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Derek Palgrave, secretary of the Palgrave
Society, recently contacted this web site with information that he
was transcribing letters that were sent to William Weddell, the
then owner of Newby Hall in Yorkshire by Rev William Palgrave who
was Rector of Palgrave from 1766-1799. Derek tells us that he was
something of a character and kept in touch with many of the
literary figures of his day including: Thomas Gray, William Mason
and Horace Walpole.
To date Derek has transcribed extracts from the
will and codicils of The Rev Palgrave and has kindly given
permission for them to be published
here.
The Palgrave Society
EXTRACTS FROM THE WILL OF WILLIAM PALGRAVE
RECTOR OF PALGRAVE & THRANDESTON
I give and bequeath
unto all my servants, that shall be living with me at my decease,
cloaths for mourning.
I direct and appoint my Executor hereinafter
named as soon as conveniently can be, after my decease, to pay and
distribute, at his discretion, the sum of twenty pounds to and
amongst such poor persons of the parish of Palgrave and the further
sum of Twenty pounds amongst such poor persons of the parish of
Thrandeston, as do not receive Collection from their said
respective parishes.
The picture of my brother and myself , now
standing in the garret, I desire may be burnt
To John Boreham my
Butler if living with me at the time of my decease I leave all my
cloathes, linen, wearing apparel of every sort and kind and the sum
of seventy pounds. To William Roper, my coachman, if living with me
at the time of my decease, I leave the sum of forty pounds. To Mary
Oakley, who now lives with me in the place of Anne Forster, who has
left, I leave twenty pounds. To Elizabeth Coles housemaid if living
with me at the time of my decease, I leave twenty pounds. To the
parish boy who shall be with me, I leave ten pounds to be disposed
of in such manner as my Executors shall think most to his
advantage.
My funeral I desire may be as private as possible
and six poor men to have a guinea each who carry me to my grave. To
the Reverend William Walter, Rector of Stuston and late Curate of
Palgrave, I leave all my wine, which shall be in my cellars, and
the sum of thirty pounds. To the Reverend Harry White of Eye, my
curate of Thrandeston, I leave the sum of thirty pounds.
To John Boreham, my Butler, I have left seventy
pounds. I now leave him an addition of thirty pounds to make it up
[to] one hundred and to William Roper, my Coachman, I have left
forty pounds I now leave him an addition of ten pounds to make it
up [to] fifty.
To Timothy Gray, clerk to the parish, I leave ten
pounds.
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Extract from Arthur Mee’s “The Kings of England”
PALGRVE. No pleasanter English setting could
be found than the Wide green, planted with avenues of trees, which
forms the Village street of Palgrave. Its 14th.century church has
an embattled tower and the original chancel arch, though the
chancel has been made new. The hammer beam roof is decorated with
carved flowers. The chief treasure is the Norman font, with heads
of two men and two women below the corner niches. As in so many
Suffolk churches, much fine work has been lavished on the embattled
porch. The mouldings are filled in with heads, roses, and crowns;
there are carved niches on either side of the doorway, and in the
spandrels is a primitive St George with his dragon. A marble tablet
in the porch was set up in 1771 by Sir John Fenn, editor of the
Paston Letters, to his friend Honest Thomas Martin, lawyer and
antiquarian, a quaint character who left valuable notes on 200
Suffolk churches. His disregard for money brought him to poverty.
The inscription tells us that it is here so that posterity might be
informed in what sacred place were deposited the remains of that
able and indefatigable antiquary. A room above the porch has been
taken away but the stairs remain. The armour once kept in this room
is over the door.
From this
small place went out into the world George Crabb, a man of wide
scholarship, in the early 19th century. He studied in turn for
medicine, the church, and the law, worote several legal works, and
published a series of dictionaries. From 1774 to 1785 Anne Letitia
Barbauld was living. here, helping her husband in a boarding school
for boys. deescribed as one of the most classical and elegant
writers of her time, she revealed another side of her character in
the genius she showed at managing boys. Among her Palgrave scholars
Were Chief Justice Lord Denman, Sir William Gill the
antiquarian, and William Taylor, who "made WaIter Scott a
.poet" by the inspiration of his ballad Lenore. It was for the use
of the boys in the school here that Mrs Barbauld wrote Hymns in
Prose for Children, considered her best work.
On a tombstone in the churchyard is the familiar inscription to a
blacksmith; and a wagoner’s stone has on it a team of six horses
drawing a covered wagon.
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People of Palgrave Past
Anna Laetitia Barbauld,
(1743-1825)
Anna Aikin was the daughter of John Aikin of Warrington Academy
and sister of Dr. John Aikin; she married Rev. Rochemont Barbauld
in 1774. According to Arthur Mee’s The Kings of England Barbauld
taught school in Palgrave, Suffolk (1774-87) and corresponded with
Elizabeth Montagu, Dr. Johnson, Richardson, Joseph Johnson, Joanna
Baillie, Hannah More, and Fanny Burney. A prominent voice in
liberal politics, she early developed a reputation as a poet and
reviewed fiction for the Monthly Review (1809-1815) and edited the
British Novelists in 50 volumes (1810). Among her pupils were
William Roscoe and William Taylor of Norwich. Her husband committed
suicide in 1808.
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