The parish of Ashen, extending from Ovington to the Stour, is computed to be twelve miles in circumference ; distant from Clare two, and from London fifty-four miles.

These and the neighbouring lands are wet and heavy, with some variations, and generally well wooded.
* The village is at a considerable distance from the great public roads, and occupying high grounds , enjoys very extensive and agreeable prospects. The name is of uncertain origin, and written variously in records, Aish, Ash, Ashton, Asheton, Esche, Eske, and Esse, and this last is found as early as the year 1090; † in Domesday - book it is named Clare, and probably at that time belonged to the parish so named, on the other side of the river.

Ashen has only one manor.

Claret Hall has also been formerly named the hamlet of Claret Hall; it is rather more than a mile from the church, and near the town of Clare.
It belonged to a freeman named Ledmar, in the time of Edward the Confessor, and at the Conqueror's survey, formed part of the possessions of Eustace, earl of Boulogne.

In the time of King John, Ralph de Cornhill held it; by whose daughter it was conveyed, in marriage, to Hamon de Chevequer, or Crevecour, ‡ lord of Chatham and Leeds, in Kent; and also of Moreton and Elsenham, in this county.

The family of Vaux, or Valls, were its next possessors; and, in 1262, this " little manor, " as it is called in the record, was sold by Robert de Valle, to Richard de Clare, earl of Gloucester, whose grandson, Gilbert, earl of Clare, Hertford, and Gloucester, in 1295, died possessed of this "manor and hamlet of Claret. "His successor was his son, Gilbert, on whose decease, in 1314, he left his three sisters his co-heiresses .
These were Eleanor, married to Hugh, lord Spencer; Elizabeth, first married to John de Burgh, earl of Ulster; secondly, to Theobald, lord Verdon; and, lastly, to Sir Roger Damory.
The third sister was Margaret, first married to Piers Gaveston, earl of Cornwall, and afterwards to Hugh, lord Audely.

In 1360, Elizabeth , the second of these co-heiresses, died possessed of the manor of Ashen, which her only daughter, Elizabeth, conveyed to her husband, Lionel, third son of King Richard the Third, earl of Ulster in her right, and created duke of Clarence.

She died before him, yet, by the courtesy of England, he held the estate till his decease in 1368, and Philippa, their only daughter and heiress, married Edmund de Mortimer, the third earl of March, of that noble family, who, in her right, succeeded to the title of earl of Ulster, & c . In 1381 , he died possessed of this estate, in which he was succeeded by his son Roger , and his grandson, Edmund Mortimer, earls of March and Ulster, and lords of Wigmore, Trim, Clare, and Connaught. The latter of these, being heir to the house of York , and nearly allied to the crown, was, on that account, with singular cruelty and injustice, imprisoned nineteen years in Trim Castle , till his death in 1424, when he was succeeded by the heirs of his eldest sister, Anne Mortimer; who was married to Richard of Coningsburgh, earl of Cambridge, second son of Langley, duke of York, fifth son of King Edward the Third, by whom she had Richard Plantagenet, duke of York, earl of Cambridge, Rutland, March, and Ulster, lord of Tynedale , Wigmore, Clare , and Connaught ; who was slain at the battle of Wakefield, in 1460.

But his son, on ascending the throne as King Edward the Fourth, united this lordship to the crown, where it remained till Edward the Sixth, in 1551 , gave it , with other lands and possessions, to his preceptor, the learned Sir John Cheke ; * but he was deprived of it by Queen Mary , who , in 1558, united it to the dutchy of Lancaster. † It was afterwards sold, by King James the First, to Jonas Windle, who held lands also at Chelmsford, Rivenhall, Witham , Ovington , and at Bocking , where he died in 1625 , leaving this estate to Thomas Windle , one of his younger sons, from whom it passed to a citizen of London, named Gipps ; who sold it to Samuel Edwards ; and he afterwards disposed of it to Sir Gervase Elwes , bart. of Stoke College.

