The Grenada gazette., 1888-05-05
DECLINE OF FAMILIES.
Descendants Of Fsmous Men Who Oscz-
pied Lowly Positions,

pied Lowly Positions.
Among the descendants of Thomas
Plantagenet, Duke of Gloucester. fifth
son of Edward I'LL. was Stephen j.
Penny, who was, not many years ago.
sexton at St. Georges, Hanover
Square, London.
Among the lineal descendants o.
Edmund of Woodstock, Earl of Kent
and sixth son Of Edward l., occur a
butcher and a ll-gatherer; the first
a Joseph Smart, of Halesowen, the
latter George WiImont a keeper OF
the turnpike gate at Cooper's bank,
near Dudley.
A story is told of scion of the great
house of Urquhart of Cromarty who
was neeessitated by his extravaganza
to sell his inheritance, and who, sink.
ing step by step TO the lowest depths
OF wretchedness, came at last wan.
dering beggar TO the door which had
once been his own.
No race in Europe surpassed the
fiantagenets in royal position and
personal achievements, and yet, not
to descend further than the year 1887.
the great-grea grandson of Margaret
Plantagenet. daughter and heiress OF
George. Duke of Clarence. followed
the trade of shoemaker in Newport.
Salop.
Fraser, of Kirkhill, relates that he
saw the Earl of Traquair, cousin OF
James VI. begging in the streets of
Edinburgh. He was,' says Fraser,
'fn an antique garb, and wore broad
old hat. short cloak and pannier
breeches. and / contributed toward
his relief We gave him noble. He
was standing with his hat off. and re.
ceived the piece of money from my
hand as humbly and thankfully as the
poorest applicant.
One of Cromwell's granddaughters.
after seeing her husband die in tho
work-house of a small Suffolk town,
died herself pauper. leaving two
daughters, the elder the wife of a
shoemaker and the younger the wife
of q butchers son, who had been her
fellow servant Another of Oliver
Cromwelrs granddaughters had two
children, of whom the son became y
small working jeweler and the daugh-
ter the mistress of small school at
Mildenhall.
Before the time of the Protector the
Cromwell family possessed estates
equal to those of the wealthiest peers
of the present day, and the great
Oliver himself inherited considerable
property. which, augmented from
private sources, made up total
sufficient TO maintain his family per-
petually in easy circumstances. But
within century after his death
Thomas Cromwell. his great grand
son. was a grocer on Snow Hill and
his son Oliver. the last male heir, an
attorney in London.
When the twelfth Earl of Crawford
was imprisoned in Edinburgh castle
to restrain his recklessness and prodi-
gality he left one child, daughter,
who. having no one whatever TO look
after her, received not scrap of edu-
cation and was allowed to run about
like gypsy. She eloped with COM
mon crier and at one period of her life
lived by mendicancy. Charles II.
granted her a pension of $500 year,
but, owing to her utter dogcnoracy, Il
proved more hurtful than beneficial.
The male head of this family died in
the year 1744. in the capacity of hostler
in an inn at Kirkwall. in the Orkney
islands. The estate had been dssi-
pated by the "spenthrft ear" his
father. and with his patrimony he
Lord Lindsay. Earl of Crawford
bought small property on which he
resided for some years. until, through
adverse fortune, this went too, and to
save himself from starvation he was
fain TO 90 as a hosller. - ChicaQ0 NeaCS