Samuel MOORE ( - )

1. Samuel MOORE was a Goldsmith. He married Mary VYNER.

 

... Goldsmith of London.

 

Samuel Moore was a well-known London goldsmith, well-connected to his wife's sister and future Lord Mayor of London, Sir Thomas Vyner.

 

Mary VYNER was the daughter of Thomas 1 VYNER ( - ) and Anne EYCOTT ( - ). She and Samuel MOORE had the following children:

 

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Alicia MOORE (1645?-1681)

Second Generation

2. Alicia MOORE, daughter of Samuel MOORE and Mary VYNER, was born in [Julian] 1645 (estimated). She was baptised in [Julian] 1645. She married Ezekiel HOPKINS circa 1670. She died on [Julian] 21 May 1681.

 

Right Rev Ezekiel HOPKINS, son of Rev'd John HOPKINS (c. 1600-1678) and Anne UNK ( -1676), was born on 3 December 1634. He was a Bishop in the Anglican Church; Puritan. He had the title 'Right Rev, Bishop of Derry and Raphoe'. He married Araminta ROBARTES on 21 October 1685 in Derry, Ireland. He died in 1689. He and Alicia MOORE had the following children:

 

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Francis HOPKINS (bef1664- )

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Charles HOPKINS (1664-1699?)

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Mary HOPKINS (1666-1667)

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Anna HOPKINS (1667?-1668)

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Ezekill HOPKINS (1668?-1669)

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Job HOPKINS (1669?- )

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Samuel HOPKINS (c. 1674-1743)

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John HOPKINS (1675- )

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Mary Anne HOPKINS ( - )

Third Generation

3. Francis HOPKINS, son of Right Rev Ezekiel HOPKINS and Alicia MOORE, was born before [Julian] 1664.

 

This son may not have existed, and has only been mentioned by one source, the Rev. Hallnutt.

 

4. Charles HOPKINS, son of Right Rev Ezekiel HOPKINS and Alicia MOORE, was born in [Julian] 1664. He died in 1699 (estimated).

 

Son of Ezekiel bishop of Londonderry (who married the lady Araminta one of the 4 daughters of John Lord Robartes afterwards earl of Radnor). He was born at Exeter; but, his father being taken chaplain to Ireland by lord Robartes when lord lieutenant in 1669, our poet received the early part of his education at Trinity College, Dublin; and afterwards was a student at Cambridge. On the rebellion in Ireland in 1688, he returned thither, and exerted his early valour in the cause of his country, religion, and liberty. When public tranquillity was restored, he came again into England, and fell into an acquaintance with gentlemen of the best wit, whose age and genius were most agreeable to his own. In 1694 he published some "Epistolarly Poems and Translations," which will all be inserted in this volume; and in 1695, he shewed his genius as a dramatic writer by "Pyrrhus king of Egypt," a tragedy, to which Mr. Congreve wrote the epilogue (see English Poets, vol. XXIX. p. 84). He published that year "The History of Love," a connexion of select fables from Ovid's Metamorphoses, 1695; which, by the sweetness of his numbers and the easiness of his thoughts, procured him a considerable reputation. With Mr. Dryden in particular he became a great favourite. He afterwards published the "Art of Love," which, Jacob says, "added to his fame, and happily brought him acquainted with the earl of Dorset and other persons of distinction, [p. 183 / 184] who were fond of his company, throught the agreeableness of his temper and the pleasantry of his conversation. It was in his power to have made his fortune in any scene of life; but he was always more ready to serve others than mindful of his own affairs; and, by the excesses of hard drinking, and too passionate fondness for the fair sex, he died a martyr to the cause in the 36th year of his age." I shall preserve in this collection an admirable Hymn "written about an hour before his death, when in great pain." His "Court-Prospect," in which many of the principal nobility are very handsomely complimented, is called by Jacob "an excellent piece;" and of his other poems, he adds, "that they are all remarkable for the purity of their diction, and the harmony of their numbers." Mr. Hopkins was also the author of two other tragedies; "Boadicea Queen of Britain," 1697; and "Friendship improved, or the Female Warrior," with a humourous prologe, comparing a poet to a merchant, a comparison which will hold in most particulars except that of accumulating wealth. Our author, who was at Londonderry when this tragedy came out, inscribed it to Edward Coke of Norfolk, esquire, in a dedication, dated Nov. I. 1699, so modest and pathetic that I am persuaded I shall stand excused if I print it at full length: "[Dedication quoted for 3 pages, 184-187; ii.187:] His feelings were prophetic; he died, I believe, in the course of that winter. N. [ii.187].

