John Webb

“ Webb’ (Aubrey, Natural History of Wiltshire, 1847, p. 84) . Jones also built a grotto and the stables at Wilton, and the drawings are preserved at Worcester College and Chatsworth (cf. Campbell, Vitruvius Britannicus, 1717–25, ii. 61–67) . Jones's relations with the fourth Earl of Pembroke were far from inharmonious [see Herbert, Philip] .
On 22 July 1650 Jones made his will, leaving property to John Webb, his pupil and executor, who married Anne Jones, his kinswoman; to Richard Gammon, who married Elizabeth Jones, another kinswoman ”

“ I don’t see why the seasons in the Possible World should be like ours any more than anything else is like ours.”
“No. P’r’aps you’re right,” agreed Jack.
They went carefully along, searching thoroughly as they went, Molly taking the left-hand side of the lane and Jack the right. For the most part it was fairly easy work; there were not many places in the First Green Lane where the Black Leaf could grow [116] undetected, though from time to time an extra thick and low-spreading bush would necessitate a halt for a thoroughly satisfactory examination. ”

“ While still an undergraduate he, together with his somewhat older friend, John Mason Neale [q. v.] , founded the Cambridge Camden Society, which played an important part in the ecclesiological revival consequent upon the tractarian movement, and of which Webb continued to be secretary, both at Cambridge and afterwards in London (whither it was removed in 1848 under the name of the Ecclesiological Society) , from its beginning to its extinction in 1863. With Webb and Neale were associated in this enterprise Webb's intimate and lifelong friend Alexander James Beresford-Hope [q. v.] ”

“ Philip Webb was brought up in the house in St. Giles's which formerly belonged to the dukes of Marlborough and is now used as the judges' lodgings. He was educated at Aynho grammar school. He early developed that intimate knowledge of wild life shown in all his designs. He was articled to John Billing, architect, of Reading, and after serving his time entered the office of George Edmund Street [q.v.] in Beaumont Street, Oxford. Here he met William Morris [q.v.] , and their subsequent friendship brought him into the brilliant group whose story is so well known. ”

“ Why not?” the girl smiled. “What did you think we’d live in?”
“I meant,” said Jack, “it’s not marked on our map; there’s no house marked until you get to the other side of the Goblin’s Heath, and I didn’t think there was one so close.”
The girl began to laugh. “Well, there is one, even if it isn’t marked on your map. They don’t mark all the houses, you know. If your way takes [123] you along down this lane you’ll pass the house, and mother would be awfully pleased to see you if you could spare a little while. She rarely gets news of the City or sees anybody.” ”

“ They waited. Glan called “Nancy!” and “Is any one in?” but as there was still no answer he lifted the latch, and discovered that the door was unbolted. He pushed it open.
They found themselves in an old-fashioned, low-ceilinged room, full of shadows cast by the flickering firelight. The trees outside the house excluded the faint sun-glow, so that the room was dim and nothing could be clearly defined in the farther corners. A quaint red-brick fireplace took up nearly one side of the room, and in a chair by the hearth there sat a huddled-up figure. ”

“ Supposing they are the lucky people who are going to find the Black Leaf ... if we only knew,” sighed the little girl, standing in the middle of the white road [115] and gazing pensively at the two figures in the distance.
“I know one thing,” said Jack. “We shan’t be the lucky people if we don’t move along. Come on, Molly.”
Two minutes’ brisk walking brought them to the entrance to the First Green Lane. And here their search began. The lane was a very twisty one, and was closed in on either side with high thick hedges ”

“ WEBB, BENJAMIN (1819–1885) , ecclesiologist and parish priest, eldest son of Benjamin Webb, of the firm of Webb & Sons, wheelwrights, of London, was born at Addle Hill, Doctor's Commons, on 28 Nov. 1819. On 2 Oct. 1828 he was admitted to St. Paul's school under Dr. John Sleath [q. v.] , and proceeded with an exhibition to Trinity College, Cambridge, in October 1838. ”

“ So Jack lifted Molly up, and after groping about on the wall with her hands for a few seconds, she caught hold of the ring.
“I’ve got it! Keep steady, Jack!” she cried, joyfully, and gave a vigorous tug at the iron ring. “Something’s given way—it feels as if a sort of door’s opened. All right, put me down now, Jack, and strike a match.”
[140]
Jack followed her directions, and by the light of the match they saw that a small square door had opened in the wall above their heads. The light from the match pointed straight through the opening. It looked like a narrow, dark tunnel beyond. ”

