Rev Francis Fortescue KNOTTESFORD [7076]

  General Notes:

Knottesford, Francis Fortescue, s. Francis Fortescue, of Edmonton, Middlesex, arm. Queens Coll., matric. 16 March, 1790, aged 17; B.A. 1793; M.A. 1798 of Alveston, co. Warwick, assumed the additional name of Knottesford, rector of Billesley, co. Warwick, 1823, until his death 31 May, 1859. See Fosters Peerage, B. Clermont.
Oxford University Alumni, 1500-1886

Francis Fortescue Knottesford Esquire
Date: 31 Aug 1805
Manor: Alveston
Record Type: Gamekeepers´ Deputation to Joseph Walker of Bridgetown 29 Sep 1798.
Warwickshire, Occupational and Quarter Session Records, 1662-1866
This matter was regularly before the Quarter Sessions at that time.

FRANCIS FORTESCUE
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL FRAGMENT
C 1786
I am now 14 years of age, & am just entering into the world (for I call it so). I am going to Eton, which is a little world, to me especially, having always lived at home, & never having been from my parents for any time together, & I intend there to make a journal, that I may when an old man, & I hope I shall view it with the pleasure of seeing that when I was young, I went on in the right way. And I will, first, give a little sketch of my own life hitherto, as well as I can remember.
I was born April 4^th, 1772, & from that period to two years I remember nothing, but at the age of 2 years & an half I read Milton etc.[?] to the astonishment of many who heard me, & I could spell with ivory letters, before I could speak, & when about 3 years old I was invited to Mr Steers together with my Mama & Grandmamma to dinner, to read to the gentlemen, among whom was the Chamberlain, Mr Hopkins, Dr Bristol [?] a clergyman, & many more, to whom I read, Milton etc.; they gave me also letters of different hands to read, which I did with the utmost facility, & had I continued to have gone on so I should have been a wonder, but such talents in youth often go off, & sometimes children, which appear to be quite stupid at that time, turn out brighter than those which are so remarkable at so young an age.
My brother was born June 6 1774, & was so unfortunate as to be choaked [sic] at 7 months which happened thus. While I had the small-pox my brother was put out to nurse to a woman at Stamford Hill. One day Mama sent our boy with a cake to my brother, & a little while after he had given him the cake, the woman went out, & left him to the care of a girl, about 12 years of age, who (I suppose) went out to play, & left the child alone with the cake, with which he was choaked in the cradle. My Pater died about this time of the spotted fever, he heard of my brother's death 3 days before his own.
On my birthday at 5 years old I was very busy putting away my carts, . . . . . etc. & all my playthings, upon which Mama asked me what I was about. I told her I was putting away all my childish things. From this time I began to read to Mama ev'ry evening from tea to supper. Mr Forster came ev'ry day to teach Mama French & me everything, Mama taught me Latin 'till I went to Mr Forster's which was not 'till I was 6 years old. This year 1777 [1779?] Mama took a journey to the north with Mr & Mrs Watter, Mr Murthwaite etc. & went 1600 miles in 3 months, during which time my Grandmamma & I got up ev'ry morning at 7 o'clock & went to Mr Pugman's [?] to drink a glass of new milk. We went frequently to Mrs Cotton who was a very good neighbour to us . . . . . , & while Mama was gone Mungo was born who is now one of the sweetest dogs in England.
The year after I went with my Mama into Warwickshire to Bridgetown, where my Godfather Mr Knottesford lived. It is in a delightful County, & opposite the place where the Jubilee is kept. The River Avon runs at the bottom of the garden, navigable, & there is a bridge of 19 arches over it which goes to Stratford where is a market, & upon the whole is a very pretty town. We staid [sic] with my Papa Knottesford (as I always called him) 2 months where we spent our time very agreeably. We rid out on horse back ev'ry day, I always used to ride before Samuel, Papa Knottesford's man.
When we came home I went to School at Mr Forster's where I was a great favourite with Mr Coar [?]; he used always to say, there's my good boy; & to tell ev'ryone what a clever boy I was & would send for me to show them what I could do. One day he had some gentlemen with him, he sent for me to repeat some verses to them (for I used to say a great many things at that time) to show them how clever I was, & he desired me, to speak the prologue to Cato, & I unfortunately could not, but I came home & look'd it over as soon as possible & went to him & told him I had learned it perfectly but the gentlemen were gone, which was a sad disappointment to me. Dr Green, Bishop of Lincoln was very fond of me when a little boy, & gave me a book.
He had a house in Tottenham & used often to come & drink tea with us, he came one Sunday afternoon, & desired me to speak the prologue, from which I excused myself saying it was Sunday, but he said that might be spoke on all days, & then I spoke it with great approbation.
But to return to Mr C. I went on with great delight to my Master, but one Saturday (an unfortunate one for me) I behaved ill, laugh'd while I was saying my lesson, & was very rude, & he never forgot it, for after that he never lik'd me equally [?]. A little while after I took home with me a little note. I did not know what it was, but when Mama open'd it, it contained this: I am sorry to tell thee that thy son has been very idle today. & indeed! I had, & I was very idle for a great while & sometimes I used to try to gain his favour but found it impossible & I have many times walk'd up & down our hall & cry'd for an hour together, when I have try'd to gain his favour, but never could accomplish it & then I despaired [?].
I met with a very agreeable boy at that school one William Fell [?] with whom now I keep a correspondence & he is a very clever lad, & a great antiquarian, he has published several things in the Gentleman's Magazine. Mama took a liking to him, & he used often to drink tea with us, he staid then [there?] for near 3 . . . . . years & about one month after he came to Ulverstone [Alverstone?] where he lived he wrote a very kind letter to me. I have kept a correspondence with him ever since.
On the 19^th of May 1781 my papa Knottesford died, & shew'd me great kindness, for which I ought always to be very grateful. He left me his Estate, & I am to change my name when of age - He used always to come to London in the spring, consequently always dined with us one day. He was with us a fortnight before he died, & was then so much pleased with me, that he sent for a lawyer to alter his Will more in Mama's & my favour, but he put it off, & my Papa Knottesford died before he came, but I ought always to be thankful for the kindness he has shown me & his intention, for that was the same tho' not put in practice thro' the neglect of the lawyer.
The year after was a very famous year with us for our robbery happened in it, which was as extraordinary a one I believe as ever was. It was on Thursday the 8^th of August 1782, at 4.0 p.m. in the afternoon. We went to dine at Mrs Cotton's, which was but 4 doors from us, we did not dine till 5. After dinner, about ¼ of an hour, I was sitting in Mama's lap very bad with the tooth-ache, & Jonathan who courted Charlotte came in (looking very pale) & said something very bad was the matter at Mrs Fortescue's; none of us could think what it was. All of us were there, never could think of a robbery at that time of day, in the middle of summer, but however, Mama, Grandmamma & I set out to go home, when I got as far as the bridge and saw so many people . . . . .

Here the manuscript breaks off, in the middle of a page - it would appear that Francis never finished writing the document.
This manuscript is preserved on microfilm at Warwick County Record Office, under reference MI 258, and the title "Knottesford-Fortescue Family of Cookshill (Worcestershire) and Alveston".
Transcribed and Contributed by Dr Stan Lapidge 2016

Frances Torlesse in Bygone Days writes about Francis Knottesford:
In 1806 the Rev F. F. Knottesford became curate (of Stoke-by-Nayland) and lived in the curates house. He married Maria Downing, aunt of Mrs Liveing of Nayland, Mrs Howard nee Liveing writes of Mr Knottesford. "Uncle Knottesford identified himself with the early evangelicals because he felt the spiritual life of the church was in them. He had a natural taste for all that was beautiful in church architecture, music, etc; and I have heard him chant the Psalms for the day to his own accompaniment on the harpsichord. He was a good classical scholar and also a student of Divinity. It is said of him (by Archbishop Tait, I think) that he lived so much in study with the non-jurors that he imbibed their views. Whether or not, he was a truly devout and good man, and I have heard him say what grief it was to him when Tract 90 was published, he having previously built his hopes on the Oxford movement as doing just what he wanted in the English Church, but he could never go with them further. Of course he had peculiarities, i.e. he taught his coachman Greek, and he always gave to beggars for fear of sending one needy person away. His handwriting was so minute that he wrote with a crow-quill; he was extremely shortsighted"
Mr Knottesford left Stoke in 1823 . . . . .
Bygone Days Pgs 18-19

To The Clergy.
The curacy of Stoke next Nayland, in Suffolk, vacant, of which immediate possession may be had, and an excellent house, lately occupied by a clergyman, since deceased, for the education of young gentleman.
Apply to Mr Alston Nayland.
Ref: Ipswich Journal Saturday May 21 1803.

St Mary's Stoke.
Burial Register.
"The Rev Blaze Morey Priest of the Romish Church buried by F.F.Knottesford"
Bygone Days Pg 16.

Extracts from an Article by Nicholas Fogg 1991
Francis Fortescue was born in Suffolk in 1771, the son of John Fortescue, an army officer of Cookhill near Alcester. He was educated at Eton and at The Queen's College, Oxford. He took his B.A. in 1793 and Holy Orders soon after. In 1805 he married Maria, daughter of the Revd. George Downing, Prebendary of Ely Cathedral. As a young man he inherited the considerable property of Alveston Manor, near Stratford, from his fathers cousin on condition that he added the name Knottesford to his own. Although he adhered scrupulously to his agreement, the name does not appear to have been popular in his family, his son Edward first reversed the surname to Knottesford Fortescue and then increasingly drooped the former name altogether.
In his religious life, Mr. Fortescue Knottesford anticipated many of the practices and beliefs later associated with the Tractarians. At Alveston, he amassed a large library of Catholic theology, which was extended by his son. On either side of the house were glass conservatories, which he treated as cloisters, pacing around them, while reciting the 119th Psalm. According to family tradition he said at least the small hours and perhaps the whole daily office of the breviary in Latin, a custom which many of those later associated with the Oxford Movement were to adopt. His confessor was Dr. Routh, the notable and long-lived President of Magdalen College. W.H. Hutton, who wrote a sort biographical note about Knottesford after conversations with his great-grandson, was surely correct in his view that although the latter part of his life ran parallel to the Oxford Movement, yet his religious training was entirely previous to it and apart from it. . . . . he is one of the proofs that confession never really died out in the Church of England.
Francis was actively involved in the Church Missionary Society, and social changes of the time including seeking to abolish the chimney boys and supporting the abolition of slavery.
*Out of a sense of duty Francis accepted the living of Billesley, a hamlet of five houses and a Queen Anne church 5 miles from Stratford. Each Sunday at Alveston, the family coach would be brought to the front door for the whole household to embark on the 6 mile journey to Billesley for the morning service at 11 o'clock. After the service the rector followed the notable English tradition of observing the Sunday rest for his servants as far as possible. He retired to the family pew, which contained a fire grate. The footman laid a tablecloth on the seat and the fire was lit and a cold dinner, brought over in the coach, was served.
After dinner, the children played in the churchyard, the rector rested in the pew and the servants finished up the dinner elsewhere. At three o'clock came evening prayers and a sermon, after which the household climbed back on the coach and journeyed home.
This period after the Napoleonic Wars saw a weakening of doctrines within the established Church of England to make it more inclusive. Catholic Emancipation and other changes promoted the cry from Conservative churchmen that "The Church Was in Danger"
Francis became involved with Wilmcote, at the invitation of the local squire Charles Corbett in 1840. It was an outlying village from Stratford, which had developed in the early 19th century around its cement quarries. Corbett gave land for a church and school, and St Andrews, Wilmcote, was consecrated on the 11th of November 1841. The school was completed in 1845.
Francis nominated his son Edward to the living, Nicholas Fogg describes Edward as a scholar of distinction and a priest of great commitment. Edward was a follower of the Oxford Movement (viewed by many as an ecclesiastical Trojan horse towards Roman Catholicism) and Wilmcote was probably the first church in England to revive the use of vestments, a choir was developed and a chanted Cathedral Service was introduced. This and the general tone of the services did not go down well with Charles Corbett.
This article was also published in Warwickshire History, volume 8, number 4.

Charge of Assault
The King v. the Rev. Francis Fortescue Knottesford.
Mr. Holbech, Counsel for the prosecution, observed to the Jury, that in this case they would not be troubled with any evidence. In looking over the brief which had been recently put into his hand, he certainly discerned some features in the case which led him to think the Rev. defendant in point of law might have been said to have committed a common assault, if in the investigation the depositions had been fully supported by the evidence to be called in proof of those facts which they contained. The facts of the case were, that the Rev. Gentleman, being laudably zealous for the religion which he professed, might have done an act which might be called imprudent, and in his warmth of feeling might have committed an assault; but then in the view which he took of the case, it was an assault of the very smallest nature. So it appeared to him in the view he had taken, in combining altogether the whole facts of the case before them. Should those facts have been proved, and the injury complained of been established against the defendant, he could not call for any punishment. Even if that punishment was but the nominal fine of 1s., he could not conscientiously, and without violating that high and respectful feeling which he had, and which he was confident he ever should have, for the Ministers of the Church, stigmatize one of its most worthy supporters with any fine, however small that fine might be. He had, therefore, under this feeling, advised that no further proceedings should be instituted in the case; and in justice to all the parties, he was happy to say the young Gentleman who sat beside him was ready to join in this view of the case, though every allowance was to be made for the warmth of his feelings in espousing the cause of his sister. The defendant, he was sure, had no design either to insult or injure the female in question. In this feeling and in this view of the case, he hoped and trusted, and indeed he was certain his highly respected and very learned friend, Mr. Reader, would willingly join. Indeed there could be no insult offered where there was no intention to offend; nor any injury sustained, where none was intended to be given. The advice he had given and the suggestion he had made, would, he hoped, be satisfactory to all parties, and would meet, to the fullest extent, the merits as well as the justice of the ease.
Mr. Reader, Counsel for the defendant, said, no cause in which he ever had the honour to be engaged, had created in his mind stronger sensations than the one upon which he rose that day to address them. If it were a common cause he would not have thought it necessary to have made any observations, he would not say in the way of reply, but rather of succession to his Learned Friend. The charge had been brought against the defendant, a Rev. Gentleman of the Church of England, for an assault upon a female at Stratford-upon-Avon, of the name of Warrilow. His Learned Friend, Mr. Holbech, in his address to the Court and Jury, had expressed his opinion, that according to the letter of the law, the circumstances laid before him might have been construed into an assault; but that he (Mr. R.) denied, and expressed his firm conviction, that had the circumstances been gone into, they could not be construed into an assault. According even to the letter of the law, there was no will in the case. His Learned Friend had hoped that he should coincide with him in the view he had taken of the case before them. The more he saw of his Learned Friend, the more he was convinced (if any such conviction were yet wanting) of the value of his advice and discretion upon all questions where a nice discrimination and an honourable feeling in the discharge of his professional duties were required; and truly happy was he to see a case like the one then under their consideration, confided to talents so eminent and useful as those possessed by his Learned Friend. He had justly and nicely exerted those talents upon the present occasion. But this was no trifling matter; for a serious charge had gone abroad against a Rev. Clergyman, holding the high rank in society of the defendant, and he feared there were many persons to whom it would afford subject for triumph, if the Rev. Gentleman had, by an unintentional, though perhaps somewhat imprudent act, placed himself in a situation to have a conviction recorded against him. Good God! a Clergyman of the Church of England, in enforcing the divine precepts of his great Lord and Master, to have committed that act intentionally, was utterly impossible! His Learned Friend had said, he hoped he (Mr. R.) should be ready to admit that the Rev. defendant had no intention to assault or insult the young Lady. He would say for the Rev. defendant, that let them trace every action of his life, and the motives by which he had been actuated, they would be convinced that he not only had no wish, but was the last man in the world to assault or insult any human being. The Rev. defendant had laudably exerted himself in putting a stop to the open and habitual violation of the Lord's Day (to use the impressive words of the Act of Parliament,) in the town of Stratford, a practice repugnant to the laws of God and man.-- He hoped that the present proceedings would have their due effect. He did not speak to Burke individually, but to the inhabitants generally; and he called upon the Magistrates no longer to suffer such an evil to exist-that they will no longer suffer the laws of their country to be trampled upon. If what had fallen from him this day should be in any way instrumental in causing a better observance of the Sabbath at Stratford than heretofore, he should feel that he had performed a more important duty to his country than he had previously accomplished in the whole period of his life. He was surprised to find that the inhabitants of a town, situated in the centre of the kingdom, and in the enlightened county of Warwick, should degrade themselves by the pernicious practice of following their weekly avocations on the Sabbath Day. He had trusted there was not a single Town in the Kingdom which had so imitated the irreligious custom of our neighbours on the other side of the water. And here he would observe, there was scarcely an unfortunate who had terminated his sinful career at the gallows, but who, in his dying moments had attributed the commencement of his misfortunes to Sabbath breaking. The facts of the case were, the Mayor of that town, much to his credit, had exerted himself to check the evil so loudly complained of, in which he had been assisted by some of the respectable Inhabitants, and all but two or three shopkeepers had obeyed the mandate. But those two or three persons would not obey, that they might not be deprived of their unworthy gains. The Reverend Defendant, who lives at Bridgetown-House, near Stratford, had a living at Billesley. On Sunday morning, the 12^th of July last, as Mr. Knottesford, (who did not content himself with merely performing the ordinary duties of his profession, but was anxious to dedicate the whole of his life to the service of his Maker) was going in his carriage accompanied by Mrs. Knottesford, from Stratford to Billesley, he saw the shop of Mr. Barke, at Stratford, open, and two young persons coming out of the shop, who, he had no doubt had been purchasing something. He stepped out of his carriage and called to them; they came back, and returned again into Barke's shop. Mr. Knottesford followed them into the shop in order to learn their names, for the purpose of enabling him to lay an information against the owner of the shop. The females, as might well be expected, were reluctant to give their names. Perceiving this, Mr. Knottesford being very much pressed for time, laid hold of the arm of one of them, and said, I must have your names before you go, for the purpose I have in view. He might perhaps have taken hold of her arm with more warmth than prudence, but this, after all, was, 'the head and front of his offending.' This, as his Learned Friend had acknowledged, was the only thing that could be constituted into an assault by the Rev. Defendant, and admitting that he had acted with more zeal than some persons would think prudent, let them consider how closely he had followed the steps of his Divine Master when he went into the Temple, and with a scourge drove out those who sold and those who bought. He was happy to say he had no doubt but the course that had been taken would be satisfactory, not only to the parties, but to every body else.
The Jury by the direcion [sic] of the Chairman, instantly returned a verdict of Aquittal [sic].
Ref: Coventry Herald and Weekly Advertiser, 21^st October, 1825, page 2, bottom of column 3

Francis Fortescue Knottesford
Age: 87
Birth Date: 1772
Burial Date: 8 Jun 1859
Burial Place: Billesley, Warwick, England
FHL Film Number: 367773
Reference ID: pg. 5 no. 37

THE REV. F. FORTESCUE KNOTTESFORD.
WHEN the late venerable President of Magdalen died in his hundredth year, it was felt that a link was gone in the chain of personal testimony to the theological history of the English Church. We had lost a divine who had lived in the days of Bishop Butler, and who could identify the revived doctrine and discipline of our day with traditions of his early years. A friend and scholar of Dr. Routh, who has just passed away from us, will suggest to the minds of no inconsiderable portion of our readers the same train of regretful thought. The Rev. F. Fortescue.Knottesford, who died last week at Alveston, near Stratford-on-Avon, in his eighty-eighth year, had been sixty-four years in the ministry of the Church of England. Closely atttaehed in early life to such men as Dr. Routh and Jones of Nayland, he had received those traditions of apostolical order and primitive doctrine which (we are apt to think) had died out from us before the Oxford revival began. Inheriting from these eminent divines, and from some relations who belonged to the Nonjuring school, a strong appreciation of Church principles, he understood even in boyhood the sacredness and dignity of an ecclesiastical vocation. He was known, as an Oppidan at Eton, to watch the surpliced Collegers going into chapel, and to grieve that it was not his lot to wear the vestment which was the symbol, in his eyes, of a sacred calling. His succession to an independent property in Warwick-shire precluded him from obtaining a Fellowship at Magdalen, which would have been to him a richer possession than the noblest estate. The same circumstance confined his clerical functions to the limits of a very small parish, of which he discharged the cure to the last day of his life. His personal character, however, gave him a place in the respect and veneration of a large neighbourhood, and of many beyond it, to which his preferment would scarcely have entitled him. They knew his benevolence and honour, his varied learning (of which an unusually valuable collection of theological books was one evidence), and the consistent tenor of his unblemished life. But a few of them only could be acquainted with the inner life of devotion, which seemed to belong to a stricter and more saintly age than that in which his lot was cast. Those who knew how his days\emdash and nights too\emdash were spent, could tell that his was no mere speculative familiarity with the ritual of the ancient Church, no mere theoretical approval of the practice of intercession, or of the doctrine of the Communion of Saints. Yet, with this temperament and these habits, he was largely associated with the "Evangelical" section of the English Church. He recognised in them a warmth and genuineness of religious life, which at the beginning of this century were not to be found in any other schooL He clung to them, therefore, even while he deplored the absence of a fixed theology among them, and detected from a very early period the elements of dissolution which their body contained. His predictions of the mischief which they would cause to the Church, if they obtained undue preponderance in her councils have been remarkably fulfilled. On this, as on many kindred topics, his practical wisdom, his large experience, and his early familiarity with men likeminded with himself, gave some-thing of prophetic wisdom to his conversation. His words will be long remembered by those who were privileged to know him : his character and his theological position belong to the history of the Church, of which for three-quarters of century he has been a loyal and consistent member. May her records in this age preserve the memory of many sons as learned, noble-hearted, and devout as Mr. Knottesford !
The "Guardian," June 15,1859.

Stan Lapidge confirms Francis is buried at Billesley churchyard, and that there is a plaque in his memory in the small side chapel where he used to have his lunch, after the morning service and before evensong*, see above in the Warwickshire History Article.

Death Registration: Knottesford Francis Fortescue 1859 2nd.Qtr. Stratford WAR 6d 312

  Research Notes:

Liveing Archive: Image IMG3975.

  Other Records

1. Francis F Knottesford Letters: To Dr Martin Routh Ref: (MC: PR30/1/C4/10, FOLIO 39), 8 Sep 1795, Tottenham High Cross.
Martin Joseph Routh (18 September 1755 - 22 December 1854) was an English classical scholar and President of Magdalen College, Oxford (1791-1854).
Image Courtesy Magdalen College, Oxford

Rev[eren]d & Dear Sir,
The repeated instances of friendship I have experienced at your hands, & the unmerited honors, by which you have so often distinguished me, have indeed long demanded a written acknowledgment, which was only not paid, from the consciousness, that it could not be adequate to the obligation, nor described by my pen with an elegance suitable to your refined taste. Fully sensible however of your frequent condescension towards me & bearing witness to the liberality of sentiment, which accompanies your profound judgment, I trust that you will accept as sincere the professions of gratitude & respect I have formerly made, and will believe that those sentiments are engreven [?] in indelible characters on my heart.
I frequently called at the booksellers to settle the account which you commission'd me to discharge, & they as often refused to receive the money, asserting that it had been paid. I defer'd informing you of this, concluding that it was a mistake, which they would in time discover. Your last commission I have this day executed, & obtained a receipt for the sum, as I did also for the discharge of your bill at Deighton's. It gives me great pleasure to be in any degree serviceable to you, & I consider it as a favour done to myself, when you employ me in transacting such business for you as you think fit to engage me in.
Page 2
I plead your goodness in requesting me to give you a particular account of myself, as an excuse for prolonging my letter by a detail of such circumstances, as most especially, interest me. By the recommendation of my friends I have had the offer of no less than seven titles to curacies in different parts of the Kingdom, none of which, for various reasons, I thought it prudent to accept. For these offers I was chiefly indebted to the kind interference of Dr Gaskin, who, feeling for my repeated disappointments, & fearing lest a check might be given thereby to the ardour wherewith I pursued the holy calling, has himself given me a Title to his Church in Town, which I can serve with ease from Tottenham till a situation in all respects eligible can be procured; & I expect to be ordained to it on Sunday week by the Bishop of London.
Of my health, I can boast little. Tho' constantly makeing [sic] ev'ry effort to suppress those apprehensions of impending evil, which have so long assailed me, & which are excited by a debility of body yet have not been enabled to overcome them by the force of Reason, or the comforts of Religion. These fears, occasioned as you know, by accident, & at a time, when thro' weakness of constitution, I had not power to prevent their seizing my imagination, still continue to harass a disposition naturally serene, & to fetter & keep in subjection a mind ambitious of attaining the summit of human knowledge & Christian perfection. Why it has pleased the great Disposer of events, so soon to put a bar to the mental improvement, & mental happiness of one who only wished to live, that he might be dedicated to his service, it is indeed difficult to conjecture. But I rest satisfied that his
Page 3
counsels proceed from amazing [???] wisdom, & receive no small satisfaction by performing a ready & cheerful obedience to his divine Will. Still however I live in daily hope of obtaining mercy, & cease not to offer up my most humble, tho' ardent petitions for relief. May I be permitted to add, Dear Sir, what the pleasing remembrance of you has long render'd an object of my earnest desire, that you would assist me in my prayers to Heaven, & forget not to make mention of me to the Father of Mercies. Your exalted Piety & holy life, I am fully confident, will waft your devotions to the Throne of Grace, & there obtain a more ready acceptance, thro' the prevailing intercession of our common Advocate, than, I, thro' my unworthiness, can presume to expect. I am at this period doubly solicitous of being restored to that once happy serenity from the dread of evil, which insured to me a [here some of the paper has been torn away] mind, of which [another tear in the paper] worldly affliction could ever have depr [another tear in the paper] me, because I have engaged to undertake an office of [another tear in the paper] highest importance, & am anxious to discharge it with the most exact propriety. God grant, that by a faithful performance of its several duties, I may draw down his blessing upon myself, & upon those who shall be committed to my charge.
My mother's state of health is still precarious. I wish I could give you a pleasing account of it. She desires me to present her very best compliments to you, & I unite with her in the same to Miss Routh. You would confer upon us the greatest favor by a visit to Tottenham. My mother hopes that if you come to London, you will consider her house as your home, & wishes much that your sister could make it convenient to stay a month with us in the autumn. Every endeavour to render
Page 4
it agreeable to her, should be exerted. Firmly relying, that you will in your goodness pardon my thus laying open my heart to you, as to my very best friend, & intruding thus much upon your time, I conclude with subscribing myself, with the greatest respect, Dear Sir, your much obliged, & most faithful, humble servant,

F. Fortescue Knottesford

Tottenham High Cross, Sept[emb]er 8^th 1795

P.S. Will it be asking too much, Sir, if I take the liberty of requesting you to procure for me a Certificate from the Professor of Divinity, of my having attended his Lecture[s]? The Bishop of London requires this from his candidates for Orders, & I know not how to obtain it, at this time, unless you will be so kind as to interest yourself for me in the business. If the Professor is not now in Oxford, a line from you, signifying that it cannot be procured, will, I doubt not, equally satisfy his Lordship.

The envelope is addressed "To The Rev[ere]nd Martin J. Routh D.D. President of Magdalen College Oxford."
Published with the permission of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Researched and transcribed by Dr S Lapidge 2016

2. Francis F Knottesford Letters: To Dr Martin Routh Ref: (MC: PR30/1/C4/10, FOLIO 40, 2 Apr 1796, Tottenham High Cross.
Martin Joseph Routh (18 September 1755 - 22 December 1854) was an English classical scholar and President of Magdalen College, Oxford (1791-1854).

Rev[ere]nd & Dear Sir,
It was not 'till the beginning of this week, that I obtained a sight of the Greek manuscript of Eusebius's History, you spoke of, when I had last the pleasure of seeing you. After several applications to Dr Hallifax & other Professors of Gresham College I learned that the present Library belonging to them was instituted in the year 1746 by order of Lord Chancellor Hardwicke, & that the catalogue made out by the Professors of that period does not contain one ancient manuscript in any language, neither was there one to be found in any of the closets. Dr Hallifax then refer'd me to the Royal Society, in whose possession he thought the MS might be, & by a letter from the Treasurer (Mr Wegg), I was inform'd that it is one of the MSS of the Arundel Collection which was left to them, & was at Gresham College during the time the Royal Society met there, but was removed above a century ago with the other manuscripts & some natural curiosities to a house of their own in Crane Court, & is now at Somerset House. I went there on Tuesday last, & saw the MS. It is a very fair one, & supposed by the Librarian to have been made in the fifteenth Century by some of the Greek emigrants
Page 2
on the taking of Constantinople by the Turks, from some more antient MS.
I am extremely sorry at not having been able to execute the commission with which you entrusted me sooner, & hope that the delay will not be a considerable hindrance to the execution of your work. I attended the Library for three days during the last week, but as the distance from Tottenham renders frequent attendance difficult, I have obtained permission to have the MS at home, by giving a Bond in the penalty of £50 conditioned for the safe return of it according to the rules of the Society. I set about no business with greater alacrity than that which I do for the President of Magdalen, for whose committed kindness to me during my residence at the University I feel a most grateful sense, & to whose instructive conversation I am indebted for the acquisition of more knowledge, than has been derived to me from any other person.
I am going into Suffolk next week upon a visit to Mr Jones, with a view of undertaking the Curacy of his church at Nayland. By the account I have received of the situation, & the acquaintance I have already formed with the gentleman himself, it seems to be peculiarly eligible, & I hope it will answer my expectations. I have a prospect also of being admitted to Priests' Orders on the 17^th of this month by the Bishop of London, the preparation for which will prevent my attending to the collation so diligently as I could wish to do, but after that time you may depend upon my making it the first
Page 3
object of my pursuit. I shall be always ready & happy to assist you in any business I can perform for you in London, & hope you will honor me with a line informing me when I can be of service to you. I was glad to hear by Mr Agutter [?] that you & Miss Routh were well. I wish I could say that my mother's health was improved; but I think she has been considerably worse of late. She desires me to present a kind remembrance to you, & I unite with her in the same to Miss Routh. With the most affectionate & grateful heart, I remain, Dear Sir, your much obliged, & very humble servant.

F. Fortescue Knottesford

Tottenham High Cross April 2^nd 1796.

Published with the permission of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Researched and transcribed by Dr S Lapidge 2016

3. Francis F Knottesford Letters: To Dr Martin Routh Ref: (MC: PR30/1/C4/10, FOLIO 41), 10 Jun 1796, Tottenham High Cross.
Martin Joseph Routh (18 September 1755 - 22 December 1854) was an English classical scholar and President of Magdalen College, Oxford (1791-1854).

Rev[ere]nd & Dear Sir,
I am sorry that I have not been able to transmit to you the collation of Eusebius before this time. I waited for some days in expectation that I should have had an opportunity of conveying it by a friend, but being disappointed, I have ventured to send it by the Oxford coach, & hope you will receive it safe. I have found several variations from the printed edition, but few, as I think, of importance. They chiefly consist in a different disposition of the same words, an alteration of the tense, or an inaccuracy in the orthography. The sense of the passage is but seldom affected by any variation I have discover'd. I shall be happy if you find the collation made to your satisfaction. I have endeavour'd to make it as clear as I could, by placing the word as it stands in the printed edition on one half of the page, & the various [sic] reading in the Manuscript over against it, on the other half. The Page & Line are also mark'd before each word. I hope you will excuse the length of time it has been in hand, as the delay previous to my obtaining the MS was unavoidable on my part. I wrote a letter of thanks to Mr Wegg, the Treasurer of the Royal Society, upon returning the book, on my own account, & as he expressed himself as being " happy if his present or any future attention could be of service to the President of Magdalen" I took the liberty of including your name also which I trust you will approve. As you know the satisfaction I feel
Page 2
in being employed for you, I trust you will not hesitate to set me about any work, which may be useful to you, & I will endeavour to expedite it with greater dispatch than I have been able to perform this present business.
I have great pleasure in informing you, that my mother is at present considerably better. We shall be happy to hear a good account of yourself & Miss Routh, & beg to repeat, that we shall receive much happiness in seeing you at Tottenham in the course of the summer, if you can make it convenient to pay us a visit. Uniting with my mother in a kind & respectful remembrance to you & Miss Routh, I remain, dear Sir, your much obliged friend, & very humble servant,
F. Fortescue Knottesford
Tottenham High Cross June 10^th 1796
P.S. I shall be much obliged to you, if you will favor me with a few lines, informing me of the safe receipt of the Parcel.

Published with the permission of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Researched and transcribed by Dr S Lapidge 2016

4. Francis F Knottesford Letters: To Dr Martin Routh Ref: (MC: PR30/1/C4/10, FOLIO 42), 5 Mar 1800, Hadleigh.
Martin Joseph Routh (18 September 1755 - 22 December 1854) was an English classical scholar and President of Magdalen College, Oxford (1791-1854).

Rev[eren]d & Dear Sir,
With the most sincere gratitude do I acknowledge the receipt of your kind present of Ernesti's Livy¹. The smallest token of your continued esteem would have been highly valued by me; but such a testimony of your regard as that I received yesterday I had no right to expect, considering how deeply I was indebted to you before. Every day I feel the effects of the salutary advice & instruction I received from you during my residence at Oxford, whereby my opinions were so firmly established, & my judgment so well directed, that I have ever continued to tread in that sure & safe path, which you traced out, & which I am convinced, can alone lead to a right understanding of divine Truth.
I had not a copy of the edition with which you have presented me, but I had by me an edition of Livy by Le Clerc², with the supplements of Frienshemius [??], Sijonius [??] & others, & illustrated with maps etc.; which I consider as valuable. I admire the beauty & elegance of the Oxford edition, but as I already possess, tho' in another form, almost all that is contained in that, I hope you will not think that I take any undue advantage of your kindness
Page 2
if I ask your permission to exchange it for some work you may select, which will be more useful to me: & as I purpose to pass thro' Oxford in the month of April, I shall have a convenient opportunity of returning the books without occasioning you any trouble. As I shall set a high value upon, & take peculiar pleasure in reading, the volumes with which you favor me, I the more earnestly wish them to be such as I shall derive more advantage from than Ernesti's edition of Livy. I will take all possible care to return the books unsullied [?] into your hands, & I suppose that in that case no objection will be made by the bookseller to an exchange.
My mother presents her most kind comp[limen]ts to you & unites with me in thanking you for your unexpected & undeserved favor. We beg also to be remembered to your sister, & rejoice to hear that we may expect to see you at Hadleigh in the course of the summer. Be assured, Dear Sir, that we will do every thing in our power to make our house comfortable to you; I am, your much obliged & very faithful friend & servant,
F. Fortescue Knottesford
Hadleigh. March 5^th 1800.
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I called upon Dr Drummond this morning, in order to deliver your message, but he was not at home. He is very well, & I am sure would wish me to return your remembrance with equal . . . [?].

Footnotes
1. The edition of Livy's History of Rome by August Wilhelm Ernesti first appeared in 1769.
2. It appears, from a perusal of some of the old editions of Livy which may be found on Google Books, that an edition of at least part of Livy, based on an earlier edition by Jean Le Clerc, and incorporating a supplement by Johann Freinsheim, was published in 1761, and that there was also an earlier edition which had been prepared by Johannes Fredericus Gronovius.

Published with the permission of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Researched and transcribed by Dr S Lapidge 2016

5. Francis F Knottesford Letters: To Dr Martin Routh Ref: (MC: PR30/1/C4/10, FOLIO 43), 20 Jan 1807, Stoke By Nayland SFK.
Martin Joseph Routh (18 September 1755 - 22 December 1854) was an English classical scholar and President of Magdalen College, Oxford (1791-1854).