 

A Note on Charles Hopkins (c. 1671-1700) Author(s): Alice E. Jones Source: Modern Language Notes, Vol. 55, No. 3 (Mar., 1940), pp. 191-194 Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2910905 . Accessed: 28/06/2014 10:25 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. . The Johns Hopkins University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Modern Language Notes. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 91.220.202.116 on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 10:25:02 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=jhup http://www.jstor.org/stable/2910905?origin=JSTOR-pdf http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
A NOTE ON CHARLES HOPKINS (c. 1671-1700) 191 Finally, Wordsworth quotes two instances of the pathetic fallacy, both of which he approves as products of the creative faculty, the first being an instance of mere fanicy, while the second is the product of imagination. I will content myself with placing a conceit (ascribed to Lord Chesterfield) in contrast with a passage from the 'Paradise Lost ':- The dews of the evening most carefully shun, They are the tears of the sky for the loss of the sun. After the transgression of Adam, Milton, with other appearances of sym- pathising Nature, thus marks the immediate consequence, Sky lowered, and muttering thunder, some sad drops Wept at completion of the mortal sin. The associating link is the same in each instance: Dew and rain, not distinguishable fiom the liquid substance of tears, are employed as indica- tions of sorrow. A flash of surprise is the effect in the former case; a flash of surprise, and nothing more; for the nature of things does not sustain the combination. In the latter, the effects from the act, of which there is this immediate consequence and visible sign, are so momentous, that the mind acknowledges the justice and reasonableness of the sympathy in nature so manifested; and the sky weeps drops of water as if with human eyes.1' Evidently Wordsworth would not deny poets of the " first rank" the use of the pathetic fallacy. On the contrary, he regards this species of figurative language as the product of the creative mind, if the feeling which engendered it is true, and if its ultimate origin is an accurate observation of " things as they are in themselves." On the whole it would appear that Wordsworth anticipated the best things of Ruskin's famous essay. JAMES V. LOGAN The Ohio State University A NOTE ON CHARLES HOPKINS (c. 1671-1700) Among the lesser figures in the age of Dryden, Charles Hopkins, friend of both Dryden and Congreve, has been somewhat neglected. His reputation for amiability and good fellowship, well supported by the testimony of his more famous friends, and the merit of his best poems, a number of light love lyrics, give him a just claim to 11 Grosart, II, 142. This content downloaded from 91.220.202.116 on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 10:25:02 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
192 MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES, MARCH, 1940 notice. So pleasing is the impression of gaiety and charm derived from even a casual reading of his best verses, that we would gladly know more of this persuasive Irishman-Irish by early training and education at least, and possibly by birth. On a few points the present note seeks to shed some light. On the date and place of his birth the DNB. seems to have adopted the less likely alternative. Charles was the son of Bishop Ezekiel Hopkins by his first wife: so much is clear; but when he was born, and where, remain uncertain. The DNB. gives the birth date as " 1664? " and the city as Exeter. Writers who support this view, with more or less authority, are Giles Jacob,' Alexander Chal- mers,2 Thomas Fuller's successor,3 and William B. S. Taylor.4 Un- fortunately, John Prince,5 who is supposed to have known Charles's father and who, therefore, might have told us with certainty, men- tions the poet only in passing. On the other hand, we have two educational records which indi- cate that Charles was born in 1671 at Dublin. These are records of matriculation