Wednesday 7 March 1659/60

(Ash Wednesday.) In the morning I went to my Lord at Mr. Crew’s, in my way Washington overtook me and told me upon my question whether he knew of any place now void that I might have, by power over friends, that this day Mr. G. Montagu was to be made ‘Custos Rotulorum’ for Westminster, and that by friends I might get to be named by him Clerk of the Peace, with which I was, as I am at all new things, very much joyed, so when I came to Mr. Crew’s, I spoke to my Lord about it, who told me he believed Mr. Montagu had already promised it, and that it was given him only that he might gratify one person with the place I look for. Here, among many that were here, I met with Mr. Lynes, the surgeon, who promised me some seeds of the sensitive plant.1 I spoke too with Mr. Pierce the surgeon, who gave me great encouragement to go to sea with my Lord. Thence going homewards, my Lord overtook me in his coach, and called me in, and so I went with him to St. James’s, and G. Montagu being gone to White Hall, we walked over the Park thither, all the way he discoursing of the times, and of the change of things since the last year, and wondering how he could bear with so great disappointment as he did. He did give me the best advice that he could what was best for me, whether to stay or go with him, and offered all the ways that could be, how he might do me good, with the greatest liberty and love that could be. I left him at Whitehall, and myself went to Westminster to my office, whither nothing to do, but I did discourse with Mr. Falconbridge about Le Squire’s place, and had his consent to get it if I could. I afterwards in the Hall met with W. Simons, who put me in the best way how to get it done. Thence by appointment to the Angel in King Street, where Chetwind, Mr. Thomas and Doling were at oysters, and beginning Lent this day with a fish dinner. After dinner Mr. Thomas and I by water to London, where I went to Herring’s and received the 50l. of my Lord’s upon Frank’s bill from Worcester. I gave in the bill and set my hand to his bill. Thence I went to the Pope’s Head Alley and called on Adam Chard, and bought a catcall there, it cost me two groats. Thence went and gave him a cup of ale. After that to the Sun behind the Exchange, where meeting my uncle Wight by the way, took him with me thither, and after drinking a health or two round at the Cock (Mr. Thomas being gone thither), we parted, he and I homewards, parted at Fleet Street, where I found my father newly come home from Brampton very well. He left my uncle with his leg very dangerous, and do believe he cannot continue in that condition long. He tells me that my uncle did acquaint him very largely what he did intend to do with his estate, to make me his heir and give my brother Tom something, and that my father and mother should have likewise something, to raise portions for John and Pall. I pray God he may be as good as his word. Here I staid and supped and so home, there being Joyce Norton there and Ch. Glascock. Going home I called at Wotton’s and took home a piece of cheese. At home Mr. Sheply sat with me a little while, and so we all to bed.

This news and my Lord’s great kindness makes me very cheerful within. I pray God make me thankful.

This day, according to order, Sir Arthur [Haselrigge] appeared at the House; what was done I know not, but there was all the Rumpers almost come to the House to-day.

My Lord did seem to wonder much why Lambert was so willing to be put into the Tower, and thinks he has some design in it; but I think that he is so poor that he cannot use his liberty for debts, if he were at liberty; and so it is as good and better for him to be there, than any where else.

54 Annotations

First Reading

Keith Wright  •  Link

"Thence I went to the Pope’s Head Alley . . . and bought a catcall there, it cost me two groats."

Have any examples survived to the present? If, analogous to a duck-call quacking, a cat-call meows, perhaps its purpose is exactly the opposite of the avian variety: to drive felines away? (At least, that's what happens in the rural American Mid-South if you "miaow" to a transient cat.)

Eric Walla  •  Link

Maybe the intention with the catcall ...

... is to drive his wife's little dog mad?

Honestly, what is a catcall?

Pauline  •  Link

"...Honestly, what is a catcall?..."
My dictionary says it IS a an instrument for producing a cry like a cat, used for expressing disapproval at a theatre, meeting, etc.

