The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-09-03 00:00:00

KNOWSLEY PARK.

The noble park in which this review took plabe has,
howe„,., by more recent historians been described as
the largest in the county, being nearly six miler in cir-
cumference. Its surface is varied, and commands some of
the best property in the locality. Rich plantations, trees
of ancient growth, add to its attraction; and there is a
lake, nearly a mile in length, which adorns the centre
of ,this delightful park.
The estate' of Knowsley came into the possession of
an ancestor of the present inheritor upon the marriage
of 'Sir John Stanley with Isabella, daughter of Sir
Thomas Latham, in the reign of Richard IL Knowsley
had previously passed with Catherine, daughter of
Thomas de Knowsley, in marriage to Sir Robert de
Latham,

THE• ARMS AND THE CREST OF THE
DERBP FAMILY.

They are thus described:—Argus on a bend ; azure,
three bucks' heads, cabossed.. Crest : On a chapeau,
turned up ermine, an
eagle, avnigs,:endorsed or, preying
on an infant in its cradle. Dexter, a griffin ; sinister, a
buck, both ducally collared and chained. Motto : Sans
Changer. With reference• to the organ of the crest,
" the Eagle and Child," there appears to be some
mystification ; but it is assumed by early historians,
when referring to the Stanley family, to have arisen as
follows :
" Sir Thomas Latham (the fourth heir of that family
lived in the reign of King Edward 111
on record) ~ and
he and his ladyl!iing highly advanced in years, without
any other issue than the above Lady Stanley, and he
being of male is
sue (even when he was a child),
desirous
but despairing thereof by his own lady, who was the
youngest daughter of Sir Hamon Massey, of Dunham-
,\l„say, in the county of Chester, he had alove intrigue
with a young gentlewoman of his acquaintance, whom
he kept concealed in .a house of retirement near him,
until she bore him a son, which accordingly happened ;
but on due consideration, there still remained some
matters of consequence to be adjusted, for the future
peace and quiet of Sir Thomas's mind, and the full
completion of all his joys and wishes on this grand occa-
sion ; first, in what manner to publish the birth of his
young son, and he not so much as suspected to be the,
real father of him; in the second place, how to amuse
and secure his lady. from the pangs of a jealous
mind, and obtain, her motherly ears of the Yeun"
infant, in such a manner that he might be nursed
and brought up in his own house free from all
all suspicion or uneasiness betwixt them :.`and,
lastly, that he might, with the greater freedom and
pleititire, oversee and extend his paternal beneficence to

him by acts of charity, and theioby screen himself from
the ill-natured reflections of an inquisitive andcensorious
world. Wherefore, the better to effect thaie nice and
tender points, he had recourse to a pious cheat, by im-
parting the-whole secret to an old and trusty servant, in
whoM he could con&de, and consulted with him on the
mestiligely aci „proper 3means to compass his intended
projects. After several: scs.heir“:ii aid froposals on both
bides, they pat.last, hit on, the following. expedient,* which
they, judged the most probable to answer all Sir Thomas's
eipectations. They had considered, that as an eagle
frequently formed her nest in a large thick wood, in the
_most-desolate part of his park, where seldom anything
was, seen hut.guests qualiftpd for such a dismal habita-
thin, ; therpfdre if. the hilrl las taken 40 laid there,
as if brought ty the eagle,,. it Ar,igllt, .on.,a retendecl
accidental. discovery, . complete the vrhole pro ect., ,-Sir
Thomas, approying. thereof, made use, of fbe etiif,
and gave directions to the mother - to have the
infant wen Tau .:...-
. '
..-1, being
at ' —4 richly drest, early the next morning
' ' ' • -.g;
at an hour the servant was to cait---tor lb, -
done, and given to him, with instructions to lay it at. the
foot of the tree the eagle usually frequented. and to
color him secret'', from all observation, and guard him
fi'dtii all, Ontsfira: infdry, either fforn :bird dt beast of
prey ;• al/ ofWhich lie • Pert:dialed with Elie gleated
privacy.; There is an ;old . story of a child said. to be
fonnd!in an eagle's nest at Latham, which is here given,
byway &of digression, as transmitted from generation to
generation-,---ThatSir•Thamas and his lady taking their
timid wall; in the'parldr'est neai to the desert and wild
situation, where an eagle usually built lie?nbst ;•:and that;
upon their near approach, thereof, they heed the 'cries' of
an infant, which they ordered the servants_in attendance,
to look for, who, on search, reported it to be in the
eagle's nest ; it was immediately directed to be taken
'down, and,- upon examination, found to be a male child,
dressed in rich swaddling clothes ' • and they, having no
male issue, looked upon this child as a present from
heaven, and that it could be no less than the mill of God
that they should immediately take him under their pro=
tection, which they accordingly did, and had him care-
fully nursed and baptized by the name of Latham ; and
(acedrdlng to' the traditicen)• he became possessed of that
laTge ep.afii. :AO at his death left an only daughter,
named Isabel,. ritioni,..Sir 11olin F,tanlcy married, and*
memory of this event, took the Eagle and Child for his
crest, as since used by hia successors, she Earls of
Derby."