10 s. x. DEC. 26, iocs.] NOTES AND QUERIES.
505
but whether his visits were at all regular,
or simply spasmodic, there seems nothing to
indicate. He wrote a letter from Trentham
on 28 Aug., 1701 (Gent. Mag., 1791, part ii.
p. 893). As I showed in my book (p. 258),
Shaw, the Staffordshire historian, described
Plaxton as
"an ingenious antiquary and natural historian, as appears from his writings in the Phil. Transact. and his MSS. relating to this county at Trentham."
Plaxton and his family made gifts towards Thoresby's collection of antiquities ( 'Musseum Thoresbyanum,' ed. Whitaker, 1816, passim).
The Sheriffhales register records the marriage, on 29 Sept., 1677, of " Mr. George Plaxton and Mrs. Alice Perratt " (informa- tion of the Rev. A. T. Michell). The bride was Alice, daughter of Abraham Perrot, gent. (Thoresby's ' Ducatus Leodiensis,' ed. Whitaker, p. 258). She died in 1709, having had issue :
1. William Plaxton, born 16 Dec., 1678, at 6 A.M., at Sheriffhales, and bapt. 26 Dec. ('Donington Register,' p. 88). Thoresby describes him as " of the Temple." The register of the Temple Church records that " William Plaxton, esq., a Member of the Inner Temple, was buried in the rounds on Monday, September 23rd, 1745 " (The Eagle, as before, p. 228). The Rev. A. T. Michell, F.S.A.. of Sheriffhales, tells me that
"a William Plaxton, whom I take to be George's son, was still in this neighbourhood about the year 1722, after his father's death, and had inherited his father's antiquarian tastes. I have seen some notes of his, taken apparently from MSS. in the Trent- ham muniment room. Bat I have no means of dis- covering in what capacity he was able to get at these records."
2. George Plaxton, born 16 Dec., 1681, at Sheriffhales, and bapt. 28 Dec. (' Doning- ton Register,' p. 88). Thoresby describes him as " of London," where, as already shown, the antiquary possibly met him.
3. John Plaxton, born 12 'March, 1683/4, at Sheriffhales, and " bapt. the same night, being weak " (ibid., p. 88). He matriculated at Oxford from Corpus Christi College on 3 Nov., 1702, aged seventeen (?), and became B.A. in 1706 (Foster's ' Alumni Oxonienses '). He took Holy Orders. As already related, Thoresby heard him preach on 13 Sept., 1713. No doubt he was the John Plaxton, Rector of Sutton-upon-Derwent, Yorks, whose eldest son, William Plaxton, was admitted to the Inner Temple on 11 Nov., 1743 (The Eagle, as before, p. 228).
4. Charles Plaxton, born 3 Feb., 1690/91, at Donington, and bapt. there 3 March (' Donington Register,' pp. 52, 88). He is
not mentioned in Thoresby's pedigree, so
probably died young.
(1) Jane Plaxton, born 11 Dec., 1679, at Sheriffhales, and died 15 Sept., 1685 (ibid., p. 88).
(2) Anastasia Plaxton, born 4 April, 1686, Easter Day, at Sheriffhales (ibid., p. 88). She married Thomas Perrot, M.A., Prebendary of Ripon, Rector of Welbury, N. Riding, and of St. Martin-in-Micklegate. York, one of nineteen children of Andrew Perrot of York (Thoresby's 'Ducatus Leodiensis,' 1816, pp. 72, 258; and 'D.N.B.'), and, according to Thoresby, had issue George, Andrew, and Anastasia, Andrew being described as Vicar of Bramham in 1743. George Perrot (1710-80), said to be the second son, rose to be a baron of the Exchequer ; he w r as condemned by Horace Walpole as " servile " (' D.N.B.').
(3) Ann. Plaxton, born 6 April, 1688, at Sheriffhales. Thoresby's pedigree shows her alive in 1714.
I doubt if Plaxton can rank as an " omis- sion " from the ' D.N.B.,' for he seems to have belonged rather to the race of unpro- ductive enthusiasts. But his friendship with Thoresby endows him with some interest ; while his enthusiasm, his sim- plicity of character, and his courage, leavened with a humour in which there was no gall, render him a figure far from unattractive. ALEYN LYELL READE.
Park Corner, Blundellsands, near Liverpool.
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF CHRISTMAS.
(Continued from 10 S. viii. 485.) TWENTY-THIRD LIST.
JOHN DAVIES, ' Civil Warres,' 1661, p. 6, mentions the " many scandalous and sedi- tious pamphlets " in which the Puritans of the time of Charles I. " condemn the hos- pitality which ancient custom taught the gentry of these nations to use at Christmas, and other festivals."
An Hymn on the Nativity of My Saviour. 4 stanzas. In Ben Jon son's ' Underwoods,' 1640 ; ed. Cornwall, 1838, p. 688 ; ed. Robert Bell, p. 122.
Eboracum. By Francis Drake. 1736. Contains notes on Christmas, p. 71.
The Christmas Box, or New Year's Gift. Wood- cuts (about 1820).
The Christmas Fete, a Literary and Musical Offering for 1836. By W. Kirby. Frontispiece, 4to.
Christmas and Christmas Carols. With an intro- duction by John Fuller Russell. Illustrated. Lon- don, Sharpe, 1846.
Christmas Past. In Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. Ixx. pp. 1-17, with illustrations, December, 1884.
