GRATEFUL KING CHARLES.

Putaruru Press, Volume VII, Issue 315, 21 November 1929, Page 3

GRATEFUL KING CHARLES.

FIVE FAITHFUL BROTHERS. Mr. George Pendrell, a laundryman, of Brooklyn, announced his retirement from business. He said that henceforth he will live on his savings and an annuity of £BO, which, he declares, he and various members of his family have received by Royal Grant from the days of Charles 11., writes the New York correspondent of the Daily Telegraph. Mr. Pendrell declared that the money, which is paid semi-annually, is the result of an incident which occurred three days after the defeat of King Charles by the Commonwealth Army under Cromwell at Worcester on September 3, 1651. After Charles’ Scottish soldiers were scattered, the King fied to the home of the Pendrells. Three Pendrell brothers and their sister, Elizabeth, hid the monarch in an oak tree for a whole day, and helped him to get to Brighton, where he embarked for France.

Charles, said the retired laundryman, on returning to the Throne, was so grateful that he established an annual grant for the family in 1675. This pension, he declares, has been paid to various members of the Pendrell family ever since. Mr. George Pendrell was Korn in Philadelphia 75 years ago, and it was by means of the annual grant, he says, that he started his laundry business. His son, Irving, will receive the pension upon his death. Richard Fenderell (as the name was then spelt), according to such evidence as is available, was the eldest of five brothers, who helped Charles to escape after Worcester. Charles was advised by the Earl of Derby to entrust himself to the care of the family, and the Royal party reached White Ladies, the home of Humphrey Penderell, at dawn after the battle. Richard concealed him in Boscobel Wood during the day, and Charles completed his disguise at Hobbal Grange, Richard’s house. The famous episode of the Royal Oak took place between this date and September 9, when the faithful brothers conducted Charles to Wolverhampton, where he hid at Moseley Court. After the Restoration it is known that Charles gave each brother a pension for himself and his heirs “ for ever,” by letters patent under the Great Seal, Richard’s pension being £IOO per annum. Richard died on February 8, 1672, leaving four sons and four daughters. He lies buried in the churchyard of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, and his tomb was “ repaired and beautified ” by order of George n. in 1739.