But what a catcall WAS I don't know? I hope Sam uses it soon so we can see the context. To express approval seems likely in his current happy state.

Grahamt  •  Link

Modern catcalls
A piercing whistle used to signal disapproval at a live performance (whether by entertainer or politician) is called a catcall in modern English, so perhaps Sam bought a whistle.

Keith Wright  •  Link

And where does this well-bred young man, who doesn't like partying down with just anybody (see the entry for the 6th), and is too sophisticated a playgoer to use it in the theatre, going to employ such a mischievous device? Effective catcalls require no special equipment beyond efficient lungpower!---even something costing as little as two groats. Perhaps Eric W. is right---and it's to punish the dog, whose behavior in-house has not been described further.

steve h  •  Link

Lenten fare

After feasting on all kinds of meat on Shrove Tuesday, Pepys is eating oysters and cheese today. Did the Church of England in this time require 40 days of abstinence from meat during Lent at this time as the Roman Catholic church did?

steve h  •  Link

custos rotulorum

"custos rotulorum: a Latin phrase meaning 'keeper of the rolls' and referring to an honorific post, often associated with the Lord Lieutenancy of a county."

http://www.burkes-peerage.net/sit…

"[Obs.] Custos rotulorum [LL., keeper of the rolls] (Eng. Law), the principal justice of the peace in a county, who is also keeper of the rolls and records of the sessions of the peace. "

http://machaut.uchicago.edu/cgi-b…

The only problem is that Westminster is not a county.

Hhomeboy  •  Link

Sam trumps Montagu re: Lambert...

Whereas Montagu might not overly concern himself with ruling-class indebtedness and cannot comprehend Lambert's 'game', shrewd Sam has the inside skinny or so he would lead us to believe:

"...My Lord did seem to wonder much why Lambert was so willing to be put into the Tower, and thinks he has some design in it; but I think that he is so poor that he cannot use his liberty for debts, if he were at liberty; and so it is as good and better for him to be there, than any where else...."

language hat  •  Link

catcall (OED):

A squeaking instrument, or kind of whistle, used esp. in play-houses to express impatience or disapprobation. (See Spectator No. 361.)

1659-60 Pepys Diary (1879) I. 67, I.. called on Adam Chard, and bought a cat-call there, it cost me two groats. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 361 p.2, I was very much surprised with the great Consort of Cat-calls.. to see so many Persons of Quality of both Sexes assembled together at a kind of Catterwawling. 1732 Fielding Covent Gard. Trag. i. i, I heard a tailor sitting by my side, Play on his catcal, and cry out, `Sad stuff!' 1753 Gray's Inn Jrnl. No. 61 A shrill toned Catcall, very proper to be used at the next new Tragedy.

language hat  •  Link

Pope's Head Alley
(from the Companion):

"A center for the sale of cutlery, turnery and toys. It ran north out of Lombard St to Cornhill, opposite the Royal Exchange. It was demolished during the rebuilding of Lloyd's Bank c. 1927-9, and a new alley made to the west of it."

It's more or less in the center of this map:
http://www.motco.com/Map/81002/Se…

Susanna  •  Link

Oysters and Cheese

Traditionally the observant of the Church of England would, like Catholics, not eat meat during Lent. I believe the Catholic church called for banning dairy products as well, but in 1538 Henry VIII had decided to allow his subjects their milk, butter, and cheese. (His rationale apparently was that fish was expensive.) Henry's successors kept up the ban on meat, largely as a support to the fishing industry. The puritans apparently abolished fasting for Lent; perhaps in 1659/60 observing the fast was a form of political commentary or demonstration.

michael f vincent  •  Link

The only problem is that Westminster is not a county : Westminster it was in the county of middlesex in 1500 and up to 1899 ??? may still is legally, speak up taxpayers.

