History of the Reed family in Europe and America

34 ORIGIN OP THE NAME,
of Henry VIII. Lord Chief-Justice Robert Read married
Margaret Alphew of Ohidingstone, and, when young, lived
at Morpeth, Blackfriars, in the north of England, the neigh-
borhood of large paternal estates of the family ; but, in 1530,
he and his wife were members of the Corpus Christi Guild at
Boston in the county of Lincoln, ■ — an institution under the
old English laws, by which the community was divided into
tens, hundreds, and thousands. The members of ten were
responsible for the conduct of each member of his ten. The
tens originated the present institution of towns, — a word
which is derived from ten ; as also the thousands originated
that of counties. The hundreds were a class, or division,
which has never been adopted in this country. The children
of Lord Robert and Margaret were, — John, who was Mayor
of Norwich ; Bridget, who married Francis Willoughby,
afterwards Lord Chief-Justice Willoughby ; and three other
daughters. He inherited the two manors of East and West
Euhcrst; and he had estates in Chidingstonc, Morpeth, Bos-
ton, Norwich, and other places. The estates of East and
West Euhcrst passed to Lady Willoughby in the division of
Lord Robert's estate. His son John was Mayor of Nor-
wich, and was also Sheriff of Norwich in 1568. Bloomfield's
History says, " In 1572, on the 14th of June, about nine
o'clock in the forenoon, a good and godly and virtuous
brother of this house (viz., John Rede, alderman), a big man,
and hot with travel, after reverence to Mr. Mayor and other
brethren, and in his place taken in the council-chamber,
being troubled with a rheum that fell from his head, as it is
supposed, did cough three times, wherewith he was stopped,
and his wind failed, and so, in a sudden, seized down, and
never spake any word ; and so there presently departed this
transitory life unto a more joyful place of rest."
Richard, the Commissioner of Requests, had a son by the
same name, who studied music twenty-two years, and was