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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC I
3 1833 01402 4779
SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
BY
E. R. YERBURGH
LONDON
CONSTABLE AND COMPANY LTD
1912
1487970
TO ROBERT ARMSTRONG YERBURGH,
M.A., J.P., D.L., M.P., OF WOODFOLD PARK, LANCASHIRE ; OF FREEBY, LEICESTERSHIRE, ETC. ETC. ; THIS SMALL CONTRIBUTION TO OUR FAMILY HISTORY IS AFFECTION- ATELY INSCRIBED BY HIS BROTHER, EDMUND ROCHFORT YERBURGH, RECTOR OF WRENTHAM, SUFFOLK
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION,
THE SKELETON PEDIGREE, ....
THE EARLY CLIFFORDS, ..... THE CLIFFORDS: LORDS OF SKIPTON, THE CLIFFORDS : EARLS OF CUMBERLAND, . SIR HENRY PERCY (HOTSPUR), .... THE BARONY OF GILLSLAND, .... THE LOWTHERS OF LOWTHER, .... THE RICHMONDS OF HIGHHEAD CASTLE, .
THE GLEDHILLS,
THE BLAMIRES OF THE OAKS AND THACKWOOD, .
THE BAYNES OF COCKERMOUTH,
THE ARMSTRONGS OF LANCASTER,
THE HIGGINS OF ETHERSALL, MARSDEN, AND LAN
CASTER,
THE YERBURGHS OF COCKERINGTON, FRAMPTON
WYBERTON, AND SLEAFORD, .... THE YARBURGHS OF SNAITH AND HESLINGTON, . APPENDICES,
II
49 71
n 89 97 127 145 157 165
179
209 265
2PS
INTRODUCTION
After reading Colonel Chippindall's Memoirs of Lieu- tenant-Colonel Samuel Gledhill, and the late Mr. Jackson's article on the Richmond Family, it struck me that it might be interesting if I were to try and piece together some further notes on our family history, and the outcome of this idea is embodied in Notes on our Family History.
These notes make no pretence to any originality. I have simply strung together information which I have acquired from various sources ; the idea which has been in my mind is that the information which I have got together might be of interest to a considerable number of people, not only in the present, but in the future.
In all cases when it has been practicable to do so, I have stated from what sources my information has been derived.
If it had not been for the original research of Colonel Chippindall these notes could never have been compiled.
I am indebted to Sir Matthew Hale, and to Whitaker's Craven, for a great deal of my information about the Clifford family : about the Richmonds to the late Mr. Jackson, F.S.A., and also to Mr. Jackson for some information about the
X SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Lowthers. Colonel Chippindall has kindly supplied practi- cally all the information about the Gledhills, Armstrongs, Baynes, and Higgins. The Yerburgh information I have got together myself, but I have got a great deal of information about the Yorkshire Yarburghs from the Rev. C. B. Robinson's History of the Priory and Peculiar of Snaith. The information about the Percies and the Barony of Gillsland is derived from the Encyclopcedia Britannica and Ferguson's History of Cumberland.
SKELETON PEDIGREE showing the descent in the Female Line of the Family of Yerburgh of Woodfold Park, Lancashire, and Freeby, Leicestershire, etc., from the House of Clifford.
I. Richard Fitzponce, temp. Richard i.
I 2. Walter de Clifford, temp. Henry ii. = Margaret, daughter of Ralph de Toney
3. Walter de Clifford, temp. John.
Agnes, daughter and heiress of Roger de Cundi, CO. Lincoln.
I 4. Roger de Clifford, temp. Henry 11
I 5. Roger de Clifford.
SiBiLL, daughter of Robert de Ewyas.
6. Roger de Clifford, temp. Henry in and Edward i.
Isabel, eldest daughter of Roger de Vipont, Lord of Westmorland.
7. Robert de Clifford, Lord of West- morland. Inq. anno 8 Edward 11. No. 62.
Matilda de Clare, daughter and sole heir of Thomas de Clare, ' nobilis viri Senescalli Forestias de Essex.'
I 8. Robert de Clifford, junior, son of Robert de Clifford, Lord of West- morland, died 20 May 18 Edward in. Inq. No. 50.
Isabel, daughter of Maurice, Lord Berke- ley of Berkeley Castle. She died 36 Edward ill.
SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Roger de Clifford, second son of Robert de Clifford, Lord of West- morland, died 13 July 13 Richard 11. Inq. No. 14.
10 Thomas de Clifford, son and heir of Roger de Clifford, Lord of Westmor- land, died abroad 15 Richard 11. Inq. No. 17.
John de Clifford, Lord Chfford and Westmorland, died abroad 13 March 9 Henry v. Inq. 10 Henry v. No. 27.
12. Thomas, Lord Clifford and Westmor- land, born 25 March 2 Henry V. , killed at the battle of St. Albans 22 May 1455, 33 Henry vi.
John, Lord Clifford and Westmor- land, son and heir of Thomas, Lord Clifford, killed in battle at Ferrybridge, Edward iv. Inq. 4 Edward iv. No. 52.
Matilda, daughter of Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, died 4 Henry IV. Inq. No. 37.
Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas, Lord Roos and Hamlake, died 26 March 2 Henry VI. Inq. No. 30.
Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Henry Percy (Hotspur), son and heir of Henry, Earl of Northumberland. She died 16 Oct. IS Henry vi. Inq. No. 55.
Joanna, daughter of Thomas, Lord Dacre of Gillesland.
Margaret, only daughter and heiress of Henry Bromfiete, Lord de Vesey.
[4. Henry, Lord Clifford and Westmor- land, son and heir of John, Lord Chfford, died 23 April 15 Henry viii.
[5. Dorothy Clifford, daughter of Henry, Lord Clifford and Westmorland.
16. Margaret Lowther, daughter of Sir Hugh Lowther of Lowther.
17. John Richmond of Highhead Castle, buried at Dalston 29 Oct. 1597.
Christopher Richmond of Highhead Castle, buried at Dalston 15 Feb. 1643.
ndly, Florence, daughter of Henry Pudsey of Bolton, Esq.
Sir Hugh Lowther of Lowther, temp. Henry viii.
John Richmond of Highhead Castle. Will dated 24 Dec. 1574. Buried at Dalston 18 Jan. 1575. Will proved at Carlisle 24 March 1575.
Mary Dalston, daughter of Thomas Dal- ston of Udall, buried at Dalston 16 April 1589.
: Isabella Chaytor, daughter of Anthony Chaytor of Croft Hall, Yorkshire. Mar- ried at Croft 13 April 1613. Marriage settlement proved March 1612. Buried at Dalston 20 July 1630.
SKELETON PEDIGREE
Xlll
19. Christopher Richmond of Hicjhhead Castle, born 1623, p. Dugdale's Visita- tion 27 March 1665. Living 1678.
Mabel Vaux, daughter and co-heiress of John Vaux of Catterlen Hall.
I Christopher Richmond of Highhead Castle, bap. at Dalston 12 Aug. 1641. Will dated 16 June 1693, proved at Carlisle 19 Dec. 1693.
Isabel Richmond, baptized at Newton
15 May 1679, died at Whitehaven
16 Feb. 1727.
Isabella Towerson, daughter of Thomas Reynolds of London, married at Dalston 18 June 1678. Will dated 13 August 1737, proved at Carlisle 19 June 1739. Buried at Newton 4 June 1739.
: Samuel Gledhill, colonel in the army. Governor of Placentia, born 7 April 1677.
22. Elizabeth Gledhill, died 3 Feb. 1673, aged 52. Monument in All Saints' Church, Cockermouth.
I Deborah Anne Baynes, married in Feb. 1781, died at Lancaster 5 May 1792, aged 42, buried St. Nicholas Street Graveyard.
I 24. Susanna Armstrong, born 13 Oct. 1787, married 24 June 1814, died 13 March 1852, buried in Lancaster Parish Churchyard.
25. Susan Higgin, died 4 Jan. 1861, buried at Sleaford, Lincolnshire. Married 1846.
Robert Baynes of Cockermouth, Cumber- land, died 21 Aug. 1789, aged 72. Monu- ment in All Saints' Church, Cocker- mouth.
John Armstrong of Acrelands, Skerton, near Lancaster, died 13 April 1829, aged 80.
John Higgin of Lancaster, born 17 Feb. 1785, died Oct. 1847.
Richard Yerburgh, Clerk in Holy Orders, born 5 May 1817, died 29 Aug. 1866.
26. Robert Armstrong Yerburgh, J. P. D.L., M.P., born 17 January 1853.
Elma Amy, only daughter and heiress of Daniel Thwaites, Esq., J. P., D.L., of Woodfold Park, Lancashire ; Freeby, Leicestershire, etc.
27. Robert Daniel Thwaites Yerburgh, Univ. Coll., Oxon., born 10 Dec. 1889,
THE EARLY CLIFFORDS
THE EARLY CLIFFORDS
To do anything like justice to the history of this great family a volume rather than a chapter would be needed. Viewed as a whole, that history, from its romantic interest, from the strange vicissitudes of fortune it presents, from its really national import, is a most remarkable one.
Long before the martial achievements of the first Clifford of Skipton, members of the family had distinguished them- selves on the field, and the deeds of these are recorded in history.
The first of this ancient family of whom Dugdale takes notice was called Ponce, or Pont or Fitz Pont. One of this line came over with the Conqueror and acquired Clifford Castle in Herefordshire. The first Ponce is represented as leaving three sons, Walter and Dru, considerable landed proprietors in the Conqueror's survey.
Richard Fitzponce, a personage of rank in the time of Richard i. and a liberal benefactor to the Church. This Richard left also three sons, of whom the second, Walter, having obtained Clifford Castle in Herefordshire with his wife Margaret, daughter of Ralph de Toney, a descendant from William Fitzosborn, Earl of Hereford, by whom the castle was erected, assumed thence his surname and became
Walter de Clifford. This feudal lord was in influence
4 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
in the reign of Henry ii. From very early times the CHffords were custodians of the Castle of York, whence one of its ancient towers is known as Clifford Tower. They also claimed the right of bearing the city sword on the occasion of a royal visit (vide Progresses of King James /., vol. i. p. 78). This Walter de Clifford left at his decease two sons and two daughters :
Walter, his heir.
Richard, from whom the Cliffords of Frampton in Gloucestershire descended.
Rosamond, so well known as * Fair Rosamond,' the celebrated mistress of Henry 11., by whom she was mother of William Longespee, Earl of Salisbury. For this lady the monarch caused to be constructed the famous labyrinth at Woodstock, and he is said to have presented her with a cabinet of such exquisite workmanship that the devices upon it, representing champions in combat, moving cattle, flying birds, and swimming fishes, seemed as though they were in reality animated. At her decease Fair Rosamond was interred in the Chapter House of the nunnery at Godstow, and the following epitaph placed upon her tomb :
' Hie jacet in Tumba Rosa Mundi non " Rosa Munda " non redolet, sed olet, quae redolere solet.'
Another account, however, states that her memory and remains were treated with obloquy after the death of her royal protector. In 1191 it is said that Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln, visited Godstow. Upon his visitation, observing in the church, near the high altar, a hearse covered with silk and surrounded by numerous burning lights, demanded
THE EARLY CLIFFORDS 5
an explanation, and being informed that it contained the remains of * Fair Rosamond ' (whom King Henry so dearly loved and for whose sake he had been a munificent bene- factor to the house, having conferred large revenues for the maintenance of these lights), the indignant prelate exclaimed, * Hence with her ! the king's affection was unlawful and adulterous — remove her from this sacred edifice, and bury her with other common people — that religion be not vilified, and that other women be deterred from such abandoned courses.* Lucia, married first to Hugh de Say of Richards Castle, and, secondly, to Bartholomew de Mortimer.
Walter de Clifford was succeeded by his elder son, Walter DE Clifford, of whom an historian says :
* Walter de Clifford (a Baron of the Marches of Wales), for enforcing an officer (whom he had otherwise handled badly) to eate the kings writ, waxe and all, ran so farre into the kings displeasure thereby, that while he lived he was made the less able to feede himselfe paying to the king a very great summe of money, and hardly escaping without confiscation of his whole patrimony.'
It seems certain, however, that this Walter de Clifford spent his last years in the enjoyment of his sovereign's full confidence. He died in 1264. He married Agnes, only daughter and heiress of Roger de Cundi, Lord of the Manor of Covenby and Glentham in the county of Lincoln, by Alice his wife. Lady of Horncastle, daughter and heiress of William de Cheney, lord of those manors in the Conqueror's time, by whom he had issue Walter, Roger, Giles and Richard. He was Sheriff of Herefordshire in the i, 8, 9, and 17 John. He was succeeded by his eldest son,
6 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Walter de Clifford. This feudal lord held a high place in the estimation of King Henry iii., until the rebellion of Richard Mareschal, Earl of Pembroke, when, taking part with that nobleman, his lands were confiscated and himself outlawed. The royal displeasure, however, did not endure for any length of time, for we find him soon afterwards restored to the Castle of Clifford, and during many sub- sequent years of the same reign enjoying the full confidence of the Crown. At the Coronation of Queen Eleanor, consort of King Henry, he claimed, with the other barons marchers, as 'jus marchae,' to carry the canopy which belonged to the Barons of the Cinque Ports. This Walter de Clifford married Margaret, daughter of Llewelyn, Prince of Wales, and widow of John de Braose, by whom he had an only daughter and heiress,
Maud, who married, first, William de Longespee, Earl of Salisbury, and, secondly. Sir John Clifford of Brimsfield.
Walter de Clifford died 48 Henry in., when the con- tinuation of the male line of the family devolved upon his nephew Roger de Clifford.
Roger de Clifford (son of Roger de Clifford by Sibill, daughter and coheiress of Robert de Ewyas, a great Baron of Herefordshire, and widow of Robert, Lord Tregoz) who for his staunch adherence to Henry iii. was appointed, after the victory of Evesham, justice of all the king's forests south of the Trent, and obtained at the same time a grant of the lordship of Kingsbury, in the county of Warwick, forfeited by Sir Ralph de Bracebridge, knight. He was afterwards frequently employed against the Welsh. His son was Roger de Clifford, who died in his father's lifetime, and was the
THE EARLY CLIFFORDS 7
first of his line to have an hereditary connection with the north of England. This Roger de Clifford died in 1286.
Roger de Clifford, his son (who died in his father's life- time), married Isabel, daughter and heir of Robert de Vipont, Lord and Hereditary Sheriff of Westmorland, by which marriage Brougham Castle came to the Cliffords. He was the first of his family to acquire an hereditary connection with Westmorland and Cumberland. He was renowned for his valour and skill in the wars of Henry ill. and Edward I.
