MEMOIRS
OF
SIE GEORGE COURTHOP
THE MEMOIRS
OF
SIE GEOEGE COUETHOP
1616-1685
EDITED
FROM AN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY TRANSCRIPT
IN THE POSSESSION OF G. J. COURTHOPE, ESQUIRE
FOR THE ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY
BY
MBS. S. C. LOMAS, F.K.Hisx.S.
LONDON
OFFICES OF THE ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY
7 SOUTH SQUARE, GRAY'S INN, W.C.
1907
PREFACE
THE Courthopes, or Courthops, an ancient Sussex family, are said
to take their name from the lands of Courthope, in Lamberhurst
parish. In the time of Edward I. we find Courthopes amongst the
principal inhabitants of Wadhurst, more than two centuries before
Whiligh became their home. Bufc in the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries they were settled in Kent, partly at Goudhurst, partly
at the old manor house of Goddard's Green, in Cranbrook parish.
Early in Henry VIII. 's reign John Courthope married
Elizabeth, daughter of William Saunders, then in possession of
AVhiligh, and on Saunders's death, in 1513, Courthope became the
owner of the manor, not merely in right of his wife, but by virtue
of a will made by his father-in-law in his favour. In 1539 John
Courthope granted Whiligh to his second son, George (whose elder
brother, John, resigned all interest therein), and from that day to
this the inheritance has passed, without a break, from father to
first-born son, and, with only one exception, the owner of Whiligh
has borne the name of George.
The author of the following Memoirs, the third George Court-
hope of Whiligh, did not write the story of his life until some forty
years after he first set out upon his travels ; it is therefore not
surprising that his memory on certain points was not altogether
trustworthy. This is chiefly shown in the matter of dates, but it
is possible that some of the mistakes are merely copyists' errors,
for, as will be seen by the short prefatory note by Mr. Kenvrs, the
transcriber, the two neatly written vohunt > at Whiligh do not
contain the original narrative, nor even the first copy, but are a
transcript of a transcript. In cases of undoubted inaccuracies.
as in the notices of the Interregnum Parliaments and Charles II. 's
coronation, we can only plead for our author that even so great
a man as the Earl of Clarendon, when writing of what had
96 PREFACE
happened in days gone by, was not free from the crime of ' mixing
his dates.'
To Sir George Courthope, looking back in old age to the time
of his youth, his ' Wanderjahre ' would loom large in memory.
Unless there have been errors of transcription, he believed that
he had been abroad from 1635 to the end of 1640, whereas he was
only absent from England from October 1636 to Christmas 1639 ;
but during that time he went considerably further afield than was
usual amongst the young gentlemen of that day, not only studying
and travelling in France, and going into Switzerland and Italy,
but extending his journey ' out of Europe,' as it was then con-
sidered, to Malta and to Constantinople. Excepting a very
alarming experience at Mitylene he had little in the way of
adventure, but he visited many interesting places, and, owing to
the absence of the Grand Signior, saw more of Constantinople
than strangers generally succeeded in doing.
Within four years after his return to England, he suc-
ceeded to the family estates. He passed safely through the
troublous times of the Civil Wars, and although his loyalty to the
King was undoubted, his estates were never sequestrated. This
was, of course, partly due to the fact that he was never in arms ;
partly also to his official position at the Alienation Office, which was
early removed from Oxford back to London, with the result that its
officers were not mixed up with the doings of the King and Court.
Even when it was discovered that they had been transmitting
money to the King at Oxford they were let off with a reprimand,
probably because it was considered that they were only sending in
fines, &c., legally due to the Sovereign, not personal assistance
for carrying on the war. Also the fact of his being the holder of a
patent office was one which would appeal to the legal mind of the
Puritan lawyer statesmen.
But he was certainly fortunate to escape so easily, for when,
in 1656, Major-Gen. Goffe set to work to collect evidence against
the Sussex candidates for Parliament, there was no lack of proof
of Courthope's ' delinquency,' especially in relation to the petition
for a treaty with the King in the spring of 1648, which he had
not only promoted but had carried up to London himself (see
' Thurloe State Papers,' v. 341, 382, 383).
In 1653 the Alienation Office shared the fate of its great
neighbour the Chancery, and was c put down,' but was re-erected
PREFACE 97
in the following year and the Commissioners reinstated, on
promise to ' hold their places by ordinance of .Parliament.' This
they got the young King's permission to do. They were, however,
watched and controlled by a new Receiver, a strong Parliament
man and a kinsman of Denis Bond. They contrived, in spite of
him, to secure a small sum of money and send it to the King.
