128.11. DEC. 2, 1916.]
NOTES AND QUERIES.
449
British dollar was redeemed at about 1 9 to
1 9.6 British pence. As far as I have been able
to ascertain the " old " British dollar is not
older than 1863, when Great Britain began
to mint dollars for the trade with China
at Hong-Kong, in imitation of the Spanish
piastre. They were known at one time as
Hong-Kong dollars. The issue was discon-
tinued in 1868. Am I right ? L. L. K.
ST THEODORA. Was " Saint " Theodora really a saint ? Has she been canonized ? If not, how did the title come to be associated with her name ?
ALFRED S. E. ACKERMANN.
[St. Theodora was the wife ot the Emperor Theophilus in the ninth century. Gibbon tells the story of the manner in which she was chosen for that high estate. After her husband's death she ruled the Eastern Empire very successfully as regent for her son, but, desiring to retain the government as long as possible, neglected his education. Her last years were spent in a monas- tery. Her claim to rank as a saint was founded on her energetic and effective opposition to the iconoclastic heresy.]
MAJOR WALTER HAWKRS was drowned with his wife on their voyage home from India, Nov. 20, 1808. His memorial tablet, which was formerly in the East Cloister of Westminster Abbey, has lately been re- moved to the Dark Cloister. I should be glad to obtain the date and particulars of his marriage, and to ascertain in what Indian campaign he was severely wounded.
G. F. R. B.
" PUBLIC HOUSES " IN LONDON AND WESTMINSTER IN 1701. The minutes of the S.P.C.K., under date June 16, 1701, contain the following entry:
" Mr. Serjeant Hook reported that the Society for Reformation of Manners had dispersed above thirty thousand printed Papers throughout all the publick Houses in and about London and Westminster, and that these Papers were well received in all these Houses, tho' between six and seaven thousand in number, except in about twenty of them."
Is it possible that in 1701 thero could lave been between 6,000 and 7,000 public houses in the comparatively small area of London and Westminster ? Was the expression " public house " then used in a different sense from that in which it is now employed ?
R. B/P.
SAMUEL PETRIE. This individual was the friend and associate of John Wilkes for many years. He was a merchant of Token- house Yard, and was declared bankrupt in April, 1776. Later he was imprisoned in the Fleet, and afterwards went abroad.
I am anxious to discover the date and place
of his death. He survived until the year
1805, for in that year he was much annoyed
because some letters of his, which appeared
in Almon's ' Life of Wilkes,' vol. v. pp. 21-38,
had been " incorrectly printed, with omis-
sions, for which there existed no reason,
whatever." I shall be obliged for any in-
formation respecting him.
HORACE BLEACKLEY.
PAYNE FAMILY. James Payne of Bage- nalstown and Fenagh, co. Carlow, and Queen's Co., born c. 1780-3, married Rachel Lambe, at Dublin, c. 1815, and died in Carlow, Dec. 4, 1875, buried at Hacketts- town. He had a brother or first cousin George Payne, who married Jane Bell Labat, June 6, 1816, St. Peter's Church, Dublin, and died 1865, in co. Galway ; also sisters ( 1 ) Jane, married a son of Rev. MacNamara of Cork (?) (2) Elizabeth, married W. Hope, in 1814, Carlow. (3) Fanny, who married Lieut. Wm. Russell (army or navy officer), in 1814, St. Werburgh's parish, Dublin. The father (Edward or Wm. Payne, wife's name Elizabeth Sibthorpe) of James or George Payne was killed in 1798, near Castlecomer, co. Kilkenny.
I should be grateful for any particulars about any of the above families.
E. C. FlNLAY. 1729 Pine Street, San Francisco, California.
SIR JOHN BAKER, CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER TO KING HENRY VIII. About 1760 his portrait in oils was in the possession of the Rev. William Baker, Chancellor of Norwich Cathedral. Can any of your readers kindly give its present position ?
C. E. BAKER.
" TALKING THROUGH ONE'S HAT." -Some- times a person making a statement is said to be " talking through his hat." What is the meaning of this curious phrase ?
A. M. S.
HANNAFORE, A CORNISH PLACE-NAME. The main quay and market-place at Looe in Cornwall is thus known ; can any reader make clear the origin of this place- name ? Looe was sometimes called Bian ; and Hann occurs as a family name in Cornwall, Dorset, and Somerset. H. W. B. W.
THOMAS PLUMSON, WATCHMAKER, LON- DON. I possess an old verge watch in a green shagreen outer case. The maker's name, engraved within, is Thomas Plumson, London. Can any reader tell me when this watchmaker was in business ?
DUN SCOTUS.
