62 THE CHIGWELL ROW MEDICINAL SPRINGS
itself and his is the only name appearing anywhere. I have been
unable, however, to identify any person of that name, either
physician or artist, who seems likely to have been the writer.
The only other suggestion I am able to make is that the
manuscript was not improbably written by the Rev. Dr.
William Martin Trinder (1747-1818), author of two other works
on medicinal waters. At all events, at about the date when the
manuscript seems to have been written, he was resident at
Romford, about four miles from Chigwell Row. Moreover, his
literary style and his general treatment of the subject, as seen
in his two other works referred to above, closely resemble those
of the manuscript.9
If, however, Trinder really did write this manuscript and
at about the date suggested (namely, 1775-1785), it seems
strange that he should have made no reference to the Chigwell
Row well in his Medicinal Waters of Essex (1783), which is
one of the two mentioned above. He must have been aware
of the existence of the well in question, inasmuch as it had been
long known. Indeed, Morant, had noticed it fifteen years earlier,
in 1768.10 The only suggestion I can make to explain this
anomaly is that possibly the omission was intentional—that
Trinder, when he wrote his work in question in 1783, had just
written for publication, or was about to write, the manuscript
dealt with herein and did not wish to anticipate or give away
the matter therein. It is likely that, unless evidence comes to
light unexpectedly, the point will never be cleared up.
A perusal of the Introduction prefixed to The Mineral Wafers
and Medicinal Springs of Essex (1910) will throw light on various
9 Trinder, a son of David Trinder, of Shadwell, in Middlesex, esquire, was born in 1747.
He matriculated at Exeter Coll., Oxford, on 31st October 1763, at the age of 16, and after-
ward- proceeded to the University of Leyden, where he took the degree of M.D. On the
31st October 1770, he took the degree of B.C.L. at Oxford, afterwards proceeding to that of
LL.B. For some time, he appears to have resided at Romford, where he either held a living
or practised medicine, or did both. His earliest published work was Au Essay on English
Grammar. His next was his Enquiry, by Experiments, into the Properties and Effects of the
Medicinal Waters in the County of Essex (London, Chelmsford, and Romford, 1783). the
preface of which is dated from Romford. The work was dedicated to Robert 9th Baron
Petre, and it described ten Essex Mineral Springs. Later, he published Practical Sermons
(Lond., 1786) and A Sermon on the Defence of our Country (Lond. 1798). About 1800, he
appears to have removed to Barnet, in Hertfordshire, where he took up his residence at
Rowley Lodge. Here he published A Sermon on the Parables (Barnet, 1816) and a work
entitled The English Olive-Tree, . . . to which are subjoined Chymical Experiments on
the Barnet Well Water (Lond. ? 1812), which reached a third edition. This was a curiously-
discursive discourse on medical and religious topics, intended mainly to urge the cure
of diseases by anointing the body copiously with olive oil. It abounds in classical
quotations. In his remarks (pp. 61-68) on the Barnet Well, he says that he had noticed,
since 1800, a decrease in the potency of its water for medicinal purposes. He details many
tests to which he had subjected it. Trinder died at Rowley Lodge on 18th December
18x8, in his 73rd year.—See Catal. of Graduates at Oxford, 1659-1850, p. 670 (1851);
Alumni Oxon., 1715-1886, iv, p. 1439 (1888); and Gentl. Mag., lxxxviii, pt. 2, p. 574 (1818)
10 Hist. of Essex, i. p. 164 (1768).