The family of Elwes is of Askham, in Nottinghamshire. William Elwes of that Elwes family. place, had by his wife, of a family named Livesey, of Lancaster, four sons; Edward of Askham; John of Worlaby, in Lincolnshire, father of Sir Gervase Elwe, knt . lieutenant of the Tower ; Thomas of Hawlethorp, in Nottinghamshire ; and Geofrey , alderman of London. This last, by his wife Elizabeth , sister and heiress of Henry Gabot , merchant , had several children . From Jeremy , one of the sons , descended the Elwesest of Throcking , in Hertfordshire . John , the third son , was an alderman of London , and father of Sir Gervase Elwes, knt . of Woodford; who , by Frances , second daughter of Sir Robert Lee , knt. of Billeslee , in Warwickshire , had Sir Gervase, Robert , Jeremy , and Sir John, knt . of Grove House, near Fulham. Sir Gervase Elwes , bart . the purchaser of this estate , was of Stoke Col- lege , and representative in several parliaments for the borough of Sudbury , and for the county of Suffolk.

By Amy, his wife, daughter of Dr. Trigge, of Highworth, in Wiltshire, he had Trigge, who died young, and Gervase, who married Isabella, daughter of Sir Thomas Harvey, knt. of Ickworth, in Suffolk , and sister of John, earl of Bristol, by whom he had Sir Harvey Elwes, who succeeded his grandfather, Sir Gervase, on his decease in 1705. He was four times representative in parliament for Sudbury: dying unmarried, in 1763, he was succeeded by John Elwes, Esq .; whose heir, John Timms, took the name of Elwes, and was afterwards a general in the army; on his death, in 1824, he was succeeded by his son, J. P. Elwes, the present owner of the estate.

The mansion known by the name of Ashen House belongs to an estate which , Ashen in 1330, was the property of Sir William le Moigne, in right of his wife Maud; and afterwards, in 1534, it belonged to William Hunt; who, on his decease in 1551, was succeeded by his grandson, John Hunt, from whom the estate was named Tallakern Hunt's Hall.
It afterwards became the seat of the ancient family of Tallakern, originally of Cornwall; (Footnote - the pedigree) three successive descents of the name of John appear in the pedigree , followed by Geofrey , who was slain at Exeter by the rebels , in the time of King Edward the Sixth. John, his son , was his successor , who, by his first wife, Jocosa , had no surviving children ; but by his second wife , Jane Bray , he had Justinian , Edward , Margaret , married, first, to Thomas Argale, and afterwards to Sir Giles Allington; and Catharine, whose first husband was Guy Wade, and her second , John Hornwall.

Edward Tallakern was of Stoke Neyland: he married Alice, daughter of Robert Allington, Esq. widow of William Sewster, by whom he had Sir John Tallakern, of Ashen Altesse. By Lucy, his wife, daughter of Thomas Cotton , Esq . of Conington , he had six sons and one daughter . He went as a captain in the expedition to the isle of Ree , in the time of King Charles the First , where he was slain in battle, in 1627 , + and lies buried in the church of Bumpsted Helion. Devereux Tallakern , Esq . his eldest son and successor , died also in 1628 , having previously sold this estate to John Fryer , of Gernons , in Bumpsted Steeple ; § who , on his decease in 1630 , left Edward , his son and heir , and Susan , who was married to Christopher Layer, Esq . of Boughton Hall , in Norfolk ; to whom , on the death of her brother , she brought this estate . She died in 1669 , and her husband in 1671 , and were both of them buried in the chancel of the church of Belchamp St. Paul.

They had four sons and two daughters; and, in 1701, the survivors of this family sold the estate to Stephen Piper , Esq . the second son of John Piper , of Great Cornard , in Suffolk : in 1686 , he attended Roger Palmer , earl of Castlemain , as master of the horse , in that nobleman's embassy to Rome ; and was afterwards colonel in the guards , under King William and Queen Anne . But resigning his command in 1704 , he came and resided at Ashen Hall , acting as justice of the peace and treasurer of the county , till his death in 1722. He married Philadelphia, daughter of Sir Robert Parker, bart . of Sussex , by whom having no issue , he left his estate to his nephew, John Piper , Esq ., * whose only daughter was married to Henry Sperling, Esq . of Dynes Hall, father of John Sperling, Esq. the present proprietor.

The handsome modern mansion known by the name of Ashen Hall , with the estate Ashen belonging to it, is the property of Mr. King Viall.

An ancient mansion, near the river Stour, called Launds, belonging to the Elwes family, derives its name from William de la Landa, who held tithes in this parish in the year 1090, which Richard de Clare gave to his religious foundation at Stoke; † and in 1360 , Philip at Launds had possessions here, which afterwards, in the reigns of King Henry the Fourth and Edward the Fourth, became the property of Richard Moseling, William at Stour, and John Flegg.

