34
NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s. u. JULYS, 1910.
distance from thence towards the East, among the
Alps, is the city of Feltre, by the which way at the
right-hand shore of the river Brent, three miles
distance from Scala, is seated Cavolo, a Fort of the
Germans, inexpugnable in respect that 'tis founded
upon a great Rock directly hanging over the
highway with a Fountain of living water in it,
whereto neither Man nor Goods can be mounted
from the Earth unless fastned to a Rope, and that
wound up upon a wheel."
The bishopric was, obviously, .that of Trent. MALCOLM LETTS.
RICHARD WILSON (OF LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS), M.P. (12 S. i. 90, 158, 213, 277, 437, 516). MR. ALFRED B. BEAVEN, at the last reference, has made it clear, I think, that there were two Richard Wilsons who were members of Parliament in the earliest years of the nineteenth century, both connected with the legal profession, but one as a barrister and the other as a solicitor. It is with the second that I am specially con- cerned ; and I believe him to be the one first introduced into this correspondence by MR. HORACE BLEACKLEY (p. 214), but then as two people instead of one.
T. H. B. Oldfield, in ' The Representative History of Great Britain,' published in 1816 (vol. iii. p. 217), refers to him as
"the Duke of Northumberland's steward, Mr. Richard Wilson, of Lincoln's Inn, attorney-at-law, fwho] is recorder of Launceston and manager of Newport."
The former office is given him by a slip of the pen, for Hugh, second Duke of Northumber- land, was at the time Recorder of Launceston (as he was from 1786 to 1817), while Richard Wilson was Deputy-Recorder from 1809 to 1818 (R. and O. 'B. Peter, ' Histories of Launceston and Dunheved,' p. 408), the only non-townsman, indeed, ever to hold the position. The most significant statement in regard to him, however, is that he was " manager of Newport," for that appanage of Launceston was one of the Duke's Cornish pocket-boroughs. Over Launceston he had had a fierce fight in 1795 and again in 1796, against the Treasury influence, specifically backed by Pitt through George Rose, out of which arose an action in the King's Bench, in which Erskine was the leading counsel in the Northumberland interest (Alfred F. Robbins, ' Launceston, Past and Present,' pp. 287-8). A suggestion of connexion thus early between Erskine and Wilson may, therefore, be made ; while the Drury Lane proprietorship, mentioned by MR. BLEACK- LEY, is of interest, seeing that, if Wilson were " manager of Newport" in 1796, he assisted in the return for that borough of the once well-known " Joe Richardson," a
Northumbrian by birth, barrister by pro-
i fession, and dramatist by practice, magnilo-
! quently described by Joshua Wilson, in his
' Biographical Index to the Present House of
Commons,' published in 1806, as one " whose
literary talents, political principles, and
private virtues, eminently qualified him for
the most distinguished situation."
If, as I am assuming, this was the Richard Wilson, "many years an eminent solicitor in Lincoln's Inn Fields," who died on June 7, 1834, he passed through a very disturbing experience not long before his deceaee. In the earliest thirties of last century, Polston Bridge (which crosses the Tamar about two miles from Launceston, on the main road from London through Exeter to Falmouth, then the most important packet-station of the kingdom) was rebuilt on a wider scale than the " large fair stone fabric " noted by William of Worcester centuries before as per patriam edificatus." During the pro- gress of the work and, it may be believed, in 1833
"the mail coach from London, due in Launceston a quarter after eleven at night, drew up one evening, as usual, at the Arundell Arms, Lifton, and driver, guard, and passengers, also as usual, dismounted, Mr. Wilson, the agent of the Duke of Northumberland, being the only one left in the vehicle. The horses, the near leader of which was blind, suddenly bolted and galloped towards Launceston; and, having crossed without accident the temporary wooden bridge at the foot of the hill at Polston, halted driverless and breathless at the White Hart Hotel, their accustomed stopping- place, closely followed by the guard, one Cornelius yrowhurst, who had thrown himself on horseback immediately he had discovered their flight, and who was rejoiced to see that all was well." Robbins, ' Launcestou,' p. 332.
This narrative was given to me by my father, the late Richard Robbins (formerly a contributor to ' N. & Q.'), who remem- bered Wilson well, and who, like myself, found a special delight in the pages of this journal as greatly assisting our own recol- lections and researches concerning local men and events. ALFRED F. ROBBINS.
I possess a copy of
" A Sketch of the Calamities and Persecutions of Richard Wilson, Esq., formerly a Member of the British and Imperial Parliament, and once a Magistrate for the County of Tyrone. Written by Himself." Dublin, 1813, pp. 80. In this brochure, which purports to be in continuation of the pamphlets published by him in 1807 and 1808, Wilson states that about 1803,
" in consequence of my losing my seat in Parlia- ment (through means which I believe every one acquainted .with the facts will admit were highly
