Some Discoveries about Edward Hasted and his History of Kent

SOME DISCOVERIES ABOUT EDWARD HASTED AND HIS HISTORY OF KENT JOHN BOYLE, LL.B., F.S.A. INTRODUCTORY When the second or Octavo Edition of Hasted's History of Kent was republished it was preceded by a modern lntroduction1 by Professor Alan Everitt which summarised the state of knowledge at that time regarding the facts of Hasted's life, which were tolerably well known riot least from the Anecdotes of the Hasted family composed by Hasted himself. The only contemporary account of his personality and character was that included in the autobiography of Sir Samuel Egerton Brydges, a brief and not very complimentary sketch. About Hasted's methods of work practically nothing was known beyond the fact that he amassed a large number of notes, copied extensively from parish registers and old wills, and 'perambulated' the various parishes before writing about them. The documentation of Hasted's researches was both fragmented and confused and had in fact received little attention. In the British Library it was known that there were some 60 or 70 books and manuscripts, but no report on them had been printed, and they were stated to have been acquired by the British Museum in 1770. More attention had been given to the Hastediana in the Maidstone Museum and the Anecdotes of the Hasted Family, and Hasted's letters to Thomas Astle had been printed in this journal. 2 For some reason the fact that the Museum also held most of the manuscript of Volume IV of the 1st Folio Edition seems to have received little notice. The museum also held a few loose papers and four note- ' Referred to in this article as 'Introduction'. 2 Arch. Cant., xxvi (1904), 267; ibid., xxvii (1905), 136. 235 JOHN BOYLE books which are referred to in the Introduction, and a portrait of the historian. In the Canterbury Cathedral Library there were some unpublished and undescribed documents known, vaguely perhaps, to have some association with Hasted and to include a number of letters written by him. In Eastgate House Museum, Rochester,3 there was known to be a copy of Hasted's statement of his transaction with his solicitor T. Williams regarding the transfer to Williams of Hasted's estates. Also, there was a copy of the bond given by Williams to reconvey the estates in certain circumstances, a fact which the Introduction does not specifically mention, apart from its reference to 'a mass of legal documents'. In the Public Record Office was Hasted's will and its codicil, but nothing further was known, though if Hasted was to be believed, there must have been records of a suit commenced by him to recover his estates from the descendants of T. Williams. The investigation here described started solely as an attempt to find out the nature of the Canterbury Cathedral Library documents, without any idea that they would prove to be of any special importance and certainly with no idea of investigating documents in other repositories. From this tentative beginning it has been discovered: (a) That the Canterbury Cathedral Library documents are in fact of the highest importance and comprise a substantial section of the working papers for the History; (b) That they are connected with and complementary to many unpublished documents in the Maidstone Museum (now transferred to the Kent Archives Office) and in the British Library; ( c) That the Canterbury Cathedral Library and relevant Kent Archives Office documents were the working papers that Hasted had with him in the King's Bench prison in contradistinction to the ones that he left in Canterbury and which were later sold, many of them to the British Museum; ( d) That a large number of Hasted's British Library MSS are not related to the History at all; ( e) That the Chancery records in the Public Record Office contradict Hasted's statement that he successfully sued for the return of his estates from T. Williams' descendants, show that he was a defendant and not a plaintiff in the proceedings and give a ' Since transferred to the Guildhall Museum. 236 DISCOVERIES ABOUT EDWARD HASTED detailed and unexpected history of Hasted's financial affairs from 1789 to his death, and of the disposal of his estates after that event. As a by-product of the investigation, resulting partly from newlyfound documentation but mainly from the familiarity with Hasted's style acquired from constant references to the 1st Folio Edition and during a long and close study of the Canterbury Cathedral Library material, and also from circumstantial and internal evidence, the theory has emerged that it is the 1st Folio Edition and not the 2nd Octavo Edition that is the true Hasted's History of Kent. The 2nd Octavo Edition is an emasculated version as regards historical content, while embodying much descriptive writing and items of a more popular type contributed by a ghost writer or more probably by at least two ghost writers. It is intended to prepare, and if possible publish a full account of book length of the complete investigations but, in the meantime, the following brief statement is submitted for the information of members. THE CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL LIBRARY We begin then with the material deposited in the Canterbury Cathedral Library. Physically, it consists of two large folio books crammed from cover to cover with notes, and a third similar book partly completed. In addition there are two thick portfolios of inward letters and memoranda, and a mass of similar material stitched together but not contained in a portfolio, the whole (including the portfolios) involving 764 items and some 250 correspondents. There is also a paper-bound 'Collection' of information about East Kent. There are two bound volumes containing manuscript extracts of wills, and lastly a considerable mass of loose letters, memoranda, notes, etc., including a docket of 17 letters addressed by Hasted to William Boteler of Eastry. The will extracts seem to be of less importance than the other documents and have not been studied in any detail. This article is a brief summary of investigations carried out over a long period, and in general, conclusions only are here reported; there is little space for more than a brief reference to the enquiries and reasoning which led to those conclusions. The Canterbury Cathedral Library documents are here described in the order in which it is thought they were used in the stage-by-stage creation of the History, not in the order in which they were investigated. In this connection we must bear in mind ·certain important dates in the 237 JOHN BOYLE complicated Hasted saga which have a close bearing on the significance and interpretation of the material: 1790 Publication of the 1st Folio Edition Volume III followed immediately by Hasted's flight to France; 1793 Return to England; 1795-1802 Imprisonment for debt; 1796 Decision to publish the 2nd Octavo Edition; 1799 1st Folio Edition Volume IV published; 1800 2nd Octavo Edition Volumes 9 and 10 published. A knowledge of these dates frequently tells us something of the purpose for which a given document was prepared. If, for instance, William Deedes writes to Hasted in 1798 with details of his latest land acquisitions in Aldington this information must have been supplied for use in the second edition, since the 1st Folio Edition Volume III concerning (inter alia) Aldington had been published several