in the parish, for the keeping of ten poor children to school

yearly for ever.

:

3. Apprenticeships. William Palmer, a native of Betley, left unto trustees the sum of 731. to be disposed of, at their discretion, for the best use of the poor. After having improved the donation by employing it at interest for a while, they bought a piece of land with it, situate in Audley and Halmore end, called the Rushey Keys; and, by deed, they appointed the yearly rent for ever, to be employed every year for setting to apprenticeships the poor children of the inhabitants of Betley. The particulars respecting the appointment, rejecting, and number of trustees, &c. are to be seen on a board in the west gallery.

4th. Relief in Clothing.

:

Mrs. Mary Lea (see article 2,) left by will to trustees, the sum of 301.; appointing the interest thereof to be annually dis posed of by them, for the clothing of poor people in Ransall and Wrine-hill, at their discretion.

5th. Relief in Bread and Money.

Mr. Joseph Coape, of this parish, gave 10l.; the interest thereof to be paid for ever by the trustees, and to be given in bread to 20 poor people, on the first Sunday in the year, and on Whitsunday.

Mr. Richard Gorton, of the parish of Muccleston, bequeathed 101. to the churchwardens; and appointed the interest thereof to be distributed at their discretion to the poor every Candlemas Day.

Marmaduke Jolley, (see article 2,) bequeathed 101.; and appointed the interest thereof to be given to the poor for ever every Christmas.

Mr. John Dale, of Radwood, gave 10l.; the interest to be paid yearly to the poor.

Mrs. Ann Shaw, a native of Betley, gave to trustees 101.; the

interest to be paid yearly to the poor.

VOL. XIII.

Eeee

Mrs.

Mrs. Mary Lea, (see articles 2 and 4,) gave a rent-charge of forty shillings, (charged on the same land as that in article 2,) to be dealt in bread yearly to poor widows in Betley and Wrine-hill.

The following benefaction is, of course, extinct:

Miss Hannah Jones, of London, gave 241.; to be given weekly in bread to 12 poor widows, for 10 years from LadyDay 1706.

She also gave 201. towards rebuilding the steeple and hanging the bells.

The tower is built of stone, has a parapet wall at the top, and on each of the four angles has been placed a plain urn. The vane is perforated with 1718, which was the time, we may presume, when it was built; a conjecture which is strengthened by the last recorded benefaction of Miss H. Jones.

The living is a curacy in the deanery of Newcastle and Stone, archdeaconry of Stafford, and diocese of Lichfield and Coventry.

Queen Anne's bounty was obtained for it, in 1717; when the right hon. Lord William Powlet and others gave 20 acres of common ground, to the value of 2001. towards the augmentation.

Patron, George Totlett, Esq. of Betley Hall. Though Betley Hall in appearance is inferior to many in the neighbourhood, yet it deserves notice as affording a specimen of the manner in which the ancients made their first attempts, in their progress towards forming the pointed arch and groins, now so much admired for contributing to the grandeur and ornament, of what, by an absurd anomaly, is called the Gothic style.*

*100*100*

We hasten now to complete our survey of this county; and return northward, to a house called Ashcomb, in the Totmanslow Hundred, near Leek. This is a comfortable well-built house, belonging

* Gent. Mag. 1809, p. 521.

belonging to William Sneyd, Esq. son and heir of the late John Sneyd, of Belmont, Esq. before mentioned in this work, as the annotator on Mr. Pitt's Agricultural Survey. Ashcomb is built upon the site of an old manor house, formerly called Bottom Hall, belonging to the Jolliffes, who had half the manor, and a very extensive estate in this parish, (which is that of Chedleton, belonging to Alstonfield,) and the adjoining parishes. When the late Mr. Sneyd first came to reside in this parish, the neighbourhood was nearly in a wild state; but, by acting as an impartial and worthy magistrate, for nearly forty years, he in fact tamed the inhabitants; and by his good taste in ornamenting his place, then called Belmont, by planting, &c. for which he was presented by the Society of Arts, with three gold medals, and by his knowledge in agriculture, he changed those barren heathy commons to one of the most beautiful summer retreats in this part of England. Some idea of Mr. Sneyd's character and taste, may be collected from a letter, [LIX.) in the collection of Miss Seward's Letters, lately published. "Mr. Sneyd's recommendation must make me wish to read any book, which obtains it." This merited compliment refers to that most singular of novels, The Monk.

In the poems of Sir Aston Cockaine, printed in the year 1658,* are the following lines, descriptive of the manners of the

Eeee2

• See "A Chain of Golden Poems," otherwise intituled "Choice Poems of several Sorts," 8vo. This Sir Aston was of a very ancient family in Derby. shire. He had an academical education, was fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and was honoured with the degree of M. A. of the university of Oxford, while he resided there during the civil wars. He was a great sufferer, both for his loyalty and for his religion, and shared in all the hardships the Roman Catholics then underwent. After residing sometime in the inns of court, he went abroad with Sir Kenelm Digby. The politeness of his manners, his love of the liberal arts, and his vein for poetry, gained him much esteem. The great iniquity of the times, and his gay way of living, very much impaired his estate. He, however, reserved to himself an annuity for life. He lived to a very great age; and, dying at Derby, about the

1

the times, and of the hospitable character of Colonel Ralph Sneyde, of Keet:

1

"To my Noble Cousin Colonel Ralph Sueyde,
When the last spring, I came to Keel, and found
Old Hospitality on English Ground,
I wonder'd and (Great Sidney) did prefer
My SNEYDE superiour to thy Kalander.
All things are neat, and jovial plenty keepes
Continual festivals by years not weekes:
The good decai'd House-keeping doth revive,
And doth preserve our English Fame alive.
So liv'd our worthy ancestours, and so
May you, till you the oldest man may grow
Within the land; and ripe for heaven go hence,
Bemon'd as far as known. Poets th'expence
Of time and paper both may save that day,
The poor your lasting 'st epitaph will say."

Ball Haye, has been already briefly mentioned. This place
has for many centuries been in the possession of an old and
respectable family of the Devenports, as appears by the mo-
numents in Leek church yard. The last of that name was the
maternal uncle of J. Hulme, Esq. M. D.* the present possessor
of the house and estate.
In the grounds adjoining the car-

riage

commencement of the great frost, in February 1683, was buried at Pokesworth church, in the chancel. His title of baronet was disputed in the herald's office: for happening to receive that honour soon after king Charles 1. had left his Parliament, his name and patent were not enrolled. He wrote some plays, and several poems. His tragic-comedy, intituled Trappolin, &c. was pirated by some plagiary, under the title of Duke and no Duke. The tragedy of "Orid," had a new title, with Sir Aston's picture. The tragie comedy called "Tyrannical Government," is ascribed, but upon doubttul authority, to his pen. This may also be said of Thyrsites, an interlude. He also translated the Dianea of Giovanni Francisco Loredano, a romance.

• This gentleman, though he has a medical diploma, does not at present practise as a physician.