THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB.
103
gate Street. This oil painting is now in our Public Library; it was pre-
sented to the Walthamstow Council in 1917 by the Misses Filliter, des-
cendants of the famous original. This picture was engraved by Samuel
Cousins, and copies are very occasionally to be met with. Mrs. Cogan
died in 1850, in her 82nd year,after a married life of 60 years, and the worthy
doctor passed to his rest five years later, on Jan. 21st, 1855, and was buried
on Jan. 27th in the grounds of the Old Gravel Pit Chapel at Hackney.
In 1861 Mr. Joseph Cooper, a member of the Society of Friends, and
a prominent and untiring worker n the cause of the abolition of negro
slavery and general philanthropy, came into residence here with his family,
and afterwards purchased the property; it is to the kindness of his daugh-
ters, the Misses Cooper, that we owe the privilege of meeting here to-day.
These ladies still conduct a Sunday School in these rooms, which has had
a continuous existence of over 50 years, and their name for good works
is as a household word in the neighbourhood.
Following the reading of the above paper a detailed inspection of the
house and gardens was made, under the personal conduct of our hostesses,
who pointed out many objects of interest, including the bell attached
externally to the wall of the house, which the worthy Doctor rang to sum-
mon his pupils. After the Hon. Secretary had expressed the thanks of
the visitors to the Misses Cooper, leave was taken, and the party again
took tram for the Central Library, passing en route the remains of Elm
Lodge, the birth-place of William Morris, and the Winns, where he lived
as a youth.
Lunch was taken at the Central Library, the splendid lecture hall having
been kindly loaned to the party for the occasion of the meeting by the
District Council.
After lunch our indefatigable guide, Mr. S. J. Barns, read a short
account of Walthamstow, briefly tracing its history and development
from prehistoric times, and particularly from the time of the Domesday
Survey down to its present status as a large and still-growing town of
some 120,000 inhabitants. Mr. Barns went on to speak of some of the
many historical characters who have in their day been associated in some
way or other with Walthamstow. He said:—
"It was adjoining the churchyard that in 1527 George Monoux built
the almshouses and school which he endowed, and the old buildings still
stand as a monument to his charity to the poor and care for education.
George Monoux lived at a house called 'Moones,' in what is now Billet
Lane, at Chapel End : he was a great benefactor to the parish, providing
it not only with the above institutions, but with a constant supply of pure
water and a safe causeway over the frequently flooded marshes. The
place of his birth is uncertain, but he was a prominent London citizen
and merchant, although also identified with Bristol, in which city he
served the office of mayor. Seven times Master of the Drapers' Com-
pany, thirty-four years alderman of the ward of Bassishaw, Sheriff in
1509-10, Lord Mayor 1514-15 and re-elected in 1528, he refused the office
on the grounds of ill-health and after some trouble was released on pay-
ment of a fine of £1,000. He was also M.P. for the City of London in 1523.
George Monoux died on 9th February, 1543-4, and was buried under an
altar tomb in the Church; the tomb has gone, but his brass, with that of
his wife, still exists. . . .