This Clifford met his death in 1283 in a struggle with the Welsh. The scene of this conflict was the Snowdon mountains. 'The Welsh,' says an historian, 'slew the Lord William de Audley, and the Lord Roger Clifford the younger, and got fourteene ensigns from the English Army ; King Edward being enforced to enter into the Castle of Hope for his safetie.' Stow speaks to the same effect. Robert de Clifford, the first Lord of Skipton, was son of this Roger.
THE CLIFFORDS: LORDS OF SKIPTON
THE CLIFFORDS : LORDS OF SKIPTON
Robert de Clifford of Appleby, Lord of Westmorland, and the first of his name to be Lord of Skipton, must have been born about the year 1274. The situation of the Clifford estates on the borders of Wales, the military character of his family, the unsettlement of the times, forced him into an active, strenuous life. He 'was only nine years old at the death of his father, and about thirteen at the death of his grandfather Roger, a long lived and famous baron in the reign of Henry iii. and his son.
Edward i. had a great opinion of his capacity, and as war was natural under such a king, he soon found him employ- ment for his martial energies, and at the age of nineteen he showed himself to be a man of affairs and of singular military ability.
When Edward i. lay dying at Burgh on the Sands in 1307, he summoned three of his most trusted barons to his bedside, and administered to each in turn a solemn oath to secure the succession to the Prince of Wales. The names of the chosen three were Henry de Percy (whose son Henry, ninth Baron de Percy, married Idonea, daughter of Robert, Lord Clifford of Appleby), Aylmer de Valence, and Robert de Clifford. This trust was faithfully carried out, for he joined Lancaster
12 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
in putting Piers Gaveston to death, ' for which transgression,' Dugdale remarks, * he had his pardon.'
The following details will give some idea of the position he occupied and the offices he held under Edward i. In the twenty-fifth year of his reign he was appointed Governor of Carlisle, to oppose the attacks of the Scots, and he acquitted himself with much courage and ability. In the same year he appointed him chief justice of his forests beyond the Trent. At the several Parliaments held in the 28, 30, 32, 34 Edward i., and twice in i Edward 11., and twice more m 6 Edward 11., he was summoned as one of the peers of the realm. Edward 11. in the first year of his reign appointed him Earl Marshal of England. Edward li. also granted to him and his heirs the Castle of Carlaverock in Scotland, and all the Maxwell lands attached thereto, and all the lands of William Douglas (probably among others Treves Castle near Castle Douglas) ; but the lands being in Scotland and not easy to hold, and the declaration of peace would make his tenure insecure, he was unwilling to attach too much importance to these debatable gifts, so in the beginning of the reign of Edward 11. he cast his eyes on a very desirable possession, within reach of the Scottish border, and this property was the Castle and Honour of Skipton.
Now for a few words about the family relations of this Robert de Clifford. He married Maud, one of the daughters of Thomas de Clare and eventually his sole heiress. He was Seneschal of the forest of Essex, and by her he had two sons, Roger and Robert. At the Battle of Bannockburn in 13 14, this Robert de Clifford and
THE CLIFFORDS : LORDS OF SKIPTON 13
many of the flower of the English nobihty were slain. His body, together with that of Gilbert de Clare, the Earl of Gloucester, his near relation and the companion of his death, was sent by Robert Bruce to Edward 11. at Berwick to be interred, but where he was buried we do not know ; according to Whitaker he was probably buried at Bolton Abbey. About the burial of his relation Gilbert de Clare I shall have more to say later on.
Robert de Clifford was one of the four knights of Aylmer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, whose portraits are painted on the magnificent tomb of their lord in Westminster Abbey. But the traces of these curious figures are now very indistinct.
Robert de Clifford (the father) only lived to about the age of forty, and was, as we have seen, a person who was eminent for his services to his king and country. He seems chiefly to have fought against the Scots, and not to have mixed himself up much with domestic politics. But he enjoyed the confidence and esteem of two kings. He lived an active life, and died an honourable death.
This seems a fitting place to make some remarks on the de Clare family, and what must make it especially interesting to the Yerburgh family is the fact that Canon Oswald Wardell-Yerburgh, as Vicar of Tewkesbury, has for many years been the custodian of the graves of the mighty de Clares who are buried in the Warwick Chapel in Tewkesbury Abbey.
Richard de Clare, Earl of Hertford, married, about 1220, Amice, who became Countess of Gloucester in her own right on the death of her sister, the Lady Isabella. She was great-
14 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
granddaughter of Fitz Hamon, the founder of Tewkesbury Abbey.
This Richard de Clare was the ancestor of the Tewkes- bury de Clares, a family which held the Honour of Tewkesbury for nearly a century. His son Gilbert de Clare married Isabella de Mareschal. His name, as also that of his father, is among the signatories of Magna Charta, and he was a strenuous supporter of the barons against the king. Though he died in Brittany his body was brought home, and buried at Tewkesbury at the foot of the steps leading up to the high altar. In a few months' time his widow Isabella married Richard, Earl of Cornwall, brother of King Henry iii. At her death she wished to be buried next to Gilbert de Clare, but as her husband objected to this she bequeathed her heart to the abbey, and this was duly interred in Gilbert de Clare's grave.
Gilbert de Clare bequeathed to the abbey the manor called the My the on the Hill, just outside the town, and Isabella also left to it many relics, besides vestments and much valuable church furniture. On the death of Gilbert de Clare his son Richard became a ward of the king. Marrying Margaret de Burgh, a daughter of the great Earl of Kent, without permission, he incurred the royal displeasure, and was eventually forced to divorce his young wife in favour of the lady chosen for him.
He supported the barons against the king, with whom he had never been in agreement. In 1262 he died and was buried in the abbey.
His son Gilbert, the second, Rufus or the Red Earl, is another well-known figure. Like his father he at first
THE CLIFFORDS : LORDS OF SKIPTON 15
supported the barons against the king, but soon after the battle of Lewes he took the king's side and fought for him at Evesham. Again from pique he deserted him, returning to his allegiance once more in 1270. He was buried in the abbey in 1295.
Gilbert de Clare, the third, who was born at Tewkesbury in 1 29 1, was perhaps the most famous of the de Clares. One of his sisters was the wife of Robert Bruce, King of Scotland, and he himself though quite a youth was twice chosen by Edward 11. to serve as Regent of England in his absence, once even before he had attained full age.
His promising career (as we have seen in our remarks on his relative Robert, Lord Clifford) was cut short at Bannock- burn in 13 14, and the last of this branch of the de Clares was buried in the choir in 13 14, his widow being placed later by his side.
The lordship of Tewkesbury then passed from the de Clares, who had held it for ninety years, to Eleanor, Gilbert's eldest sister. By her marriage in 1321 to Hugh le Despenser the lordship came into the hands of the Despensers.
We shall see later on how the Yerburgh family again becomes connected with the Manor of Tewkesbury by the marriage of Roger de Clifford, Lord Clifford, with Maud de Beauchamp, daughter of Thomas de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick.
In a line with the Warwick Chapel are the graves known as those of the de Clares.
The first is a stone with an inscription running round the edge in old French, as follows : ' Ci-git Maud de Burgh la veuve Comtesse de Gloucestre et Herford qui moriest le 2
i6 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Juliet Tann grace 1315. Nous cherchons celle que est a venir.' This slab, which is of large size, covers a well wrought stone grave, and must have contained a very handsome brass judging by the matrix. The next grave contains the remains of the Lady Maud's husband, Gilbert de Clare, the third of that name, the tenth Earl of Gloucester and Earl of Hertford. Though young in years, he had, as we have seen, a wise head, for Edward 11. made him regent when he himself was fighting in Scotland, and later again in 1313 when fighting in France. Gilbert de Clare, the third, was killed at Bannockburn in 1314, and his body was brought from Berwick and was laid to rest next to his father. This tablet gives his arms, and the inscription runs : ' Gilbertus tertius nomine Gloucestrie et Herfordie comes decimus ultimus obiit 23 junii 13 14, proelio occisus, Scotus gavisus.'
The tomb next to this is that of his father Gilbert, the second, usually known as the ' Red Earl.' He married Princess Joan of Acre, a daughter of Edward i. This earl was at first an important figure on the revolt of the righteous Earl, Sir Simon de Montfort, but later having changed his views and his side, was an important factor in his former leader's final overthrow at Evesham in 1265. Fragmentary remains only of a cofhn assumed to be his were found in 1875. His tablet says : ' Gilbertus Secundus cognomine Rufus comes Glocestrie et Hertfordie septimus obiit septimo Decembris anno Domini 1295. Vir strenuus et fortis cui deerat timor mortis. Ora et Pugna.'
In the next grave lies Gilbert de Clare, the first who bore the double title. His interest to us consists in the fact that his seal is one of those attached to Magna Charta, and he
THE CLIFFORDS : LORDS OF SKIPTON 17
took a considerable part in the barons' struggles against King John. He died in Brittany, but was buried here by his own wish. Very little of his coffin remains. The tablet to him says : ' Gilbertus de Clare nomine primus comes Glocestrie sextus et Hertfordie quintus obiit 25 Octobris anno domini 1230. Magna Carta est lex caveat deinde Rex.'
The next grave is that of Richard, the second of that name, the son of Earl Gilbert. He is usually believed to have been poisoned at the table of Peter de Savoy at Emersfield in Kent. To his memory a most gorgeous tomb was set up in the Lady Chapel, composed of marbles, precious stones, mosaic, gold and silver, and bearing a large image of the earl in silver on the top. The brass tablet says : ' Ricardus de Clare comes Gloucestris septimus et Hertfordii sextus obiit 15 Julii, anno que domini 1262. Dum petit crucem sic denique petit lucem.' This alludes to his having been a crusader. Richard de Clare's entrails were buried at Canterbury and his heart at Tonbridge, at which place he had founded a monastery of Austin Friars.
Mr. George Harrison has kindly sent me the following pedigree which shows the relationship of Matilda de Clare (our ancestress) to the de Clares buried in Tewkesbury Abbey.
8 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford and 2nd Earl of Gloucester, eldest son of Gilbert de Clare, 5th Earl of Hertford and ist Earl of Gloucester of this name, by Isabel, daughter and coheiress of William Mareschal, Earl of Pembroke, buried 28th July 1262, at Tewkesbury Abbey.
Maud, daughter of John de Lacey, Earl of Lincoln. (Marriage 2nd Feb. 1237, according to Cock- ayne.)
|
Gilbert de Clare, = |
rJoAX, daughter |
1 Thomas = |
Amy, |
1 Rose = Roger |
Margaret |
||
|
7th Earl of Hert- |
of Edward i. ; |
declare. |
daughter of |
de Mowbray. |
= Edward, |
||
|
ford and 3rd Earl |
born at Acre |
Governor |
Maurice |
Earl of |
|||
|
of Gloucester ; born |
1272; married |
of the |
Fitzmaurice, |
Cornwall. |
|||
|
2nd Sept. 1243 ; |
2nd May 1290 ; |
city of |
knight. |
||||
|
died 7th Dec. 1295; |
died 23rd |
London |
|||||
|
buried at Tewkes- |
April 1307 ; |
(Edward I.). |
|||||
|
bury Abbey. |
buried in the Priory of Stoke Clare. CO. Suffolk. |
Slain in Ireland 1286. |
declare = |
||||
|
MM Gilbert de Clare |
1 1 Albert. Richard. = |
Thomas |
|||||
|
(buried at Tewkes- |
Ob |
v.p. |
|||||
|
bury.) |
|||||||
|
Eleanor. |
|||||||
|
Margaret. |
|||||||
|
Elizabeth. |
|||||||
|
1 |
Thomas, ob. s.p., 14 Edward 11.,
unmarried, and a minor.
Maud = Robert, Lord Clifford (Our of Appleby,
ancestress. )
Cockayne says (under Clifford) : —
' Robert de Clifford, grandson and heir of Roger de Clifford, a feudal baron of the coy. of Hereford, etc., received from Edward i. the manor of Skipton, co. Cumberland, and Skipton Castle, CO. York. He married Maud, second and youngest daughter of Thomas de Clare, probably that Thomas who was second son of Gilbert, Earl of Gloucester and Hertford. He was slain at Bannockburn 24th June 1314, and probably buried with his mother Isabel, daughter and coheir of Robert de Vipont of Brougham Castle, Westmoreland, Hereditary Sheriff of Westmoreland, in Shap Abbey.'
THE CLIFFORDS : LORDS OF SKIPTON 19
Vide extract from lecture by Rev. J. Simpson {Herald and Genealogist, vol. i. p. 478) : —
' Considering the connexion at that time existing between the newly built Castle at Brougham and the Abbey of Shap, it is very highly probable that the gravestone found on the north side of the chancel, incised with a drawn sword (betokening that he who lies beneath died in battle) may mark the burial place of Robert de Chfford, slain at Bannockburn.'
His widow (Maud de Clare) married Robert de Wells of CO. Lincoln before 14 Edward 11., for in that year she was found to be by Inquisition heir to her nephew Thomas, only son and heir of Richard de Clare, Lord de Clare, being then wife of * Robert de Wells.'
Our ancestress Maud de Clare was therefore the great- granddaughter of Richard de Clare, the ' Red Earl,' buried at Tewkesbury 1262 : and the great-niece of Gilbert de Clare buried at Tewkesbury 1295 : and the first cousin once removed of Gilbert de Clare killed at Bannockburn in 13 14 and buried at Tewkesbury.
Mr. R. Freeman Bullen has given me this further information :
'The second son of Earl Richard was Thomas de Clare. After the battle of Lewes, when he was on the side of Simon de Montfort, he was made Governor of St. Breavells Castle, co. Gloucester, but his brother Gilbert being discontented with Montfort prevailed upon Sir Thomas to change sides, and aid Roger Mortimer to deliver the king out of Montfort's power, for which he was rewarded 1266 with the offer of the Governorship of Colchester Castle. To this was added the Stewardship of the Forest of Essex in 1267
20 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
(14 May, 51 Henry iii.) Subsequently Sir Thomas went to the crusades, returning about 1270. He probably passed a good deal of his life in Ireland, for in 1276 Thomas de Clare received a grant of Thomand. This is the district now known as County Clare. Sir Thomas died in 1286 and was buried at Limerick.'
He was the grandfather of Maud de Clare, our ancestress.