Martin K. Foys  •  Link

" . . . this day Mr. G. Montagu was to be made ‘Custos Rotulorum’”

G. Montagu?

(David Q, we need you)

Eric Walla  •  Link

Thanks all! I should've known ...

... to look in the OED by this time (I'm starting to wonder if we wouldn't find all of Pepys, line by line, if we were to read the OED from front to back).

So it appears Sam is planning a theatre binge, now that they're coming back into favor, and he wants to be ready for every contingency.

David Quidnunc  •  Link

George Mountagu

Mountagu (1622-81) was three years older than his distant cousin, Edward "My Lord" Mountagu (Pepys's patron), and was both close to him and trusted by him. He represented Huntingdon in parliament (1640-48) and will be elected to parliament this year (representing Dover).

He accompanied Mountagu on the 1659 Baltic voyage (with Pepys's patron in command, so this was a sort of invited guest/junior role, or it was a formal post reporting to Edward Mountagu). When an agent of Charles II contacted Pepys' patron during the Baltic mission, it was through George Mountagu.

He was the fifth son of Edward Mountagu, the 2nd earl of Manchester, who invited Pepys's patron and other Presbyterian bigwigs to Warwick House on March 3. Here's a link to my note on Manchester:
http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

David Quidnunc  •  Link

"Custos Rotulorum" and Mountagu

George Mountagu's family had strong ties to Westminster, according to Latham & Matthews, but he either did or did not get the "Custos Rotulorum" job, depending on which volume of L&M you choose to believe.

You can believe the note for this entry (in Vol. 1, published in 1971) which says he did not get it and cites two sources apparently listing someone else who got the job. One of those sources is "Mdx. Rec. Off., Westminster Sess. Rolls" (meaning "Middlesex Records Office, Westminster Session Rolls"?). I assume Westminster was the county seat for Middlesex, and that this was a Middlesex County post.

You could also choose to believe the Companion (Vol. 10; 1983), which lists the job among other posts Mountagu held (p 256). I think the Companion volume entry is probably mistaken. None of this matters much, of course, but it's interesting (and a little disconcerting) to see L&M slip up, even in a small way.

Hhomeboy  •  Link

L & M aside, I would have thought that it would be relatively easy to confirm whether George received the patronage appointment...

I've already put in some queries at Magdalene about Widdrington re: his having alienated Cambridge colleagues.

Where does one go about searching for a record of the keeper of the rolls for Middlesex circa 1660...although it was a 'county' position, Westminster records such as this (if they weren't lost in WWII) should be in the national archives...Yes? No?

michael f vincent  •  Link

update re middlesex
http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/le…

In 1889 the County Councils of London and Middlesex were established and we hold the records of these councils from 1889 to 1965. The County of London was formed from the metropolitan areas of the ancient counties of Middlesex, Kent and Surrey ('Central London').

Glyn  •  Link

I went to Herring’s and received the 50 pounds. of my Lord’s upon Frank’s bill from Worcester.

This concludes a financial transaction that began almost 3 weeks previously.

Wed 15 February: “Thence to Hering the merchant about my Lord’s Worcester money.”

Wed 29 February: “and thence to Hering’s , the merchant in Coleman Street, about 50 pounds, which he promistes I shall have on Saturday next.”

Sat 3 March: “went by appointment to Hering the merchant but missed of my way, at which I was much troubled but could not help myself.”

And finally, today: “I by water to (the City of) London, where I went to Herring’s and received the 50l. of my Lord’s upon Frank’s bill from Worcester. I gave in the bill and set my hand to his bill.”

So it was a transaction not for his day job but either to do with Montague’s estate, or on a personal matter. And because it was so much money to be responsible for - more than a year’s income to Pepys - he was sufficiently uneasy to keep a running account of it. Presumably “Frank” was either a family member or a friend who needed no further description (since Pepys would easily remember who he was when he reread the diary.)

Thanks to Phil for putting such a powerful search engine onto the site. It’s going to be invaluable.