My very dear Sir,
As my neighbour Mr T. Hallward, (of whom I believe you have some knowledge,) has kindly offered to execute any commissions for me at Oxford, I gladly embrace this opportunity of sending you a few lines, expressive of my sincere thanks for the truly friendly & polite attention you paid me, when I had the pleasure of seeing you in November last. The happiness I have enjoyed, & the advantages I have derived from your friendship & instruction, are remembered by me with the warmest gratitude, & have made an impression on my mind, which time will not be able to efface. Indeed, my dear Sir, I feel highly flatter'd by your unmerited kindness, & have only to lament my unworthiness of so distinguishing a favor.
Upon my return home I examined my edition of Cranmer's work on the Sacrament, & find it to be the same with that which you so obligingly offer'd to give me, to which therefore I now renounce my claim, with my very best thanks for your kind intention.
As I passed thro' London I settled your account with Mr Lunn, whose receipt I enclose in this letter. This visit led me into some extravagancies, as I could not resist the temptations placed before me in his magnificent library. Amongst other books I bought the Bipontine
Page 2
edition of Plato, which I like very much for its convenient size, as it has the advantage of containing all the works of that almost divine philosopher in an octavo form: but I could wish for some more notes & illustrations to his Physical & Political discourses. His Timaeus appears very abstruse, & to me in many places unintelligible, but that is not to be wondered at, for I think, Cicero himself says somewhere that he could not comprehend it. How would that great man have rejoiced in that Light, against which too many modern philosophers have wilfully blinded their eyes. It is extremely interesting to see how far unassisted reason could go, & at the same time how far short it fell of that simple & Divine truth which the eternal Word & Wisdom of God revealed to mankind. How often did the latter sum up in one short & clear sentence, what it cost the former great time & labor to gain only a distant & indistinct notion of.
I have read over again your Gorgias with increased pleasure & satisfaction. I feel deeply indebted to you, as everyone must do for your very clear illustrations & learned observations on that interesting dialogue. I anxiously wish for a guide of equal ability to assist me in discovering the true sense of various other parts of your favorite & most justly admired author.
I have the pleasure of being able to inform you that my dearest wife & child are in good health. I wish I could give you as favorable an account of my dear mother. Since my return she has had notice to quit her house, which considerably affects her health & spirits, as she is not likely to meet with one in this neighbourhood so agreeably & conveniently situated.
It will always give me great satisfaction to hear of you, & still
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greater to hear from you, if you can at any time find leisure to favor me with a line. I will trouble you to present my best compliments to your brother, & to your sisters when you see them. Mrs Knottesford unites with me in the same to yourself, & begs me to say, that she would feel much honor'd if you could be induced to make Stoke a resting place when you visit this part of the country. I need not say how great an obligation you would confer by so doing, on, dear Sir, your very faithful
& affectionate friend & servant
F. Fortescue Knottesford

Stoke by Nayland. Jan. 20^th 1807.

Published with the permission of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Researched and transcribed by Dr S Lapidge 2016

6. Francis F Knottesford Letters: To Dr Martin Routh Ref: (MC: PR30/1/C4/10, FOLIO 44), 10 Apr 1811, Stoke By Nayland SFK.
Martin Joseph Routh (18 September 1755 - 22 December 1854) was an English classical scholar and President of Magdalen College, Oxford (1791-1854).

Rev[ere]nd & dear Sir,

Most sincerely do I thank you, as will also, I am sure, my friend Mr Totton, for your kind reception of my application in behalf of his relation Mr Retton. I was well aware that no recommendation, however powerful, would induce you to swerve from the strict impartiality you have always manifested in the choice of candidates for a Demyship, & on that very ground I hesitated about mentioning the case to you; but I trusted to your accustomed goodness to forgive the intrusion, & thought perhaps that, ceteris paribus, a strong recommendation in favor of the young man's general conduct, might have some influence on your mind, if it were in your power to nominate him. In your decision then whatever it be, we shall most readily acquiesce, feeling confident that it will be determined by the utmost candor & judgment.

You will wonder that after so late an apology for troubling you with a letter [?], I should again so soon encroach upon you, & I am the more sorry that my own carelessness should have occasioned this fresh intrusion; but really your answer to my query respecting the gentleman claiming to be a Demy of your College has so excited my curiosity, & feeling likewise somewhat interested in the matter, I cannot but wish to have the case made perfectly clear. Owing to my bad writing, you have mistaken the name of the person which is Tuck. The truth is, that he has offered his services to me in the Church, if I should ever need his assistance, & such assistance might be in the course of the summer very convenient if I by that mean could be absent for a Sunday or two from my parish, but from certain circumstances that have arisen, I have been led to doubt the truth of his pretensions, & if he has assumed one false character, he may also assume another
(page 2)
& possibly not be in holy orders, on which account I have been rather shy of accepting his offers, which he has almost forced upon me, whilst I have been at home. He professes to be a Batchelor [sic] of Arts, calls himself a Devonshire man, & says he was in College at the Installation in July last. I may be mistaken in my apprehensions respecting Mr Tuck, & I hope I am; but what you have said strengthens my doubts, because tho' you did not at first exactly catch the name, yet as you were dubious about it, I think the name of Tuck would have presented itself to your mind, as [?] probably the person enquired after if there had been such a member of your College.

I purchased my Athanasius of Priestley, 143 High Holborn, for eighteen guineas, & it is a handsome copy. I am glad to find I did not give too much for it. You are right in your conjecture respecting my good wife, who is indeed very indulgent to me, in suffering me to gratify myself in the purchase of books. In imitation of your plan I have always confined myself to works of sterling value, & somewhat rare acquisition. My chief object has been expositions & commentaries on Scripture, amongst which the writings of the Fathers of the five first centuries of course hold the first place, for with the pious & learned Dr Hammond I have thought it the best & safest way to go to the fountain head at once for information rather than to receive it second hand. Next to these I place the early Reformers of our own & foreign churches. Do you ever see a copy of Luther's or Melanchthon's works in any Catalogue? They have not yet fallen in my way. I have the third vol. of the latter which comprehends his Commentaries on St Matthew's & St John's Gospel, but I wish to be better acquainted with that amiable & moderate writer. If I knew what your particular object was, & likewise what books you were not in possession of, I might perhaps sometimes procure them for you, as I may occasionally see catalogues that do not fall into your hands. The bookseller above mentioned has furnished me with many of the books I described, & with many others that are scarce & valuable. I should be happy in being instrumental in adding to your collection, or in performing any other service for you in my power. There were remaining in his shop a short time ago, a Cyrillus Alexandrinus, cura Auberti¹, the best ed. Benedictine Irenaeus², & Cyrillus Hierosolymitanus, if you want them. I can not afford to purchase them this year, & if I could, would gladly relinquish them or any others at any time in favor of one to whom they are so much more useful & important. It is a great privilege to be able to converse [?] with these Holy Fathers, & I lament the not having made a better use of them, than I have done.
(page 3)
An intimate acquaintance with the Homilies of S. Chrysostom is certainly a great advantage to a Preacher, & those together with the Homilies of S. Augustin [sic] & others furnish many useful & curious hints for sermons. However after all, the more we read, the more we see the weakness & deficiency of every thing that is human, & that for entire dependance [?] we must rest upon the sure word of God, which will ever be found the best interpreter of itself. There alone can we meet with an unerring answer to the interesting question of Pilate: That word is truth, & to be sanctified thro' that divine word by the internal illumination of the Spirit should be the main object of all our researches & all our desires.

With our united & best compliments, I remain

Dear Sir, your much obliged &
affectionate Friend & Servant,
F. Fortescue Knottesford

P.S. I have a Stephens' Greek Thesaurus with his own Appendix 5 vols., which a Bookseller has offered me thirty Guineas for. I have been told it is worth 40 or 50 pounds. Should I do well to let him have it at that price, as I would gladly exchange it for books of more immediate use & advantage to me.

1. Knottesford appears to be referring to an edition of the works of Cyril of Alexandria, in Greek and Latin, which was published in 1638 by Jean Aubert, "professeur au Collège de Beauvais". It seems that this was the first edition of the Greek text. Booksellers' catalogues from the 19^th century referring to this edition may be found on Google, and a Google search for Jean Aubert reveals an article by Wolfram Kinzig and Thomas Brüggeman, "Towards a Better Understanding of Cyril of Alexandria's Against Julian: The Manuscripts used by Jean Aubert in His Edition of 1638" which appears in Studia Patristica, volume 40, 2006.
2. It appears that Knottesford is here referring to an edition of Irenaeus, in Greek and Latin, and edited by a certain Massuet, which was published in Paris in 1710, and was known as "the Benedictine edition." Booksellers' catalogues from the 19th century referring to this edition may also be found on Google.

Published with the permission of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Researched and transcribed by Dr S Lapidge 2016

7. Francis Knottesford: Will, 24 May 1811, Alveston Manor Stratford upon Avon WAR.
The Will of:
The Reverend
Francis Fortescue Knottesford
Clerk

I the Reverend Francis Fortescue Knottesford
of Alveston Manor House near Stratford on Avon in the county of Warwick clerk do hereby revoke all Wills, codicils, and other testamentary dispositions by me at any time or times heretofore made and declare this to be my last Will and testament whereas by indenture bearing date on or about the twenty fourth day of May one thousand eight hundred and eleven and made or expressed to be made between me the said Francis Fortescue Knottesford of the first part, my wife Maria Fortescue Knottesford of the second part, and
John Matthew Grimwood, William Cardale the younger, and William Jurin Totton therein severally described of the third part and in performance of my covenant contained in that behalf in my marriage settlement and in exercise and execution of a power or powers in the now writing indenture mentioned or referred to I did grant to the said Maria Fortescue Knottesford for her life (in case she should survive me) an annuity or yearly rent charge of one hundred and one pounds two shillings to be yearly issuing out of and charged and chargeable upon certain manors and hereditaments situate in the parish of Alveston and which had been devised to me for my life in and by the Will of John Knottesford therein named and then deceased.
And I did in and by the same indenture and in exercise of other powers therein mentioned or referred to subject and charge the same manors and hereditaments with the payment of the sum of two thousand pounds for the portion or portions of my younger children to be raised and payable in manner thereinafter mentioned and I did under and by virtue of the same powers and by the same indenture devise the said manors and hereditaments unto the said John Matthew Grimwood, William Cardale, and William Jurin Totton for the term of five hundred years upon trust in the first place for securing the said annuity or yearly rent charge of one hundred and one pounds two shillings in manner and by the ways therein mentioned and upon the further trust after my decease or in my lifetime with my consent to be signified by writing under my hand and seal (but and without prejudice to the raising and paying the said annuity or yearly rent charge of one hundred and one pounds two shillings) by mortgage sale or other disposition of the said manor and hereditaments or any part thereof for all or any part of the said term or by such other ways or means as therein mentioned or referred to to levy and raise or borrow or take up at interest the sum of two thousand pounds for the portion or portions of my children Francis Catherine Fortescue and Maria Margaretta Fortescue therein severally named and all and every other my child and children by the said Maria my wife begotten or to be begotten (other than and except an eldest or only son) to be equally divided between them share and share alike and to be paid and payable to the said Frances Catherine Fortescue and Maria
Margaretta Fortescue and such other my child or children as aforesaid such or ages, time or times, and in such manner and form as I should appoint and upon the further trust after my decease to raise and levy such sums as therein mentioned for the maintenance of my said children. And whereas my said daughter Frances Catherine Fortescue now Frances Catherine Dewe the wife of the Reverend Joseph Dewe) by a settlement made previous and in order to her marriage with the said Joseph Dewe and with my consent and under my appointment did (among other things) assign and transfer unto certain persons therein named as trustees and upon the trusts of that settlement all the share or shares to which she then was or on my decease or in
my lifetime with my consent would be entitled of and in the said sum of two thousand pounds and the benefit of the term trusts and other securities for the same and whereas (with the exception of my now only son Edward Bowles Knottesford Fortescue) my only children by my said marriage are the said Frances Catherine Dewe and the said Maria Margaretta Fortescue. And as I am not likely to have other issue by my said marriage it is more than probable that the said Frances Catherine Dewe or the trustees of her said settlement and for the purposes thereof will become entitled upon my decease to one moiety or half part of the said sum of two thousand pounds. Now I do hereby ratify and confirm the said last mentioned settlement so far as relates to one moiety of the said sum of two thousand pounds to take effect at my decease. And I do hereby give and bequeath and appoint or ratify and confirm the other or remaining moiety or half part of the same sum of two thousand pounds unto my said daughter Maria Margaretta Fortescue, her executors, administrators, and assigns to take effect at my decease and not at any more remote period. And whereas under and by virtue of the said Will of the said John Knottesford and under a certain decree and other orders of Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery made and pronounced in a suit now or late depending in that court wherein Thomas Sheldon Esquire and Catherine his wife and another were plaintiffs and Thomas Barnes and others were defendants I am possessed of or otherwise entitled for my life to the income and dividends of the sum of two thousand five hundred and eighty nine pounds four shillings three pounds per centum consolidated bank annuities now standing in the name of the accountant general of that court to the credit of that cause.
And whereas I am also as the sole next of kin of my eldest son Francis (who died some time ago a minor and intestate) entitled absolutely to the said sum of two thousand five hundred and eighty nine pounds four shillings three pounds per centum consolidated bank annuities and I have power to dispose of the same. Now I do in and by this my Will give and bequeath the same sum of two thousand five hundred and eighty nine pounds four shillings three pounds per centum consolidated bank annuities unto my now only son
the said Edward Bowles Knottesford Fortescue absolutely he paying all the necessary rents and charges of or connected with obtaining the payment out of court of the said sum of two thousand five hundred and eighty nine pounds four shillings three pounds per centum consolidated bank annuities for his benefit. And whereas I am also possessed of or otherwise entitled to the sum of eighteen thousand and eighty one pounds eleven shillings three pounds ten shillings bank annuities of one thousand eight hundred and eighteen now standing in my name in the books of the governor and company of the bank of England.
And whereas I am under covenant with my said son Edward Bowles Knottesford Fortescue or with the trustees of his marriage settlement that for the purposes of that settlement the sum of two thousand two hundred and ten pounds three pounds ten shillings bank annuities of one thousand eight hundred and eighteen (part of the said sum of eighteen thousand and eighty one pounds eleven shillings like annuities) should within three months next after my decease and the further sum of seven thousand five hundred
pounds like annuities (further part of the said sum of eighteen thousand and eighty one pounds eleven shillings like annuities) should within three months next after the decease of the survivor of myself and my said wife be transferred to the trustee or trustees of that settlement. And whereas upon the transfer of the said sums of two thousand two hundred and ten pounds and seven thousand five hundred pounds respectively three pounds ten shillings per centum annuities of one thousand eight hundred and eighteen the said sum of eighteen thousand and eighty one pounds eleven shillings like annuities will be reduced to the sum of eight thousand three hundred and seventy one pounds eleven shillings three pounds ten shillings
per centum like bank annuities. Now I do hereby give and bequeath to my said daughter Maria Margaretta Fortescue the sum of two thousand six hundred pounds sterling money with interest thereon from my decease at and after the rate of three pounds ten shillings per centum per annum and I do hereby charge and make chargeable the said sum of eight thousand three hundred and seventy one pounds eleven shillings three pounds ten shillings per centum bank annuities of one thousand eight hundred and eighteen and the income and dividends thereof from my decease to and with the payment not only to my said daughter Maria Margaretta Fortescue of the said sum of two thousand six hundred pounds and interest but also to the trustees for the time being of the settlement of my said daughter Frances Catherine Dewe of the life sum of two thousand six hundred pounds and interest (and which were therein covenanted to be paid to them for the purposes of that settlement) and in satisfaction of such my said covenant (it being my intention to place my said daughters on equal footing as much as possible) and subject to the payment of the said several sums
of two thousand six hundred pounds and two thousand six hundred pounds and the respective interest thereof I direct that the said sum of eight thousand three hundred and seventy one pounds eleven shillings three pounds ten shillings per centum bank annuities of one thousand eight hundred and eighteen and the income and dividends thereof from my decease shall be deemed and considered as part of my residuary personal estate and go and be applied according to the directions hereinafter contained
of and concerning that estate. And I do hereby give and bequeath unto my said wife for her life (and in case she shall survive me) the income and dividends which shall during that period accrue and become due in respect of the said sum of seven thousand five hundred pounds three pounds ten shillings per centum bank annuities and also my yearly sum of one hundred and eighteen pounds ten shillings long annuities now also standing in my name or so much thereof as shall become payable after my decease and during her life and that in addition to every provision to which my said wife is already entitled whether under our marriage settlement or in any other manner and also in addition to the further provision hereinafter
made for her by this my Will and my Will further is that so much of my said long annuities as shall not become payable to my said wife during her life shall also fall into and be deemed and considered further part
of my residuary personal estate and go and be applied according to the directions hereinafter contained concerning the same. And I do hereby give and bequeath to my said son Edward Bowles Knottesford Fortescue all my printed books and manuscripts and the library case shelves and other articles of furniture in which they are or shall at my decease be usually deposited or kept and also all paintings, engravings, and prints of every sort belonging to me at my decease. And I give and bequeath to my said wife for her life all jewels and trinkets belonging to me and also my carriages and horses and the harness and other things appertaining thereto or necessary to the full enjoyment by her of my said carriages and horses and also all my furniture and articles of household plate, linen china, glass ware, and other household effects and all my wines and other liquors of every description to be held and enjoyed by her in a fair and reasonable course and mode of consumption but I desire that no inventory or account may be taken of the said household goods, plate, linen, china, and furniture as I rely upon my said wife taking all necessary care of them.
And it is my Will that my said wife shall have full power to dispose of the said jewels and other articles lastly hereinbefore given to her for her life or any or either of them unto any one or more of my
children as she shall think fit to take effect either in her lifetime or at her decease as she shall direct and my Will is that such of the said jewels and other articles as shall not have been disposed of by my said wife
under the last mentioned power or be consumed by her by use shall from and after her decease fall into and be deemed further part of my residuary personal estate and be applied according to the directions hereinafter contained of and concerning the same estate. And as to all and singular the rest, residue, and remainder of my personal estate and effects which consist (among other things) of a sum of two thousand four hundred and forty three pounds seventeen shillings and nine pence new three pounds ten shillings
per centum bank annuities also standing in my name in the books of the governor and company of the bank of England my Will is that the executrix and executor for the time being of this my Will do and shall with and by or out of my said residuary personal estate and by the sale and conversion thereof into money pay and satisfy all debts due and owing by me at my decease and not hereinbefore otherwise
specifically charged upon any distinct fund and my funeral and testamentary expenses and all other charges connected therewith and also pay and satisfy the legacy duty which shall be payable in respect of the said sum of two thousand six hundred pounds and interest hereby bequeathed to my said daughter Maria Margaretta Fortescue (it being my intention that my said daughter shall be paid the same free from deduction) and do and shall in the next place by the ways or means aforesaid levy and raise out of my said residuary personal estate such a sum of money as when invested in the purchase of stock in some or one of the parliamentary stocks or funds of Great Britain will produce the net income of eighty nine pounds per annum or appropriate and set apart as much stock belonging to me and then forming part of my residuary personal estate as will produce the like net income of eighty nine pounds per annum and stand and be possessed thereof upon trust to permit and suffer my said wife to receive and take the last mentioned income to and for her own use thenceforth during her life and do and shall in the mean time and until such last mentioned investment or appropriation shall be made permit and suffer my said wife to receive the like income out of my said residuary personal estate to and for her own use and by half yearly payments computed from my decease and subject to the several payments aforesaid do and shall also by and with or out of my said residuary personal estate raise and pay to my coachman John Lee the gross legacy or sum of thirty pounds free from deduction on account of legacy duty and also raise and levy in like manner out of my residuary personal estate yearly and every year during the life of Frances Elizabeth Thomson of no. 3 Tottenham Place Tottenham Court Road spinster the sum of ten pounds also free of deduction for legacy duty or appropriate or set apart as much of my residuary personal estate as shall be adequate to meet by its income the said annuity or yearly sum of ten pounds free from deduction as aforesaid and pay the same from time to time into the said Frances Elizabeth Thomson by half yearly payments the first half yearly payment thereof to be made at the end of six calendar months next after my decease.
And my Will is that subject to the payment of my said debts and of my funeral and testamentary expenses and of the said several annuities and pecuniary legacies hereinbefore mentioned my residuary personal
estate and effects shall go and belong and be held in manner following that is to say as to one equal moiety or half part thereof upon the same or the like trusts and for the same or the like purposes as were in and by
the settlement made on the marriage of my said daughter Frances Catherine Dewe mentioned and declared of and concerning the said sum of two thousand six hundred pounds therein mentioned and the same shall be accounted for and paid for that purpose accordingly unto the trustee or trustees for the time being of that settlement and in augmentation of the said last mentioned sum of two thousand six hundred pounds and the receipt and receipts of such trustee or trustees shall be a sufficient discharge or discharges for the same. And as to the other moiety or half part of my said residuary personal estate my Will is that the same shall go and belong to my said daughter Maria Margaretta Fortescue, her executors, administrators, and assigns. And I give and bequeath the same to her accordingly.
And I do hereby nominate and appoint as executors of this my Will and trustees thereof my said wife Maria Fortescue Knottesford and my son Edward Bowles Knottesford Fortescue.
And my Will is that for all or any of the purposes aforesaid and for the due execution of any one or more of the trusts herein contained my said executrix and executor and the survivor of them or the executor for the time being of this my Will shall have full power and authority to sell and dispose of or convert into money all or any part of my residuary personal estate. And I do hereby declare that the receipt or receipts which shall be given by the trustee or trustees for the time being of this my Will for all or any part of my personal estate and effects or the produce thereof shall severally and respectively be a good and sufficient discharge for
so much thereof as in every or any such receipt respectively shall be expressed to be or to have been received. And my Will further is that no trustee of this my Will shall be charged or chargeable for monies received under receipts in which he or she shall join for conformity only nor shall any one
of the trustees of this my Will be answerable for the other of them but each of them only for his or her own acts, neglects, or defaults respectively nor shall they or either of them be answerable for any person in whose
hands any part of my trust monies shall be deposited or lodged for safe custody or otherwise in the execution of the trusts hereinbefore contained nor for any rise or fall in the price or value of stocks nor for any insufficiency or deficiency in title or value of any security upon which the said trust monies or any part thereof shall be invested nor for any other loss or damage not arising from willful default and then each person respectively shall be answerable only for such loss or damage as shall arise from his or her own default and also that it shall be lawful for the trustees of this my Will and every of them by or out of the said trust monies to reimburse himself and herself respectively and also to allow to his and her cotrustee or cotrustees all costs, charges, damages, expenses, and fees to counsel for advice which he or they or any of them shall or may suffer, sustain, expend, disburse or be put to in or about the execution of the aforesaid trusts or in relation thereunto. In witness whereof I the said Francis Fortescue Knottesford the testator have to this my last Will and testament contained in six sheets of paper set my hand and seal that is to say my hand to the first five sheets and my hand and seal to this sixth and last sheet hereof this twenty eighth day of December in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty eight
Francis Fortescue Knottesford (S.S.).
Signed, sealed, published, and declared by the said Francis Fortescue Knottesford the testator as and for his last Will and testament in the presence of us who at his request in his presence and in the presence
of each other have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses
Edward Meade of Stratford on Avon Warwickshire clerk
John Peckleton Power of Queens' College Cambridge.

Proved at London 6th August 1859 by the oath of the Reverend Edward Bowles Knottesford Fortescue clerk the son the surviving executor to whom admon was granted.

Knottesford The Rev Francis Fortescue. 6 August 1859
The Will of the Rev Francis Fortescue Knottesford late of Alveston Manor House near Stratford-on-Avon in the County of Warwick Clerk deceased who died 31 May 1859 at Alveston Manor House aforesaid was proved at the Principle Registry by the oath of the Rev Edward Bowles Knottesford Fortescue of the City of Perth in North Britain Clerk Provost of Perth Cathedral the son and the surviving Executor. Effects under £25,000.
National Probate Calendar.


Transcribed and translated by C. L . O'Sullivan 30.08.2022

8. Francis F Knottesford Letters: To Dr Martin Routh Ref: (MC: PR30/1/C4/10, FOLIO 45), 15 Feb 1813, Stoke By Nayland SFK.
Martin Joseph Routh (18 September 1755 - 22 December 1854) was an English classical scholar and President of Magdalen College, Oxford (1791-1854).

Rev[ere]nd & Dear Sir,

I hope you will not think that I take an undue advantage of your kindness, if I again trouble you with an application on behalf of a friend, whose request on the occasion is so earnest, that I cannot refuse to comply with it. I believe you have often heard me speak of Mr Totton, with whom I formed an early friendship at Oxford, a friendship which has subsisted with much cordiality to the present time. It was at his desire, as you may remember, that I took the liberty of recommending a relation of his to your notice about two years ago. He little thought then that he should now wish for the same interference on a more near & interesting account. My worthy friend is Rector of Debden in Essex, a living indeed of considerable value, perhaps £700 per ann[um], but he has nine children to provide for, & in these times with such a family, little or nothing can be saved for their future maintenance out of that income, which must of course cease at his death. He cannot therefore but be extremely anxious for their future provision in this life. His eldest son he placed on the foundation at Westminster with the hope of his succeeding to a Studentship at Ch[rist] Church. Unfortunately in the same year there were
(page 2)
two before him, one the son of the Archb[isho]p of York, the other of the B[isho]p of London, who would almost inevitably be elected to the prejudice of the poor Rector's son. He found it likewise to be expensive to maintain him at Westminster, & as there appeared so little probability of his attaining the object for which he was placed there, he determined to remove him at an early period & as he has been very industrious to try for a Foundation in some other college. Mr Totton shall now speak for himself & I will copy his words on the subject: "You will be surprised to hear that William is a member of your own college. He was entered at Queen's on the first day of Term & now comes my most earnest & particular request, which you will almost anticipate. If he could be elected at Magdalen my utmost wish & highest ambition would be crowned. I am afraid of appearing to intrude upon such friendship as you have long shown me, but if it could be consistent with propriety to ask you to intercede with the worthy President, the gratitude I should feel, I never would attempt to express, & therefore you would never have my thanks. I would not lightly trouble you, & especially a second time, but the case is so important to me, & I can do so little for my children beyond a good education, that I am most anxious for the accomplishment of this very favorite wish. I understand they like to elect them young. William will be 16 in May & of three terms standing at the next Election, when I am told it would be right to make the trial, & under your favourable recommendation I should indulge great hopes of success, as he has made very considerable progress in classical acquirements. To such a friend I need say no more." Perhaps, my dear Sir, you might have thought Mr Totton otherwise: but the simplicity of this statement will I think prove the contrary. He is indeed a man of the most unassuming mind & manners, & I may say,
(page 3)
on every account worthy, for whom you should do this, & I believe verily [?], that his gratitude would as he says be inexpressible. I have said this much not only with the view of recommending my friend, but also of justifying myself in again troubling you with such an application, especially from the same quarter, but I think you will say, that the case is urgent, & that the request could not be refused by me, & tho' I am fully aware that on these occasions you do not suffer your mind to be affected by prejudice or partiality towards any party, but are guided in your decision solely by the merit of the candidate (as I assured my friend in the former case), yet I know this to be so great an object to his excellent father, that I do form a hope that if this young man should prove deserving of your favor, you would feel inclined to shew him a preference among his equals in character & abilities.

[word missing: there is a tear in the paper.] Sir, I have executed my commission, & I hope you will [tear in the paper] have acted right in so doing, & I am so far happy in having h . . . [tear in the paper] imposed upon me, as it will give me an opportunity of hea . . . [tear in the paper] a pleasure which I might not otherwise have experienced so soon. It will give me much satisfaction to hear that you are well. Probably we were once very near you in the course of the last summer, when we took a journey through the greatest part of the counties of Sussex, Wilts & Hants. We passed thro' Basingstoke, & if Dr & Mrs Sheppard had been there, we should certainly have taken the liberty of calling upon them; but we could not venture to do that at Amport¹, tho' we were very near it, as our [some words are missing here - there is a tear in the paper] children [?] were with us, whom we could not dispose of in a village, & they might have been troublesome in a strange house. I have already taken up so much of your time & my paper, that I can now make no further observation except that I remarked with pleasure some months ago, that your book was really
(page 4)
in the press, since which period I have been looking with eager expectation for its publication, but have not yet seen it announced. In these critical times, we require every possible aid to keep us steady in faith & practice, & to this desirable end, nothing can be more conducive than a knowledge of the doctrine maintained by the first Ch[ris]tian Fathers, in an age when the Church was comparatively pure & uncorrupted; which is indeed the best human comment we can have upon the Scriptures, & as you justly state every fundamental point necessary to salvation must have been known by those who lived during & who immediately succeeded the Apostolical age. May the good Spirit of God give a blessing to your labors & render them effectual to the promotion of His own Glory & the edification of his Church.

My mother is at present confined with a violent cold at Hadleigh. Did she know of my writing, I am sure she would unite with Mrs Knottesford & myself in respectful comp[limen]ts to you. I am, Dear Sir, with great regard & affection

Your much obliged friend & servant

F. Fortescue Knottesford

1. A village in the Test Valley district of northwest Hampshire.

Published with the permission of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Researched and transcribed by Dr S Lapidge 2016

9. Francis F Knottesford Letters: To Dr Martin Routh Ref: (MC: PR30/1/C4/10, FOLIO 46), 23 Aug 1814, Stoke By Nayland SFK.
Martin Joseph Routh (18 September 1755 - 22 December 1854) was an English classical scholar and President of Magdalen College, Oxford (1791-1854).

Rev[ere]nd & most dear Sir,

In consequence of my mother's absence from Hadleigh I did not receive your valuable present till within a few days past, since which time a serious illness with which Mrs Knottesford was attacked prevented my earlier acknowledgment of your kindness. I feel happy in being able to say that my beloved wife is now better, & I now sit down with pleasure to return my best thanks to you for your very friendly attention in favoring me so early with a copy of your interesting work, & for the unmerited honor you have bestowed on me in so handsomely recording the very trifling assistance it was in my power to afford you in the prosecution of it. I congratulate yourself & the world [?] on the production of this part of your labors, & sincerely pray that such a portion of health & strength may be continued to you, as will enable [?] you to complete your design, & benefit the Church of Ch[ris]t with the entire result of your mature & extended enquiries. As yet I have had little time for the perusal of your volumes, but I consider them as a rich treasure, & look forward with delight to the instruction & satisfaction with which the investigation of them will reward me. Your dedication of the work to the venerable Bishops & Presbyters of the Episcopal Church of Scotland has gratified me highly, it affords [?] in the outset an admirable specimen of
(page 2)
your primitive Piety, sound Learning, & elegant Style. A worthy neighbour of mine, who read it in my study the other morning, feeling I suppose [?] a momentary & very excusable jealousy, lamented for your sake, as well as for her own, that a work of such labor & importance should not have been dedicated to the Church of England! But therein, I think your disinterestedness & your judgment are equally conspicuous. The work is indeed deserving of the highest patronage, but the more kindred situation of the Scotch Episcopal Church with that of the early times of which [?] you treat, & which you so delicately notice, renders the address to it peculiarly appropriate. I confess, I rejoice exceedingly in the deserved respect thus publickly [?] paid to that depressed & venerable body, which in its doctrine & discipline is so pure & apostolical. The introduction of these primitive Fathers to public notice, with the deductions you are enabled to draw from their writings, I look [?] upon as highly seasonable at the present period, when there is too much reason to fear, a due regard is not generally paid to the external constitution of the Church, but all forms of government seem to be considered as equally legitimate. This laxity of sentiment must surely arise from an ignorance of the early writers, upon whose decision perhaps the question must ultimately rest. For if the necessary Form be not clearly described in the sacred Scriptures, whither must we refer but to the matter of Fact & the Universal Practice of the Chr[is]tian Church in the first ages, which alone can illustrate what may not therein be accurately defined, & who can read those early writers especially Ignatius, & doubt of the Fact? To suppose that the Apostles themselves did not know the mind of C[hris]t in this particular, or that those who were acquainted with them were ignorant of their judgment & practice in this matter, is almost [?] egregious absurdity.
Permit me now, my dear Sir, to express the satisfaction I feel in having my sentiments respecting the propriety of a union with a very important Society confirmed by the authority & practice of one on whose judgment I can so safely
(page 3)
depend. The sight of your name amongst the members of the Auxiliary Bible Society at Oxford gave me most sincere pleasure both on a religious & a political account, on the first, because I hope you think that Society an instrument of great good, & a work of God; on the second, because if danger is to be apprehended from its influence, the only way of now amending [?] it, seems to be the union of all who are well affected [?] to the Church with it, that they may gain a preponderance, & secure the management of it in their own hands. This I have long wondered the Bishops & Dignitaries of our Church do not see, as I think, they act against their own interest no less than against the honor & credit of the body to which they belong & which they so strenuously desire to uphold, in not joining, & assuming the direction of it. It seems to me to be the most effectual mean that has yet been devised for making known the word of God to all nations, & accomplishing the prophecies which speak decidedly of that great & desirable event. Perhaps nothing less than this sudden & astonishing combination of all denominations of C[hris]tians could effect the [the paper is damaged here]. Perhaps it is the voice of God himself sounding in the hearts of men that has [the paper is damaged here] to the work, & put one Spirit within them in order to pro . . . [the paper is damaged here] all may agree, & in which probably all must agree to send [?] [the paper is damaged here] From the intercourse I have had with different members [the paper is damaged here] disposed to believe that its establishment has been favorable to the Church, & that the Dissenters have been more friendly towards her in consequence of it. I long much to see you that I might have the pleasure & the advantage of discussing this, & various other topics relating to the present most important era [?] with you. Have you entirely abandoned your native county, & do you never mean to visit it again? How happy should we be, would you devote one vacation tho' it were a short one, to such an excursion. In the wish that you would put such a project in execution, & condescend to visit us at Stoke, my dear wife most cordially joins, who would do everything in her power to accommodate you to your satisfaction. I heard with regret the other day, that Dr Sheppard was at length summoned to be, as I hope, an inhabitant of a better country. I beg to present my compliments of condolence to your sister, & shall be glad to hear that she is in good health.
(page 4)
I must not omit to congratulate you on the lately unexpected blessing of peace which we now enjoy. God grant that it may be permanent! but the signs of the times are still critical & very awful [?]. I dare not indulge [?] the hope [?] of a long suspension of hostilities.

With the united kind regards of Mrs Knottesford & my mother, I remain, with great esteem, & affection, Dear Sir, your much obliged & unworthy Friend & Servant,

F. Fortescue Knottesford

Published with the permission of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Researched and transcribed by Dr S Lapidge 2016

10. Francis F Knottesford Letters: To Dr Martin Routh Ref: (MC: PR30/1/C4/10, FOLIO 47), 21 Nov 1815, Stoke By Nayland SFK.
Martin Joseph Routh (18 September 1755 - 22 December 1854) was an English classical scholar and President of Magdalen College, Oxford (1791-1854).