The church and chancel are small, built chiefly of stone, and tiled, with a square embattled tower containing three bells. The entrance into this church is by a descent of four steps, yet the situation is pleasant, commanding an extensive prospect westward.

A neat mural monument , on the north side of the chancel, is inscribed as follows :

"Ab hoc non procul marmore cineres suos conquiescere voluit Stephanus Piper, armiger , filius natu secundus Johannis Piper , de Cornard Magnâ, in com. Suffolk, honestâ stirpe oriundi . Uxorem duxit Philadelphiam Roberti Parker, in agro Sussexiensi baronetti filiam . Romam quondam migravit magister equitum nobilissimi comitis de Castlemain : quùm ad Papam a Rege Jacobo Secundo legatus missus es- set . Sub Rege Gulielmo Tertio et ejus successore Annæ centuriorum unus primæ legionis regis satellitum magna cum laude meruit usq . ad annum regni Annæ tertium, quo quidem tempore exercitui et rei militari , cui a prima juventute nomen de- derat , valedicens , in rus se recepit . Atq . ibi a Regina Irenarches constitutus et non ita diu post quæstor comitatus Essexiæ et locum - tenens factus est . Justiciarii verò ad pacem munere et vitâ simul defunctus est . Atqui hos ille honores non malis ar- tibus nec gratiâ cum dynastis perperam inita , sed virtute sua , labore , sudore , peri- culis , quæsitos , consecutus est miles , auxit magistratus. Bonorum causam, legum defensionem strenue suscepit, vir justus et prepositi tenax : obnixé hominum vitia coercuit temnens arbitrium popularis auræ . Intrepidus (et ut virum decet ) placidam efflavit animam 14to. Kalend: Martii , Ann . Dom . 1721, æt . 66 .
"Hoc monumentum in avunculi improlis defuncti memoriam gratitudinis ergo posuit Johannes Piper , quem hæredem ex asse reliquit .

Not far from this marble, Stephen Piper, Esq . second son of John Piper , of Great Cornard , in the county of Suffolk , descended from a good family , desired his ashes should rest . He married Philadelphia , the daughter of Robert Parker , in the county of Sussex , baronet . He went to Rome as master of the horse to the most noble the Earl of Castlemain, when he was sent ambassador by King James the Second . Under King William the Third and his successor Anne , he distinguished himself as a colonel of the first regiment of life - guards , up to the third year of Anne's reign , when , bidding farewell to the army and military affairs , to which he had looked for preferment from his earliest youth , he retired into the country . There he was appointed by the queen a justice of the peace , and not long after treasurer of the county of Essex , and a deputy lieutenant . His justiceship of the peace and his life he resigned together . Nor did the soldier obtain those ho- nours , and multiply those magisterial employments , by iniquitous finesse , or merely through the favour of princes , but sought them by his own worth , industry , and perseverance . The cause of good men , and the defence of the laws , he strenuously undertook ; a righteous man , and steady to his trust ; ' he restrained to his utmost the vices of men , despising the blandishments of popular applause . Undaunted , and as becomes a hero , he breathed forth his placid soul , on the 16th of February, A.D. 1721 , aged 66.
"This monument to the memory of his uncle, who died without offspring, John Piper , whom he left heir to his property, has erected out of gratitude.

"An ancient monument against the south wall bears the following inscription: -

"Four feet south of this wall lieth the body of Dorothy Byatt, widow and relict of William Byatt, rector of Holton, in the county of Suffolk, who lived together the few years of their wedlock in great harmony and affection . He was buried with his ancestors in the parish church of Bures St. Mary , in the said county ; and she died the twenty - fourth day of September , in the year of our Lord 1752 , in the sixty- fifth year of her age, greatly lamented by her daughter , Dorothy , her only surviving child , and by her two grand - daughters , Philadelphia Elizabeth, and Mary Piper , the only surviving children of her daughter Dorothy , who cannot recollect the endearing tenderness and close connexion of so near and kind a relation , but with piercing affliction . She had lived a widow forty - five years , having been influenced by a providential and prevalent affection , to decline several good offers , that she might wholly apply her maternal cares and estate to the benefit and education of her children , William , Richard , and Dorothy ; to whom she continued to dispense , with great beneficence , the affectionate offices and comforts of a prudent and indulgent parent ; liberal on proper occasions , according to her abilities ; exemplarily chaste and pious , and of universal benevolence ; compassionate and charitable to the poor and distressed ; abridging herself in her own expenses, that she might be the better able to relieve them, and to assist , with the kind distribution of her favours , her near relations and friends , in their difficulties and wants ; singular in this one thing only , that she persevered in maintaining this amiable assemblage of virtues , unstained with any mixture of vices . Dorothy Piper , her daughter , hath erected this monument in memory of her kind and indulgent mother , and , with her husband , John , has recited her good qualities in this inscription, to the end they may not be forgot , but remain a fair pattern , worthy the imitation of her sex.

