CAVENDISH

A large village, on the north bank of the river Stour, nearly 3 miles E. by N. of Clare, and 6 miles N.W". of Sudbury, has in its parish 1353 inhabitants, and 3392a. 3r. 3p. of fertile land. It has a fair for cattle, &c. on June 11th, and for pleasure on the two following days; and is remarkable for giving name to one of the most illustrious families in Great Britain. A younger branch of the Gernons, (who were of considerable note in Norfolk and Essex,) being seated here, assumed the surname of Cavendish, and produced several individuals of great eminence. One of these, Sir John Cavendish, was born here in the 46th of Edward III., and became chief justice of the court of King’s Bench, which office he filled with great reputation till the 5th of Richard II., when the people of Suffolk, instigated by the example of Wat Tyler and Jack Straw, rose in rebellion, under John Raw, a priest, and Robert Westbroom. The chief justice falling into the hands of the rabble, who were exasperated at the intelligence of the death of Wat Tyler, by the hand of his son, was dragged to Bury, and there his head was struck off, and set upon the pillory at the market-cross. His remains were interred at Cavendish. He left two sons and two daughters. It was his youngest son, John, one of the esquires of the body of Richard II that dispatched Wat Tyler, in Smithfield, for which service he was knighted on the spot by the king, who also settled a pension of £10 on him and his heirs for ever. Sir William Cavendish, having in the reigns of Edward VI. and Mary, held various important offices at court, obtained a considerable portion of the possessions of the dissolved monasteries, and thus laid the foundation of the subsequent splendid fortune of his house. , His son William was created, by James I., Baron Cavendish, of Hardwickc, and Earl of Devonshire; and the great-grandson of the latter was created Duke of Devonshire in 1694. These titles, with others subsequently conferred, are now held by the Most Noble William Spencer Cavendish, Duke of Devonshire, &c., whose chief seat is Chatsworth, in Derbyshire, popularly called, from its extent and magnificence, the Palace of the Peak. Prom another branch of the same: family, descended the Cavendishes, Dukes of Newcastle, who became extinct in 1711. The present Earl of Burlington, whose father was raised to that dignity in 1831, is cousin and heir to the Duke of Devonshire. J. R. Brice, Esq. is now lord of the manor of Cavendish, hut a great part of the soil belongs to Earl Howe, C. Heigham, Esq., and several smaller proprietors. The Church (St. Mary) is a handsome structure, with a square tower, containing six bells, and said to have been built by one of the abbots of Bury. The rectory, valued in K.B. at £26, and in 1835 at £547, is in the patronage of Jesus College, Cambridge, and incumbency of the Rev. Thomas Castley, M.A., who has a good residence, and 61a. 31p. of glebe. The Independents have a small chapel here. Cavendish Hall, an elegant modern mansion, in a park of 50 acres, was built by the late Thomas Hallifax, Esq., banker, of London, and is situated on the north side of the Stour, about a mile west of the village. It is the property of the Ogden family, but is occupied by Mrs. Sarah Yelloly, relict of the late Dr. Yelloly, who was physician to George the Fourth. Houghton Hall, another neat mansion in the parish, belongs to EH Heigham, Esq., hut is now unoccupied. Blackland's Hall, an ancient mansion, is now a farm-house, as also are Duck's Hall and Nether Hall.

