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Orders for the first Volume should be sent in at once to the FaPRIETORS, Derbyshire Times, Chesterfield, as the List of Subscribers will close on the 11th of December, when the remaining Copies will be charged 138 each. Publishers:-PALMER & EDMUNDS, Chesterfield; BEMROSE & SONS, London and Derby. In this completely NEW EDITION the number of distinct Alphabetical Articles has been increased from 7,333 to 11,266, the whole Work remodelled, every date verified, and every subject re-examined from the original authorities. In comparison with the latest edition of the hitherto considered best work on the subject, Townsend's "Dates" now contains nearly double the number of distinct Alphabetical Articles. "We have, on more than one occasion, found in the first edition of The Manual of Dates' information which we have sought for in vain in other quarters. The new edition will be found more complete, and consequently more useful, even in an increased proportion to its increased size. The Manual of Dates' is clearly destined to take a prominent place among our most useful Books of Reference."-Notes and Queries. FREDERICK WARNE & CO. Bedford Street, Strand. LONDON, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1875. CONTENTS. - N° 102. NOTES:-Charles Wilmot Serres, a "Suppressed Prince," 461 -Dermid O'Meara - Medal: Cardinal Mazarin-Authors bishop, writing in 1866 about the opening of his coloured school in Bloemfontein, says : "My master is a character-a man of good family connexions; in fact, claiming to belong to the royal family of England. His name is Wilmot Serres, but he drops the latter, and we call him Old Wilmot. You will remember all about the claims of a Mrs. Ryves to be (I think) Princess of Cumberland. She is sister to Old Wilmot, the master of my coloured school." The bishop speaks of him as a well-conducted man, but eccentric, who had been many years in the colony, and at one time a schoolmaster in one of the Cape coloured regiments, and as “carrying REPLIES:-Yeoman: Husbandman: Farmer, 463" Cham-about with him a torn pamphlet recording the pion," 469-The Terminations "-eous" and "-ious," 470- claims of his mother and sister." When the catheCalcies-Herrick and Ausonius-To be in a Fox's Sleep-dral at Bloemfontein was opened, old Wilmot Step-inother-Pasquin, 471- Fairfax, &c.-"Civiers" Leases "Robrugam"-Chantries in Suffolk-Esme Family became the verger, but soon left for Grahams-Bookbinding-A Medical Criticism, 472-Coin Impressions town. While the bishop was in England in 1865, in Bells-J. Carew-Old Idea Reproduced-Early American Wilmot returned to Bloemfontein in search of Version of Young's "Night Thoughts"-Wildman on Bees-church work again, and, not finding it, set out once Mortlake Tapestry-"The fringes of the North Star"-"The Lincolnshire Bagpipes"-J. Bunyan's "Cat"-J. WartonMrs. A. Hunt-The P. W. A., 474-Butler and RabelaisTim Bobbin the Younger-Irish Prices in the Last Century, 475-Mr. Green of Cambridge, 1755-"Scull," a Rowing Term-Gundred, Wife of William de Warren-The "Pinta -Relationship-"Winifreda" and Cooper, 476- Curious Christian Names-Bell Inscription-Claude Amyand, 477A Duel-Judge Fell, 478. Shilling-Gold Coins-Ancient Irish Crosses, 473-Latin Notes. CHARLES WILMOT SERRES, A "SUPPRESSED If this paper should fall under the notice of the learned gentlemen who acted as counsel for Mrs. Ryves in the celebrated trial, by which she sought to establish her claim to succeed to her mother's rights, titles, dignities, and honours, and to be, what she had called herself in her celebrated Appeal for Royalty, Lavinia, Princess of Cumberland, and Duchess of Lancaster, those learned gentlemen will, I think (to use a phrase made famous by Lord Coleridge in a somewhat similar trial), "be surprised," for I believe they little suspected that Mrs. Ryves had at that time a brother living, the son of that lady's "royal and revered mother." Yet such is the fact. In the course of the investigations I made last winter into the impudent claim of Mrs. Serres and Mrs. Ryves, which have resulted in some extraordinary proofs of its deliberate falsehood and utter absurdity, I met with various allusions to a son of the soi-disant Princess Olive, and became anxious to know something of his history. Turning to "N. & Q." I found in the number for May 22, 1869, a long extract from the Quarterly Paper of the Orange Free State Mission, in which the then *This title is borrowed from Mr. Landor Praed's account of Mrs. Ryves-A Suppressed Princess: the Authentic, Romantic, and Painful History of an Ex cluded Member of the Royal Family. See "N. & Q.," 5th S. ii. 324; iv. 352. more for Grahamstown, but perished by the way. SIR JOHN MACLEAN, who communicated these extracts, misled probably by the name, supposed old Wilmot to be a brother of Mrs. Serres, who was a Miss Wilmot; but another correspondent, W. P., who obviously is alike acquainted with and interested in the history of that lady's unfortunate husband, pointed out that he was clearly the brother of Mrs. Ryves, as stated in the extract, and inquired whether or not he was one of the two natural children which, in the Life of J. T. Serres, Mrs. Serres is said to have had after their separation. W. P. was right in supposing old Wilmot to be the son of Mrs. Serres, but wrong in supposing him to be illegitimate. In the eye of the law he was not. On referring to the Life of J. T. Serres, I came to the conclusion that old Wilmot was no other than the child of whom it is there stated that Mrs. Serres was pregnant, though not by her husband nor to that husband's knowledge, at the time of their separation in 1803. And it has proved to be so. Believing Wilmot Serres to be the "lawful" son of Mr. and Mrs. Serres, and as such, therefore, her legal representative, it became of importance to ascertain whether he was living in June, 1866, when Mrs. Ryves was seeking, in the Court for Divorce and Matrimonial Causes, ostensibly to establish the validity of a supposed marriage of the Duke of Cumberland to an imaginary Miss Wilmot, of whom she alleged that her mother Mrs. Serres was the lawful issue, but which was in effect to establish her