Robert de Clifford, Third Lord of Skipton, at the attainder of his brother was under age, but no property came to him, as his mother (Maud de Clare) held the third part of the family estates for her dower, and the king, on the attainder of his brother Roger, seized the profits of the other two parts. As a matter of right and equity the king had no power to seize either the honour of Westmorland or Skipton as they both descended to this Roger in tail, the reversion being in the Crown : at that time high treason did not forfeit entailed lands, but in the time of Edward 11. the feeling between the king and the barons ran so high, and the king had so many needy supporters to propitiate, that, having once seized the Clifford estates, he showed no signs of respecting the laws of the realm.
Not many years afterwards Edward 11. was deposed, and his son was raised to the throne, chiefly by the efforts of the disaffected barons, who were members of the Lancaster party. One of the first results of his deposition was that the judgment given by Edward 11. at Pontefract against the Earl of Lancaster was reversed. There does not appear to be any record of the reversal of the judgment against the Cliffords, but in the parliament of 4 Edward iii. there was
THE CLIFFORDS : LORDS OF SKIPTON 21
a general restitution of the proprety of all that had fought at Pontefract with the Earl of Lancaster : and all their lands were restored.
If you have followed me so far you will remember that Robert de Clifford (the father) had large grants of lands made to him by Edward i. These lands were in Dumfries and the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, and belonged to the Maxwells and the Douglases, but they w^ere of very little profit to the grantee or to his descendants.
This Robert had, by Isabel his wife, daughter of Maurice, Lord Berkeley of Berkeley Castle, three sons, Robert, Roger and Thomas. He died 20th May, 17 Edward in. Isabel his wife outlived him, and enjoyed during her lifetime the castle and manor of Skipton, the annual value of which was computed to be £io'j, 15s. gd. She outlived her son Robert (who was never seised of the house of Skipton) and died 25th July, 36 Edward iii.
Mr. Horace Round, in an article on some Saxon houses, in Peerage and Pedigree, vol. ii. p. 216, says : —
* We have now examined I believe practically all the houses in Burke's Peerage and Landed Gentry which claim " Saxon " origin in the sense of possessing a pedigree which begins before the Conquest, and we have found their claims fail one after another. Is there then no house which can justly make that claim ? There is at least one which still ranks amongst our great feudal houses, although, as Mr. Freeman pointed out, the claim oddly enough is not made first by " Burke." This is the historic house of Berkeley, which although it did not obtain the lands of Berkeley till the twelfth century, is now admitted by genealogists to have a
22 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
clear descent from Eaanoth, who held the office of " Stabler " to Edward the Confessor.'
There is not much to be said about Robert de Clifford. In the account of the Dacres of Gillsland his betrothal to Margaret de Multon and her elopement with Ranulph de Dacre will be found. He rose with the fortunes of Edward III., and he recovered the inheritance which his elder brother's troubles and misfortunes had lost for a while. He was a favourite with both the Edwards of England and Scotland, and he made a great match for his young son to a family of great power in the North, and died after he had been Lord of Skipton in possession twenty-eight years.
Robert de Clifford, Fourth Lord of Skipton, was only thirteen years old at his father's death and was a ward of the king. He married Euphemia, daughter of Ralph, Lord Nevill, who outlived him, and married secondly Sir Walter Heslerton. This Robert, Lord Clifford, died before the twenty-fifth year of Edward iii., without issue and under age.
You will notice the marriage of this Robert de Clifford with the great family of the Nevills of the North.
This Robert de Clifford appears to have been a born fighter. He early took the field, for before he had reached his fifteenth year he fought at Crecy (1346), and it is said ten years later at Poictiers. In his account of the former battle Spence speaks of * Clifford ' as one of the ' prime and sagest captaines ' who commanded. If young Robert is meant the compliment is certainly rather an extravagant one. As to the date of his death there is disagreement. Some say
THE CLIFFORDS : LORDS OF SKIPTON 23
it occurred in 1352, and others in 1357. If, however, he was present at the battle of Poictiers he was alive in 1356. It is probable that the earlier date is the correct one, and that it was the succeeding baron who fought at Poictiers (Dawson, Skipton, p. 29).
Roger, Lord Clifford, Fifth Lord of Skipton. In 40 Edward lii. the king granted to this Roger licences to impark five hundred acres of his own lands in Brenhill and Listerfield, in the wood of Calder, within the town of Skipton, and to retain the same so imparked to himself and his heirs.
He married Maud de Beauchamp, daughter of Thomas de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, by whom he had two sons, Thomas, the oldest, whom in his lifetime he married to Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas, Lord Roos of Hamlake, and William who died without issue 6 Henry v.
This Roger at the time of his death was seised of the Honour of Skipton, and the king's fees thereunto belonging.
He died on the 14th of July 13 Richard il.
Much cannot be said about this Roger because there is little recorded about him in history. He lived in the stirring times of Edward lil. and of Richard 11., and it appears that he was a man of affairs and an active soldier, the differences with France and Scotland not suffering men to be idle. In the wars of France and Scotland he took an active part. He was present in 1350 at the sea-fight near Winchelsea with the Spaniards ; in 1356 he was fighting in Scotland, and three years later in France. In 1385 he accompanied Richard il. in his invasion of Scotland, having a retinue of
24 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
sixty men-at-arms and forty archers. He appears to have retained Sir Robert Mowbray for peace and war at ten pounds per annum salary.
It was the way of great nobles in these times to retain persons of valour in their employment, which no doubt helped to consolidate their own position, and to make it more assured, and also made them ready at any time to go on active service for their king and their country.
There are two indentures in existence which prove con- clusively that Sir Roger de Clifford retained others besides Sir Robert Mowbray, but also that he himself was retained by a nobleman of still higher rank. In these times the chain of feudal dependence reached from the cottage to the throne.
It is interesting to notice here how the marriage of Roger de Clifford and Matilda de Beauchamp again makes a connection with Tewkesbury. On the death of Richard le Despenser, Earl of Gloucester, the lordship of the Despensers in the male line came to an end after ninety-three years. Once again the manor of Tewkesbury passed by the female line and into the distinguished family of the Beauchamps, with whom Richard le Despenser's sister Isabelle was con- nected by her marriage with Richard Beauchamp or Ricardus de Bello Campo. He was killed at the siege of Breaux in France in 142 1, and his young widow erected the sumptuous Chantry chapel known as the Warwick Chapel over his remains. She then by special dispensation married her cousin, also a Richard Beauchamp, and from henceforth was generally known by her new title, the Countess of Warwick. On her husband's death at Rouen in 1439, she brought his
THE CLIFFORDS : LORDS OF SKIPTON 25
body to England, and had it conveyed to the Beauchamp Chapel at Warwick. The widowed countess died in December of the same year, but elected to be buried at Tewkesbury.
Her young son Henry was a favourite of Henry vi., who bestowed most unusual favours upon him, creating him Duke of Warwick, and King of the Isle of Wight, and later King of Jersey and Guernsey. The young duke, who was married to Cicely Nevill, died at the age of twenty-one, and was buried in the choir of the abbey. As he left no children the manor passed in 1499 to his sister Anne, the wife of Richard Nevill, the ' king maker.' All the king maker's estates were confiscated to the crown after he fell at Barnet in 1 47 1, but were eventually shared between his two daughters Isabelle and Anne. Isabelle married George, Duke of Clarence, Earl of Warwick and Salisbury, who in 1477, a few days after Isabelle's supposed death by poison at Warwick, was put to death in the Tower. Both were buried in the abbey.
Thomas de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick (who was the father of our ancestress, Maud de Beauchamp), was the third Earl of Warwick in the Beauchamp family : he built the Caesar Tower at Warwick Castle. His son was Thomas de Beauchamp, K.G., fourth Earl of Warwick, who was the father of Richard de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, who married Isabelle Despenser who is buried at Tewkesbury. This Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, was the founder of the Beauchamp Chapel at Warwick, as a mortuary chapel for himself and his descendants, and it ranks as one of the finest buildings of its kind in the world. Its cost was £2481,
26 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
4s. 7|d. — equivalent to ;^40,ooo at the present day. The following pedigree will explain the various relationships : —
Thomas de Beauchamp, 3rd Earl of Warwick, one of the original Knights of the Garter. Born at Warwick Castle 1313. Founded the Choir of the Collegiate Church of St. Mary, Warwick. He died of the pestilence in Calais, 13th Nov. 1369. Both he and his wife lie buried in the Choir of the Church at Warwick. He left seven sons and nine daughters (G.E.C. )
= His cousin Catharine, j daughter of Roger
j Mortimer, Lord of Wig- more, ist Earl of March (G.E.C)
Guy de = Philippa,
Beauchamp, daughter of
06. v.p. Henry, Lord
Ferrars of
Groby.
I Thomas de Beau- champ, 4th Earl of Warwick, K.G. He died 1401, leaving one son Richard and four daughters, of whom three became nuns.
= Margaret,
daughter of
William,
Lord
Ferrars
of Groby.
Maud de = Roger, Beauchamp. I Lord
Clifford.
From whom we descend.
Richard de Beauchamp, 5th Earl of Warwick, = Firstly,
K.G. Born 28th January 1381. At battle of Elizabeth,
Shrewsbury. High Steward of England. daughter of
Lieutenant-General of France and Duchy of Thomas,
Normandy. Created Earl of Albemarle for Viscount
life in 1417. He died at Rouen, 30th April Lisle,
1439. Was buried under a stately monument by whom
(inferior to none in England save that of he had
Henry vii. in Westminster Abbey) in the three
Collegiate Church of St. Mary, Warwick. daughters.
Secondly, Isabel, daughter, and eventually heiress of Thomas le Despenser, Earl of Gloucester, and widow of his cousin Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Worcester. Her mother was Constance, daughter of Edmund Planta- genet, Duke of York, 5th son of Edward ill.
Henry de Beauchamp, 6th Earl of Warwick, K.G. = Cicely, daughter of Richard Created premier Earl of England 2nd April 1444. I Nevill, Earl of Salisbury. He died nth June 1445 at his birthplace, Hanley | Castle, aged 22. Buried at Tewkesbury. I
Anne de Beauchamp, Countess of Warwick. Died 3rd January 1449, when the honours of the house reverted to her aunt, Anne, wife of Richard Nevill, Earl of Salisbury, who then became Countess of Warwick, and her husband, the celebrated 'king maker,' was sub- sequently created Earl of Warwick.
Dugdale in his Baronage says in writing of the daughters of Thomas, third Earl of Warwick, and Catherine, daughter of Roger Mortimer : ' The portraitures of these ladies are
THE CLIFFORDS : LORDS OF SKIPTON 27
curiously drawn, and placed in the windows of the south-side of the choir of the Collegiate Church at Warwick, in the habit of their time. Seven of them are married, and have their paternal arms upon their inner garments, and on their outer mantle their husbands' arms. The picture of Isabel who married twice is twice drawn.'
Thomas, Lord Clifford, Sixth Lord of Skipton. This Thomas, the son and heir of Roger, Lord Clifford, was twenty-six years old at the time of his father's death. About him there is not a great deal to be said, as he only survived his father about two years.
He appears to have been a most degenerate lord, for, being one of the favourites of Richard 11., he was equally as extravagant and dissolute as his monarch. It is said that two years before he entered upon his father's domains, he was charged by the Parliament with having aided the king in his dissolute conduct. His military career was pretty nearly a blank. One deed of arms, indeed, he was the chief actor in, and from it his character may be judged. It occurred abroad. About 1390, says HoHnshed, ' William Dowglasse of Niddesdale was chosen by the Lords of Prutzen to be admirall of a navie containing two hundred and forty ships, which they had rigged, and purposed to set forth against the miscreant people of the north-east parts. But being appealed by the Lord Clifford (an Englishman who was then likewise to serve with the foresaid lords on that journie) to fight with him in single combat before the day came appointed for them to make trial of the battell. The Lord Clifford lay in wait for the Dowglasse, and upon the bridge of Danzke
28 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
met with him and there slew him, to the great disturbance and stay of the whole journie.'
He married Eliza, daughter of Thomas, Lord Roos of Hamlake, in the lifetime of his father, and because they were nearly related and a dispensation might be required, it was agreed (14 Edward iii.) that each shall contribute to the charges of such prosecution if necessary.
Roger, Lord Clifford, settled ;^ioo per annum on the young couple and the heirs of their bodies.
This Thomas was thrice summoned to the Parliaments held on the 13, 14 and 15 Richard li., and he died abroad in Germany 4th October 15 Richard 11. He had issue John, his only son and heir, aged three years old, and a daughter Maud de Clifford, who was second wife to Richard Plantagenet, Earl of Cambridge. His widow survived John her son, and died the 26th of March 2 Henry vi. Thomas, her grandchild, born on Monday next after the Assumption of the Virgin Mary 2 Henry v., being then of the age of nine years and forty-seven weeks.
It is interesting to note that the representative of the family of Lord Roos or Ros of Hamlake is the present Duke of Rutland, and it was through the marriage of Sir Robert Manners, knight of Etal, in the reign of Henry vi., with Eleanor, the eldest sister and coheir of Edmund, Lord Ros of Hamlake, Triestbut and Belvoir, that the Manners family acquired the castle of Belvoir, and became territorial magnates in Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottingham and elsewhere.
John, Lord Clifford, Seventh Lord of Skipton.
THE CLIFFORDS : LORDS OF SKIPTON 29
This lord being a ward to the king, the wardship as appears was granted to Elizabeth or Eliza his mother, who being an ambitious woman took care to make a good match for him, and a marriage was accordingly arranged between her and Henry, Earl of Northumberland, between Eliza or Elizabeth, only daughter of Henry Percy (Hotspur), the eldest son of the said earl. And this marriage was accordingly solemnised when John, Lord Clifford, was not much above fifteen years old, for the said earl and his son, Sir William Greystock, etc., became bound to Elizabeth, Lady Clifford, in one thousand marks, which by her indenture dated 22nd May 5 Henry iv. recited the said marriage as defeasanced.
John, Lord Clifford, was a soldier, and he lived under a martial prince, who by indenture dated 8th February 4 Henry v. retained him in his service for one year for the war with France. The contract was to this effect, that the said John, Lord Clifford, with fifty men-at-arms well accoutred, whereof three to be knights, the rest esquires, and one hundred and fifty archers, whereof two parts to serve on horseback, the third on foot, should serve the king from the day he should be ready to set sail for France, taking for himself 4s. for every knight, for every esquire is., for every archer 6d. a day.
This was the usual means by which kings in these times furnished their armies with men of valour, and it was counted no dishonourable thing for persons of power to engage in contracts of this sort ; in fact in these times it was the trade of the nobility and the great men of the realm.
