Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-03-25

Davies examined the parish and the
probate records Of G1Oucestcrshire the
colonel paid him nearly $500.
The result. however, seemed to JUS
| tify double the cost. Above all, Colonel
Shipway desired cOat-Of arms, and
Davies had scarcely begun his re-
searches before he discovered an an
cient seal which he alleged bore the
| Shipway crest and motto. Soon after
ward he found the latter repeated on a
watch Of the last century, bearing the
name OF mysterious, not to say
mythical William Shipway. He next
turned to parish churches and regis
| ters. The parsons and the clerks IN
whose custody they were believed him
as trustworthy as the other dryasdusts.
and left him to himself Forthwith
Davies began to accumulate references
| to the ShipwayS for three centuries
past as a family Of ancient repute and
estate in Worcestershire. long entitled
TO bear arms. The baptism of one, the
death of another, the marriage Of
third. duly appeared in the registers.
The name OF Shipway blossomed in un-
expected places-upon the hasps Of an
ancient chest, on the beam OF an old
! belfry, upon a statue that had stood in
, a church from time immemorial. on
| the very collins in two graves which
Davies obtained permission to open.
! Better still. the coat-of-arms often APP
| peared beside it, Wears. clerks and
registrars of probate readily certified
the copies of the entries and attested
all the occurrences of the Shipway
name and the Shipway arms.
| TO- hnd ~
convinced. and, while it accepted the
extracts from parish records 1t desired
further evidence from wills as to the
pedigree and the arms that Colonel
| Shipway craved. Davies returned
fanew to Worcestershire. and soon
| emerged triumphant-not with a single
! will or single deed. but with three,
and one the testament of the very
Shipway whose ancestral seal he had
discovered IS months before An ex-
pert in manuscripts of the 18th and Of
the Eth centuries from the British
museum itself bore witness to the gen
uineness OF the documents. Colonel
Shipways cup vas brimming. He had
| the seal a watch. and chest of his
ancestors. Parish records established
his descent from them. Probate records
confirmed their high position in the
West Country, their considerable
estates, above all. their right to bear
arms under grant Of Richard the Lion
Heart himself. There was only to lay
the evidence before the Heralds' Col
legc. and it would forthwith make the
retired colonel into a country gentle
man.
Unfortunately barrister with 4
| taste for ancient records leisure to
cultivate it and minute knowledge Of
those of Worcestershire had occasion.
not long after Davies had discovered
the wills, to consult the diocesan
archives. To his surprise he found
certain testament lacking. and in it's
place that of one Shipway. He COM
pared the records as they stood with
| copy taken some years ago; the re-
suit confirmed his suspicion. and he
notified the authorities that n will had
been distracted and Shipway's testa-
ment forged and substituted for it. A
long investigation ensued. that grad
ually wrecked the coloners pedigree
and revealed the endless deceit that
Davies had practiced. He had CHANGED
upon the seal and turned it to his pur-
poses The hallmark of the watch be-
| lleu the uate tHdt he Hdu euSTdNeu
upon it, He had carved the Shipway
| name IN old parish churches and the
Shpway arms on old metal collins
With his own hand he had made the
Shipway entries, with "A hint or two
from local histories in the parish regis
ters When he had done all. this. he
4 did not hesitate over wills. If Ship
! way testaments were necessary, he had
i only TO draft them and remove others
to make place for them in probate
| and diocesan records. None of the
custodlans that had left him alone with
their archives had suspected any
irregularities. He had made his en-
| tries and written his wills SO skillfuliy
and the forgery of a legal document
of the 10Th century is very intricate
and delicate task-that even the British
museum had been deceived. Chance
revealed one of his forgeries and
opened the way for the discovery of
the rest. His ingenuity matched his
audacity He deserved shrewder dupes
than rural parsons. He should have
made the pedigrees of medieval
barons rather than of retired colonies
of militia. and then have had priory.
not A prison for his pains. Until he is
forgotten there Is likely to be more
caution in the care of parish and of
probate records-the hunting ground Of
pedigree -makers-than there has been
in England for long time past.