1786 Sept. 12, Charles Hoskins and Sarah Tocknell, of King's Nov. 7, Edward Woodman and Hannah Clutterbuck. 1787. Jan. 25, James Brinkworth, of King's Stanley, and Sarah June 16, Zachariah Townsend and Elizabeth Edmunds. 1788. May 20, William Edmunds and Mary Wilkins. Nov. 25, William Ricketts and Elizabeth Bird. 1789. June 11, Edward Evans and Charlotte Parslow. July 6, William Perry, of Hardwick, and Elizabeth Wilkins. Nov. 28, John Gregory and Mary Tyler. 1790. April 27, Joseph Woodman and Sarah Morris. Aug. 26, Samuel Holbrow and Keziah Browning. Oct. 28, John Wilkins and Ann Smith. 1791. Jan. 20, Henry Olive, of N. Cerney, and Sylla Barton. June 10, Joshua Lees, of Stonehouse, and Hester Moreland. [p. 36] 1792. Aug. 16, Francis Organ and Hannah Wilkins. 1793. Jan. 14, Samuel Goscomb, of Haresfield, and Sarah Morgan Mar. 31, Daniel Ball and Sarah Willis. May 4, John Mortimore, of Castle Precincts, Bristol, and [p. 37] June 16, John Smith and Mary Knight. Sept. 2, Thomas Parsons and Rebecca Mabbett. 1794. Feb. 15, Ambrose Gilbert King, of St. Stephen's, Bristol, and Anna Maria Bigland. Oct. 28, William Woodman and Sarah Heaven. [p. 38] 1795. May 12, Daniel Ellis Saunders, of St. Nicholas, Gloucester, and Clarence Bigland. 1795. Nov. 22, Thomas Osborne, of Stonehouse, and Sarah Horwood. 1796. June 19, Thomas Wilkins and Hester Meek. Nov. 27, Samuel Heaven, the younger, and Hannah Clark. [p. 39] 1797. April 25, Nathaniel Beard and Edith Bendall. Sept. 25, William Lewis and Sarah Adams. 1798. May 29, George Adams and Elizabeth Hobbs. Sept. 4, Samuel Warner, of Eastington, and Ursula Poulton. [p. 40] Nov. 6, George Derrick and Mary Gregory. 1799. Oct. 10, Richard Moreland and Kezia Hunt. Oldbury-on-Severn Church Font.-/See No. CCLVIII. and DCCXCV.) The following extract from the leading newspaper of the distant Colony of Fiji, dated the 23 December, 1891, refers thus to this subject. The Font presented by His Excellency the Governor to Holy Trinity Church was dedicated on Sunday morning by the Incumbent, the Rev. J. F. Jones, in the presence of a large congregation. At the conclusion of the Morning Service, the two Trustees, Dr. Corney and Mr. Langford, followed by the choir and Incumbent, walked down the aisle. On reaching the font, Dr. Corney, addressing the Incumbent, said: "It has pleased God in his mercy to move the heart of Sir John Bates Thurston to give to this Church of Holy Trinity this font. I beg to ask you to set it apart to the honour and glory of God and to the building up of his Church on earth." The Incumbent replied:-"We return onr humble thanks to Almighty God that He has put it in the heart of His servant to make this offering to the honour and glory of God and to the use of this Church, and, God helping us, we will now proceed to offer this font to Almighty God." The choir then sang hymn 242 and a Lesson and followed by special Prayers. The font is of a Grecian type and is about four feet in height and approached by two steps. It used to be in Oldbury Church, Gloucestershire, and it came to the possession of Sir John Thurston through an older font being replaced in that church. The first children baptised in the old font, which has been capitally restored, were Basset, the son of Governor Sir John Thurston, who belongs to a family long settled at Thornbury, and Maurice Anthony, the son of Chief Justice Berkeley. X. Our readers will be glad to have an engraving of this interesting font, taken from a photo of it, as it now stands in Holy Trinity Church at Suva. The Barony of Berkeley. As the result of the decision of the committee of privileges of the House of Lords, Mrs. Milman, as heir general of her uncle, the Hon. Thomas Berkeley, has made good her claim to the Barony of Berkeley, which with the Earldom has been in suspense since the death of the fifth Earl in 1810. The existence of two peers bearing, the same title, though not the same rank, seems likely to produce some confusion in the future, and it will be interesting to observe how they will distinguish themselves. This case illustrates the inconvenience of honours descending to heirs general, and it certainly appears a little remarkable that while the earldom should remain in the male line of Berkeley, though in a junior branch, yet the barony which is more ancient passes through the female line to another name and family. A word may be added as to the method adopted to decide the question of this devolution of the barony. As the claimant was a lady it is obvious she could not petition for a summons to sit in the House of Lords, and thereupon it would appear to have been considered desirable, if not necessary, to settle the question by the issue of a royal declaration on the subject. The terms of this appeared in the "London Gazette" as below— "Whitehall, June 12.