Nayland Nov[ember] 21^st 1815
Rev[erend] & Dear Sir,
Mrs Knottesford & myself feel greatly obliged to you for the trouble you have taken respecting the inscription for the monument to be erected in memory of the late Mr George Downing; but before I speak more of that, suffer me to express my concern for the anxiety you have lately experienced on account of your sister's illness, an anxiety which I hope is now completely removed by her perfect restoration to health & strength. I likewise sympathize with you in the distressing cares which other unpleasant events have occasioned you, & earnestly pray that you may soon be entirely relieved [?] from every sorrow which may interrupt in any degree your peace & quiet. They [?] at least I feel as a man & as a friend, tho' the wish which affection hastily dictates, ought I am fully sensible to be qualified - as a C[hris]tian brother I should rather say, that I desire your exemption from trouble so far only as He who orders all things sees it fit & good for you that you should be delivered from it. I have myself found so much benefit from affliction that when I come to reflect, I can hardly wish any one whom I love to be unacquainted with the rod. That is a precious declaration of our Blessed Saviour's 'Whomsoever I love I rebuke & chasten¹,' & I believe that all his faithful servants have had abundant reason to thank him for his necessary & compassionate corrections. Our hearts are never nearer to God than when we are under his rebukes, & we must be humbled here under his almighty head; that we may be lifted up hereafter to glory & honor. It is thro' much tribulation that we must enter into the Kingdom of God. Nothing less will break our proud hearts & subdue our rebellious spirits & in the meantime his comforts refresh our souls, & we are enabled to endure by seeing the hand of a Father in all that is laid upon us; of a tender & loving Father who will not try us above what we are able to bear, but hath promised that "according [?] to our day, so shall our strength be."²
(page 2) But to the main subject of your letter. Mr G. Downing³ died on the 9^th of October, 1800, in the thirty-eighth year of his age, & was buried at St Paul's Church, in Covent Garden. As an officer in the London & Westminster Light Horse Volunteers, he was called out with his Regiment in order to suppress the riots which took place in that year on account of the high price of bread, & was exposed for three whole nights to the fury of the mob, who engulfed the volunteers & pelted them with brick bats & broken bottles, some of which fell upon the head of our lamented relative. It was thought that they were not properly supported by the City magistrates & officers. However his death was wholly occasioned by the fatigue, cold & blows [?] to which he was thus exposed, & from which his zeal & valour would not suffer him to shrink. He was so universally beloved & so deeply lamented, that a public military funeral was decreed him, upon which occasion his horse was led by the late Prime Minister Mr Percival, who was strongly attached to him.
Dr Parr⁴ need not be told of his high attainments as a Scholar & Lawyer, of his virtues as a man or his accomplishments as a Gentleman. These things he acknowledged in him, & well knew how to appreciate. He himself ….. had contributed to form those virtues [?]. But it is his loyalty & Christianity which we wish to be most strongly marked, & made the prominent [sic] for they were the most valuable & important features of his character. For this reason I take the liberty of troubling you with this representation & of making you the medium of its communication to your learned friend. [Trusting that you will kindly perform the office you undertook of regulating the Doctor's views, & guarding against the mention of any thing which might seem to derogate from the religious sentiments of the deceased, & occasion dissatisfaction on that ground to his affectionate family.]⁵ The Hero, the Patriot & the Man of Letters may be properly remembered, but it is the triumph of the pious, resigned & humble Ch[ris]tian [thro' Grace] which we desire to have most particularly & faithfully recorded.
The unexpected pleasure of seeing you, my dear Sir, during the last summer, tho' it was so short, gave me great satisfaction. We extended our journey far beyond what we intended when we were in Oxford, & visited Glasgow & Edinburgh with which beautiful & interesting towns we were highly gratified. We took Durham, York & Lincoln in on way home, & had the privilege of attending Divine Service in each of those magnificent Cathedrals on a Sunday. I think we saw the greatest both of nature & art which this island can boast. It was a very high treat to us indeed. We were absent eight weeks. But no sooner had we enjoyed this gratification, than trouble came. Our dear boy, whom we had left behind us at St Bee's, was seized with an alarming illness which threatened destruction to all our hopes & prospects concerning him.⁶ The great
(page 3) distance between us, which formed the only objection to the situation, but which we trusted, would never have been so keenly felt by us, of course increased our anxiety. He has been attended for two months by a physician, & I am thankful for being able to say, that his [dis]ease is not of that dangerous nature, which was at first apprehended. In the midst of Judgment he has remembered Mercy, & put a new song of praise into our mouths⁷ & I hope into our hearts.
Mrs Knottesford & my mother unite with me in kind remembrance to yourself & Mrs Sheppard, & believe me to be, dear Sir,
your affectionate & obliged Friend & Servant,
F. Fortescue Knottesford

We will thank you to present our best compliments to Dr Parr, when you write to him, & to express our thanks for his kindness in engaging to furnish us with a suitable composition in compliance with your request & our wishes.

Footnotes:
1. Revelation, 3.19 (King James version).
2. Deuteronomy, 33.25 (King James version).
3. Some information about Mr Downing and his career and family may be found at: <http://www.thekingscandlesticks.com/webs/pedigrees/96.html>.
4. Dr Samuel Parr was an extremely close friend of Dr Routh. Their correspondence is held in the archives of Magdalen College: Dr Routh's letters to Dr Parr under the reference MC: PR 30/1/C3/3, and Dr Parr's letters to Dr Routh under the reference UC: PR 30/1/C3/4. For some years Dr Parr kept a school at Stanmore, in Middlesex, and George Downing had been one of his pupils: it is for this reason that Mr Downing's family had wished Dr Parr to compose his memorial epitaph. It appears that Dr Routh forwarded a copy of this letter to Dr Parr in his letter of the 29^th November, 1815 (MC: PR 30/1/C3/3, Folio 47). There is some biographical information about Dr Parr, extracted from volume 43 of the 1885 - 1900 edition of the Dictionary of National Biography, at the website reference <https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Parr,_Samuel_(DNB00)>.
5. The square brackets here are likely to have been added by Dr Routh himself, so as to emphasise the crucial points which he would need to make when he wrote to Dr Parr; and similarly with the words "thro' Grace", in the next line.
6. Knottesford's eldest son, also named Francis Fortescue Knottesford. He was born in 1806, and was about nine years old at the date of this letter. He had been sent away to school at St Bee's, in Cumbria. He survived the illness referred to in this letter, but sadly died on the 29^th March, 1818, aged about eleven. Some information about him and his family may be found at <http://www.thekingscandlesticks.com/webs/pedigrees/14699.html>.
7. Psalm 40, verse 3 (King James Version): "And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God."

Published with the permission of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Researched and transcribed by Dr S Lapidge 2019

11. Francis F Knottesford Letters: To Dr Martin Routh Ref: (MC: PR30/1/C4/10, FOLIO 48), 4 Mar 1816, Stoke By Nayland SFK.
Martin Joseph Routh (18 September 1755 - 22 December 1854) was an English classical scholar and President of Magdalen College, Oxford (1791-1854).

Stoke by Nayland, March 4^th 1816
Rev[ere]nd & dear Sir,
I take the first opportunity of returning my best thanks for your early attention in sending me the third volume of your valuable work¹, to the perusal of which I look forward with great pleasure being persuaded that I shall thereby be more fully confirmed, as I have been by your previous volumes, in my opinion of the primitive purity of our ecclesiastical establishment. The more deeply we investigate the records of antiquity, the greater will be our attachment to our excellent Church, & the stronger our conviction of its conformity both in Doctrine & Discipline to the Faith & Practice of the first ages. It is indeed built upon the Foundation of the Apostles & Prophets; Jesus Ch[ris]t himself being the chief corner stone. I am persuaded that the dissatisfaction which arises in the minds of some good & well meaning men is owing in great measure to the want of this investigation, joined with too great a conceit of their own judgment in this important matter. Instead of going to the original sources of information, they rest contented with the superficial knowledge to be acquired by the various periodical publications of the present day, beyond which I believe the reading of many young divines does not extend. Now these, tho' excellent in themselves, & containing much valuable practical instruction, of which I thankfully avail myself, yet do not form a sufficient ground work for the theological student. Hence I conceive, the laxity of opinion which prevails with respect to Discipline, & the too great disregard to Form [?]. The mode of government cannot perhaps be exactly discovered in the Bible; & therefore recourse must be had to the writings of those who have faithfully delivered down to us the practice of the Apostles & Apostolical Men in this particular, & to suppose that they were not acquainted with the mind of Ch[ris]t in so important a point, is surely a most absurd imagination. Your publication is therefore peculiarly seasonable at this time, & will I trust under the blessing of God, be made a means of establishing many in a knowledge of & attachment to the original government of the Christian Church.

The increased attention which has of late years been paid to the Holy S[cripture]s has however considerably [?] occasioned an improvement amongst us in the more essential point of Doctrine & I cannot but rejoice that the Tone of our Divinity is raised, & approaches nearer to the grand occasions [?] than it has done since the Reformation the leading tenets of which are certainly more clearly understood & more generally taught than they were during the last century. An extraordinary revival of the primitive Spirit has taken place in our highly favoured Nation; & that Spirit will assuredly [?] preserve those who are influenced by it, within the bounds of order & sobriety. The old enemy will endeavour as he has always done to spoil the good work, & bring reproach upon it, if he can; but the great

(page 2) Shepherd will secure his Flock from being deceived by his illusions, or injured by his malice, & will preserve it in the strait path of Truth & Holiness. Greater is He that is in us, than He that is in the world, & it is our lasting consolation, that the Gates of Hell shall never prevail against his Church.

The accounts of our dear child² have been favourable for some time, but we were unexpectedly distressed by an unsatisfactory report sent us last week. We trust however that it will prove only a temporary return of his disorder. We much fear he must return in April: if so, I shall probably meet him at Oxford, since [?] he will accompany a young man from St Bees who is coming to college. This will give me an opportunity of a longer interview with you, than I could be indulged with last summer.

Mrs Knottesford unites with me in kind regards to you, & thanks for the friendly interest you have taken respecting the epitaph, which we hope for his own sake, Dr Parr's health will soon allow him to complete³.

I remain, dear Sir,
your much obliged & very faithful servant,
F. Fortescue Knottesford

Footnotes:
1. The third volume of Routh's Reliquiae Sacrae: sive, Auctorum fere iam Perditorum Secundi Tertiique Saeculi Fragmenta, Quae Supersunt, was published at Oxford, in 1815.
2. Francis Knottesford's eldest son, Francis Fortescue Knottesford, was born in 1806, and at the date of this letter was at school at St Bee's, in Cumbria. Knottesford's previous letter to Dr Routh (Folio 47, dated the 21^st November, 1815) states that his son had been extremely ill, and had been under the doctor's care for two months, but that he was beginning to recover. This letter indicates that he had suffered a relapse. Sadly, Francis died on the 29^th March, 1818, at the age of 11/12.
3. The epitaph, and Dr Parr's involvement with it, are explained in Knottesford's previous letter (Folio 47, dated the 21^st November, 1815).

Published with the permission of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Researched and transcribed by Dr S Lapidge 2019

12. Francis F Knottesford Letters: To Dr Martin Routh Ref: (MC: PR30/1/C4/10, FOLIO 49), 4 May 1818, Stoke By Nayland SFK.
Martin Joseph Routh (18 September 1755 - 22 December 1854) was an English classical scholar and President of Magdalen College, Oxford (1791-1854).

Stoke by Nayland. May 4^th 1818
Rev[eren]d & dear Sir,
I hope you will not think me importunate if I remind you of the monumental inscription which thro' your kind mediation Dr Parr undertook to draw up in memory of Mr George Downing¹. The eldest sister of the deceased, Mrs Frances Downing, is now in London; & as so many years have elapsed since his death is very anxious that the business should be concluded, & therefore I take the liberty of addressing you on the subject. By a letter I had the pleasure of receiving from you more than a year ago, it appeared that the Doctor bore it in mind, & we therefore hoped would have favoured us with the epitaph at an earlier period. You are well aware, that in consequence of having rejected Mr Taylor's composition, we have no other recourse but in yours or Dr Parr's kindness; wherefore [?] if the latter has any objection to the undertaking or feels any difficulty as to the restrictions imposed on him, we entreat you most earnestly my dear Sir, to draw up such a memorial as you shall think fit. You entered so fully into our feelings on the subject, that we should be highly gratified by its falling into your hands: for my own part I wished from the first rather to have persuaded you to undertake it, than to have referred it to Dr Parr, because I felt assured that you would be more likely to satisfy the desires of the family; I trust that you will not refuse us this favor, if the Doctor thinks fit to decline it, & from the length of time that has intervened we cannot but suspect that for some reason or other, he is indisposed to the performance of this work. At all events we rely upon you to secure those expressions of piety & loyalty which the relatives of the deceased particularly desire should characterise the inscription.

I conclude you have heard thro' Mr Wilson, of the heavy trial wherewith it has pleased the all wise disposer of events to afflict us by the removal of a most dearly beloved & deeply lamented child². We desire to bow with due submission to the Will [?] of Him who doeth [?] all things well, & we are thankful for the abundant mercy he hath manifested towards us. We have found strength according to our day³, for underneath have been the everlasting arms⁴. We wish to put up a small tablet in memory of this dear boy, for which I drew up the following lines which I desire to submit to your correction. I am conscious of my own utter incompetency to any such work, as it has not fallen in my way to study the style of inscriptions. I send you a copy therefore as a specimen of what I wish to have expressed, requesting the favor of you

(page 2) to correct the errors committed, or what I shall esteem a much greater kindness, to remove [?] it altogether, & draw up such an inscription as will bear the test of criticism, & express the most tender affection for their darling child. He was buried within the rails of the altar, which I thought should be expressed in order to determine the place, & the tablet is to be put up in the church over against the spot: but whether I have correctly described it, I refer to your judgment, as also every other part of the inscription.

Intra cancellos altaris
Depositum est
Spe certa Resurrectionis ad vitam aeternam
Per Dominum et Deum nostrum Iesum Christum
Quicquid mortale fuit
Francisci Fortescue
Natu² maximi³ & dilectissimi Filii¹
Reverendi Francisci Fortescue Knottesford et M
Et Mariae coniugis eius
Obit XXIX^na die Martii MDCCCXVIII
aetatis anno duodecimo.
Heu! nimium cito ad coelum volavit!⁵

I inserted the 3^rd & 4^th lines as a testimony of my faith in the Deity of the Saviour, borrowing the strong expression used by you, in your admirable Dedication of the Reliquiae Sacrae. What think you of the following, instead of, or added to, the last line?

Multis ille quidem flebilis occidit:
Maxime omnium parentibus,
Qui, maestissimi, amantissimi, et desiderantes
Marmor posuerunt.⁶

I once wrote between the two first lines

Amicis, cognatis, aviae⁷

which tho' truly descriptive (especially with regard to his grandmother, whose affections were most strongly placed upon him & merits a remembrance) I thought afterwards would be better omitted. He departed indeed amidst the tears of the whole Parish, all the respectable inhabitants of which, in a proof of their concern for him, & respect to us, attended his funeral in mourning [&] appeared in the same habit on the following Sunday. A sermon was preached at the time of his interment by the Revd. Mr Stephenson, Rector of Lympsham in Somersetshire who supplied the place of his former tutor Mr Wilson, who was prevented from attending upon the occasion by very particular business which detained him in College. This valuable friend has left his situation at St Bees, & taken up his residence for a time at Queen's College⁸. He much wishes for an introduction
(page 3) to you, of which I gave him an opportunity by requesting him to inform you of our great loss, with the circumstances attending it; he is engaged in a work on the Epistles & Gospels & is desirous of gaining all the information he can obtain respecting their connexion, antiquity & he thought you might be able to furnish him with some books relating to that subject. He saw some in my small collection, which he is disappointed at not finding in the college library: particularly Durant's Rationale Divinorum Officiorum.⁹ I shall esteem it as a great obligation if you will have the goodness to furnish him with any such helps [?] out of your library. I can truly add that he is worthy for whom you would do this.
My mother left our house in very low spirits last week. She would I am sure desire to unite with us in kind & respectful remembrance. Mrs Knottesford has had a very serious illness which confined her to her room for nine weeks, but I am thankful for being able to say, that her health is improving, notwithstanding the great & sudden shock she has received. I shall be most happy to receive a favorable account of your own health, & believe me to be, Dear Sir,
with great esteem & affection,
your faithful & obliged friend & servant,
F. Fortescue Knottesford

I shall be most satisfied by a few lines from your own pen, as a memorial of my ….. [there is a small tear in the paper here] boy, if I may be permitted to hope for so great a favor.

Footnotes
1. Some years previously Knottesford had asked Dr Routh to contact Routh's close friend, Dr Samuel Parr, and ask him to compose a memorial epitaph for George Downing; there are references to this in Knottesford's letters to Dr Routh of the 21^st November, 1815 (Folio 47) and the 4^th March, 1816 (Folio 48). (Dr Parr was asked to compose the epitaph, because Downing had been a pupil at his school.) For whatever reason, the epitaph had still not been composed by the time of this letter: and Knottesford therefore now asks Dr Routh if he would be prepared to compose a suitable epitaph himself.
2. Knottesford's eldest son, Francis Junior, died on the 29^th March, 1818, aged 11. Francis had previously been a pupil at a school at St Bees, in Cumbria; and Mr Wilson had been the headmaster of that school.
3. These words are adapted from Deuteronomy 33.25 (King James version).
4. These words are adapted from Deuteronomy 33.27 (King James version).
5. Within the altar rail there is deposited, in the certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord and God Jesus Christ, all that was mortal of Francis Fortescue, the oldest and dearly beloved son of Reverend Francis Fortescue Knottesford and his wife Maria. He died on the 29^th March 1818 in the twelfth year of his age. Alas, he has flown to heaven too quickly!
6. When he died, he was a cause of weeping to many: above all to his parents, who, in their profound sorrow, love, and longing, have set up this marble (memorial).
7. To his friends, his relations, and his grandmother.
8. Francis Junior had been a pupil at St Bee's School, in Cumbria. Wikipedia's entry on "The History of St Bee's School" indicates that the Reverend William Wilson had in fact been the Headmaster of St Bee's, and that he resigned his position in 1817, and thereupon became a Fellow at Queen's College, Oxford (<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_St._Bees_School>).
9. The Rationale Divinorum Officiorum of Bishop Guillaume Durand, of Mende, who lived from about 1230 to 1296. It appears that the Rationale was written before 1286, in Italy, and it concerns the origin and symbolic sense of Christian ritual.

Published with the permission of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Researched and transcribed by Dr S Lapidge 2019

13. Francis F Knottesford Letters: To Dr Martin Routh Ref: (MC: PR30/1/C4/10, FOLIO 50), 15 May 1818, Stoke By Nayland SFK.
Martin Joseph Routh (18 September 1755 - 22 December 1854) was an English classical scholar and President of Magdalen College, Oxford (1791-1854).

Stoke by Nayland, May 15, 1818
My dear Sir,
I feel truly grateful for your early attention & great kindness in correcting the Epitaph I had drawn up for our beloved child¹. I am sensible of the improvement made by your alterations, & fear that delicacy alone has induced you to allow so much of the original to be retained, on which I set no value, any further than as it seemed to describe those feelings, which I wished to have expressed in a better manner by your pen. Will you pardon me, if I trouble you once more on the subject? I wish to know your reason for omitting the age of the deceased². I suppose you think, that in its present form, it would clog the sentence, & that the "heu nimium cito" is sufficient. Yet might that not apply to a person of three years old as well as twelve, between which surely there is a considerable difference as to interest & attainments: & the loss in the latter case becomes far greater than in the former. So at least I feel it: for the mind of my dear boy was opening so fast, & his understanding achieving [?] such enlargement, that every hour might be said to bring with it some fresh gratification. And now, that I am speaking of him, I must tell you, that his mind was of a superior cast. He had an excellent taste, particularly in drawing & architecture. He would point out the peculiar features of every church he saw, & nearly ascertain its date from the style of the building. He likewise saw & admired the beauties of poetry, & relished the elegance of the profane [?] authors as far as he was acquainted with them; but his chief delight was in the Holy Scriptures, which for a child he had learned, & was so well versed in, that even when he was at St Bees, Mr Wilson observed that he gave more pertinent answers to questions relating thereto, than most of his elder scholars³. He would refer to them when reading Virgil etc. & shew the derivation of the heathen customs from the ceremonies of the Law. You may judge from hence how interesting a companion he was becoming to me, & how deeply I must bewail his loss. Oh! that Grace may prevail over Nature, & enable me to say with truth of heart, "It is well. The Will of the Lord be done." I trust I shall profit by your seasonable admonition to remember & be thankful for the comforts which yet remain to me & for the undeserved mercies which I still enjoy.

On the ground abovementioned then

(page 2) I feel desirous that the age should be inserted, if it can be properly introduced but am unwilling to rely on my own judgment, after your revision, being assured that you would not have omitted it without some good reason & I should be extremely sorry to sully the purity of the inscription as it now stands corrected by your hand. I wish therefore to submit to your most accurate taste, whether the latter part might run thus

Qui xxix^na die Martii, anno Salutis MDCCCXVIII
Aetatis suae duodecimo
Heu nimium cito! in pace requievit.⁴

or whether the form must be altered altogether. I by no means insist upon its insertion, if you think it altogether better omitted; but could not satisfy myself without asking you, how far it would be admissible, & whether the reason I have suggested has any weight with you.

I duly received your third volume, & would fain persuade myself that I acknowledged your kindness in sending it⁵. Your interpretation of the 13^th Canon [?] of the Council of Ancyra⁶, & observations thereupon are highly satisfactory. Surely no doubt can reasonably be entertained of the universality of Episcopal government in the Church of C[hris]t in the primitive ages.

Trusting to to [sic] your accustomed goodness to excuse my intruding thus far upon you, I beg leave to subscribe myself, with our united best regards, Dear Sir, your much obliged &

very faithful Friend & Servant,
F. Fortescue Knottesford

Footnotes:
1. Knottesford's eldest son, Francis Junior, had died a little more than a month previously, on the 29^th March, 1818, aged 11; and in his letter to Dr Routh dated the 4^th May, 1818 (Folio 49), Knottesford had asked Routh for his comments on the epitaph which he had drafted for his son's grave.
2. It appears from Knottesford's next letter (Folio 51, dated the 20^th May, 1818) that Dr Routh had simply forgotten to include the age in his amended version of the epitaph.
3. Francis had been a pupil at an elite school at St Bees, in Cumbria; and Mr Wilson had been the headmaster of that school.
4. "Who on the 29^th day of March, in the year of our Salvation 1818, and the twelfth year of his age, passed away in peace - Alas, all too early!"
5. Dr Routh had recently sent Knottesford a copy of the third volume of his Reliquiae Sacrae: sive, Auctorum fere iam Perditorum Secundi Tertiique Saeculi Fragmenta, Quae Supersunt, and Fortescue did acknowledge the gift in his letter of the 4^th March, 1816 (Folio 48).
6. The ecclesiastical Council, or Synod, of Ancyra took place in 314 in Ancyra (modern-day Ankara, in Turkey). The text of the canons which were passed at the Council may be found at the URL <https://sites.google.com/site/canonsoc/home/-canons-of-the-particular-councils/council-of-ancyra-314>. Canon 13 directs that auxiliary bishops shall not have the right to ordain presbyters or deacons.

Published with the permission of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Researched and transcribed by Dr S Lapidge 2019

14. Francis F Knottesford Letters: To Dr Martin Routh Ref: (MC: PR30/1/C4/10, FOLIO 51), 20 May 1818, Stoke By Nayland SFK.
Martin Joseph Routh (18 September 1755 - 22 December 1854) was an English classical scholar and President of Magdalen College, Oxford (1791-1854).

Stoke by Nayland, May 20, 1818
My dear Sir,
I feel truly ashamed to intrude upon you a third time¹, but as you answered [?] in your last that you had unintentionally omitted the age, I have entertained some doubt with respect to the omission of the Name of the person to whose memory the tablet is erected. Did you do this designedly or was it an oversight? Tho' in my contracted [?] knowledge I have met with no instance of the kind, yet I so fully relied on your judgment & correctness that I would not allow myself to question its authority [?]. Allow me to lay before you the epitaph, that I may have your final sanction of the whole, & your opinion as to the ……. object of my enquiry. As any mistake would hereafter be irreparable, I trust you will excuse the trouble I give you.

Intra altaris huius cancellos
Depositum est
Cum spe certa resurrectionis
Ad vitam aeternam
Per Dominum et Deum Iesum Christum
Quicquid mortale fuit
Filii (Or: Francisci Fortescue)
natu maximi atque dilectissimi
Francisci Fortescue Knottesford a.m.
Et Mariae uxoris eius
Qui XXIX^ma die Martii, anno Salutis MDCCCXVIII
Aetatis duodecimo suae
Heu nimium cito! In pace requievit.
Marmor posuerunt
Parentes et avia maestissimi.²

The name of the person spoken of is generally first looked at; but no other appears here, except my own. If this really be an oversight, it is certainly one of great magnitude. It may be observed too that his name was not the same as mine, Fortescue being not his Christian but his surname³, which might be an

(page 2) additional reason for its insertion. But as I said in the other case, all this is of no moment, ……… only of your design in it, & the propriety of the omission; for we do not want the addition of another line, that might perhaps be saved by putting the age at the end of the 10^th line thus,

qui XXIX die Martii, anno Salutis MDCCCXVIII, aetatis XII⁴

tho' I think the other looks better. Should the dates be merely written as above, or should the last syllable be placed over the numeral letters, as XXIV^na, XVIII^no? Of these nice points a country Statuary is no proper judge, & there are no specimens here whereby to direct our opinion.

With our united kind regards I remain, Dear Sir,

Your truly obliged Friend & Servant,
F. Fortescue Knottesford

Footnotes.
1. Knottesford's young son Francis Fortescue had died on the 29^th March, 1818. Knottesford had drafted a memorial epitaph in his honour, and in his letter to Dr Routh dated the 4^th May, 1818 (Folio 49), he had asked Routh for his comments on that epitaph. Routh seems to have replied very promptly, with some suggested amendments, and Knottesford wrote back to him about them on the 15^th May (Folio 50). Once again Routh replied promptly, and this letter now refers to that second letter of Routh's.
2. "Within these altar rails there lies deposited, in the certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord and God Jesus Christ all that was mortal of [Francis Fortescue] the eldest and most beloved son of Francis Fortescue Knottesford, M.A. [a.m. is believed to be an abbreviation of "atrium Magister".] and his wife Maria who - all too early! - on the 29^th March, in the year of our Salvation 1818, and in his twelfth year, fell peacefully asleep. His grieving parents and grandmother have erected this monument."
3. Knottesford had been born Francis Fortescue, but assumed the surname Knottesford as a condition of inheriting a substantial estate at Alveston Manor, near Stratford upon Avon. But the condition appears not to have applied to his eldest son Francis Jr., who therefore had a different surname than his father.
4. "who on the 29^th day of March, in the year of our Salvation 1818, and in his twelfth year . . . . "

Published with the permission of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Researched and transcribed by Dr S Lapidge 2019

15. Francis F Knottesford Letters: To Dr Martin Routh Ref: (MC: PR30/1/C4/10, FOLIO 52), 9 Jun 1818, Stoke By Nayland SFK.
Martin Joseph Routh (18 September 1755 - 22 December 1854) was an English classical scholar and President of Magdalen College, Oxford (1791-1854).

Stoke by Nayland, June 9^th 1818
My dear Sir,
We are much disappointed by the non-performance of the promise respecting the epitaph for the late Mr George Downing¹. It is the particular desire of his sister that the monument should be erected as soon as possible, & that a suitable inscription should be prepared for it. I am fully aware of my own incompetency to furnish one which could pass a critical ordeal. Very few persons are qualified for such an undertaking & I am not one of the few. Neither am I acquainted with any one, except yourself, who would be equal to it, since Dr Parr has declined it. I feel myself placed in a very awkward situation by this refusal, nor do I see how under the present circumstances we can do otherwise than make the best of Mr Taylor's who is a nephew of one of Mr Downing's executors & a friend of the family & to whom it might appear unhandsome to make an application for a new one unless it were to such eminently literary characters as yourself or Dr Parr. Mr Taylor was well pleased to hear that the business had been undertaken by so much abler hands, but might not be satisfied by having his own rejected for the composition of another and inferior to himself in Taste & abilities, & which in all probability might not be better than that which he has submitted. I am sorry to say that his state of mind is at present so disorder'd that he is not capable of revising what he has written or of being at all consulted on the subject, but his recovery may be expected at a future tho' perhaps distant period. It was his express wish, when he sent me a copy that it might be overlooked & corrected by some one more acquainted with the style & language of epitaphs than he pretended to be. I confess the more I consider it, the worse it appears to me; but I could not therefore draw up a better, because I am not

(page 2) sufficiently versed in the kind of learning requisite to render me competent to such a task. The points of the deceased's character he has certainly marked very accurately, & the circumstances of his death; but I doubt the expression is not so correct as the sentiment. It is too long, & verbose. There are four lines however which might perhaps be omitted without injury to the whole which I have marked, & there are some parts of it which I cannot construe. Allow me, my dear Sir, in consideration of the delicacy of my [illegible: situation?] respecting the whole affair to lay it once more before you. If you will but have the goodness to render it passable [?], I shall esteem it; we shall all esteem it as a great favour. We must be content if it falls short of superior elegance & arrangement.

Fratri charissimo
Georgio Downing Armigero
Iureconsultorum inter primos
Georgio patre nato ^x [ ^x The mother's name Catherine to be inserted, if consistent.]
In Eliensi Ecclesia Cathedrali
Canonico.
Qualis erat
Meminisse iuvat, dicere non licet.
Nam, indole, ingenio, moribus,
Et quod maius fuit
Incorrupta animi integritate
Fide, honestate, constantia, mansuetudine,
Et summa erga omnes benevolentia
Pares haud multos, potiorem invenias neminem.
Carens [?] omni superstitione major
Id quod verum fuit arripuit, hausit, tenuit,
Et in Christo, cuius veritas ipsa est,
Tum vivus, tum moriens requievit.
Hunc primum, hunc unicum, hunc adspexit ultimum
Nequa quam [?] in humanis legibus versaretur
Divinarum oblitus.

Ipse ad intestinas pestes amovendas
Togatus pro patria miles incessit
Et militia quitus inquetis fuerat laboribus
Imbelles corpus non animum oppressus
Morbo interiit, septimo Id. Octobris
Anno Salutis MDCCC aetatis XXXVII.
(page 3)
vitae demum summa brevis,
Bene actorum sempiterna.
Moerens Soror
H.S.C.M.
Quod defunctam virtutem
Suumque superstitis
Testaretur desiderium.²

I am really grieved, my dear Sir, to trouble you so much, but trust that a consideration of the circumstances in which we are placed in consequence of Dr Parr's unexpected refusal will induce you to pardon me, & to help us with as little inconvenience to yourself as possible, out of the difficulty.

Mrs Knottesford & my mother write in respectful compliments, & believe me to be,

with due regard & affection,
your obliged friend & servant,
F. Fortescue Knottesford


[tear in the paper here] my best thanks for your last kind communication.

Footnotes:
1. George Downing had died in October, 1800, and was buried in St Paul's Church, Covent Garden. His family (who included Knottesford himself) were very anxious that he should have a suitable monument, with a laudatory epitaph. Originally, the family had hoped that the epitaph might be composed by Dr Samuel Parr, who was Dr Routh's closest friend, and who in fact had been the headmaster of Downing's school. Knottesford did not approach Parr directly about this, but instead asked Dr Routh to intercede with Parr, because of the friendship between them. Knottesford made the original request in November, 2015. It initially appeared that Parr would be willing to compose an epitaph, but then after long delay he refused the commission. At that point Knottesford wrote the above exasperated letter to Routh, asking if he himself would deal with the epitaph. Knottesford's previous letters dealing with this matter are those of the 21^st November, 1815 (Folio 47), the 4^th March, 1816 (Folio 48), and the 4^th May, 1818 (Folio 49).
2. "For a very dear brother, Sir George Downing, among the leaders of the Bar, the son of George, Canon of Ely Cathedral [the mother's name Catherine to be inserted here, if consistent]. It is sweet to remember, but impossible to say, what he was like. For you might find a few men who were his equals - but none who were his betters - in natural ability, talent, character, and, even more important, the uncorrupted integrity of his soul, his faith, his honor, constancy, and gentleness, and his unsurpassed kindness towards all people. He lacked all superstition [major], but seized on what is true, drank deep of it, and retained it; and both during his life and as he was dying he rested in Christ, the source of all truth. He looked to Christ first and last and above all, lest in any way he might become immersed in human laws but forget the laws of God.

In order to put down civil strife, although he was a private citizen he marched forward as a soldier, and after enduring the labors of war and having been overwhelmed in body tho' not in spirit, he fell ill and died on the 9th October in the year of our Salvation 1800, aged 37.

The sum total of his life was short, but [the sum total] of his good deeds was eternal.

His grieving sister H.S.C.M. [presumably, caused this monument to be erected] so that it might testify to the excellent virtue of the departed and her profound sorrow."

Knottesford himself said that there were parts of the draft inscription which he could not construe, and there are indeed parts of it which seem to make no adequate sense. The worst culprits seem to be the word "major", in line 15, and also lines 24 - 25, in the second section of the inscription, which appear to be saying something about Mr Downing's brief and unhappy experience with civil conflict. Subject to the above points, it is hoped that the above translation gives at least some general sense of the meaning of the inscription.

Published with the permission of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Researched and transcribed by Dr S Lapidge 2019

16. Francis F Knottesford Letters: To Dr Martin Routh Ref: (MC: PR30/1/C4/10, FOLIO 53), 25 Jun 1818, Stoke By Nayland SFK.
Martin Joseph Routh (18 September 1755 - 22 December 1854) was an English classical scholar and President of Magdalen College, Oxford (1791-1854).

Stoke by Nayland. June 25. 1818
My very dear Sir,
I return my best thanks together with those of Miss Frances Downing for your great kindness in revising the epitaph designed for our deceased Brother¹. I think it comprehends everything we could wish to have said expressed in correct language. A Latin Inscription is a subject of much criticism, & objections will sometimes be made by those who perhaps are not qualified to make them. My worthy friend Mr Rowley who has very obligingly undertaken to consult & settle with a mason [?] in London respecting the monument to be created [? erected?] for my dearest boy², has observed to me that an acquaintance of his whom he characterises as a man of literature suggests that "vitam ad aeternam" would be preferable to "ad vitam aeternam": but I do not find one instance in Cicero of the preposition "ad" being placed after the substantive it governs: & in every place in Cart . . . . [?]'s translation where the expression occurs, it is uniformly rendered "ad vitam aeternam" & his Latin is considered as eminently classical. This gentleman is however convinced that Dr Parr would have used the other collocation. I am perfectly satisfied with the present one, more especially as you made no alteration in it. It is also the expression used in the Latin liturgy, but that may have no authority as to elegance of position. It ill becomes me to make any observation which may seem to imply censure on a writing which you have overlooked yet I cannot but remark the recurrence of the word "Fratri" & stand in doubt whether you meant it to be repeated. The epitaph commences with "Fratri carissimo etc." & in the end of it you again insert "Fratri" moerens soror etc. This simple [???] probably arises from my ignorance & I entreat you to pardon my temerity: but a mistake on marble is of so much consequence that we cannot be too sure of being correct before it is inscribed. Mrs Knottesford thinks that the name of her sister who will be at the sole expense should be mentioned to distinguish her from herself. I suppose that after moerens soror the words Francesca Elizabetha might be introduced without impropriety. I by no means wish to trouble you to write again on

(page 2) the subject unnecessarily, & shall therefore conclude that all is right, if I hear nothing from you. I am quite ashamed of the great trouble I have already given you, & know not how I can adequately express my gratitude. I can no otherwise return your kindness than by remembering you in my prayers, which I do constantly. May I beg for an interest [?] in yours which are so much more effectual? I have to thank you, dear Sir, for the last vol. of Reliquiae³ which was duly received, & I should have instantly acknowledged the receipt of it, but that I waited in expectation of having this occasion of addressing you, & was unwilling to intrude upon you twice without necessity. I congratulate you and the Christian world upon the conclusion of this important work, & write with you in praise to God your Preserver, who hath enabled you both "to wish & to do". It is indeed as the Quarterly Reviewer observed (a possession for forever in Greek)⁴ to the Church [?] & whatever reception it may meet with in these half-learned & cavilling times, you will be sure of your reward. You do not mention Mrs Sheppard in any of your letters. I hope she is well. I read of her Beneficence in the public prints. She too is laying up in store a good foundation against the time to come. Is nothing ever likely to bring you again into your native county? I cannot say how happy we should be made by the honor of your company at Stoke. We are meditating an excursion along the coast of Kent in the next month. A change of scene is recommended to us. It will conduce [?] to our benefit.

With our united grateful remembrances, I remain, dear Sir, your much obliged

& Affectionate Friend & Servant
F. Fortescue Knottesford

Footnotes:
1. Knottesford had previously asked that Dr Samuel Parr, Dr Routh's best friend, should prepare a Latin epitaph in honour of Knottesford's relative George Downing (1762 - 1800). After long delay, Parr declined to write the epitaph, and Knottesford then asked Routh himself to undertake the task. Routh duly did so, and Knottesford is here thanking him for doing him this favour. The saga of the epitaph is set out in Knottesford's letters of the 21^st November, 1815 (Folio 47), the 4^th March, 1816 (Folio 48), the 5^th May, 1818 (Folio 49), and the 9^th June, 1818 (Folio 52).
2. Knottesford's eldest son Francis Fortescue had died on the 29^th March, 1818, aged 11. Knottesford had drafted a Latin epitaph for him, and had asked Dr Routh to revise and correct it for him. Further information about Francis Junior, and about the composition of the epitaph, appears in Knottesford's letters of the 4^th May, 1818 (Folio 49), the 15^th May, 1818 (Folio 50), and the 20^th May, 1818 (Folio 51).
3. The fourth volume of Routh's Reliquiæ sacræ sive auctorum fere jam perditorum secundi tertiique seculi post Christum natum quæ supersunt, an attempt to collect and publish the writings of the early Church Fathers, was published in 1818, and Routh had sent Knottesford a copy.
4. A possession for forever was written in Greek.
5. Dr Routh's sister.
6. Dr Routh was born in South Elmham, Suffolk, in 1755.

