sorte que, en le respirant, ceux qui s’etaient cachés trouvaient une morte certaine.”[1] Henry and William landed in England with the Prince of Orange in 1688.
The motto of the De Portals, “Armet nos ultio regum,” was granted to Raymond de Portal in 1336 by Charles V. of France, in honour of his having been one of the four hundred knights of Toulouse who volunteered to accompany Bertrand du Gueschlin, on his expedition into Spain to avenge the death of the sister of the Queen of France, Blanche of Bourbon, Queen of Castile. Had this family desired to resent the ingratitude of the Bourbon kings to themselves and the other loyal Huguenots, they might have assumed as a new motto, a naive aphorism which introduces one of the Chapters of the Portal Memoirs, “Le systeme d’intimidation eut peu de succès sur la famille de Portal.”
It may be asked, how can such a family be associated with the industrial class? The reply is this, they cheerfully became poor for conscience’ sake, and resorted to industry to earn a livelihood. Henry Portal devoted himself to manufactures, and having invented a peculiar fabric of paper, he obtained the privilege of making the Notes of the Bank of England, which his descendants inherited. His paper-mill was in Hampshire; the mill was at Laverstoke; his residence was Freefolk Priors. The wheel of his mill was turned by the river Itchen, on which Cobbett (in his “Rural Rides”) waxes eloquent, as “that stream which turns the mill of Squire Portal, which mill makes the Bank of England note-paper.”
“Talk of the Thames and the Hudson with their forests of masts; talk of the Nile and the Delawar bearing the food of millions on their bosoms; talk of the Rio de la Plata and the other rivers, their beds pebbled with silver and gold and diamonds; what, as to their effect on the condition of mankind — as to the virtues, the vices, the enjoyments, and the sufferings of men — what are all these rivers put together, compared with the river at Whitchurch, which a man of three-score may jump across dryshod?”
I have found it interesting to follow out the history of the noble refugee’s paper-mill. He died 30th September 1745. He had, along with the mill, the estates of Freefolk Priors, Laverstoke, and Ash, all in Hampshire. The whole (subject to portions for his four daughters) became the property of his only son, Joseph Portal, Esq. of Freefolk Priors, who enjoyed his inheritance for forty-eight years, dying on 14th December 1793.
Joseph Portal’s eldest son, Harry, had gone into the army, and William had become a barrister in the Inner Temple. His special favour seems therefore to have been reserved for his third son, John, who became the squire of Freefolk Priors, and also had the celebrated paper-mill as part of the paternal bequest. His will is thus expressed:—
“I give and devise all those my Mills called Laverstoke Mills, with all the houses and gardens to the same belonging and adjoining, now in the several occupations of the several persons working at or belonging to the said Mills, with the Mill-Heads and the piece of ground lying between the two Mill-Heads, and the entire use of the River and stream of water for working the said Mills, in the same manner as I have for many years past held and enjoyed the same: and also my Mill, called Bear Mill, in Freefolk-Syfreewast, with the houses, barns, stables, orchards, gardens, and plot of ground belonging thereto, and now in the possession of the paper-makers and others, my servants, all within the gate or opposite to the cottages late Edwards’s, together with their and every of their appurts, unto my son John Portal and his assigns for the term of 99 years, if he and my sons Harry and William, or he and either of them, or he and the heirs-male of the bodies or body of them my said sons, Harrv and William or of either of them, shall so long live and continue, he the said John Portal and his assigns yielding and paying therefore, yearly and every year, by two equal half-yearly payments, unto the person or persons who shall or may, for the time being, under and by virtue of the limitations hereinafter contained, be entitled to the reversion, freehold, or inheritance of the same mills and other hereditaments, comprised in the said term of 99 years, expectant on the termination thereof, the yearly rent and sum of £150 of the lawful money of Great Britain, free and clear from all rates, taxes, charges, and deductions whatsoever, and also keeping the said mills, and other hereditaments and every part thereof, in good tenantable repair and condition at all times during the said term, and so leaving the same at the end thereof.
“I give and bequeath unto my said John all and singular my implements, utensils, and stock in trade, and all my husbandry and fanning implements and utensils of every sort and kind, and all debts which shall be due and owing to me at the time of my decease in or account of my said trade and farming business respectively, but subject to the payment of all debts due and owing from me in or account of the same trade and business respectively. And I give my said son John all and singular my plate, linen, china, books, pictures, house-- ↑ Koyer, La Colonie Francaise en Prusse, p. 153, quoted by Smiles.