“ Webb’s boat mounted a 3-pounder in the bow, and he had 18 men only with him. He has passed his examination as lieutenant, has been two years acting lieutenant, and is a very promising meritorious young man.
“The enemy had quitted Corfu the evening before, and were bound to Otranto to convey money for the payment of the troops on that island. They are very fine vessels, and sail remarkably fast. Their guns are fitted so as to turn on a pivot, and may be fired in any direction without altering the course, which enabled them to keep up a very smart fire, as our boats approached. ”

“ So, as the three of them moved off down the lane, Jack and Molly recounted something of what had happened. They did not talk much about themselves, but related the main incidents of the Pumpkin’s return. Their companion listened eagerly, putting in a hurried question every now and then. When they had finished she said:
“Well, I do think it’s plucky of you. To search like this—in a strange land. I—I feel quite ashamed of myself for being so scared just now. We all have to take our chance. Do let me help you search this [126] bit of lane. ”

“ Fear and wrath and dire revenge animated the pale countenances of these famished and woe-worn men; and from the streets of the upper city were heard such cries of anguish and despair as reached the rocks and hills around, and were echoed back to mingle with the shouts of the Roman soldiers, and the dying groans of those who were perishing in the flames. In the midst of the confusion John of Gischala, ever intent on his own preservation, rushed out of the temple with a band of Zealots, and succeeded in forcing his way through the crowd and reaching the upper city in safety. ”

“ WEBB or WEBBE, JOHN (1611–1672) , architect, came of a Somerset family, but was born in London in 1611. He was educated from 1625 to 1628 at Merchant Taylors' school (Robinson, Register, i. 114) , and was a pupil and executor, and a connection by birth and marriage, of Inigo Jones [q. v.] ”

“ It’s no use. We can’t do anything to help. It’s one of the Pumpkin’s victims, some poor fellow caught by him outside the City walls.”
“What has he done to him?” Jack managed to gasp out.
“Made both his arms disappear, and covered his face with a horrible grey stain. The man looks [98] awful. I’m glad you didn’t see him—we can do nothing to help ... except one thing,” said Glan.
“The Black Leaf?” asked Molly.
“The only thing,” said Glan. [99]
CHAPTER IX
Planning the Search They turned out of the square into a wide avenue, bordered on each side with beautiful trees. ”

“ And then Jack’s roving eye noticed that the buttons on his dressing-gown were painted on; but that was the only bit of paint about Mr Papingay.
“You see, it’s so handy making my own things,” he was explaining to Molly. “I can have any kind of things I like and change them as often as I like.”
“Don’t you find the chairs rather awkward to sit on?” inquired Jack.
“Not at all. Why should I?” replied the old man, slightly offended.
“Well—I—er—well, you see—they’re not real, are they?” Jack blundered on.
“Not real! What do you mean?” snapped Mr Papingay. “Of course they’re real. ”

“ It won’t be so bad in daylight. My word! How the rain is coming down. We’re in for a storm, I should think.”
They hurried on, climbed the stile, but when they got on to the bridge Molly stopped for a moment.
“I say, Jack,” she called, and Jack stopped too. “I’m going to throw this plant-pot in the river—it’s too heavy to take all the way with us, and I don’t like to put it down in the field in case Mr Papingay comes along and finds it.” She pulled the leaf out of the pot, folded it up, and pushed it into her satchel, then threw the pot into the swiftly flowing river. ”

“ From the window, or for the matter of that from the green or the road that encircled the green, little could be seen of the house, as the high ivy-topped walls which surrounded the garden guarded it jealously from prying eyes. It was only through the tall iron-rail gate set into an arch in the stone wall that you could ascertain that the house was flat-fronted and square, a house entirely covered with ivy, out from whose dark, rustling leaves many windows peered like deep-set eyes. A broad gravel path swept from the gate to a flight of white steps that led up to the front door. ”