-The Queen has been pleased, by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to declare that the ancient barony of Berkeley now belongs to and is vested in Louisa Mary Milman, (the wife of Gustavus Hamilton Lockwood Milman, of Martin's Heron, Bracknell, in the county of Berks, Esq., Colonel with honorary rank of Major-General on the Retired List of her Majesty's Army), as the heir general of Sir James de Berkeley, Knt., in whose favour the said Barony was created in the year 1421; and that she and the heirs general of the said Sir James de Berkeley, lawfully begotten and to be begotten for ever, shall be named and called Barons and Baronesses, and shall have and enjoy the said ancient Barony of Berkeley, together with all and singular the rights, privileges, pre-eminences, immunities, and advantages, and the place and precedence due and belonging thereto." Church Restorations, (Continued). Ruardean, St. John's Church was re-opened on Tuesday, 23rd September, 1890, after restoration by Messrs. Waller and Son, of Gloucester, architects. It consists of a nave and south aisle, a south porch, chancel, and tower. The oldest part is a doorway in the south wall of the south aisle, which formed part, undoubtedly, of an early Norman building, and some other portions of the Norman walls probably yet exist, on which the later structures may have been erected. In the 13th century another, and almost a new church was erected, of which the arcade between the nave and south aisle, and the walls, and parts of the roofs yet remain, and windows were inserted from time to time at later periods in the 14th and 15th centuries. The tower and spire were built probably in the 15th century, but the spire, with its clustered pinnacles, was taken down some years ago, and restored, the stonework being in a dangerous condition. The east wall of the chancel also was rebuilt, and a new window was inserted. Some of the other windows in the church, notably those in the east and west walls of the south aisle, and those in the north wall of the nave, had been to a great extent destroyed, and modern windows of a most inferior kind introduced in their stead, other minor alterations being made in the fabric. There is a fine recessed monument in the north wall of the nave, in which, originally, there was a recumbent figure. The Norman doorway is a very fine specimen of work of this period, and it has in the tympanum a representation of St. George rudely carved. The doorway to the staircase of the rood loft remains, and there is a very quaint early piscina in the chancel. Prior to the restorations which have just been effected, the condition of this building was most deplorable, the walls and roofs being in such a completely dilapidated and dangerous state as to necessitate the closing of the church. The arcade between the nave and south aisle inclined towards the south in some parts more than a foot in the whole height. The floors under the seats were in bad condition; the pews were of the commonest kind, of deal framing, and very unsightly and inappropriate; there was a large western gallery entirely blocking up the tower arch, which shut off the tower groining and west window (both very beautiful features) from the church, and the glazing and ironwork of the windows of the whole building was much dilapidated. The foregoing is a fair general description of the edifice as it existed about six months back, since which time a large proportion of that which was absolutely needed to put the church into proper state of repair has been carried into effect, the most conservative treatment of the old work having in all cases been observed. The walls of the church have been repaired, made good, and underpinned and rebuilt where necessary, and the dressed stonework of the doorways, windows, copings, plinths, and weather mouldings has been carefully repaired. A properly-constructed area has been made all round the church at a lower level than |