whose ancestors for many Generations served with In the Magistracy of the City of Amsterdam resided many years a respectable merchant in London Richard Chiswell of Debden Hall Esq. the 28th of April 1724 And On the North side of this Church Yard lies interred (by her own particular desire) the body of Mary Muilman wife of the said Peter Muilman Esq. who in 1772 became sole heiress to her brother Richard Chiswell Esq. This Monument was erected by their only Son Richard Muilman Trench Chiswell Esq. As related This only son, Trench Chiswell, was a rich man. in his father's autobiography, upon the death of his mother's brother (Richard Chiswell), on 3rd July, 1772, he came into possession of Debden Hall with a fortune of about £120,000. Upon the death of his father (Peter Muilman) in 1790, he inherited another fortune of about £350,000. Of Debden Hall, Salmon wrote (History of Essex, p. 107):This Estate continued in the [Howard] Family till Henry late Earl of Suffolk sold it to Mr. Rich. Chiswell, Citizen and Stationer of London. Mr. John Dunton in his Life and Errors, written by himself in a Solitude (1705, p. 280) gives Characters of the most eminent of the Company in the three Kingdoms; "I take to be first Mr. Richard Chiswell, who well deserves the Title of Metropolitan Bookseller of England, if not of all the World. His name at the Bottom of a Title Page does sufficiently recommend the Book. He has not been known to print either a bad Book or on bad Paper. He is admirably well qualified for his Business, and knows how to value a Copy according to its Worth, Witness the Purchase he has made of Archbishop Tillotson's octavo Sermons." Mr. Richard Chiswell, his Son, is present Possessor of his Estate. Mr. Chiswell purchased the manor of Deynes of Henry Edwards in 1715, and the manor of Tendring of Adam Newman; both these manors are in Debden. Morant says Chiswell also purchased Debden Hall of Henry Edwards, and, further, that it was James, 3rd Earl of Suffolk, and not Henry, the 6th Earl, who alienated it, about 1660 (History of Essex, ii. 562). Muilman's son rebuilt the mansion at Debden Hall, and restored the chancel of Debden church after the central tower fell*, crushing the choir and transepts. He also laid out a large sum in improving his estate. He married Mary, daughter of James Jurin, M.D., of Hackney, in 1756: "Peter Muilman, jun., Esq., to Miss Mary Jurin, of Hackney, £10,000.” (Gentleman's Magazine, May, 1756, p. 262). He resided at Spains Hall, Great Yeldham (see History, ii., 209), and later at Debden Park. Richard Muilman Trench Chiswell, to give him his full name, was High Sheriff of the County in 1776; he was frequently elected to be chairman of the Essex County Meetings, sometimes under the names of Muilman Chiswell, and sometimes as Trench-Chiswell. These vagaries are rather confusing, as is the extent of his large property. He was a man of considerable note in his day, but came to a sad end. He shot himself at Debden Hall on February 3rd, 1797. There is a large heraldic monument to the memory of Muilman Trench Chiswell, Esq. (a further name variant), in Debden Church, but his age is not recorded; probably he was born in 1735, which would make it about 62. His father and mother were married 28th April, 1734; he himself married April 1756, when, according to this this calculation, he would be just of age. He left an only daughter, Mary, who was married, in 1779, to Sir Francis Vincent, Bart. The Debden estates came from his uncle, through his mother; the Finchingfield estates from his grandmother, Mary Trench; the Hedingham and Yeldham estates from his father; and the Hackney property from his unclet and wife. Chiswell is stated to have been interested in antiquarian studies; there is a letter from him to Mr. Gough asking as to Essex articles in British Topography, and R. Gough's reply dated from Enfield, Dec. 26, 1783, (Nichols' Lit. Illust., iv. 713); also another letter from Trench Chiswell, dated Aug. 29th, 1779, to Wm. Herbert about Caxton's burnt in Holland. In the Dict. of Nat. Biog. (x. 266) we read : It is stated by Nichols (Lit. Anecd., iii. 611)—who may, however, be con *The small clock bell at Debden bears