at Trinity College, Dublin, in 1685, aged 14,6 and at Queens' College, Cambridge, in 1687.V The latter record repeats the information given in the former about the boy's age, and was probably copied from it. Now, the Trinity College record appears to carry more weight than the undocumented essays of early biographers; and, indeed, a youth was more likely to enter the university at the age of 14 than 21. Moreover, the later date agrees better with what we know of his father's movements, which are fairly clear. Although Ezekiel Hopkins was apparently married to his first wife some time in the early 'sixties, he did not leave London for Exeter until 1666.8 It is difficult to see how the poet could have 1'Poetical Register, London, 1723, I, 75. 2 The General Biographical Dictionary, new edition, London, 1814, XvIIi, 157. 3History of the Worthies of England, ed. P. A. Nuttall, London, 1840, I, 449. 4History of the University of Dublin, London, 1845, p. 411. r Danmonii Orientales; or, the Worthies of Devon, Exeter, 1701. " G. D. Burtchaell and T. U. Sadleir, Alumni Dublinenses 1593-1860, new ed., Dublin, 1935, p. 410. 7John A. and John Venn, Alumni Cantabrigiensis from the earliest times to 1900, Cambridge, 1922-27, pt. i, vol. ii, 405. 8 Joseph Foster, Alumni Oxoniensis: 1500-1714, vols. i and ii, Early Series, Oxford, 1891, p. 743. This content downloaded from 91.220.202.116 on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 10:25:02 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
A NOTE ON CHARLES HOPKINS (c. 1671-1700) 193 been born in either Exeter or Dublin in 1664. In 1671, on the other hand, Charles's father had just been made Bishop of Raphoe,9 county Donegal, Ireland. Charles Hopkins could, therefore, have been born in Ireland, even in Dublin, as has been suggested. If we accept the later date, Exeter might still have been his birthplace, since Prince notes that Ezekiel made an extended visit to Exeter some time while he was Bishop of Raphoe-namely, between 1671 and 1681, although it is unlikely that he would have absented him- self from his new charge immediately. On the whole it seems best to trust the matriculation records, and put his birth tentatively at Dublin in 1671. The identity of the poet's mother is also somewhat obscure. There is a record of the Bishop's second marriage, but not of his first. The first MIrs. Hopkins was, says the DNVB. (following Prince) a niece of Sir Robert Viner (or Vyner), sometime Mayor of London. How- ever, the rather full history of the Vyner family 10 shows that Sir Robert's nieces all made other marriages, or can be otherwise ac- counted for. There is another possibility. Sir Thomas Vyner, goldsmith (1588-1665), and, incidentally, uncle of Sir Robert, left Ezekiel Hopkins ten pounds in his will, dated March 16, 1664. This Sir Thomas had several nieces, and in some cases marriages for them are not recorded. Possibly Prince confused the two, and Ezekiel married one of Sir Thomas's nieces.11 A third question involves the poet's religion. The DNB. in its account of Ezekiel Hopkins states that the Protestant bishop was much grieved by the apostasy of Charles, who aided the Roman Catholics in the Irish uprising of 1688. Apparently the editors have taken this view from Prince, who says that the Bishop did not live long after his flight from Ireland, being " much broken by the publick as well as his own private calamities, (that being none of the least of them, that his son had entered himself of the Roman Catholick army in Ireland)." 12 It should be noted that Prince 9Henry Cotton, Fasti ecclesiae hibernicae, Dublin, 1848-60, II, 171-2. 10 Charles and Henry Vyner, Vyner-: A Family History, 1885. "1 Sir Thomas Vyner had ten brothers and sisters, seven of them by his father's previous marriage. Of Sir Thomas's many nieces, the most likely wife for Ezekiel Hopkins-if she was not too old-seems to be either Alice or Sara Moore. Both were daughters of Mary Vyner (b. 1575) and Samuel Moore, a goldsmith of London. No marriage is recorded for either of them. '2Loc. cit., 517. 3 This content downloaded from 91.220.202.116 on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 10:25:02 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
