388
NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s. vn. NOV. is, 1920.
LONDON INSURANCE COMPANIES :
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
A FEATURE of London History during the past two centuries has been the birth and growth of its Insurance Companies. Their age has, in most instances, brought them one or more centenary celebrations and this. or business enterprise, has occasioned the preparations and issue of historical sketches of the respective Companies from their foundations. These minor "histories oi commercial institutions vary considerably in merit and scope, but all are worth collect- ing, and the following list is intended as a beginning towards ascertaining their number. It represents only my own collec- tion, and is thus obviously incomplete :
The Atlas. 'Atlas Reminiscent,' by Alfred W Yeo. Illustrated by C. E. Brock. London J. M. Dent & Co.,* 1908. Crown 8vo, pp. 83, boards (published at Is. nett).
The Eagle and British Dominion. ' Links with the Past, a Brief Chronicle of the Public Service of a Notable Institution.' By A. F. Shepherd. Published by the Eagle and British Dominion Insurance Co., Ltd., 1907, pp. 1-297. Crown 8vo., stamped leather.
The North British and Mercantile Insurance Co. ' Centenary 1809-1909.' Demy Svo, pp. 1-75.
The Norwich Union. 'Peeps into 'the Past,' a Souvenir of the Bi-Centenary of the old Amicable Society and the Centenary of the Norwich Union Life Office, 1705-1908, 4to, pp. 1-81. Sewn.
The Law Union. ' Old Serjeants' from Chancery Lane.' Privately printed for the Law Union and Rock Insurance Company, Limited, 1912. Small 4to, green cloth stamped, pp. 1-5.3.
The Royal Exchange. ' The Royal Exchange Assurance.' ' An Historical Sketch respectfully dedicated to the Governor and Directors, by the Compiler. Printed for private Circulation ,' 1896. Demy Svo, pp. 1-39, cloth.
The Royal. ' Old Lombard Street. Some Notes prepared by the Royal Insurance Company, Limited, on the occasion of the openingof their new buildings in Lombard Street, May, 1912.' Roy. Svo, pp. 1-55. dutch paper, rough edges, picture boards with section of Aggas's map enlarged.
The Sun. 'The Early Days of the Sun Fire Office,' by Edward Baumer. London, 1910, Small 4to, pp. 1-71, boards stamped.
It is hardly necessary to add that all these booklets are lavishly illustrated with many ',seful reproductions.
ALECK ABRAHAMS.
LEONARD BILSON, whose Christian name is given by Dodd ( ' Church History ') as Thomas, by Dr. Gee ('Elizabethan Clergy ') as Lawrence, and by Dr. Hyland ('A Cen- tury of Persecution ') as Bernard, is said to hava been about 50 in 1579 (Strype, 'Ann.,'
II. ii. 660), but, as he took the degree of
M.A. at Oxford in 1546, in which year he wa
Headmaster of Reading Grammar School,,
he must have been considerably older. At
Queen Elizabeth's accession he was a Pre-
bendary of Winchester (see Strype, 'Mem.,'
II. ii. 265), and also held the Prebend of
Kingsteynton in the Cathedral Church of
Salisbury to which he was appointed in 1552,.
and a Prebend at Wells, as well as the
Rectories of King's Worthy and Havant,
both in Hampshire. He was deprived of
all these preferments, and on June 14, 1562,,
he had already been a long time in the Tower
of London (Cath. Rec. Soc.,' i. 56). He-
was still there in April, 1570 (P.R.O.,.
- S.P.Dom.' Eliz. Ixvii. 93), and was removed:
thence to the Marshalsea by order of the- Privy Council, Oct. 14, 1571. He was dis- charged from the Marshalsea between July 27, 1582, and March, 1582-3 ('Cath.. Rec. Soc.,' i. 60, 70 ; ii. 231 ; Hyland, op. cit. 355, 389) having been tried at Reigate, July 26, 1582, and sent back to prison, (Hyland, op. cit., pp. 385-6). He was an uncle of Thomas Bilson, Bishop of Winchester (Strype, . 'Wbitgift,' ii. 350). Is anything more known of him ?
JOHN B. WAINEWRIGHT.
"DESIRABLE BACHELOR": EPITAPH. Ii*
my little book, 'The Churchyard Scribe,'
1908, I quoted the appended quaint rimes
from the tomb of Joseph Bratt, "bacheller,"
who died in 1710, in his 39th year (in
Greasley churchyard, Notts) :
He lived desired and
Dyed lamentted and wee
Desire to be
contented.
At the time, I imagined the sentiment to> be original and unique as an expression on a sepulchral monument. What appears to be an earlier parallel, however, has since been observed in Deering's ' History of Nottingham,' 1751, quoted from a marble memorial affixed to a pillar in St. Mary's Church there, which has since disappeared. The latter inscription is recorded to have- commemorated :
" William Flamstead, gent., late Steward and' Town Clerk of Nottingham, who for his exemp- lary piety, eminent parts, and singular fidelity,, lived much desired and died no less lamented, the 38th year of his age, Aug. 24, 1653."
In this case the deceased is not specifically stated to have been a bachelor, and th& most that can be said is that there appears to be no evidence to the contrary, in the