Cavendish Free School was founded in 1696, by the Rev Thomas Grey, who endowed it with a farm at Pcntlowe, in Essex, then of the yearly value of £25, of which be directed that £15 should he paid yearly to the master, for teaching 18 poor children of this parish in the English, Latin, and Greek tongues; that £2 should he laid out in providing hooks and stationery for the said free- scholars; and that the remaining £8 per annum should he employed either in apprenticing some of the free-scholars, or in preparing one or two of them for the University of Cambridge, and in assisting to maintain them till they took the degree of bachelor of arts. The school farm comprises 79a. 0r. 19p., and is let for £100 per annum. By an order of the Court of Chancery, in 1816, the powers of the trustees were extended, and there are now 20 free-scholars, for whose instruction the master receives £80 a year, and a further sum of £10 to find them books, &c. The direction as to fitting out children for the University does not appear to have been ever acted upon; but apprentice fees of from £8 to £20 each are given with two or three of the boys every year. In 1828, the trustees had in the bank a balance of £207; and they afterwards suffered the savings of the income to accumulate, for the purpose of providing a fund for repairing the school premises, and re-establishing the charity on its former footing of a classical school; the late master, who held the office a great many years, having, through age and infirmities, confined his attention, for some years before his death, solely to the free-scholars, none of whom required instruction in Latin or Greek. The rector has the nomination of the free-scholars, and, with the consent of two or more of the trustees, appoints the master.

GLEMSFORD

A large straggling village, on an eminence, 4½ miles E.N.E. of Clare, and 5½ miles N.W. by N. of Sudbury, has in its parish 2292a. 2r. 36p. of land, having a good mixed soil, rising in bold undulations, and extending southward to the Stour, and eastward to one of the tributary streams of that river. It had 1470 inhabitants in 1831, but they had decreased to 1366 in 1841, owing to the “declining state of the silk and wool weaving.” Here is a silk throwsting mill, employing about 60 hands, and some of the inhabitants are employed in weaving silk and velvet for the Sudbury manufacturers. Part of the parish is still in large open fields. Edmund Stedman, Esq., is lord of the manor, but the soil belongs chiefly to Samuel Bell, Alex. Duff, and G. W. Poley, Esqrs., Capt. Lungley, Messrs. T. Pung, Wm. Death, and J. E. Hale; and a few smaller owners. The copyholds are subject to arbitrary fines. Oco, Earl of Champagne, held the manor at the Domesday Survey, though the See of Ely had possessions here as early as the time of Edward the Confessor. The village has several good inns and retail shops, and has a fair for pedlery and toys on the 24th of June. The Church (St. Mary) is a large and handsome Gothic structure, with a tower and six bells, and the rectory, valued in K.B. at £30. 0s. 0½d. and in 1835 at .£582, is in the patronage of the Bishop of Ely, and incumbency of the Rev. George Coldham, M.A., who has a commodious residence. In the time of Edward the Confessor, a college of priests, invested with numerous privileges, was founded here, and they flourished till the reign of Henry III., but what became of them afterwards is not recorded. Kirby says some rents are paid out of this lordship to the Bishop of Ely, by tenants who were formerly exempt from serving on juries, except at Ely. Here is a Baptist, and also an Independent Chapel; and a National School, established in 1840, for about 70 boys and 30 girls. In 1670, Thomas Hammond left a field of 9a. called New Croft, for the relief of six old men of Glemsford. It is now let for about £12 a year. The poor parishioners have about £25. 12s. divided among them at Christmas, under the name of Doles, and arising as follows:—-£4 from the rents of the Town Field and Workhouse Pasture; £15s. 15s, in six rent- charges, left by various donors; £7 7s. from Poley's Charity, (see Boxsted;) and £2 10s. from the charity of JOHN CORDER, who, in 1636, left his house and 18a. of land at Lawshall, to provide for distributions of bread among the poor of the following parishes, in the proportions named,—20s. each to St. Gregory’s, St. Peter’s, and All Saints, in Sudbury; 40s. each to Melford, Lavenham, Lawshall, Glemsford, Shimpling, and the two parishes of Bury St. Edmund’s; and 20s. each to Stanstead, Hartest, Cockfield, Alpheton, and Stanningfield. This charity estate is now let for £30 a year. In 1828, Mr. Ezra Dalton was one of the acting trustees. The old School House, in Glemsford churchyard, is now partly occupied by paupers, and partly let for 50s. a year, which is carried to the churchwarden’s account. The Bible Meadow, half an acre, let for 25s. a year, was left by Edm. Boldero, D.D., in 1699, to provide bibles, &c. for the poor of Glemsford.