194 MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES, MARCH, 1940 does not say " his son Charles "-it may have been one of the other shadowy children of the shadowy first wife. Moreover, Nichols, in whose Miscellany many of Charles Hopkins's poems are printed, says that he " exerted his early valour in the cause of his country, religion, and liberty," 13 i. e., presumably in the cause of the Pro- testant succession. It seems more likely that Nichols is right, judg- ing by the fact that Charles later came to England under William and settled there apparently quite happily. Furthermore, his Whitehall; or the Court of England (also known as The Court Prospect) praises extravagantly William of Orange as "Restorer of the Christian World " and flatters all his court. Finally, the DNB. is also uncertain about the date of Charles Hopkins's death. This can now be fixed. The poet's dedication of his play Friendship Improv'd, dated from Londonderry, November 1, 1699, refers to his failing health, and the parish register of Derry Cathedral 14 reveals that he died in the parish of Templemore, Londonderry, and was buried on March 7, 1700. His will was probated in that year,15 but was lost in the destruction at the Four Courts, Dublin, in 1922.16 ALICE E. JONES Philadelphia THE DATING OF YOUNG'S NIGHT-THOUGHTS It has been customary to accept the year 1745 as the terminal date of the serial publication of Young's Night-Thoughts, the first part of which was published in the summer of 1742.1 The source 13 J. Nichols, A Select Collection of Poems, London, 1780, II, 183. 14 Register of Derry Cathedral, S. Columb's, Parish of Templemore, Londonderry, 1642-1703, Parish Register Society, Dublin, viii (1910), 354. 15 W. P. W. Phillimore et al., Indexes to Irish Wills, Irish Record Series, London, 1920; vol. 5 (Derry and Raphoe) edited by Gertrude Thrift. 16 Memorandum from the Deputy Keeper, January 22, 1938. I Entries in the Stationers' Register of the first eight parts have been published in W. Thomas's Le poete Edward Young (Paris, 1901, pp. 349- 352); further evidence of dating of "Nights" i-vi and viii has been pre- sented in two notes in RES for 1928 (R. W. C[hapman], " Young's 'Night Thoughts '," Iv, 330 and George Sherburn, " Edward Young and Book Advertising," iv, 414-417). Summary of this evidence appears in the ab- stract of my unpublished dissertation (Cornell University Abstracts of Theses Ithaca, N. Y., 1939, p. 43). This content downloaded from 91.220.202.116 on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 10:25:02 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp Article Contents p. 191 p. 192 p. 193 p. 194 Issue Table of Contents Modern Language Notes, Vol. 55, No. 3 (Mar., 1940), pp. 161-242 Rousseau et les Réformateurs du Théâtre [pp. 161-169] An Early French Adaptation of an Elizabethan Comedy: J. B. Rousseau as an Imitator of Ben Jonson [pp. 170-176] Some Notes on Eighteenth-Century Essex Plays [pp. 176-183] Milton and Edward Ecclestone's Noah's Flood [pp. 183-187] Wordsworth and the Pathetic Fallacy [pp. 187-191] A Note on Charles Hopkins (c. 1671-1700) [pp. 191-194] The Dating of Young's Night-Thoughts [pp. 194-195] Revision in Browning's Paracelsus [pp. 195-197] A Note on R. L. S. [pp. 197-198] The Dates of Some of Robert Bridges' Lyrics [pp. 199-200] Arnold, Shelley, and Joubert [pp. 201] Urfaust L. 309 [pp. 201-204] Four Text-Notes on Deor [pp. 204-207] Arcite's Maying [pp. 207-209] " As by the Whelp Chastised is the Leon " [pp. 209-210] William Taylor of Norwich and Beowulf [pp. 210-211] Source of the Quotation from Augustine in The Parson's Tale, 985 [pp. 211-212] Reviews Review: untitled [pp. 212-215] Review: untitled [pp. 215-218] Review: untitled [pp. 218-220] Review: untitled [pp. 221-222] Review: untitled [pp. 222-226] Review: untitled [pp. 226-227] Review: untitled [pp. 227-229] Review: untitled [pp. 229-230] Review: untitled [pp. 231-232] Review: untitled [pp. 232-233] Review: untitled [pp. 233-234] Review: untitled [pp. 234-235] Review: untitled [pp. 235-237] Brief Mention [pp. 237-242].