This lord was a knight of the Order of the Garter, to which
30 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
honour the king elected him on account of his faithful conduct and signal services.
This John, Lord Clifford, was killed at the siege of Meaux the 3rd March 9 Henry v., and according to the Chronicle of Kirkstall was buried at Bolton Abbey * apud canonicos de Boulton.' Elizabeth his wife outlived him and married, secondly, Ralph, Earl of Westmorland. She died i6th October in 14 Henry vi., Thomas, Lord Clifford, her son and heir being twenty-two years of age.
Elizabeth Percy was the daughter of the renowned Sir Henry Percy (Hotspur), who was born 20th May 1364. He was the eldest son of Henry, fourth Lord Percy of Alnwick and Earl of Northumberland, by Margaret, daughter of Ralph, Lord Nevill of Raby. He fought the famous battle of Otterbourne near the Cheviot Hills in Northumberland (Chevy Chase), where he and his brother, Sir Ralph Percy, were made prisoners, and James, Earl of Douglas, was slain. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Mortimer, Earl of March, by Philippa, daughter and heir of Lionel Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, and falling at the battle of Shrewsbury 23rd July 1403, left issue by his wife (who married, second, Thomas, Lord Camoys) —
Henry, who inherited as second Earl of Northumber- land, and Elizabeth, who married John, Lord Clifford. (See Article on Hotspur.)
Thomas, Lord Clifford, Eighth Lord of Skipton, was born in 1415. In the lifetime of his father. King Henry v., by letters patent dated 7th May a.r. 3, granted to Sir William Harrington and others the custody of the
THE CLIFFORDS : LORDS OF SKIPTON 31
honour of Skipton for two years after the decease of John, Lord Clifford, in case his heir was under age. His mother seems to have obtained the wardship, for by an inden- ture between her and Thomas, Lord Dacre of Gillesland, dated ist August 2 Henry vi., the parties covenant for the marriage of Thomas, Lord CHfford, and Joan, daughter of Lord Dacre, and it was Hkewise agreed that iioo marks should be given her as her marriage portion.
Sir Matthew Hale says : ' This nobleman by several conveyances vested almost all his lands in feofees in trust. The scope of these several conveyances was partly to prevent wardship, under which his family had suffered greatly, and partly to prevent forfeiture, which now began to be a reason- able care, for discontents were breeding apace in the kingdom. The title of the House of York began to bud, and these probably were the reasons why this wary Lord, who knew that he must have a share in these broils, though he knew not the event, took care to lodge his estate in the hands of trustees, who either must not be engaged in the difference, or at least might pass them through without danger to his estate, which was only lodged in them as trustees. He followed as near as he could the pattern of Robert, the first Lord of Skipton, that while he kept favour with the king, yet lost not his interest in the nobility. For he appears actually the king's servant in the 24 Henry vi. when the king granted to Maud, Countess of Cambridge, and to this Thomas, by the style of ' Delecto Servo n'ro Thom de Chfford,' an annuity of ;^ioo out of the issues of the county of York by authority of Parliament.'
Afterwards, 27th April 25 Henry vi., he granted to this
32 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Thomas, Lord Clifford, Henry Vavasor and the heir of the body of Thomas, the BaiHwicke of StannercHffe, in the county of York.
(So far these records of the early Cliffords have been taken from the MS. entitled ' Titles of Honor and Pedi- grees,' especially touching Clift'ord, by Sir Matthew Hale, and by him bequeathed to the library of Lincoln's Inn.)
Maud, Countess of Cambridge (who was the second wife of Richard Plantagenet, Earl of Cambridge), who by his first wife the Lady Anne Mortimer, daughter of Roger, Earl of March, had a daughter Isabel who married Henry Bourchier, Earl of Essex, and a son Richard, Duke of York, K.G., Protector of England, who fell at the battle of Wakefield, leaving by his wife Ciceley (who died 31st May 1495), daughter of Ralph Nevill, Earl of Westmorland, amongst other issue Edward iv.. King of England. She was aunt to this Thomas, Lord Clifford, and had Conisburgh Castle in dower. Here her nephew and his family seem to have resided with her for nearly a year in 1437, and what is very singular, to have been ' paying guests.' Here, too, ' black- faced Clifford ' must have been born, for the feast of his mother's Purification could not have been kept in any other place than that of her confinement. Besides, the Countess of Cambridge was his godmother, for the Townely MSS. tells us that in her will she bequeaths ' Joh. Clifford filiolo meo xii. discos argenteos.'
It is an extraordinary fact that Richard, Duke of York, and John, Lord Clifford, his bitterest enemy, should have
THE CLIFFORDS : LORDS OF SKIPTON 33
been born in the same castle ; and it may seem at first sight equally extraordinary that such an alliance between the two families should not have united their interests and inclinations ; but second marriages have often a contrary effect. What circumstances of family disagreement might have happened after the death of the Earl of Cambridge, and whether his widow holding the great manor of Conisburgh so long in dower might not occasion a gradual aberration and dislike between the two families, it is now impossible to discover.
In this year (1437) Thomas, Lord Clifford, appears to have paid only two visits at Skipton, once in January on his way to Conisburgh, I suppose from his Westmorland estates, and once in summer when he made a longer stay.
These facts are proved from the compotus of Thomas, Lord CHfford, for the year 1437 :
' Allocat eidem computanti (W. Garth) virtute proecepti corporalis in camera dicti Domini infra castrum de Skipton die Foris xxiii die Januar, in transitu suo asque Conisburgh c s. Vetus parens xx s. & non plus, eo quod magna pars herbagii ejusdom parci depasturata fuit per equos Domini & D'ne Comitisse Cantab & aliorum de consilio dicti Dom i'bm existent in Augusto.'
What account can be given of the following items :
' In solutione uxori Hen Fawell nuper de Barden subito interfecti eidem concess, per concilium D'm xlv s.
' Et in solutione matri diet Hen. ad satisfaciendum sibi de debitis quae diet Hen. sibi debuit c s.
* Et in Sol Ri Pudsay ad sat. sibi de denariis sibi debitis per diet. Henr. xxiii s.
c
34 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
' Et in sol'ne fratri ejusdem Hen. de deb sibi deb xiv s. S'ma ix 1. ii s.'
It seems not unsuitable to the manners of that ferocious age to conclude that Fawell had been slain by the hand of the lord himself. An accidental death in Clifford's service would scarcely have drawn so profuse a liberality to his family ; besides the word ' interfecti ' certainly implies something more. It might be a random shot or stroke while hunting in Barden, but the value of the ' Blodwite ' — at least ;^ I GO of our money — seems rather to point to manslaughter.
The strong and almost disloyal terms in which another article of this account is expressed, show what the great families even then thought and felt on the subject of wardship:
* Item allocat (allowed) eidem (that is, to Garth the Receiver) pro quadam annuitate eidem per D'nan Eliz matrem D'ni nuper concessam & per dictum D'num pro assiduo & diligenti labore suo apud Ebor in deliberatione & p's' (preservatione) dicti Domini extra manus regias post mortem dictae D'ns 1 s.
* In liberatione facta mense Fobe pro expensis forinsecis D'ni versus London xx 1.
' In solutione D'no in denariis mense Septembere per manus Hugh Kirke servientis dicti D'ne xiii 1. vi s. viii d.'
Thus it appears that Lord Clifford came from Westmor- land in January, stayed at Skipton a short time on his way to Conisburgh, was in London in February, at Skipton again in August (when his and the Countess's horses ate up almost all the herbage of the Old Park), and spent the rest of the year at Conisburgh.
THE CLIFFORDS : LORDS OF SKIPTON 35
There appears to have been no household at Skipton Castle in his absence, and the demesne lands are mostly in lease. I do not find that after all deductions for repairs, wages, etc., he received in clear money from the manor of Skipton more than cxiii 1. vi s. viii d. The total sum received was cclxix 1. viii d. 148*7'9*?0
This Lord Clifford was slain in the battle of St. Albans, 22nd May 33 Henry vi., and was interred with his uncle Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, and other noblemen who fell on that occasion, in the Lady Chapel of the monastery.
He was born on the Monday after the Assumption of the Virgin a° 2 Henry v. (Inq. p.m. Joh. de Clifford) and was therefore killed in the forty-first year of his age.
This lord excelled as a soldier. While he was esteemed by his sovereign he was popular with his peers. * He followed as near as he could the pattern of Robert, the first Lord of Skipton, that while he kept in favour with the king yet lost not his interest in the nobility.'
The third son of this Clifford, Sir Robert, barely escaped death on the scaffold for complicity in the Perkin Warbeck plot. Hale and Stow both give an account of the king's attempt to arrest him. Though Sir Robert was pardoned ' he was not after in so great favour, nor so esteemed with the kyng, as he had been in tymes past, because he was blotted and marked with that crime and offence.'
Thomas, Lord Clifford, is frequently referred to in Shakespeare's King Henry VI.
By a subsequent agreement it was awarded that at the costs of the Duke of York, the Earls of Warwick and Salisbury, 45 1. of yearly rent should be amortised for use to
36 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
the monastery of St. Albans for suffrages and obits for the souls of Henry, Earl of Northumberland, Thomas, Lord Clifford, etc. Also that the Earl of Warwick should give to the Lord Clifford the sum of M marks to be distributed between the said Lord Clifford, his brother and sisters. (Holinshed, vol. ii. p. 292, edition i.)
We have seen that Joan, Lady Clifford, was the only daughter of Thomas, sixth Lord Dacre, who was summoned to Parliament (14 Henry iv.) 1412 till (33 Henry vi.) 1455 as Thomas, Lord Dacre of Gillesland. This nobleman, who was chief forester of Inglewood in Cumberland, married Philippa, daughter of Ralph Nevill, Earl of Westmorland and had three sons and an only daughter Joan.
John, Lord Clifford, Ninth Lord of Skipton, was born 8th April 1430. He held the titles and estates five years eight months and seven days. Whitaker says his hands were early dipped in blood, for he was engaged in the civil war of the Houses almost three years before his father's death.
After the second battle of St. Albans the king was brought to meet the queen in Clifford's tent. This nobleman, partly from the heat of youth and partly in the spirit of revenge for his father's death, pursued the House of York with a rancour which rendered him odious even in that ferocious age. His supposed slaughter of the young Earl of Rutland, at, or perhaps after, the battle of Wakefield, has left a deep stain upon his memory.
The story is that Lord Clifford, calling upon the name of his own slaughtered father, stabbed to the heart the Earl of
THE CLIFFORDS : LORDS OF SKIPTON 37
Rutland (son of Richard, Duke of York), a boy of twelve, whose only offence was the name he bore.
This was not the only act of barbarity committed by Lord Clifford at the battle of Wakefield. Leland says : * After the fight was over Clifford went in search of the body of the Duke of York, whom he knew to have been slain, and again he tarnished his name by a gross deed of savageness. He found the body, and with one stroke he severed the head, upon which he placed a paper crown. Fixing then the hideous trophy upon a pole he had it borne to the queen. " Madam," said he, " your war is done : here I bring your king's ransom ! " The head was with others placed over the gates of York.'
Still it is only fair to state that it is by no means certain that Rutland fell by his hand. Leland only says : ' that for the slaughter of men at Wakefield he was called the boucher.' The Yorkists always described the young Earl of Rutland as a child, whereas as a matter of fact there was, after all, no great disparity of age between the two. Next year he met with his own end. On the day before the battle of Towton, and after a rencontre at Ferrybridge, having put off his gorget, he was struck on the throat by a headless arrow out of a bush, and immediately expired. In the MS. Memoirs of the family at Appleby, this is said to have happened at Dundingdale, a place unnoticed in any map : but the Rev. Francis Wilkinson, Vicar of Bardsley, has discovered the evanescent and almost forgotten name of Dittingdale in a small valley between Towton and Scarthingwell. Here therefore John, Lord Clifford, fell. The place of his inter- ment is uncertain : but the traditional account of the family
38 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
is probably true, that his body was thrown into a pit with a promiscuous heap of the slain. Dittingdale is so near the field of Towton that it proves, at least, the advanced posts of the two armies to have been close to each other on the evening preceding the battle.
The following is another account of the fight at Ferriby- Brig, or Ferrybridge : —
' Seeing the advantage which must accrue from the pos- session of Ferriby-Brig over the Ayre, Warwick despatched Lord Fitz-Walter to take it. The attempt was, however, forestalled by Northumberland, who sent Lord Clifford with a superior force to drive Fitz-Walter back. The Lancas- trians were successful, and only a few of Fitz- Walter's men escaped with their lives from the encounter. It was then that Warwick resorted to one of those impressive though theatrical devices by which mediaeval captains so stirred the sluggish blood of their soldiers. Springing from the saddle he plunged a sword into the heart of his war-horse, crying aloud that on that day there was to be no retreat, and that he would fight a-foot among his men-at-arms until Ferriby- Brig was won. The example fired all hearts : and headed by Warwick in person, the advanced guards rushed upon the defenders of the causeway. Clifford, courageous if cruel, beat back his assailants again and again : but numbers in the end prevailed, and towards nightfall the " brig " was taken and Clifford slain.'
John, Lord Clifford, was attainted i Edward iv., and in the fourth year of that reign, the castle, manor and lordship of Skipton and manor of Marton were granted in tail-male to Sir William Stanley, knight. In the seventh year of the
THE CLIFFORDS : LORDS OF SKIPTON 39
same reign is a deed of resumption with a saving to the grant made to Sir William Stanley : and in the fifteenth year of this reign the castle, manor and demesnes of Skipton, and manor of Marton, were granted to Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and were held by him to his death.
In the 1st of Henry vii. the attainder of John, Lord Clifford, was reversed, together with those of all other of the adherents of the house of Lancaster, and the estates of the family restored to Henry, his son. You may possibly find the original petition for restitution interesting ; it is as follows : —
* In most humble & lowly wise beseecheth yo'r highness yo'r true subject and faithful liegman Henry Clifford, eldest son to John, late Lord Clifford, that when the same John, amongst other persons, for the true service and faithful legiance which he did once to King Henry the Sixt, y'or Uncle, in the parliament at Westminster, the fourth day of November, in the first yeare of King Edward the Fourth, was attainted and convicted of high treason, and by the same act it was ordained that the said John, late lord, and his heirs, from thenceforth should be disabled to have, hould, inherite or enjoye any name of dignity, estate or preheminence within the realmes of England, Ireland, Wales, Calice or the Marches thereof, and should forfeit all his castles, manors, lands, &c., he desireth to be restored. To the which the king, in the same parliam't subscribeth
' " Soil faite come est desier." '
In the interval of turbulence and disaster which preceded this restitution there is no evidence among the archives of the family to throw light on any of the dark transactions of the age.
