OBITUARY Mit
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423 EXTENSION OF MUSEUM AND MUNIMENT ROOM For some years the Society has been faced with the necessity to provide proper accommodation for the .deeds which have passed, or are likely to pass into its custody as the guardian appointed by the Master of the Rolls under the Act of 1924. The economic difficulties which delayed the issue of a formal appeal have, unfortunately, increased rather than diminished, but the need of action has become more imperative, and on 11 February a meeting was held at Eton College, at which our President took the chair and was supported by the Lord Lieutenant and the Chairman of the Council. Sir Frank MacKinnon, one of our members, made a speech in which he illustrated the value of various types of records to future ag·es. Lord Cottesloe pleaded eloquently for the scheme, which Major Disraeli explained consisted in the pro• vision of an underground strong-room, ventilated but proof against fire or damp, whilst above it the existing small yard at the back of the Museum would be roofed over so as to add nearly SO% to the existing exhibition space of the Museum, already much over• crowded and insufficient to display the Society's possessions to advantage. At the same time as the Eton meeting an exhibition was opened in the Museum illustrative of the extremely varied types of muniments which we wished to preserve. This exhibition was based on documents in the Society's ownership, but was strengthened by the generosity of various members who loaned papers 424 RECORDS OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE of great value or interest. A catalogue of about SO items was printed; but some items comprised many documents so that a dozen cases were easily filled. Two of the most remarkable were the Battle of Trafalgar letter, deposited by Lord Cottesloe, and the Boarstall Cartulary, lent by Major H. L. Aubrey• Fletcher. The estimated cost of this much-needed addition to our Museum and of the muniment room is about' £2,500; an appeal has been issued to the public to' assist a cause which must interest both lovers of antiquities and lovers of our county, and every member who has not already responded to the appeal which he has received is urgently begged to make a contribution, large or small. 425 OBITUARY Mit. E. S. RoscoE The Society has suffered a grievous loss by the death, at the age of 83, of Mr. E. S. Roscoe, who for some years served on the Council. This was by no means all he did for the county. In 1891 he published under the name of Buckinghamshi1·e Sketches, some charming essays which had already appeared in the St. James's Gazette; this edition contained pleasant drawings by Bloomer. Reprinted in 1907 under the title of Penn's Cmmt1·y, he too.k the opportunity to enlarge and re-arrange some of the material; the illustrations were then inferior process-blocks. Twenty years later it appeared once more, with another title, Between Thames and Chilte1·ns. Again the matter was somewhat altered, and the illustrations continued to be unworthy of the graceful text. A still greater favour conferred on all lovers o£ Bucks was his volume for Methuen's Little Guides,. first published in 1909, and several times re-issued .. This is a sound and reliable volume, which contains a great mass of facts in very concise form. No riiore handy volume can be carried by the traveller who has not time or opportunity to go more deeply into parochial history. This is not the place to speak of his official duties in the Admiralty Court, or of his interest in Johnson and other worthies of the 18th century. It can be said that he most worthily followed his great-grandfather, the William whom Washington Irving so highly extolled in the Sketch Book, and in losing him Bucks has to mourn one who knew and loved her welL G.E. 426 RECORDS OF BUCIU NGHAMSHIRE DR. PAGET TOYNBEE Though the Society had the honour to include this great Dante student amongst its members, it cannot boast of any communication from him to the R ecm·ds; his profound scholarship was concerned with wider themes. It will ever be the regret of the Editor that his slight correspondence with Dr. Paget Toynbee took place when he was an invalid, or he would certainly have pressed for a paper on a subject well within the doctor's scope- the association of H orace Walpole with Bucks. It is something to be able to claim so eminent an authority on the great Italian poet and on our own poet, Gray, as qualifying by residence at Burnham, to fi gure amongst the worthies of Bucks. MAJOR T. SuTTON T nons In Major Timmis the Society has a severe loss; for some years he had served on the Council, and was always a regular attendant at the Excursions, and in all ways showed interest in the Society's