the following conversation with the author ensued. He said, “I turned all the wood-work which required turning for the Anstice Memorial, both when it was first built and when it was restored.” Author: “Well, and you tried another art Mr. Brown,”—this with a look at Mrs. Brown, who sat on the opposite side of the fire—“You tried the art of match-making; and really Mrs. B. must have been a courageous woman to allow you to succeed.”