40 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
This John, Lord CHfford, married Margaret, the only child and heiress of Henry Bromflete, Lord Vescy, who was the mother of two sons, Henry and Richard de Clifford.
A single charter only remains of the 12 Edward iv., which is a deed of arbitration between Lancelot Threkeld, knight, and Lady Margaret his wife, the Lady Clifford, late the wife of John, Lord Clifford, on the one part ; and William Rilston, one of the executors of the will of Henry de Bromflete, Lord Vescy, deceased, on which the said Lancelot and Margaret his wife promise ' to be good maister and ladie to the said William, and to those the children of the said John, late Lord Clifford, to be loving and tendre to ye said William.' The mention of Henry Clifford the heir by name would then have been dangerous, which accounts for the plural * children * when one only could have any material interest in the transaction.
If Sir Lancelot Threkeld made a brilliant match in marry- ing the young widow of John, Lord Clifford, he also incurred grave dangers and responsibilities, for her sons had to be secreted from the vengeance of the Yorkist faction. That Sir Lancelot nobly discharged his duties and responsibilities in striving to preserve the lives of his stepsons, the not unworthy words of Wordsworth bear record :
' Give Sir Lancelot Threkeld praise, Hear it good man old in days. Thou Tree of Covert and of rest For this young bird that was distrest : Among the branches safe he lay. And he was free to shout and play. When falcons were abroad for prey.'
THE CLIFFORDS : LORDS OF SKIPTON 41
It is a curious fact, which one cannot help associating with Sir Lancelot and the concealment of the young Cliffords, that there is a secret chamber or nook at Yanwath Hall, the seat of the Threkeld family, only discovered within the last few years.
The manor of Threkeld is situated at the foot of Blencathra, a mountain which is more commonly known at the present time by the more homely name of Saddleback. How sequestered Threkeld was, and how secure from the prying eyes of strangers to the district we may conclude from the fact of it having been chosen, even so late as the fifteenth century, as a safe retreat for the young sons of the so-called * Butcher ' Clifford, the eldest of whom became known as the Shepherd Lord.
If you wish to know more about the Shepherd Lord I must refer you to Wordsworth's beautiful poem, and to Southey's Colloquies. Margaret, Lady Clifford, who brought the barony of Vescy into the family, survived the death of her first husband thirty years, and the restoration of her family, seven.
Having been interred at Londesborough, where she died, a plain brass on a flat stone near the altar of that church (the oldest memorial of the family now remaining) thus commemorates the widow of * black-faced Clifford ' :
* Orate pro anima Margaret D'ne Clyfford et Vescy olim sponse noblissimi viri Joh's D'ni Clifford et Westmore- land filie et heredis Henrici Bromflet quondam D'ne Vescy ac . . . matris Henrici Domini Clyfford Westmoreland et Vescy quae obiit iv die mens Aprilis Anno Domini mccccxci cujus corpus sub hoc marmore est humatum.'
42 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Henry, Lord Clifford, Tenth Lord of Skipton, AND first Baron de Vescy of that name, on the accession of Henry the Seventh emerged from the fells of Cumberland, where he had principally been concealed for twenty-five years, with the manners and education of a shepherd. He was at this time almost if not altogether illiterate, but far from deficient in natural understanding : and what strongly marks an ingenuous mind in a state of recent elevation, depressed by a consciousness of his own deficiencies. On this account he retired to the soHtude of Barden, where he seems to have enlarged the tower, out of a common keeper's lodge, and where he found a retreat equally favourable to taste, to instruction, and to devotion. The narrow limits of his residence show that he had learnt to despise the pomp of greatness, and that a small train of servants could suffice him who had come to the age of thirty a servant himself. Yet in 8 Henry vii. * household wages ' are paid to more than sixty servants at Barden. Yet this was a slender train at that time for a baron {Londeshro Papers) .
And the MS. quoted by Mr. Southey gives some further detail : * So in the disguise of a shepherd boy at Lonsboro, where his mother then lived for the most part, did this Lord Clifford spend his youth, till he was about fourteen years of age, about which time his mother's father, Henry Bromflete, Lord Vescy, deceased. But a little after his death it came to be rumoured at the court that his daughter's two sons were alive : about which their mother was examined : but her answer was that she had given directions to send them beyond the seas, to be reared there : and she did not know whether they were dead or alive.
THE CLIFFORDS : LORDS OF SKIPTON 43
* And as this Henry, Lord Clifford, did grow to more years, he was still more capable of his danger had be been dis- covered, and therefore presently after his grandfather, the Lord Vescy, was dead, the said rumour of his being alive being more and more whispered at the court, made his said loving mother by the means of her second husband Sir Lancelot Threkeld to send him away with the said shepherds and their wives into Cumberland, to be kept as a shepherd there, sometimes at Threkeld, and amongst his father-in-law's kindred, and sometimes upon the borders of Scotland, where they took lands purposely for these shepherds that had custody of him : where many times his father-in-law came purposely to visit him, and sometimes his mother though very secretly. By which mean kind of breeding this incon- venience befel him, that he could neither read nor write, for they durst not bring him up in any kind of learning, lest by it his birth should be discovered.
' Yet after he came to his lands and honours he learnt to write his name only.
* This Henry, Lord Clifford, after he became to be possessed of his said estate, was a great builder and repairer of all his castles in the north, which had gone to decay when he came to enjoy them, for they had been in strangers' hands about twenty-four or twenty-five years. Skipton Castle and the lands about it had been given to William Stanley by King Edward iv., which William Stanley's head was cut off about the tenth year of Henry vil. : and Westmoreland was given by Edward iv. to his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who was afterwards King of England, and was slain in the battle, the 22nd of August 1485.'
44 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
His early habits, and the want of those artificial measures of time which even shepherds now possess, had given him a turn for observing the motions of the heavenly bodies : and having purchased such an apparatus as could then be procured, he amused and informed himself by these pursuits, with the aid of the canons of Bolton, some of whom are said to have been well versed in what was then known of the science. It is pleasing to find these religious so rationally employed themselves, and so well qualified to afford their illiterate but curious patron a liberal occupation, which might prevent him from sinking into sordid habits.
Whitaker suspects this nobleman to have been sometimes occupied in a mere visionary pursuit, and probably in the same company. For on the family evidences he says : * I have met with two MSS. on the subject of Alchemy, which from the character, spelling, etc., may almost certainly be referred to the reign of Henry vii. If these were originally deposited with the MSS. of the Cliffords, it must have been for the use of that nobleman. If they were brought from Bolton at the dissolution they must have been the work of those canons whom he almost exclusively conversed with.'
In these peaceful employments, whether rational or otherwise, Lord Clifford spent the whole of the reign of Henry vii., and the first years of his son. But in the year 1513, when almost sixty years old, he was appointed to a principal command over the army which fought at Flodden, and showed that the military genius of the family had neither been chilled in him by age, nor extinguished by habits of peace.
The enumeration of his followers on this occasion in the old metrical history of Flodden Field is so local and exact,
THE CLIFFORDS : LORDS OF SKIPTON 45
that, as many members of our family are familiar with the Craven district, and have so often hunted over it, I give the quotation : —
' From Penigent to Pendle Hill From Linton to Long Addingham And all that Craven Coasts did till They with the lusty Clifford came : All Staincliffe hundred went with him With striplings strong from Wharledale And all that Hauton hills did climb, With Longstroth eke and Litton Dale, Those milk-fed fellows, fleshly bred Well brown 'd with sounding bows upbend ; All such as Horton Fells had fed On Clifford's banner did attend.'
He survived the battle of Flodden ten years and died 23rd April 1523, aged about seventy. It is uncertain where he was buried : by his will he appointed his body to be buried at Shap if he died in Westmorland, or at Bolton if he died in Yorkshire.
In the Memoirs (Appleby MSS.) of the Countess of Pembroke he is described as * a plain man who lived for the most part a country life and came seldom either to court or London, excepting when called to Parliament, on which occasion he behaved himself like a wise and good English nobleman.' This Lord Clifford never travelled out of England.
He married, first, Anne, daughter of Sir John St. John of Bletshoe, cousin-german by the half blood to Henry vii., by whom he had, amongst other issue : Henry, Lord Clifford, first Earl of Cumberland, and eleventh Lord
46 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Skipton : he married Lady Margaret Percy, and on the death of her brother Henry, Earl of Northumberland, in consequence of a settlement confirmed by Act of Parliament, the whole Percy fee, equivalent in extent to the half of Craven, became vested in the Cliffords.
He married, secondly, Florence, daughter of Henry Pudsay of Bolton, esquire, who in the 20th of Henry vii. was first married to Sir Thomas Talbot of Bashall, and after the decease of her second husband, Henry, Lord Clifford, to Richard, third son of Thomas, Marquis of Dorset, son of Elizabeth Nevill. Her first jointure was 10 marks, her second ;^I50, which she continued to receive in the 3rd and 4th of Philip and Mary. The gradual advancement of this lady is remarkable. Her father was an esquire, her first husband a knight, her second a baron, her last the grandson of a queen. She survived her father-in-law, who was slain at Towton, ninety-seven years : and having conversed with many of the principals in the war between the Houses of York and Lancaster, must, in the middle of the next century, if her memory remained, have been a living chronicle fraught with information and entertainment. By her husband Henry, Lord Clifford, she left issue a daughter Dorothy who was married to Sir Hugh Lowther of Lowther.
THE CLIFFORDS: EARLS OF CUMBERLAND
THE CLIFFORDS : EARLS OF CUMBERLAND
Henry, Lord Clifford, First Earl of Cumberland AND Eleventh Lord of Skipton, was born In 1493, and was the eldest son of Henry, Lord Clifford, by his first wife Anna, daughter of Sir John St. John of Bletshoe. He seems to have lived on bad terms with his father. He was educated with Henry viii., and appears to have been as a young man wild and extravagant. He is said to have been reclaimed in good time, and to have settled down before his marriage, which probably took place about 15 12-13. Within two years after his accession to the estates and honours of the family he was advanced to the dignity of the Earl of Cumberland, and was made a Knight of the Garter seven years later, and when attacked at Skipton Castle by Aske and his fellow rebels, amidst a general defection of the members of his family, bravely defended it against them all.
A little before he built the great gallery of Skipton Castle for the reception of his high-born daughter-in-law, Lady Eleanor Brandon, and received for his bravery a short time before his death a grant of the priory of Bolton with all the lands thereto belonging, together with the manor of Storithes, Haslewood, Embsey, Eastby, Conondley, etc. This gift, so desirable in situation, and especially as these lands had
d
50 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
for the most part been amortised by the ancient lords of Skipton, was equal in value to the whole of the Clifford fee. But this was not all : by his marriage with Lady Margaret Percy, on the demise of her brother Henry, Earl of Northumberland, in consequence of a settlement, confirmed by Act of Parliament, the whole Percy fee, equivalent in extent to half of Craven, became vested in the Cliffords, and nearly completed their superiority over the whole district. He died 22nd April 1542, about the age of forty-nine, and was interred in the vault at Skipton. He was succeeded by his son,
Henry, Lord Clifford, Second Earl of Cumberland, AND Twelfth Lord of Skipton, who enjoyed his honours without disturbance. He died at Brougham Castle, and was buried at Skipton.
When only sixteen years of age he was made Knight of the Bath at the coronation of Anne Boleyn, and by the interest of Henry viii., a firm and constant friend of the family, in 1537 married the Lady Eleanor Brandon, daughter of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, by Mary, Queen Dowager of France, daughter of Henry vii. This marriage involved him in great expense, and he had to sell the great manor of Temedbury, co. Hereford, the oldest Clifford possession, which had belonged to them before the Cliffords came to Yorkshire. His wife, the Lady Eleanor, died in 1547, leaving no issue.
In 1552 or 1553 he married, at the church of Kirk Oswald, secondly, Anne, daughter of William, Lord Dacre, a very ' domestic ' woman, who was never at or near London in her
THE CLIFFORDS : EARLS OF CUMBERLAND 51
life. She survived her lord about ten years, and proved an excellent guardian to her son, in whose presence she died at Skipton Castle in 1581.
After the death of his first wife he seems to have settled down to a quiet country life, and only went to court three times : once at the coronation of Queen Mary, a second time at the marriage of his daughter to the Earl of Derby, and lastly to visit Queen Elizabeth soon after her accession.
He was succeeded by his son,
George, Lord Clifford, Third Earl of Cumberland, AND Thirteenth Lord of Skipton. He was a great but unamiable man. If you trace him in the pubHc history of his times, you see nothing but the accomplished courtier, the skilful navigator, the intrepid commander, the dis- interested patriot. If you follow him into his family you are struck with the indifferent and unfaithful husband, the negligent and thoughtless parent. If you enter his muniment room, you are surrounded by memorials of prodigality, mortgages and sales, inquietude and approaching want. He set out with a larger estate than any of his ancestors, and in a little more than twenty years he made it one of the least. Fortunately for his family a constitution originally vigorous gave way at forty-seven to hardships, anxieties and wounds. He was separated from his wife. He married, 24th June 1557, Lady Margaret Russell, youngest child of Francis, second Earl of Bedford, and had an only daughter,
Anne, who married first, 25th February 1608, Richard Sackville, Lord Buckhurst, afterwards Earl of Dorset, and had surviving issue : —
52 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
1. Margaret, married 1629 to John Tafton, second
Earl of Thanet, and had four sons, successively Earls of Thanet, the only one who had issue being Thomas, sixth Earl of Thanet.
2. Isabella, married in 1647 to James Compton,
Earl of Northampton. The Earl of Dorset died March 1624, and his widow married, 3rd June 1630, Philip Herbert, Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery, whom she also outlived. She died 22nd March 1675-6.
He died in 1605, and the earldom of Cumberland devolved upon his brother Francis, who became
Francis, Fourth Earl of Cumberland. It was during his life that the great contest for the Honour of Skipton took place. Sir Matthew Hale gives a full and interesting account of this great suit. This Francis, fourth Earl of Cumberland, was born at Skipton Castle a.d. 1559, and died there aged more than eighty. He seems to have been an easy and improvident man. His estate was managed for the last twenty years of his life by his son Henry Clifford.