welfare. Major Timmis was not an antiquary, but t ook more than a dilletante interest in old silver, forming a fine collection which it delighted him to show to the numerous guests at his ever hospitable home at Walton, Aylesbury. F. w. P IXLEY, F.S.A. A nother member lost t o the Society was Mr. P ixley, who served as honorary treasurer for some eight years, at a time when his health was by no means g-ood. His work on the history of the baronetage, and his interest in that O rd er are familiar; he did not, however, make any contribution t o our R econls. Amongst other members of long standing whose loss the Society deplores are Mrs. DoNALD STE>VART, of T he Prebendal, Aylesbury, and Dr. ] AMES SHAW, also of Aylesbury. 427 ACQUISITIONS, 1932 Amongst the additions to the Museum during the year were the following:- FLINT IMPLEMENTS Donor or Source. 11 palaeolithic implements from the gravel, Burnham .................................... Mr. W. F. Haycock QTHER IMPLEMENTS Hoard of 18 bronze palstaves found at a depth of 2 feet near Slough. They are presumed to have been the stock of a dealer, as all were perfect when buried. 'fhey vary from 5! to 6!ins. in length; only one has the remains of a loop, now Deposited by broken. They probably date from c. 1200 Slough Trading B.C ................. ....................................... .. Estate Horn pick of unusual form, found at Walton Street, Aylesbury; probably of late Roman date .... .. ............................... Dr. T. G. Parrott Saxon spear head, found at Holman's Dunstable Bridge, Aylesbury ................................... Museum TRADE TOKENS Issued by J. Tomes, Ivinghoe .................. Exchanged , J. Inns, Shenley .. .. ... .. .. .. ......... Purchased , Thos. Barcombe, Colnbrook , "Widow Homes , Saml. Mills , Edmd. Slocombe DEEDS 42 relating to Colnbrook and Wycombe ... Mrs. A. U. Oppenheimer 94 , Brill, Shabbington and Caversfield ............. ....... .. Mr. J. A. Sanford 36 , Singleborough (Great Hor· Messrs. Wade, wood) ............................. Gery & Bracken· bury VARIOUS Amongst several interesting deposits from Miss E. A. White, of Chesham, is a bassoon formerly used at Hawridge Church. It bears a remarkable inscription as follows: "I hear some men hate music, Let them shew what else the angels do. Then those who do despise such sacred mirth Are neither fit for h eaven nor for earth." 428 ANNUAL EXCURSION 23 JUNE, 1932 The Annual Excursion was directed to the north of the county and the fine day produced a large number, quite 150 persons attending, amongst whom were Sir James and Lady Berry, the Revs. R. Bale, F. ]. Winterton, C. K. Hulton, F. W . Bennitt, Colonel Bernard, Major Timmis, Major Kentish, Sir Charles Stewart-Wilson, Captain Stewart-Liberty, Lady Bennett, Dr. Leonard \iVest, Dr. Morley Davies, Miss Tatham, Mr. A. Macdonald, etc. \iVHADDON CHURCH The first place visited was Whaddon Church, where Mr. C. Rouse explained the development of the 12th century church by the additions of the N . aise, c. 1190, and of the S. aisle, c. 1200; whilst the mid-14th century produced the N. chapel and the vV. tower. The columns of the N. arcade, with their carved capitals, were pointed out. The monuments in the N. chapel to Serjeant Pigott (1519) and to ArthUI-, Lord Grey de vVilton (1593) were noticed, as well as some interesting fittings, such as the bracket, with grotesque head, for raising the font-cover, and the alms-shovels of oak, dated 1643. The mural paintings of Thomas a Beckett on the wall of the chancel discovered in 1854 but since covered again, were mentioned. They were described and illustrated in the .Reco?·ds, vol. III., pp. 270-3, but it was hoped that means would be found of again bringing to light such extremely interesting historical fi gures. Members then moved on to vVhaddon H all, where the following paper was read :- "The story of that great tract of forest-land known as Whaddon Chace itself would make a long tale in which the most important incident to archceologists pe1·haps is the discovery in 1849 of 400 gold coins which can only be described as "Ancient British." Some are in our museum at Aylesbury, and it will be remembered that none have any inscription- most have a rude figure of a horse upon them. ANNCAL EXCURSION 429 Again, a lmost' due E. of the house is a large entrenchment, enclosing some 11 acres, which marks the site of the small Benedictine Priory of Snelshall. It was never more than a cell, a matter of six monks with the prior; of this nothing w hatever remains a bove ground. Coming to the Manor we have a long and fu ll story which can only be touched upon: at the time of Domesday it had been granted to Walter Gifford, and formed one of the 48 manors w hich he held in Bucks; he was created Earl of Buckingham.