But it always works with Contributors names which is interesting. For example type Hhomeboy into the Search box, then check athe Annnotations box, and there are all the contributions called up in date order. Marcellous!

Hhomeboy  •  Link

????????????: Le Squire's place...

"... I left him at Whitehall, and myself went to Westminster to my office, whither nothing to do, but I did discourse with Mr. Falconbridge about Le Squire’s place, and had his consent to get it if I could….”

Pauline  •  Link

Le Squire’s place
This may unfold in coming diary entries. I think Sam is looking for better lodging.

Fred Bacon  •  Link

Whistling in Antiquity

While searching the web to see if I could find any historical mention of a device known as a catcall, I found the above titled essay by A. V. van Stekelenburg (University of Stellenbosch). I'm not certain that I transcribed the original Greek characters below into the appropriate phonetic equivalents.

"With the following usage of whistling as a nonverbal language substitute during antiquity we are, thanks to Cicero, not dependent on conjecture and circumstantial evidence. It is the catcall: whistling as an expression of disapprobation or contempt, still widely in use today. ... Though most of our information about the catcall stems from Roman sources, it is already mentioned by Plato (Leg. 700c) and Demosthenes (18.265) as one of the professional hazards of the actors and orators of their time. The fourth century grammarian Nonius uses this kind of whistling as an argument to connect the vulgar Latin form sifilare etymologically with the Homeric hapax sifloun ( destroy ), because this specific use of sibilare/sifilare aims at destroying an orator or an actor. He defines sifilare as an abusive use of whistling by the populace when someone is driven off the stage: cum sifilationibus quis exploditur (531)."

The full essay is well worth the read. At least for now, it can be found at http://www.sun.ac.za/AS/journals/…

Roger Miller  •  Link

Le Squire's place

I think Pepys is interested in Le Squire's job, not his house.

Hhomeboy  •  Link

Le Squire? Washington? Falconbridge?

I assumed the reference was to a clerkship or patronage post which had been held by Le Squire...Falconbridge had given Sam leave to apply for it...earlier in the day, Sam had encountered Washington (who has made en passant appearances in two previous diary entries) who had informed him of the "clerk of the Peace'' position which was filled at the pleasure of Westminster's Keeper of the Rolls, a post purportedly awarded to Gen. Montagu's cousin (1st coz., twice removed??) and close confidant, George Montagu, former M.P. for Huntingdon at the beginning of the Long Parliament and a future M.P. for Dover...perhaps George Montagu did not obtain the Keeper of the Rolls position because he was soon to retuurn as an MP...(I've sent out queries to the archives to found out who was appointed Keeper of the Rolls circa 1659/60).

Laura K  •  Link

...and bought a catcall there, it cost me two groats.

In all the discussion about the catcall, I forgot to ask: what is a groat? Is this an actual monetary denomination? A slang term?

Arwel Parry  •  Link

Groat.
A groat was four pence. I can't remember if there was an actual groat coin in circulation at this time, but there have been at various times up to the 19th century. The name comes from the Dutch "groot", "big", because it was a higher value coin when originally only pennies were minted.

Laura K  •  Link

groats

Thanks!

Arwel Parry  •  Link

More on Groats.
OK, I've had a chance to look up my Coincraft catalogue, and I can definitively say that the Commonwealth did not mint groat coins, though both Charles I and Charles II did.

For interest, coins minted by the Commonwealth (which are unique in British history in having no Latin on them!) were the hammered halfpenny, penny, twopence, sixpence, shilling, half-crown (2/6), crown (5/-), double crown (10/-), and unite (20/-). There was also a series of milled coins (6d, 1/-, 2/6, 5/-, 20/-, 50/-) with Oliver Cromwell's head on them, dated 1656 and/or 1658, but it's not clear if they were intended as legal currency, and they _do_ have Latin inscriptions - if you find any of these in any reasonable condition you're looking at several hundred if not several thousand pounds today!
Charles II's coinage is similar to the Commonwealth's, except that he did not produce any halfpennies, but did have 3d and 4d coins. All English coins produced after 1662 have been milled (i.e. machine-produced).