years before; but any information supplied at the same date relating to property in, say, Thanet could be used in the first edition Volume IV yet to be published. About half the loose documents at Canterbury are concerned with supplying information for use in the first edition Volume IV or in the second edition, and amongst these the number for the first edition slightly preponderates. THE COMMON PLACE BOOKS The three large folio volumes of notes must be those that Hasted refers to as his common place books. One of these need not detain us as it contains at least one entry made in the month of Hasted's death, and from this and other indications was clearly compiled after the publication of the last volume of the second edition of the History. The entries are in Hasted's hand, and several of the items are followed by reference numbers consisting of the letter F followed by the Roman numerals XV, XVI, or XVII. These will be explained later. The other two common place books also in Hasted's hand were obviously working papers for the History, and the second is merely a continuation of the first. The earlier one starts with lists of books, first 'Books in my study to be particularly referred to'; there are a bare half-dozen of these of which the most important are Camden's Britannia and Burton's Monasticon. Then follows a much longer list, two folio pages, double column, headed 'Books which I have not.' We have first a large number of important historical works against each of which a small cross has been made. Then follow the titles of 238 DISCOVERIBS ABOUT EDWARD HASTED several publications of much less importance (possibly pamphlets) which have no crosses against them. The subject matter here descends almost to the trivial - storms, landslips, lightning damage, ·etc., and trials of witches. The more important books are the subject of notes made in the common place books, and the conclusion is that we have here Hasted's reading list for the purpose of compiling his History. Of the more important books, about half are in the Canterbury Cathedral Library at the present day, so that presumably one can handle the actual volumes that Hasted used. The following are the first five books on Hasted's list that are still in the Cathedral Library: Decem Scriptores, Tanner's Monasticon, Ryrner's Foedera, Madox's Exchequer, and Dugdale's Baronage. Neither Philipott not Harris is included, although Hasted used them so freely; presumably he had his own copies, and needed no reminder to refer to them. The common place books contain lists of parishes and places in alphabetical order with notes of references to those places found in Hasted's reading of the books on his lists, and of many others. The entries refer to the page or pages in a given book which has some reference to the place; usually the subject matter is briefly indicated, but occasionally a fairly lengthy account has been inserted. 4 Both before and after these individual place entries there are many pages of notes made for the purpose of the title page and Preface of the History and the respective topics included in the preliminary account given in it of the general history etc. of Kent. The second common place book merely contains the details in reference to the different places for which there was not enough room in the first book; there is no material relating to Kent as a whole. PORTFOLIOS OF LETTERS RECEIVED BY HASTED We now turn our attention to the two portfolios containing masses of letters and memoranda stitched together in batches. The first is concerned with 1st Folio Edition Volumes I and II and the second with Volume III. The stiched-together batch of letters not contained in a portfolio has been found to be the corresponding collection for Volume IV, but it differs in important respects from the matter 4 An example is the long note on the Dumb Borsholder of Chart at Wateringbury. Included is a drawing of the Dumb Borsholder, which appears to be completely different from the object reposing in Wateringbury church at the present time. 239 JOHN BOYLE contained in the portfolios and will be described later. In the portfolios, actual signed letters predominate but there are also substantial numbers of questionnaires completed and usually unsigned, and memoranda, pedigrees, etc. The numbers of the items are as follows: 1st Folio Edition Volume I 132 Volume II 205 Volume III 321 The figures given are those inscribed by Hasted on the respective items and they do not as a rule include the further wave of information-gathering, namely the up-dating of the previous facts for the purpose of the second edition. These latter have been marked in pencil by Hasted with the name of the place and the Volume of the 2nd Octavo Edition to which they refer and have been 'pushed in' at the appropriate place in the bundles; they are not in any way stitched or bound, but are perfectly loose. It is only from the 2nd Octavo Edition Volume 7 onward that we find these supplementary letters. A calendar of this heterogeneous collection has been prepared and lodged in the Cathedral Library. There is only space here to say that the letters represent an information-gathering process which went through various stages. First, we have some 28 questionnaires affecting as a rule several parishes, each with a number of manors or places within them. The questions are in Hasted's hand and are usually headed 'Manors and places of note.' Most of these questionnaires refer to the last owners of the properties recorded by Philipott and enquire about subsequent developments, including the then current ownership. By internal evidence they are dated to the late 1760s. Of the remaining letters the bulk, dated in the 1770s and 1780s, seem to have been sent as follow-ups of Hasted's perambulations, and by noticing the dates one can see when he was busy writing up the respective parishes. A small proportion, less than 10 per cent of the letters (in addition to the questionnaires), was written at an earlier stage, before 1770. They do not show any system; some for instance relate to places the account of which was not to be published for another thirty years. The impression is given that Hasted made a false start before placing his investigations onto a systematic basis. In most cases it is possible to identify the writers of the letters because they are mentioned in the history. Briefly, they represent the aristocracy and landed gentry of Kent, with the law and the church also very prominent; some fifty of these contributors are persons of sufficient distinction to be the subject of articles in the Dictionary of National Biography and there are many interesting and amusing characters among them. Obviously, it is not 240 DISCOVERIES ABOUT EDWARD HASTED possible to say more about them within the limits of this article. The unbound collection of letters, etc., (106 items) connected with the 1st Folio Edition Volume IV commences with a solid mass of 55 pages contributed by John Lyon, the historian of Dover, and relates to that town and parishes in the neighbourhood. Nothing like this is found in the portfolio documents which are essentially a series of replies to questions on residuary details. Lyon's communications were sent to Hasted at Calais in answer, it is true, to queries by Hasted, but these must have been very comprehensive to require such long replies. WILLIAM BOTELER'S 'COLLECTIONS' When