The date of his death is thus recorded in the Register of Skipton :
* 1640. Jany. 28 of this month departed this life the Honourable Francis, Earle of Cumberland, Lord of the Honour of Skipton or Craven, and was solemnly buried in the vault of Skipton Church with his most noble ancestors.'
He married in 1589 Grisold, daughter of Thomas Hughes of Uxbridge, in the county of Middlesex, Esq. She was
THE CLIFFORDS : EARLS OF CUMBERLAND 53
first married to Edward Nevill, Lord Abergavenny, and by her second husband had issue : —
George Clifford, died as a child.
Henry Clifford, fifth and last Earl of Cumberland.
Margaret, married to Sir Gervaise Clifton of Clifton in the county of Nottingham.
She died on the 15th day of April 1613.
He was succeeded by his son,
Henry, Fifth and last Earl of Cumberland. He was born 28th February 1591. The Countess of Pembroke says that he was endowed with a good natural wit, was a tall and proper man, a good courtier, a brave horseman, an excellent huntsman, and had good skill in architecture and mathematics. He was much favoured by King James and King Charles and died of a burning fever, at one of the prebends' houses in York, December 1643. The Earl of Clarendon says : ' The Earl of Cumberland was a man of great honour and integrity, who had all his estate in that county, and had lived most amongst them with very much acceptation and affection from the gentlemen and common people, but he was not in any degree active or of a martial temper : and rather a man not like to have any enemies, than to oblige any to be firmly and resolutely his friends.'
He married 25th July 1610 Lady Francis Cecil, only daughter of Robert, Earl of Salisbury, and had an only daughter and heir,
Elizabeth, married 5th July 1635 to Richard Doyle, second Earl of Cork, and died 6th January 1698. (The present Duke of Devonshire is the representative on the
54 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
male line of the illustrious House of Clifford, and lord of the Percy fee or Craven.)
He died nth December 1643, when that dignity expired.
Anne, Baroness of Clifford, Fourteenth Lord of Skipton. By the death of the last earl the long contest for the barony of Skipton was finally closed, and after thirty- five years of family discord, Anne, Countess Dowager of Dorset, and then Countess of Pembroke and Montgomery, entered upon the inheritance of her ancestors. She was one of the most illustrious women of her own or any other age. By the blessing of a religious education and the example of an excellent mother, she imbibed in childhood those principles which in middle life preserved her untainted from the profligacy of one husband, and the fanaticism of another, and after her deliverance from both conducted her to the close of a long life in the uniform exercise of every virtue which became her sex, her rank, and her Christian profession.
She had all the courage and liberality of the other sex, united to all the devotion, order and economy (perhaps not all the softness) of her own. She was the oldest, but most independent courtier in the kingdom, had known and admired Queen Elizabeth, had refused what she deemed an iniquitous award of King James, rebuilt her dismantled castles in defiance of Cromwell, and repelled with disdain the interposition of a profligate minister under Charles 11.
In her second widowhood, and as soon as the iniquity of the times would permit, her genius began to expand itself. Her first husband was, like all the Buckhursts, a man of sense and spirit, but of licentious morals. Her second was
THE CLIFFORDS : EARLS OF CUMBERLAND 55
the weak and illiterate tool of a party which she despised. Accordingly, we find her complaining that the bower of Knowle in Kent, and of Wilton in Wiltshire, had been to her no better than the painted abodes of sorrow. Yet, perhaps, if there was a failing about her character, it was that she loved independence, and even authority, too well for a wife.
But the time now came when every impediment was to be removed, and with two rich jointures added to her paternal inheritance, she withdrew to the North and set about her great work of * repairing the breach and restoring the paths to dwell in.' Six of the houses of her ancestors were in ruins, the church of Skipton, in consequence of the damage it had sustained during the siege of the castle, was in little better condition : but her inexpensive though magnificent habits, the integrity and economy of her agents, and above all, her own personal inspection, enabled her in a short time to remove every vestige of devastation which the Civil Wars had left. These great works she was not backward to commemorate. Most of erections bear mutatis mutandis^ the same inscription : and perhaps there is no English character so copiously recorded in stone and marble as the Countess of Pembroke. An early taste for poetry was instilled into her by her tutor Daniel. These services she repaid by an epitaph, in which her own name, as usual, is not forgotten. She erected a monument of Spenser in Westminster Abbey, and that of her father at Skipton (where she re-inscribed the tomb of the first and second Earls of Cumberland), together with a statue of her beloved mother at Appleby.
It is still more to her honour that she patronised the
56 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
poets of her youth, and the distressed loyalists of her maturer age ; that she enabled her aged servants to end their lives in ease and independence ; and, above all, that she educated and portioned the illegitimate children of her first husband, the Earl of Dorset. Removing from castle to castle, she diffused plenty and happiness around her, by consuming on the spot the produce of her vast domains in charity and hospitality.
Equally remote from the undistinguishing profusion of ancient times, and the parsimonious elegance of modern habits, her house was a school for the young, and retreat for the aged, an asylum for the persecuted, a college for the learned, and a pattern for all. The favourite authors of her early days may be conjectured from the library depicted on her great family portrait. When her eyes began to fail she employed a reader who marked on every volume or pamphlet when he began and ended his task. Many books so marked still remain in the evidence room at Skipton.
Ingenuous anxiety and perhaps, too, her necessary investigations of her claims to the baronies of her family, led her to compile their history : an industrious and diffuse, but not always an accurate work, in which more perhaps might have been expected from the assistance of Sir Matthew Hale, who, though a languid writer, was a man of great acuteness and comprehension.
Her life was extended by the especial blessing of Providence, frequently bestowed on eminently virtuous characters, to a period beyond which she could no longer hope to enjoy herself, or be useful to others, and she died 22nd March 1675, aged eighty-seven.
THE CLIFFORDS : EARLS OF CUMBERLAND 57
Her person was tall and upright ; her dress after she resided in the North, usually of black serge ; her features more expressive of firmness than benignity. The principles of physiognomy are certainly fallacious, for no one who ever saw the picture of Lucy Pembroke without knowing whom it represented would suppose it to have been meant for a beneficent and amiable woman.
Margaret, Countess of Cumberland (her mother), having died during the heat of the contest with Earl Francis, would probably have been refused interment at Skipton : at all events, she was buried at Appleby, where her illustrious daughter, partly from affection to her, and partly it may be from aversion to her uncle and cousin, whose bodies did not completely close the family vault at Skipton, chose to accom- pany her ; and a monument in that church, not unworthy of her name and virtues, commemorates Anne, Countess Dowager of Pembroke, Dorset, and Montgomery.
In consequence of King James's grant of the reversion to Earl Francis, Lady Pembroke was seised of the castle and manor of Skipton in fee ; a right which she availed herself of by settling them on her grandsons and their issue in order of birth.
We have seen how the property passed to four brothers who became successively Earl of Thanet and Lord of Skip- ton, and finally passed by descent from Sackville, son of Sackville Tufton, brother of Thomas, Earl of Thanet, to his son Sackville, who became the eighth Earl of Thanet, and died loth April 1786, and was succeeded by Sackville, ninth Earl of Thanet, who was the last legitimate Tufton to hold the House of Skipton.
58 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
The present Lord Hothfield, the owner of the estates, is a son of Sir Richard Tufton, Bart., who was the illegitimate son of the last Earl of Thanet.
The following account of the Clifford family is taken from The Memoirs of the Court of Elizabeth, by Aikin.
' The illustrious race of Clifford takes origin from William, Duke of Normandy. In a later age its blood was mingled with that of the Plantagenets by the intermarriage of the seventh Lord de Clifford and a daughter of the celebrated Hotspur by Elizabeth his wife, whose father was Edward Mortimer, Earl of March. Notwithstanding this alliance with the House of York, two successive Lords de Clifford were slain in the Civil Wars, fighting strenuously on the Lancastrian side. It was to the younger of these, whose sanguinary spirit gained him the surname of The Butcher, that the barbarous murder of the young Earl of Rutland was popularly imputed, and a well-founded dread of the vengeance of the Yorkists caused his widow to conceal his son and heir under the lowly disguise of a shepherd boy, in which condition he grew up among the fells of Westmorland totally illiterate, and probably unsuspicious of his origin.
At the end of twenty-five years, the restoration of the line of Lancaster in the person of Henry vii. restored to Lord de Clifford the name, rank, and large possessions of his ancestors ; but the peasant-noble preferred through life that rustic obscurity in which his character had been formed, and his habits fixed, to the splendours of a court, or the turmoils of ambition. He kept aloof from the capital, and
THE CLIFFORDS : EARLS OF CUMBERLAND 59
it was only on the field of Flodden, to which he led in person his hardy tenantry, that this de Clifford exhibited some sparks of the warlike fire inherent in his race.
' His successor, by qualities very different from the homely virtues which had obtained for his father among his tenantry and his neighbours the surname of " The Good," recommended himself to the special favour of Henry viii., who created him Earl of Cumberland and matched his heir to his own niece Lady Eleanor Brandon. The sole fruit of this illustrious alliance, which involved the earl in an almost ruinous course of expense, was a daughter who after- wards became the wife of Edward, Earl of Derby, who was the father of Ferdinando, Earl of Derby, who came to an untimely end. Eleanor, Countess of Cumberland, was the younger daughter of Mary, Queen Dowager of France, by her second husband Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. The children of Lady Catherine Grey, Countess of Hertford, obviously stood before him in the line of succession, and occasion was taken by the Romish party to urge him to assume the title of King of England. One Hesketh, a zealous agent of the Jesuits and popish fugitives, was employed to tamper with the earl, who on the one hand undertook that his claim should be supported by powerful succours from abroad, and on the other, menaced him with certain and speedy death in case of his rejecting the proposal or betraying its authors. But the earl was too loyal to hesitate for a moment. He revealed the whole plot to the government, and Hesketh on his information was convicted of treason and suffered death. Not long after the Earl of Derby was suddenly seized with a violent disorder of the bowels, which
60 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
in a few days carried him off : and on the first day of his illness, his Gentleman of the Horse took his lord's best saddle-horse and fled. These circumstances might be thought pretty clearly to indicate poison as a means of his untimely end : but although suspicion of its employment was entertained by some, the melancholy event appears to have been more generally ascribed to witchcraft. An examination being instituted, a waxen image was discovered in his chamber, and a hair the colour of the earl's drawn through the body ; also an old woman in the neighbourhood, a reputed witch, being required to recite after a prompter the Lord's Prayer in Latin, was observed to blunder repeatedly in the same words. But these circumstances, however strong, not being deemed absolutely conclusive, the poor old woman was apparently suffered to escape. After the Gentleman of the Horse, or his instigators, we do not find that any search was made.
* The mother of the Earl of Derby died two years after. At one period of her life we find her much in favour with the queen, whom she was accustomed to attend in quality of first lady of the blood-royal, but she had subsequently excited her majesty's suspicions by the imprudent con- sultations of fortune-tellers, and diviners, on the delicate subject, doubtless, of succession to the crown.
* By a second and better assorted marriage, the Earl of Cumberland became the father of George, his successor, our present subject, who proved the most remarkable of this distinguished family.
* The death of his father during his childhood had brought him under wardship to the queen : and by her command he
THE CLIFFORDS : EARLS OF CUMBERLAND 6i
was sent to pursue his studies at Peterhouse, Cambridge, under Whitgift, afterwards primate. Here he applied himself with ardour to the mathematics, and it was apparently the bent of his genius towards these studies which caused him first to turn his attention to nautical matters. An enter- prising spirit and a turn for all the fashionable profusions of the day, which speedily plunged him in pecuniary embar- rassments, added incitement to his activity in these pursuits, and in 1586 he fitted out three ships and a pinnace to cruise against the Spaniards and plunder their settlements. It appears extraordinary that he did not assume in person the command of this little squadron : but combats and triumphs perhaps stHl more glorious in his estimation awaited him in the smoother elements of the court.
* In the games of chivalry, he bore off the prize of courage and dexterity from all his peers ; the romantic band of knights-tilters boasted of him as one of their brightest ornaments, and her majesty deigned to encourage his devotedness to her glory by an envied pledge of favour.
' As he stood or kneeled before her, she dropped her glove, perhaps not undesignedly, and on his picking it up, graciously desired him to keep it. He caused the trophy to be encircled with diamonds, and ever after, at all tilts and tournaments, bore it conspicuously placed in front of his high crowned hat.
' But the emergencies of the year 1588 summoned him to resign the fopperies of an antiquated knight errantry for serious warfare and the exercise of genuine valour. Taking upon him the command of a ship, he joined the fleet appointed to hang upon the motions of the Spanish Armada and harass it in its progress up the British Channel, and on several
62 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
occasions, especially in the last action off Calais, he signalised himself by uncommon exertions.
' In reward of his services, her majesty granted him her Royal Commission to pursue a voyage to the South Seas, which he had already projected ; she even lent him for the occasion one of her own ships ; and thus encouraged, he commenced that long series of naval enterprises which have given him an enduring name. After two or three voyages he constantly declined her majesty's gracious offer of the loan of her ships, because they were accompanied by the express condition that he should never lay any vessel of hers on board a Spanish one, lest both should be destroyed by fire. Such was the character of mingled penuriousness and timidity which pervaded the maritime policy of this great princess, even after her defeat of the Armada had demon- strated that ship for ship her navy might defy the world !
' At this period all attempts against the power and prosperity of Spain were naturally regarded with high favour and admiration, and it cannot be denied that on his long and hazardous expeditions the Earl of Cumberland evinced high courage, undaunted enterprise, and an extraordinary share of perseverance under repeated failures, disappoint- ments, and hardships of every kind. It is also true that his vigorous attacks embarrassed extremely the intercourse of Spain with her colonies: and besides, the direct injuries which they inflicted compelled this power to incur an immense additional expense for the protection of her treasure ships and settlements.
' But the benefit to England was comparatively trifling ; and to the earl himself, notwithstanding occasional captures
THE CLIFFORDS : EARLS OF CUMBERLAND 63
of great value, his voyages were far from producing any lasting advantage ; they scarcely repaid on the whole the cost of equipment, while the influx of sudden wealth with which they sometimes gratified him only ministered food to that magnificent profusion in which he finally squandered both his acquisitions and patrimony. None of the liberal and enlightened views which had prompted the efforts of the great navigation of this and a preceding age appear to have had any share in the enterprises of the Earl of Cumberland. Even the thirst of martial glory seems in him to have been subordinate to the love of gain and that appetite for rapine, to which his loose and extravagant habits had given the force of a passion.
