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"Rob. Ainsworth et Uxor ejus, admodum senes,
Dormituri, vestem detritam hic exuerunt,
Novam, primo mane surgentes, induturi.
Dum fas, mortalis, sapias, et respice finem.
Hoc suadent manes, hoc canit Amramides.
To thy reflection, mortal friend,
Th' advice of Moses I commend;
Be wise, and meditate thy end."

Deut. xxvii. 29.

There is a caricature etching, by Pond, in 1739, after Ghezzi, intituled, "Due famosi Antiquari," supposed to be intended for Sir Andrew Fountaine*

* Sir Andrew Fountaine, whose ancestors were seated at Narford in Norfolk so early as the reign of Henry III. was son of Andrew Fountaine, esq. by Sarah, eldest daughter of Sir Thomas Chicheley. He was born in 1675; and educated as a commoner of Christ Church in Oxford, under the care of that eminent encourager of literature, Dr. Aldrich. He at the same time studied, under Dr. Hickes, the Anglo-Saxon language, and its antiquities; of which he published a specimen in "Hickes's Thesaurus," under the title of "Numismata Anglo-Saxonica et Anglo-Danica, breviter illustrata ab Andreâ Fountaine, eq. aur. et Edis Christi Oxon. alumno; Oxon. 1705;" in which year Mr. Hearne dedicated to him his edition of Justin the Historian. He travelled over most parts of Europe, where he made a large and valuable collection of pictures, antient statues, medals, and inscriptions; and, while in Italy, acquired such a knowledge of virtú, that the dealers in antiquities were not able to impose on him. He was knighted by King William, Dec. 30, 1699; and succeeded to the estate at Narford, on his father's death, Feb. 7, 1706, æt. 74. In 1709 his judgment and fancy were exerted in embellishing "The Tale of a Tub" with designs almost equal to the excellent satire they illustrate. At this period he enjoyed the friendship of the most distinguished Wits; and of Swift in particular, who repeatedly mentions him, in the Journal to Stella, in terms of high regard. In December 1710, when Sir Andrew was given over by his physicians, Swift visited him, foretold his recovery, and rejoiced at it: though he wittily says, “I have lost a legacy by his living, for he told me he had left me a picture and some books, &c." Sir Andrew was vice-chamberlain to Queen Caroline whilst Princess of Wales, and after she was Queen, and tutor to Prince William; for whom he was installed (as proxy) Knight of the Bath, and had on that occasion a patent granted him, dated Jan. 14, 1795, for adding supporters to his arms; viz. On either side a lion Gules, with wings erected Or, with the old family-motto of Vix ea nostra voco, and the antient arms of Fountaine, Or, a fess Gules, between three

elephants

and Ainsworth; or, as others conjecture, for Baron Stosch and Sabbatini.

elephants' heads Sable. Sir Andrew likewise quartered the arms of 1. Walshe; 2 Harsicle; 3. Damme; 4. Briggs; 5. Beaupré; 6. St. Omer.--Elizabeth, his sister, married Col. Clent of Knightwick in Worcestershire.-By his skill and judgment he furnished the most considerable cabinets of this kingdom, to his own no small emolument; being a perfect connoisseur in medals, antient as well as modern. He lost many miniatures by a fire at White's original chocolate-house in St. James's-street, where he had hired two rooms for his collections (Walpole's Anecdotes of Painting, II. 21.) In 1727 he was appointed warden of the Mint, an office which he held till his death, which happened Sept. 4, 1753, aged 78. He was buried at Narford, where he had erected an elegant seat, and formed a fine collection of porcelane, a valuable library, and an excellent collection of pictures, coins, and many other rare pieces of antiquity. Amongst the portraits in the library were, those of Titian, Aretin, Inigo Jones, Palladio, Laniere, Rembrandt, Cornelius Jansen, W. Shakspeare, Ben Jonson, Waller, Cowley, Butler, C. Cotton, Dr. Aldrich, Earl of Montrose, Gustavus Adolphus, Pope Alexander VII. Prince Rupert, Sir Kenelm Digby, Sir John Maynard, Admiral Blake, Dr. Prideaux, Dr. Pococke, Cardinal Mazarin, Marshal Turenne, Duke of Devonshire, Archbishop Tillotson, Earl of Pembroke, Doctors Wallis, Mead, and Radcliffe. Among the antiquities was a Roman vase of bronze dug up in the hall-yard, the Romans being supposed to have had a station at Narford, where many of their bricks were found. There were also two fine sepulchral chests of white marble dug up at Rome, neatly carved, and inscribed,

