52 THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
there dwelt, either in the district of Hoxton (then a little to the
north of London, but now included in its northern suburbs)
or else in the parish of St. Mary Whitechapel (in the East End
of London), or perhaps in both successively, the earliest member
of the Dale Family of whom we know anything—namely, one
North Dale. How he came to be there (whether by birth or
immigration), whence he came, when and where he was born,
whom he married, and when he died, we are completely ignorant.3
All we know about him is that he was by occupation a silk-
throwster (Whitechapel having been for long a chief seat of the
English silk industry), and that he had at least two sons, Francis
and Samuel.
Francis Dale, the elder of these two sons, w as born apparently
in 1652.4 That he Was brought up as an apothecary, we know,5
but where he qualified is not known. There are in the British
Museum three letters,6 from him to the Rev. Dr. Thomas Birch,7
an old and intimate friend of the Dale family. They relate
mainly to the sealing of certain bonds, and are of no biographical
interest. Of Francis Dale also, we know very little, except
that, late in 1732, he went to live at Hoxton.8 He left two
sons—Francis (junior) and Thomas as well (probably) as a
third, John.9
This Francis (junior) visited the East Indies, the West Indies,
and New Providence (in the Bahamas), whence he sent home,
between 1730 and 1732, to his uncle, Samuel Dale, of Braintree, a
number of interesting new seeds and plants.10 It was probably
through him that Mark Catesby, the naturalist and traveller,11
became acquainted with Samuel Dale. "To him [says
3 I know not where to search for the registers of Hoxton, which is not a parish, but I have-
searched those of Whitechapel, which are well-kept as a whole, but very negligently during
the Commonwealth, as is usual.
4 He was probably that Francis Dale, son of Francis and Joane Dale, of St. Botolph's,
Bishopsgate, who was baptized 13th Oct. 1652 (see The Registers of St. Botolph's, by the Rev.
A. C. W. Hallen, iii., p. 124: Harl. Soc., 3 vols., 1895).
5 In 1723, his son Thomas addressed him (see Post, p. 53) as "Francisco Dale, Pharmocopeo,
multo uso perito, fidelissimo, patri suo optimo, indulgentissimo, omni pietate et amore, quod
filium decet, semper colendo." ([Thomas Dale] To Francis Dale, greatly skilled in the phar-
maceutical art, a man of the greatest integrity, a most excellent and most indulgent father,
ever to be revered with obedience and affection, as befits a son).
6 Sloane MS. 4304, ff. 1-2.
7 Thomas Birch (1705-1766), though of Quaker origin, became a D.D. of Aberdeen. He
was a dull, but learned, historical and biographical writer; became both F.S.A. and F.R.S.
in 1735; and was ultimately, for many years (1752-65). Secretary of the Royal Society. He
bequeathed his books and manuscripts to the British Museum.
8 See Sloane MS. 4304, fo. 55.
9 Samuel Dale, of Braintree, in his will dated 5th August 1738 (sec post, p. 65), refers to his
nephew, John Dale, probably a brother of the two named above.
10 See Prof. Boulger, in Journ. of Botany, xxi. (1883), p. 227.
11 Born about 1679; travelled (1710-10) in North America, collecting plants, &c., and
afterwards (1722-26) returned there; F.R.S. (1733); died in London 1749.