Published with the permission of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Researched and transcribed by Dr S Lapidge 2019

17. Francis F Knottesford Letters: To Dr Martin Routh Ref: (MC: PR30/1/C4/10, FOLIO 54), 16 Sep 1819, Stoke By Nayland SFK.
Martin Joseph Routh (18 September 1755 - 22 December 1854) was an English classical scholar and President of Magdalen College, Oxford (1791-1854).

Rev^nd & Dear Sir,

Presuming that during the long vacation you are resident in Berkshire I take the liberty of addressing you there, to enquire at what period in the month of October you will be in Oxford. Mrs Knottesford & myself are going into Warwickshire the week after next, & I should be most grieved not to have the pleasure of seeing you & spending some profitable hours in your company on our return. It is so many years since I have had that gratification, that I look forward to it with peculiar satisfaction, & wish therefore to prevent the possibility of a disappointment. We are called into that county by business, & purpose extending our journey to Worcester & perhaps Gloucester, which places Mrs K. has never seen, & shall probably pass thro' Oxford about the 15^th of October or in the course of the following week; but would give up any part of our plan & arrange matters so as to be secure of meeting you, if you are likely to be absent from home at the time I mention. We shall take the Buckingham road to Stratford from London, for which place we intend to set out on the 27^th inst. before w[hi]ch time I shall be obliged to you to favour me with an answer, which I hope will also contain a good account of your health. With our united respectful regards, I remain, dear Sir,
your most obliged & affectionate servant,
F. Fortescue Knottesford

Published with the permission of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Researched and transcribed by Dr S Lapidge 2016

18. Francis F Knottesford Letters: To Dr Martin Routh Ref: (MC: PR30/1/C4/10, FOLIO 55), 27 Mar 1823, Stoke By Nayland SFK.
Martin Joseph Routh (18 September 1755 - 22 December 1854) was an English classical scholar and President of Magdalen College, Oxford (1791-1854).

Rev[ere]nd & very dear Sir,

I have this morning received your valuable & acceptable present of the new edition of Burnet's History of his own Times, enriched I perceive, by a preface & notes from your hand. Much as I am engaged at this solemn season I cannot for a moment defer offering you my best thanks for this token of your remembrance & unmerited kindness. The sight of your handwriting once more after an apparently unpardonable inattention on my part for which I have daily reproached myself, would alone have given me peculiar gratification. You have not, nor ever can be forgotten by me, my dear Sir; & tho' I have failed in outward testimony, I have not neglected to remember you at the Throne of Grace, where I constantly implore the best blessings of our heavenly Father upon you. Be assured, too, that I feel a deep interest in all your concerns, & sincerely rejoice in any event which is calculated to promote your present comfort. I am happy to find that the MS you mention was of any service to you. It will give both Mrs Knottesford & myself great pleasure to pay our respects to Mrs Routh & you at Oxford. You are very kind to express a wish that we should do so; & as we are soon coming more into your neighbourhood, I hope our interviews will be more frequent. I need not tell you now how much I prize & enjoy one hour's conversation with you. At midsummer, we propose removing to Bridgetown, but shall go from hence across the country thro' Northampton, & shall not therefore have the pleasure of seeing at that time (the word "you" has been left out). The trouble & expense of moving my books will be considerable, but all circumstances considered, it appears desirable that we should reside in Warwickshire. My separation from a flock I have so long superintended, & for which a deep interest has been excited, is a subject of much lamentation, but I trust I have not been guilty of a wilful dereliction of duty in the determination I have made. My dear mother, whom you kindly mention, was removed to a better world in June last. She terminated her earthly course in peace & honor [?] & we were much gratified by the inward comfort & outward respect she experienced. Your good brother
(page 2)
has also, I trust, entered into his rest. Much I thought of you at that period too. Of Mrs Sheppard's munificence, & the completion of her truly C[hris]tian work I heard the other day from Sir Robert Pocklington. In November I spent a few days at Cambridge, & was much pleased with all I heard & saw there, not least with a reference made by the Regius Professor of Divinity to your great work as an unquestionable authority, which work he had by the Settle [?] before him at a Lecture I had the advantage of attending during my stay there.

I do hope we may be able to prevail with you & Mrs Routh, to whom we write in [? expectation of your willingness ??? respectful invitation ?? - my photograph of this page is not clear] to honour us with your company during some summer vacation in Warwickshire. This will indeed [be] a flattering addition to the many favors you have already conferred on, Dear Sir,

your very faithful & affectionate Friend & Servant
F. Fortescue Knottesford

Published with the permission of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Researched and transcribed by Dr S Lapidge 2016

19. Francis F Knottesford Letters: To Dr Martin Routh Ref: (MC: PR30/1/C4/10, FOLIO 56), 15 May 1823, Stoke By Nayland SFK.
Martin Joseph Routh (18 September 1755 - 22 December 1854) was an English classical scholar and President of Magdalen College, Oxford (1791-1854).

Rev^nd & very dear Sir,

A kind neighbour to whom I am under some obligation, & whose request was urgent, has been with me this morning to make application to you in behalf of a nephew, Mr Thomas Hand, the son of a respectable clergyman in Essex who has six children. The young man has lately left Eton, where I am told he has distinguished himself, & that the head Master, Dr Keate is ready to give him the most satisfactory testimonials as to his conduct & proficiency. In reply I stated that I could not presume upon having any influence in such a case, as I well knew your strict impartiality, & determination to elect those candidates only to demyships, who in every respect appeared upon examination to be most worthy of your approbation. I trust to your wonted kindness to excuse this intrusion, especially as I found my friend would feel hurt if I declined acceding [?] to his earnest request.

Having been thus bold in behalf of another, bear with me, Dear Sir, whilst I speak a word for myself. I have been urged to make interest [?] if possible for the living of Stratford on Avon of which the present incumbent Dr Davenport is very old, & not likely to live long¹. Have you any connection with the Duchess of Dorset, who I understand is the patron? It is I believe, a small vicarage with a great deal of duty, & might perhaps be not worth the notice of many of her great friends. To me under my particular circumstances it would be eminently desirable. I wish it not for the increase of income, whatever it might be, but solely with the hope of being rendered useful thereby, & instrumental under God of promoting his glory & the Salvation of Souls. I feel much discomforted at the idea of sitting idle whilst others are diligently employed in that all important work. I had once a prospect of the curacy of my own parish², but that has now vanished; & my removal in consequence rendered less pleasant for me. Stratford would be a great field for exertion; but however weak or incompetent I might be for the situation, I would with God's blessing do all I could in his service. Certainly I have no right to complain; I ought to be & hope I am thankful; but I am destined to fail
(page 2)
in the attainment of the chief object of my wishes in this world, the comfort of a parish of my own; & now even of employment in that service which is my only delight; but I desire to say with the good old King when deprived of his sight, It is God's will & it shall be mine. I have thus been led quite unexpectedly to pour out my heart to you on a subject which I believe I have never before touched upon; & little thought of doing so when I began this letter; but I speak with the freedom which the many undeserved proofs of friendship you have exhibited towards me, encouraged me to use [?]. As the thing has been suggested to me, I have opened it to you, trusting that if thro' your large connection you should discover any proper medium thro' which I could reach this great lady, or have the case stated to her, you would have the goodness to point it out to me. I need not tell you how well my politics would agree with those of that family & of the Corporation of Stratford which is, I am happy to say [?], remarkably loyal.

We are now in a state of complete confusion; my books are all torn down from their shelves for packing, so that I have ceased to enjoy the usual comforts of my study; but hope in a few months to have one in due order to receive you in, [for?] which will always be a source of the highest satisfaction to

Dear Sir,
your much obliged & affectionate Friend,
F. Fortescue Knottesford

Mrs Knottesford begs to unite with me in respectful compliments to Mrs Routh. We purpose leaving this place (D.V.) the 30^th of June, after which my address will be, Bridgetown House, near Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire, where I shall be always most happy to receive communications from you, & still more to see you. Our grounds almost join the Parish of Stratford.

1. In fact, Dr Davenport survived, and remained Vicar of Stratford, for another 18 years after the date of this letter, so that the vacancy which Knottesford was hoping to fill never materialised at all. There is an obituary notice for Dr Davenport in The Gentleman's Magazine for 1841, on page 439 (the text is available online, at Google Books). The notice is headed "The Rev. James Davenport, D.D.", and includes the following comments: "Aug. 16. At the vicarage, Stratford-upon-Avon, in his 92^nd year, the Rev. James Davenport, D.D. 54 years Vicar of Stratford-upon-Avon . . . The life of Dr Davenport was prolonged to a period beyond the common limits of mortality, and in proportion to its length were its value and utility demonstrated. He lived esteemed, beloved, and respected; he has died regretted, honoured, and lamented."
2. Presumably the parish of Alveston, just outside Stratford upon Avon. As he wrote this letter, Knottesford was getting ready to move to Bridgetown House (now known as Alveston Manor), within that parish, but just outside Stratford upon Avon itself.

Published with the permission of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Researched and transcribed by Dr S Lapidge 2016

20. Francis F Knottesford Letters: To Dr Martin Routh Ref: (MC: PR30/1/C4/10, FOLIO 57), 10 Feb 1825, Bridgetown House Stratford-on-Avon WAR.
Martin Joseph Routh (18 September 1755 - 22 December 1854) was an English classical scholar and President of Magdalen College, Oxford (1791-1854).

Rev^d. & most dear Sir

I deferred expressing my thanks to you & Mrs Routh for your past kindness to me, 'till I had an opportunity of sending you certain intelligence respecting your old friend Dr Parr¹. Yesterday my servant went over, & I am concerned to say, brought back a very unfavourable report of his state. Last week no mortification had taken place, but delirium had continued ever since his seizure. Mr Lyons now observes that everything looks as unpromising as it can do. I fear therefore, no hope can be entertained of recovery. Mrs Parr is much overcome by anxious attention at the sick bed, but is as well as such circumstances will admit of. I would have gone over to Hatton myself, but the only horse I ride is not well, so that I could not take him out, but I mentioned in my note to Mrs P. your solicitude respecting her husband for which she feels grateful.

Allow me now, dear Sir, to assure you of the happiness I experienced under your roof. Happy I have always been when with you; but I must say never so much so as during my last visit, rendered doubly gratifying by the kind attentions of the amiable hostess², & by the conviction of the ever eager comforts ensured to you in your declining years by the possession of so intelligent a companion & so tender an helpmate, provided for you, no doubt, by a gracious Providence. If I have before been neglectful, I have now the advantage of being able to offer my late congratulations with the greater sincerity & truth. May it please God long to spare you, & may you be enabled every year more & more to advance each other's temporal & spiritual welfare. You must suffer me to indulge the hope of seeing you in the course of the summer, a hope in which I trust I shall not be disappointed; more especially as I think I have a kind friend near you, who will exert her attractive influence in promoting a scheme which will be a source of such high gratification to myself & to Mrs Knottesford. We beg to write in
(page 2)
most kind & respectful regards to you & to Mrs Routh & believe me to be, Rev^nd & dear Sir,

most gratefully & affectionately yours,

F. Fortescue Knottesford

P.S. I will thank you to present my comp[limen]ts to Dr Ellerton³, when you see him.

1. Dr Samuel Parr (1747 - 1825) was probably Dr Routh's closest friend, and Magdalen's archives contain two whole volumes of their correspondence. At one time he had been Vicar of Hatton, near Warwick, and he continued to live at Hatton until his death, shortly after the date of this letter, on the 6^th March, 1825.
2. Dr Routh had married Eliza Agnes Blagrave, who was thirty-five years his junior, on his 65^th birthday, on the 18^th September, 1820.
3. Dr Edward Ellerton was a Fellow and Senior Tutor at Magdalen. There is an entry for him on Wikipedia, and there is also an obituary in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1852, on page 195, which may be found in Google Books.

Published with the permission of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Researched and transcribed by Dr S Lapidge 2016

21. Francis F Knottesford Letters: To Dr Martin Routh Ref: (MC: PR30/1/C4/10, FOLIO 58), 4 Oct 1825, Bridgetown House Stratford-on-Avon WAR.
Martin Joseph Routh (18 September 1755 - 22 December 1854) was an English classical scholar and President of Magdalen College, Oxford (1791-1854).

Rev^nd & dear Sir,

I am grieved that you should have occasion for a moment to think me unmindful of your kindness, but no sooner had I taken up my pen yesterday to acknowledge it, than a gentleman came in upon particular business, & prolonged his visit till after the time of the post setting out. Trusting that you will admit of this apology, I beg you now to accept the best thanks of Mrs Knottesford & myself for your very bountiful & acceptable present which arrived here safe on Saturday night, & in high preservation [?]. It is a joint we have not seen in our house for some years, & I hope it will be enjoyed by many of our friends. We were indeed sadly disappointed after the pleasing expectation held out to us by Dr Ellerton¹ about seeing you & Mrs Routh in the course of the summer. We considered it so certain, (as he mentioned your plan of proceeding across the country into Suffolk) that for two or three weeks we were looking out for you every day. I trust however that pleasure is only postponed, & that during the next long vacation, if not before, you will (D.V.²) take us in your way to your native county. I am sorry to hear you had been unwell, but sincerely hope you will soon be restored to your accustomed state of health. Our old acquaintance Dr Drummond³ favoured us with several visits during his stay at Leamington with his family. If you have not seen him for some years you would find him very infirm, tho' looking well in the face. His vivacity when in company with his friends, is as great as ever. It would be an unexpected pleasure to him to meet with you, of which I gave him no hope, for I concluded that you had either gone into Suffolk another way or were now resident at Tilehurst. I am glad for his sake, I was mistaken. Was your laugh with him about me? I have been guilty of such misdemeanours, in my endeavours to suppress the prophanation [sic] of the Lord's Day in this neighbourhood, that I know not whether I
(page 2)
may not call upon you to give me a good character. Dr D. has been very kind in doing all that an absent friend could do upon the occasion: but it is the unanimous opinion of all my friends that the case will speak for itself, if it should be brought forward, which most people think it never will be. The threat has probably been held out in order to obtain money by way of compromise⁴. I did know something of Mr Kett [?], having met him occasionally at your house, & once dined with him at Trinity. I lamented to hear of his untimely end⁵. He seemed to have been much neglected, considering his serious labors, & I fear it preyed upon his spirits. However I hope he had secured the approbation of Him, who will be sure to reward every man according to his worth.

Mrs Knottesford unites with me in very kind regards to Mrs Routh & yourself, & believe me to be, dear Sir,

your much obliged & very faithful Friend & Servant
F. Fortescue Knottesford

1. Dr Edward Ellerton was a Fellow and Senior Tutor at Magdalen. There is an entry for him on Wikipedia, and there is also an obituary in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1852, on page 195, which may be found in Google Books.
2. Deo volente - that is, God willing.
3. Edward Auriol Hay-Drummond (1758 - 1830) was the son of the Archbishop of York, and received his M.A. from Christ Church in 1780 and his D.D. in 1794. He was made Rector of Hadleigh, in Suffolk, in 1796, and remained Rector until his death, at the age of 71, in 1830. There is an obituary of him in The Gentleman's Magazine, or Monthly Intelligencer, volume 29, on page 88, which may be found in Google Books. It seems clear that Dr Routh knew Dr Drummond well; and Knottesford knew him professionally, because for a time Knottesford had been his Curate at Hadleigh. In his letter to Routh dated the 5^th March, 1800 (Folio 42), Knottesford confirms that he had tried to call upon Drummond, in order to deliver a message to him from Routh.
4. Shortly after the date of this letter Knottesford had to appear before the Stratford magistrates, on a charge of assault. On Sunday the 12^th July, 1825 he had found a shop open in Stratford (in very clear contravention of the law against Sunday trading), and had gone into the shop and spoken to two young women, who had evidently just purchased something there. The young women refused to give him their names, and he then "laid hold of the arm of one of them", and urged her to give him her name, so that he could then lay an information against the shopkeeper. The young lady thereupon accused him of assault. At the hearing the Chairman of the magistrates directed the jury to acquit Knottesford, and they instantly did so. The story is recounted at length in the issue of the Coventry Herald and Weekly Advertiser for the 21^st October, 1825, on page 2, at the bottom of column 3.
5. Knottesford may here be referring to Dr Henry Kett, who had until recently been a Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford, and who died suddenly on the 30^th June, 1825, in a swimming accident. There is an obituary notice of him in the Gentleman's Magazine no. 95 (August 1825), at pages 184 - 185. The obituary may be accessed at Google Books.

Published with the permission of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Researched and transcribed by Dr S Lapidge 2016

22. Francis F Knottesford Letters: To Dr Martin Routh Ref: (MC: PR30/1/C4/10, FOLIO 59), 2 May 1826, Bridgetown House Stratford-on-Avon WAR.
Martin Joseph Routh (18 September 1755 - 22 December 1854) was an English classical scholar and President of Magdalen College, Oxford (1791-1854).

Rev^nd & dear Sir

I have just received a letter from an old neighbour of mine in Suffolk, who tells me that he expects to be in Oxford with his son tomorrow or Thursday, & is very anxious that I should send him a note of introduction to you, which I have accordingly taken the liberty to do, knowing your benevolence & urbanity towards strangers. The Bearer of this note is Mr Sims, a respectable clergyman, formerly Curate, & successor, to the venerable Mr Jones at Nayland¹ by whom he was much esteemed. From him he has derived a great respect for the memory of your excellent predecessor & his intimate friend B[isho]p Horne², & will be gratified by seeing the house wherein he devoted so many precious hours to the study of sacred literature, & exercises of piety. Having been educated at Cambridge himself he is unacquainted with the members & customs of our university: but his son having imbibed a strong predilection for Oxford, he is willing to gratify his inclination by allowing him to pursue his studies there, & he fancies that he might be entered immediately at your College. Mr Sims has no less than ten children, so that I conclude a Fellowship is a needful & desirable object with him. If he should be so fortunate as to see you, you will probably have the goodness to point out the fittest time for his son to stand for a demyship, if he appears to possess the necessary qualifications for the situation, & his prospects as to succession are fair.

I feel happy in the occasion thus offered of addressing you, my dear Sir, because it gives me the opportunity of reminding you of a promise which I trust will be performed in the course of the present summer by you & Mrs Routh, of visiting us in your way to Suffolk during the long vacation. It will be truly gratifying both to Mrs Knottesford & myself to hear a favourable report of your health & that of Mrs R. & an intimation of your intended journey, of which I hope nothing will occur this year to prevent the accomplishment. It is longer than usual since we have heard of you as Dr Ellerton³ has not looked in upon us of late, in his way to West Bromwich.

(page 2) I hope he has not relinquished that goodly custom. I will thank you to present my compliments to him, & with our united kind regards to yourself & Mrs Routh, believe me to be,

Dear Sir,
your obliged & affectionate Friend & Servant,
F. Fortescue Knottesford

P.S. Should the son of my poor neighbour Mr Pritchard offer himself again to your notice at the ensuing ……. I wish it may be in your power to befriend him, as I am sure it would be a real act of Christian kindness to his father, who is a respectable but I fear distressed apothecary with a thoughtless wife & a large family. I hear the young man well spoken of as to disposition, but know nothing of his attainments. He is so timid [?] that it is difficult to ascertain what they are; but that is rather recommendation than otherwise.

1. William Jones of Nayland (1726 - 1800) was a well-known and respected churchman. Project Canterbury (www.anglicanhistory.org/jones <http://www.anglicanhistory.org/jones>/) writes of him, "He was a man of vast learning and sound piety, and one of the most prominent churchmen of his time. The school represented by him is regarded as forming a link between the non-jurors and the Oxford school."
2. George Horne (1730 - 1792) was Dr Routh's predecessor as President of Magdalen: he was elected to that position in 1768, but resigned in 1791. He had been appointed Bishop of Norwich in 1790, but passed away in 1792.
3. Dr Edward Ellerton (1770 - 1851) was a senior Fellow at Magdalen; there is a brief article on him in Wikipedia.


Published with the permission of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Researched and transcribed by Dr S Lapidge 2016

23. Francis F Knottesford Letters: To Dr Martin Routh Ref: (MC: PR30/1/C4/10, FOLIO 60), 18 Jul 1826, Bridgetown House Stratford-on-Avon WAR.
Martin Joseph Routh (18 September 1755 - 22 December 1854) was an English classical scholar and President of Magdalen College, Oxford (1791-1854).

Note: the transcription of page two of this letter contains a number of gaps and uncertainties. The main reason for this is that the words at the right-hand margin of the page are very close to the binding, and therefore difficult to read; and besides, my photographs of the page are not as clear as I would wish them to be. - SL.

Revd. & dear Sir
I have to thank you for your polite attention to my old neighbour Mr Sims, with which he was much gratified & for which he feels truly grateful¹. I beg further to express my thanks for your kind consideration of him on occasion of the present unexpected vacancy in your College, & have communicated the information according to your desire as transmitted to me thro' Dr Ellerton².
I have been intending to write to you for some time past (but my heart has failed me) on a mournful occasion, which I am sure will excite the sympathy of yourself & Mrs Routh, & what will be far more available, give us an interest in your prayers. A second time have we been called to lament the loss of an eldest son³. It has pleased God to take from us, (but blessed be his name to take to himself, as we have ample testimony for believing) our dear George Downing⁴, whom you so kindly noticed in Oxford six years ago, & who had just completed his thirteenth year; a child of the greatest loveliness & promise imaginable. He had been placed under the care of our friend Mr Wilson⁵ at Campden⁶ only 12 miles from us, about 2 months, when he was seized with scarlet fever in consequence of which Mrs Knottesford fetched him home on Wednesday the 14^th of June. Every symptom appeared to be favourable, & no danger apprehended till Saturday morning, when a rapid depression took place from which it was impossible to raise him, & in 24 hours from that period he expired & sweetly [?] slept in Jesus. He had always been piously disposed, & his deportment throughout his illness was most satisfactory. His conviction of sin, as sin, & as committed against a holy God was deep, but he looked to the Saviour of sinners alone for pardon & acceptance, & thro' Him he firmly trusted he should find them. He was joining most fervently with me when I visited him, he was almost constantly engaged in mental prayer, as appeared by the gentle whispers [?] which were frequently heard by his attendants, Oh my dear Father, forgive me whereinsoever I have offended you: & save me? Oh blessed Jesus, my precious Saviour let me come to thee! Never shall I forget his dear dying countenance when he turned to me with a most expressive look & said (they were the last words I heard him utter, & surely they were precious
(page 2)
ones) I once wished to recover; but if I had, perhaps I might have backslidden⁷ from God, [which] would have been the worst thing that could befall me, so it is all right, all right. His patience, his [ready?] compliance with all the remedies presented, & his thankfulness, for every relief afforded him, were …. forcibly [???] impressed the mind of his amiable & skilful physician Dr Conolly, who sat up with him the whole of the last critical night, & in whose arms he expired. The loss of such a child cannot but be [deeply?] felt; but then, the fitter he was for glory, the greater is our consolation. We weep not for him [who?] is transplanted out of the wilderness of this world to bloom for ever more beautiful in the Paradise [but?] for ourselves. Nature must weep, & we ought to feel the stroke, or we should be guilty of despising the judgments of the Lord; but we look for support to that grace which was so freely bestowed . . . & exhibited a sure evidence to all around that God's praise is perfected even out of the mouths of babes [& sucklings]⁸. Such heavy trials are not sent without cause; & it is our business to enquire wherefore God thus intended [?] [us?] to search out the plague of our own hearts⁹: to cut off the right hand that offends¹⁰, & to put iniquity far from the tabernacle¹¹. For my own part, when I consider my own rebellions, my want of Faith & Love & my defaults [?] in God's service, I cannot but acknowledge the justice of His judgments, & that far from dealing heavily [?] he hath punished me less, infinitely less than my iniquities deserve. Oh that he may to all [?] add that crowning one of all, the sanctification of the affliction to my soul; that it may …….. for which it has been sent, by weaning my affections more from the things of this world, & fixing them ….. above; by leading me to walk more closely with him, & to devote myself more earnestly to his …….. then, tho' the dear object of my affection shall not return to me, yet that I go to Him, & with him …… engaged forever in the adoration of our Divine Redeemer, who hath loved us, & washed us from our [sins with his] own blood. Then will those beautiful lines be realised in me,
Care, vale! Sed non aeternum, care, valeto.
Namque iterum tecum, sim modo dignus, ero.
Tum nihil amplexus poterit divellere nostros,
Nec tu marcesces, nec lacrymabor ego¹².

We have moreover abundant cause for thankfulness in the preservation of the remaining part of our family, especially my dear wife, who unceasingly watched over her beloved child, from infection, all danger from [which is] now, I trust, averted; in the kindness of friends, & above all in the support afforded by the very hand that smites us, so that while the Rod corrects, the Staff upholds. He who has wounded, will & alone can heal . . . that heavenly physician, if duly applied to never fails to comfort the distressed, or to bind up the broken in heart. In the multitude [?] of our sorrows, his consolations which are neither few nor small, refresh our souls.

Mrs Knottesford unites with me in respectful comp[limen]ts to yourself & Mrs Routh, who we hope are in tolerable health, & to the favour of whose company we are looking forward with pleasing expectation.

I remain, dear Sir,
most faithfully & affectionately
your obliged Friend & Servant,
F. Fortescue Knottesford

1. Knottesford had asked for a favour on behalf of Mr Sims in his letter of the 2^nd May, 1826 (Folio 59).
2. Dr Edward Ellerton was a Fellow and Senior Tutor at Magdalen. There is an entry for him on Wikipedia, and there is also an obituary in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1852, on page 195 (which may be found at Google Books).
3. Knottesford's eldest son, Francis Fortescue Knottesford (Junior), was born in 1806, and died on the 29^th March, 1818, aged 11 years and 10 months. Knottesford told Dr Routh about his son's death, and sought his help with the composition of a suitable Latin epitaph for the boy's tombstone, in his letters to Routh dated the 4^th May, 1818 (Folio 49), the 15^th May, 1818 (Folio 50), and the 20^th May, 1818 (Folio 51).
4. Knottesford's second eldest son, George Downing Knottesford, was born in 1814, and probably died on Sunday the 18^th June, 1826, having just turned 13. Knottesford did have a third and youngest son, Edward Bowles Knottesford Fortescue, who was born on the 23^rd April, 1816, and who survived his father, ultimately passing away in 1877, at the age of 61.
5. This Mr Wilson may be the same William Wilson who had previously been the Headmaster of St Bee's School, in Cumbria, where one of his pupils had been Knottesford's eldest son, Francis Junior. There are references to that Mr Wilson in Knottesford's letters to Routh dated the 4^th May, 1818 and the 15^th May, 1818.
6. Chipping Campden, in the Cotswold Hills.
7. It appears that "backslidden" actually is a word - the past participle of "backslide".
8. Matthew 21.16, "Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise" (King James version).
9. I Kings 8.38, "all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart" (King James version).
10. Matthew 5.30, "And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off" (King James version).
11. Job, 22.23.
12. This epigram is attributed to the well-known English poet William Cowper (1731 - 1800), who composed it in memory of one William Northcott, who died in 1780, aged 10. It may be translated as, "Farewell, dear one, but may it not be 'Farewell' for ever. For I shall be with you again, if only I am worthy. Then nothing will be able to tear apart our embraces, and you will not fade away, and nor will I weep."

Published with the permission of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Researched and transcribed by Dr S Lapidge 2016

24. Francis F Knottesford Letters: To Dr Martin Routh Ref: (MC: PR30/1/C4/10, FOLIO 61), 2 Jul 1827, Dawlish.
Martin Joseph Routh (18 September 1755 - 22 December 1854) was an English classical scholar and President of Magdalen College, Oxford (1791-1854).

Note: the transcription of page two of this letter contains a number of gaps and uncertainties. The main reason for this is that the words at the right-hand margin of the page are very close to the binding, and therefore difficult to read; and besides, my photographs of the page are not as clear as I would wish them to be. - SL.

Rev[ere]nd & dear Sir,

You will perhaps be surprised at my addressing you from this distant part of the Kingdome, & indeed I feel the necessity of apologizing for troubling you on a subject which I have so often been urged to mention, & which the well known honor of my acquaintance with you has occasioned. I trust however to your accustomed kindness & long experienced friendship to forgive the intrusion, & to fulfil the desire of my worthy correspondent, & from the changed [? charged?] circumstances, I hope, not without some prospect of success. It should seem, if the statement I have received be correct, that a Fellowship in your College is now vacant, for which none are eligible but persons born in Oxford. That qualification is possessed by a son of that laborious minister the Reverend Daniel Wilson, formerly Vice Principal of St Edmund Hall, a young man of unfeigned piety & of respectable abilities & acquirements, but who, not having enjoyed the advantage of health has not been permitted to give those public testimonies of literary proficiency at the school-examinations, which might otherwise have appeared. His medical advisers enjoined the greatest composure of mind & body & demanded that reputation should yield to health, & therefore under this restriction in dutiful submission to God's will, he has been content just now quietly to take his degree. Previous to the application I have this day received from a Relation of his with whom I am acquainted in Warwickshire, I had heard from other quarters of his high character & respectable talents, of the disappointment experienced by himself & his friends from the cause above mentioned, & of the still more acute suffering from the apprehension of losing him, endured by his excellent father, who since that has been called to mourn the departure of his valuable wife. These painful feelings would be soothed by his success in the application he is encouraged to make at your College. It would be most gratefully felt & thankfully acknowledged by the whole family, & I am authorised to say, that the young man has throughout the whole of his College life exhibited an admirable & useful pattern of industry, discretion & Christian conduct, which has not been without its efficacy on his fellow students.
(page 2)
The effects of the very painful circumstances which occurred last year¹, rendered it necessary for [us] all, & especially for the health of my dear wife & eldest daughter to be absent from home at the [? return of the ?] trying season & we accordingly set out for a journey into the West of England early in May, in the [? course of ?] which we have been visiting some valuable friends in Bristol & Somersetshire. At length we have fixed [?] …….. month in this delightful spot, where we have the advantage of fine sea, (which today, tho' the 2^nd of July is . . . great magnificence) & beautiful country, richly wooded & highly cultivated. We have never been in Devonshire [?] before; it is certainly a most rich county, abounding in splendid scenery, but we should perhaps have been [more] struck with its beauty, had we not travelled last autumn thro' north Wales, the grandeur & sublimity of which [so] exceeds that of any other part of the island, as to render views in themselves highly admirable, almost tame & uninteresting. By seeing Exeter we have now completed our visit to every cathedral in England, & I must say, as I …. that in none have I heard the service of our church so well performed. We passed a Sunday & three following [?] … there. It was Trinity Sunday²: the Bishop, Precentor etc. were present & those animating parts of the service ….. "Therefore with angels etc." & "Glory be to God on high etc." were sung by that inimitable choir, accompanied [by] the finest organ in the Kingdom, which is done only, I believe, at Exeter & Durham. I never can understand why [?] with the same means, the same advantages should not be enjoyed at all places. I had the pleasure of [a visit] yesterday with the vicar of this place, Dr Perkins³, who I find is an old acquaintance of yours, & from whom [I was] glad to hear a favourable account of you & Mrs Routh, with whom he told me he passed a few days in October. I [also] met there a Col. & Miss Brown from Hertfordshire, who likewise know you. The Doctor⁴ appears to be a very ……. man, I thought, somewhat resembling our old friend Dr Drummond⁵, tho' perhaps now more soberminded ……… He told me of some early frolics [?] of which you were not ignorant, but since those days, he has been by the [?] Providence of God cast into the furnace, & has come out purified, I trust; for his mind now seems to be [?] …. He reads his Bible with humility & prayer, & what follows as a necessary consequence, has imbibed the spirit ….. can rejoice in his afflictions & worldly disappointments because he traces the finger of God in them, & finds [?] [that they] have been profitable to his soul, because under the influence of His Holy Spirit, they have been made [the means] of drawing him nearer to Him. Oh! That we may experience the same happy result from temporal distress [?] that we may be able to say upon the best grounds "It is good for me that I have been afflicted.⁶" We propose visiting Plymouth etc. on our way home, whither we confidently expect (D.V.⁷) to return in time to receive you & Mrs Routh after the election in your way [?] to Suffolk, & to enjoy the long looked [?] for pleasure of your company although should you not extend your tour so far as your native county, I hope you will not defer longer your proposed [?] visit to Warwickshire; time becomes every year more precious, & we must not expect frequent opportunities [of] meeting again in this world; but if that gratification be for wise reasons denied us, may we meet in better world, where we shall part no more, but be incessantly employed in reviewing & praising our … Lord for past mercies, & especially for that crowning mercy, the redeeming us, & washing us from our [sins] in his own blood, that we may be qualified to reign with him in glory without interruption …….

With our united kind & respectful regards to yourself & Mrs Routh, I remain, Dear Sir,

Your obliged & affectionate Friend & Servant,
F. Fortescue Knottesford

P.S. We shall hope for the favour of a line announcing your kind intention of visiting us, when you have the time [?] … we may not by any means experience a disappointment. We expect to return by the beginning of August.

1. Knottesford's second eldest son, George Downing Knottesford, had died of scarlet fever on the 18^th June, 1826. Knottesford wrote to Dr Routh about the death, and his own mourning, in his letter of the 18^th July, 1826 (Folio 60).
2. Trinity Sunday fell on the 10^th June in 1827.
3. Magdalen's archives confirm that this was John David Perkins, who matriculated at Magdalen in 1784. A brief notice in The Gentleman's Magazine for 1845, page 542, confirms that Perkins received his M.A. from St Mary Hall, Oxford, in 1792, and his B. and D.D. in 1808. He became Vicar of Dawlish and Rector of St Lawrence, Exeter, in 1809, and died at Dawlish, at the age of 80, on the 30^th September, 1845.
4. That is, Dr Perkins. Knottesford comments further on Dr Perkins in his letter to Routh dated the 29^th May, 1832 (Folio 62). There, he writes, "I had a visit not long since, from an old friend & pupil of yours, Dr Perkins, who spoke with much warmth of affection towards you & hopes to see you before his return into Devonshire. He has been a misguided [?] but is now I think a hopeful & interesting character. He has experienced the vanity of the world, & seems to be seeking a better country [?]."
5. Edward Auriol Hay-Drummond (1758 - 1830) was the son of the Archbishop of York; he received his M.A. from Christ Church in 1780 and his D.D. in 1794. He was made Rector of Hadleigh, in Suffolk, in 1796, and remained Rector until his death, at the age of 71, in 1830. There is an obituary of him in The Gentleman's Magazine, or Monthly Intelligencer, volume 29, on page 88, which may be found in Google Books. It seems clear that Dr Routh knew Dr Drummond well; and Knottesford knew him professionally, because for a time Knottesford had been the Curate of Hadleigh, when Drummond was the Rector. In his letter to Routh dated the 5^th March, 1800 (Folio 42), Knottesford confirms that he had tried to call upon Drummond, in order to deliver a message to him from Routh; and in his letter of the 4^th October, 1825 (Folio 58) Knottesford tells Routh about seeing Drummond recently, at Leamington Spa.
6. Psalm 119, verse 71 (King James version).
7. Deo volente - that is, God willing.