' He had formed in early life an attachment to the beautiful daughter of that worthy character and rare exampler of old English hospitality, Sir William Holies, ancestor to the Earls of Clare of that surname : but her father, from a singular pride of independence, refused to listen to his proposals, saying : " That he would not have to stand cap in hand to his son-in-law : his daughter should marry a good gentleman, with whom he might have society and friendship," Disappointed thus of the object of his affections he matched himself with the daughter of the Earl of Bedford, a woman of merit, as it appears, but whom their mutual indifference precluded from exerting on him any salutary influence. As a husband he proved both unfaithful and cruel : and separating himself after a few years from his countess, on pretence of incompatability of temper, he suffered her to live not only in desertion but in poverty. He must be dismissed with no more applause than may be challenged by
64 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
a character singularly deficient in the guiding and restraining virtues, and endowed with such a share only of the more active ones as served to render it conspicuous rather than truly and permanently illustrious.'
Having finished with the history of the Cliffords, before we pass on to consider the marriage of Dorothy Clifford with Sir Hugh Lowther, I have by permission inserted two articles, one on ' Hotspur ' (Sir Henry Percy) from the Cambridge edition of the EncyclopcBdia, written by James Gairdner and J. Horace Round ; and the other on the Barony of Gillsland, taken from the History of Cwnberland by R. S. Ferguson, F.S.A.
And I have done this as we are descended in the female line from ' Hotspur,' from Thomas, Lord Dacre of Gillsland, and from the Vaux of Catterlen and the Vaux of Tryermaine. In Burke's Dormant and Extinct Peerages there is a full account of the Vaux family. It differs a good deal from the account of Ferguson, and no doubt Ferguson's is the more accurate, as Burke is not always to be relied upon.
I give Burke's early account for what it is worth : he says the family of Vaux derived its surname from a district in Normandy where it was originally seated. So early as the year 794 of the Christian era a branch of the Vauxes is found in Provence, and then allied by marriage to most of the sovereign princes of Europe. They are mentioned in the records of that and subsequent periods by the patronimic of Beaux, Baux or Vaux (B and V being used indiscriminately in the south of France), a.xd the ancient possessions of the princes of Beaux in that country are still called ' Les Terres
THE CLIFFORDS : EARLS OF CUMBERLAND 65
Bausenques.' In the year 1140, the Vauxes disputed the sovereignty of Provence with the house of Barcelona : and in 1 173 they acquired the principahty of Orange by marriage with Tiburge, heiress of Orange. In 12 14 WilHam, Prince of Baux and Orange, assumed the title of King of Aries and Vienne, which dignity was acknowledged and confirmed to him by Frederick II.
In 1393 Raymond, King of Aries, Prince of Baux and Orange, left, by his first wife Joane, Countess of Geneva, an only daughter who married John de Chalons, Great Chamberlain of France, and conveyed the titles and pos- sessions of the house of Baux into that family, from which by marriage with the heiress of Chalons they came to the house of Nassau in 1530, and from this alliance the members of that house have since borne the title of Princes of Orange.
Bertram, second son of William, third Prince of Baux and Orange, went with Philip of Anjou into Italy, when that prince ascended the throne of Naples. The son of this Bertram, and the Bertram de Vaux, was Count of Montescaziosi, etc., and married Beatrix, daughter of Charles 11., King of Naples and Sicily. His son, Francis de Vaux, espoused Margaret of Anjou, widow of Edward Baliol, King of Scotland, and granddaughter of Philip of Anjou, Emperor of Constantinople, etc., in right of his wife, the daughter of Baldwin, Earl of Flanders and Emperor of Constantinople ; and by this marriage Francis de Vaux was created Duke of Andrea, in the kingdom of Naples, etc., and his descendants enjoyed the highest offices in the state, as the following inscription, translated from a monument
E
66 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
erected in the year 1615 in the Church of St. Clair, at Naples, fully attests : —
' This monument is dedicated to the most illustrious family of Vaux, a potent race, decorated with the royal insignia, in the kingdom of Vienne and Aries, Princes of Orange, Counts of Geneva, and great rulers within the sovereignty of Provence, which they frequently subjugated to their dominion by force of arms. They were Emperors of Greece, Despots of Romania, Princes of Achaia, Premier Dukes of Andrea, Ursino and Naro, Counts of Montescaziosi Avellino, Saleto, Castro-ungento, Nola, Alexana, Acerraro, Great Constables, Justi- ciaries, High Chamberlains and Stewards of that realm, under the kings of the house of Anjou, and Generals of the Papal Armies. Hieronymus de Vaux has here deposited the bones of as many of his name and hneage as he has been able to collect, and out of piety to them has erected this monument to their memory.
Antonia de Vaux, Queen of Sicily. Isabella de Vaux, Queen of Naples. Cecilia de Vaux, Countess of Savoy. Solelia de Vaux, Princess of Piedmont. Maria de Vaux, Dauphiness of Vienne. Isabella de Vaux, Despotisse of Servia.'
It is evident from this account that some of the Vauxes were very great people in Europe. Of course Burke says that they were all one family (which I should very much doubt), and that the founder of the English branches of the Vauxes was Bertrand de Vaux who attended a tournament in the year 929, and was a favourite of Robert i., Duke of Normandy, grandfather of William the Conqueror. The names of the descendants of this Bertram are traced through the Rolles Normands, written Baux, Vaux, Vaulx and de Vallibus, at the time of the Norman Conquest.
THE CLIFFORDS : EARLS OF CUMBERLAND 67
Harold de Vaux, Lord of Vaux in Normandy, having for religious purposes conferred his seigniory upon the Abbey of the Holy Trinity at Caen (founded by Matilda, wife of William the Conqueror), came into England accompanied by his three sons, viz. :
1. Hubert, who acquired the barony of Gillesland.
(See Ferguson's article. He gives quite a different descent. There can be no doubt that Ferguson is correct.)
2. Ranulph, Lord of Tryermaine, whose line termin-
ated in the heiress, Mabel de Vaux, who married William Vaux of Catterlen, a member of the branch founded by the youngest son Robert.
3. Robert of Catterlen, whose line terminated with
Mabel Vaux who married Christopher Richmond of Highhead Castle, co. Cumberland, from which marriage we are descended.
I have hesitated about inserting this, as I very much doubt if there is any record of any * de Vaux ' in England before the time of * Hubert de Vaux.'
SIR HENRY PERCY (HOTSPUR)
SIR HENRY PERCY (HOTSPUR)
(This article is published by permission of the Cambridge University Press from the EncyclopcBdia Britannica : and was written by James Gairdner and J. Horace Round.)
Percy, Sir Henry, called Hotspur (1364- 1403), eldest son of Henry, first Earl of Northumberland, was born on the 20th of March 1364. He saw active service when he was fourteen at the siege of Berwick. Six years later he was associated with his father in the wardenship of the eastern march of Scotland, and his zeal in border warfare won the name of Hotspur for him from his opponents. In 1386 he was sent to Calais, and raided French territory, but was shortly afterwards recalled to defend England against a naval attack by France. In popular story and ballad he is known as one of the heroes of Otterburn or Chevy Chase, which is the subject of one of the most stirring recitals of Froissart. In the summer of 1388 the Scots invaded England by way of Carlisle, sending a small body under the Earls of Douglas, Mar and Moray to invade Northumberland. The Earl of Northumberland remained at Alnwick, but sent his sons Sir Henry and Sir Ralph against the enemy. In hand-to- hand fighting before the walls of Newcastle, Douglas is said to have won Sir Henry's pennon, which he swore to fix upon
72 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
the walls of Dalkeith. The Scots then retreated to Otterburn, where Percy, who was bent on recovering his pennon, attacked them on a fine August evening in 1388. Douglas was slain in battle, though not, as is stated by Walsingham, by Percy's hand : Henry Percy was captured by Sir John Montgomery, and his brother Ralph by Sir John Maxwell. Hotspur was released on the payment of a heavy ransom, to which Richard 11. contributed ;^3000, and in the autumn his term as warden of Carlisle and the West March was extended to five years. In 1399, together with his father, he joined Henry of Lancaster. Henry iv. gave the charge of the West March to Northumberland, while Henry Percy received the castles of Bamburgh, Roxburgh and Berwick, and the wardenship of the East March, with a salary of ;^3000 in peace time and ;^ 12,000 in war. During the first year of Henry's reign Hotspur further was appointed justiciar of North Wales and constable of the castles of Chester, Flint, Conway, Denbigh and Carnarvon. Henry also gave him a grant of the island of Anglesey, with the castle of Beaumaris. William and Rees ap Tudor captured Conway Castle on the 1st of April 1401, and Percy in company with the Prince of Wales set out to recover the place, Percy providing the funds. In May he reported to the king the pacification of Merioneth and Carnarvon, and before the end of the month Conway was surrendered to him. Mean- while he wrote demanding arrears of pay, with the threat of resignation if the money were not forthcoming, but the king intimated that the loss of Conway had been due to his negligence, and only sent part of the money. He had the same difficulty in obtaining money for his northern charge
SIR HENRY PERCY (HOTSPUR) 73
that he had experienced in Wales. ^ Anglesey was taken from him, and he was deprived of Roxburgh Castle in favour of his rival, the Earl of Westmorland. The Scots again invaded England in the autumn of 1402, headed by the Earl of Douglas and Murdoch Stewart, son of the Duke of Albany. Northumberland and Hotspur barred their way at Millfield, near Wooler, and the Scots were compelled to fight at Humbledon or Homildon Hill, on the 14th of September. The English archers were provided with a good target in the masses of the Scottish spearmen, and Hotspur was restrained from charging by his ally, George Dunbar, Earl of March. The Scottish army was almost destroyed, while the English loss is said to have been five men. Disputes with the king arose over the disposal of the Scottish prisoners, Percy insisting on his right to hold Douglas as his personal prisoner, and he was summoned to court to explain. It is related that when he arrived Henry asked for Douglas, and Hotspur demanded in return that his brother-in-law, Edmund Mortimer, should be allowed to ransom himself from Owen Glendower, with whom he was a prisoner. High words followed, in the course of which Henry called Percy a traitor, struck him on the face, and drew his sword on him. Percy is said to have answered this defiance with the words, ' Not here, but on the field.' This was late in 1402, and in 1403 Hotspur issued a proclamation in Cheshire stating that
1 The dissatisfaction of the Percys seems to have been chiefly due to the money question. Sir J. H. Ramsay [Lancaster and York) estimates that in the four years from 1399 to 1403 they had received from the king the sumof ;^4i,75o, which represented a very large capital in the fourteenth century, and they had also received considerable grants of land. King Henry iv. was about to march north himself to look into the real relations between the Percys and the Scots, when on the 6th of July 1403 Henry Percy was in open rebellion.
74 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Richard ii. was alive, and summoning the inhabitants to his standard. He made common cause with his prisoner Douglas, and marched south to join forces with Glendower, who was now reconciled with Mortimer. He was reinforced by his uncle Thomas, Earl of Worcester, who, although steward to the household of the Prince of Wales, joined his family in rebellion. The mythical Richard ii. was heard of no more, and Percy made himself the champion of the young Earl of March. When he arrived at the castle Foregate, Shrews- bury, early on the 21st of July, and demanded provisions, he found the king's forces had arrived before him. He retired in the direction of Whitchurch, and awaited the enemy about three and a half miles from Shrewsbury. After a long parley, in which a truce of two days was even said to have been agreed on, the Scottish Earl of March, fighting on the royal side, forced on the battle in the afternoon, the royal right being commanded by the Prince of Wales. Hotspur was killed, the Earls of Douglas and Worcester, Sir Richard Venables of Kinderton, and Sir Richard Vernon were captured, and the rebel army dispersed. Worcester, Venables and Vernon were executed the next day. Percy's body was buried at Whitchurch, but was disinterred two days later to be exhibited in Shrewsbury. The head was cut off and fixed on one of the gates of York.
THE BARONY OF GILLSLAND
THE BARONY OF GILLSLAND
(Published by permission of Elliot Stock and Co., and written by the late R. S. Ferguson, F.S.A.)
This barony of Gilsland was given by Ranulph de Meschines to his brother, William de Meschines, who was unable to reduce it into possession. Gilsland, however, from an early period, formed the estate of some great thane or chieftain, whose residence was at the mote of Irthington, and who in the reign of Henry i. was one Gill or Gilles, the son of Bueth. Gilles managed to retain his estates so long as he lived, but Henry ii. granted them to Hubert de Vallibus by the description of Totam terram quam Gilbert us Jilius Boet tenuit die quo fuit vivus et mortuus, de quocumque illam tenuisset. Corby and Catterlen, though apparently not belonging to the estates held by Gilles, the son of Bueth, were also granted de incremento, and thus became part of the barony, or, at any rate, held with it ; the whole was to be held per serviciam duorum militum. The charter is dated at Newcastle-on-Tyne, and is witnessed by the Archbishop of York, the Bishops of Lincoln and Durham, the Earl of Norfolk, and many others, all Normans by their names, except Turg' de Russedal, who is the same as Turgis Brundis, the Fleming who had received the barony of Lyddale.
Hubert de Vallibus, the first baron of Gilsland, was a
78 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Norman, fourth son of Robert de Vallibus, or de Vaux, who, in 1086, held property in Norfolk, at Pentney. Hubert de Vallibus followed the fortunes of the young prince Henry in his long struggle with Stephen. He was probably an old man when he received the reward of his services in a grant of Gilsland. His son, Robert de Vallibus, second baron, fills a large place in history and legend ; but we dismiss as fabulous that legend which credits him with the treacherous murder, during a truce, of Gilles, the son of Bueth. This Robert de Vallibus defended the city and castle of Carlisle, in the war of 1173 and 1174, against William the Lion of Scotland, and the determined front he showed, impervious alike to threats or bribes, checked the progress of the King of Scotland.
The parley between De Vallibus, or De Vaux, and the Scottish leaders, as told in rhyming Norman-French by Jordan Fantosme, would make a fine subject for a picture. In all, five Barons de Vallibus, or de Vaux, ruled over Gilsland, of whom the last, Hubert, left one sole daughter and heiress, Maud or Matilda.
These Barons de Vallibus were among the greater barons of England, and as such Robert de Vallibus, fourth baron, was summoned personally to Parliament, sigillatim per litteras nostras, in pursuance of the fourteenth clause of the Great Charter, Gilsland being a barony by writ.
