432
NOTES AND QUERIES. [n s. XL JUNE 5, 1915.
JOHN STUART, EDINBURGH : Two EIGH-
TEENTH-CENTURY PAMPHLETS. A corre-
spondent in Edinburgh kindly sends me a
quaint pamphlet of twenty-nine pages,
entitled :
Information
For
Mr. John Stuart, Son to Mr. Francis Stuart of Camilla,
Against Mris. Sybilla Barbour.
It consists of a report, dated 2 Dec., 1732, relating to a certain judicial inquiry, and is signed " Bo. Dur.das," this being, presumably, an official acting for their Lordships, the " Commissars of Edinburgh." Appended to the pamphlet is another of thirty-six pages, dated 6 Feb., 1744, en- titled :
Memorial
By
Sir James Steuart of Goodtrees, Baronet, in Support of his Complaint against the Lord Arnistoun.
In the first -named pamphlet the "de- fender," John Stuart, is mentioned a.s ' Commissary " and as " Writer to the Signet." Reference is made also to Sybilla Barbour's brother, Daniel Barbour.
Can any reader, familiar with Scottish records, suggest what was the source, or original form, of the two pamphlets ? Were they probably part of a bound volume of judicial proceedings ? E. BEAUCHAMP.
Chicago.
MEXICAN FAMILY. Can any one help to identify the following coat of arms ? Vert, on a mount an animal regardant argent ; in chief a bird flying between five quatrefoils slipped of the second ; a bordure gules, charged with thirty coronets or.
All I know about it is that it is Mexican, and, as I understand, belonged to some prominent family. R. F.
Queensland.
REV. GEORGE NICHOLSON. Within the thirty years 1787-1817, nearly fifty volumes or pamphlets upon theological subjects by this clergyman were published, bearing imprints, respectively, of London, Leeds, Stockport, Manchester, Macclesfield, or Liverpool. In 1814 appeared in Liverpool what is described to me as ' Memoirs of the Author : with Eighteen Extracts from his Unpublished MSS., &c.,' but I have hitherto failed to procure a copy through any of the ordinary channels. Can any reader of these lines help me to the handling of the book, by purchase or loan ? Failing that help, I should be glad to be furnished
with the name and address of the owner of
a copy, and, indeed, with any information-
concerning the said Rev. George Nicholson,
CHARLES HIGHAM. 169, Grove Lane, S.E.
MRS. BULKELEY. I wish to know the? Christian name of this once celebrated actress, and the exact date of her death, and to discover a.n authentic portrait of her. She was a Miss Wilford, the niece of the famous John Rich, and, according to ' The Thespian Dictionary,' " a, pupil of Mr_ Poecier, sen., who was a favourite dancer at the Opera House in Paris." She made her first appearance on the stage as a dancer at Covent Garden Theatre on 11 April, 1759, and appeared as an actress for the first time as Miranda in Mrs. Centlivre's ' Busy Body, r at the same theatre, on 23 April, 1765 (Genest's 'English Stage,' v. 75). i uringthe summer of 1766 she married a violinist in the Covent Garden band named Bulkeley ('Theatrical Biography' [1772], ii. 15; of. Genest's English Stage,' v. 135, 184 X . Owing to her immoralities she fell out of favour with the public, and on 20 Nov., 1779, while playing Portia, she was received with hisses. Advancing to the footlights, she told the audience " that as an actress she had always done her best to oblige the public, and as to her private character she begged to be ex- cused " (Genest's ' English Stage,' vi. 142-3). On 21 Sept., 1782, she made her first appear- ance at Drury Lane, and from 1785 to 1788. acted at the Haymarket. In the summer of 1788 she married Capt. Eben Barresford, " i the Fast Country Trade" (Gents. Mag. [1788], part ii. 657). She does not appear to- have acted in London after the season of 1789, but performed in Edinburgh in 1790 and 1791 ( k Annals of the Edinburgh Stage,' by J. C. Dibdin, 209, 212). 'The Thespian Dictionary ' says that she died at Dumfries in Scotland, " a sacrifice to dissipation," in 1792. See also 'Hist, of the Scottish Stage/ by J. Jackson, pp. 118-20 ; ' Secret History of the Green -Room,' i. 170; ii. 305-7;
- Memoirs of William Hickey,' 319.
HORACE BLEACKLEY.
Miss NOSSITER. Where can I find an account of Miss Nossiter, who is said to have played Juliet to Spranger Barry's Romeo at Covent Garden in 1750 ? There is a brief notice of her in Dr. Doran's ' Annals of the English Stage,' but it gives few particulars. She is said to have left a fortune to Barry in her will. Is there any corroboration of this statement ? When did she die ?
HORACE BLEACKLEY.