Published with the permission of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Researched and transcribed by Dr S Lapidge 2016

30. Francis F Knottesford Letter: To Dr Edward Liveing of Nayland SFK, 23 Nov 1840, Alveston WAR.
Fenn Archive Letter 5

Alveston Manor
November 23, 1840
My dear Sir
Mrs Knottesford agrees with me in thinking the plan you propose respecting the farm at Crowfield a good one, and therefore we thank you to communicate with McArdale? on the subject. I hope no great expense will be incurred by making this new arrangement. Perhaps it will be more convenient and desirable for you to take the farm, as it lies in your neighborhood and that we should have no share in money and in that case we shall gladly accede your wishes. This business should be transacted as soon as possible lest increased trouble should arise from the death of Mr Spencer who is the only surviving executor of Mrs J. Downings will.
Edward is gone into Dorsetshire to look at a church from where he expects to get some patterns for his new his own building at Wilmcote, and was to speak yesterday with Mr H. Wilberforce he is indefatigable in his actions in this new sphere of labor. It is quite surprising to hear how well these rustic people sing. They are instructed two nights in the week by one of the Stratford choir and we have the Venite and hymns chanted at Billesley in a manner which quite astonished(?) me on my return, but this is only a small part of his labors he spends three or four nights there every week in instructing the people because he can only meet with the male population at that time and we are so little satisfied with his returning during the winter at so late an hour that he and his amiable wife I going to resign their comfortable home and lodge in a farmhouse for a time that they may dwell among their people who are extremely attached to them, at least they will try it for a few weeks.
The . . . . . service at opening of the Church at Stratford on the Wednesday after our return was most imposing the choir consisted of near 40 persons men and boys all in surplices hired from Oxford they were placed in the transept headed by Mr Helmore, (now priest Vicar of Lichfield and . . . . . the dissenting minister), and a Vicar choral of Hereford. It was a saint's day so that we had an entire service which was chanted throughout. The Litany with the Responses exceeded any thing I ever heard: the Te Deum Sanctus and responses after the Commandments were most charmingly and accurately performed without an organ which alone increased the difficulty and the effect. The church is extremely beautiful the Throne Desk and Pulpit of exquisite workmanship about 40 clergy were present in gowns and hoods who walked in procession with the Mayor in his robes from the Town Hall to the church and were met at the entrance of the Churchyard by the choir in their surplices who preceded them into the church singing the 84th Psalm the Desk was only used for the Lessons we had an excellent sermon from Dr Rice the Master of . . . . . Hospital who was born at the Stratford the Bishops of Worcester and Rochester were prevented from preaching the former by ill-health and the latter on account of the death of the Marquess of Camden who married his daughter whose sister is the young Lady Mordaunt our neighbor at Walton where Edward met the Rp? at dinner last week who is the Dean of Worcester and is now going into residence. It is the Dowager Lady M who lives in our parish with whom Mama went to Ramsgate last autumn. There was an evening service at six o'clock performed in the same manner with the additional effect of candle light? but which unfortunately I was unable to attend having an exceedingly bad cold but all that went said it was inexpressibly beautiful. I did go in the morning but was afraid of joining in the procession and therefore went in the carriage and took my seats previously in the church which was very mortifying to me and I would not enjoy the service as I hoped to have done.
We are all now I am thankful to say tolerably well, and all write in kindest love and regards to all
With dear Sir
Yours faithfully
F Fortescue Knottesford

Letter on two sides of one page sealed with a postmark and addressed to:
Edward Liveing Esqre
Nayland
Colchester
On file with E L Fenn 2002.

31. Francis F Knottesford Letters: To Dr Martin Routh MC: PR30/1/C4/4, FOLIO 219, 20 Jan 1841, Alveston WAR.
Martin Joseph Routh (18 September 1755 - 22 December 1854) was an English classical scholar and President of Magdalen College, Oxford (1791-1854).

Alveston Manor, Jan[uar]y 20^th 1841

Revd. & Dear Sir,
I have just received your kind & valuable present, & for this fresh mark of your friendly remembrance I beg to offer my warmest acknowledgments. I shall have great pleasure in receiving the work, & in perusing the additional matter contained in the new & improved edition of the Opuscula. The sight of your handwriting is always a joy & refreshment to me; & I am happy to observe that it is as firm as ever. I lament to hear that you have been troubled with cough, but trust that by the blessing of God it will subside as the Spring approaches & that you will then be restored to your accustomed health & be long enabled to pursue with your wonted vigor, your interesting & useful studies. I have lately been reading, for the first time, the works of the learned & pious Joseph Mede¹, & have found therein a rich treasure. My views so exactly accord with his that it might be supposed I had formed them after his model [?], & that I had been accustomed to say of him what Cyprian
(page 2)
said of Tertullian, Da mihi magistrum², but for the forming of those views I had the happiness of being instructed by a living master of whom I can never think but with the liveliest gratitude & warmest affection. I spent some weeks at Norwich in the summer & there met[?] with a worthy Dignitary of the church who expressed similar feelings towards the same wise instructor: Mr Thurlow, who being informed that I was acquainted with you, did me the favor to call on me, & we had some interesting conversation respecting past happy & profitable evenings spent in your company at Oxford. He has passed his fortieth year of residence at Norwich, where he tells me the Service now far exceeds that in the Cathedral of Durham. I think it superior to any I know & much enjoyed the privilege of attending it daily for seven weeks. I became acquainted also with the Dean an amicable & excellent gentleman [?]. We went there on our Daughter's account, who then resided next door to us in the Close where she had been confined, but we had the comfort of seeing her & Mr Dewe settled in their [?] new Parsonage house at Rockland St Mary, six miles from Norwich. My son with his excellent wife & fine boy are still residing with us: the former is engaged many days of the week in his new charge at Wilmcote, where his church is gradually rising & will I hope be completed & consecrated in the course of the summer, as he has obtained nearly a sufficient sum for the endowment.

Mrs Knottesford & my family beg to unite in respectful remembrance to yourself & Mrs Routh, & believe me to be, my dear Sir

your truly obliged & affectionate friend & servant [?],
F. Fortescue Knottesford

Footnotes:
1 According to Wikipedia, Joseph Mede (otherwise Mead, or Meade), who lived from 1586 to 1639, "was an English scholar with a wide range of interests. He was educated at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he became a Fellow from 1613. He is now remembered as a Biblical scholar. He was also a naturalist and Egyptologist. He was a Hebraist, and became Lecturer of Greek."
2 "Give me the master." Tertullian (c. 155 A.D. - c. 240 A.D) and Cyprian were two of the Fathers of the Latin Church. St Jerome, in his De Viris Illustribus, chapter 53.3, states that he had once spoken to an elderly man who said that, when he was young, he had spoken to Cyprian's secretary, who reported to him that Cyprian "was accustomed never to pass a day without reading Tertullian and would frequently say to him, 'Hand me the master,' meaning, of course, Tertullian." Both Jerome's original text, and the translation quoted above, may be found at the URL <http://www.tertullian.org/jerome_biog.htm>.

Published with the permission of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Researched and transcribed by Dr S Lapidge 2016

32. Francis F Knottesford Letters: To Dr Martin Routh MC: PR30/1/C4/4, FOLIO 221, 18 Mar 1841, Alveston WAR.
Martin Joseph Routh (18 September 1755 - 22 December 1854) was an English classical scholar and President of Magdalen College, Oxford (1791-1854).

Alveston Manor March 18^th 1841

Rev[ere]nd & Dear Sir,
I am quite ashamed to trouble you with this note, which I do tho' most reluctantly in compliance with the earnest wish expressed by an old friend that I should address you in behalf of her nephew Mr Hallward, who proposes to offer himself as a candidate for a Demiship at the ensuing election. She tells me I did the same for his father more than thirty years ago, which I had forgotten. & that he was much befriended by his uncle Dr Randolph then Canon of Ch[rist] Church. I trust, my dear Sir, that you will excuse this intrusion [?] which if I refused to make, the Family whom we have so long known & respected might think it unkind. I have expressed my conviction that the success of the young man, must depend on his conduct & literary attainments, & that if they do not answer the expectation of the Electors, no recommendation will avail, but persons unacquainted with the circumstances of the case, will fancy otherwise, & one feels sometimes obliged to indulge their weakness, as I have now done.
(page 2)
Mr Hallward, the grandfather of the present Candidate, (whose father is a clergyman in Essex with several children) was a near neighbour of ours in Suffolk, Vicar of Assington an excellent Parish Priest & bosom friend of Mr Gurdon of Assington Hall once a Fellow of your College, which Fellowship I suppose he vacated, by marriage on succeeding as he did, most unexpectedly to the valuable Estate[s] of his relation, who passing by the Heir at Law, left it him by Will as he was empowered to do, tho' they had had no intercourse for many years. Mr Hallward then of Worcester College was his intimate friend, to whom he had said jestingly as being a matter utterly improbable; "When I have the estate at Assington, you shall have the living." He faithfully kept this promise, if it could be so called & did present him to the Vicarage, on the condition that he should himself being in Holy Orders perform the Sunday duties, which he did to the time of death, regularly preaching two sermons, while Mr H. Went to Milden another living also given him by Mr Gurdon who was at once Patron Rector & Curate of Assington. I have been led on to give you this history so creditable to your quondam Fellow whom perhaps you hardly remember as he died at the age of 71 in the year 1817.

I hope the fine weather we have lately had has contributed to the relief of your cough, & that you & Mrs Routh are enjoying your accustomed health to whom Mrs Knottesford unites with me in respectful compliments, & believe me to be, Rev[eren]d & dear Sir

your obliged & affectionate Friend & Servant
F. Fortescue Knottesford

What a fine collection of English Divinity we shall have from the publications of the Parker Society & Anglo Catholic school. I possess the greatest part of what they are about to publish, but shall be glad of some single volumes to complete my set.

Published with the permission of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Researched and transcribed by Dr S Lapidge 2016

33. Census: England, 7 Jun 1841, Manor House Alveston WAR. Francis is recoded as aged 69 a clergyman not born WAR

34. Francis F Knottesford Letter: To Catherine Maria Liveing nee Downing of Nayland SFK, 12 Apr 1842, Alveston WAR.
Liveing Archive. Knottesford 01

Alveston Manor April 12th 1842
My dear niece,
This morning's post has brought me the handsome & pleasing memorial of your late highly esteemed mother, with which you & Mr Liveing have so kindly favored me, & for which I beg you to accept my best thanks. I have indeed truly sympathized with you in this bereavement, knowing from experience what a rent is made by the loss of a parent who has been endeared by the exhibition of uniform & tender care & affection for so many years, & that parent too the only one which either of us ever had the privilege of recognising: so that in each case it is the first great shock we received & therefore the more deeply felt. The severity of it has however been much lessened to both of us by the new connexions we have been allowed, most happily, for ourselves, to form, & the consequent blessings we have, by the mercy of our heavenly Father, been permitted to enjoy in the new & more numerous objects of affection &
(page 2)
of love which have been so graciously bestowed upon us & which by a wise Providence are made to occupy a higher place in our hearts, than is held even by a Parent, because they require more of our care & attention, and the anxieties they occasion are counterbalanced in great measure by the strength of affection & interest whereby nature, or rather the God of nature attaches us to them. How much more sensibly would you have deplored this loss, had you now been left, as it were, solitary in the world, as in a certain degree you would have been, & would have felt yourself to have been, had you not been surrounded as you now are by nearer and dearer relatives, who administer so largely to your happiness & comfort: and I must think, my dear niece, that you have especial reason to be thankful for being blessed with a judicious, sensible & tender husband & with so many amiable & affectionate children, who in all that I have seen, bear witness to the excellent instruction they have received by the suavity of their manners & the propriety of their deportment. You must therefore dwell, as I am sure you do, rather on the mercies which are continued (& may they long be continued to you) than on those which have been withdrawn, and which in the regular course of things must necessarily in their season be withdrawn from us & hence I can assure you, it is a much more painful thing to part with a child than with a Parent, because it is more unnatural & we are less prepared for such an event, & it is the destruction of hopes & expectations which have been fondly formed & cherished in our bosoms. I doubt not but my beloved wife has acknowledged the very acceptable & valuable token of remembrance which you sent her. We shall each of us highly value these memorials of one, whose uniformly judicious modest & sweet disposition endeared her to all with whom she was connected
(page 3)
& to none, out of her own immediate family, more than to ourselves. She lived in the regular discharge of the duties of her station, wherein she became eminently useful. It may truly be said of her, that having quietly, tho' helpfully, served her generation, she fell asleep as quietly in Jesus. I have always remembered you on the 8th of this month, and did so with especial interest on the last occasion, beseeching the Father of Mercies to bestow on you & yours every needful blessing both spiritual and temporal, & that you like her who has gone before, may live to see your children's children, brought up like your own in the nurture & admonition of the Lord, & made serviceable in their generation to the glory of God & the benefit of their fellow creatures. I thank you sincerely for your very kind remembrance of me on the 4th. I trust that you will continue to offer up supplications, on my behalf, for all the grace & help of which I stand in so much need, now that the shadows are lengthening & the grasshopper is becoming a burden¹: but this holy season especially cheers us with a good hope beyond the grave, which if we are found in Jesus, will prove the gate of everlasting life, thro' which we shall pass to a joyful Resurrection, thro' his merits who died & was buried & rose again for us. I know not whether I ought to say I am sorry, but I am certainly much disappointed in not seeing you here this summer, & now I fear we must not expect to do so, but I did hope that nothing would have prevented your visiting us in the course of the year, as you may not find us in the old house at a more distant period: but our time is in His hands, with whom nothing is impossible, & who will do all things well. To Him we may commit ourselves with humble confidence for life or death, knowing that as Christ is God's, so all things are ours, if we are Christ's. Edward & Fanny Anne are now at Elmdon². We took them to Henley (where the Archdeacon's carriage meets them) last Tuesday, at which very time, one of her brothers (Edward who was Mr Meade's pupil) was thrown out of a chaise in Birmingham on a heap of coals, & supposed to have been killed, to the intense grief of his parents: but I am thankful
(page 4)
to say, sense is gradually returning, & it is hoped he may recover from the immediate effects of the accident, tho' in the very delicate state of his health, which obliged him to miss the last term at Oxford, it will probably ultimately prove fatal. By great mercy his excellent Father had just before got out of the carriage where he was to be set down: & which was afterwards smashed to pieces by the horse running away. It had taken fright at something in the street. Edward was carried to the house of a relation where he now lies, to the comfort of his parents who are now with him. The last report thro' our dear Edward, who came to Wilmcote on Sunday, was favourable. The loss of the dear Archdeacon, had anything fatal happened to him, would indeed have been irreparable to his family, who are almost overwhelmed by the thought of the mercy of his escape. We unite in most kind remembrance (in which Mrs Stephenson joins) to yourself, Mr Liveing, & all your family, &
believe me to be, my dear niece,

your faithful friend & affectionate uncle,
F. Fortescue Knottesford

P.S. When I came to turn over my paper, I found it had been turned the wrong way, which awkwardness I hope you will excuse.
¹ Ecclesiastes, Chapter 12, verse 5.
² Edward was married to Frances Anne Spooner, who was the daughter of William Spooner. William Spooner was the Rector of Elmdon, south-east of Birmingham, and Archdeacon of Coventry. Edward and his wife were staying with his wife's parents, at her family home.

Envelope addressed to:
Mrs Liveing Nayland Colchester
On the envelope is written, in another hand:
12 Apr 1842
On death of Mrs Downing.
With grateful thanks to researcher & author Dr Stanley Lapidge, who has transcribed the following letters from Francis's notoriously difficult hand.

35. Francis F Knottesford Letter: To Catherine Maria Liveing nee Downing of Nayland SFK, 14 Mar 1843, Alveston WAR.
Liveing Archive Knottesford 03

Written at the top of the letter: Death of Edward Liveing F.F.K. to C.M.L.

Alveston Manor
March 14th 1843

"He is a Father of the fatherless, & defender of the cause of the widow." "Leave thy fatherless children (to my care) & let thy widows trust in me." Such are the gracious declarations of Him, who is full of mercy & loving-kindness; who doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men; & who, tho' he may sometimes see fit to chasten his own dear servants, yet will never leave them nor forsake them. To this gracious & almighty Being I must commend you, my very dear niece, for He is the Father of Mercies & the God of all consolation; & from Him alone can substantial comfort flow under such a bereavement as that you are now called to experience. Miserable comforters are we all, when compared with Him whose consolations are neither few nor small: who can speak to the heart, & apply with certain effect a suitable medicine for every wound; for He hath said, I kill & I make alive, I wound & I heal¹. He will be Husband, Father, Friend, yea all in all to them who cast their care upon Him, seeing He careth for them. And whereas we might think that a Being so highly exalted & by nature impassible, could not in any way participate in
(page 2)
sorrows from which he is totally exempt; he has provided a strong consolation in the assurance we have, that as God manifested in the flesh, he is touched with a feeling for our infirmities, having in his own person borne our griefs & carried our sorrows; & having been in all points tempted & tried like as we are, is made experimentally capable of compassion, & both able & willing to succour those who are tempted; & in all our afflictions is himself afflicted. He who has removed the greater evil will surely support us under the less. He has borne our sins for us; surely therefore he will carry or help us to carry our sorrows, those sorrows which are the consequence of sin, & to which we are still exposed, tho' we enjoy the blessedness of those whose unrighteousness is forgiven & whose sin is covered. Happy indeed may we think ourselves, if we have reason to believe that the heaviest burden of all is removed; for in that case, as we are Christ's, so may we be assured that all things are ours, & shall turn to our profit, whether life or death, or things present, or things to come: whatever happens to us in the course of God's providential dispensation shall work together for our goode [sic], & tend to the advancement of our best & lasting interests. What good & necessary thing will he withhold from us, who spared not his own Son, but gave him up for us, that we might obtain salvation thro' him: & what shall we withhold from him, who has bestowed such an unspeakable gift upon us, & with him all things we enjoy & possess, shall we not be ready to surrender all again to him, when he recalls any of his gifts, or rather loans, even tho' they be most dear & precious to us, as Abraham did when he stretched out his own hand to sacrifice his Isaac. You are now called on
(page 3)
to surrender the dearest object of your affection, but you are not required, as he was, to be the instrument of separation. No, herein his trial & faith exceeded all that we can experience. Our merciful Father with his own hand removes his blessings; and that gently & gradually, & as in your case, with the well grounded conviction, as he departed in the faith & fear of Christ, relying on his atonement for pardon & justification & having been fruitful in all good works, that he removed your Beloved from a world of pain & sorrow, to a state of glory & endless felicity, for which, abstractedly speaking, we have abundant reason to yield him our humble & hearty thanks. But nature will feel & ought to feel, or we should be inhuman & lose the benefit of these trying dispensations. We must neither despise the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when we are rebuked of him; our blessed Saviour exhibited in his humanity the tender feelings of nature, when he wept at the grave of his friend Lazarus, and thereby consecrated the tear (sic) of sensibility. But we must not be cast down, as tho' we had lost our all, while Christ is present with us, & able to supply every loss; neither must we sorrow as those who are without hope for those who die in the Lord; rather let us strive more earnestly to follow them who thro' faith & patience now inherit the promises, that we may join them hereafter in that blissful region, where parting will be known no more, but we shall ever be with the Lord, rejoicing & triumphing in his salvation. Be assured, my dear niece, we feel deeply for you & all your amiable family & shall be thankful to hear of you, thro' some kind hand, & also the time of interment. We doubt not but that according to your day so will your strength be², and that underneath are placed the everlasting arms. I have been so shocked by the mourning intelligence just received that I fear I have
(page 4)
written very incoherently, but I was desirous of immediately expressing our sincere sympathy & condolence on this unlooked for event. I fully persuaded myself that the friend & relative, whom I highly valued, & with every one who knew him, justly esteemed, would have been spared to his afflicted family, and been longer continued a blessing, as he has been in an eminent degree to the surrounding neighbourhood, who I am sure must sensibly feel their irreparable loss. But He who doeth all things well, has ordered otherwise; & who shall say unto Him, what doest Thou? Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? He took him, when he saw it would be most for his own glory & his servant's profit. We must be dumb & not open our mouths, for He has done it, & that is enough to satisfy us of the wisdom, & love & mercy of the dispensation. There we must rest, & only in so doing shall we find rest & comfort to our burdened & sorrowful spirits. But I am aware that another breach may soon be made. Well: be not discouraged, only believe & trust in the same almighty arm for support & comfort. He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven they shall not overwhelm thee³. He maketh sore & bindeth up; He woundeth & his hands make whole. God moves in a mysterious way, but always in the right way, tho' we may not always see the reasons for his dealings with us. Should it be his will also to remove our much loved cousin, you may be thankful that one most nearly concerned is spared the grief of separation here, & not only so, but is resting in Abraham's bosom, ready with joy that will never fade to await her entrance into that blest abode, where there shall be no more sickness, sorrow, pain, or death, but glory & felicity unspeakable everlasting. Presenting kind comforts to Mr Henry Liveing, with thanks for his letter. All here write in earnest prayer that every needful help & strength may be imparted to you & your bereaved family, with, my dear niece, your faithful and affectionate friend & uncle,
F. Fortescue Knottesford

Your aunt will write soon.
Footnotes:
1. Deuteronomy, chapter 32, verse 39.
2. Deuteronomy, 33.25.
3. Job, 5.19.
Transcribed by Dr Stanley Lapidge.

36. Francis F Knottesford Letter: To Catherine Maria Liveing nee Downing of Nayland SFK, 12 Dec 1843, Alveston WAR.
Liveing Archive Knottesford 02

Alveston Manor,
Dec. 12, 1843

My dear niece,
Altho' I have not addressed you for some time, yet I can assure you, I have had you often in my thoughts, & sympathized with you in all your sorrows. I have followed you in all your movements, & watched with you in your maternal cares & attendance on on (sic) your beloved family. That a new source of anxiety has arisen in the illness of another daughter has been a cause of grief to me & to us all. We feel assured however that this also shall be reckoned amongst the "all things" that will work together for your everlasting good: for it is not one thing only, but all taken together, the whole course of God's dispensations towards us, that being duly improved thro' his accompanying
(page 2)
grace shall produce this salutary effect. And we are to remember that in these all things¹ every thing is to be comprehended that befalls us thro' his Providence, whether it be adversity or prosperity, poverty or riches, sickness or health. We are not to be the choosers, but must leave our condition with Him, who alone knows what is really best for us & what will contribute most to our progress in the Christian course, & consequently to our possession of the eternal inheritance laid up for them who thro' faith & patience shall endure unto the end, in confident reliance on his promise. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life which God hath promised to them [that]² love him. It is thro'tribulation that we must enter the Kingdom of God, & therefore no Cross, no Crown. However as he sees fit, he is pleased sometimes to change his countenance, & to send forth his brighter beams upon us: mixing mercy with judgment. From the last report you gave us, I hope that your anxiety respecting Sarah Anne is diminishing, & that she will recover her accustomed health³. I think too that you have reason to be thankful (as removal had providentially become necessary)
(page 3)
that so suitable & comfortable an habitation was prepared for you at Stoke where you are placed within reach of many friends by whom you are esteemed & beloved especially Mr Torlesse⁴ and his family (to whom please to remember me & all enquiring friends at our beloved Stoke & elsewhere⁵) under whose ministry too, you are likely to derive edification & comfort, when you can attend it. The only disadvantage respecting your situation that I am aware of is its distance from the church, but perhaps you have some little carriage that conveys you thither. Possibly you & your young people may like to be acquainted with our proceedings at the wedding, of which I will now give you some details. The marriage was solemnised at Billesley (where Mr J⁶ had previously kept the residence required), & a solemn service indeed it was, the most so of any marriage at which I ever was present as the administration of the Holy Sacrament accompanied it, according to the recommendation of the Church, it seems peculiarly appropriate upon the occasion when the mystical union between Christ & his Church is so strikingly represented. Edward performed the ceremony in the body of the Church previous to the Introit or Psalm, which was sung whilst we walked up to the altar where Edward proceeded with the remainder of the service to the end of the prayers. The Sanctus
(page 4)
was then sung by the Wilmcote choir who attended in their surplices, & were placed in due order on opposite sides. We then changed places, I taking the north side of the Lord's Table, chanted the Communion Service, the responses being made very sweetly by the choir as at Wilmcote; the Bride & Bridegroom alone kneeling at the altar till they communicated. There was a longer communion than usual as all our usual attendants were present beside the bridal company, & £4 5s were collected at the Offertory which was sent to a distressed family now bereaved of their parent by desire of Mr & Mrs J (for we have no poor). After the Nicene Creed, Edward ascended the pulpit & having read the Church's exhortation, delivered a most powerful & impressive address, on the subject of marriage & of the Holy Sacrament as connected with it, explaining the reasons & propriety of it to the congregation. I was surprised & delighted, for I never heard him attempt anything of the kind before but suppose he is in the habit of doing so at W[ilmcote] for otherwise he could hardly preach so many sermons as he does, besides which he catechises & explains the C [?] every Sunday afternoon for the benefit of the congregation. The day without was dull, but all was bright within. Our party filled four carriages. In Lady Jackson's⁷ went first Mr J, accompanied by Mr Morgan. In the Archdeacon's⁸ Mrs Tait i.e. K. Spooner⁹ Maria's great friend who lately married Dr Tait the Head Master of Rugby School¹⁰, a great match to a very clever & excellent man with an income of £4000 per annum.
(page 5)
Mrs Fortescue¹¹, Miss Tyndale & the children. In Mr Annesley's carriage the four bridesmaids: two Miss Annesleys, Miss Jackson & Miss Spooner, all dressed alike: & last in ours, the bride who looked extremely well, Lady Jackson, your aunt & myself. It did not actually rain, but if it had done so, we should have been secured by the kind & beautiful contrivance of our friends the Mills¹², who had prepared a covered way of evergreens, floored with matting, all the way thro' a large farm yard to the church gate (which I had ordered to be so prepared as to drive thro', which we do not usually do as it is very troublesome). At the entrance into this beautiful grove stood a servant with an elegant basket lined with white satin & filled with choice flowers procured from Leamington I should suppose at no small expense, & presented each person with a bouquet as they got out of the carriages. We returned in reversed order, the bride & bridegroom in¹³ front Edward & Mr Morgan being in our carriage which immediately followed them. Miss Mills also accompanying in her carriage to spend the day with us. Three arches had been erected during our absence by the servants on the approach to the house, and the doors adorned with flowers. At two o'clock we had a dejeuné, after which our dear Edward made two speeches highly creditable to his taste & feeling, which were inadequately responded to by myself & Mr Jackson.
(page 6)
At 3 the B. & Bridegroom went away in Lady J.'s carriage with her man & maidservant to her house near Worcester, which she has lately taken to be within a reasonable distance of her son, of whom she is very justly proud; for he is a very amiable man & most devotedly attached to Maria. There they still remain, having given up a once proposed journey into Hampshire, where they were invited by an aunt of his, till the summer. They will go to Rugby¹⁴ for a few days & from thence return home before Christmas day bringing Little brown¹⁵ back with them as Mrs Tait took her home with her for changes [.....?] We dined late & had a very pleasant evening with the rest of the company, all of whom, except the Misses Annesley, were accommodated not without some difficulty in our house. Lady J staid (sic) till Monday, when our son & daughter¹⁶ came over to luncheon (25 miles) & she returned with them. The only drawback was the absence of our dear Fanny¹⁷ & her excellent husband & of Miss Mordaunt¹⁸ who was to have been one of the bridesmaids, but the wedding was necessarily so long delayed in consequence of difficulties arising about the settlement, that neither of those parties could stay for it, the former being obliged to return home after 7 weeks' absence, & the latter to leave home for Hastings on account of her health for the winter; this was a sore disappointment to dear Maria.
(page 7)
Now I must tell you who Mr Jackson is, which it seems has not been explained to you. With his grandfather Dr Jackson who was Canon Res[identiary] of St. Pauls & would have been a bishop had he lived, I was acquainted at Tottenham, & it was for him that I once preached in that great cathedral. When we came to Hadleigh¹⁹ we found there living, two old ladies, a Mrs Dowding & a Mrs Baines, the latter mother of the late Lady Knightley, the former of Mrs Jackson, who with her husband Dr J regularly visited her once a year, so that the acquaintance was renewed there. Dr Jackson had several children, one of whom married Mr Dawson Warren to whom he gave the great living of Edmonton, which my great uncle had, & in whose house there I was born. Dr J.'s eldest son was Mr Francis Jackson, a man of very superior talent, the great friend of Mr Canning, & ambassador at Constantinople & Denmark (I think) & was at Copenhagen when it was besieged by our naval forces, much against the inclination of K[ing] G[eorge] 3rd, who thought it an unjust proceeding, & would not favor those concerned in it. So Mr J. rose no higher as otherwise he would certainly have done. However he died not long after and left a family by a foreign peeress whom he had married. The second son was the present Sir George Jackson K.C.H.²⁰ who for many years was the principal representative of our government at the Court of Brazil with whom his son was there for some time, but was obliged to leave him
(page 8)
on account of his misconduct, which has occasioned a separation between him and his Lady. He is now returned home & living in London in a very disreputable way. No connection however subsists between him & the family, any further than a formal announcement of his son's marriage. Lady J's entire fortune was secured to her amounting to £1,200 per annum which is at her own disposal. Her sister has the same: they were daughters of Mr Savile of Oakhampton (sic) in Devonshire²¹ to which he had appointed the member before the Reform Bill, so that Mr Jackson is every way well connected; but what is far better, he is an excellent, amiable man, obliging & kind to an extraordinary degree. Mr Crawford's election to the mastership of the school at Brompton made an opening for him to succeed as my assistant at Billesley, which is not so much an object on my account as on Edward's, whose exertions are far too great for his strength & almost for that of any one, but Mr J who is a great friend of his & is extremely fond of him (& by whom he was first introduced here from Oxford) will always assist him when he needs it, as he often does, so that he will probably be as much or more at W[ilmcote] than at B[illesley] and that I dare say to his greater pleasure. The distance to the two churches is the same 4 miles tho' they are but 1½ mile apart, so that he can walk from one to the other, when he does not go on horseback for the whole day. Ed & Fanny Anne left us the week after the wedding for Wilmcote, & I am sorry to say having been without help now for several Sundays, he is now overdone, & we fear we must bring J & M home for next Sunday.
(page 9)
We shall be obliged to you to inform us when you write, whether Miss Whishaw is yet living for we have not heard from her for a very long time. If you should ever have an opportunity of contacting them, the many people at Hadleigh who remember Mrs Dowding will know who Mr Jackson is as being her great grandson; & is therefore nephew to Mrs Warren who lived at Assington Hall²² & cousin to Mr W of Little Horsley & Mrs Morgill (?): by marriage: for Mrs Dowding's first husband was a Mr Warren, & so they are connected by half blood, with all that family. Lady J. has a half brother, Mr Ferrand M.P.²³ who lives in a large place in Norfolk, where Mr & Mrs J. were invited to pass some time in their wedding tour, & perhaps would have done so if Mr & Mrs Dewe²⁴ had not come here as they could have easily gone to see them from thence. I doubt I shall have quite worn out your patience & might as well have begun at once upon a larger sheet, but had no notion of enlarging so much: but having the pen in my hand, I have run on thinking you might like to know all about the family,
(page 10)
especially as you might hear some things that might seem unpleasant, & perhaps might not be correctly stated. Lady J. is a very peculiar woman, but has been very kind to Maria who is much attached to her new sister Georgiana who is a well informed, sensible & well disposed young woman; has travelled a good deal & is very communicative. There is another sister married to a Mr Hawkesley a clergyman near London. I will now finish this side by telling you of the pleasant visit Maria & I had to Hartlebury Castle²⁵ (your aunt did not go, as Fanny Anne was just then expecting to be confined). It is a magnificent house, & has the advantage of the valuable library left to the See by Bishop Hurd containing his own collection with those of Bishop Warburton & Mr Pope²⁶, for which a new room was built 80 feet long. In this delightful apartment the Bishop allowed me to read at pleasure during my stay. Two chaplains & some friends of ours in Oxfordshire were staying in the house & other company each day to dinner at 7 o'clock. At ½ past 9 in the morning & 10 in the evening the Bishop himself read prayers in the beautiful chapel which forms one wing of the Palace, the company & servants attending. The Park & gardens are extremely beautiful as is the country all around. The Bishop most happily combines dignity with kindness both at home & abroad, as we have twice experienced at our own house. We write in kindest love to yourself & those around you & believe me ever your truly affectionate uncle
F. Fortescue Knottesford
(continuation of page 10, written at the top of page 1)
the black seal is for Capt. Morgan, the only son of my first cousin Miss Fortescue, first wife to Mr Morgan but whom I scarcely remember. Mr M is now 85 in good health & spirits. I married his youngest daughter 2 months ago to her cousin Major McMahon just home from Dover [?] a very desirable match. He lives at Burton Dassett 16 miles from hence of which he is vicar. I am happy to add that we have just heard thro' Mr Pritchard that dear Edward is so much better that I hope there will be no necessity of bringing back the Jacksons.

Footnotes
1. It is probable that the words "all things" should be in quotation marks here, as referring back to the "all things" that will work together for good, on the previous page.
2. The word "that" appears to have been omitted inadvertently, and has been inserted by the editor.
3. Sadly, Sarah Anne did not recover, and Francis's letter to Mrs Liveing dated the 21^st March 1844 offers his condolences upon her death.
4. The Reverend Charles Martin Torlesse was curate, and later vicar, of Stoke by Nayland (the location of Mrs. Liveing's new home) from 1832 until his death in 1881.
5. Francis had lived at Stoke by Nayland before he inherited Alveston Manor, near Stratford upon Avon.
6. Mr J is Francis George Jackson, and his bride was Frances's own daughter Maria Margaretta Knottesford. It is understood that the wedding took place on the 23^rd November, 1843. Mr Jackson was a clergyman and (as is explained later in this letter) became Francis's assistant priest at Billesley, and also took services at Wilmcote whenever Edward was unwell.
7. The groom's mother; something is said about her later in the letter.
8. William Spooner, the Archdeacon of Coventry, was the father of both Mrs Tait and also Mrs Fortescue (on whom see the following notes).
9. Catharine Spooner was the sister of Frances (Fanny) Anne Spooner, the wife of Edward Fortescue: so that Edward was related by marriage to the future Archbishop of Canterbury.
10. Dr Tait later became first Dean of Carlisle, then Bishop of London, and ultimately Archbishop of Canterbury.
11. It is assumed that this is Frances (Fanny) Anne Spooner, the wife of Edward Fortescue.
12. Mr Arthur Mills was Frances's cousin.
13. The word "in" has been supplied by the editor; it is not in the text.
14. Presumably, in order to visit Mr & Mrs Tait.
15. This may be a reference to a horse which Mrs Tait had taken for her journey from the wedding back to Rugby, and which Mr & Mrs Jackson are to bring back.
16. The word "our" here is probably a misprint for "her": Frances's only surviving son was Edward, who was clearly present throughout the festivities, rather than only coming for luncheon on Monday; and his only daughter, apart from Maria, was Mrs Frances Dewe, who lived in Norfolk, much more than 25 miles away from Alveston.
17. This Fanny is Frances Catherine Knottesford [9951] Mrs Frances Dewe, not Fanny Anne: Fanny's husband Rev Joseph Dewe was not able to stay for the wedding, whereas Fanny Anne's husband conducted it!
18. A relative of Sir John Mordaunt, a close friend of Francis and the High Sheriff of Warwickshire and Member of Parliament for South Warwickshire, whose death is referred to in Francis's letter of the 9^th October 1845.
19. It is understood that Francis was curate of Hadleigh, in Suffolk, before he inherited Alveston Manor, in Stratford upon Avon.
20. There is some information about Sir George Jackson at the diary:
junction.blogspot.co.uk/2011_05_01_archive.html. It appears that Sir George (re-)married in 1856 and retired in 1859 after a long diplomatic career, and that after his death his widow published two volumes of her late husband's letters and diaries. The writer of the article is not aware that Sir George had been married previously.
21. Albany Savile (1783 - 1831) became the Member of Parliament for Okehampton, and also the Recorder of Okehampton, in 1807, by virtue of the property owned by his father. Information about his parliamentary career may be found at www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/savile-albany-1783-1831 <http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/savile-albany-1783-1831>.
22. Assington Hall was in Suffolk, about 5 miles southeast of Sudbury. It burned down in 1857.
23. There was a William Busfeild Ferrand who was MP for Knaresborough, in Yorkshire, from 1841 to 1847, and who spoke in the debate on the Corn Laws. He later became MP for Devonport, and had a close connection with St Ives, in Cornwall. There is information about him at www.friendsofstives.org.uk/history/ferrands_2.php <http://www.friendsofstives.org.uk/history/ferrands_2.php> . This may be the MP to whom Francis is referring, although the editor has not found any evidence of a connection between Mr Ferrand and Norfolk.
24. Mr and Mrs Dewe are Francis's daughter Frances Catherine, and her husband the Reverend Joseph Dewe. Mr Dewe was Rector of Rockland St Mary, in Norfolk.
25. The official residence of the Bishop of Worcester, about 5 miles south of Kidderminster, Worcestershire. Some information about the castle, including the very remarkable Hurd Library, may be found at www.hartleburycastletrust.org <http://www.hartleburycastletrust.org> .
26. The poet Alexander Pope: it is said that 43 volumes from his library are located here.
Transcribed by Dr Stanley Lapidge

37. Francis F Knottesford Letter: To Catherine Maria Liveing nee Downing of Nayland SFK, 21 Mar 1844, Alveston WAR.
Liveing Archive. Knottesford 04
On the envelope is written: F F K - C M L Mar. 21 1844 condolence & religious comfort on Aunt Sarah Ann (Liveing) death.

