Much confusion has arisen concerning the family of Arne; this is not surprising, seeing that three generations of the same family were named Thomas, and that all resided in the parish of St. Paul, Covent Garden. On the 14th of February, 1680, the Bishop of London granted a marriage licence to "Thomas Arne, of St. Paul's, Covent Garden, Bachelor, 27 and upwards, and Mary Thursfield, of St. Martin's-in-Fields, Spinster, 20, with her father's consent at St. Peter's, Cornhill, or elsewhere in Diocese." A son born to this couple was baptized in St. Paul, Covent Garden, on the 3rd of December, 1682; the church register records "Thomas, son of Thomas Arne by Mary his wife." In due time, when twenty-five years of age, this second Thomas married Anne Wheeler in the Mercers' Chapel, Cheapside, April, 1707.[1] Three years later a son was born, who also was named Thomas, and duly baptized in St. Paul, Covent Garden. The ceremony is recorded in the church register on the 28th of May, 1710, "Thomas, son of Thomas Arne by Ann his wife." This was the future musician and composer; the date of his birth cannot be verified by documentary evidence, but tradition has given the 12th of March, and this has generally been accepted as correct. It is noteworthy that Arne received only one Christian name in baptism, and that in after life he added another, Augustine. It has been suggested that at some period he was received into the Roman Catholic Church, and then took the additional name; but diligent inquiry at the Sardinian Chapel, Lincoln's Inn Fields, a place of worship he frequented, has failed to discover any evidence of the alleged ceremony. A letter written by Dr. Burney[2] (Arne's pupil) to Sir Joseph Banks in July, 1806, described "Old Mrs. Arne, the mother of Dr. Arne and Mrs. Cibber, as a bigotted Roman Catholic." Surely natural affection would suffice to induce a mother to instruct her children in her own religious faith, and there was no reason why her son should not have been baptized with both names had the parents wished it. It seems quite clear that the adoption of the second name became a necessity to distinguish the composer from his father. THOMAS ARNE, _m._ 1680, ----+---- MARY THURSFIELD. _d._ 1713. | | +---------------------+-------- | THOMAS ARNE, _b._ 1682, ----+---- ANNE WHEELER. _m._ 1707, _d._ 1736. | | +---------------------+-------- | THOMAS ARNE, _b._ 1710, --------- CECILIA YOUNG, _m._ 1736, _d._ 1778. _b._ 1711, _d._ 1789.