THREE ESSEX DIGHTONS 125
assassinate him and this may have hastened his end. He left
property to the value of nearly £3,000,000, so it was said at the
time, acquired chiefly by Government contracts for provisioning
the navy during the various wars and also in extensive business
as a shipowner. His fortune went to his two daughters, the
eldest of whom, Elizabeth, was married on July 8th, 1830, to
Lord Edward Thynne, the fifth son of the Marquis of Bath and
the brother of the Duchess of Buccleuch; the younger, Margaret
Lauretts, married on February 20th, 1834, at St. George's,
Hanover Square, Richard (Butler) the second and last Earl of
Glengall. Hence Glengall Road, Woodford. His remains
were interred at Wapping with those of his father and mother
and his brother Peter Mellisii. He left a widow.
The last of my trio is Sir John Hall, K.C.H., of Walthamstow,
Woodford and London; High Sheriff for Essex in 1817 and
Lord Lieutenant of the county. John Hall was born at Stanning-
ton in Yorkshire in 1779 and was the eldest son of the Rev.
John Hall, for 46 years Minister of the English Church at Rotter-
dam. He originated the firm of John Hall and Co., ship and
insurance brokers, of 6, The Circus, Minories, and at the age of
28, in 1807, he was appointed Consul and Agent for the Maritime
Dominion of Pappenburg in East Friesland. Two years later he
was made Chairman for regulating convoys and for the protection
of British commerce and navigation to and from the ports
between the Elbe and Calais. In 1811 he purchased a freehold
and copyhold estate in Snakes Lane, Woodford, from Sir Charles
Flower, Bart., upon which he caused to be erected a house which
he called "Stannington House" after his birthplace. The house
was demolished when Woodford railway station was built.
Later, in 1835, he lived at Mill Cottage, which stood opposite to
the "Napier Arms," Woodford and which was sold in 1908,
the site being cleared and built upon. He, as John Hall, J.P.,
was one of the magistrates who administered the oath to the
trustees at their first meeting in 1816 in connection with the en-
largement of Woodford Parish Church.
In 1816 he was appointed Consul-General for Hanover in the
United Kingdom. From 1825 to 1853 he was the Hon. Secretary
and Treasurer of the Society of Merchants trading to the Con-
tinent, and in 1831 was knighted by William IV. He founded
the St. Katherine's Dock Co. and became its first Secretary. He
was on the Livery of the Cutlers' Company, but fined for Master-
ship, and was one of the original members of the City of London
Club, still flourishing in Old Broad Street. His long and active
life closed in 1861 after he had been for some years confidential
financial adviser to Queen Victoria. His only child, a daughter,
died unmarried in 1882.