Alveston Manor,
March 21^st 1844
I hope my dear neice will not suppose that I have forgotten her because I have not expressed my sympathy during her late renewed season of tribulation, or that I have been regardless of her sorrows, or her joys, for I find that you have a portion of both in your cup as you had before. God has mixed mercy with judgment. No. This has not been the case: & I write now not so much to console with you for the loss of one removed from your sight for a time, as to rejoice with you in the assurance of your having been again honoured by the admission of another beloved child into the mansions of eternal bliss. For of this your own account, and one more detailed from Miss Stratford this morning leaves no room to doubt.
(Page 2)
Gratifying indeed is the description she gives of my amiable goddaughter's pious feeling of filial subjection to her heavenly Father's will during her painful trial & peculiarly interesting is it to me to hear that she derived instruction & comfort from the devotional contemplation of the excellent Bp. Hall¹, who, I think, more than almost any other of our Divines, combines together learning, ingenuity, & piety. I am thankful that I can have been in the smallest degree instrumental to her edification and consolation, which I am sensible were in so large a manner administered by those immediately around her both by precept & example. You have now seen the precious fruit of your labors, and have the satisfaction of knowing that they have not been in vain. I think, that on a former occasion I suggested that it was a great honor to be greatly tried, that it was a mark of adoption, that faith would be strengthened as trials emerged?; you, my dear neice, have experienced the truth of these remarks; you have found that as your day, so has your health
(Page 3)
been. I rejoice in the victories you have gained over self thro' the great Captain of our salvation who will never bring his soldiers into the field without furnishing them with sufficient armour to enable them to come off triumphant from the combat. Tho' you sustain a great fight of afflictions, all shall terminate to your endless advantage by contributing to your growth in grace here, & to the lustre of your crown hereafter. But you must remember that you are not yet out of the field, for as Job says, the whole life of man is a warfare upon earth; these skirmishes may only be preparation for future engagements. You must not retire then as it were in security. You must keep your armour bright & ready for use, not knowing how suddenly you may be called again to put it on, but the oftener you overcome, the more confidence you gain in Him, who alone maketh you to triumph. Your trust in His promises becomes more firm. You experience that they never fail & thereby Leave (Serve?) encouragement to persevere in fighting the good fight of faith, that you may finish your course with joy & and keep the assurance of your hope stedfast to the end. He who hath delivered will yet deliver.
(Page 4)
You cannot confide too much in him or too little in yourself. Humility is the way to honor, & surely the more we experience of God's mercy and help, the more we feel our own nothingness, and the more humbly we shall walk before him. If it be good for you I pray that He may release you now for a while from these conflicts: but however He may see fit to deal with you, after what has occurred, I cannot doubt but that it will be in mercy & in love. At all events you will never be tried above what He will enable you to bear; He will be with you to guide & protect you, & with XP (Christ) in the vessel you may smile at the storm. This was the last day our dear Frances was at Church & then Easter Eve. What various events have occurred to each of us since that period! Oh, that they all may have been improved to the best advantage, & answer the end for which they have been sent! We have had for some time a weeping widow under our roof who seems to derive comfort from our society and family exercises. Maria and her amiable partner are at length settled with us. They are come for a long ride to return bridal outfits. So varied are the scenes of this life, but that of the next will be an unchanged and unchangeable one of joy & glory unspeakable & one continued act of love & adoration & praise to Him who hath purchased us with his own blood, & brought us to his heavenly kingdom.
Signed off on page 1
All desire to write in kindest love to yourself and those around you, with your faithful and affectionate friend and relative,
F. Fortescue Knottesford

Footnote
1. It is believed that this refers to Joseph Hall (1574 - 1656), Bishop of Exeter from 1627 and later Bishop of Norwich, and the author of a number of devotional works.

Letter addressed to:
Mrs Edward Liveing
Stoke by Nayland
Colchester

Transcribed by Dr Stanley Lapidge.

38. Francis F Knottesford Letter: To Catherine Maria Liveing nee Downing of Nayland SFK, 9 Oct 1845, Alveston WAR.
Liveing Archive Knottesford 05
Endorsed on the envelope, in a different handwriting: F F K - C M L Oct 9 1845 Death of Sir J Mordaunt
from accident Uncle George to visit at Alveston (5)

Alveston Manor
Oct. 9^th 1845

My dear neice (sic)
I am quite disappointed to find that George¹ is not coming to us this week, as I fear he will not see any of his & your cousins, they being going to Elmdon² on Tuesday for a fortnight or more, as the measles have not yet broke out among them, - Edward & Fanny Anne will also both be away. Laurence³ too is to be received on Sunday next, Mr & Mrs Acland & Archdeacon Manning⁴ being the sponsors & it would have been such a nice day for him to have gone with me to Wilmcote, where I shall not be able to go the following Sunday, & the service next Sunday will be very good. Well, this can't be helped now, but I write to say, that I hope you will not
(page 2)
fix any or at least not a very early day for my going to Snitterfield after his arrival here, as I much wish first to shew him Warwick Castle etc., tho' I fear the family may be coming down on account of the election of Ld. Brook to succeed Sir J. Mordaunt⁵, whose death has cast a gloom over the whole county. Oh who can tell what a day may bring forth! He & Lady Mordaunt were both here in good health & spirits the very day before the fatal blow was struck; who would have thought that the next morning would have been productive of so much pain & grief & misery. The accounts we have received of the state of the family have been most interesting. Mr Furneaux says, "I never saw such a touching union of intense grief with calm submission to God such as they all exhibit." The Bp (of Rochester) arrived this evening (the day after his death) - when he entered dear Lady Mordaunt's room she arose to meet him but sank on her knees in the middle of the room before they could meet. They had prayers in the church, which is close to the house every evening at 6 oclock, which proved a wealth of comfort to them, & will probably be continued, as Lady M has expressed a wish to that purpose. Mr Mills⁶ my cousin & innocent cause of this calamity - who has been almost distracted since its occurrence, attended the funeral on Friday last
(page 3)
& Lady M had the kindness & the strength of mind to see him immediately afterwards to manifest that she entertained no unfriendly feeling towards him. All the family (except Lady M) & household received the Sacrament on Sunday in which she wished to have joined, but was dissuaded by the medical attendants from making the attempt. The baby's christening has been from this grievous event necessarily deferred for three [HK?] Sundays (for Sir J lived for 25 days after the accident & there were at first hopes of his recovery but erysipelas arose in the leg into which 60 shot had entered, & permeated the whole system) but Mr & Mrs Acland have agreed to go to Wilmcote on Saturday night & stay the whole of Sunday with Edward. Archdeacon Manning also is expected there on Saturday. Perhaps I ought not to have troubled you with these particulars, but they have so engrossed our attention, that we could scarcely think of any thing else, & as the feelings & admirable behaviour of the mournful widow is in some measure a counterpart of your own conduct, they may be interesting to you tho' a stranger, & at all events afford a ground of thankfulness to Him who is the Widow's Friend, & the Protector of the fatherless, together with a gratifying assurance that the Father of Mercies & the God all (sic) consolations never fails to bestow his grace & strength on all who trust in him & sincerely obey him. I am sorry to say that Maria⁷ continues still a great invalid tho' she joins us occasionally for an hour or two after dinner. Her babe is doing well & was baptised at Billesley, where she also was churched last Sunday three weeks, & Fanny Anne⁸ at Wilmcote the same day, which I accompanied in the afternoon, having previously performed the whole morning duty at Stratford
(page 4)
it being the first time Ed. had been left alone in the morning since his illness, but he did not suffer from it. The Bp of Worcester who was here on two successive weeks at the Confirmation & the Visitation left us together with the Chancellor only two days before Maria was confined: so it was a near run, & she later occupied her chamber. Your dear Aunt has had a great deal of fatigue, of which she feels the effects: but has not been laid up, tho' she occasionally indulges in the morning, as she does today, having taken a long drive yesterday, to pay visits. I trust you believe me to be too considerate to wish to detain George any considerable (sic) from more important occupations but I desire to guard against his only having an intermediate day or two for in that that case in the present state of weather it may mischance that I should not be able to take him out at all, & owing to the extraordinary frost in Sept. the beauties of autumn are fast fading away so that every day makes us look more & more desolate. I never before remember so melancholy an appearance, at so early a period.
All here write in kindest love to you & yours, with due remembrance to all friends & believe me to be
my very dear niece
most faithfully & affectionately yours,
F. Fortescue Knottesford

Footnotes.
1. George Downing Liveing (Mrs Liveing's son and Mr Knottesford's great-nephew), who was then aged about 17, and who afterwards became Professor of Chemistry at Cambridge.
2. The home of Archdeacon William Spooner (Archdeacon of Coventry) and Mrs Spooner, the parents of Frances (Fanny) Anne Knottesford Fortescue.
3. Laurence is believed to be Laurence Fortescue, the son of Edward Bowles Knottesford Fortescue and his wife Frances Anne Fortescue (nee Spooner), born on the 17th August, 1845. The Register of Baptisms for St Andrew's Church, Wilmcote, confirms that Lawrence Knottesford-Fortescue was privately baptised on the 1st September, 1845, and that he was "brought to Chapel" on the 12th October of that year. The godparents are listed as Henry Manning, Clerk; Thomas Dyke Acland; and Mary Ackland.
4. Henry Edward Manning, then Archdeacon of Chichester, and ultimately (after his conversion to Roman Catholicism) Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster.
5. Sir John Mordaunt, 9th Baronet, was High Sheriff of Warwickshire from 1833 until his death and represented the constituency of South Warwickshire in Parliament from 1836 until his death.
6. The Times for the 18th September 1845 reports that Mr Arthur Mills was out shooting with Sir John Mordaunt when he accidentally discharged his gun and shot Sir John in the legs.
7. Maria is Mr Knottesford's daughter, Maria Margaretta Jackson (nee Knottesford), and it is believed that the baby is her eldest child, Mary Cordelia Jackson.
8. It is believed that this refers to Frances Anne Fortescue (nee Spooner), who was referred to in the family as "Fanny" or "Fanny Anne", and who had just given birth to Laurence Fortescue.

Envelope addressed to:
Mrs Edward Liveing
Stoke by Nayland
Colchester

Transcribed by Dr Stanley Lapidge.

39. Francis F Knottesford Letters: To Dr Martin Routh MC: PR30/1/C4/4, FOLIO 222, 21 Nov 1845, Alveston WAR.
Martin Joseph Routh (18 September 1755 - 22 December 1854) was an English classical scholar and President of Magdalen College, Oxford (1791-1854).

Alveston Manor House. Nov. 21^st 1845

Reverend & most dear Sir,
The sight of your handwriting once more was indeed a real gratification to me; & your kindness in remembering the application I had presumed to make at the entreaty of Mr Wilberforce¹ demands my best thanks, which I now most sincerely return: more especially as a letter received this morning from my Friend informs me of its success. I thought it best immediately to write to him on the subject & to press his waiting on you as early as possible, which I find he did & obtained an interview with you (an honor which Mr W. says I am inclined to envy him) & being approved by the organist, has thro' your kindness obtained the desirable situation of Chorister, for which
(page 2)
Mr W. unites with me in the warmest expression of gratitude. He says he called on me today delighted with the success of his journey & adds 'I trust the venerable President will have no cause to regret his kind patronage of this youth. He is a promising boy of a very musical family & is himself very musical. His father is a very deserving man, educated as a Baptist but has become a very earnest Churchman, is now Churchwarden of Maidstone & has himself almost unaided got up a Choir among the tradesmen there. He has also a very large family.'
I am thankful to find that you still enjoy a tolerable state of health, which, I pray God, may long be continued to you. I tho' so much younger begin to feel the infirmities of age creeping upon me but am still able to perform my Sunday duties without assistance: my son in law tho' Curate of Billesley de jure, is Curate of Wilmcote de facto, & always assists my son in the performance of his duties there. Since I had the pleasure of seeing you two grandchildren have been born in my house & at the same time, so that [?] my family is quite patriarchal, my married son & daughter both residing with me.

All unite in respectful remembrance to yourself & Mrs Routh, with, dear Sir, your very grateful & affectionate Friend,

F. Fortescue Knottesford

Footnote:
1 This may be Henry Wilberforce, the youngest son of William Wilberforce. Henry probably knew Francis, because he was the cousin of Edward's wife Frances Anne Spooner, and was also a personal friend of Edward's. In 1845 Henry was the Vicar of East Farleigh, which is a village about two miles from Maidstone: and so he might very well have known the Churchwarden of Maidstone, whose son is to become a Chorister at Magdalen.

Published with the permission of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Researched and transcribed by Dr S Lapidge 2016

40. Francis F Knottesford Letters: To Dr Martin Routh MC: PR30/1/C4/4, FOLIO 223, 15 Jan 1847, Alveston WAR.
Martin Joseph Routh (18 September 1755 - 22 December 1854) was an English classical scholar and President of Magdalen College, Oxford (1791-1854).

Alveston Manor House, Jan[ua]ry 15^th 1847

Reverend & dear Sir,
Your very acceptable & most valuable present of books received yesterday calls for my earliest & warmest thanks, which I now gratefully tender, & entreat you to accept. I sincerely congratulate you on having been enabled by God's mercy to witness the completion of a second edition of your able & useful book a kthma e aei to the Church in general & especially to that portion of it, whereof we are privileged to be members, the purity of whose Doctrine & Discipline as regards the Deity of her adorable Lord, & her Episcopal government is powerfully vindicated by the testimony of those pious & primitive Fathers, whose writings you have, by your learned labors made more generally accessible [?] , & by your valuable observations have explained & illustrated. I shall derive great pleasure & instruction from the reperusal of these interesting remains of antiquity, & remarking what additions you have made, in this fresh publication, of original writers, either in the Text or the notes. The notice you have been pleased to take of my very slender services, far exceeds my desert, & you have my grateful thanks. To be named in such a book is an honor which I highly appreciate. I rejoice to know that at a period of life so far extended beyond the ordinary age of man, you still enjoy a tolerable state of health & the possession of all your faculties.
(page 2)
May these blessings be still farther [?] continued to the advantage [?] of our dear & Apostolical church which can ill spare the support of so firm a pillar in these days of disunion & rebuke. We know however to our comfort & encouragement, that tho' his faithful servants & ministers may be removed, & called to the reward of their labours in a different [?] & a better world, yet the great Head of the Church ever liveth to direct & guide, to sustain & preserve her thro' all the difficulties & dangers to which she may be exposed in this her wilderness state of trial & temptation, & [?] blessed be his Name, "there remaineth a Rest for the people of God¹."

Mrs Knottesford has had some serious attacks, & remains still in a delicate state of health. The rest of my family are as well as usual & unite in respectful regards to yourself & Mrs Routh with

Reverend & dear Sir

Your faithful, affectionate & deeply obliged Friend

F. Fortescue Knottesford
P.S. Your autograph enhances the value of the volume.

Footnote:
1 Letter to the Hebrews, 4.9: "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God." (King James version)

Published with the permission of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Researched and transcribed by Dr S Lapidge 2016

41. Francis F Knottesford Letter: To Catherine Maria Liveing nee Downing of Nayland SFK, 21 Jan 1848, Alveston WAR.
Liveing Archive Knottesford 06
Envelope annotated: F F K - C M L prob of having to appoint new Vicar to Aston Uncle G at Cambridge. (5B)

Alveston Manor
Jan. 21^st 1848
My dear niece,
As you have kindly offered to be the medium of communication between me & Benj. Chillington, I trouble you to convey to him a donation of Ten Shillings, for which I enclose a Post Office order, which I fear must be received at Colchester of which I was not aware till it came, but thought it might have been directed to Nayland. I am sorry that you cannot give a more satisfactory account of his proceedings. I had always thought him honest, tho' rather stupid, & when I saw him some years ago at your house, he made no complaints, but
(page 2)
to be doing well. I cannot afford him more, as the claims upon my purse are so numerous that I scarcely know how to answer them & that this year has been a very expensive one every way. Edward & his family have been with us all the winter as well as summer & will stay here till they can occupy their new house, which they will probably be able to do after Easter, so that we now have more than twenty inmates. I am happy to tell you that your dear aunt's health is improving & she is daily regaining strength but does not yet venture out of her room, till evening when she sometimes joins us from dinner, or rather dessert to tea. Maria has been ailing for some time with cold & influenza hanging upon her & was threatened with the measles, but that apprehension is now removed but she still keeps her room; her youngest child had hers very [....erly?] & it was thought she had caught them. Fanny Anne is now laid up with influenza but getting better. Edward is for him very well at present, & is spending the whole week with us (a rare occurrence!). That has been very providential at this time, as Mr Jackson was laid up last Sunday week, & I was engaged at Stratford last Sunday. This duty I am still able to do without fatigue: tho'
(page 3)
in other ways I suffer from great weakness, but have much reason to be thankful for the mercies I enjoy. Should it please God to spare me so long I hope we shall have the pleasure of seeing you & some of your family with you in the course of the summer. I much wish you to see Edward's buildings which are very striking & form a beautiful cluster. I trust the dear Rocklandites will pay us a visit after Easter, & on their return wish that their places should be occupied by you, but we cannot calculate much upon future events. Our grand object must be to be ready for the summer, how soon or suddenly soever it may arrive. Should I live I shall probably have to present another Vicar to Aston, a remarkable circumstance at my age. Mr Hill who is but 32 being in a dying state. This is a very trying dispensation. Since he came into residence in February he has wrought a wonderful change in the Parish & been a great Benefactor to it. He has improved the Church House & garden, built new stables, & is now building a School room & House which will cost
(page 4)
£1000 & which it is not likely he will ever see, tho' it is nearly completed. It will be difficult to find another so qualified in every respect for the situation, professing activity, Piety, Judgment, & Fortune: but Jehovah jireh¹: to Him we must look & in Him we must trust to provide. He moves indeed in a mysterious way, but we are sure to our comfort & encouragement always in the right way, however inscrutable it may appear to us: & hence arises the necessary exercise of Faith, which includes Hope, Confidence & Submission, casting all our care upon Him who careth for us, & worketh all things according to the counsel of his own all wise & righteous Will. You probably have seen in the papers the melancholy state of affairs at Clopton. We feel deeply for poor Mrs Warde, who deemed it necessary to leave her husband last spring & who by the Vice Chancellor's decree is deprived of her children, whom hitherto she has had with her & to whom she has been an excellent & devoted mother². This is a case in which we must look for a Judgment to come to have things rightly ordered, & it strengthens our faith in that important Article of Belief. I do not say that the V. Ch. could have adjudged otherwise from the statements laid before him, by which I fear she has been ill advised, and is the innocent sufferer. This said she means to appeal to a higher court. The children were at Church on Sunday, the eldest a girl 9 years old. All here unite in love & best wishes for many happy years to you & yours, with, my dear niece, your affectionate uncle,
F. Fortescue Knottesford
(continued on page 1)
We rejoice to hear that you have escaped the prevailing epidemic, & that your excellent son is prospering at Cambridge. I hope he will not study too hard. Remember me to all my old friends.

Footnotes
1. The place on Mount Moriah where Abraham prepared Isaac for sacrifice, and later named "God will provide": Genesis, chapter 22, verse 14.
2. Mrs Marianne Warde had commenced divorce proceedings against her husband, Mr C.T. Warde, and attempted to gain custody of the children, on the grounds of Mr Warde's irreligious and loose behaviour. He was accused of bad language and indecent exposure to some of the servants as well as illicit relations with various women in the town. The relevant papers are held at the Shakespeare Centre Archive in Stratford upon Avon, under reference ER11/32/56 (1847).

Envelope addressed to:
Mrs Edward Living
Stoke by Nayland
Colchester

Transcribed by Dr Stanley Lapidge.

42. Francis F Knottesford Letters: To Dr Martin Routh MC: PR30/1/C4/4, FOLIO 224, 1 Jan 1849, Alveston WAR.
Martin Joseph Routh (18 September 1755 - 22 December 1854) was an English classical scholar and President of Magdalen College, Oxford (1791-1854).

Alveston Manor House
Jan[ua]ry 1^st 1849

Reverend & dear Sir
I am gratified by having my pen employed on this first day of the year in your service, & wish only that I could therewith duly express all that I feel of respect & gratitude towards you. I may say, however, that you are not occasionally only brought to my mind by this fresh testimony of kindness in sending me the fifth volume of your learned & useful work, the several volumes of which being before my eyes serve as constant memorials of your liberality, & excite in me daily emotions of thankfulness for the many & great advantages I have experienced through your means for a long series of years. That your valuable life should have been so long extended to the benefit of the Church & to your own
(page 2)
comfort also, is a subject of praise to Him in whose hands our time is: that it may be further prolonged for the good of others, if consistent with your own personal ease [? case?] is indeed devoutly to be wished. The loss of your excellent sister Mrs Sheppard must be deeply felt by her friends & by the Church at large to which she had been so munificent a Benefactress. Our loss however is her great gain, for she is gone to Him whom she faithfully served & who will not forget her labours of love towards the Saints, with whom she is now numbered in Glory everlasting. Will not you, who are best qualified, write a suitable Epitaph for her? Tho' so much younger than you I feel the infirmities of age encrease [sic] upon me, but am thankful that I am permitted to enjoy a reasonable degree of health, I can still read your work with ease & delight, & am able to perform the whole duty in the great church at Stratford (where I have been engaged for some months as locum tenens) & afterwards at Billesley without much fatigue. What an eventful year have we passed through, & what mercies have we received! Who can calculate what another year may produce. At all events may we be found in our lot at the end of the days! God bless & reward you, most dear Sir, & with our united respectful regards to yourself & Mrs Routh believe me to be, your affectionate & obliged Friend & Servant

F. Fortescue - Knottesford

Your autograph (at the great age, I think of 94), gives additional value to the Book, & for which I thank you.

Published with the permission of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Researched and transcribed by Dr Stanley Lapidge 2016

43. Francis F Knottesford Letter: to Charles Rice, 20 Jan 1849, Alveston WAR.
Charles Rice was a young friend of Francis, from the Stratford upon Avon area. By 1852 he was a student at St John's College, Oxford, and he helped Francis by obtaining theology books for him from the booksellers in Oxford. In due course, Charles became a priest himself. There are many papers relating to Rice family history in the archives of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, in Stratford upon Avon. The originals of these letters are all found in packet DR 86(10)(f) and (g), at the Birthplace Trust. The letters are tiny, and the handwriting is so small that in some places it is indecipherable. Dr Stanley Lapidge - 2017

Alveston Manor House
Jan[ua]ry 20, 1849
My dear young Friend,

Will you do me the favour to accept the accompanying work, as a small testimony of my regard. It is a portion of the most able commentary on the whole Book of Proverbs which has been produced by Divines of the Church of England, & is upon the whole the most heartsearching & practical work with which I am acquainted. The Author whom I have known from a child, & who was a child of great promise, has been solicited to publish his observations on the first nine chapters separately for general use & instruction. This is what I now offer for your acceptance, together with my earnest prayer that the study of it may be blessed to you & made the means of preserving you in those paths of true Wisdom, which you have hitherto trod, & which alone can ensure real comfort here & eternal happiness hereafter.

With my best wishes for your health & success in that course you are called to pursue, I remain

very faithfully & affectionately yours,
F. Fortescue-Knottesford

44. Francis F Knottesford Letter: to Charles Rice, 1 Jan 1850, Alveston WAR.
Alveston Manor House
Jan. 1^st 1850

My dear young Friend,
As I could not call upon you today, I send you the promised small token of regard, cupiens te [?] ........ inciente [?] anno a me recepturum¹, especially as at this season we enter on a new course of time, & of life, & as years encrease [sic], require more help from Him who alone can preserve us from those snares & temptations to which we are exposed both from within & from without & therefore have continual need to hold spiritual communion with God & implore daily the assistance of the Holy Spirit to keep us from falling & to preserve us blameless until the coming of our Lord Jes[us] Ch[rist]. This golden book of prayers (the best that ever were compiled) will be perused with additional interest by you as being the composition or rather I should say compilation of one who was educated in your school (which circumstance I had forgotten) & became one of the greatest ornaments of our Church & Country. I return the number of your magazine with thanks & with the sincere wish & prayer that you & all around you may experience in their full extent the blessings now commemorated & be permitted to enjoy many happy years to your & their comfort, I remain,

my dear Charles,
most faithfully yours
F. Fortescue Knottesford

P.S. Do not trouble yourself to write an answer to this. I hope soon to call upon you, or if I should be prevented by weather, perhaps I may have the pleasure of seeing you here.

Footnote
1. I cannot decipher the word after te, and I do not know whether inciente is correctly transcribed, or whether in fact Francis has here made a spelling mistake in his Latin. If I have transcribed Francis's words correctly, they should mean something like "desiring that you will accept from me . . . as the year begins to wax". Inciente would normally mean something like "pregnant, with young", and if the word is being applied to the year it might perhaps mean something like "as the year begins to wax". I would rather have expected Francis to use a word like incipiente, which would simply refer to the beginning of the year; but Francis certainly knew more Latin than I do!
Ref: Shakespeare Birthplace Trust DR 86(10)(f) and (g), transcribed by Dr Stanley Lapidge - 2017

45. Francis F Knottesford Letter: To Catherine Maria Liveing nee Downing of Nayland SFK, 27 May 1850, Alveston WAR.
Liveing Archive 29a-b LT3
The following note (in another hand) appears at the top of the fourth page: F.F.K. - M.K.L. May 27 - 1850
directions for a visit to Oxford of G.D.L. and his sisters Archdeacon Spooner very feeble 6

Alveston Manor
May 27, 1850

My dear Niece,
I was going to write to George¹ on the subject of his visit to Oxford with his sisters, but after your very kind & welcome response to my request I now address you to thank you for your ready compliance with my wishes, & which I hope will not be an inconvenience to you. I do indeed desire to see you once more & I have reason to fear that another year I may not be able to enjoy your company, or perhaps not be seen at all & I thought it seemed a fair opportunity for you to accompany your daughter & see Oxford too but that you say you cannot do; this makes no difference to us. I am very sorry that the very infirm state of the Archdeacon's health renders it an imperative duty on F.A. and Edward² to visit Elmdon at the time she³ proposed to visit them
(page 2)
but that I trust will not affect her coming to us on her way to the north as we shall be much pleased to see her. Now with respect to Oxford. I had thought that our friends had fixed on the week of the Commemoration⁴ for their visit: the time when Oxford appears in all its glory, but if I am not mistaken that is to take place in the following week: when the grandest services will be performed at New College, Magdalen & St Mary's⁵ & the speeches delivered in the Theatre⁶. The Doctors etc. all appearing in their full dress robes. In that case too you might accompany them, or come on to us. But however that may be, if they do go for next week they should be there on Saturday evening for the surplice prayer services Magdalen at 4 New College at 6 the Cathedral at Ch[rist] Ch[urch]⁷ can not be attended in the morning. It might be well to go there at 4 on Saturday or Sunday but they can at no time get into the Choir, as they may at New Coll[ege] or Magdalene [sic] by ticket from a Fellow. By using my name I doubt not but they might have one from the President⁸, Dr Ellerton⁹, Dr Bloxam¹⁰, or Mr Hansell¹¹. I know no one now at New College but by proper application they may get one from a Fellow; they cannot get in there without. The leading objects, are the Theatre, Bodleian Library & Schools¹², Ratcliffe [sic] Library, Ch[rist] Ch[urch] Hall, Cathedral, Library¹³, the Taylor Buildings¹⁴, the Physic Garden¹⁵, Ch[rist] Ch[urch] & Magdalen Walks, St John's & Worcester Gardens. Of minor
(page 3)
Chapels, Queens, All Souls (& Library), Wadham, Lincoln (wherein is the first painted glass¹⁶), Merton for the east window & proportions; notice the fine . . . . . in Magdalene [sic] Ch[apel]¹⁷ & the Noli Me Tangere¹⁸ in All Souls, the peculiar architecture (Norman) of the nave & splendid roof in the choir of the Cathedral & beautiful pillars supporting the entrance to the Hall & noble west front of the college; fine oriel windows at Lincoln & Pembroke. The sermons at St Mary's at ½ past 10 & 2 if the morning sermon is not at the Cathedral, as it is every third Sunday, about which you must enquire. The curious church at St Peter's in the East must be visited & the crypt under it. Go to the top of the Ratcliffe [sic] Library to see the extraordinary cluster of towers & pinnacles. I suggest these objects because often much time & many interesting things are lost for want of knowing when & where to go. You see by this you ought to go on Friday or early on Wednesday morning. Were it the Commemoration Week there would be the Act Sermon¹⁹ on Sunday; the Infirmary Sermon on Tuesday by the Bishop of Norwich²⁰ with full choir service at St Mary's, & the Theatre on Wednesday. I think I have given every necessary instruction & hope they will have fine weather & much enjoyment. Maria²¹ will write to you as soon as the interesting tidings from Rockland²² reach us, which I hope will not be long past [?] & then you can arrange your plans accordingly. I have written in great haste which I beg you to excuse & believe me to be with our united kindest love from all to all.
your very affectionate uncle
F. Fortescue Knottesford

Footnotes
1. Mrs Liveing's son George Downing Liveing, who was born in 1827 and who at the date of this letter was just finishing his studies at St John's College, Cambridge. He ultimately became Professor of Chemistry at Cambridge (The King's Candlesticks, 99).
2. The Archdeacon was the Venerable William Spooner, Rector of Elmdon (Warwickshire), where he lived, and Archdeacon of Coventry (TKC, 14680). Archdeacon Spooner was the father of Frances Anne Spooner (TKC 14679) (Francis's daughter-in-law, commonly known as "Fanny Anne", and here abbreviated as "F A"), who was married to Francis's son Edward Bowles Knottesford Fortescue (TKC 9950).
3. That is, Mrs Liveing's daughter, Mary.
4. Commemoration Week is so called because of the ceremonies in honour of the university's benefactors which are held then, including (until recently) a Commemoration Day sermon, and also the Encaenia ceremony, at the Sheldonian Theatre; the week is now marked primarily by the formal balls given by individual colleges.
5. The University Church of St Mary the Virgin.
6. The Sheldonian Theatre, designed by Christopher Wren and built for the University in the years 1664 - 1669. The building has almost never been used as a theatre, but instead as a venue for the University's ceremonial occasions.
7. Very oddly, Oxford Cathedral is also the College Chapel of the largest of Oxford's colleges, Christ Church.
8. Dr Martin Routh became President of Magdalen in 1791, and remained the college's president until his death in 1854, at the age of 99. He was a good friend of Francis, and is also said to have been his confessor (W.H. Hutton, Highways and Byways in Shakespeare's Country, MacMillan & Co. Ltd., St. Martin's Street, London, first edition 1914, first pocket edition 1926, page 207).
9. Dr Edward Ellerton (1770 - 1851) became Master of Magdalen College School in 1799, and afterwards became a Fellow of the College (ultimately becoming senior Fellow) and a lecturer in Divinity. Further information about him derives ultimately from the Dictionary of National Biography, and may be found at <https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:Dictionary_of_National_Biography_volume_17.djvu/250>.
10. Dr John Rouse Bloxam (1807 - 1891) became a fellow of Magdalen in about 1836. Bloxam is perhaps best known as an associate of John Henry Newman: when Newman founded a form of retreat house at Littlemore, near Oxford, where the principles of the Tractarian movement could be put into effect, Bloxam served as his curate, from 1837 to February 1840. Bloxam also helped to establish Magdalen's Christmas rituals: details of this are given in the college's website, at <http://www.magd.ox.ac.uk/libraries-and-archives/treasure-of-the-month/news/bloxam-christmas/>.
11. The archives of Magdalen College confirm that Edward Halifax Hansell held a demyship (that is, a form of scholarship) at the college from 1832 to 1843, and that he was a Fellow of the College from 1847 to 1853. Details may be found at <http://www.magd.ox.ac.uk/libraries-and-archives/archives/online-catalogues/martin-routh/mcpr301/letters-from-magdalen-members/demies-1811-24/>. 1
12. The Divinity School, a very fine 15^th century Gothic building, is attached to the old Bodleian Library.
13. The Radcliffe (not "Ratcliffe") Library (now known as the Radcliffe Camera) was designed by James Gibbs and built in the years 1737 - 1749. It now provides additional reading rooms for the Bodleian Library. 14. The building of the Institutio Tayloriana, on St Giles, now forms part of the Bodleian Group of Libraries.
15. Originally founded in 1621, located on the High Street near Magdalen Bridge, and now known as the University of Oxford Botanic Garden.
16. A description of the glass in the east window, on the college's website, states that "The windows are the masterpiece of Abraham van Linge, 1629-31. They are not stained glass, but enamelled: the enamel was painted on then fired; the heat and length of firing determined the final colour. It is a tricky, sophisticated technique of which van Linge was the supreme master." The reference may be found at <http://www.lincoln.ox.ac.uk/The-Chapel>.
17. We cannot establish which feature of the Chapel Francis is recommending to his niece: sadly, the crucial word is indecipherable.
18. In 1769 All Souls commissioned the Bohemian-born painter Anton Raphael Mengs (1728 - 1779) to paint a "Noli me Tangere" (the appearance of Christ to Mary Magdalene after the Resurrection), for the main altar of the college's chapel. The painting was completed in 1771, and was the "centrepiece of the College chapel until the late 19^th century", when the chapel was redesigned in Gothic style, and the painting was placed in the antechapel. The painting is now on loan to the National Gallery in London, but is not currently on display. For further information, see <http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/anton-raphael-mengs-noli-me-tangere>.
19. "The Act" appears to have been the university's name for the ceremonies taking place during its Commemoration Week, and so the "Act Sermon" must have been a significant part of the formalities. The University's own website says this about the ceremonies: "The Oxford Encaenia is the surviving part of a more extensive ceremony called 'The Act'. This used to include ambitious musical works, often composed for the occasion, and traditional features such as a satirical speech, often scurrilous and sometimes scandalous, by an anonymous speaker known as Terrae Filius, 'Son of the Earth'. The Act was originally held in the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, a setting many people thought unsuitable. Such feeling prompted its move in 1670 to the Sheldonian Theatre." (<http://www.ox.ac.uk/news-and-events/The-University-Year/Encaenia>).
20. The Reading Mercury, for the 8^th June, 1850 (page 3, column 4) writes, "The annual sermon at St Mary's in aid of the funds of the Radcliffe Infirmary will be preached by the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Norwich, and full cathedral service will be performed."
21. Presumably Francis's wife Maria (née Downing) (TKC, 7075), although it might also be his daughter Maria Margaretta (TKC, 9953).
22. The reference here is to Francis's elder daughter Frances Catherine (TKC, 9951) and her husband Joseph Dewe (TKC, 9952). Joseph was for many years the Rector of Rockland St Mary, in Norfolk. We do not know what news Francis was hoping to receive from his daughter and son-in-law. The reference to "interesting tidings" might suggest that Francis was expecting; but there is no evidence that she actually had a baby at this time.
Transcribed by Dr Stanley Lapidge.