"On a black marble underneath is the following:- "The body of the above - named Dorothy Byatt is since removed from hence to the vault in the church-yard, in which the corpse of the above-named Philadelphia, her grand-daughter, is likewise deposited; who departed this life the seventeenth of May, in the year of our Lord 1753, in the eighteenth year of her age, to the great grief of her parents, whose growing affections for her she continued to engage , by filial duty and obedience, and by her progress in virtue and prudence, with an amiable mildness of temper and benevolence of mind.

" On a monument against the south wall is the following:-

"Sir Giles Allington, of Horsheade Halle, in the county of Cambridge, knight, married Margarett Argale, widowe. She was the daughter of John Tallakarne, of Tallakarne, in Cornwall, Esq.

Edward Tallakarne, alias Talkarne, gentleman, the youngest sonne of John Tallakarne , married Alce Sewlter, widowe , by whom she had four children.

She was the daughter of Robert Alington, Esquier, the eldest sonne of Sir Giles Alington, knight. "Here lies buried Luce Tallakarne, the wife of captain John Tallakarne, Esquier, by whom she had seven children.

She was the eldest daughter of Thomas Cotton, of Connington, in the county of Huntingdon, by his first wife, Elizabeth Shirlye. She departed this lyfe the third of December, 1610."

On a white marble tablet on the north wall , within the chancel, is the following:-
"Reverand. Carolo Stuart, A.M. Ecclesiæ Bumpstead, ad Turrim Vicario hujusque per annos quinquaginta Rectori. Viro probo. Obiit Dec. 16, 1803, ætatis 84. Et Sarah conjugi, Obiit Oct. 12, 1771, ætatis 36."

The following inscription appears on a plain stone in the church-yard:
"Sacred to the memory of Amelia Maria Baker , who died on the nineteenth of August , 1818 , aged eighteen years.

"Rest, hapless victim of untimely death, Robb'd by an error of thy vital breath. Thee from the tomb no mortal aid could save, And love can only wet with tears thy grave;

Ere long, the grief - struck mourners o'er thy bier, With thee, will low among the dead lie here. Though sad such scenes , how blest our end will be, If we as virtuous live , and die resigned like thee.

"This living is a rectory, which was given, by Gilbert de Clare, to the priory of St. John the Baptist, at Clare, (afterwards removed to Stoke,) which he made a cell to the abbey of Bec, in Normandy, the prior and convent of which retained the patronage of this church, till it was seized by King Edward the Third, during his wars with France, but which, when a peace was concluded, he restored to the monks, who were naturalised in 1395 , by King Richard the Second ; and , in 1415 , through the intercession of Edmund Mortimer , earl of March , this foundation was converted into a collegiate church , with a dean , six secular canons , and several other officers .