The fact was known, but, as it could not be proved that the
money had gone into Charles II. 's hands, the charges against
them fell to the ground ; and they managed to keep their places
until the Restoration, when they were confirmed in them by the
King.
Courthope says very little about his religious opinions in his
Memoirs. He distinctly states that he was a Protestant, which in
those days meant a Church of England man rather than a Non-
conformist. With some risk to his safety, or at any rate to his
comfort, he declined to attend Roman rites on shipboard ; but that
was the almost universal usage of English Churchmen in those
days, when attendance on its services would be looked upon as
almost equivalent to joining the Roman Communion. That it was
not the result of bigotry is shown by his pleasant intercourse with
the English Jesuit College at Rome, and his courteous attentions
to Cardinal Francisco Barberini, ' Our Protector.'
Evelyn's ' Diary ' gives us a very interesting picture of the
attitude of an English Churchman during the Interregnum. No
doubt Courthope, like Evelyn, would avail himself of the rites of
his own Church whenever he could obtain them ; but would resort
to his parish church on a Sunday, that he might not be suspected
of Papistry (counting himself fortunate if his minister, like
Evelyn's, was ' presbyterianly ordained ' and a quiet, peaceable
man), and would make up for having to listen to extempore prayers
and discourses of which he did not approve by reading the
sermons of his own divines and ' saying the Common Prayer ' in
his own house (see p. 141, below).
On the great festivals he would, if possible, secure the services
of a priest of his own Church, who would celebrate the Holy
Eucharist in private ; and if, as is probable, he was much in
London, engaged in his official work, he would be able to hear
Archbishop Usher at Lincoln's Inn, and to resort to the little
church of St. Gregory 'by Paul's/ where the ruling powers
VOL. XI. H
98 PREFACE
connived at the use of the Liturgy long after it was forbidden
elsewhere,
On one occasion at least Courthope was brought into imme-
diate contact with the Protector, and that in a manner which
shows the confidence he felt in Oliver's judgment and fairness.
His election for Sussex in the second Protectorate Parliament was,
as already mentioned, opposed by Major-Gen. GofFe (and others),
and they presented a petition against him, accusing him of sending
money to the King and using the Book of Common Prayer.
Courthope straightway carried a complaint against them to the
Protector, apparently obtained easy access to him, and demanded
admission to the House. Cromwell referred him to Lawrence, the
President of the Council. A day was fixed for hearing the case
before the Council, and meanwhile Courthope resorted again to
the Protector, c desiring him ' to be present himself at the hearing,
as his petitioner's ' life and fortune was at stake.' The day
arrived, and the Protector arrived also, but with his mind so full
of the proceedings of General Blake at Santa Cruz that Courthope's
cause was laid aside, and in the end, by the mediation of Philip,
Lord Lisle, the charge was dropped, and Courthope took his seat
in the House, ' nobody anyway* interrupting him.
He was elected for East Grinstead in the Convention Parliament
which met in April 1660, and heartily joined in the measures
taken for recalling the King.
In spite of his known loyalty, George Courthope seems to have
been somewhat anxious about his position after the King's return,
owing no doubt to the fact that he had held office under the
Parliament (although by the King's permission) and also had been
a member of one of the Protector's Parliaments. There was 110
real need for alarm. Charles II. confirmed him in his post at the
Alienation Office, granted him a place in the Band of Pensioners
in succession to his late uncle, and knighted him at the Coronation.
However, to make all safe, Courthope applied for and obtained a
pardon under the Great Seal. These pardons were given out in
very large numbers during the early days of the Kestoration, and
some of them (although not nearly all) are entered upon the patent
roll. That to Courthope follows the usual forms, granting pardon
for all acts of treason, &c., committed by him by colour of the
authority of any assembly reputed or calling itself a Parliament,
or of the Keepers of the Liberties of England (the name assumed
PREFACE 99
by the Long Parliament for official or legal purposes, writs,
warrants, &c.), the Lord Protector, the conimander-in-chief of the
army, or others ; with further pardon of all other offences saving
complicity in the Irish rebellion, offences against the statutes
against seminary priests, &c., and certain others specified.
