1828.] Staines Church, Middlesex. NEW CHURCHES.-No. XIX. STAINES CHURCH. AGREEABLY to our arrangement of presenting a series of views and descriptions of the New Churches and Chapels erected in and near the metropolis, we this month give a view of the New Parish Church of Staines. Staines is a neat quiet town upon the high western road, about eighteen miles from London and four from Windsor. The church is seated on the north side of the town, near the river Thames, and within a short walk of the London Stone. The edifice is not perceived in passing through the town; but immediately after crossing the bridge and proceeding to Egħam, it is seen to much advantage on the right hand side. The late church was a very ancient structure, and had greatly fallen to decay; so much so that a considerable part fell, with a tremendous crash, one Sunday during divine service: when fortunately no lives were lost. A general vestry and meeting of the parishioners having been called, it was agreed to petition Parliament to empower them to take down the body of the old church, build a new one, and to equalize the rates of the parish. An Act having been obtained, twenty-four trustees, consisting of the principal inhabitants of the town (including the Rev. Robert Govett, and the Rev. James Hearne, the Vicar and Curate, the former to be Chairman,) were chosen to carry the Act into execution, who determined upon inviting architects to submit designs for their inspection. Upwards of twenty were submitted, and after much consideration had been given to the various plans, the designs of Mr. John Burges Watson, of 5, Lower Seymour Street, Portman Square, London, were unanimously approved of. The foundation stone of this neat gothic structure was laid, according to the usual mode observed for the other new churches, on the 31st of March last, by the vicar, amidst a vast concourse of spectators, and the building will be completed by Christmas next. The dimensions of the inside are as follow,-65 feet long, 47 feet wide, and GENT. MAG. November, 1828. 398 25 feet high to the ceiling; and there will be accommodation for 1048 persons-two-thirds being free seats. The chancel, which was built at the expense of the impropriator, is 22 feet long, 17 feet wide inside, and 16 feet high to the ceiling. The lower part of the old tower built by Inigo Jones in 1631 is to be preserved, and heightened 23 feet. There are two entrances into the church, and a vestry room. Catacombs have been erected under the church. The amount of the contracts is as follows:£. S. d. 850 0 0 Carpenter, &c.........887 15 0 198 18 278 12 0 143 10 0 £2358 15 0 The total expense, including the raising of the tower, and railing in the churchyard with iron rails, &c. will be under 4000l. If there were no other recommendation, the extreme economical expenditure we are sure will influence persons connected with church building to make choice of such an edifice. Its various details are judicious, of a pure gothic character, every part most substantial, and reflects much credit on the architect. There is to be a new bridge, which, together with the new church, will add greatly to the improvements of Staines. Mr. URBAN, Cromford, Sept. 11. Y means of that interchange of those facilities which your Miscellany has so long afforded for obtaining the solution of doubts upon literary subjects, so much benefit has been produced, that I trust no apology will be necessary for requesting some information upon a point which has lately presented itself to my attention, and by which some embarrassment is occasioned in the compilation of certain biographical notices, which may perhaps, if completed, be found interesting to the public. In Mr. Baker's History of Northamptonshire, p. ii. p. 437, an anecdote of a nature in itself curious, and for which there can be no doubt Mr. B. had good authority, although he does not refer to it, represents Dr. Nicholas Onley as having "annexed the impro 394 Family of Onley of Northamptonshire. priate rectory of Staverton to the vicarage," and proceeds to relate that "the Doctor's father is said to have attended as a porter to a tavern in the Strand; and a gentleman of the name of Ouley wanting a porter, and old Onley being called, the gentleman was struck with the similarity of their names; and his inquiries respecting the porter's family, connexions, and situaation, proving satisfactory, he adopted Nicholas his only son, sent him to Westminster School, and left him his fortune, part of which was the impropriate rectory and advowson of Staverton. The Doctor was elected from the foundation of Westminster School to Christ's Church College, Oxford, in 1658, was Master of the Savoy and Prebendary of Westminster, and died in 1724." Upon this account may I be permitted to ground two or three questions, not dictated by any suspicion of want of accuracy or authenticity in regard to the passage cited for the indefatigable industry of the writer of that statement sufficiently secures him, at least in my mind, from any such imputation; but for the purpose of reconciling some seemingly conflicting evidence to be elsewhere met with. But that this may be brought fairly to the test, I must in the first place remark that in the pedigree of Onley of Catesby, in the History of Northamptonshire, Edward Onley, esq. (who succeeded to the estate on the death of his uncle Sir Edward, s. p. in 1638) is said to have "sold Catesby:" and to have died in 1664-5, leaving a daughter Margaret, who was married to George Vernon of Sudbury, co. Derby. In the accompanying account of the family, when speaking of this Edward Onley, esq. nephew and heir-at-law of Sir Edward, &c. he is expressly said to have been the person "by whom Catesby was sold to John Parkhurst, esq. Now I beg leave to say that I have before me the copy of an indenture dated 11 Dec. 22 Čar. II., by which George Vernon of Sudbury, com. Derby, esq. conveys to Nicholas Onley of Catesby, com. North'ton, esq. and others, for 18007., "the manor or lordship of Catesby, and the rectory or parsonage impropriate of Staverton, alias Starton, a messuage or farm and lands in Staverton, and the manor of Hellidon." 