right to succeed that mother as Princess of Cumberland, &c., but to which right, if it existed, her brother, if living, would have the prior claim. But as, if still in the flesh, Wilmot Serres was in all probability a wanderer among those "unhabitable downs," where, as Swift tells us, geographers "Plant elephants instead of towns," I felt that my only chance of getting any information would be through the Times, which penetrates into regions which even the electric telegraph does not reach. A short "inquiry" as to whether old Wilmot was still alive, or, if dead, when he died, was (thanks to the courtesy of the editor) inserted in the Times of the 29th January last. The result of this appeal, through the widely read columns of the Times, far exceeded my hopes and expectations. Within eight-and-forty hours after that inquiry appeared, I received numerous letters from obliging correspondents, clearly establishing the fact that old Wilmot was certainly alive at the time of the Ryves trial, and for some time afterwards; a lady, who wrote with almost official authority, stating that he was present at the opening of the cathedral at Bloemfontein, on St. Andrew's Day (the 30th Nov.), 1866, which was confirmed by a letter from a gentleman who had been present on that occasion, who knew Wilmot, and saw him in his character of verger at the head of the procession; and the "inquiry" having been copied into some of the Cape papers, these communications were in due course followed by others from gentlemen resident in the colonies, some of them connected with the local press, who were so obliging as to furnish me not only with cuttings from the local papers, but also with original documents, illustrative of old Wilmot's history. Among the cuttings are several letters from old Wilmot himself, who seems to have been a pretty constant contributor to the colonial papers. The following is sufficiently characteristic to be reprinted verbatim. It was written fourteen months after the trial, to which, in one of the paragraphs, he makes a curious reference : "THE TRAVELS, ADVENTURES, AND HAIR-BREADTH ESCAPES OF MR. CHARLES WILMOT DE SERRES. "Bloemfontein, Aug. 6th, 1867. "To the Editor of The Friend, "Sir, I wish to lay before you and the readers of your valuable journal some account of my travels since I left this town. I departed from Bloemfontein last December, and proceeded by post-cart to Harrismith; from there by waggon to Maritzburg, on my arrival at which I found, to my sorrow, that the few Free State notes I had in my possession I could not get cashed; and after resting myself proceeded to Durban, and ultimately cashed my notes at a loss. I then intended to have gone to the Mauritius, but had not sufficient to pay my passage to that place. I left Durban (Natal) in February last, and travelled on foot en route to Grahamstown, and passed through several pleasant and pretty little villages, where sugar, coffee, arrowroot, plantains, bananas and pine-apples, as well as Kaffir-corn and mealies, were in cultivation. Having crossed a river into the Amaponda land, I trudged along the beach, where I for several days subsisted on martingulus, or Kafir-plums, and oysters, with occasionally a little thick milk, which some native women gave me-they having come to the beach to gather plums. During this time I experienced for several nights drenching rain, accompanied by heavy thunder and vivid lightning; in fact, I should have died of fever, gave myself up for lost, and laid down on the -my body being blistered all over, I was in a high state beach to yield up the ghost-but Divine Providence sent a kind Englishman of the name of O'Neil to my aid. After remaining some days with O'Neil, through God's blessing I recovered, and again started for Grahamstown. I moved on very slowly and gently, but lost myself several times by the way; yet I gradually regained my strength. Kind friends in Natal, as well as the missionaries and Kafir traders, and good Samaritans in the Colony, all along my route, vied with each other in dispensing the rights of hospitality and brotherly kindness, for which I now publicly return them thanks. scenery in the Amaponda land is romantic, grand, and sublime, particularly about the Umzimboova, or St. John's river, which with about 20,000l. could be made an available port. Turtle are often seen floating down this river. If an artist had accompanied me he could The natives seem rather uneasy and restless. soon have filled his scrap-book with some splendid views. The "I am sorry that my sister, Mrs. Ryves, should be so foolish as still to claim to be Princess of Cumberland and Duchess of Lancaster, instead of laying claim to 15,000. left by King George III. in 1767 to my mother, the late Mrs. Wilmot De Serres, as the daughter of his late Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland, brother to King George III. As a strict Conservative my motto has always been, For the Bible, Crown, and Constitution." "I am sixty-three years of age, and have walked from Reinet and Colesberg. If any of your readers should be Natal to this town, through Grahamstown, via Graaff in want of an English teacher, I am open to engagement; but should I not be engaged, I shall proceed to the Transvaal. "Hoping you will pardon this intrusion on your valuable time and space, I remain, sir, "Your obedient servant, "CHARLES WILMOT DE SERRES." Passing by for the present the " Suppressed Prince's " allusion to his sister, Mrs. Ryves, and to the trial in which she had been engaged in the preceding year, to his "mother, the late Mrs. Wilmot De Serres," and to his age, then sixtythree, which would point to his being born in 1804, I will quote a short passage from a letter by him, dated 1st January, 1867, Pietermaritzburg, Natal, addressed to the editor of the Times of Natal, in which he claims to be the legitimate son of Mrs. Serres :- "I am the son of John Thomas De Serres, Esquire, who up to his decease, in 1824, was marine painter to kings George the Third and Fourth. My grandfather was Count Dominic De Serres, born at Beauprie, near Oche, in France, and who eloped from his uncle, the then Archbishop of Rheims, to avoid an ecclesiastical life." |