 

5. Mary HOPKINS, daughter of Right Rev Ezekiel HOPKINS and Alicia MOORE, was born in [Julian] 1666. She was baptised on 29 March 1666 in Exeter. She died on [Julian] 3 March 1667.

 

6. Anna HOPKINS, daughter of Right Rev Ezekiel HOPKINS and Alicia MOORE, was born in [Julian] 1667 (estimated). She died on [Julian] 11 September 1668.

 

7. Ezekill HOPKINS, son of Right Rev Ezekiel HOPKINS and Alicia MOORE, was born in [Julian] 1668 (estimated). He died on [Julian] 29 July 1669.

 

8. Job HOPKINS, son of Right Rev Ezekiel HOPKINS and Alicia MOORE, was born in [Julian] 1669 (estimated).

 

9. Lieutenant?? Samuel HOPKINS Genteleman of Hayes, son of Right Rev Ezekiel HOPKINS and Alicia MOORE, was born circa [Julian] 1674. He married Susanna PRIOR circa [Julian] 8 January 1732. He died on [Julian] 5 July 1743. He made a will in 1754. He was. He was buried in Bucknell Church. He married Elizabeth UNK. He married Priscilla UNK.

 

Firstly, it must be said that there is not conclusive evidence that Samuel Hopkins, son of Bishop Ezekiel Hopkins, and Samuel Hopkins, father of John William Hopkins, are one and the same person, despite the assertions of a genealogist working about a hundred years ago, and remarks made by the archivist at Gray's Inn (which Samuel, father of John William joined): "the fact that Samuel's information was "derived from an inscription" confirms that this Samuel and the Samuel who was the son of Ezekiel and matriculated at Wadham College are definitely the same person". If they are indeed the same person then Samuel would have joined Gray's Inn in his old age. However, Gray's Inn have confirmed that "it was not unknown for gentlemen to join an Inn as a sort of dining club (there was little apart from dining going on at the Inn at the time - formal legal education having completely decayed". Also, a 1674 birthdate for Samuel would make his own son John William born when Samuel was about 60 years old!

Samuel (son of Ezekiel) was born in Ireland in 1674, when his father was Bishop of Derry and Raphoe. According to records he "matriculated Wadham College, Oxford 25/5/1688" aged 14. However, "matriculated" actually meant "entered",rather than graduated. His father matriculated at a similar age. However, it would appear that Samuel did not graduate.

It would then appear that Samuel married a lady by the name of Elizabeth and had three children in Ireland (William, Ezecall and Charles). Their births are registered in Derry.

At this time the records dry up, and we then have only the records to be found in Gray's Inn and also those at Bucknell Church, Hayes, Middlesex. According to the records in Hayes, Samuel Hopkins (gent of Hayes) had two wives during his time in Hayes, firstly Priscilla and then Susannah Prior, whose descent could be traced to the Fiennes family, and whose son John William, on account of this, claimed the rights of founder's kin at Winchester College and New College, Oxford. The present writer possesses the genealogy used to prove this.

The same Samuel Hopkins, gent of Hayes, then crops up at Gray's Inn. Finally, his will still exists at the National Archives in Kew; its contents give some idea of Samuel's status and life, but offer no clue to his earlier life in Ireland or as the son of Ezekiel, if indeed he is the same Samuel. A summary of the main points from his will shows:

He was married 8/1/1732 to Susanna Prior (or about then)
When he married Susanna Prior, she settled £1400 on him.
He had property in Bethusa?, County of Radnor
He had eight houses in Bishopsgate Street
He had Chambers in Gray's Inn
He had a house in Holbourn
He earned money from renting properties
Mr. Tomlinson Busby was one of two named best friends, who subsequently married his daughter Henrietta.
At the time of the Will (12/5/1754), his son was certainly quite a bit short of 22 years old.
He was a beneficiary in the will of one Henry Glasscock? of the County of Hertford
By 4/7/1758 Samuel had died, and his wife had died before she could administer the will. That task was taken on by his daughter, who had between 1754 and 1758 married Tomlinson Busby.
Hopkins had apparently made a previous will or wills.

It is possible that Samuel was a clergyman, like his father and son, as some sources claim. However, the Irish Samuel Hopkins was apparently a lieutenant, the Hayes one a "gent"; these, alongside possibilities of him being a clergyman, or even a lawyer, make Samuel's life rather a mystery. A genealogy written about a hundred years ago by an anonymous author states categorically that Samuel of Hayes is one and the same as Samuel, son of Ezekiel, Bishop of Derry and Raphoe, but no evidence is given for this.

More research needs to be done before anything conclusive can be asserted.

