46
NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. ix. JAN. 17,
Preacher of the word of God in the same Towne.
Allowed by authoritie. Imprinted at London
by T. D. for Thomas Butter. 1588."
I have been unable to obtain any bio- graphical information concerning Philip JTones, though in the Rev. E. A. Fuller's 'History of Cirencester Church' (1882) there is the statement that " Mr. Jones is styled the Preacher in a will of 1587." The Sermons were made the subject of inquiry in 'N. & Q.' (6 S. v. 25) and in Cflos. -N. & Q. (ii. 134) without result. There is not a copy in the British Museum, but Philip Jones, translator of Meierus's ' In- structions for Gentlemen employed Abrode ' (1589), and the writer of ' A True Report of a Worthy Fight,' included in Hakluyt's '* Voyages,' is described in the Catalogue as " Rev,, of Cirencester." The late Mr. G. K. Fortescue told me there was no evi- dence for this, and that it seemed to be merely the guess of an ingenious cataloguer. There is certainly nothing in the book to suggest any connexion. Lowndes may have been the authority for the reference, as \mder the name of Philip Jones he includes
- Certaine Sermons at Ciceter ' with the
work ' Instructions for Gentlemen.' In the Epistle Dedicatorie to the latter the trans- lator speaks of " my very good and learned friend M. Richard Hackluit," and of himself <; as yet unknown." The sermons printed in this volume are those mentioned by Wood f Fasti,' ed. Bliss, i. 221), who records three graduates of the name of Philip Jones, but was unable to assign the authorship of the sermons. There seems a possibility of the author having been Philip Jones of Bristol, plebeian, who matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford, 23 Nov., 1581, aged 18, and took his B.A. 18 March, 1582/3 (see Foster's 4 Alumni'). ROLAND AUSTIN.
CRICKET IN 1773. In reading the ' Early Diary of Frances Burney ' (1889) I find that on 6 June of the above year Mrs. Rishton begged Fanny Burney to send her by the Exeter post coach
" Two Cricket Batts, made by Pett of 7 Oaks, . . . .the very best sort, which costs 4.s. or 4s. 6d. each let them weigh 4. oz. and a qu r or 4 oz. and each." Vol. i., p. 214.
I gather from Mr. Robert Macgregors
- Pastimes and Players' (1881) that in
1743 the wicket consisted of two stumps only, with a third laid across, forming a hurdle one foot high and two feet wide ; and the bat then resembled a hockey-stick. But the bats spoken of in 1773 appear from their weight to have been more like rackets. RICHARD H. THORNTON.
WILLIAM PARSONS : LIFE OR HORSE
GUARDS. In ' The Criminal Recorder,' by
"a Student of the Inner Temple. 1804,
vol. ii. p. 213, it is stated that William
Parsons was advised by his father, Sir
William Parsons, Bt.,
" to enter as a private man in the horse guards. ....Upon mentioning his intention to the adjutant, he was informed that he must pay seventy guineas for his admission into the corps."
This ended the matter. In James Caul- field's ' Portraits, Memoirs, and Characters of Remarkable Persons,' 1819-20, vol. iv. p. 130, is a similar account, " his Majesty's regiment of life-guards " taking the place of " the horse guards." This would be in or about 1739. What does " a private man " mean ? A commissioned officer or a trooper ?
According to ' The Criminal Recorder,' Parsons was in 1740 commissioned as an ensign in the " forty fourth of foot " through the interest of the Right Hon. Arthur Onslow ; but according to Caulfield, ' The English Baronetage ' (by Thos. Wotton), 1741, hi. 268, and G. E. C.'s 'Complete Baronetage,' iii. 184, he served in Col. Cholmondeley's regiment, which according to Fortescue' s ' History of the British Army,' ii. 82, became the 47th. The. regi- ments which became the 44th and the 47th were raised in January, 1741 (ibid.).
Parsons, thief, forger, and highwayman, was hanged at Tyburn 11 Feb., 1751.
In ' The Criminal Recorder ' he is said to have been a son of Sir William Parsons, Baronet, of the county of Nottingham. " Nottingham " should be Buckingham.
In Debrett's ' Baronetage,' 1808 (p. 363), it is stated that Sir William Parsons, third baronet, married a niece (G. E. C. says a sister) of the Duchess of Northumberland, by whom he had two sons, the younger being
" William in the army, who married Mary, daughter of John Frampton, of the Exchequer, Esq., by whom he had one son, and one daughter, Grace, to whom the late Duchess of Northumber- land left a considerable fortune." Having mentioned the early death of the elder son 'of Sir William, Debrett adds " William also died before his father."
In the two books first quoted, Parsons is said to have been nine years at Eton, where he began his dishonest practices by stealing books from Pote the bookseller. He appears not to have been expelled, but only severely punished. In ' Eton College Lists, 1678-1790,' edited by R, A. Austen Leigh, 1907, in ' Boys at Eton in the Year