Hhomeboy  •  Link

Groats...

Were groats so ubiquitous (and the Commonwealth but a burp) that everyone kept on using them under Cromwell?

Did all or most coins minted in Charles I's reign or prior to it stay in circulation after the Commonwealth and did Cromwell's administration not attempt to recall or restrict usage of earlier coins issued before the regicide???

Arwel Parry  •  Link

I suspect the term "groat" would have been used as a unit of account even if there weren't physical coins around. I don't think there were an awful lot of physical groats around - historically 3d and 6d coins were preferred, and Charles I didn't produce any at the Tower mint in London. They were produced at Aberystwyth between 1637 and 1642, Oxford, Exeter, and Bristol in 1644, Bridgnorth or Ashby de la Zouche in 1645/6, and a very rare issue in Worcester, Shrewsbury, or Hereford (no-one's sure exactly where). Before this issue, groats were last issued in Elizabeth I's second issue of coinage in 1560/1, so there must have been a long time when coins weren't circulating.

I don't think previous coins would have been withdrawn - Parliament took control of the Tower mint in 1642, but it was still churning out coins with Charles' effigy on them until 1648! Wholesale recoinages are quite rare, they're expensive and usually a last resort -- prior to decimalisation, our last one was the Great Recoinage of 1816. Henry VIII's coins were recalled by Elizabeth because they were debased metal - he was known as "Old Coppernose" because the precious metal would wear off the high-relief parts of the design!

KVK  •  Link

A bit of an aside: Parliament would not have wanted to remove Charles' image from coins because they claimed to be fighting for 'King and Parliament' well into 1648. They kept up the legal fiction that they were fighting, not against the King, but to rescue the
King from his 'evil counsellors'. Pro-parliament journalists frequently got into trouble for failing to show sufficient respect for the King. This idea was kept up by Parliament until the purge of December 1648.

Hhomeboy  •  Link

A.P. & KVK: Fantastic explanations/clarifications...

ie. much better than anything relating to coinage in L & M!

Thank-you again.

language hat  •  Link

Groat:
Coin names tend to linger on well after the coins themselves have disappeared; for instance, Russians still refer to a ten-kopeck coin as a "grivennik" even though grivenniks as such haven't been minted since the 18th century.

Also, let me say: Ashby-de-la-Zouch. I have nothing to say about it or its mint, I just love saying the name. Ashby-de-la-Zouch!

upper_left_hand_corner  •  Link

Re catcall:

Note that Sam bought the catcall (or whistle) shortly after getting encouragement to go to see with Montagu. I wonder if the whistle is something that would be required on board ship.

john s.  •  Link

Well, Language Hat...don't leave us hanging...how does a town in Merry Olde, get an attatchment like "de-la-Zouch?" Can see touche, but zouch, zounds!

Arwel Parry  •  Link

By the way...

My coin catalogue says that at the end of the Commonwealth period, the combined income of a man, his wife, and two children, would typically be about 10 shillings a week.

If anyone's interested in the coinage of this (and any other!) period and are in London, can I recommend a visit to the Money Gallery (room 68, I think) at the British Museum? One prominent display in the centre of the room is of a substantial hoard of coins from Elizabethan times to the 18th century, which got involved in some complicated legal case if I remember correctly - the costs of the case exceeded the face value of the coins which is how they ended up in official archives and ultimately at the BM! This is why I think it's unlikely that the Commonwealth withdrew earlier coins.

If you go on a weekday, the friends of the museum often have someone in the room with various old coins and notes which you can handle -- last time I was there they had a Charles I siege piece (a piece of silver plate appropriately stamped) from the siege of Newark, I think, and an Athenian Owl; also you could be invited to tell the difference between a genuine Bank of England white fiver and an Operation Bernhard forgery (hint: if it's dated after May 1945 it's not a Bernhard note!).