we examine the Collections for the Hundreds of Bewsborough, Cornilo and Eastry, and part of Ring/ow, 5 we find that their 194 pages are mostly in the hand of William Boteler though there are contributions also from William Boys and a few letters from other correspondents. One assumes that after Hasted's death Boteler collated and stitched together this information which he found amongst Hasted's papers and which he himself had been responsible for forwarding to Calais. In these Collections, Boteler was performing the same functions for Eastry and surrounding area as John Lyon performed for Dover and District, the main difference being that Lyon simply poured out a long account setting out his own knowledge, while Boteler went further and organised additionally the supply of information from other people in those parishes with which he was less familiar. He was specially responsible for supplying details about the borsholders and constables and for describing the churches and the listing of the monuments in them and in the churchyards. He also supplied the general descriptions of most of the parishes and reported current ownerships. The Collections include a good deal of correspondence between Hasted and Boteler which is dealt with later in this article. THE LOOSE DOCUMENTS The first item, selected at random, proved to be most illuminating. It was a letter dated 6th April, 1799, from John Lyon bringing up to date information supplied in 1791 and 1792; if typical, it showed that 5 i.e., the 'Collection for East Kent mentioned on p. 237. 241 JOHN BOYLE these papers were part of the continuing fact-gathering process, and specially significant was the date, showing that Hasted continued this process right up to the eve of publication of the 1st Folio Edition Volume IV. The latest changes in ownerships reported by Lyon were included in the Addenda and Corrigenda of that Volume which was published the same year, and of which the main text had long ago been printed off. An additional 47 pages, with the pagination starting again from p. 1 must have been very speedily produced to be sold with the main part of the book. This suggestion fits in very well with the hints noted elsewhere that the History was probably sold unbound. The loose documents emanated from a variety of correspondents who included most of those prominent in the antiquarian field in east Kent, including (besides John Lyon) William Boys, the historian of Sandwich, Sir Samuel Egerton Brydges, H.G. Faussett, son of the famous Bryan; also William Deedes, ancestor of the present editor of the Daily Telegraph. But foremost amongst all these is William Boteler who continues as the chief supplier and organiser of information for east Kent. The documents fall into various categories; most noteworthy perhaps is a series of long questionnaires similar to the ones Lyon received, answered in the hand of Boteler. These clearly refer to the information supplied in Collections for Bewsborough, etc., and enquire about changes, mainly in property ownerships. The information that resulted was, like that supplied by Lyon, included in the Addenda and Corrigenda at the end of Volume IV. The second category is that of information about family estates, sent in by members of those families. The estate having (as it happened) been described in the 1st Folio Edition Volume III already published, the infonnation could only be used in the 2nd Octavo Edition. A third prominent category is that of corrections of the 2nd Octavo Edition sent in after publication of the respective Volumes. It may be recalled that such corrections were invited by the publisher at the beginning of each volume. Especially interesting are the criticisms by Boteler of the 2nd Octavo Edition Volumes 9 and 10. These are set out systematically parish by parish and they come to a climax when we reach Boteler's home parish of Eastry and its surrounding Hundred. Here Boteler evidently obtained a sight of the proofs before publication and prevailed on the printer, Bristow, to permit him to revise the proofs. These were apparently already paged and the alterations of page 99 of Volume 10 were so important that Boteler wrote out the whole page afresh, taking care that his revisions would fit into pages 98 and 100. 242 DISCOVERIES ABOUT EDWARD HASTED There are also a certain number of criticisms relating to the 1st Folio Edition but received too late to be used, and besides, several letters from Boteler to Hasted which form part of the correspondence between the two described below. One of these was a strange looking document which seemed to have been cut in two by a wavy line after the manner of a cheirograph, but on inspection it turned out to be a complete letter but written on a fairly stiff piece of paper of that shape - a right-angled triangle with a WllVY hypotenuse. The explanation is that it had been written on the corner of the map of the Hundreds of Comilo and Bewsborough, which forms the frontispiece of the 1st Folio Edition Volume IV; the writer has used the 'sea' for his letter and on receipt of it Hasted has cut it away from the remainder of the map to which incidentally the letter referred. Another curiosity was a page of sketches, including crude representations of Dover and Rochester castles, with titles in old French, but with a square piece cut out. The cut out portion coincides with figure 1 facing page 597 of the 2nd Octavo Edition, Volume 12, and the explanation of the drawing ( depicting Canterbury and St. Augustine's) is set out on the previous page. Other notable items included several pages of notes on the Harleian MSS, and voluminous extracts from the Exchequer records relating to Kent. The former turned out to be a series of copies of Kent-related entries in Wanley's6 catalogue, and the latter a more voluminous compendium of the Kentish information to be found in another well-known work - Jonesn Index. THE HASTED-BOTELER CORRESPONDENCE There were amongst the loose documents many letters from Boteler to Hasted. When united with those included in the 'Collections for Bewsborough' etc., and the 17 Hasted letters separately docketed these constitute a substantial correspondence extending over the years 1790 to 1803. During this time Hasted was residing first at Calais, 8 then in the King's Bench prison and finally in lodgings in London. The letters reveal some surprising facets of Hasted's character and of his relations with his friends. We learn of bitter misunderstandings, if not actual quarrels, with both Boteler and • Humfrey Wanley (1672-1726) was employed by Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, as Librarian of his MSS. 7 Edward Jones (1771-1831), Welsh antiquarian v..riter. 8 His address was 'Chez M. Herbelot, fils, sur la Place, Calais.' 243 JOHN BOYLE Boys, his closest collaborators, of his dealings with Simmons, the printer of the Folio Edition and with Bristow, printer of the 2nd Octavo Edition, of the sale of his manuscripts, of his emotional reactions to imprisonment, of an unsuccessful attempt to obtain his release, and of his misfortunes in the fire at the King's Bench prison in 1799. The correspondence throws some light on Boteler's character as well; he comes out as fussy and pedantic, and a trifle vain but full of enthusiasm. 