The original letter was given to the late John Hoper, Esq., of Lewes, by a descendant of the old Sussex family of Apsley, "now extinct." In reference to the writer of the above letter, I add the Lancaster Herald's certificate of his marriage, burial, and issue:— "29th June 1635. Richard Hoper of the parishe of St Andrewes, Holborne Gentleman, departed this mortal life on the 7th of May 1635, at his house in Field-lane, or Saffron-hill in the parishe aforesaide, and was buried on the 9th of the same month, followinge, in the chancelle of St Andrewes aforesaide. He mar ried Pentecost the daughter of Robert Legge, sometime to Queen Elizabeth, Remembrauncer for Ireland, by whome he hathe issue, seven sons and one daughter, at the time of his deathe all living, viz. Richard, his eldest son, Francis, 2d son, Dudley, 34, Nathaniel, 4th, John, 5th, Levinus, 6th, and Henry, 7th; Martha his only daughter married to Mr John Welde, son of John Welde of Wymondham in the county of Norfolk, Gentleman. He made the said Pentecost his widow, his sole executrix of his last will and testament. "This certificate was taken by me, William Penson, Lancaster Heraulde, on the 29th of June in the yeare aforesaide, to be recorded in the Office of Armes-and the truth of this relac'on is testified under the hands of the said Pentecost and her eldest sonne." The following also appears to possess some historical interest:— "1644 April 26th. "Received the day and yeare above written by me Sir Thomas Middleton Knight, of M" Penticus Hopper, Holborne p'r'sh, the summe of three pounds of lawfull money of England, being so much voluntarily lent by her towards the raysing of forces to be imployed under my command for the reducing of North-Wales to their due obedience to parliament, and to be repayed unto the sayd M" Penticus Hopper, executors or administrators, with interest for the same after the rate of eight per cent. per ann. by such wayes and meanes as are expressed in the ordinance of the Lords and Commons in parliament published in print the one and twentieth of February last inabling me the sayd Sir Thomas Middleton to take subscriptions for the service aforesaid. "Witness-ANDREW MIDDLETON." "THO: MYDDELTON (sic)." I conclude that this loan was not repaid, and was probably not expected by some of the lenders. The Pentecost Hoper here mentioned was a granddaughter of Richard Hoper, Esq, of St. Andrew's, Holborn, the eldest son of the above Richard and Pentecost Hoper. The name of this family was formerly written indiscriminately Le Hopere, Le Hoppere, Hoper, Hopper. The earliest of the name I have met with is Benedictus Le Hopere, in 1295. The arms borne by them, and which are on the seal of the letter and on an ancient iron chest of the family, are-Sable, a chevron or, between three pomegranates seeded and slipt or. I have read somewhere that a pomegranate is an emblem of hope, which may account for its being borne in their arms. It is clearly a different name in origin from Hooper, yet, strange to say, the name of the martyred Bishop Hoper, or Hopper (for thus his name should be spelt-see the biographies of him, and his works) has been and still is corrupted into Hooper. Branches of this family of Hoper settled in Herefordshire, Sussex, &c., and married into the families of Legge, Randolph, Welde of Wymondham, Freind of Croughton, Sir John Edwardes of the Heath, Lleintwardyne, Gorges of Eye, Harford of Bristol, Dance of London (whose issue was Commodore Sir Nathaniel Dance, E.I.C.S.), Shiffner of Sussex, Richards, of the Chief Baron's family, &c. Of the elder and Herefordshire branch was Richard Hoper, Esq., of Lucton, Eye, Sheriff of Herefordshire in 1707, whose third son, Philip Hoper, Esq., of Leominster, had one son and three daughters, viz., Thomas Hoper, Gentleman, of Leominster (who died unmarried); Anne, wife of Mr. John Dovaston, of West Felton (whose only child was John Freeman Milward Dovaston, of West Felton, M.A. of Christ Church, Oxford, and of the Inner Temple, who died unmarried); Jane, wife of Mr. Herbert Brace, of Leominster (brother of Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Brace, K.C.B., &c., who died without issue); and Mary, wife of Mr. Edward Dixon, of Stourbridge (of the family of Dixon, of Dixon'sgreen, Dudley), whose issue are now the only descendants of this branch of the family. In a future communication I will, if you think they would interest your