D. M. SERVILLIO.

FORTVNATO.

SERVILLIA. ATTICILLA.

PATRONO. B. M. FECIT.

D. M.

FLAVIVS. CASTVS. CVRATOR. EQVES. SING.
AVCENN. VIXIT. ANN. XXXVIII. ...

A... TI. CVST. SEVERINI. C. DOMITIVS.

ASCLEPIVS. H. B. M. F.

(See Blomefield's Norfolk, vol. I. p. 640; vol. III. p. 521.) A portrait of him, by Mr. Hoare of Bath, is in the collection at Wilton House; and two medals of him are engraved in Snelling's "English Medals, 1776;" one of them, struck at Florence, inscribed, ANDREAS. FOVNTAINE. EQVES. AVRATVS. ANGLVS. 1715. Exergue, A. SELVI. F. The other, in London, in 1744; on one side, his bust finely executed, and inscribed ANDREAS FOVNTAINE. EQ. AVRAT. On the reverse (in allusion to his office in the Mint) this antient Roman legend, A. A. A. F. F. III. VIR. That is, Ere, Argento, Auro, flando, feriundo, Triumvir. Exergue, J. A. DASSIER; a young Engraver, whom he employed at the Tower.-To Brig Fountaine, esq. a nephew of Sir Andrew,

and

EDWARD ALEXANDER, esq. admitted Proctor in Doctors' Commons in 1695, was many years Registrar to the Commissary of the Diocese of London. He purchased the manor of Ongar in Essex about the year 1717; married Levina, daughter of Sir Levinus Bennet, of Baberham, in Cambridgeshire; and died Oct. 27, 1751, aged 80. His valuable library lay packed up, and spoilt by damp, at Ongar, till his heir came of age, when it was sold almost for nothing about 1757. His grandson, Richard Henry Alexander Bennet, esq. married Elizabeth, eldest daughter of the late Peter Burrel, esq. of Beckenham in Kent, father of the present Lord Gwydir; was admitted F.A.S. in 1765; and in that year sold the Baberham estate to Robert Jones *, esq.

and the present owner of Narford hall, the publick are indebted for an elegant English version of Avellaneda's continuation of Don Quixote (see Gent. Mag. vol. LXXVII. p. 146;) as are his neighbours in Norfolk for continuing amongst them the old English gentlemanly amusement of Falconry.

*A merchant of London, a director of the East-India Company, one of the elder brethren of the Trinity House, and member in several parliaments for Huntingdon. He died Feb. 17,

1773; leaving an only daughter his heiress, though she disobliged him in marrying. He pulled down the old house; which was built in the Italian style, by Sir Horatio Pallavicini, with a gallery along the front of the second floor, and erected a moderate-sized modern house on the site called Baberham place, after a design of Sir Robert Taylor. Pallavicini's other house at Shelford, which suffered the same fate a few years before, had a loggia in the centre front. It is remarkable that an Italian, at that time of day, should be the possessor of two houses so near together! Sir Horatio was one of the collectors of the Pope's dues in Queen Mary's time, which (having pocketed in the time of Queen Elizabeth, and conforming to the Church of England) enabled him to purchase two considerable estates in Essex, which came to his two sons, who were knighted in her reign, and in that of her successor James I. See Morant's Essex, vol. I. pp. 8, and 26; and some other curious particulars in Gough's Camden, 1789, vol. II. p. 138.