'No person' he writes, 'wishes more heartily to assist the business than myself.' In the . same letter he speaks of the 'ignoramuses' from whom he is required to get information. Hasted agrees heartily, and speaks of the 'universal ignorance' prevailing. More than seven years before the publication of the last Volume Hasted is already showing signs of weariness. 'Jogging on to the end of my thirty years' journey' he looks forward wistfully to the time when he can write 'finis' to the book. At least twice there was serious trouble between the historian and his well-wishers. When Hasted's manuscripts were off to the auction room in 1795, Boys took severe umbrage on finding that some of his own letters were up for sale! He vowed that he would never write to Hasted again, but relented after almost tearful pleas sent via Boteler. Even more painful seems to have been a scene between Hasted and Boteler when the latter visited the prison. For some unaccountable reason Hasted sent him away with a flea in his ear, but quickly repented and sent a most emotional letter, grovelJingly begging for forgiveness, to Boteler's London lodgings. All the time Hasted seems to be trying to arrive at an accommodation with his creditors, but is frustrated 'by a malicious attorney' so that he was doomed 'unless Providence interferes by his removal to languish here in misery and want.' He must have perished, he says, but for Boys' goodness. He was a man of changing moods, one moment rejoicing in the way almost all his friends have stood by him, but the next telling Boteler that he and Boys are the only two to do so. Unaccountably, Hasted refused to let these two see the proofs relating to the east Kent parishes that they knew so well, pleading Simmons the printer's objections, but the persistent Boteler went to Simmons ( with Kirby the then proprietor of the Kentish Gazette) who indignantly repudiated the allegation of Hasted; Boteler in consequence sent him a dignified but nevertheless stinging reproof for his prevarication. Boteler decided that this experience was not to be repeated with the second edition, so when the time came he marched into Bristow the printer's office, seized the proofs of Eastry parish, took them home and corrected them to his own satisfaction. Bristow was constrained to enclose a propitiatory offering in the 244 DISCOVERIES ABOUT EDWARD HASTED shape of a pound note when forwarding the amended proofs for Hasted's approbation. Of more prosaic interest are the passages in the letters that tell us of the feeding of information by Boteler, and of the constant friction between him and Hasted over the latter's mistakes and inaccuracies, and the progress with the printing of the book. As early as 1790 Boteler writes 'I am glad to hear that you are so advanced in the progress of your history' although the last volume was not to appear for another nine years. Two years later Hasted is still pressing Boteler for further information for insertion into a text 'already in some measure drawn up.' He is hoping to go to press with it in July 1792, but in August he anticipates getting the text to the printer in September. Yet, another two years later, Boys and Boteler are still fussing over the answers to the historian's queries. However, at the end of 1795 the manuscript is at last in the printer's hands and Hasted looks forward to its going to the press 'within the present month' (December). Indeed the following June we learn that the printer has got as far as p. 179 (Eastry). In July he is busy with Eythome (p. 194) and Heronden (pp. 218 and 223). In August we learn that an agreement has been executed with another printer (Bristow) to print a second edition; but in November comes a set-back when the folio volume, having reached p. 288, is now standing still to make way for almanacs and pocket books as Hasted sarcastically observes. We are surprised to learn that as late as March, 1799, Hasted is still asking for the latest news for including in the Addenda to the folio volume which was to be published that very year. The main text had been finished months before, ending with p. 765.9 The last time we hear about the progress of the printing of the 1st Folio Edition, Volume IV is in Hasted's letter of the 14th March, 1799. 'The indexes to the folio volume are now in the press, and will continue printing without intermission till finished, so that there can be nothing now left to retard it. The indexes have been a horrid uphill labour to me and have cost me more than four months to complete them and I assure you I had much rather write a whole folio volume than go through the heavy drudgery of making them.' In October of the same year Hasted writes: 'I suppose you have got my fourth folio. I dread your acute remarks and criticisms on it - but in excuse for the many errors in it let my distance from the press and every other embarrassment I laboured under during the whole 9 Letter, Hasted to Boteler, 26th October, 1798. 245 JOHN BOYLE time of its being in the press plead my excuse. I am myself truly conscious of the demerits of the volume, and as such submit to every censure the author of it deserves for his faults throughout it.' And Simmons' bill for the printing is 'beyond all belief - £1,100. There are many references in the correspondence to the plates and engravings, particularly the maps which latter seem to have given a great deal of trouble. It has been suggested10 that Hasted employed surveyors in the preparation of his maps, but I have found no confirmation of this amongst his papers; on the contrary I am of opinion that he used Andrews and Drury's Atlas of Kent (1769) having it re-engraved (after such correction as was possible) Hundred by Hundred. I consider that one has only to place side by side one of Hasted's Hundred maps and the corresponding portion of Drury's Atlas to be convinced that the latter is the source, but if further proof is needed, we note the remark of Boteler11 'If you choose to send me proofs of the maps of the Hundreds you mention, I will most willingly contribute all in my power to render them more correct than they are at present: Andrews & Drury made a shocking work of their survey of this part of the county' (my italics).' An actual portion of the Drury Atlas was found (used apparently as a bookmark) among Hasted's papers. The curious 'wavy line' letter mentioned above, and dated 4th November, 1798, relates to these maps. The writer (Boteler) had evidently despaired of making anything of the map of Cornilo and Bewsborough Hundreds; but Hasted had so taken this to heart that his friend decided he would do what he could, by riding with the map in his hand round the countryside making corrections. Apparently, both Boteler and the map got very wet in the course of these investigations. 'The map in itself is very erroneous,' says Boteler, 'but as far as I have gone it is tolerable, and would have been much less faulty could I have had time to give it a more particular inspection, but the distance at this time of the year renders excursions of this nature unpleasant.' This was the time when the first Ordnance Surveys were being prepared. 'G:eneral Roy's triangles' as Boteler calls them, showed up the erroneousness of Hasted's maps, but the differences were so great that a completely new plan would have had to be made to take advantage of General Roy's productions. 'But,' said Boteler, 'I found upon riding round the country with the map in my hand that by trimming •0 Introduction, p. xxvi. " Letter, 3rd September, 1796. 