these inscriptions: P.M. bought Anno 1776, Kirby Hall. Removed to Debden by R. M. Trench Chiswell, Esq., 1786. This connection of father and son is interesting. Chiswell also gave the font. *From R. Simpson's Memorials of St. John at Hackney (1882) we learn that Richard Chiswell, Esq. paid a fine of £25 in lieu of serving the three offices of Surveyor of Highways, Overseer of the Poor, and Churchwarden, on Jan. 23rd, 1744 (p. 141). He was elected Vestryman in the room of René De Boyville, deceased (p. 142). He represented Homerton on the Select Vestry at Easter, 1746 (p. 138), and was appointed one of the four Trustees of Marlowe's charity, 19th March, 1770 (p. 193). founding Richard Muilman (Trench Chiswell) with his father P. Muilman-that Chiswell assisted in publishing A new and complete History of Essex, &c., by a Gentleman, Chelmsford, 1770, &c., 6 vols. 8vo. It was mainly based on Morant's History of Essex, and was published under the patronage and direction of Peter Muilman (Gough, Brit. Topogr. i. 347; Upcott, Eng. Topog. i. 229 f.) who obtained views and other illustrations for it. The literary part of the book was in the hands of a writer who signs himself "The Editor," perhaps Chiswell himself. This suggestion as to the identity of the Editor is by no means conclusive, and many statements in the work itself and in the Editor's several addresses do not tend to confirm it. The account of Depden (sic) is comparatively meagre. Of Depden Hall it is said (vol ii., pp. 392-3): "Henry [Edwards] sold this Manor and Estate to Richard Chiswell, Esq., son of Richard Chiswell, citizen and stationer of London. It is now in Richard Chiswell, son of the first-named Richard, who has greatly improved it." Of the Manor of Deynes: "after passing through a variety of owners, we find it in the same owner as Depden Hall"; of the Manor of Tendring: "this likewise is the property of the same gentleman as the two above are ; of the Manor of Weldbarnes: "is now the property of the same gentleman as those above described.” compara Compare these accounts with the somewhat fulsome description in the same volume, of Muilman's Castle Hedingham and Yeldham properties. Of Kirby Hall (vol. ii., p. 105) he says: "Evan Patterson, gent, heir to Mr. Page, sold it in 1762 to Peter Muilman, Esq., and he purchased about the same time another estate adjoining of William Tuffnell Jolliffe, of Nun-Monkton, in Yorkshire, Esq.-The copper-plate of Kerby Hall is the gift of Peter Muilman, Esq., the present worthy owner and occupier of this estate but this donation is very small tively to to his ardent assistance in this undertaking; as through his interest many other copper-plates, as well as several interesting anecdotes and intelligences have been procured; and from an indefatigable zeal of serving this county, he is daily adding to his already innumerable favours." On pp. 120-2 is the inscription on the Dominic van Heila monument, already referred to, with a translation. Under Little Yeldham (vol. ii., p. 182) we find: "We cannot, in justice to the parishioners of this little village, close our account of it, without taking notice of a resolution they entered into, at a parish vestry the 13th of October last, the minutes of which are as follows: Peter Muilman, Esq., acquainted the parishioners present, that by an act of parliament lately passed, it is ordered, that all lanes and by-ways of every parish shall be thirty feet wide; This being the first scheme of the kind entered into in this Kingdom, we hope our readers will not think it foreign to the plan of this work to take notice of it; especially if it should be the means of any other parishes copying the resolution, the public benefit reaped thereby, will, we hope, be a sufficient apology.” Again (vol. ii., p. 212, note), "For the elegant plate of this [Great Yeldham] church, and of the school-house, we are indebted to the generous bounty of Peter Muilman, Esq.” In the Rev. John H. Sperling's "Coats of Arms in Essex Churches," under Debden, we read (Gentleman's Magazine, 1857, pt. ii., p. 425): "4. A monument to Peter Muilman, Esq., merchant, of Kirby Hall, in the parish of Great Yeldham. He was, in conjunction