Susanna  •  Link

Ashby de la Zouch

Ashby de la Zouch is a town in Leicestershire, and is named for a Breton nobleman who inherited the castle (now a ruin) in the 12th century. Mary Queen of Scots was kept there at one point, and it was also used by Sir Walter Scott as a setting in "Ivanhoe."

http://www.aboutbritain.com/towns…

j.simmons  •  Link

Thanks Susanna...for the Zouch info...
These Bretons, who came across with the Normans, had strange sounding names. So guess not too odd that one named Flaald, would found the Fitz Alan, Steward, Stewart, Stuart line, and give us Charlie.

language hat  •  Link

Ashby:
It's a pretty common name (meaning farmstead/village where ash trees grow), and for some reason attracts odd and amusing added names; examples are Cold Ashby, Ashby cum Fenby, Ashby Magna and Ashby Parva ('big and little Ashby'), Ashby Puerorum ('of the boys'), and Ashby de la Launde. But Ashby-de-la-Zouch is the all-time champ. (Incidentally, the original attestation, in 1241, was as Esseby la Zusche.)

Bored  •  Link

"Here, among many that were here, I met with Mr. Lynes, the surgeon, who promised me some seeds of the sensitive plant.1"

What is the sensitive plant, and the footnote, please?

Bored  •  Link

Sorry, didn't notice the fottnote to the right.

Glyn  •  Link

I am guessing that the "sensitive plant" would have been a kind of Mimosa, because some of them curl up when touched. English gardeners were being to take plants from all over the world.

David Quidnunc  •  Link

Sensitive Plant

Good guess, Glyn. Latham & Matthews identify it as "Mimosa pudica" or "sensitiva." L&M say (in Vol. 1, a note for this date) that the leaves contract when touched and it was introduced from Barbados (or Goa!) in the 1630s. That's a very odd difference -- Barbados (in the Carribean) or Goa (coast of India). I assume it was imported from one of those spots to the other.

vicente  •  Link

sensitive plantEvelyn, about the same date (August 9th, 1661) will post the whole entry: 2 great experiments. or read http://astext.com/history/ed_1661…
go to august.

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

House of Commons Journal - 7 March 1660

Approbation of Ministers. Customs. Duty of Prisage. Col. Rich. Sir Arthur Hesilrig. Parliament Business. Assessments. Militia Commissioners.
_____
Sir Arthur Hesilrig. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…

Mr. Annesley reports, from the Council of State, Several Examinations taken, touching Sir Arthur Hesilrig.
Resolved, That Mr. Annesley do report the whole Matter against Sir Arthur Hesilrig, depending before the Council of State.
He made the Report of several Informations, given in to the Council of State, against Sir Arthur Hesilrig, accordingly.
Sir Arthur Hesilrig standing up in his Place, he said, He was not guilty of any thing wherewith he is charged.
Ordered, That this Business, concerning Sir Arthur Hesilrig, be referred back to the Council of State, further to examine the Business; and report it to the Parliament.

Bill  •  Link

CAT-CALL, a very disagreable sort of pipe or whistle of late years but too well known at the play-houses.
---Dictionarium Britannicum. N. Bailey, 1736.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"this day Mr. G. Montagu was to be made ‘Custos Rotulorum’ for Westminster"

Custos rotulorum (Latin for "keeper of the rolls") is the keeper of an English, Welsh and Northern Irish county's records and, by virtue of that office, the highest civil officer in the county. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cus…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"This day, according to order, Sir Arthur [Haselrigge] appeared at the House; what was done I know not, but there was all the Rumpers almost come to the House to-day."