246 DISCOVERIES ABOUT EDWARD HASTED between places, giving to some and taking from others, although the distance might not be correct, yet a tolerable idea might be given of the whole.' THE MAIDSTONE MUSEUM Before the significance of Hasted's MSS in the Canterbury Cathedral Library was realised the most important known collection of source material for the History was undeniably that in the British Library though, so far as is known, no attempt had been made to examine it. The full significance of the Canterbury material, moreover, could scarcely be evaluated without studying also the London documents. Before tackling the British Library collection, however, it was decided to have a brief look at the material in the Maidstone Museum. 12 As we have mentioned, the Anecdotes of the Hasted Family and the accompanying list of dated events, and the letters of Hasted to Thomas Astle have alredy been printed in this journal. The Introduction mentions certain notebooks which included extracts from parish registers, and some minor correspondence of an eccentric member of the Morrice family of Betteshanger. The Museum provided, however, a few surprises. First there was the MS of a large part of the 1st Folio Edition Volume IV. A modern document sets out the numbers of the pages of Hasted's MS which are missing. The portion relating to Canterbury is separately paginated and titled. With a new title page this Canterbury part was published as a separate book, as well as being included in the main History. For some obscure reason the separately published Canterbury section is referred to in the Victoria County History as a new edition of Somner's Antiquities of Canterbury, an implied gibe at Hasted's plagiaristic propensities which this writer would not have dared to make! Some letters tie up with correspondence in the Canterbury Cathedral Library. One is addressed by Hasted to Sir Joseph Banks, asking for details of his career and the reply, now at Canterbury, is dated the very next day. Four of the Hasted - Astle letters at Maidstone are linked with ones in the Canterbury Cathedral Library from Thomas Astle to Hasted. A major interest of the Maidstone deposit is in the four note- 12 This has since been transferred to the Kent Archives Office. 247 JOHN BOYLE books, all in Hasted's hand and all numbered by Roman figures preceded by a letter of the alphabet, the same code as that observed at Canterbury. Being written on the spines the numbers are damaged and incomplete. The contents of the notebooks give little indication of system; they seem to form part of a random series of 'collectanea' formed either for its own sake as an interesting record or perhaps compiled 'on spec.' in hopes that the entries might possibly prove useful for the History. The subjects are mainly ecclesiastical, including cartularies of various religious houses and records of proceedings in ecclesiastical courts against clerics. Several entries copied from the cartulary of Horton Priory have against them the reference TXC. A large part of one book is a copy of extracts made by Sir Edward Dering in 1630. Another important item, as will later appear, is a bond, given by Hasted in support of a mortgage. THE BRITISH LIBRARY From our own researches we had received the impression that these documents would deal largely with heraldry and family pedigrees, and in Hasted's letter to Boteler of the 24th March, 1800, he had referred to two quarto volumes of Index to the MSS. Apart from these indications one had no idea what to expect. There was even doubt about the date when the Museum acquired this collection, and the Introduction had challenged Sims' statement about Hasted's MSS being presented to the British Museum in 1770, eight years before the publication of his first volume. One hoped that the British Library documents might clear up this doubt and that they would offer some clue as to the significance of the Roman numerals somewhat tantalisingly used in the Canterbury Cathedral Library documents. The sheer mass of the material was somewhat daunting - 62 volumes 13 being only part of Hasted's MSS in the Library. However, a preliminary enquiry followed by a brief skirmish with the printed and MS catalogues of the Additional MSS showed that the task, though heavy, was not as formidable as had been feared. The difficulty about the date was quickly solved. We know from the Hasted - Boteler correspondence that Hasted's MSS were sold in 13 Introduction, p. xv. 248 DISCOVERIES ABOUT EDWARD HASTED 1796. In the MS catalogue of the British Library the date of acquisition is blank, but the acquisition of the MSS before and after those of Hasted is dated in the 1790s so that the inference is obvious - these MSS were purchased by the Museum at Hasted's sale in 1796, not 26 years earlier. Later, it was found that many of the documents contain dates and a few were acquired by Hasted long after 1770. The two volumes of Index were present as expected and provided the solution of the Roman numeral mystery. At the end of each volume is a list of Hasted's MSS, one in Hasted's hand and the other in an unknown hand; they are numbered by a combination of the alphabet and numerals, from A. I to Z. CXIII, with three extra entries A. I, II and III. The Index (as distinct from the list) relates only to those MSS concerning the county of Kent. The list added to the second Index volume has certain entries crossed out in pencil, these markings being explained in the British Library's MS catalogue as 'indications in pencil of those MSS not bought with the rest of his collections for the Museum, the trustees having (perhaps injudiciously) declined to purchase what were merely (Hasted's) own collectanea and compilations.' Out of 122 MSS in Hasted's list 59 are not in the British Library, but this does not of course mean that all 59 were in the sale. Certainly the commonplace books and bundles of correspondence now in the Canterbury Cathedral Library, which are on the list, remained in Hasted's possession and were not sold, and of the documents unaccounted for we know that William Boys bought one (Extracts from wills proved in the Canterbury Prerogative Court) and that in the Maidstone Museum, later to be transferred to the Kent Archives Office, there were three notebooks which appear on Hasted's list and may have been bought by someone else at the sale. These were three of the notebooks with fragmentary Roman numerals on the spine. Document T.XC is clearly the one referred to in one of these books. 14 The Index is based on an alphabetical list of parishes. An unexpected discovery is that well over half the MSS in the British Library either do not relate to Kent at all or relate to it only in a minor degree. All are summarised in the British Library's MS catalogue, and perhaps some indication would be expected here as to what the non-Kent MSS are about. However, with the best will in the world it is impossible briefly to describe them. For instance, Add. 5482 begins with lists of Knights of the Garter in the time of 14 See p. 248. 