On the suppression of the house , the advowson was granted , by King Edward the Sixth , to the learned Sir John Cheke , his preceptor , who exchanged it with Queen Mary , by whom it was annexed to the dutchy of Lancaster , in 1558 , and in right of that dutchy it has continued in the crown to the present time . Sir Har- vey Elwes , John Elwes , Esq . the celebrated miser , succeeded to the family estates on the and John decease of his uncle , Sir Harvey Elwes , whom he appears to have strictly resembled Elwes , Esq . in his habits and natural propensities . His family name was Meggot , and his father , an eminent brewer , died before his son was four years of age ; from which circum- stance it has been inferred , that none of his characteristic peculiarities could have been derived from paternal influence and example ; but from the mother it unques- tionably may , for , though she had a fortune of nearly one hundred thousand pounds left by her husband , yet she actually starved herself to death : besides her son John , she left a daughter , married to Colonel Timms , which occasioned the entail of part of the estates . Mr. Elwes was sent early in life to Westminster school , where he remained ten or twelve years , and became a good classical scholar ; but it is remarkable , that he was never observed reading a book at any period of his future life . He had little or no knowledge of accounts , and seems to have been totally ignorant of the state of his affairs . From Westminster school he was removed to Geneva , where , among other qualifications , he acquired great proficiency in horsemanship , which always con- stituted his favourite amusement . Returning to England , after an absence of several years , he had to be introduced to his uncle , Sir Harvey , who was at that time living at Stoke , in Suffolk , and exhibiting the most perfect picture of extreme penuriousness that ever existed . His attempts at money saving were , indeed , so extraordinary , that Mr. Elwes was never quite able to equal them in any part of his life ; and , to ingratiate himself with Sir Harvey , a little masquerading was required . The nephew , therefore , used to call at a little inn at Chelmsford , to change his dress , for a pair of small iron buckles , worsted stockings darned , a worn - out old coat , and a tattered waistcoat , in which costume he rode to visit his uncle , who used to contemplate his appearance with a miserly satisfaction , as they sat together by the fire - side , with a single stick burning upon it ; and when the evening closed in , they immediately , after a frugal repast , re- tired to rest , as " going to bed saved candle - light . " Singular instances of penurious saving in eating and other necessaries are recorded : for dinner , these two social com- panions had a partridge , one potatoe , and a small pudding , as abundantly sufficient ; and the fire , even in cold weather , was suffered to die away while Sir Harvey was at dinner , because eating was a sufficient exercise . Sir Harvey at all times wore a black velvet cap , a worn - out full - dress suit of clothes , CHAP . V. and an old great coat , with worsted stockings drawn up over his knees . He rode a thin thorough - bred horse , and the horse and his rider seemed as if a gust of wind would have blown them away together . He would walk backwards and forwards in the old hall , during unfavourable weather , to save the expense of fire ; and , if a neigh- bour called on business , would strike a light with a tinder - box , and , putting a single stick on the grate , would not add another till the first was nearly consumed . Sir Harvey's mode of life corresponded exactly with his singularity of character . His seclusion from the world nearly equalled that of a hermit ; and , extreme avarice excepted , a more blameless life no mortal ever passed . In his youth he had unex- pectedly been restored from the last stage of a consumption , which had left him an enfeebled constitution , nearly exempt from passion . He was timid , shy , and diffident in the extreme : of a thin spare habit of body , and without a friend upon the earth . The hoarding up , and counting his money , formed his greatest joy . Next to that was partridge setting , at which he was so great an adept , that he has been known to take five hundred brace of birds in one season . He and his whole little household , consist- ing of one man and two maids , lived entirely upon partridges . What they could not eat , he turned loose again , as he never gave any thing to his neighbours . He succeeded Sir Gervase , a very worthy gentleman , who , as far as he was able , had involved all the estates he had received , or left behind him ; and his successor found himself nomi- nally possessed of several thousand pounds a year , which , in reality , amounted to little more than a hundred , after all necessary deductions had been made ; but , on his arrival at the family seat , he expressed a determined resolution never to leave it , till he had entirely cleared the estate of all incumbrances : this he not only accomplished , but lived to realise above a hundred thousand pounds . Having little or no connexion with London , he generally had three or four thou- sand pounds in his house at one time ; and a band of robbers , known by the name of the Thaxted gang , and who were all afterwards hung , formed the design of robbing Sir Harvey , who , according to custom , had retired to his bed - room at eight o'clock , where , after taking a bason of water - gruel , by the light of a small fire , he went to bed , to save the unnecessary extravagance of candle - light . The gang , leaving their horses on the Essex side of the river , walked across and hid themselves in the church porch , till the servant man came up to the horses in the stable , whom they seized , bound , and gagged ; after which , proceeding to the house , they tied the two maids together , and burst into Sir Harvey's room , presenting their pistols , and sternly de- manding his money ; but he would give them no answer , till they assured him that his favourite servant was safe . He then gave them the key of a drawer which contained fifty guineas ; but , knowing he had more , they threatened his life , till he reluctantly showed them where it was ; when , on turning out a large drawer , they found " seven and twenty hundred guineas ; " this they packed up , and , on their departure , assured him that they left a man behind , who would murder him if he even stirred for assis- tance ; on which he very coolly took out his watch , which they had not asked for , and said , " Gentlemen , I do not want to take any advantage of you ; therefore , upon my honour , I will give you twenty minutes for your escape : after that time , nothing shall prevent me from seeing my servant . " He was strictly as good as his word : when the time expired , he went and untied the man . The robbers were not discovered , but , some years afterwards , were apprehended for other offences , and known to be the men , but Sir Harvey would not appear against them . " No , no , " said he , " I have lost my money , but will not lose my time also . " When he died , the only tear that fell upon his grave was from the eye of his servant , who had long and faithfully attended him . To that servant he bequeathed a farm of fifty pounds per annum , to him and to his heirs . Mr. Meggot succeeded to the whole of his uncle's property , being , by his will , required to assume the name and arms of Elwes ; and it was believed that his own property at the time was nearly equal to this inheritance . Mr. Elwes , among his peculiarities , had , in early life , a propensity for gambling , against which he afterwards conceived a disgust , having by no means received all he won , though he never failed to pay his own debts . The theory he professed , " that it was impossible to ask a gentleman for money , " he perfectly confirmed by the prac- tice ; and he never violated this peculiar feeling , to the last hour of his life . He was forty years of age when he succeeded to his uncle's estates ; and , when upwards of eighty , would take long walks on foot , and lost none of his penurious propensities . After sitting up a whole night at play for thousands , with the most fashionable and profligate men of the time , he would walk out at four in the morning to meet his cattle in Smithfield market , and stand in the cold and dirt , and rain , bartering with a carcase- butcher for a shilling ; or would walk to his farm at Theydon , a distance of seventeen miles . The keeping of fox - hounds was the only instance of his sacrificing money to pleasure . Yet , in some instances , he manifested a considerable degree of generosity , in advancing large sums to oblige his friends . Lord Abingdon , with whom he had only a slight acquaintance , had made a match at Newmarket for £ 7000 , which he would have been obliged to forfeit , from an inability to produce the sum ; on which occasion it was advanced by Mr. Elwes , without solicitation , or even mentioning , and his lordship was the winner of the stakes . In the singularly curious and interesting memoir of Mr. Elwes's life , by Captain Topham , ( from which these particulars are selected , ) numerous other anecdotes and traits of character occur , which confirm the general truth , " that our early acquired habits and inveterate prejudices accompany us through life . " Mr. Elwes remained during the spring of 1786 alone , at his solitary house at Stoke ; and , had it not been for some daily little scheme of avarice , the time would CHAP . V. have passed without one consolatory moment . In short , he had now nearly brought to a climax the moral of his whole life - the perfect vanity of wealth . On removing from Stoke , he went to his farm - house of Theydon Hall , which was , if possible , in a more desolate and ruinous state than either of his houses in Suffolk or Berkshire . It stood alone , on the borders of Epping Forest , and an old man and woman , his tenants , were his only associates . Here he fell sick , and lay nearly a fort- night unattended , and almost forgotten . The winter of 1789 was the last he was fated to see ; his memory grew every day weaker , and from an unceasing wish to save money , he began to believe he should die in want of it . Mr. Gibson , his builder , waited on him one day , when he said to him , with apparent concern , " Sir , pray con- sider in what a wretched state I am . You see in what a good house I am living ; and here are five guineas , which is all I have at present ; and how I shall go on with such a sum , puzzles me to death . " On his last journey into Berkshire , he took with him five guineas and a half , and half - a - crown , carefully wrapped in several folds of brown paper , and seemed to be wholly occupied by the anxiety and fear of losing it . Mr. Partis , who was then with him , was waked one morning about two o'clock , by the noise of a naked foot , seemingly walking about his bed - chamber with great caution . Somewhat alarmed , he inquired " Who is there ? " On which the intruder coming up towards the bed , said with great civility , " Sir , my name is Elwes ; I have been unfortunate enough to be robbed in this house , which I believe is mine , of all the money I have in the world : of five guineas and a half , and half - a - crown . " " Dear sir , " replied Mr. Partis , " I hope you are mistaken ; do not make yourself uneasy . " " Oh , no , no ! " rejoined the old gentleman ; " it is too true . " This mighty sum was found a few days after , behind a window shutter . For six weeks previous to his death , he would go to rest in his clothes ; and he was found one morning fast asleep , in bed , with his shoes on his feet , his stick in his hand , and an old torn hat upon his head . On the evening of the 18th of November , 1789 , he discovered signs of that total weakness which carried him to his grave in eight days . His appetite was gone , and he had but a faint recollection of any thing about him : his last coherent words were addressed to his son , Mr. John Elwes , in hoping , " he had left him what he wished . " On the morning of the 26th of November , he expired without a sigh . In the year 1821 , this parish contained two hundred and ninety - three , and , in 1831 , three hundred and seventy - three inhabitants .