THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. 161
everything curious throughout the county, having made several journies about it,
but published only the history of Hinckford Hundred." 1
Thomas Jekyll's papers were used by Tindal in his fragment (two numbers
only having been published) "The History and Antiquities of Essex" (1720), and
largely by Morant (1768) as acknowledged by him. Circa 1740 appeared nine-
teen parts of "The History and Antiquities of Essex, from the collections of
T. Jekyll.....the papers of Mr. Ouseley.....and Mr. Holman" by N.
Salmon, who left it unfinished at his death in 1742.
The MS. exhibited consisted of 16 pp. and 3 pp. in a different handwriting,
with a memorandum stating that these last were in the handwriting of Dr.
Gower. The MS. appears to have belonged to "J. Lee, Doctor's Commons,
1827," and contains his book-plate. Mr. Cole exhibited the MS. for the purpose
of obtaining information respecting it; whether it was an original list, or a copy as
he feared, and as to the present depository of the MSS. mentioned in the
catalogue.
Mr. Miller Christy said that Dr. Foote Gower (probably some relation to Dr.
Gower mentioned by Mr. Cole) was rector of Chignal. He left a MS. history of
Chignal which is now preserved in the Rectory.
[Since the meeting I have shown the MS. to Mr. H. W. King, Hon. Sec. to the
Essex Archaeological Society, who writes that the MS. is distinctly a copy. "It
is not in the least like Holman's writing, who, when he wrote cursively, wrote
very illegibly and in a much older style.....It strikes me that I have seen the
hand before, but I cannot say whose it is.....It is not Morant's, nor
Muilmans, with both of whom I am familiar, neither is it Booths [of Barnard's
Inn, who largely assisted Morant] which I also know as well as I know my own. . .
There is a similarity to Morant's writing in some words and letters, but I never
saw a specimen of it so slovenly written. Morant wrote a very neat hand, like a
lawyer's almost.....They are just the class of MSS. that Nicholas Jekyll
would have had. All the material, I should say, as far as it relates to Essex, has
been well sifted and digested by Morant, but it is well worth knowing what books
and MSS. N. Jekyll had." Mr. King adds that if he can trust his memory,
there are 20 MSS. in the British Museum Library which contain more
or less of Jekyll's materials, and that it is possible some of his MSS. are in the
Bodleian Library. Some of Jekyll's MSS. were certainly dispersed, because
20 or 25 years ago the British Museum had not the five volumes which they now
have among the Additional MSS. Mr. King adds, "I knew the Dr. Lee who
seems to have owned the MS.....He was at one time President of the
Royal Astronomical Society, and was very eccentric.....He once contested
Bucks, but received very few votes, as he advocated woman suffrage, teetotalism
and no smoking !" I have to thank Mr. King for the valuable information so
freely given from his vast stores of knowledge on this and many other occasions.—
W. Cole.]
Mr. Durrant said that in the list of books presented to the Club's library was
one which he had the pleasure of giving, and which was written by a Colchester
man. Its title was, "The Footsteps of St. Paul in Rome," and in it the author,
Mr. S. Russell Forbes, had elaborated an article on the first Christian Emperor,
and had established to his own satisfaction that Essex was the cradle of the
Christian Empire—that Constantine was born in Colchester, and was the son of
1 In a note Gough adds :—"I have not met with this work, but am well assured of its being in
print." Is anything known of it ? I cannot find any reference to it in bibliographies.—W.C.