249 JOHN BOYLE Elizabeth I (collected by Robert Knight) and ends with receipts for the cure of earache. Even disregarding the household hints, one finds the documents too varied to classify; Add. 5489 (from A. Hill's collection) is about the dissection of dead bodies, trade with Smyrna, a Cornish rebellion, voyages in Italy and Germany, the plague at Amsterdam, and Newfoundland fisheries; and, I hesitate to add, more medical prescriptions. The organisation of the navy and preparations to invade Ireland are topics found in other MSS. There seems to be one group with a common denominator - sequestrations of benefices during the Commonwealth. Of the MSS relating wholly to Kent, several are indexes to other books or lists of MSS; two of these we have already mentioned, and there are also three volumes of an Index to Harris's History of Kent prepared by Hasted, a significant clue to the source of a good deal of his information. A substantial number, again, are of only limited scope within the county, one being concerned almost wholly with the Dering family; there are manorial rolls of manors in the Suttonat- Hone area (where Hasted once lived) and papers relating to specific establishments such as Wye College, Horton Priory and Canterbury Cathedral. After deducting the documents in these categories we are left with some dozen or so MSS that are of interest to the study of Kent as a whole; this hard core can be divided into four groups: (1) heraldic visitations, (2) pedigrees, (3) exchequer extracts and ( 4) a miscellaneous but highly interesting group consistjng of church notes, arms, sketches of properties and places, heraldic drawings and similar material. We may notice in passing that the supposition that heraldry and pedigrees would predominate is largely confirmed. Even in the nucleus of major documents there is a certain amount of duplication; three of the heraldic visitation documents are based on Philipott the eider's 1619 visitation of Kent. I append (p. 00) a brief note on these more important MSS. THE AUTHORSHIP OF TIIE 2ND OCTAVO EDITION The theory mentioned above about the authorship of the 2nd Octavo Edition is the subject of a long article in the Kentish Gazette of the 19th January, 1979, of which the following are some of the salient points: The second edition of Hasted's History of Kent is not, as has been universally accepted, the sole and unaided work of Hasted himself, but is, in part at least, 'ghosted' by another writer 15 who: Probably collaborated with Hasted in reducing the historical 250 DISCOVERIES ABOUT EDWARD HASTED matter of the Folio (first edition) by about a third; Certainly re-wrote the descriptions of a large number of the parishes; and Almost certainly revised and edited the descriptions of many of the remainder. The theory is, in the main, based on a close comparison between the texts of the first and second editions, and oh Hasted's circumstances when the second was written. It is supported by his characteristics as a writer as shown in the first edition and in his papers, compared with the style and vocabulary of passages in the second edition; by the terms of the preface to the second edition, and by remarks in his correspondence. The conclusion is that the form and content of the second edition are dictated by two considerations - reduction in cost, and increase in popular appeal. The historical matter is accordingly cut down, while the descriptions of the parishes are made longer and more interesting, and gossipy items, too numerous to retail here, are added for the first time. Of 80 parishes described in the first edition Volume I 56 are virtually described afresh in the second. In the first edition, Volume II, out of 115 parochial descriptions 67 are significantly altered. There are fewer alterations in the first edition Volumes III and IV particularly in respect of the remoter areas such as Romney Marsh and Sheppey. Only in Thanet are there no alterations. The new material is replete with touches of local colour that could only result from a recent visit. The vocabulary and literary mannerisms of one especially of the two writers are distinctly individual, and differ completely from those of the writer of the 1st Folio Edition; the repeated use of the Kent dialect word 'cludgy' in reference to the soil is very noticeable. 16 As well as the evidence from textual comparison in the context of Hasted's total inability to visit the places described, there is some documentary support. One presumes that by 1796 Hasted would have made his reputation, and that there would be no desire to advertise any outside participation; yet he writes to Boteler, with reference to the second edition (4th November, 1796) 'What I feared most was the compressing it within the promised Bounds, 15 Since the article was written I have become persuaded that there were probably two 'ghosts' with markedly different styles. 16 Rivers almost inevitably 'meander their silver streams,' and scores of villages have become, since the first edition, unpleasant and/or dreary (including Harrietsham and Brabourne). 251 JOHN BOYLE which I am happy to find we can do.' It .is not Hasted's practice, so far as I am aware, to use 'we' as meaning 'I' so that he seems to be inferring the presence of a collaborator. The writer of the Preface to the second edition says: 'The modem state of each parish is greatly enlarged with numbers of observations unnoticed before . . . ' The word 'unnoticed' seems to indicate that 'observations' means 'information from inspections' rather than merely 'comments'. If this is the true interpretation, then these inspections could not have been made by Hasted. The second edition, besides being in the more manageable octavo format, has also a more modem style of layout and printing with fewer italics and capitals, and the spelling modernised. The whole is thus made more in tune with the dawning century, and the writer of the Preface urged that 'It may rather be esteemed a new History than a second edition of a former one.' The Folio is indeed an eighteenth-century book on a seventeenthcentury foundation (Philipott's Vil/are Cantianum) while the Octavo is a nineteenth-century book on an eighteenth-century foundation (the Folio), yet in the second edition the blending of the new with the old has been done with sufficient skill to escape detection - at all events for 178 years. THE HASTED NOTEBOOKS IN THE KENT ARCHIVES OFFICE After I had, as I thought, completed this investigation I learnt, with some astonishment, from Mr. Duncan Harrington that eighteen notebooks in Hasted's hand had been discovered in the Kent Archives Office. Seventeen of them are marked with the letters A to R, excluding J, the eighteenth being an Index. Book A, dated 1783, has the following title page:- 'ltinerarium Parochiale Cantianum being the Parochial Itinerary of Edwd Hasted made by him thro the several Parishes of the County of Kent for the Collecting of whatever was worth notice Local or Personal anyways relating to that County begun in the year 1764 & Continued on to the year 1788. With sketches Plans & other Drawings of Tombs, churches, Coats of Arms & many other matters observed in the course of his Searches throughout the same in l6 Books marked with the several letters from A to Q inclusive . . . ' The books do not entirely conform to this description. Much space is indeed devoted to a record of information, collected in the course of systematic visiting, about churches and the monuments in them, and about parochial charities and registers, but (i) a minority only of the parishes are so covered - 46 of those dealt with in Folio Volume II and most of those in Volume III; (ii) several of the books 252 DISCOVERIES ABOUT EDWARD HASTED