46. Francis F Knottesford Letter: To Catherine Maria Liveing nee Downing of Nayland SFK, 20 Dec 1850.
Liveing Archive 28a-d LT3
On the envelope is written: F F K - C M L Dec 20 1850 app of E K F to Dean of Perth mentions his brother in law (Tait) as dean of Carlisle


Alveston Manor
Dec[emb]er 20, 1850

My dear niece,
From the kind feeling you always express in regard to our family concerns I am persuaded that you & my dear young friends will be no less pleased than surprised to hear of the very sudden & unexpected change which has taken place as to the position of our beloved Edward who is actually Dean of the Cathedral Church of Perth, to which honorable office he was appointed by the Canons on the express recommendation of Lord Forbes, & the Hon[ora]ble Mr Boyle, brother & heir to the Earl of Glasgow & others who have been the principal contributors to this
(page 2)
great work. The Cathedral tho' not quite finished (two arches of the nave being wanting to its completion) was consecrated on Wednesday the 11th inst. & is extremely beautiful; the whole ceremonial of which was entrusted to his management; immediately after which he was elected, & preached on the following day at an ordination held there, by the B[isho]p of Brechin, nephew to Lord Forbes, which was followed by a confirmation in the afternoon. The B[isho]p of Dunkeld & Perth is 85 years of age & was too infirm to perform those duties, which therefore devolved on the B[isho]p of Brechin. He read the High Service & preached again last Sunday morning to a very crowded audience. He was sent for, for this express purpose by the personages before mentioned, so that there was no doubt of his appointment, of which strong hints had been given before, whereof he acquainted me about 3 weeks ago. This situation you will readily perceive, is exactly suited to his taste & talents as his friends well knew, & were therefore anxious that he should accept it. Many qualifications were requisite for so responsible a situation such as the management of a choir (which he says will be a very fine one) a powerful mode
(page 3)
of preaching, activity & zeal, all which he eminently possesses. The present calamitous circumstances of our dear Ch[urch] of England, which is too likely to be uncatholized [?], thro' the violence of the people (of which the most disgraceful evidence was given the other day at Warwick [?] as in too many other places) & the disposition of our many new Germanizing B[isho]ps & Deans) seem to render this a remarkably providential dispensation by giving him such a refuge in the truly venerable, pure & apostolic Episcopal Ch[urch] in Scotland: it would appear therefore (notwithstanding very trying accompanied as you easily imagine) such a direction as could not properly be disregarded; & I am thankful to say that your dear aunt sees it in this light & readily acquiesces in it. She seems indeed quite cheered by the consideration of it, which I hardly expected, on account of the necessary separation of such beloved objects at our age. It is acknowledged by all who know him that his great abilities required a larger sphere of action, which tho' he would never have sought, yet being thus freely offered & at such a time, he feels it a duty to undertake. He sees a great work before him in this new sphere, a work which will require great energy, & heavenly wisdom
(page 4)
which we most earnestly pray may be granted him by the great head of the Ch[urch] that he may be made instrumental in promoting the glory of God & the salvation of souls: & in this petition I am sure you will all join us with fervent desire. He returned on Tuesday night in 14 hours, so that distance is scarcely now formidable, & came to me on Wednesday, for our approval & other matters, which were necessarily to be arranged before he could decide for he will not have like his brother in law at Carlisle £1100 . . . . . for his labor, but it will be almost as gratuitously rendered as at Wilmcote, only the station is more honourable & more useful, & he is himself delighted for many reasons by the prospect. Perth he thinks is one of the most [sic] places he ever saw, & in a most beautiful & populous part of the country, abounding with noblemen's seats, among which are Dunkeld, the Duke of Atholl & Dupplin Castle, the Earl of Kinnold¹. The new college of which Mr Wordsworth is the Principal is but 7 miles off; so that it is not a banishment into a desolate region, but one where there be much good clerical as well as other society; & it will be further advantageous as respects the education of the children, which they will [?] good & cheap, no trifling consideration in these days especially for boys, of which he has so many. He will move as soon as possible, because at
(top of page 1)
this time the body newly formed stands in especial need of a Head to manage & direct it. They are anxious therefore for his residence among them. My dear wife has had a cold but is getting better. Maria is going on well & hopes to be churched on Xmas evening. All here unite in kindest love to you & all around you, with, dear niece,
yr affectionate uncle
F. Fortescue Knottesford

The Archdeacon is well pleased, which I am very glad of & . . . . . expected in his very weak state. It is singular that he should have two daughters married to Deans & both at so great a distance.

Envelope addressed to:
Mrs Liveing
Stoke by Nayland
Colchester.

Footnote
1. Presumably this is a mis-spelling for the Earl of Kinnoul.
Transcribed by Dr Stanley Lapidge

47. Francis F Knottesford Letters: To Dr Martin Routh MC: PR30/1/C4/4, FOL. 225, 20 Dec 1850, Alveston WAR.
Martin Joseph Routh (18 September 1755 - 22 December 1854) was an English classical scholar and President of Magdalen College, Oxford (1791-1854).

Alveston Manor
Dec[emb]er 20th 1850

Dear Mr President,
From the great kindness I have for so many years experienced at your hands & the interest you have expressed respecting me & my family, I flatter myself you will be pleased to hear that my son is now Dean of the Cathedral Church of Perth to which honorable office he was elected by the Canons on the 11th ult. after the consecration of the Church (the whole ceremonial of which was entrusted to his management) thro' the powerful recommendation of Lord Forbes & the Hon[ora]ble Mr Boyle, brother & Heir to the Earl of Glasgow & others, the chief promoters & contributors to the Building & institution, to which also I believe you were a Benefactor.
(page 2)
The following day he preached at an ordination held there by the Bp of Brechin who officiated upon these occasions for the Bp of Dunkeld now 85 y[ea]rs of age & too infirm to perform those duties. He preached again last Sunday morning to a crowded congregation, many of whom might attend thro' curiosity, but it is hoped that the numbers will not decrease. He is a powerful preacher, which was one very necessary qualification for the office [?] in Scotland & it is a station every way suited to his taste & talents. It requires much energy, zeal, & wisdom, & is a post of great responsibility in these critical times. He is also well qualified to instruct & regulate the Quire, which he says will be a very efficient one. May the great Head of the Church bless the undertaking & render him instrumental in promoting his Glory & the salvation of souls! He has brought back with him a print of the Cathedral which will be [?] he says, very beautiful, but as yet wants two arches [?] with the West Front which is to adorned with two end [?] spires for its completion. I mention these particulars because I remember the great interest you have always taken in the Episcopal Ch[urch] of Scotland which yet remains a pure breed [?] of the Catholic Church of ?God [?], & will probably afford
(page 3)
a refuge to many, who may feel conscientiously obliged to resign their preferments in our venerable & much loved Church, when she comes to be uncatholized (as in consequence of the violent feeling now often disgracefully displayed) . . . she is likely to be by having her devotional & primitive services impaired in order to conciliate & comprehend a certain party, & which many of our Germanizing Bishops & Deans will readily accede to; & if they do, will destroy the most powerful bulwark & most effective testimony against the errors & corruptions of the Church of Rome. The appointment to which I principally refer appears to be so remarkably a leading of Providence under existing circumstances, as it would be heedless to disregard. We therefore notwithstanding the distance readily acquiesce in it, & I am sure you will add your blessings to ours & those of his many friends that he may be blessed in this arduous but important undertaking for which however he is eminently qualified, as his patrons well knew [? know ?], & were therefore anxiously desirous that he should engage in it. But his services will be as free & voluntary as they have been at Wilmcote, where he has built a Church House & School & performed the duties of it without any remuneration whatever; & must now not look to have much more, if any, from his new preferment at present
(page 4)
assist him to enable him to discharge his new labours at Perth. He describes the town & country as most beautiful & the Society excellent. I hope, dear Sir, you will excuse my troubling [?] thus far & intruding on your precious time, which yet I trust, thro' the bounty of our heavenly Father will be further prolonged to your comfort & the edification of the Church.
Mrs Knottesford & my family unite in respectful comp[limen]ts to yourself & Mrs Routh who I hope continues as well as yourself to enjoy good health, & believe me to be, dear & reverend sir,

your faithful, obliged
& affectionate friend,
F. Fortescue Knottesford

Published with the permission of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Researched and transcribed by Dr Stanley Lapidge 2016

48. Census: England, 30 Mar 1851, Bridgetown Manor House Alveston WAR. Francis is recorded as head of house married aged 78 rector of Billesley born Edmonton Sussex

49. Francis F Knottesford Letter: to Charles Rice, 24 May 1852, Perth SCT.
Note: the following letter, dated the 24^th May, 1852 is written in a very impersonal tone - Francis tells Charles that he is visiting Perth, after having called at York, Durham, and Edinburgh on the way north; but he says nothing at all about why he has come to Perth. In fact, Francis went to Perth in order to see his son, Edward Bowles Knottesford Fortescue (TKC 9950), who had recently been appointed Dean of Perth Cathedral: and Francis's description of the ritual at Perth Cathedral is a description of how his son is carrying out his duties in his new position! Perhaps Francis felt that Charles, who was studying to become a priest, but was not related to Francis, would be very interested to hear about all the church services Francis had attended, but not nearly so interested in "family gossip". Accordingly, Francis made the letter as impersonal as he could, and refers not to "Edward", nor to "my son", but instead to "the Dean".
Dr Stanley Lapidge.

Perth May 24^th 1852
My dear Charles,
You will see by the above date, why it is that I have not sooner answered your letter. We left Alveston on Monday & did not reach Perth till Saturday evening, when I found your letter which had been forwarded hither. I now take the first opportunity of thanking you for the trouble you have taken about the print, & for your care respecting it¹. I think you had better have it put on a roller & then I can have it framed as I like, at Stratford, & I shall be further obliged by your keeping it safe from dust etc., till you can bring it with you, or any other opportunity
(Page 2)
should offer of sending it. You must trust me for the amount till we meet. We have had a prosperous & very pleasant journey. Slept the second night at York arriving just in time to attend the evening service in that splendid Cathedral. We had a very fine anthem & service. We attended the next morning also & then set out for Durham, where we were most highly gratified by the service on Ascension Day². The Church of England was indeed represented there in its greatest splendour & solemnity. The Choir was completely filled. The screen is entirely removed & the undergraduates of the university, who attend on Sundays & Festivals occupied the Transept, being seated on forms³ just without the Choir. The Fellows, Masters of Arts & Bachelors, with their hoods on, were within the Quire [?]. Beside the Choristers were about 20 boys also in surplices (the Cathedral School I suppose). The Choir is very strong, & being a very rich chapter, they always secure the finest voices from York, Carlisle & other places. The Dean & five Canons were present, amongst whom were the Warden of the University, Drs Townsend & Gilly & Archdeacon Raymond. The Dean as bound by Statute on so great a Festival read the prayers, the responses were therefore accompanied by the organ. His manner was very solemn & devout. Dr Gilly preached a very superior
(page 3)
sermon ("I if I be lifted up will draw all men unto me"⁴). But from the great size [?] of the Choir I could not hear so well as I wished to have done. I sat next to Dr Townsend, & had some conversation with him during the interval between the Sermon & the Holy Communion, the retiring of the undergraduates [?] taking up a considerable time. The clergy were then conducted to the Altar & the Dean & 3 Canons administered⁵. The whole was indeed conducted in all the beauty of holiness. I never witnessed a more grand or solemn service. The anthem in the morning "Who is the King of Glory", in the afternoon "He shall break them in pieces like a potter's vessel", ending with the Hallelujah Chorus⁶. After Morning Prayer on Friday we proceeded to Edinburgh, where we found the General Assembly⁷ were sitting; the Lord High Commissioner⁸ opened it on Thursday in great state at St Giles' Church (once the Cathedral, now converted into three churches, nave, choir & transept separated by high walls) & goes every day for a week or more to the Victoria Hall, in the Royal Carriage with the Crown of Scotland carried in it, followed by the Lord Provost & about 30 other carriages. The Moderator [?] is always the Preacher. I should have mentioned the beautiful walks at Durham, which far surpass any of those at Oxford or Cambridge. The Castle, formerly the Bishop's Palace, is now the residence for the University, & the old baronial hall equals in size any of ours [?] except C[hris]t Church⁹. This quite magnificent, on
(Page 4)
ordinary days, the university go to prayers early & late in the Chapel of the nine altars, behind the High Altar in the cathedral. We arrived here on Saturday, in time for the evening service & had for the anthem "Worthy is the Lamb" (Munday . . . with the . . . Amen). The Choir is now very full & efficient. Yesterday I think the Litany exceeded even that at Durham. The Dean read the 2^nd Lesson, the High Service & preached & consecrated, the Choir . . . . during the celebration & sing the Trisagion & Gloria in Excelsis. In the evening we had a grand anthem of Beethoven's. The Dean only read the 2^nd Lesson & the Chancellor preached, but the echo is so great that it is difficult to hear well till you become accustomed to it. This tho' unfavourable to the preacher, is advantageous to the singing. Everything is fully carried out here & the effect is most striking. We are engaged to go to Cumbrae¹¹ next week, where Mr Boyle¹² Ld. Glasgow's brother has founded a college & the first anniversary of opening the Chapel is to be celebrated with great solemnity. The Dean & the Warden of Glenalmond^14. are to preach & there is to be a great gathering of clergy from England. The Countess Dowager of Glasgow has a seat just by where with whom [sic] her Son lives, & where we are to be accommodated. The Warden comes here on Monday & goes with us on Tuesday. Cumbrae is situated on the Clyde beyond Glasgow & we go down in Mr B[oyle]'s steam boat many miles. This narrative will perhaps amuse you between your hours of study. Oxford will I conclude soon be very gay on account of the grand Commemoration¹⁵ this year which is indeed a very interesting sight.

Believe me to be dear Charles, very truly yours,
F. Fortescue Knottesford

Footnotes
1. It is clear from Francis's letters to Charles dated the 9^th October, 26^th October, and 2^nd November, 1854 that Francis commissioned Charles to obtain books for him from the booksellers in Oxford. From this letter it seems that he also got Charles to obtain prints for him.
2. Easter fell on the 11^th April in 1852, and so Ascension would have been on Thursday, the 20^th May.
3. Defined by the Cambridge Online Dictionary, in this context, as "a long, thin, seat, usually without a back".
4. This is a quotation from the Gospel of St John, chapter 12, verse 32 (King James version).
5. That is, celebrated Holy Communion.
6. "Who is the King of Glory" may well have been the chorus from the second part of Handel's Messiah.
7. The General Assembly is the governing body of the Church of Scotland. "It generally meets for a week of intensive deliberation once a year in May." (Wikipedia, where further information about the Assembly may be found.)
8. The Lord High Commissioner represents the Queen at the General Assembly, but has no vote (Wikipedia).
9. The largest of the Oxford colleges.
10. That is, in Perth.
11. An island in the lower Firth of Clyde, in western Scotland (Wikipedia).
12. George Frederick Boyle (1825 - 1890) was the half-brother of James Carr-Boyle (1792 - 1869), the fifth Earl of Glasgow. George succeeded to his half-brother's title upon his death in 1869, and thereupon became the sixth Earl of Glasgow (Wikipedia).
13. The College of the Holy Spirit, otherwise known as Cumbrae Theological College, was founded in 1849 as a seminary for ordination training, for the Episcopal Church of Scotland (Wikipedia).
14. Glenalmond College was originally known as the "Scottish Episcopal College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Glenalmond", and was opened in 1847 "to provide teaching for young men destined for the ministry of the Scottish Episcopal Church and where young men could be brought up in the faith of that church." The first Warden was Charles Wordsworth (Wikipedia). In 1852 Wordsworth was elected as Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld, and Dunblane, and thus assumed authority over Perth Cathedral, and the activities of its Dean and clergy: and he then proceeded to make Edward Fortescue's life a misery, until Edward ultimately left the Episcopal Church of Scotland, and converted to Roman Catholicism, in 1871.
15. Commemoration Week at Oxford takes place in the ninth week of the Trinity (summer) term. The week previously included a Commemoration Day sermon on the Sunday, and the Encaenia ceremony on the Wednesday, both in commemoration of the University's benefactors (Wikipedia).
Ref: Shakespeare Birthplace Trust DR 86(10)(f) and (g), transcribed by Dr Stanley Lapidge - 2017

50. Francis F Knottesford Letters: To Dr Martin Routh MC: PR30/1/C4/4, FOL. 226, 3 Jul 1852, Alveston WAR.
Martin Joseph Routh (18 September 1755 - 22 December 1854) was an English classical scholar and President of Magdalen College, Oxford (1791-1854).

St Ninian's College,
Perth
July 3, 1852

Reverend & dear Sir
I beg to return my sincere thanks for the favor you have conferred on me, by sending me your seasonable republication of a valuable note on the Reliquiae augmented by additional testimonies & arguments in confirmation of the Apostolical institution of episcopacy against some [?] unwarranted assumptions of the Bishop of Rome, this summary is peculiarly useful at the present time, when these questions are so generally agitated & controverted. It gives me also great satisfaction to find that you are still able to pursue your theological investigations & to see that your handwriting is no less firm & clear than in former days. I received your kind packet at my son's [re]sidence as you will perceive by my address, with whom Mrs Knottesford & myself have been residing for some weeks, where we have been enjoying the rich scenery surrounding
(page 2)
this beautiful place; & yet more, the daily solemn services at the Cathedral, supposed to equal if not to exceed any in the Church of England. The taste & talent of the Dean especially qualify him for his situation [?] which is most important & difficult. The remarkable fluency of his language, & rich matter of his extempore discourses attract the attention of many, & under God's blessing on his indefatigable labors have won over many from the Kirk to the Church. But of the number confirmed in the spring twenty-seven were Presbyterian adults, & the like has been the case before. He preached a short time since, at Cumbrae (Mr Boyle's) without any preparation (the appointed Preacher for the day not arriving [?] in time) so ably on the subject of the Dedication of the Chapel lately erected there, that the Warden of Trinity Coll. Glenalmond held out his hand to me & said with earnestness [?], I do indeed congratulate you on having such a son, I had always a high opinion of his talents, but was not till now fully aware of their extent. & the Bp of Brechin, alluding to the Cathedral, spoke of him before the Company assembled as its distinguished Head. These circumstances cannot but gladden a Father's heart, & I am sure you will pardon my troubling you with a recital of them knowing also as I do by long experience the friendly interest you bear towards me & mine. He wins golden opinions & by his sound judgment & suavity of manners has done much to soften prejudices which arise more from the Church than from the Establishment, owing, I believe, in the latter case from utter indifference, for the spirit seems in great measure to have departed from it, what remains of vital religion is in the Free Kirk, which occasions a division in almost every parish. There is every reason to believe that the Institution at St Ninian's is eminently useful, & it gains daily in estimation. The dear Dean spoke of it as such at the Synod, & as a centre of
(page 3)
unity which had been much wanted in this portion of Christ's Holy Catholic Church, which observations were received with marked attention, & good understanding & I may say indeed a cordial friendship subsists between the Dean & the Warden which is on many accounts highly desirable & beneficial. There are two contending parties in the Church here, & dear Edward has the happiness & the advantage of being well spoken of by both in their several publications. You my dear Sir, had instilled into me a reverence & respect for this branch of Christ's Church 60 years ago, but I never then thought of being [?] so deeply interested in it as I now am, & to have joined in Communion with her & from my own son's hands, to have received the blessed sacrament administered according to the order of her ......... [?] beautiful & primitive liturgy - which according to the Statutes must always be used in the Cathedral & which he celebrated with peculiar devotion & solemnity. Indeed the whole is perhaps unparalleled altogether, & if all Cathedrals had been managed as this is, & made, as they were intended to be, nurseries of piety & learning, they would not have been attacked as they have been, nor would God's just anger have been thus manifested in their spoliation. I trust you will be glad to hear this, as your munificent [?] sister was so large a contributor to the Institution. The great difficulty to be encountered is want of funds for its support. The Dean & Canons perform their services almost without remuneration, seeking only the glory of God & not their own profit, which in fact renders them more honorable, than if they were adequately paid for their work: but this is not appreciated by the world & unless an endowment can be obtained it does not appear how it can stand. Men will not always be found to work for nothing, & then what must the consequence be? They are now about to build the College, with the hope of securing 50 or so boys in a middle school, for at present they are at a great expense in hiring houses for the Dean Canons & Choristers
(page 4)
& yet have not accommodation for the number of boys who would be glad to receive instruction, & would thereby in many cases, be moreover brought into the church. I grieve to find that there is a great disposition both in Clergy & Laity to get rid of their primitive Liturgy, & it is now not used in many churches, I believe, only in one in Edinburgh. This may be done with the view of being united to the Ch[urch] of England, but they will thereby lose their main characteristic, of being the only Protestant Church which retains it, & I know not what advantage would be gained by a union [?]. This appears to be the view of some of our bishops, one of whom said to me, Why will they not get rid of their Popish liturgy & then they might perhaps become one with us. I doubt whether he was qualified duly to appreciate its merits, & so far is it from being Popish, that the Romanizing party rather prefer ours, as being more malleable than ours [sic], as I am told. We live in an age of despair [?] & division; may the great Head of the Church bring order out of confusion, & join us together in unity of spirit & in the Bond of Peace.

Mrs Knottesford & my son & daughter unite in respectful compliments to yourself & Mrs Routh, & believe me to be, Reverend

& dear Sir
your obliged & affectionate Friend & servant
F. Fortescue Knottesford

Published with the permission of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Researched and transcribed by Dr Stanley Lapidge 2016

51. Francis F Knottesford Letter: To Catherine Maria Liveing nee Downing of Nayland SFK, 25 Nov 1852, Alveston WAR.
Liveing Archive Knottesford 07
Annotation on the envelope: F F K - C M L 25 Nov 1852 Death of Aunt Knottesford

Manor House, Alveston
Nov. 25, 1852

I feel that my first letter ought to be addressed to you, my dear niece, for whose very kind attention & sympathy I am truly obliged & thankful. I am constrained to address you now, (tho' my communication will occasion you some trouble, which I am sorry for) in consequence of a letter lately received from Mrs Torlesse¹ respecting the calamitous event which has occurred at Stoke², & I did not wish that she should be first person there, whilst you were residing in the parish, who should hear from me. It was written too in a
(page 2)
style so singularly cold & apathetic, as to a person of whom she had never heard & with whose present circumstances she was wholly unacquainted, not making any allusion whatever to my irreparable loss, nor even joining Mr Torlesse in the common courtesy, however unfelt, of ordinary remembrance & sympathy, that I scarcely knew how to answer it. Thro' you therefore I take the liberty of conveying the Post Office order made out to Mrs Torlesse for one guinea being all I can afford towards the relief of the affected widow & children of the poor sufferers. The circumstances were indeed deplorable & afflictive to the bereaved relatives but I cannot say, that thier (sic) case appears to be a peculiarly urgent one, the widow not having as I expected to hear 10 or 12 children, but only two sons, both grown up & able to get their living. But however, you are better judges, than I can be, of the case, & I am gladly willing, by this small contribution, to testify my remembrance of & sympathy with my old esteemed neighbours. This perhaps some of you may be able to do on Sunday. The very numerous tokens of regard & testimonies of sincere respect & affection for the dear
(page 3)
departed, some too from quarters where they might have been least expected, have contributed, as far as they could, to alleviate my deep sorrow under what I have before designated as my irreparable loss, as to me it must necessarily be in this world, but my greatest comfort arises from the conviction of the unalloyed & unfading blessedness she now enjoys in the presence of that Saviour whom she loved & so faithfully served in this life, & of which, it would argue too selfish a spirit to indulge a wish to deprive her by recalling her, for our sakes, into this world of sin & sorrow. Let this trying dispensation rather be a stimulus to stir me up to a closer following of her as she followed Christ, so that I may be prepared by a like holy & useful life to join her in God's good time, in that blissful region where parting will be known no more, but where we may for ever unite in the service & praises of Him who loved us & washed us from our sins in his own blood. He has purchased for his people an inheritance (sic) incorruptible undefiled & that fadeth not away, eternal in the Heavens³. The certainly not far distant approach of my own dissolution, which my advanced age infers, renders the separation on the whole less painful, tho' in some respects on that very account the void
(page 4)
must be more keenly felt: but I must reflect & I hope I do on the blessings left as well as on those that are removed. I thank God that I am not left wholly comfortless & alone as I might have been but am surrounded by affectionate children & grandchildren, who are unfailing in their endeavours to repair the loss I have sustained: but who can by thier (sic) best exertions, supply the place of a long endeared & beloved wife? I wish you could have been with us on the 16th ult. & thank you for the readiness wherewith you would have joined us, tho' at so great a distance. I much regretted your absence. It was a very affecting scene, & we had a very solemn & soothing service on the following day, with holy communion, administered by Mr Seymour, in which I am sure you would gladly & feelingly have united (sic), & been gratified & comforted by his excellent & appropriate sermon, which he has kindly allowed me to possess, & of which Maria will write copies for you & other interested friends. The Church was crowded, as you may suppose both morning & in the afternoon also, when dear Edward preached one of his extraordinary sermons, as he did also twice on the following Sunday, when all the people from Wilmcote etc. came to hear him. I was deprived of his company sooner than I should have been in consequence of the remarkable coincidence of the Bishop's death, whose public funeral on the 13th he felt obliged to attend, to oversee the arrangements, that everything might be done in due order.
(continued on page 1)
as all the clergy of the Diocese & many of the nobility & gentry were to attend. He left the Bp of Moray & Ross at his house, who preached for him on the Sunday when he first came here, & received the company at the funeral at which the Dean only appeared in his place to read the lesson & perform his part in the service. He was consequently much harrassed (sic) but like myself most graciously supported thro' all the trials & supplied with strength from above according to his day⁴! Dear Fanny tells me you contemplate a visit to Rockland which is very kind & will be very acceptable. All here write in kindest love to yourself & those around you with my dear niece your very affectionate & afflicted uncle F.F. Knottesford.
The near coincidence you mention was singular & affecting. Some books with Downing arms in them are reserved for you.

Footnotes
1. The Reverend Charles Martin Torlesse was first curate and then vicar of Stoke by Nayland (where Mrs Liveing resided) from 1832 until his death in 1881. He married Catherine Gurney Wakefield in 1823.
2. A reference to his wifes death, or much less likely concern over two men who died 4 Nov 1852, in Stoke by Nayland when a well they were repairing collapsed upon them
3. First Epistle of Peter, chapter 1, verse 4.
4. Deuteronomy, chapter 33, verse 25.

Envelope addressed to:
Mrs Edward Liveing
Stoke by Nayland
Suffolk

Transcribed by Dr S Lapidge

52. Francis F Knottesford Letter: To Catherine Maria Liveing nee Downing of Nayland SFK, 17 Mar 1853, Alveston WAR.
Liveing Archive Knottesford 09

Alveston Manor
March 17, 1853
My Dear Niece,
I shall not take advantage of your kind consideration by withholding the expression in my own hand of my sincere congratulations on the successful termination of the election at St John's College in favour of your excellent son now are ranking as Fellow of that respectable Society far famed for its literary members reckoning among them so many eminent wranglers and first-class men. This indeed was no other than I fully expected from the
Page 2
superiority of his statements in various branches of science and the personage he enjoyed of some of the most distinguished professors. His success will further stimulate his younger brothers to diligence and perseverance in their several pursuits and it is enormous joy to us all to witness the fulfilment of Gods promises to the fatherless and the widow and that the deed of the righteous when proposing their example shall be blessed.
I gladly embrace this opportunity dear niece of assuring you how great pleasure I still experience if we live as God deemed in seeing you and some of your family with you once again in the course of the coming summer. We can at no time speak with confidence of future events but I of course wish less every year and I sometimes feel my weakness and infirmities increase so much with my age that I is scarcely think I can live to see again the revival of nature. I passed the winter better than I expected (it was a horrible one for old people,) but the return of spring affects me a good deal and I am not just now so well as usual: but Mr Pritchard whom I consulted the
Page 3
other day tells me that my pulse is as firm and regular as ever and his prescriptions may by God's blessings strengthen me for a time. My cough is very troublesome especially at night and breaks my sleep nevertheless I am able as you heard still to preach for the lungs are not affected, I am engaged to preach again at Stratford on Wednesday next: but the winter having now set in with us instead of spring it will hardly be proper for me to go out in the evening is specially with such important and interesting lately so soon following.
We are expecting Mary F:on? Saturday next to spend some weeks with us. Barbara Spooner brought her from Perth to Elmdon for change os the climate was thought too cold for her till May. The mention of dear Barbara, brings to my mind a letter I received from her while staying at Perth in January, part of it I wish to transcribe as it gives so gratifying an account of our beloved Edward. She says "I cannot tell you very much I have enjoyed my visit in Scotland and what a real pleasure it has been to me to become acquainted with your dear son in his work as Dean: that position has its difficulties, it is truly a missionary one, and the knowledge of his difficulties ought only to quicken ones interest and prayers in his behalf
Page 4
placed as he is in a Post of such honour and importance it is exceedingly delightful to see how he is looked up to and valued by those whose opinion is worth having and how others come to him for advice and consultation in their own troubles in that distracted Church and Country He has been very much harassed of late, but the new Bishop is now very friendly (. . . . . personally he always was) and the prospect is brighter and likely to terminate much to the advantage of the Cathedral Mr Boyle Lord Glasgow's brother, has been staying with Ed for the last month, with others, and is doing everything he can to comply with the views of the Bp I have had a very kind letter from the Bp on the subject, (who you know is the Warden of Trinity College at Glenalmond, where Eddie now is) and also from the President of Magd Coll now in his 99th year whose munificent sister Mrs Sheppard gave 1000 towards the establishment, when founded.
A letter from Mrs Stevenson yesterday informed us of the birth of a fourth daughter in her sons family, mother and child going on well. There are beside two sons.
All are well here at present and write in kindest Love to you and to all around you, with, dear niece,
your affectionate uncle
F Fortescue Knottesford
Remember me to all enquiring Friends.

Transcribed by Dr Stanley Lapidge.

53. Francis F Knottesford Letters: To Dr Martin Routh MC: PR30/1/C4/4, FOLIO 227, 6 Dec 1853, Alveston WAR.
Martin Joseph Routh (18 September 1755 - 22 December 1854) was an English classical scholar and President of Magdalen College, Oxford (1791-1854).

Alveston Manor House
Dec[emb]er 6, 1853

Reverend & dear Sir,
I beg to return my best thanks for your kind remembrance of me in favouring [?] with me with your additional remarks on questions relating to the Doctrine & Discipline of our beloved Church. The passage in Irenaeus you have ably rescued from the misapplication made of it by some in support of the Papal Supremacy. The Pamphlet I received last year at Perth consisted only of eight pages; whereas the first leaf of your last publication is
(page 2)
paged 21 from whence I suspect that an intermediate one has been issued, or perhaps you are now preparing one which will fill up the vacant space. I rejoice on your account, & congratulate the Church that at your unusually advanced age, you are still able to use your pen in her defence. The possession of such ability is rarely granted & is a ground of devout thanksgiving to Him from whose gracious bounty it proceeds. In my last paper a Baptist minister was said to have preached on the preceding Sunday at the age of 100! If this could be true, it vouchsafes [?] a hope that many more years accompanied by full possession of faculties may yet be added to your valuable life, & I gladly seized upon it. My son gave me a most gratifying account of the interview he had with you in the last month [?]. He was much comforted & encouraged by your conversation with him. I trust that he is employed by the great Lord of the Vineyard to perform an important work in that position [?] wherein he is placed. In his preaching & other labors I believe that he is eminently useful.
(page 3)
By his taste & talents he is peculiarly adapted to his position. Oh that it might be made more easy to him! but the saying may be verified in him:

"Si labor amatur, non laboratur.
Et si laboratur, labor amatur¹."

But who would have thought that the once pure humble & primitive Church in Scotland could have so disgraced itself as it has done by its late dissensions! How different from the view you, & I from you, took of it 60 years ago. Stultus ego!² I thought that he was going to it under the same circumstances, but oh how astonished & disappointed was I when I came to witness its real state! I believe that had he not been appointed the Dean, the Cathedral would hardly have been suffered to exist, but his conciliatory [?] conduct & manners did much to preserve it. The world has crept into the church, which is looking [?] after wealth & power; & there is in it an . . . [? Anglican ?] party straining every nerve to get rid of the beautiful & primitive office, which is her peculiar glory & beauty, but we'll hope for better things in future . . . . [?] are certainly placed on a better footing, tho' I could wish that some regulations had not been made, but Edward is satisfied & therefore I ought to be so. It is a
(page 4)
remarkable fact, that the opposing party are caught in their own net, who elected the present B[isho]p under the conviction that thro' him they should destroy the Cathedral, & he to their surprise & dismay has become the instrument of firmly establishing it. So wonderfully does God work, & in a mysterious way bring about his own purposes for the good [?] of his Church; "He makes the fierceness of man turn to his praise³."
I ought to apologize for trespassing so long upon your valuable time & I fear trying your eyes & patience, but I trust to your wonted kindness & long experienced friendship to excuse me. I lament to say, it is the only way in which I can now converse with you.
With our respectful comp[limen]ts to Mrs Routh I remain, Reverend & Dear Sir,

Your obliged & affectionate Friend,

F. Fortescue Knottesford

Footnotes:
1 This means something like, "If a task is loved, then it is not work; and even if it is [hard] work, still the work is loved." It appears that this is a slight misquotation of St Augustine, in de bono Viduitatis, 21,26, "Nam in eo quod amatur, aut non laboratur, aut et labor amatur." ("For in any task which is loved, either it is not work at all, or else even the task is loved.")
2 "How foolish I was!"
3 Psalm 76, verse 10, King James version: "The fierceness of man shall turn to thy praise."

Published with the permission of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Researched and transcribed by Dr Stanley Lapidge 2016

54. Francis F Knottesford Letter: To Catherine Maria Liveing nee Downing of Nayland SFK, 9 May 1854, Alveston WAR.
Liveing Archive Knottesford 08
Endorsed on the envelope: F F K - C M L May 9 1854 Goymer Hymn Books regrets C M L cannot come to Alveston this yr & feels his advancing age

Alveston Manor
May 9th 1854

My dear niece,
The hymns arrived this morning. The extraordinary delay I find was owing to Mr Goymer's¹ illness which has confined him to his room & almost to his bed for two months, & rendered him incapable of transacting any business. May I now beg the favor of you to advance me a sovereign, which will more than cover the 8 hymn books & the carriage of them paid to London. I trouble you thus far, because I remember he complained heavily of the
(page 2)
difficulty attending his obtaining a Post Office order, for which he was obliged to go to Colchester which I think he could not do for 6 months or more, & now is hardly able to do at all. Will it be agreeable to you to have a Post Office order for the sum. I had much rather you would come for it, as I quite hoped you would have done this summer, but I grieve to hear, that I am not to expect to see any of you this year & therefore probably never to see you again. This is a great disappointment, can it not be reversed? I have reason to be thankful for having passed thro' the last trying winter, better than I could have expected, but find weakness & infirmities increase; I am able still, however, thro' mercy, to perform my accustomed duties: preached twice on the Fast day, & once at Stratford on Sunday week, having read prayers at Alveston in the morning on the occasion of opening [?] a new organ in the Church. Mr & Mrs Dewe² with their son George Downing³ accompanied me. They kindly supply the place of the Jackson's, who are taking their
(page 3)
holiday, and gone to see his aunt Mrs Taylor at Albany. Accept, dear niece, my best thanks for your kind remembrance of me on my birthday. I did not forget yours on the 8th. I had a very satisfactory letter from Edward the other day. Every thing is going on well at Perth. They have now a very large school, which was inspected a short time ago & highly estimated. He sent me a pirated [?] report in which Lawrence⁴ is distinguished as a prize man in the fourth class, of which he is very proud. He has been much engaged of late; during Lent he preached a course of weekly lectures on the St. John's Gospel, which were numerously attended. The Bp. also preached several times. He is very often at Perth, & has bought a house there. Their choir is enlarged & the services since Easter have been particularly fine, he thinks as fine as ever or finer, notwithstanding the loss of Mr Helmore (they have the Hallelujah chorus every Sunday after service in the afternoon). I hoped he would have come & met his sister, which he could not do last year, but he is appointed to preach at Oxford on the 25th of June which is the Commemoration Sunday (a most formidable concern [?] & therefore cannot of course come twice
(page 4)
but will pay his visit to us at that time. He wishes me to meet him there & once more see the President⁵ now 99 & sent me a book a few weeks ago, with his autograph in it (a great curiosity), & another copy of his work (in Latin) for Edward. I wish I might be able to do so, but fear I must not venture. Some of the children have got the measles, but are doing well, so F.A.⁶ cannot leave home, as she intended to have done, to see her father. Mrs Tait⁷ & Barbara spent a day here last week. Wednesday was our Ch. Miss. Meeting & we had here Mr Harston⁸ now Vicar of Tamworth & Rural Dean, but held [?] some years at Ipswich; a very sensible & agreeable man. Dear Fanny⁹ desires me to tell you with her best love to you & all with you that she was going to write to you this very day, but as I am doing the same she will defer her bulletin a trifle longer.
Remember me duly to all, and believe me to be
Your affectionate uncle,
F. Fortescue Knottesford
Footnotes
1. Edward Nutton Goymer published a Collection of Hymns, adapted to the Festivals and Fasts of the Church of England, and other Particular Occasions, at Ipswich in 1819. In his letter of the 14th May 1855 Francis reports that Mr Goymer has passed away, and speaks highly of his hymn book.
2. Mr & Mrs Dewe are Francis's daughter Frances Catherine.
3. George Downing Dewe [15867] was the eldest son of Mr and Mrs Dewe.
4. Edward's son Lawrence Fortescue, born on the 17th August, 1845.
5. Dr Martin Joseph Routh (1755 - 1854) was President of Magdalen College, Oxford (Francis's college) from 1791 until his death in December 1854. Mr W.H. Hutton, in his "Highways and Byways in Shakespeare's Country" , McMillan & Co., London, 1914 (first pocket edition, 1926), gives a portrait of Francis (pages 206 - 208), and states that Dr Routh was Francis's confessor as well as his close friend.
6. Edward's wife, Frances (Fanny) Anne, nee Spooner [15872]
7. Catherine Tait was a sister of Fanny Anne Fortescue,
8. The Reverend Edward Harston, M.A.
9. From Francis's letter of the 12th December 1843 it appears probable that Fanny is a different person from Fanny Anne (Edward's wife).