 

Samuel was born in Ireland in 1674, when his father was Bishop of Derry and Raphoe. According to records he "matriculated Wadham College, Oxford 25/5/1688" aged 14. However, "matriculated" actually meant "entered",rather than graduated. His father matriculated at a similar age. However, it would appear that Samuel did not graduate. It would then appear that Samuel married a lady by the name of Elizabeth and had three children in Ireland (William, Ezecall and Charles). Their births are registered in Derry. At this time the records dry up, and we then have only the records to be found in Gray's Inn and also those at Bucknell Church, Hayes, Middlesex. According to the records in Hayes, Samuel Hopkins (gent of Hayes) had two wives during his time in Hayes, firstly Priscilla and then Susannah Prior, whose descent could be traced to the Fiennes family, and whose son John William, on account of this, claimed the rights of founder's kin at Winchester College and New College, Oxford. The present writer possesses the genealogy used to prove this. The same Samuel Hopkins, gent of Hayes, then crops up at Gray's Inn. Finally, his will still exists at the National Archives in Kew; its contents give some idea of Samuel's status and life, but offer no clue to his earlier life in Ireland or as the son of Ezekiel, if indeed he is the same Samuel. A summary of the main points from his will shows: he had property in the County of Radnor, eight houses in Bishopsgate Street, chambers in Gray's Inn, a house in Holbourn and earned money from renting properties.

 

Elizabeth UNK and Samuel HOPKINS had the following children:

 

12

William HOPKINS (1696- ). William was born on 1 May 1696 in Derry, Ireland.

13

Ezekiel (Ezecall) HOPKINS (1697-1699). Ezekiel was born on 14 April 1697 in Derry. He died in December 1699.

14

Charles HOPKINS (1698-c. 1700). Charles was born on 3 August 1698 in Derry. He died circa 1 March 1700. He was buried on 7 March 1700.

 

Priscilla UNK was born in July 1724. She was buried on 1 August 1724.

 

Susanna PRIOR (also known as [unnamed person]), daughter of Francis PRIOR Gent. ( - ) and Annabella BEAUMONT (1683-1776), died in 1758 (estimated). She and Samuel HOPKINS had the following children:

 

15

John William HOPKINS (1734-1780). John was born in 1734. He was baptised on [Julian] 20 May 1734 in St. Andrew's, Holborn, City of London. He was a Clergyman. He was a Rector of Upminster, Essex. and St.Mary's Westminster. He married Mary WORRALL on 13 February 1766 in St. Lawrence Jewry, Milk Street, London. He died in 1780 in Upminster, Essex. He was buried in Nave of the Church, Upminster (South Side).

16

Henrietta HOPKINS ( -c. 1806). Henrietta married J Tomlinson BUSBY between [Julian] 1754 and [Julian] 1758. She died circa 1806.

 

10. John HOPKINS, son of Right Rev Ezekiel HOPKINS and Alicia MOORE, was born on 1 January 1675.

 

The youth of John Hopkins was passed in the best Irish society. His father, the Bishop, married - apparently in second nuptials, for John speaks not of her as a man speaks of his mother--the daughter of the Earl of Radnor. By a single allusion to the Epistolary Poems of Charles Hopkins, "very well perform'd by my Brother," in 1694, we are able to identify the author of Amasia with certainty. He was the second son of the Right Rev. Ezekiel Hopkins, Lord Bishop of Derry. The elder brother whom we have mentioned, Charles, was considerably his senior; for six years the latter occupied a tolerably prominent place in London literary society, was the intimate friend of Dryden and Congreve, published three or four plays not without success, and possessed a name which is pretty frequently met with in books of the time. But to John Hopkins I have discovered scarcely an allusion. He does not seem to have moved in his brother's circle, and his society was probably more courtly than literary. If we may trust his own account the author of Amasia was born, doubtless at Londonderry, on the 1st of January,1675. He was, therefore, only twenty-five when his poems were published, and the exquisitely affected portrait which adorns the first volume must represent him as younger still, since it was executed by the Dutch engraver, F.H. van Hove, who was found murdered in October, 1698.

Pause a moment, dear reader, and observe Mr. John Hopkins, alias Sylvius, set out with all the artillery of ornament to storm the heart of Amasia. Notice his embroidered silken coat, his splendid lace cravat, the languishment of his large foolish eyes, the indubitable
touch of Spanish red on those smooth cheeks. But, above all contemplate the wonders of his vast peruke. He has a name, be sure, for every portion of that killing structure. Those sausage-shaped curls, close to the ears, are confidants; those that dangle round the temples, favorites; the sparkling lock that descends alone over the right eyebrow is the passag?re; and, above all, the gorgeous knot that unites the curls and descends on the left breast, is aptly named the meurtri?re_. If he would but turn his head, we should see his cr?ves-coeur, the two delicate curled locks at the nape of his neck. The escutcheon below his portrait bears, very suitably, three loaded muskets rampant. Such was Sylvius, conquering but, alas! not to conquer.