“ Martha vanished into the kitchen to prepare something hot and tasty for supper, while Ellen hurried to and fro with warm water for washing, and carried boxes and parcels upstairs, and lit gases, and pulled down blinds, and generally made herself useful, while Pamela, followed by Beryl, showed Isobel and Caroline to their rooms, doing her best as hostess to make them feel comfortable and at home. ”

“ No birds sang or fluttered overhead; no little wood animals scurried through the dry, dead leaves on the ground; no breeze rustled the golden leaves on the trees; the sun shone softly through the branches and cast a strange orange-coloured shimmer over the scene—which accounted for the name by which the wood was known. As Jack and Molly went along they found themselves talking to each other in whispers, afraid to disturb the brooding quietness of the wood ”

“ It looked as if Mr Sigglesthorne was in the habit of placing things down just wherever he happened to be at the moment—which was handy at the time, but caused much confusion and delay in the long run; though it may have added a little variety to his life to find his belongings where he least expected them.
Mr Sigglesthorne, with his Shakespearean forehead shining in a distinguished manner, sat on the coal-scuttle polishing his glasses and gazing nervously round at his guests. ”

“ Poor Caroline! She felt both ashamed and sorry for herself. "I knew I should never remember that part," was all she could say—and thereafter remained quiet and sulky, brooding over the 'ridiculous sketch' she must have looked before all that laughing audience. "I never did like dancing," she said to herself later, "and now I hate it."
Fortunately Madame Clarence's own dance followed soon after Caroline's blunder, and the impression made by Madame was such as to sweep everything else into the background for the time being. ”

“ WEBB, MATTHEW (1848–1883) , known as ‘Captain Webb,’ the Channel swimmer, was born on 18 Jan. 1848 at Dawley, Shropshire, where his father and grandfather, alike named Matthew, had both practised as country doctors. His father (b. 1813; d. at Ironbridge, 15 Dec. 1876) , who had qualified as M.R.C.S. in 1835, subsequently moved to Madeley and then to Ironbridge, where the swimmer's brother, Mr. Thomas Law Webb, is still in practice. Matthew was one of a family of twelve children, eight of whom were sons. ”

“ And what else could he have been with his practice in Bolderhead?
Men get stunted in small towns—especially professional men. Dr. Webb could never have made much more than a miserably poor living for mother and I had he lived; and all that time the thought of the great Darringford Estate would have been the skeleton in our closet!
[126] It was better as it was, I suppose. It had been a dream that my father was still alive. I believe I would have gladly given up my share of my grandfather’s money to have found that the mysterious man aboard the frozen ship was my father! ”

“ On the death of Burroughs, on 23 Nov. 1761, Webb undertook the sole charge. In 1766 he retired from the pastoral office and filled the office of deputy searcher at Gravesend until 1777, when he removed to Poole in Dorset. In 1775 he republished Dr. Johnson's ‘Marmor Norfolciense,’ a squib against Walpole, which first appeared in 1739. Johnson had not concealed his Jacobite principles in penning it, and Webb, in a satirical preface, cleverly contrasted the views he had then held with those he manifested in the ‘False Alarm’ (1770) and in ‘Taxation no Tyranny’ (1775) . ”

“ On the charge made in the House of Commons on 31 Jan. 1769 that Webb had bribed, with the public money, Michael Curry to betray Wilkes and give evidence against him, counsel pleaded on behalf of Webb that he was now blind and of impaired intellect, and the motion against him was defeated.
Webb died at his seat of Busbridge Hall on 22 June 1770. He married, on 2 Nov. 1730, Susanna, daughter of Benjamin Lodington, many years consul at Tripoli. She died at Bath on 12 March 1756, aged 45, leaving one son, also called Philip Carteret Webb (d. 10 Oct. 1793; Corresp. of Jekyll, p. 31) . ”

“ A long tear in Nancy's skirt testified to the speed with which she had climbed all obstacles. Such was the fire in her soul that she could have climbed a mountain!
In the shade of a wide maple tree, B'lindy, resplendent in fresh gingham and her good-as-new-last-year's-hat, watched Webb's "doin's" with a heart that fluttered with pride. No town in the whole Island could turn out more folks! But, then, no town on the Island had a prouder history!
With his badges glittering on the faded blue coat, Webb marched at the head of his "p'rade" in his uniform of the Grand Army of the Republic. ”