Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 3.djvu/16

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s. m. JAN. 6, 1917.


in which I have for years been interested. The facts in my possession were communi- cated to me by members of this family, notably the late Richard Heath, well known in the world of literature, to whom they were imparted by his uncle Job Heath, the great- grandson of the Job Heath who, I shall endeavour to show, was the recipient of the cup. The line of descent is as follows it is a case of eldest sons through four genera- tions : Job Heath, b. (?) ; d. Aug. 7, 1757 ; occupation unknown before 1721 ; after, a gunsmith in City of London or vicinity. Job Heath, b. 1721 ; d. Jan. 24, 1773 ; a London cordwainer. Job Heath, b. March 24, 1750 ; d. Nov. 6, 1825 ; ditto. Job Heath, b. Aug. 5, 1782 ; d. Sept. 24, 1869 ; ditto. Job Heath, b. Nov. 29, 1812 ; d. May 15, 1881 ; ditto. There is no instance of a potter along this line. It goes without saying that the Job Heath who was the recipient of the cup (or if so be the actual maker of it) may have had brothers. I am in possession of the names of his sisters. He and they may have been the children of a yet undiscovered Job Heath who was a potter in 1702, but all other Job Heaths who flourished in the seventeenth century (save one) were dead before that date (so far as I can find out). Job Heath of the second generation may, of course, have had brothers and sisters. I cannot trace them. Of the three next generations I have complete family records. There is not a potter among them.

The question is : Is the Job Heath whose name is on the cup identical with the first in the line above. I venture to assert that he is, for the following reason. Long research has convinced me there were only two" persons of this name living in Great Britain in 1702. There was a Job Heath of Berkswell, co. Warwick will, proved Sept. 23, 1719, is in Probate Court, Lichfield ; described as yeoman and husbandman ; dated Aug. 5, 1718; "aged and infirm"; signs with mark " I." ; no son is mentioned, only widow and his daughter's child (a girl). It is difficult to believe he was either the maker or recipient of the cup in 1702. Still he may have been. Now the Job Heath at the head of the line above given is described, in memoranda of his life in my possession, as of patriarchal age at the date of his death in 1757. He could not have been born much later than 1680 ; and perhaps this cup was a presentation on his reaching legal maturity in 1702. Strange, if he was the maker, that no other ware with his name on it has ever been found sic Prof. J. O. Westwood. I have also evidence that


between 1711 and 1721 he frequented Alcester, co. Warwick, and that two of his sisters married into Warwickshire families. These were Mrs. Sarah* Bliss and Mrs. Sarah* Dallaway of Henley. A third married a John Savage ; a fourth, Bird

of . During these years there were

at least two potters of the name Heath carrying on business, in the " Potteries " so called or nearby: Josh. Heath of Shelton, and Thos. Heath of Lane Delph, Fenton. Was this Job a near kinsman of theirs ? And, if so, were they not more likely to be makers of the cup than he ?

I have found only three other persons of this name in the seventeenth century : 1. Job Heath of Cheddleton, Staffs, b. (?) ; will proved March 4, 1623/4 ; a joiner ; no son mentioned ; two daughters. 2. Job Heath of Atherstone, Warwick, b. (?) ; letters of administration granted to widow, April 23, 1701 ; probably farmer. 3. Job Heath, buried Dec. 2, 1691, at Berkswell ; no other information.

Like an old theological treatise dated 1591 in the possession of a member of my family which contains signatures of several of the more early Job Heaths (one dated 1695, another 1730, another 1733), the cup must have been a family heirloom and highly prized. I am in hopes that this article may be seen by members of the Heath family who can throw light upon the darkness, and especially by those gentlemen of the name of Heath who are now on the list of members of the English Ceramic Society. Perhaps one or other of them can tell us inter alia who the father of this Job Heath was.

JOHN W. BROWN.

BBAMDEAN. In ' Rural Rides,' vol. ii. p. 90, William Cobbett remarks : " I had never seen Bramdean, the spot on which, it is said, Alfred fought his last great and glorious battle with the Danes." This is the only mention of Bramdean I have ever come across which gives that information ; I should be pleased to hear if it can be cor- roborated by any reader of ' N. & Q.'

HUBERT GARLE.

Bramdean, Alresford, Hants.

HYPHENATES. Why are the American Germans and pro- Germans (?) called thus ? I see they are referred to in the papers of the Fatherland as " Bindestrichler," which is a translation of the English name for them.

L. L. K.

  • One or other of these baptismal names is

probably a copyist's error.