order and neglect are but too apparent in its borders. Near the Oakes stood Hazelbarrow Hall, a venerable edifice, which for centuries was the seat of the ancient family of the Seliokes, who retained possession of it until the reign of Elizabeth. It was lately occupied as a farm-house, but it has now given way to a more modern structure. Such has been the fate of this old mansion, which for ten generations was the residence of one of the first families in this part of Derbyshire.

Norton is an extensive manor: it comprehends not only the whole parish of Norton, but the adjoiring village of Cold Aston, which is in the parish of Dronfield. This manor, the hall, and the estates, belonged for a considerable period of time to a family of the name of Bullock, who in consequence of their attachment to the royal cause and the exertions which they made in the support of King Charles, were much reduced in their property at the time of the Restoration. William Bullock, Esq. who resided at Norton Hall, raised a troop of horse, and equipped them at his own expence, for the service of his sovereign, while his neighbour, one of the Blythes of Norton Lees, was a captain in the parliamentary army. In consequence of the necessities of the Bullocks, Cornelius Clarke, Esq. of Cutthorpe, or Ashgate, in Brampton, near Chesterfield, who had a large mortgage on the estate in the year 1668, purchased the hall and manor of Norton, and a considerable part of the remaining estate. Having no issue, he left the whole of his Brampton and Norton property to his nephew Robert Offley, of Norwich, who was the son of his second sister, Ursula Clarke. His son Stephen was the first of the family of the Offleys who resided at Norton Hall: he was the father of Mrs. Shore and Mrs. Edmunds, by his wife Hannah Bohun, from

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Disposition of the Manor of Norton.

Suffolk. In the division of the Derbyshire property belonging to

the family of the Offleys between the two co-heiresses, the Norton estate descended to Mrs. Shore, and the estate at Brampton to Mrs. Edmunds.

SECTION II.

N

Memoir of Chantrey, the Sculptor.

In the preceding section I have observed that the parish of Norton was the birth-place of two brothers who arrived at high honours in the church, one being the Bishop of Salisbury, and the other the Bishop of Coventry and Litchfield---the latter of whom built a chapel at Norton, erected an alabaster tomb within it to the memory of his parents, and appointed a chantry for them. This pleasant village has likewise the honour of being the birth-place of another distinguished individual, FRANCIS CHANTREY, Esq. R. A. Sculptor, F. R. S. Lon. & Ed. F.S.A. M.G.S. and Member of the Roman Academy of St. Luke; a man whose extraordinary talents have placed him at an early period of life at the summit of his profession.

F. Chantrey was born on the 7th of April, 1782. His ancestors were in respectable but not opulent circumstances, and some heritable possessions still belong to the family. His father was involved in considerable pecuniary losses, chiefly by the conduct of a brother whom he endeavoured to serve beyond the extent of his means. He saw the property which his forefathers had accumulated, progressively departing from him, his spirits became depressed, and he died in the prime of life,---when his only child, the subject of this memoir, was

14

Memoir of Chantrey, the Sculptor.

scarcely twelve years old. After his death, his widow remained in the occupation of a farm which had been in the family through a long series of years, and although Chantrey's mother, who is still living to enjoy the fame of her son, was left in narrow circumstances, she yet contrived to bestow upon him as liberal an education as her limited means would admit. Being an only child he was naturally the object of the tenderest care and most anxious solicitude of his surviving parent, who retained him about her person until he was nearly eighteen years old. He was intended for agricultural pursuits, but his employment in attending to the concerns of a farm, was but little suited to his views and inclinations. At this period of life he is said to have had it in contemplation to study the law, under a respectable solicitor at Sheffield. This is an error into which his biographers have fallen, in consequence of the term factor being understood to have the same meaning in Sheffield, as it has in Scotland, where the memoir of this distinguished artist was first published. To the business of a factor, or inland merchant, his views were first directed, but he soon discovered that his inclinations had a different tendency. The drudgery of a factor's warehouse, the calculation of per centages and discounts, the systematic arrangements and nice methodical management which such a pursuit requires, the mind of Chantrey was but ill fitted to encounter; he therefore relinquished this intention, and apprenticed himself to a Mr. Ramsay, a carver and gilder, in the town of Sheffield; yet even in this business he soon found that he had but few opportunities of indulging that feeling for the arts, which had now so taken possession of his mind, that it might be said to have become the animating principle of his being, and the sole impulse that his heart obeyed.

Memoir of Chantrey, the Sculptor.

15

At this time Mr. J. R. Smith, mezzotint-engraver and portraitpainter, visited Sheffield, in his profession as an artist, and being occasionally at the house of Mr. Ramsay, Chantrey's devotion to the study and practice of drawing and modelling did not escape his observation. He was the first to perceive and appreciate his genius; he took pleasure in giving him instruction, and some years afterwards, the pupil having become a proficient in art, perpetuated the recollection of his master in one of the finest busts that ever came from his hands.

He, however, experienced considerable difficulty in making an advantageous use of the lessons thus obtained. His master supposing, and perhaps with reason, that Chantrey's predilection for the arts would make him a less profitable servant, was but little inclined to promote his pursuits. The whole of his leisure hours, however, were devoted to his favourite studies, and chiefly passed in a lonely room in the neighbourhood of his master's, which he hired at the rate of a few pence weekly.

It may easily be supposed from the preceding detail, that the connexion between Chantrey and Ramsay was not of long continuance; they separated before the expiration of the term of his apprenticeship, a compensation being made by Chantrey for the remainder of his time. Being now left to prosecute his studies in his own way, he visited London, and attended the school of the Royal Academy at Somerset House, but was never regularly admitted a student.

Painting and sculpture, the sister arts, to one of which he resolved to dedicate his talents, were now presented to his choice, but he was