This pardon, which is still in the possession of Mr. Courthope
of Whiligh, is written on a large, fine sheet of parchment. The
elaborate initial ' C ' of ' Carolus ' encloses a very carefully finished
portrait of Charles II. The first line, ' Carolus Secundus, Dei
Gratia,' is in large shaded brown letters, with highly ornamented
initials. Above, in the centre, are the royal arms, bordered on
one side by roses, carnations, and a lion holding a banner with the
Lion of England crowned; and on the other side by thistles,
single pinks, another flower (apparently a wild rose), and the
unicorn carrying a banner with the harp of Ireland crowned.
Below are butterflies, perched oil the ribbon bearing the motto
Dieu et mon droit. The document is countersigned l Barker.'
The Great Seal (broken) in green wax, is attached by a parchment
label.
At the Public Record Office is the signed petition of George
Courthope to the King for a place as Gentleman Pensioner. The
essential part of this will be found on p. 138, note, below.
A word may be said of the transcriber of the Memoirs, who
signs himself Edmund Ferrers, and states that he copied the
manuscript at Christ Church, Oxford, in 1774, from a copy taken
by Mr. Woodward, of East Hendred. There can be little doubt of
Ferrers's identity with the Edmund Ferrers who matriculated at
Christ Church in 1768 and took his M.A. degree there in 1774.
One of his fellow students was George Woodward, junior, son of
the rector of East Hendred. From him, no doubt, Ferrers would
hear of the document, and a friendship with the Woodwards
might naturally bring him into contact with the owner of Whiligh,
Mrs. Woodward's brother. Ferrers was the son of a barrister of
the Inner Temple. He afterwards became rector of Cheriton,
Hants, and Wroughton, Wilts, and was made a chaplain-in-
ordinary to the King. His transcript is written in a small,
perfectly clear hand, and on the blank left-hand pages of the
volumes he has added many notes, chiefly of a geographical nature.
Those which have any point of interest are retained, but a large
number, giving merely the latitude and longitude of the places
H 2
100 PUEFACE
mentioned, are omitted. Ferrers's notes are distinguished from
those of the editor by being placed within inverted commas and
followed by the initials [E. F.j
A fact which gives an added interest to these Memoirs is that
Sir George was not the only one of his family to leave a record of
his journeyings in the early part of the seventeenth century. In
'Purchas his Pilgrimes' will be found 'The Journall of Master
Nathaniell Courthope, his voyage from Bantam to the Islands of
Banda,' during the years 1616-1620. Captain Nathaniel Court-
hope, who for four years held the island of Pulroon against the
Dutch, unaided and alone, is called by Dr. S. K. Gardiner * one
of the noblest of those by whose unflagging zeal the English
Empire in the East was founded.' He was a member of the
branch of the family then seated at Goddard's Green. His
' Journal ' has been again printed (from a copy of the autograph
original by William Courthope, Esq., Somerset Herald) in
vol. xxvii. of the ' Sussex Archaeological Collections/ 1
S. C. L.
January 1907.
1 The transcript of these interesting Memoirs was placed at the disposal of
the Council of the Eoyal Historical Society by G. J. Courthope, Esq., of Whiligh,
through the good offices of W. J. Courthope, Esq., C.B., and Sir Henry Maxwell
Lyte, K.C.B., an Honorary Life Fellow of the Society, both of whom have taken
much interest in the preparation of this edition, for which Mrs. W. J. Courthope
has kindly supplied the copy for the printers.
PBEFACE
(BY THE TEANSCEIBER)
July 1801. These Memoirs were transcribed by me in or
about the year 1774, at Christ Church, Oxford, from a copy taken
by the Eev. Mr. Woodward, of East Hendred, Berks, from the
original, then in the possession of Sir George Courthop's great-
grandson, George Courthop, Esq., of Uckh'eld, Sussex. Mr.
Woodward married his sister Albinia. His son, George Courthop,
Esq., repaired and re-inhabited Whiligh (margin, A.D. 1735,
October the tenth), which from these Memoirs appears to have been
the family seat of the Courthops from the year 1620 l to July 11,
1801 (the day on which I arn writing there) 181 years.
EDMUND FERRERS.
It also appears from these Memoirs that Mr. Courthop, the
present owner of Whiligh, is the sixth in succession of his family
who has enjoyed the office of Commissioner in the Alienation
Office. Sir George Courthop, his father, and grandfather, and son
Edward were Commissioners. Mr. Courthop of Uckfield was a
Commissioner, and resigned the office to his son.
Sir George says that the office is under the immediate
inspection of the Lord Treasurer and the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer; that its object is the improvement of the King's
revenue, and its annual receipts amounted in 1612 to near
16,OOOZ.
