A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE that a certain R.B. succeeded him, but nothing is yet known concerning him. A small offshoot from Carter's Reading foundry, or what appears to be such, is sug- gested by a bell at Wingrave (Bucks) by W.W., in 1618. The only founder known at this date with these initials is William Wakefield, mentioned in Carter's will as his apprentice. Only three other bells attributed to him are known, two in Sussex dated 1632, and one undated in Kent. The Wingrave bell, how- ever, seems to have no resemblance to these. What was doubtless also an offshoot from the original Reading foundry, and a very important one, was started some time in the sixteenth century, and lasted until early in the eighteenth, when it was moved to London. This continued during the whole of the time it was at Reading in the hands of one or other of the Knight family ; it must here be dealt with very shortly. The name of William Knight has been already mentioned under the original Reading foundry. It seems most probable that he learnt his work there, and that there were two generations of the same name. If the William Knight who was Under Warden of the Founders' Company of London in 1518, Upper Warden in 1528, and Master of the Guild in 1530-31, was identical, as seems likely, with the Reading founder of the same name, who appears in ' The Booke of the Names and Ordinnances of the Cutlers and Bellfounders Companye,' he was then doubt- less identical with the William Knight who was churchwarden of St. Lawrence's, Reading, in 1519, and who was buried in that church in 1535. Mr. Stahlschmidt * was inclined to think that the Knights' foundry was of Lon- don growth, but the fact of this early Reading churchwarden, and the appearance of a John Knight in the same parish as early as 1498, are strong reasons for a contrary belief. There is, however, no record of any bell cast by a Knight until the year 1567, when William Knight recast one for St. Law- rence's, Reading. It seems reasonable to suppose that he was son of the individual above referred to, and probably therefore the second founder of the name. The two oldest dated bells by him, now known, were cast in 1578 ; one is at Flaunden (Herts), and the other was formerly there also, but was removed to St. John's, Uxbridge (Midd.). He generally added his initials. There are four undated bells with curiously misspelt English inscriptions, entirely in Lombardic capitals. These may be older than his dated bells, which have equally misspelt Latin inscriptions in clumsy black-letter smalls. The bells with Lombardics may possibly be by the older William. The inventory of the goods of (the second ?) William Knight was taken by Joseph Carter and others on 24 November, 1586, so he probably died early in that month. His will is dated 19 October, 1586, and was proved 28 April, 1587. He was succeeded by his son, Henry Knight. I have notes of between eighty and ninety bells by him. He began by using clumsy black-letter, like his father, from whose bells his however are distinguished by the change of initial. Beginning in 1610, all bells from this foundry during the next forty- eight years are inscribed in irregular, heavy Roman capitals. Besides the inequality in size of letters apparently belonging to the same set, there were several sets in use, of different sizes, but of more or less similar type. The following is one of his more remarkable inscriptions, one line to each of four bells : THINKS NO COST TO MVCH THAT YOV BESTOW OF ALL TO BRINGE TO PAS SO GOOD A THING On a ring of five bells, the above third and fourth lines are both on the third bell ; the fourth bell has : THAT FIVE BELLS MAY TO- GETHER RING, and the tenor has a reproduc- tion of a fifteenth century Latin inscription. The burial of Henry Knight is recorded in the register of St. Lawrence's, Reading, on 8 January, 1622 ; and an inventory of his goods was taken on the tenth, which, besides the bellfounding appliances, includes the ' Debts due vppon specialtie.' Three of these were ' in the County of Buck ' ; one was ' in the County of Oxon ' ; and one ' At Blewberie in the County of Berkes ' amounted to ' xxiij li.' the largest item of the five. He was succeeded by his son Ellis, under whom the business increased and prospered. His most common inscription was, PRAYES YE THE LORD, and others similar in style were nearly as common. For a ring of five he put (one line on each bell) : I AS TREBLL BE GINN I AS SECOND SING I AS THIRD RING I AS FORTH SOVND I AS TENAR HVM ALL ROVND 1 Bells of Surrey, p. 94. For a ring of six, the fourth has : i AS FORTH IN MY PLACE, and the fifth : i AS FIFT 420