with the Rev. Stubbs, the writer of the Gentleman's History of Essex,' in 6 vols., 8vo., published at Chelmsford in 1770." Of this explicit statement I can find no confirmation. In 1893, I wrote to Mr. Sperling, then in Italy, only to receive as answer, a short time after, a notice of his death (see E.R. iii. 82). The identification of the person referred to is difficult. In Nichols' Literary Anecdotes (iii. 685, v. 236), is a reference to Rev. John Stubbs, of Queen's College, whose library was sold in 1772; but Foster (Alumni Oxonienses) gives :— Stubbs, Richard, son of Robert, of Lorton, Cumberland, gent. Matriculated Wadham College, Oxford, 13 Feb. 1764, aged 17. B.A. 1767. M.A. 1770. Rector of Fryerning and Vicar of Eastwood, Essex. Died 26th Dec. 1810. The various addresses of "The Editor to the Reader " all end with appeals for fresh, or correcting late information, "to be addressed by letter to the Editor left at Mr. Hassall's, Chelmsford." This would seem to point to somebody residing in the neighbourhood of the county town. The Rev. Richard Stubbs may have been curate somewhere in the Fryerning and Chelmsford district; in point of date he seems to be a likely man (graduating in 1767 and being then about 21) to have done the hack work for Muilman, whilst waiting to take priests' orders. I have William Lawrence's copy of the Gentleman's History, at the end of the title-page of which is written "By Sir Henry Bate Dudley.” Lawrence was an original subscriber, and an important contemporary man at Maldon, but better evidence appears in one of the volumes in a letter to Lawrence signed Henry Bate, thanking him for the information he had given with respect to Maldon. Edward Walford wrote, "It is said that its compiler was the notorious Sir Henry Bate Dudley" (Antiq.Mag. and Bibliog.i.,74). I have always felt satisfied that Henry Bate was the man who did the work; yet it is quite strange that I can produce no further evidence. Although young, he had, we know, plenty of literary ability, and was quite capable of acting as editor to Muilman. But had Henry Bate done this we should have expected a little fresh information and fuller material relating to North Fambridge and the surrounding district. The date of his father's institution to that vicarage is omitted in the History, while similar information is almost always supplied in other cases. "Rev. Mr. Henry Bate, Rector of North Fambridge," is in the list of subscribers; there is no Stubbs. Until recently I have considered the reference to the Morning Post in the obituary notice (Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. lx., p. 183) was strong evidence both that Bate Dudley wrote it, and was intimately connected with Peter Muilman. Muilman's address, already referred to, was published in the Morning Post in 1775, and we know that although that newspaper was originally started in 1772, it was not till "the gay and gallant Parson Bate" became Editor in 1775 that it made a name for itself. Bate Dudley's later career makes him appear to be the last man to publish anything so important as the Gentleman's History anonymously. It may be well to print a further extract from the obituary :— Peter, first landing on the coast of Essex which he always with gratitude acknowledged, purchased estates in Castle Hedingham, Great and Little Yeldham, co. Essex. Kirby Hall in the former was the manor house and his residence, and he was the patron of the latter rectory. See it engraved in the octavo History of Essex, ii. 105. 1770; which history was undertaken under his patronage, and through his interest many copper-plates and interesting anecdotes and intelligence were procured for it. Morant says (History of Essex, ii., 301.):-" He [Muilman] hath been a most gracious encourager of this work," and among the MSS. at Colchester is a short account of the descent of the manors of Great and Little Yeldham, written in 1755. The Gentleman returns the compliment, but why he should have pirated his fine work, even in Morant's lifetime, is inexplicable. This octavo History is a copy of Morant with a few fresh notes added, mostly monumental inscriptions. The first volume is certainly by far the best. |