The King was at Shrewsbury '- when Sir George received his
appointment, cloyyed (as he says) with the payment of 1,300/. to
such persons as Lord Culpeper, then Chancellor of the Exchequer,
should name. [E. F.]
1 But see p. 95, above.
- Should be ' Wolverhampton. 1 See note on p. 137, below.
MEMOIRS OF SIR GEORGE COURTHOP
I WAS born in Sir George Rivers' house called ChafFord in the
County of Kent (my mother being his daughter) and was chris-
tened the third of June in the year 1610, as by the register in
Penshurst Parish in Kent may be seen : some time after, Sir
George Courthop, my father, left that place and kept house at
Whiligh in the County of Sussex where I now dwell. 1 I being
about 4 years old, my mother died, and I with my two sisters Ann
and Frances Courthop (the former was never married, the latter
was married to Sir Charles Howard of Bookham in Surry and by
her he had the Lord of Effingham 2 that now is) were put out to
school at Westram in the County of Kent, they to a gentlewoman
whose name was Isley, to be taught to work and write and dance,
and play upon some sorts of musick ; I was put to a Grammar
school, which was there kept by one M r AValter, that had been my
father's poor Scholar in Cambridge ; with him I staid seven years,
till I could make true Latin both in prose and verse; and then was
removed to Merchant Taylours school in London, and from thence
to Westminster, where I remained till I went to Oxford, which (I
take it) was in the year 1630, 3 and there I was placed in University
1 The first Sir George's father, John Courthope of Whiligh, Esq., died in
1615, and is buried at Ticehurst. His son George probably removed to the
family seat not long after the younger George was born.
2 Sir Charles Howard died in 1673. His eldest son, Francis, succeeded as
5th Lord Howard of Effingham in 1681, on the death of Charles Howard, third
Earl of Nottingham, without direct heirs. The reference to him as the Lord
* that now is ' shows that the Memoirs were not written, or at any rate finished,
until after 1681.
3 According to Foster's Alumni, the true date was two years later; i.e. he
matriculated June 22, 1632, aged sixteen, and took his B.A. degree on May 8, 1635.
If these dates are correct he was only for a few weeks under the care of Dr.
Bancroft, who resigned the mastership of University College on August 23, 1632,
on his appointment as Bishop of Oxford. Dr. Thos. Walker was elected in his
place on August 31.
104 MEMOIRS OF SIR GEORGE COURTHOP
College an upper Commoner ; for we had no Fellow Commoners
though they were Noblemens' Sons : the Master of that College at
my coming thither was D r Bancroft who was after Bishop of
Oxford ; he kept us to do as much exercise in the house as any
poor scholar or Servitor did : and we were fined upon omission,
and reproached if we did not make our exercises, either in the
Hall or in the Chapel, better than the lower Commoners or
Servitors. After I had been two years there, I answered in the
Schools under-batchelour, under Sir Heniy Chicheley ; and at
three years end, as a Knight's eldest son, I commenced Batchelour
of Arts. The day I took my degree, I made a great dinner in the
hall, at my own expense, which came to above 40Z., and had
liberty to invite what persons I would to it, of what degree soever
they were in the University. I staid there two years after I had
taken this degree, and did most of my exercise for my Master's
degree, after I had perfected my exercise for my Batchelor's ; but
did not make an end of them, nor did I take the degree of Master
of Arts upon me; because in the year 1635 (as I guess) I was
taken from the University to go and travel beyond the seas with
Francis Lennard, Lord Dacre of Herstmonceaux in Sussex. 1
As we were sailing between Rye and Dieppe, we were taken
by an Algerine, who plunder'd us of all our fresh meat, and 100Z.
in money taken from Mons 1 ' Battilliere that was Secretary to the
Earl of Liecester, that was then Ernbassador in France : 2 my Lord
1 The journey to France could not have been so early as 1635, as the Earl of
Leicester- did not go over as Ambassador Extraordinary (Lord Scuclamore being
Ambassador in ordinary) until May 1636. As is shown by the next note, Courthope
and Lord Dacres crossed in October 1636. The former was therefore not much
more than one academic year at Oxford after taking his degree.