 

JOHN HOPKINS, another son of the bishop of Londonderry, who deviated likewise from his father's character, was born January l, 1675. Like his elder brother, his poetry turned principally on subjects of love; like him too, his prospects in life appear to have terminated unfortunately. He published, in 1698, The Triumphs of Peace, or the Glories of Nassau; a Pindaric poem occasioned by the conclusion of the peace between the Confederacy and France; written at the time of his grace the duke of Ormond's entrance into Dublin. "The design of this poem," the author says in his preface, "begins, after the method of Pindar, to one great man, and rises to another; first touches the duke, then celebrates the actions of the king, and so returns to the praises of the duke again." In the same year he published The Victory of Death; or the Fall of Beauty; a visionary Pindaric poem, occasioned by the ever-to-be-deplored death of the right honourable the lady Cutts, 8vo. But the principal performance of J. Hopkins was Amasia, or the works of the Muses, a collection of Poems, 1700, in 3 vols. Each of these little volumes is divided into three books, and each book is inscribed to some beautiful patroness, among whom the duchess of Grafton stands foremost. The last book is inscribed "To the memory of Amasia," whom he addresses throughout these volumes in the character of Sylvius. There is a vein of seriousness, if not of poetry, runs through the whole performance. Many of Ovid's stories are very decently imitated; "most of them," he says, "have been very well performed by my brother, and published some years since; mine were written in another kingdom before I knew of his." In one of his dedications he tells the lady Olympia Robartes, "Your ladyship's father, the late earl of Radnor, when governor of Ireland, was the kind patron to mine: he raised him to the first steps by which he afterwards ascended to the dignities he bore; to those, which rendered his labours more conspicuous, and set in a more advantageous light those living merits, which now make his memory beloved. These, and yet greater temporal honours, your family heaped on him, by making even me in some sort related and allied to you, by his inter-marriage with your sister the lady Araminta. How imprudent a vanity is it in me to boast a father so meritorious! how may I be ashamed to prove myself his son, by poetry, the only qualification he so much excelled in, but yet esteemed no excellence. I bring but a bad proof of birth, laying my claim in that only thing he would not own. These are, however, madam, but the products of immature years; and riper age, may, I hope, bring forth more solid works." We have never seen any other of his writings: nor have been able to collect any farther particulars of his life: but there is a portrait of him, under his poetical name of Sylvius.


Alexander Chalmers.

 

To Amasia, tickling a gentleman

Methinks, I see how the blest swain was lay'd,

While round his sides your nimble fingers play'd.

With pleasing softness did they swiftly rove,

Raising the sweet, delicious pangs of love,

While, at each touch, they made his heart strings move.

As round his breast, his ravish'd breast they crowd,

We hear their music, when he laughs aloud.

You ply him still, and as he melting lies,

Act your soft Triumphs, while your captive dies.

Thus, he perceives, thou, dearest, charming fair,

Without your eyes, you can o'ercome him there.

Thus too he shews what's your unbounded skill,

You please, and charm us, tho' at once you kill.

Lodg'ed in your arms, he does in transport lie,

While trho' his Veins the fancy'd light'nings fly,

And, gush'd with vast delights, I see him hast to die.

 

11. Mary Anne HOPKINS, daughter of Right Rev Ezekiel HOPKINS and Alicia MOORE, was born. She married Thomas STEWART in 1693.

 

Thomas Stewart of Fort Stewart, High Sheriff of Co. Donegal m. 1693 Mary Anne, dau of Rt Rev Ezekiel Hopkins, Bishop of Derry by his wife, Lady Aramintha Robartes, dau of 1st Earl Radnor, w/issue:
1. Ezekiel, heir
2. Rev. Robert.

 

Thomas STEWART had the title 'of Fort Stewart, High Sheriff of Co. Donegal'. He and Mary Anne HOPKINS had the following children:

 

17

Ezekiel STEWART ( - )

18

Robert STEWART ( - ). Robert had the title 'Rev.'.