Overton's attempted rising led Parliament on the 6th to summon Sir Arthur Hesilrige before them, in order to deprive him of his military commands. His case was now referred to the Council. He and his associates had not attended Parliament since the admission of the secluded members on 21 February. (L&M)

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"My Lord did seem to wonder much why Lambert was so willing to be put into the Tower, and thinks he has some design in it; but I think that he is so poor that he cannot use his liberty for debts, if he were at liberty; and so it is as good and better for him to be there, than any where else."

Lambert had so long evaded arrest that it was a surprise when he suddenly submitted and appeared before the Council on the 5th. But that he should have chosen to go to the Tower is sufficiently explained by the fact that the alternative was to provide a surety of £20,000 for good behaviour. (L&M note)

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"in my way Washington overtook me and told me upon my question whether he knew of any place now void that I might have, by power over friends, that this day Mr. G. Montagu was to be made ‘Custos Rotulorum’ for Westminster, and that by friends I might get to be named by him Clerk of the Peace, with which I was, as I am at all new things, very much joyed, "

L&M: The Mountagus had a close connection with the city of Westminster, and the Earl of Manchester soon afterwards became High Steward. But George Mountagu's appointment seems never to have been made; the Earl of Clair became custos and Thomas Lewis his clerk of the peace. Mdx Rec. Off., Westminster Sess. Rolls, 1224/1 and 2; HMC, Rep., 8/2/66.

Third Reading

Mountain Man  •  Link

"Custos Rotulorum" for Westminster: The position of Keeper of the Rolls, both nationally and locally, was descended from medieval clerical offices which kept legal records on long, sometimes very long, rolls of parchment sheets stitched together end-to-end. In the central government, the Keeper of the Rolls worked for the Chancellor and was originally the most senior chancery clerk. As the court of chancery grew in importance after the fifteenth century, the office became (as Master of the Rolls) one of the chief judiciary positions in the nation, as it remains today. See https://magnacarta800th.com/magna…, and, at much greater length, T.F. Tout, Chapters in the Administrative History of Medieval England.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Google takes me to:

"Wednesday, January 11th, 1659/60.
Custos Rotulorum of Westminster.
RESOLVED, upon the Question, by the Parliament, That this House doth approve of Thomas Scot Esquire, nominated by the Governors of the School and Almshouses of Westminster, to be Custos Rotulorum of the City and Liberties of Westminster: And, It is

¶Ordered, That the Records be forthwith delivered to the said Thomas Scot, or such Person or Persons as he shall appoint, under his Hand, to receive the same: And all Person or Persons whom it doth or may concern, be and are required and enjoined to deliver the said Records accordingly: And the Commissioners for Custody of the Great Seal are hereby authorized and required to pass a Confirmation of the said Office of Custos Rotulorum unto the said Thomas Scot, under the Great Seal, in usual Form, accordingly.

No mention of George Montagu MP at all.

However, George Montagu's Parliamentary bio records:
Commr. for new model ordinance, Hunts. 1645, assessment Hunts. 1645-8, 1663-80, Northants. 1647-8, 166l-80 Lincs. 1661-3, Glos., Mdx. and Westminster 1661-80, East Riding 1663-4, j.p. Hunts. and Northants. 1646-52, Mar. 1660-d., Westminster Mar. 1660-d., Mdx. Mar.-July 1660, 1662-d., commr. for militia, Hunts. and Northants. 1648, Hunts., Mdx. and Northants. Mar. 1660;

custos rot. Westminster Mar.-July 1660;

freeman, Dover Aug. 1660; warden of Salcey Forest, Northants. Aug. 1660-d.; commr. for sewers, Westminster Aug. 1660; master of St. Katharine’s hospital, London 1661-d.; commr. for loyal and indigent officers, Yorks. 1662, oyer and terminer, Mdx. 1662.3 Gent. of the privy chamber (extraordinary) July 1660; member of Queen’s council 1669-d.4
https://www.historyofparliamenton…

Maybe there was more than one Custos Rotulorum? No, I don't think so either. So now I'm as confused as L&M, which is good company to be in.

Log in to post an annotation.

If you don't have an account, then register here.