166 LETTERS FROM THE REV. WM. DERHAM, D.D.
miles from him, than are given here. These unfortunately
have no doubt been destroyed during the lapse of time which
has taken place since they were penned.
Dacre Barrett was the eldest and sole surviving son of the
Honble. Richard Lennard, only son, by his second wife, of Richard
Lennard, Lord Dacre. Dacre's father took the name of Barrett
under the terms of the will of his kinsman, Edward Barrett,
Lord Newburgh, on succeeding to Belhus, which house was
built by Edward's great-great-grandfather John, who died in
1527. Dacre was born in 1653, and, succeeding his father in
1696, died in January 1724-5. He married, firstly, in 1680, Lady
Jane Chichester, a daughter of the Earl of Donegal, by whom
he had one son and three daughters, from the former of whom the
writer is descended. In 1692 he married, as his second wife,
Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Moore, of Knockballymore, co.
Monaghan, by whom he had only one child, Elizabeth, who sur-
vived infancy. Dacre's second wife dying in 1694, he married
as his third wife, at Blackmore, Essex, some two years later,
Sarah Saltonstall, a daughter of Sir Capel Luckyn, Baronet, of
Messing, and widow of Philip Saltonstall, of South Ockendon.
Esquire, and by this wife he had issue a daughter.
Dacre and his younger brother went to France with a tutor
for their education for a period of nearly two years. He at
one time represented Co. Monaghan in the Irish House of Parlia-
ment, and, when he succeeded his father and came to live at
Belhus, he took a considerable part in local politics and county
matters, and was High Sheriff for Essex in 1705. The following
letters prove that Dacre Barrett was very far removed from the
typical country squire of the period, who has been depicted by
Fielding as "Squire Western." They show that he possessed a
considerable library of the latest scientific books of the day, which
the learned Doctor borrowed of him from time to time. And
not only did the Doctor borrow books of him, but at times he
also asked Dacre to correct his writings, and to give him the
benefit of his opinion as to the identity of birds and plants.
Dacre was elected a member of the Royal Society, and on
three occasions was one of the ten of their number elected to
serve on the Council of that Society.
The end of the 17th and early part of the 18th century was a
great period of renaissance in art, literature and science, and the