66 [Nov. Yet in the "Parochial History of Hellidon," the Historian of Northamptonshire states, that Thomas, son and heir of George Marriott, who was born about 1600, or his immediate successor, alienated that manor to the Onleys, of which family both Catesby and Hellidon were purchased by John Parkhurst, esq." [Baker's History of Northampton, p. 397.] If the period of such alienation could be ascertained, it might explain this discrepancy: but at present cannot but suspect some error either in the authorities upon which Mr. Baker has founded his relation, or in the sources whence have arisen the tradition respecting Dr. Onley, if not in both. In the indenture above-mentioned, both manors of Catesby and Helidon appear to have been conveyed at the same time, to Nicholas Onley, by Vernon, who had married the heiress of Edward Onley; and who sold them in 1670, some years after the death of the latter :-not Onley himself. And Nicholas Onley, to whom those manors were, according to the authority of this instrument, so conveyed, is styled esquire: which, although not incompatible with his having taken his Master's degree in 1664, might rather lead to the supposition that he was not then in holy orders, if he were in reality the same Nicholas whose fortunate advancement has been already noticed : and yet Nicholas Only was installed Prebendary of Westminster, 17th July, 1672, according to Le Neve, [Fasti, p. 373.] and is designated S. T. P. Í have purposely copied the different modes of spelling the name by Le Neve, in order to remark that amongst the Oxford graduates he is entered as Nich. Onely and it does not appear when or where he obtained his doctor's degree, unless he was that Nicholas Onley, who was so created at Cambridge, per literas Regias, in 1671:— which was most probably the fact. : According to the pedigree of Onley, as inserted in Mr. Baker's History, p. 287, Edward Onley, who died in 1664-5, was the last of that family seated at Catesby. Who then was Edward Onley of Catesby, esq. party to a deed dated 29 Sept. 22 Car. II.; to which Sir Henry Delves, of Dodington, co. Cest. bart., Thomas Delves, esq. his son and heir, were also parties, as well as Tho. Townsend of Catesby; by which deed 1828.] Onley Family.-Manor of Braunston. the manor, advowson, and rectory of Plumpton in Northamptonshire, with other lands, &c. were conveyed for 10,300l.? Was this Edward Onley the son of Nicholas Onley before-mentioned, and who was called esquire within less than two years before he was D.D. and Prebendary of Westminster: and, who is not only so entitled in the indenture before quoted, but in other documents; and by his name of Nich. Onley of Catesby, esq. conveyed to Francis Watson of Willesden, co. Middlesex, esq. the manor of Plump ton? Who was that Edward Onley of Catesby to whom Martin Hardrett of Streatham, co. Surrey, esq. and others, in consideration of a certain sum of money, conveyed, in 1649, the manor of Hellidon cum pert. in Northamptonshire? Was he that Edward who married Margaret Stanton, and who was father of Margaret Vernon? If so, and he died in 1664-5, as appears by Mr. Baker's pedigree, he could not have been party to the indenture of 29 Sept. 22 Car. II., with Sir Henry Delves, bart., Tho. Delves, and the other persons mentioned therein. If Nicholas Onley, whether esquire or D.D., purchased of Vernon, it must be presumed that Catesby was not sold by Edward Onley, and that it was not a part of the fortune which tradition reports to have been bequeathed to that Nicholas Onley who was "Master of the Savoy and Prebendary of Westminster," by the gentleman of "the name of Onley," whose accidental inquiry led to the adoption of this fortunate divine. Perhaps some explanation may be obtained by a continuation of the Onley pedigree from Thomas Onley, uncle of Edward and Richard, and devisee in remainder, and this favour, or any other elucidation of what appears at present very obscure, will be much esteemed, together with any further particulars in addition to those already mentioned respecting Dr. Onley of Westminster. E. LYON. 895 Braunston, and Farndon in Northamptonshire, with messuages and lands there; and in Overthorpe, Nethurst, Huscote, Grimsbury, Middleton Cheney, Chacombe, Manton St. Lawrence, Wappenham, Whittlebury, Eyden, Woodford, and Badby, &c. &c. were in the reign of Charles the Second, conveyed by one indenture between George Holman of Warksworth, esq. to Ambrose Holbech and another, of which, as that circumstance is unnoticed by his predecessor Mr. Bridges, it may be satisfactory to him to be informed, as it will explain some passages in the last-mentioned author, which, for want of attention to it, are very obscure. A Mr. URBAN, Wallingford, Oct.25. NEW account having appeared in some of the public prints, respecting the late disinterment of Hampden, differing in some particulars from the former statement, as it appeared in your Magazine for August (pp. 125, 6), pray indulge me with an opportunity of adding a remark or two, to those which I addressed to you on the subject of the original narrative. It seems that Lord Nugent still adheres to the opinion before expressed, of the identity of the body; notwithstanding the doubts acknowledged to have been entertained by some of the parties present at the exhumation, and the observations noticed to have been made upon that affair in your Sept. Magazine, p. 198. The writer of the additional account gives the following reasons for this confidence, and infers from them that there can be no grounds for doubts being longer entertained about the matter. 1st. That the Earl of Buckinghamshire has been lately heard to declare that his lordship entertains a similar opinion. 2dly. That all the coffins in the chancel at Hampden were examined, and from the dates and initials upon them, it was clear that none of the others (besides that which was opened) contained the body of the patriot. 3dly. That no other coffin besides that was covered with crimson velvet: Mr. Baker having expressed, in his account of Braunston, some uncertainty respecting the intermediate pos--and, sessors of that manor between the Isham family and the Webbs, it may not be altogether impertinent to mention that the manor of Warkworth, 4thly. That, being found close to the monument erected in memory of his wife, this must necessarily remove all doubt. |