are, in whole or in part, common place books with random jottings of items gleaned from anywhere in Kent, often by word of mouth, but not as the result of any systematic perambulation; (iii) the dates given to some of the books do not seem to be the dates when the information was collected, but rather when the book was written up, often years later. For example, information obviously used in Volume II published in 1782 is found in books with post-1782 dates: moreover, books marked with the earlier letters of the alphabet are dated later than those marked with the later letters; (iv) there are long extracts from printed books, collections of manuscripts, legal documents, etc., again unconnected with any perambulation. In many books original pencil entries have been inked over later, and the collection seems to be the product of a tidying-up, re-editing and partial re-copying operation, in some cases many years after the making of the original notes. It is significant that none of the extra descriptive material added in the second edition originates from these notebooks. The theory that Hasted was not responsible for obtaining it is therefore strengthened. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The investigation into the MSS deposited in the Canterbury Cathedral Library was undertaken at the invitation of Miss Anne Oakley, M.A., F.S.A., the Cathedral and City Archivist, and I am grateful to her for the opportunity thus given. As the scope of the enquiry widened I needed, and never failed to receive, further assistance from Miss Oakley, as well as from the staffs of other museums and repositories. Specially helpful where Mr. David Kelly, B.A., F.S.A., A.M.A., of Maidstone Museum, and Mr. M.1. Moad, of the Guildhall Museum, Rochester. From the staffs of the Kent Archives Office, the British Library, the Public Record Office, the Society of Antiquaries and the Law Society Library, I received the prompt and efficient service that one has learnt to expect from them. To all these, and to many others who have assisted and encouraged me, I extend my thanks. 253 JOHN BOYLE APPENDIX SOME OF THE MORE IMPORTANT MSS IN 11-IE BRITISH LIBRARY (see pp. 248-50). (i) Heraldic Visitations Add. 5507 (K. XLVI) Described by Hasted as 'A copie of the visitation Book of the County of Kent taken by John Philipott Rouge Dragon Annis 1690 etc. with the addition of sundry Pedigrees, Notes and Index.' We note that Hasted has carelessly put '1690' for '1619'. The entire document is over 400 pages long and on page 373 Hasted has the following note: 'I began copying this book Augt. 5th 1763 and I finished it September the 8th following.' The impression given is that Hasted copied the visitation and in later years added, as material became available, continuations of some of the pedigrees after 1619. His notes refer to another copy of the visitation of 1619 either made by or belonging to Picard, the heraldic illustrator, which had come into the hands of Bryan Faussett. The pedigree of George Gipps, a Canterbury worthy, mentioning his marriage in 1792, appears to be a later insertion. It seems that some of the pedigrees were obtained from the College of Heralds' Office. Add. 16,279 There is a note in pencil in modern hand on the flyleaf of Add. 5507: 'compare Add. 16,279'. This latter purports to be a copy of a visitation made in 1584, but Hasted has written on it a note to the following effect: 'N.B. Many of these pedigrees are continued down and I doubt whether the about (B.L. note 'above') Date and Title is not put down in Error as it seems to me to be only a copy of the visitation of 1619.' Add. 16,279 is in Hasted's hand. It was not purchased by the Museum until 1846 and is not on Hasted's own list of his manuscripts. Add. 5526 (Z. CXIII) Another copy of the visitation of Kent by Philipott. Hasted purchased it at Rowe Mores' sale (1779). 17 It is not therefore in his writing but in an old-fashioned hand, presumably that of Mores himself. 17 Edward Rowe Mores (1731-1778), antiquary; son of the rector of Tunstall of which parish he wrote a history. 254 DISCOVERIES ABOUT EDWARD HASTED Add. 5532 (Z. CXII) A copy of the Visitation of Kent, 1574, purchased by Hasted at Rowe Mores' sale. The title (in Hasted's hand) states that it was 'Taken by Robert Cooke, Clarenceux King at Arms.' The document is in a mixture of hands, those of Hasted and Rowe Mores supplementing, presumably, a sixteenth- or seventeenth-century original. One complete pedigree, that of Vane or Fane of Tunbridge, is in Hasted's hand. (ii) Pedigrees Add. 5520 (X. CIII) This collection of 121 pedigrees, mostly in Hasted's hand, is no mere collector's piece but a practical working document. In most cases the source of the information is clearly stated, and the use made of these pedigrees can be traced in all four of the 1st Folio Edition volumes. To take a few typical specimens, no. 10 is described as 'Pedigree of Bathurst in all its branches approved by the late Earl of Bathurst for whose use it was drawn up by me E.H.' It is a very elaborate document with drawings of coats of arms. No. 16 is a pedigree of Smith or Smythe of Westenhanger and Bidborough 'Drawn up under the inspection and approbation of the late Chief Baron of the Exchequer and made from his papers and deeds, the heraldic visitations and other documents by me E.H.' Someone has written in pencil: 'The part relating to the Lords Strangford is entirely wrong.' No. 18 is 'A most curious and ample pedigree of Aucher copied by E.H. from one in the possession of S. Beckingham.' No. 32 (Adye) is 'sent by the Earl of Radnor' as are several others. A further number were supplied by Mr. Knight of Godmersbam, who left his estates there to Jane Austen's brother. No. 80 (Osborne) has a letter attached from R. Tylden, which is presumably a reply to the letter from Hasted to Richard Tylden concerning the Osborne family and Tylden pedigree which is in the Kent Archives Office (U 771 C 4). No. 106 (Gibbon of West Cliffe) embodies the pedigree of the author of the Decline and Fall, communicated by Sir S.E. Brydges. According 􀁼o this, the historian was descended from the younger branch of the Gibbons at West Cliffe, and not from the senior one at Hole in Rolvenden, as suggested by Gibbon himself in his autobiography. Add. 5509 (K. LVI) 'The pedigree of the noble family of Wotton, among which are 255 JOHN BOYLE interspersed those of the illustrious families of (fifteen listed) 'and others.' The entries are in an ancient hand and the paper, frayed at the edges, has been remounted. The paging has been much altered, but there are about 100 pp. Add. 5528 Is a typical Hasted mystery. Although the title page refers to pedigrees of Kentish families 'collected by Edward Rowe Mores' and most of it is written in the old-fashioned hand which I assume to be Mores', nevertheless the document appears on Hasted's list as Z. CV. at the end and in slightly different writing so presumably an addition after the writing of the main list (which is dated 1769). 