2 This incident enables us to fix the date almost exactly. In his despatch of
October 23-November 2 the Earl of Leicester writes, ' The seas are now
dangerous, by reason of the Dunkirks ; and the other day, Battiere, my secretary
(who hath lately bin with your honor) in his returne between Rye and Deepe, being
in the English passage boat with my Lord Dacres and some other gentlemen, they
were met by the Dunkirks, who (notwithstanding they were English and provided
with good passports) used violence against them, and robb'd them, taking away
from Battiere, in particular, amongst other things . . . about 501 in Spanish
pistols . . . and if the sight of a Holland man of warre had not made them goe
away, they had used them worse. The particular declaration ... I will send,
God willing, the next weeke.' Leicester to Coke, S. P. France, vol. 102 ; printed
in Collinses ' Sydney Papers.' Courthope calls the pirate ship an ' Algerine,' but,
apart from Leicester's statement, this is shown to be incorrect by the context. A
1 Turk ' would not have cared in the least whether the goods were French or
English.
MEMOIRS OF SIR GEORGE COURTHOP 105
was forced, tho' very seasick, to be carried by two men on the bed
he lay on, upon the deck to testify to them that there were no
French goods in the ship, but being a Nobleman of England he
hired it, to carry him and his company over to France. When we
came to Paris we staid there some two months, to visit the Noble-
men and Gentry of England that were there, who returned all our
visits to our great satisfaction. When these civilities were ended,
my Lord's Governour, by name Monsr. Dupont, persuaded him to
go down the river of Loire, to Orleans, Tours, Blois, Saumere,
Angiers, to see which of these he liked best, and there to stay and
learn the language : when we had seen all these cities, my Lord
chose Angiers to live in : I having had a recommendation from
Sir William Champion 1 to a Scotchman seven leagues beyond
Saumares, that was Master of an Academy in Loudoun (his name
Strachan) went there, and so my Lord and I parted by consent,
that we might the better apply to get the French tongue, to give
our friends satisfaction.
I had lived in the town of Loudoun 13 months, in which time
I had a great sickness, much about the 21st year of my age ; ' 2 the
spotted fever struck in, after coming out upon me, but by physick
was forced out again : this fever was occasioned (as 1 and my
Physician guessed) by a fall I had into a wine cellar, in a winter
night, at the lodging of M r Jervais Pierrepoint, brother to the
Earl of Kingston, who then sojourned in this town 011 the same
occasion ; the cellar door was to be opened in a certain passage
that led out of the house into the street : I going thro' the passage
into the street to make water, the maid of the house, having
occasion to draw wine, the time that I was out of doors in the
street, left the door (which was in the manner of a trap-door) open ;
I coming in and finding no candle in the passage, thought the
passage as firm and close as when I went out ; but after my first
step into the house, going to fetch another, I found no place to
sett my foot on, so that I fell down into the cellar ; and my foot
that found no bottom to fix on, was dashed violently against one
1 A near neighbour of the Courthopes. Seated at Combwell, in Kent, only
about three miles from Whiligh. Sir William commanded a regiment for
Charles I., and was killed in a sally from Colchester during the siege in 1648. In
later times there were many marriages between the Campions and the Courthopes.
2 This fits in exactly with the true dates. Courthope's twenty-first birthday
was on June 3, 1G37, when he had been at Loudoun some five months or more.
106 MKMOIKS OF SIR GEORGE COURTHOP
of the stone stall's that went down into the cellar ; and calling for
help, when they came to me, going to rise up, I could not stand on
the foot, which upon search was found dislocated ; by reason of
the dislocation, I was advised to keep my bed to ease my leg ; and
laying long upon my back to give my leg rest, the fever took me,
which held me to the danger of my life for the space of four
months, at the end of which time, I began to mend, which was
manifested to the Doctors that I made use of by a scurfe that
came all over my body, under which were millions of lice; so
that when the scurfe was peeled off from my body and the lice
taken away, there was new flesh appeared as if I had been newly
born. When I had recovered strength enough to go abroad, I
resolved to quit that place ; but before I left it, intended to try
whether the possession of some Nuns in that town by the Devil,
as the Jesuits gave out (and had a form in Latin to exorcise them
before they expelled them out of the Nun) were a real truth or a
mere imposture : The Lord Purbeck's Lady 1 coming to the town,
being a Roman Catholic, to see this exorcism, sent for me to come
to her : when I came, all her discourse was of the wonders these
Devils shewed, and how after diverse prayers and ejaculations used
by the Jesuits, the Devil was expelled, and the Nun came to her
natural temper again : she desired me to wait on her thither, that
she might receive the Communion and confess to one of those
Fathers : I told her I was a Protestant, and should not be welcome