in 4 Richard II., 1380, by Richard Odiham, chamberlain of the city during the mayoralty of Sir William Walworth, and its place supplied by a new matrix, on which were represented St. Peter and St. Paul, with the Virgin and Child above, and a shield of arms of the city beneath, supported by two lions, and on either side a sergeant of arms, in a tabernacle surmounted by an angel[1]. In the spurious seal it will be observed that besides the alteration of all the architectural details, in which no Gothic character is retained, the figure of St. Peter is changed into that of a king, and under the sergeants are introduced two escutcheons, that on the dexter side being charged with two lions, probably intended for the ancient bearing of Normandy, the other with the three lions of England, omitting altogether the quartering of France. The legend is precisely the same on both seals.
The annexed cut represents an impression from the brass matrix of a personal seal of the fourteenth century, discovered in a field at Newnham Murren, near Wallingford. It is now in the possession of Mr. J. G. Payne, of Wallingford, who forwarded it for the inspection of the Committee. From the legend—*s' ioh'is . de . dvfforde.—and the armorial bearings on the shield, it seems probable that it may have been the seal of John de Ufford, who was summoned to Parliament in 34 Edward III., A.D. 1360. He was the son and heir of Ralph de Ufford, brother of Robert, first earl of Suffolk. In 27 Edward III. he had a grant in fee of the manor of Great Belstead, co. Suffolk, parcel of the possessions of the alien abbey of Aumale[2]. In 33 Edward III. he was appointed one of the Commissioners of Array for the county of Norfolk[3]. He died in 1361, holding at the period of his decease the manor of Great Belstead, and lands at Burgh, Glemham, and Chipenhale, co. Suffolk, and at West Lexham and Postwick, co. Norfolk[4]. Mr. Davy, of Ufford, who has obligingly supplied several instances of the name having been written 'de Dufford,' selected from the Leiger Book of Blythburgh Priory, observes that the Uffords derived their arms, sa. a cross engrailed or., in the first quarter a mullet ar., from the family of Peyton, settled at Ufford, Glover in his ordinary assigning this coat to Peyton. On the other hand it is stated in Bloomfield's history of Norfolk, that the Uffords bore this device by permission of the family of Hovel. The presence of the lions on this seal can only be explained by assuming them to have been introduced as ornamental details; it does not appear that the Uffords ever used a lion as a crest or cognizance. Mr. Payne also forwarded for inspection another brass matrix, found at Clapcot, near Wallingford: the device appeared to be a badger under a bush or tree; the legend reads *s' ioh'is . de . gildeford., date about the end