18 Many of the pedigrees relate to the Boys family and appear to be in the hand of William Boys himself, while the latter part of the document is headed (by Hasted) 'Memorandums from the wills in the Prerogative Registry at Canterbury.' These extracts are in Hasted's hand. Add. 5534 (Z. CIX) Pedigrees and arms of families in Kent down to 1781. Collected and copied by Hasted. They seem all to be of the more formal type with drawings of arms, etc. Pasted in are some notes by Hasted about an Act of 35 Hen. VIII concerning the Archbishop of Canterbury. Add. 5534 is quoted in the Dictionary of National Biography article on Richard Dering. His family, and that of Boys, are the main ones dealt with. (iii) Exchequer, etc. Extracts Add. 5483 ( E. X) 'Transcript form the Escheat Rolls. Bundles of Reliefs, Aids, etc. down to the end of Queen Elizabeth's Reign.' This is a massive book of 404 pages in Hasted's hand. The title page reads as follows: 'Extracta varia ex Rotulis in Scaccario Regis remanentibus et ad Comitatum Kanciae respectandis viz. originalia Memoranda, Rotul Escaet & Liberat & Inquis post Mort. per me. E.H.' The entries start with a list of the knights' fees belonging to the honour of Clare. It is impractical to summarise this interesting document; it contains lists of tenants in chief and numerous extracts concerning fines. Many entries require elucidation, e.g., in a list of knights' fees held in the King's hand in the reign of Henry VI the name occurs of Juliana de Leybourn who died in the reign of Edward III. Trial •• Long before Rowe Mores' sale - see ante. 256 DISCOVERIES ABOUT EDWARD HAS1ED samples show that some of the entries were used in the History. (iv) Miscellaneous Add. 5479 (D. W) The first part is a copy of a well-known document known as 'Church Notes taken in Kent.' These notes were the work of the elder PhiJipott (see Arch. Cant., lx (1947), 50). The document from which this section was copied is now Egerton MS 3310 in the British Library. The title of this section, written in Hasted's hand, is as follows: 'Notes taken of the annes, monuments, etc. in several churches in the County of Kent Begun to be taken in the year 1603 and to 1624. Communicated to me by Joseph Edmondson, Esq.' The notes relate almost exclusively to coats of arms and monuments in a large number of churches in the county including Canterbury Cathedral and its cloisters. The heading for the second part of the manuscript is as follows: 'The following Notes, Coats of Arms, Drawings of Monuments and churches were copied by me from a curious MSS in the possession of John Thorp (sic) of Bexley, Esqr. in the year 1768.' Lastly we have 'Some loose papers and memorandums all which I take to have been wrote by Peter Le Neve.' Add. 5480 (D. V) Is thus described by Hasted: 'A Book Containing The Bearings or Coats of Arms of several of the Nobility and Gentry of Kent. Also Plans or Sketches of Tombs, Ruins, Churches, Houses, Monasteries, Harbours and various things of the same County and several Pedegrees (sic) and Descents of families belonging to it and other matters - Taken from the Several Printed Books of the best Authority or Curious Manuscripts. Collected by E.H.' The document runs to some 234 pages plus index. It consists mainly of coats of arms of different families, in many cases giving the source of the information. Many of the coats are copied from what are described as Picard's MSS. An item of great interest is a long series of topographical sketches, including one of Deal Castle which is obviously the model for the engraving included in the History. Twenty-four pages of sketches with up to eight on a page are preceded by this sub-title: 'The following sketches of churches, seats, villages, etc. in Kent were taken by Mr. Warburton, the Herald, in his Survey of the County in 1725 and truly copied by me. E.H.' After this interesting little picture gallery the subject matter consists of pedigrees, in many cases the source or authority being stated. For instance, the Hales' pedigree is 'taken from Pedigrees in 257 JOHN BOYLE the possession of the farni􀁧y, from Monumental inscriptions, Parish Registers and other Authorities by me. E.H.' On the other hand the Percy pedigree is simply taken from Dugdale's Monasticon. Especially fine is the pedigree of Hulse, obviously a copy from some other document and described as having been 'collected out of the public records by John Taylor living at the Lute in Fleet Streete.' This is illustrated in full colour, including two pictures of knights bearing standards and shields. At the end of this pedigree Hasted has written: 'I begun copying this Pedigree of the Hulse's June the 20th, 1764 and finished it the 22nd instant following.' There are further sub-titles. One is: 'Lords, Knights and Gentlemen of Kent 1593. A Manuscript kindly communicated to me by Edwd. Jacon Esq. of Feversham and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. Faithfully copied by me E.H.' After a list of names there follow some hundreds of drawings of coats of arms, sometimes nine and sometimes twelve on a page. Finally, writes Hasted: 'I began copying the MSS about one at noon on the 30th June 1764 and finished it about the same time the next day.' One would have thought it was physically impossible for so many coats of arms to b.e copied out in twenty-four hours and we have evidence here of the incredible speed at which Hasted worked, which may account for his occasional inaccuracy. 19 The final section of this MS is headed: 'The several Coats of Arms in the Book of Picard the Herald Painter of Canterbury continued from p. 31,' and terminates with: 'The End of the bearings taken from Picard's MSS by me E.H.' Then there are two more coats of arms followed by eleven pages of index. Add. 5486 (F. XVI) A book containing sundry coats of arms, pedigrees, and monuments, observations on several churches, a chronological and heraldical diary and several views of houses and chapels. Coats of arms, pedigrees and descriptions of church monuments are promiscuously intermingled in this 47-page MS in Hasted's hand. Some of the items that it contains are: 'The kindred and consanguinity of E.H. of Sutton in K. with Robt. Dingley Esq. of Lamienby in Bexley.' •• In the area covered by these notes two extraordinary instances of carelessness occur: the date of Philipott's VisitaJion of Kent is given as 1690 instead of 1619, and that of Hasted's flight to France - one which surely should have been graven on his memory - is wrongly stated - 1791 for 1790. 258 DISCOVERIES ABOUT EDWARD HASTED 'Observations in Sutton Ch. and church yard. Taken in Sept. 1764.' 'Heraldical miscellanies and other Events beginning May 2nd 1694 collected and carried on by Peter Le Neve Esq. Norroy King of Arms.' (1710) Account of the duel between Dering and Thornhill and trial of the latter for manslaughter, ending 'R. Neve 18th Jany. 1762.' 'This (MS) was kindly lent to me by Mr. Edmondson of Warwick Street, Mowbray Herald Extraordinary 1764 and exactly copied by me. E.H.' There are a number of pen drawings of buildings in the Darent area apparently made by Hasted himself and a like drawing of East Farleigh Bridge dated 1770. (v) Missing Documents The following are perhaps the most interesting of the missing documents. Can any reader throw any light on their present whereabouts? E. XIII On Hasted's list described as 'Extracts from the Escheat Rolls Knights' fees and the possessors of them, Account of Lands held in Capite, Scutages, Lands held of Dover Castle and the Ward and services due from them. Divers extracts from the Red Book of the Exchequer and other matters comprehended under the title of Feoda Cantiana.' W. XCVIII and W. XCIX A continuation of Philipott's Villare Cantianum from the year 1658 to 1768. 259