Envelope addressed to:
Mrs Living
Stoke by Nayland
Colchester

Transcribed by Dr Stanley Lapidge.

55. Francis F Knottesford Letter: To Catherine Maria Liveing nee Downing of Nayland SFK, 4 Sep 1854, Alveston WAR.
Liveing Archive Knottesford 10
On the envelope is endorsed, in a different handwriting: F F K - C M L 5 (sic) Sep 1854 Congt ons on my father's marriage Mrs Prowett & one of her daughters staying at Alveston after 20 yrs

Alveston Manor
Sept. 4. 1854

My dear niece,
I can no longer withold (sic) my sincere congratulations on the late important event which has occurred in your beloved family: an event which I think on all grounds promises to be productive of happiness to those immediately concerned & of satisfaction to the connexions of both parties. For your excellent son I have a sincere esteem, & his conduct during the severe ordeal he has passed thro' in London seems to have been unblameable, like that of his exemplary father, & establishes the opinion I had formed of him. I rejoice
(page 2)
in his early union with an amiable lady which is the best step a young man can take in order to secure him from the temptations to which he is exposed in this dangerous world. I trust she will prove a true help meet to him & that as hiers (sic) together of the grace of life they will forward each other's best interests, & work together in the way that leadeth to another & a better state. May they long live in that mutual love & comfort for which Matrimony was ordained, & be daily made more meet for the enjoyment of richer pleasures, in the world to come. We had much pleasure in Mary's company, & only wish it could have been further prolonged: but we knew that her call was urgent, & the object of it gratifying. You heard from her of my unexpected excursion to Oxford & Rockland. It was indeed a renewal of scenes which I never thought again to have experienced. The spending a part of two days with the venerable President, who enters his 100th year the 19th of this month was most interesting & gratifying to me; as was also the seeing Rockland & its dear inmates once more at their own home so much improved since I last saw it. I really
(page 3)
think it a sweet place. I was remarkably well at the time & enjoyed the tour exceedingly, which embraced Ely & Peterborough Cathedrals. I have not been so well since, tho' still able to perform my public duties. I preached at Stratford yesterday & assisted at the sacrament; & the Sunday before did the whole duty at Aston, as (D.V.) I am likely to do next Sunday for Mr Fagge who is enjoying a holiday at Dover. We have been much gratified by a visit from Major & Mrs Hall, the latter a daughter of my old friend Mr Totton. They were at Perth, when we were there in 1852. They are charming people & this renewal of personal intercourse after 30 years is very pleasant. None of them had ever been here before. They were here two Sundays on the 20th I preached at Stratford & on the 27th at Aston as I have said. Next week a Mr Freeman, the Rector of Ashwicken near Lynn in Norfolk is coming here purposely to see a man, who has seen & conversed with Mr Jones, of which he was informed by Mr Rodwell. He is a man of talent & has lately published a life of Mr Kirby the great naturalist who was well acquainted with Mr Jones, whose life he appears also willing to publish if supplied with sufficient material, but this I fear he cannot obtain. I have applied in his behalf
(page 4)
to Mrs Haydon & others of the family, but they seem so little to have valued his papers as scarcely to have preserved any of them, not even his letters, or do not choose to make them public. On the 17th we expect Mrs Prowett & one of her daughters who have not been here for 20 years. Mary is sadly troubled with one of her teeth, which it is not thought expedient to extract. The rest are quite well & write in kindest love to you & all around you with your affectionate uncle
F. Fortescue Knottesford

Dear Edward had a return of his headache the week before last & prevented thereby from preaching a dedication sermon at Melrose. He is now better & was going to a great meeting at Arbroath since which I have not heard from him but fear the extreme heat of this weather will cause a return of his complaint. Mr Corbett of Wilmcote was nearly killed in coming to our Jews [?] meeting last Wednesday, being thrown violently out of his carriage & falling on his head. He is not yet sensible & it is feared will not recover. We dined a large company on the lawn, as we had done two days before with a party. Present my congratulations to Mr Torlesse¹ if you think it right to do so.

Footnote:
1. This is believed to refer to the Reverend Charles Martin Torlesse, the Vicar of Stoke Nayland, whose orphaned niece Frances Jane Torlesse had married Mrs Liveing's son, Dr Edward Liveing, on the 29th Aug 1854

Envelope addressed to:
Mrs Liveing
Stoke by Nayland
Colchester

Transcribed by Dr Stanley Lapidge.

56. Francis F Knottesford Letter: to Charles Rice, 9 Oct 1854, Alveston WAR.
Monday Oct. 9¹

Dear Charles,
On looking over Greswell² I see so much that is interesting that I cannot make up my mind to part [?] with it therefore will only trouble you with Cardwell³ & Neander to be taken in part for the bound Neander⁴, or to have these together with the additional volumes bound, if Mr Parker⁵ prefers so doing.

With every good wish believe me to be

very sincerely yours
F. Fortescue Knottesford

Footnotes
1. I conjecture that this note was written in 1854, shortly before the next two letters: for the 9^th October did indeed fall on a Monday in 1854.
2. This may well refer to one of the many books by Edward Greswell (1797 - 1869), who was a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, from 1823 until his death, and wrote numerous books on theology and other subjects. Some details of his publications are given in his Wikipedia entry. If Francis is not referring to one of Edward Greswell's books, he may be referring to one of the books written by his father William Parr Greswell, or (although this is less probable) to his brother Richard's paper "On Education and the Principles of Art." Again, details are available in Wikipedia.
3. The reference here may well be to one of the books of the theologian and church historian Edward Cardwell (1787 - 1861), who had been Camden Professor of Ancient History at Oxford since 1825. His numerous works included Documentary Annals of the Reformed Church of England from 1546 to 1716, published in 1839, Revision of the Book of Common Prayer, published in 1840, and Reformatio Legum Ecclesiasticarum (The Reformation of Ecclesiastical Laws), published in 1850.
4. Johann August Wilhelm Neander (1789 - 1850) was a German theologian and church historian. His greatest work is said to have been his General History of the Christian Religion and Church (an English translation was published in two volumes, in 1831 and 1841). It appears that an English translation of his Life of Jesus Christ in its Historical Connexion and Historical Development was published in 1851, and that an English translation of the History of the Planting and Training of the Christian Church by the Apostles was published in 1851. (Details of these publications are taken from the British Library's online catalogue.) When he wrote this letter, Francis was 82 years old: but despite his age he was still clearly anxious to obtain the most up-to-date publications on theology and church history.
5. For most of the nineteenth century Parker's Bookshop, at the corner of Turl Street and Broad Street, was the principal bookseller in Oxford. Blackwells was not founded until 1877, but ultimately absorbed Parkers during its rise to its present pre-eminence.
Ref: Shakespeare Birthplace Trust DR 86(10)(f) and (g), transcribed by Dr Stanley Lapidge - 2017

57. Francis F Knottesford Letter: to Charles Rice, 26 Oct 1854, Alveston WAR.
Alveston Manor House
Oct 26^th 1854

My dear Charles,
I am very much obliged to you for the trouble you have taken about the books. I was not aware of the circumstances relating to Neander but seeing that in Parkers Shop, concluded it was a continuation of the work I had got but as it is not I must take mine back again. I have not a catalogue of Parker's books, or might find many I should wish to have. Has he a copy of Dean Milman's¹ new book on Latin Christianity?² If so I should like to have that & he might send it with my two vols. of Neander & I would immediately pay the difference, allowance being made for the Cardwell; but it should be some work that he has in his collection, as he takes that back. Could you send me a catalogue? I thank you very much for the very early account of the new Hebdomadal Board³ [one word indecipherable], which is more favourable than one might have expected. That Dr Pusey⁴ should be one is most extraordinary & must be exceedingly gratifying to him & to many. I see today that Dr Lightfoot is elected as one of the general members of the congregation & that the contest is between Marriott & Pattison. If Parker has not got Milman, let him send Bishop Pearson's⁵ works in two vols⁶ published by Dr Jacobson [?] I believe some of which have never appeared before or were very scarce. I saw them bound next to Neander. I congratulate you on the honor conferred upon St John⁷ by the election of Mr Mansel⁸ as first in the list of ordinary members. I wish that all things went on as well here, but I cannot write on the subject & you will know all about it from your friends⁹. It should be a subject of prayer to all concerned. Pray the great Head of the Church overrule all to his Glory & the & the [sic] best interests of the Parish. The Dean of Carlisle¹⁰ has just been at Perth & has written me a letter expressive of the high admiration he entertains of the proceedings there & the zeal & energy manifested by the members of the Cathedral, which as to duties & management he thinks quite a model for all cathedrals to follow. This is a valuable testimony from one who is many points opposed to their views. He spoke also with great pleasure of the preaching & usefulness of the Provost & of the universal respect shown to him by all parties. Many soldiers attend the service with great devotion, which struck him much. He preached on the Sunday morning & Ed[ward]. in the evening. The B[isho]p was there & met him at the Provost's & they were each much gratified by the parties [?]. Miss Hill was there last Sunday & returns this week.

Once more thanking you for your letter & I remain, dear Charles,

very faithfully yours,
F. Fortescue-Knottesford

Footnotes
1. Henry Hart Milman (1791 - 1868) was an English historian and ecclesiastic. In 1821 he became Professor of Poetry at Oxford; in 1829 he published the History of the Jews, which caused some controversy; and in 1840 he published his History of Christianity to the Abolition of Paganism in the Roman Empire. He became Rector of St Margaret's Church, Westminster, in 1835, and in 1849 he became Dean of St Paul's Cathedral. He also wrote the words to the well-known Palm Sunday hymn "Ride on, ride on in majesty".
2. The words which I have transcribed as "Latin Christianity" are by no means easy to decipher, and I cannot be confident that my reading is correct. But Milman did publish his well-received book History of Latin Christianity some time in 1855; and since Francis is writing in late 1854, it may be that he then knew that Milman's book was due to be published in the near future.
3. The Hebdomadal Board was the chief executive body of Oxford University from its first establishment in 1854 (when it was set up pursuant to the Oxford University Act 1854) until its replacement in 2000. The Board had 18 elected members (Wikipedia).
4. Edward Bouverie Pusey (1800 - 1882) was the Regius Professor of Hebrew, and a Fellow of Christ Church, Oxford, and one of the most renowned early leaders of the Oxford Movement.
5. John Pearson (1613 - 1686) was a renowned English theologian and scholar, and was Bishop of Chester from 1672 until his death. He published his greatest work, the Exposition of the Creed, in 1659, and it was reprinted many times, including at least five times during the nineteenth century. The Dictionary of National Biography comments that it "has long been a standard book in English divinity."
6. The Minor Theological Works of John Pearson . . . now first Collected, with a memoir of the author, notes and index, in two volumes, and edited by Archdeacon Edward Churton, were published in Oxford, in 1844.
7. St John's College, Oxford, which Mr Rice had previously attended.
8. Henry Longueville Mansel (1820 - 1871), a Fellow of St John's, who afterwards became Dean of St Paul's Cathedral (Bernard M.G. Reardon, Religious Thought in the Victorian Age: A Survey from Coleridge to Gore, Routledge, 2014, p. 164).
9. From the context, and in particular the reference to "the Parish", I assume that Francis is referring to problems at the church which he customarily attended himself: Holy Trinity, Stratford upon Avon. I have not discovered the nature of these problems.
10. The Dean of Carlisle at this time was Archibald Campbell Tait (1811 - 1882), who was successively Headmaster of Rugby School (after Dr Arnold), then Dean of Carlisle, then Bishop of London, and finally Archbishop of Canterbury from 1868 until his death. Tait was in fact related to Francis by marriage. Tait's wife was Catherine Spooner (the youngest daughter of William Spooner, the Archdeacon of Coventry) and Francis's son Edward Bowles Knottesford Fortescue was married to Catherine's elder sister Frances Anne, so that Tait and Edward were brothers-in-law. At this time Edward was the Provost of Perth Cathedral (he had previously been the Dean of the Cathedral, but his title had changed to Provost): and so the Dean of Carlisle's visit to Perth Cathedral was in fact a family reunion!
Ref: Shakespeare Birthplace Trust DR 86(10)(f) and (g), transcribed by Dr Stanley Lapidge - 2017

58. Francis F Knottesford Letter: to Charles Rice, 2 Nov 1854, Alveston WAR.
Alveston Manor
Nov[em]ber 2, 1854

My dear Charles,
I did not intend to have given you any further trouble about my books, knowing that you have enough to do without executing commissions for me. I thought therefore to have transacted this important business immediately thro' Parker who I expected to have sent his catalogue but you have done better by sending only the extract, excepting the additional trouble & expense you have brought upon yourself for which I sincerely thank you, & as you so obligingly proffer your further services, I will beg you to desire Parker to enclose with my Neander Milman's great work, if as you say he has a copy now by him, together with B[isho]p Pearson's minor theological works, bound as I saw them & Ar[ch]b[isho]p Cranmer's catechism for which I will send an immediate remittance. He may send the books on Monday by the train, which I suppose will be the best conveyance.
I was engaged all day yesterday after service when we had a beautiful extempore sermon from Mr Powell a friend of Mr Harding's who afterwards lunched here. Mr H. will see . . . Ld . . . early in next week.
Again thanking you for your kindness believe me to be ever

very faithfully yours.
F. Fortescue Knottesford

Note: for the most part, details of the books which Francis wished to purchase have been located in the British Library's online catalogue, and information about their authors has been taken from Wikipedia.
Ref: Shakespeare Birthplace Trust DR 86(10)(f) and (g), transcribed by Dr Stanley Lapidge - 2017

59. Francis F Knottesford Letter: To Catherine Maria Liveing nee Downing of Nayland SFK, 14 May 1855, Alveston WAR.
Liveing Archive Knottesford 11
On the envelope is inscribed, in a different hand: F F K - C M L 14 May 1855
Thanks for Birthday Cong^T [ratulations] - 83 Death of Goymer - of Stoke His good collection of hymns

Alveston Manor
May 14th, 1855

How kind it was of you, my dear niece to think of me on my birthday & to write me such a welcome letter on the occasion. I thank you sincerely for it, & can assure you in return that you were not forgotten on the following Sunday, when we drank your health at Billesley & most heartily wished for you & your family many happy returns of it. I have now the pleasure of announcing the birth of another grandson¹ at Perth, of the portent (prospect)? of which I suppose you have been aware. I know not how far it may be a subject of congratulations except in so far as we are taught to consider the man as happy who has his quiver full & ought
(page 2)
therefore to look upon them as gifts from God & trust in Him to provide a sufficient maintenance for them in this world & to render them meet for the heavenly inheritance promised in the life to come. I have often observed that large families succeed better than small ones thereby connexions are diffused & enlarged & they are often able to assist & to promote each other's welfare. You have been greatly blessed, my dear niece in this respect, & have richly experienced the goodness of God towards (you²) & yours, that He is eminently the Father of the fatherless, & the Friend & Protector of the widow. You are peculiarly happy in the possession of dutiful & amiable children, in sons who promise to prove useful & ornamental members of society, & in daughters whose greatest pleasure it is to administer to your comfort. I congratulate you on the distinction already obtained by your eldest son³, who doubtless will rise to high honor (sic) in the literary world, having already produced a work of deep research, which may probably lead to a professorship in the university.
I find my infirmities increase as I must expect to do at my advanced age. Altho' still able to take my share of duty in the Church, for which I am thankful (and preached at Stratford on Palm Sunday & assisted the new Vicar at the Sacrament).
(page 3)
yet I experience the truth of the Psalmist's remark that our strength at fourscore years (and I count three years beyond it) that at the best it is but labor & sorrow⁴; toilsome days & wearisome nights are appointed me, & I had need daily & hourly to stand on my watchtower & be ready for a call at any moment. Life to me must be very uncertain, as it is indeed to all of us, but especially to the aged: & therefore I hope to have the satisfaction of seeing you once more, if it please God, & that nothing will prevent your coming to us some time in the course of the summer, & such of your dear family as can accompany you. The Dewes⁵ propose being with us during the month of June, after which we shall be ready to receive you & yours, as far as I am now aware. Should any impediment arise on either side, the plan can easily be adjusted & rearranged, but we shall certainly have no long visitors after that time. The expected visit of the Halls & Hasties is altogether uncertain if at all practicable. Dear Edward will not come till late in the year, after the Synod, but he would not be in the way of any one. I should have said that F.A. (Fanny Ann⁶) & the child are going on as well as possible; the event took place on Friday night. She is removed from the College to
(page 4)
Miss Lee's, who has become the Mistress of a Girls' School under their patronage, & has a house near, which is more quiet than her own would be, which is constantly interrupted by visitors. Edward got through his Lent & Easter duties better than usual as Fanny Anne told us, but has lately suffered from an attack of his old complaint. A new house is contemplated for the Provost with a garden which will be a great accommodation for them & for the children. It is now building in a good situation & equally near to the Cathedral. They have also got a Grammar School for boys independent of the College School with playground, which will be great advantage, & they have many scholars. This is under the superintendence of one of the Canons, for it is to be a working model Cathedral, such as will probably be proposed by the Cathedral Commission. So poor Goymer is gone to his rest! He has been a useful man in his generation. In all my great collection of hymns I could not find one for Rogation Week, except in his book. I wish it was more widely known & circulated. It is the only one that provides hymns for every possible occasion, & is upon the whole the best of any. Mr Jackson & Maria⁷ write with me in kindest love to you & all around you & in the hope of seeing you
I remain,
my dear niece,
your most affectionate uncle,
F. Fortescue Knottesford
(continued on page 1)
We have great reason to be thankful for the appointment of Mr Granville. He has every requisite qualification for his position except a knowledge of & taste for music, so that he keeps up every thing as before yet our services are not so correct as they have been. He is a most laborious clergyman firm in his principles, & conciliating in his manners. Besides the daily service in quire he has established a lecture every Wednesday evening at St James's the new church which was consecrated last month & also on alternate Sundays at Shottery & Luddington. The whole Harding family took a pleasurable dinner with us, on Easter Monday, the day before they left Stratford. They have since been with Ld Denbigh⁸ at Paris⁹

Footnotes:
1. This must be a child of Edward and Fanny Anne Fortescue, as Edward was Provost of Perth Cathedral in 1855. There is no other record of this grandchild, and no mention of him in the 1861 census; it may be that the child did not survive until 1861.
2. The word "you" is not in the text of the letter, and has been inserted by the editor.
3. George Downing Liveing [99] became Professor of Chemistry at Cambridge University, and a Fellow.
4. Psalm 90.10: "The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow, for it is soon cut off, and we fly away." (Authorised Version)
5. Francis's daughter Frances Catherine and her husband the Reverend Joseph Dewes (the Rector of Rockland St Mary, in Norfolk), and their children.
6. Edward's wife, Frances Anne nee Spooner.
7. Francis's daughter Maria Margaretta, nee Knottesford, and her husband the Reverend Francis George Jackson.
8. This must refer to William Feilding, the 7th Earl of Denbigh (1796 - 1865), who held the title from 1800 (after first his father and then his grandfather had passed away) until his own death in 1865. Lord Denbigh became Deputy Lieutenant of Warwickshire in 1825, and it is understood that his family's ancestral home was at Newnham Paddox, near Rugby, in Warwickshire.
9. This word cannot be deciphered with any confidence. It does not appear to be "Paddox", which one might have expected. It could possibly be "Paris", although it is difficult to understand what Lord Denbigh and the Hardings would be doing there.

Envelope addressed to:
Mrs Liveing
Stoke by Nayland
Colchester

Transcribed by Dr Stanley Lapidge.

60. Francis F Knottesford Letter: To Catherine Maria Liveing nee Downing of Nayland SFK, 8 Apr 1857, Alveston WAR.
Liveing Archive Knottesford 12
Endorsed on the envelope, in a different hand: F F K - C M L 8 April 1857 Birthday Cong[ratulations]
Hopes to see C M L at Alveston

Alveston Manor House
April 8, 1857

As you my dear niece kindly remembered me on the completion of my 85th year which kindness I gratefully acknowledge, so I do not forget that this day is the anniversary of your birth upon which I with no less sincerity & affection congratulate you, wishing most heartily that, by the blessing of God, you may be permitted to witness many, many happy returns of it. I have been grieved to hear of your trouble & anxiety respecting your dear daughter Charlotte¹, whose health
(page 2)
I am sorry to find was not so far improved by her sea voyage, as might have been expected, & that therefore your anxiety is to be renewed by a second application of the same distressing remedy, which however I trust will, thro' mercy, be attended by more beneficial results. It was a kind thought you entertained of coming to see us, & joining us on the 4th ult. & I thank you for it. Glad indeed should we have been to see you, & I hope as you are not going to Ventnor you may still put it in execution. I have deeply lamented the not seeing you, or any of your dear family for so long a time & especially for the cause of your long absence & now I must beg that if possible it may not much longer be deferred, for if I am ever to see you again it must be, I think, in the course of this summer for I have been so much worse during the last winter, that I cannot expect to pass thro' another. My weakness & infirmity sadly encrease [sic], but why do I age (?)
(page 3)
sadly, for thereby I humbly hope they approach nearer to their termination: to an end of sorrow & an end of sin, thro' his all prevailing intercession whose all atoning sacrifice we are now solemnly commemorating. I have been to church today for the first time this week, since Sunday I read & took a part in the service, & I have great reason to be thankful for the many great & undeserved mercies & privileges I enjoy especially that of being able still to take my portion of duty, my brain being as sound as ever, but I am unable to walk so far as Stratford, so that I have attended none of the daily services there since Christmas. There are sermons every evening this week at St James's the new church, & I hope (which I very seldom do) to go out this evening to hear Mr Barnard our new Vicar² in whose ministrations I of course feel much interested. He is a learned man, reads the SS [scriptures] in Hebrew & Syriac, of very popular manners, & attentive to the poor, so that the improvement in our parish is as you will suppose, very great. He is a cousin of Lord Willoughby. Mr Granville too is most diligent in his laborious vocation, devoting himself wholly to his work. All the services are continued indeed encreased [sic]: for the sacrament is administered in one place or other every Sunday, & twice at 8 in the morning.
(page 4)
The choir is in the highest order equal to any in our Cathedrals. You have a great deal to see when you come. The proper position of the Choir in the body of the Church & removal of the organ into the transept, which allows the whole length of the nave to be seen, & opens to view the fine West Window. You ask about our friends at Perth. The accounts from thence have been on the whole very good. Edward has been with the Bishop to a consecration of a new church at Bridge of Allan, a beautiful place near Stirling, & was to preach on the occasion last Thursday. It is a place of fashionable resort on account of mineral waters, which rise there. Edward Junior is very highly favoured in getting a Cadetship thro' the influence of the Bishop of London³ who amongst his various extensive patronage is a Visitor of the India College, & has procured an immediate appointment to the best Residency, Bengal, with the best pay, which he will receive just as soon as he is enrolled after his examination, in order to which the Bishop has recommended an excellent tutor at Eltham. The Bishop seems very fond of him, & spoke highly of him in a letter to me. He has seen a good deal of him for he has been twice staying with him, which is a great advantage to him, & has had the advice of his physician for the bleeding at the nose
(the top of page 1, continued from page 4)
which I am glad to hear is in the way to be healed otherwise I should fear his passing the medical examination. It is a provision for life if he obtains it, & is therefore to be considered as a great benefit. I am surprised at his choice, but as he has made it, it is very fortunate, for in the Church it would have been 7 years before the Bishop could have provided for him; & a man may serve God in the army, as well as in any other profession, tho' the dangers & temptations are greater, but not now so great as they were & he will be introduced to the best society. I think his father will feel it much. He expects to come up in June to provide his outfit, they will be I suppose at London House, where we have also had an invitation, but I am not in a fit state to accept it. All well here & write in best love to all with your affectionate uncle F.F. Knottesford

Footnotes:
1. Mrs Liveing's daughter Charlotte was born on the 4th November 1838, and was therefore aged 18 at the date of this letter. Whatever her illness was, and whether or not a second sea voyage was helpful to her, she survived until the age of 58, dying on the 16th November 1896, in Newnham, near Cambridge.
2. Francis customarily worshipped at Holy Trinity Church, in Stratford upon Avon (the principal town church), rather than at the recently-founded church of St James's, Alveston. It is therefore assumed that Mr Barnard is the new Vicar of Holy Trinity, rather than of St James's, and that Francis's fulsome praise of the choir on page 4 relates to Holy Trinity.
3. At the date of this letter the Bishop of London was Archibald Tait (later Archbishop of Canterbury), who was Edward Fortescue's brother-in-law (Edward was married to Fanny Anne Spooner, and Bishop Tait was married to her sister Catherine Spooner).

Envelope addressed to:
Mrs Liveing
Stoke by Nayland
Colchester

Transcribed by Dr Stanley Lapidge.

61. Francis F Knottesford Letter: To Catherine Maria Liveing nee Downing of Nayland SFK, 15 Apr 1858, Alveston WAR.
Liveing Archive Knottesford 13
On the envelope is endorsed, in a different hand: F F K - C M L 15 Apr 1858 refs. to Uncle Charles's death
young E Fortescue going to India

Alveston Manor House
April 15, 1858

It was very kind of you my dear niece to think of me & favour me with a congratulatory letter at the time when you were mourning over the loss of a valued & useful friend & relative¹. We sympathized with you on the occasion, but felt thankful as doubtless you also do, that his life was spared as long as his kind & valuable advice & assistance were necessary for your comfort & advantage. Your excellent sons are now fully equal to the transaction of all business that may require their attention, & their dutiful & exemplary conduct must be a constant source of satisfaction to you.
(page 2)
It was remarkable & melancholy that the same post brought the intelligence of the death of three persons in whom we had an interest. That of your good brother in law; of Mrs Farrand a friend & connexion of Mr Jackson & of Georgina Harding, all of whom died at a distance from home, the latter at Hastings where the family had been ever since Christmas, on account of her health, & who had been a great sufferer from a very painful disorder. I have been & am extremely weak, but was very desirous to take my accustomed portion of duty on the great festival of Easter, & it pleased my heavenly Father so to strengthen me at the time as to enable [me] to do so, for which I have great reason to be thankful, as also for many great & undeserved blessings both spiritual & temporal which thro' mercy I am permitted to enjoy. I have never been detained from Church or from preaching, & last Sunday was at Stratford & on Monday evening presided at an interesting lecture on Australia, when the Town Hall was fuller than I ever saw it on a similar occasion.
(page 3)
I cannot be said to suffer any of those pains to which age is subject from rheumatics & other causes; but no one can tell what the distress arising from extreme weakness is, but those who experience it. The distracted state of the Church both here & in Scotland has agitated me greatly & perhaps encreased (sic) my indisposition. Happy is it that there is a haven of rest & peace for all who seek to attain it & far better is it to be go[ing] out of the world at such an eventful period than to be coming into it. The dissensions in Scotland far exceed those in our own church & what will be the end, no one can foresee. We have, however, the satisfaction of knowing that dear Edward's health is much better than usual, notwithstanding his great trials & labors. He has the whole congregation with him amounting to 600, including two or three great lairds. He came to England, & saw his son² set off from Southampton, & spent a few days at London House, where were visiting at the same time 7 bishops & the Deans of Westminster & St. Paul's. Young Edward has introductions to the Governor General & most influential persons & the
(page 4)
new Bishop who is a great friend of the Bishop of London; & preached his consecration sermon. We heard of him from the Redlers [?], & expect soon to hear of his arrival in India. We remembered you on the 8th ult. & drank your health to the enjoyment of many happy years to come. I find that you & Mr Dewe³ are of the same age. They are very happy in their Bishop, who is to visit them in the course of the summer, as he will all the Rural Deans, & spend a Sunday & preach at the parish church & see the clergy in the neighbourhood a very excellent plan. Death makes great ravages around us: Mrs Phillips was buried yesterday: Mrs Boultbee Mrs Crawford & Mrs Buddeson also died lately. & I am yet left to enter my 87th year, the last birthday I ever expect to witness, & it was connected with the celebration of our highest religious solemnities⁴ to my joy & comfort. The dear children's coughs was been very [?] affected by the late severe weather; today there is a relaxation of it, & I hope they will derive benefit from it. All here unite in kindest love to all & best wishes for your continued health & happiness, with your affectionate uncle,
Fr. Fortescue Knottesford
(Continued top page 1)
My great age & infirmity must plead an excuse for the inaccuracies & egotism of this unworthy reply to your kind remembrance of me. I am thankful that I saw you last year.

Footnotes:
1. Charles Liveing was the younger brother of Mrs Liveing's late husband Dr Edward Liveing. He had worked as a First Clerk at the National Debt Office, in London, until his retirement by reason of ill health in 1856. He died on the 29th March, 1858.
2. Edward's son (also Edward) had just received an appointment as an officer in the Indian Army (the Bengal Regiment), through the patronage of his uncle, Archibald Tait, the Bishop of London (later Archbishop of Canterbury), who was married to Catherine Spooner, his mother's sister. Francis gives news of the appointment in his letter of the 8th April 1857.
3. The Reverend Joseph Dewe, husband of Francis's second daughter Frances Catherine, and Rector of Rockland St Mary, in Norfolk.
4. In 1858 Good Friday fell on the 2nd April, and Easter Day fell on the 4th April.

Envelope addressed to:
Mrs Edward Living
Stoke
nr Colchester

Transcribed by Dr Stanley Lapidge.

62. Francis F Knottesford Letter his last letter.: To Catherine Maria Liveing nee Downing of Nayland SFK, 6 Apr 1859, Alveston WAR.
Liveing Archive Knottesford 14
Endorsed on the envelope, in a different hand: F F K - C M L 6 Ap 1859 - his last letter

Alveston Manor House
April 6, 1859

I hasten to thank you & all around you my dear niece, that I may return your kind & affectionate congratulations in kind upon our own natal day, whereon I sincerely reciprocate all the good feelings you have so obligingly expressed, & heartily wish & pray that you may be permitted to witness many, many returns thereof, to your own comfort & happiness & that of your amiable family. I never forget you on that day nor any day omit to remember you at the throne of Grace. That I should have been preserved so long as to celebrate 87 birthdays is what I never expected.
(page 2)
& more especially since Christmas did I doubt the continuance of my present life till Monday last, for I have felt the effects of the last more than any previous winter, which tho' respectably [?] mild, has been no less singularly unhealthy, but during the last week I have recovered strength, & on Sunday was better able to perform my accustomed duties than I have been for some weeks. This is in many respects a great mercy, more especially as it affords me a longer space for repentance & preparation for that change which cannot be far distant; but I must wait in faith & patience for the appointed time which we are sure will be the best time. You have had great & various troubles, my dear niece during the last few years; but all I doubt not for good, & it is thro' much tribulation that we must enter into the Kingdom of God. As regards your own immediate family you have of late been wonderfully relieved by the improved health of your beloved children: which I trust will ultimately
(page 3)
be confirmed. The unexpected death of Mr Ambrose1 must have been a great shock to his friends & relatives. Thank you for your thoughtful consideration respecting the seal. Our accounts from Perth improve. Edward is recovering, but very slowly. He eats & sleeps better, but is not yet able to perform his accustomed duties in the Church. He preached a Consecration Sermon at some church last week, according to promise, but it was rather too much for him. I had a letter from his own hand on Monday, wherein he states what I am sure you will be glad to hear, that the Bishop of London2, who has just been appointed a Governor of the Chester House, has sent his first nomination as a foundation scholar to one of his boys, whichever may be of age at the time of the next vacancy. This is a great boon, possessing considerable advantages. Johnny a fine tall lad more than 6 feet high & is only 15 years old is gone by the Bishop's desire to the great school at Marlborough of which his great friend the present Bishop of Calcutta was the master.
(page 4)
It will be very pleasant to you, & to Rocklanders³ to have Mr & Mrs Ingram⁴ in their neighbourhood. George Dewe⁵ is to be entered this term, probably at Catherine College⁶, & to commence residence in October. And now I hope, from the improvement of your family should life⁷ be preserved, that I may have the great pleasure of seeing you here once more this summer, with such of your daughters as can conveniently accompany you. I thank God all are tolerably well here. We have escaped the fever which was at one time so prevalent but has now subsided. Mary⁸ is still poorly at times, but I hope will gradually gain strength. Notwithstanding what I have said my weakness is very great & of course encreasing (sic), but I have abundant reason for thankfulness in being as I am: my hand you see is as firm as ever⁹, but my legs will not carry me beyond the garden. I am going today to Mr Lucy's to meet the Commissioners, who are to propose some wholesome regulations respecting the School & the Schoolmaster. One of them I think is a Mr Fearon.
(top of page 1, continued from page 4)
All here unite in best wishes & congratulations with, dear niece, your most affectionate uncle,
Fr. Fortescue Knottesford

Kind love to all.
Young Edward seems to be happy in his position. I have had two letters from him lately. He is now in Nepaul. He has changed his Regiment & is now in the 6th Queens Service an old & respectable regiment & soon expects a Lieutenancy.

Footnotes:
1. Mr John Ambrose, a farmer, of Copford Lodge, Essex, died suddenly on the 26th February, 1859. He was a connection of Mrs Liveing, as his wife was Julia Liveing, the eldest daughter of Thomas Liveing, of Harwich.
2. Archibald Tait, the then Bishop of London (and afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury), was married to Catherine Spooner, the sister of Edward Fortescue's wife Fanny Anne Spooner, and as such was Edward's brother-in-law.
3. The "Rocklanders" are Francis's daughter Frances Catherine and her husband the Reverend Joseph Dewe, who was Rector of Rockland St Mary, in Norfolk.
4. The Reverend Rowland Ingram is said to have been the priest of Walsham-le-Willows, Suffolk, during the period 1859-60, and then to have been the Rector of Great Ellingham with Little Ellingham, Norfolk, during the years 1860-1872. (Walsham le Willows is about 37 miles from Rockland, and about 40 miles from Stoke-by-Nayland; Great Ellingham is about 23 miles from Rockland, and some 60 miles from Stoke-by-Nayland).
5. George Downing Dewe, one of Mr and Mrs Dewe's sons.
6. Possibly St Catharine's College, Cambridge.
7. Francis is presumably referring to the continuance of his own life.
8. This may be Francis's other daughter, Maria Margaretta, the wife of the Reverend Francis George Jackson. It is believed that Maria and her husband lived with Francis at Alveston Manor, and Mr Jackson often assisted with the services at Wilmcote Church.
9. This is, regrettably, not altogether true: some of the handwriting of this letter is very difficult!

Envelope addressed to:
Mrs Liveing
Stoke by Nayland
Colchester

Transcribed by Dr Stanley Lapidge.

63. Francis F Knottesford: Funeral Sermon Part 1, Whitsunday 1859.
Liveing Archive

64. Francis F Knottesford: Funeral Sermon Part 2, Whitsunday 1859.
Liveing Archive

65. Edward H L Liveing: His notes on the Knottesford Family Of Alveston WAR.

Francis married Maria DOWNING [7075] [MRIN: 2353], daughter of Rev George DOWNING [508] and Catherine CHAMBERS [509], in 1805. (Maria DOWNING [7075] was born on 25 Jun 1774 in Ovington ESS, died 4th Qtr 1852 in Stoke By Nayland SFK and was buried on 16 Oct 1852 in Billersley WAR.)