Mr. Walpole observes, that this Sir Horatio died July 6, 1600; and that July 7, 1601, his widow married a Mr. Oliver Cromwell, as appears by the Baberham register. He is mentioned in the first edition of the Anecdotes of Painting, vol. I. p. 160, and again in the second edition of that entertaining work, where the following epitaph is quoted from a MS. of Sir John Crew:

"Here

JOSEPH AMES was descended from an antient family in Norfolk, where they are to be traced as far back as the middle of the 16th century. His great grandfather John Ames, son of Lancelot, was born at Norwich, March 3, 1576. He settled at Great Yarmouth, where his son Joseph was born March 5, 1619; who became a commander of some eminence in the Navy during the Protectorate; here mention should be made of the honorary medal that was given him for his public services. He died Dec. 1, 1695, æt. 76; leaving six children ; of whom John, the sixth, settled in Wapping where he had a small freehold of 40l. a year; and was a person of some curiosity; having made several collections for the town of Great Yarmouth, as well as other places which he had visited, particularly the sea-coast of England, Scotland, Norway, Holland, and France. He was the father of Joseph, the subject of this memoir; who was born at Yarmouth Jan. 23, 1688-9, and was about 12 years old at his father's death, and at a little grammarschool in Wapping. At 15, it is said, he was put apprentice to a plane-maker near Guildhall, London; and, after serving out his time with reputation, settled near the Hermitage, in Wapping,

"Here lies Horatio Palavazene,

Who robb'd the Pope to lend the Queene,
He was a thief: a thief! thou lyest;
For whiehe robb'd but Antichrist.

Him Death wyth besome swept from Babram,
Into the bosom of oulde Abraham :

But then came Hercules with his club,
And struck him down to Belzebub."

This had been printed long before, in a small miscellaneous volume of poetry, intituled, " Recreation for ingenious Headpieces, or a pleasant Grove for their Wits to walk in, &c. 1667." "Sir Toby Palavicine, who lived at Baberham, made alterations within side, but did nothing to the structure: he built indeed at Shelford, two miles distant, an house in the Italian style, with a portico in the second story, which was pulled down by Mr. William Finch, a very considerable ironmonger at Cambridge; and in its place built a small neat box, now occupied,. 1782, by his great nephew William Ingle Finch." Cole's MSS.

in the business of a ship-chandler, or ironmonger, and continued there till his death. In 1712 he lost his mother, who was buried in Wappingchurch near her husband; and in 1714 he married Mary, daughter of William Wrayford, merchant of London.

When Mr. Ames's father came to live in Wapping, Mr. John Russel, minister of Poole in Dorsetshire, was preacher at St. John's, and continued so till his death in 1723. During his residence at Poole he had received many marks of friendship from the family of the Rev. Mr. John Lewis, minister of Margate, afterwards vicar of Minster in the Isle of Thanet about 40 years; an eminent divine and antiquary, well known for his many learned publications. In return for this kindness, Mr. Russel invited Mr. Lewis, who then taught grammar at Poole, whither he returned after his early removal to Bristol, to live with him at Wapping. Being himself much favoured by Abp. Tenison, he introduced Mr. Lewis to that Prelate, which Mr. Lewis acknowledged to have laid the foundation of his preferment in the Church. Mr. Russel was a worthy Divine, and took great notice of his neighbour, Mr. John Ames, and his infant son; and when Mr. Joseph Ames commenced housekeeper, Mr. Russel frequently visited him, and gave him his advice, which Mr. Ames ever after gratefully acknowledged. He introduced him to the acquaintance of Mr. Lewis, with whom he soon formed a friendship that continued as long as Mr. Lewis lived.

Mr. Ames very early discovered a taste for English history and antiquities, which was encouraged by his two friends. Some time before 1720, in attending Dr. Desaguliers' lectures, he formed an acquaintance with Mr. Peter Thompson, another native of Poole (of whom some account will be given in a future page); and with whom Mr. Ames VOL. V.

S.

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