readers, forward some extracts from the State Accounts, 1560-1578, in my possession, of the above Robert Legge, who held the important Treasury office of Chief Remembrancer for Ireland, which has been held in succession in this century by the Marquis Wellesley, and the Right Hon. Anthony Richard Blake, one of the first Roman Catholics made a Privy Councillor after the passing of the Roman Catholic Emancipation Act. According to Collins, the family of Legge is said to have come from Italy to England. The earliest he mentions are Hugh de la Lega, and Richard son of Osbert, who were Sheriffs of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, and Wm. de la Lega, Sheriff of Herefordshire, temp. Hen. II. In conclusion, can any of your correspondents give me information as to the earlier genealogy of either of the above families? Who Lady Apsley, and her daughter Lady Boteler, were? Was the former the widow of Sir Allen Apsley, Lieutenant of the Tower? Sir Allen Apsley, Lieutenant of the Tower, was of an ancient Sussex family, and was knighted for services in Ireland. His third wife, whom he married circ. 1615, and who survived him, was Lucy, daughter of Sir John St. John, by Lucy, daughter and heir to Sir Walter Hungerford. She died in 1659. Their daughter, Lucy Apsley, was the admirable wife and biographer of Col. Hutchinson, to whom she was married at St. Andrew's, Holborn, in 1638. Was Lady Boteler the daughter of Sir Allen and his third wife, or by a former wife? Hartlebury, Oct. 1862. D. ANCIENT SCULPTURED TYMPANUM, &c., AT TURRIFF, ABERDEENSHIRE. MR. URBAN,—I send you herewith three sketches in pen and ink which were taken by me on a recent visit to the ancient ruined church of Turriff, in Aberdeenshire. The first represents a fragment of the fresco-painting which was recently discovered there, and of which I forwarded you an account given in the “Banffshire Journal" some months ago. The above fragment is in the possession of one of my brethren of this diocese, the Rev. James Christie, Incumbent of Turriff. The second represents an ancient sculptured tympanum, now placed, for the sake of preservation, in the east wall. The sculptures upon it are somewhat defaced, but on the whole there is sufficient remaining to indicate its general character. For myself, I could not venture, with my slight acquaintance of Scottish architecture, to pronounce upon its age. The rudeness of the figures would lead one to refer it to a very early period, while the two pointed arches and the cusped quatrefoils seem to indicate a later date. The third sketch represents a consecration-cross. It is placed about five feet from the ground on the south wall, and is perfect. There are two fragments of other similar crosses remaining, but greatly defaced. They stand at the same height from the ground, and at equal distances from each other. The following extract from the Rev. J. B. Pratt's “Buchan" (Aberdeen: L. and J. Smith) may not be uninteresting in connection with the above: "Turriff, anciently written Turured or Turureth, Torra or Turra, is said to signify a mount or height. The town is pleasantly situated on a broad tableland bounding the Water of Turriff, and is sheltered on the north by the hill of Vrae, and on the east by that of Cotburn. It has a square near the centre, with streets branching off in different directions, in the vicinity of which are some of the principal buildings. The houses are built of red sandstone, quarried chiefly in the neighbourhood of Delgaty Castle. "The tutelar of the parish is St. Congan, corrupted into Cowan. His fair is still held here. Mention is made of the church of Turriff as early as the beginning of the thirteenth century. In 1214, Margery, Countess of Buchan, gave it to the monks of St. Thomas of Arbroath, the grant being confirmed by William the Lion and Adam the Bishop of Aberdeen. In 1273 the church of Turrech was bestowed by Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan, Justiciary of Scotland, on the hospital of St. Congan, which he founded here for a master, six chaplains, and thirteen poor husbandmen of Buchan. In 1214 the church of Turriff was erected into a prebend of the cathedral of St. Machar of Aberdeen."-(p. 207.) St. Congan is commemorated in the Aberdeen Breviary on the 14th of October. Trusting that some of your correspondents may be led to express their opinions on the character of the sculptured tympanum,-I am, &c., |