The heiress, Maud de Vallibus, married Thomas de Multon, son of Thomas de Multon, of Multon, or Moulton, near Spalding, in Lincolnshire. Whether the de Multons were Englishmen or Normans does not appear, but the fact that they derived their name from an English estate is against
THE BARONY OF GILLSLAND 79
their having been persons of consequence on the Continent. They may have been retainers or connections of the Angevin Ivo Tailboise in right of his EngHsh wife Lucia, mother of the Lucia who married Ranulf Meschin. The connection is suggestive, and probably accounts for the appearance of the de Multons in Cumberland. Thomas de Multon the elder was sheriff of Lincolnshire in the 9th and loth of King John. He had a grant of the custody of Amabil and Alice de Lucy, coheiresses of Richard de Lucy, Baron of Egremont in Cumberland. These ladies he married to his sons Lambert and Alan de Multon, and from them sprang the families of Multon of Egremont and Lucy of Cockermouth. Thomas de Multon the elder followed up this great matrimonial coup by another ; he himself married Ada de Lucy, the widowed mother of the two young ladies, and herself the coheiress of Hugh de Morville. Thomas de Multon the elder thus became forester of Cumberland, and seised of a moiety of the barony of Burgh-by-Sands in that county, and other estates. By his second wife, Ada, he had a son, Thomas de Multon the younger, who inherited a full share of the Multon matrimonial sagacity. He married Maud de Vallibus, and so became Thomas de Multon de Gilsland ; but beyond that he makes little mark. His wife Maud, or Matilda, was domina de Gilsland ; she outlived her husband, her son and her grandson, and continued domina de Gilsland to the day of her death, in 1295, sitting on the bench at Assizes at Penrith as domina de Gilsland — a * grand old woman,' if indeed she should not rather be called a ' grand old man,' for, in 19 Edward i. she was summoned to Parliament as MatiW de Multon d'n's de Gillesland. She
80 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
was succeeded in her estates by her great-grandson Thomas de Multon de Gilsland, who was summoned to Parhament as such, thus maintaining the position of the barony as a barony by writ, and of the lords thereof among the greater barons. He died in 13 13, leaving an heiress, Margaret de Multon, a child just entering on her teens, between whom and Ranulph de Dacre a marriage had been arranged by their parents when both were very young indeed. This arrangement had, however, been superseded, prior to the death of Thomas de Multon de Gilsland, by another, a much more brilliant alliance, under which Margaret de Multon was betrothed to Robert de Clifford, the seven-year-old heir of the Robert Clifford who had inherited the great estates of the Vipounts in Westmorland, and who fell at Bannock- burn in 1314. Edward ii. committed the estates of the Cliffords and the heiress of Gilsland to the guardianship of Guy Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. But when the lady was * sweet seventeen ' she asserted her own right to a say in the matter, and eloped by night from Warwick Castle with Ranulph de Dacre. Ranulph got into a scrape for this exploit, and Lord William Howard records it thus :
' Pat. 28 Oct° A° II Ed. III. (should be 11.). Ranulph de Dacre pardoned for stealing awai in the nighte out of the king's custody from his Castell of Warwick on Margaret, daughter and heir of Thomas of Molton of Gilsland, who helde of ye kinge in capita, and was within age, whearof the sayd Ranulphe standeth indighted in curia regis.'
Let us hope the stealing away was mutual, and one of hearts, and that Randulph did not steal awai the young lady solely quia jus habuit ad illa?n, as the chronicle of Lanercost
THE BARONY OF GILLSLAND 8i
says. The barony of Gilsland thus came into possession of the family of De Dacre, or De Dacor, who took their name from Dacre, or Dacor, a manor in Cumberland of which they were lords under the Baron of Greystoke.
Among the great families of Cumberland the martial house of Dacre stands out the most prominent. So far back as ever they can be traced they are avr6xdove<i of the soil, De Dacres of Dacre. The first that is known is William de Dacre of Dacre, sheriff of Cumberland in 20 Henry lii., and great-grandfather of the daring and lucky wooer who carried off the young ' lady of Gilsland.' The Dacres
' So daring in love, and so dauntless in war,'
are ever inseparably connected in history and legend with memories of Flodden, of border warfare and border raids, while their wild slogan of ' A Daker, a Daker, a read bull, a read bull,' was ever a terror to the Scots, as their banner of martial red, with its silver escallops, was ever a rallying- point for the English bordermen.
Ranulph de Dacre was succeeded in the estates and honours by three sons, a grandson and a great grandson. The death, in 36 Henry vi., of the last of these, Thomas Dacre by name, brought about a remarkable severance of the estates and honours. The old Multon Lincolnshire property and the dignity of Lord Dacre devolved upon the heir-general, Joan, wife of Sir Richard Fenys, and daughter of Thomas Dacre's eldest son, who had died vita parentis. From her descend the Dacres of the South, who still enjoy that title. The bulk of the property fell to the male heir, the second son of Thomas Dacre, namely, Ranulph de Dacre,
F
82 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
who received a writ of summons to Parliament as Ranulph Dacre of Gilsland. But he was presently knocked on the head at Towtonfield ; his blood was attainted, as was that of his brother Humphrey, who succeeded. The estates were forfeited, and the bulk of them granted to Lady Joan. Humphrey, however, recovered them, and was summoned to Parliament as Lord Dacre de Gilsland, and he and his descendants enjoyed the dignity of ' Lord Dacre of the North.' In 2 Richard iii. this Humphrey Dacre became Lord Warden of the Marches — the first of his family to hold that famous office, which has become almost identified with the lords of Gilsland. He died in i Henry vii., leaving a numerous family by his wife Mabel Parr, daughter of Sir Thomas Parr, and great-aunt to Queen Katherine. He and his wife lie buried under a fine tomb adjoining the north side of the choir at Lanercost, on which their names are carved in relief.
To Humphrey succeeded his son and heir, Thomas Dacre, probably the best known of his race. He, like his ancestor, Ranulph de Dacre, stole away his wife in the night. In this case the lady was Elizabeth de Greystoke, ultimately the heiress of the entire baronies of Greystoke and Fitzwilliam, of a moiety of the baronies of Bolbeck and Wemme, a fourth part of that of Montfichet, and a third of a moiety of that of Morley or Morpeth, and also of the manor of Hinderskelfe. The lady was at Brougham Castle, in care of the Cliffords, when Thomas Dacre stole her away by night. No doubt she was destined for one of that family, and thus a second time did a Dacre disappoint a Clifford of a well ' tochered ' bride. And it is not too much to say that the midnight
THE BARONY OF GILLSLAND 83
flittings of Margaret de Multon and Elizabeth de Greystoke, two girls in their teens, have largely coloured the political complexion of the county of Cumberland — nay, have almost affected the fortunes of this kingdom.
Thomas Dacre served at the siege of Norham Castle with Lord Surrey. Under that nobleman he commanded the reserve at Flodden Field, and greatly contributed to the victory. He was made Knight of the Garter, and was Lord Warden of the Marches from i Henry viii. until his death in 17 Henry viii. In that office he acted with vigour and severity. As an instance we may cite the ' jornay ' he devised in 1525, the year of his death : —
' That the whole garrison with the inhabitants of the country were to meet at Howtell Swyre upon Monday, at iiij of the clock, aft'nons the xxix of Junij, and the said company by the suffrance of God to ride into Scotland, and to cast down the towr of Kelso Abbaye and to burne the towne ; the town of Sm'lawes, the town of Ormyston, and the Mossehouse.'
Severe abroad. Sir Thomas Dacre, or Lord Thomas Dacre, as he was called, was careful at home. He took strict care that the Scots should have little chance of making reprisals in England. He built Askerton Castle, as his initials show, to guard against inroads from Scotland by Bewcastle and the Maiden Way. He built Drumburgh Castle, out of materials from the Roman Wall, to stop invasions across the Solway, and his arms, with the garter round them, are still over the door of the farmhouse into which the castle has been converted. He also built the outworks and much of the upper part of Naworth Castle. Lord Thomas Dacre died
84 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
in 1525, and he and his wife Elizabeth de Greystoke are buried at Lanercost, under a tomb on the south side of the choir.
His eldest son succeeded as William, Lord Dacre of Gilisland and Greystoke, and as Lord Warden of the Marches, in which capacity he is admitted to have been rough upon the Scots, for, being indicted for treason at Westminster, he was acquitted by his peers, as Dugdale says :
* By reason that the witnesses were Scotchmen of mean condition, who were thought to be suborned, and to speak maliciously against him, in regard of his severity towards them as Warden of the Marches.'
Lord William stood aloof from Aske's rebellion. He was Governor of Carlisle in the reigns of Edward vi., Mary, and Elizabeth, though not continuously. He died in 1563, and was buried in Carlisle Cathedral, leaving five sons — Thomas, Leonard, Francis, George and Edward — and five daughters. Thomas succeeded his father as Lord Dacre, but died in 1566, leaving one son George, a lad not five years old, and three daughters, Ann, Elizabeth, and Mary, of whom the eldest, Ann, was little over twelve years of age at her father's death. The mother of these children was Elizabeth Leybourne, daughter to Sir James Leybourne of Cunswick, co. West- morland. She married, shortly after her first husband's death, Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, as third wife, but she did not long survive. Shortly after his mother's death the little Lord George was killed by a fall from a wooden horse, and thus his three sisters became his co-heirs, who all being minors, the duke, their stepfather, obtained a grant of their
THE BARONY OF GILLSLAND 85
wardship and marriage, and disposed of them to his three sons : Ann marrying the Earl of Arundel ; Mary, Thomas, Lord Howard of Walden, afterwards Earl of Suffolk ; and Elizabeth, Lord William Howard, the duke's third son.
A great controversy arose about the dignities and pos- sessions of the young lord so unfortunately killed, and the controversy divided into two separate questions — that of the dignities and that of the possessions. A commission appointed for that purpose decided that the dignities did not go to the heir-male, Leonard Dacre, but to the heirs-general. High authorities have doubted the correctness of this decision, but it prevailed. Thus the barony of Dacre of Gilsland, or of the North, fell into abeyance between the three co-heirs, and has ever since remained in abeyance, for the dignity of Baron Dacre of Gilsland, now held by the Earl of Carlisle, is a new creation by patent, in the year 1660, with precedence from that date.
The controversy as to the possessions of the little Lord Dacre was more important and more protracted. Three of the Dacre uncles in succession tried to wrest the estates from their young nieces, and Queen Elizabeth put in her claim to them, but the ladies ultimately prevailed, though they had to redeem their possessions as mere strangers at a very high rate, about ;^ 10,000 a piece. Lady Elizabeth Dacre thus brought to her husband. Lord William Howard, great share of the Dacres' estates, including the barony of Gilsland, which has ever since remained with the Howards, and is now the property of the Earl of Carlisle.
The original caput baronice of the barony of Gilsland was at Irthington ; the barons of the lines of De Vaux and
86 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Multon never lived at Naworth Castle. It did not exist as a residence in their days. Though the Vauxes seem to have dearly loved the north, the Multons preferred Holbeache in Lincolnshire, and even the Dacres, who created Naworth, seemed to have resided at Kirkoswald. Lord William Howard made Naworth Castle into an English home.
THE LOWTHERS OF LOWTHER
THE LOWTHERS OF LOWTHER
We have now traced our descent through the Cliffords down to the time of Dorothy Clifford, the only child by his second marriage (with Florence Pudsay), of Henry, Lord Clifford, tenth Lord of the House of Skipton. The descent now passes from the Clifford family to that of Lowther, Dorothy Clifford having married Sir Hugh Lowther of Lowther.
The following extract from Collins' Peerage of England, 1774-5 edition, p. 342, gives us the following information : —
Sir John Lowther, Captain of Carlisle Castle = Lucy, daughter of Sir Christopher 37 Henry viii.. Sheriff of Cumberland 7 and I Curwen of Workington, co. 34 Henry viil. and 4 Edward VI. Cumberland.
^1
Sir Hugh Lowther.
Dorothy, daughter and only child of Henry, Lord Clifford, by Florence, his second wife, daughter of Henry Pudsey, Lord of Bolton, CO. York, Esq., and sister to Henry Clifford, ist Earl of Cumberland, whose mother Anne was daugh- ter of John St. John, cousin-german to King Henry vii.
I Elizabeth,
married Sir William Lancaster.
I
Joan, married John
Fleming of Rydall,co. Westmore- land, Esq.
Mabel, married Chris. Dalton of Acornbank, CO. West- moreland, Esq., 57 Henry viil.
|
1 Sir Richard |
- Frances, |
1 Gerald Lowther |
Margaret = |
John |
Three |
|
Lowther, |
daughter of |
of Penrith, |
Richmond |
other |
|
|
Lord Warden |
John Middle- |
Sheriff of Cumber- |
of H vet |
daughters |
|
|
of the |
ton of Middle- |
land 5 Elizabeth ; |
Cast'le, |
all |
|
|
West Marches. |
ton, CO. |
knight of skill for |
Cumberland, |
married. |
|
|
Died |
Westmoreland, |
same co. |
Esq. |
||
|
27th Jan. 1607, |
Esq. |
43 Elizabeth. |
|||
|
aged 77. |
From wh desce |
om we nd. |
90 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
It seems almost superfluous to say much about the Lowther family, who have been seated in Cumberland and Westmorland at Lowther Hall for many hundreds of years. At the time we are writing of, the Lowther family for the first time in their history appear to be rising into more than local importance, and were pushing their way among the greater actors, most of whom were actuated by the most selfish motives, little in accordance with the overwhelming importance to all future ages of the momentous era in which they lived. The principal factor of their rise in the social scale was undoubtedly their two Clifford alliances. Richard Lowther, who was the son of Sir Hugh Lowther by his marriage with Dorothy Clifford, was High Sheriff in the 8th and 30th of Queen Elizabeth. He succeeded his cousin Henry, Lord Scrope, as Lord Warden of the West Marches, and was thrice commissioner in the great affairs between England and Scotland, temp. Queen Elizabeth, and in the same reign when Mary Queen of Scots fled into England, and arrived at Workington in Cumberland in May 1568, Elizabeth sent orders to Sir Richard, during his Sheriffalty, that he should convey the Scottish Queen to Carlisle Castle ; but while Mary was in custody the Sheriff incurred the displeasure of his queen by admitting the Duke of Norfolk to visit the fair prisoner.
The story of the meeting between the Earl of Northumber- land and Sir Richard Lowther is fully told in Brenan's House of Percy (vol. i. p. 269). Northumberland fully expected that Mary Queen of Scots would be delivered into his custody, and he got a so-called ' order in the queen's name ' signed by several members of the Northern Council sitting
THE LOWTHERS OF LOWTHER 91
at York. Armed with this document he hastened with a large escort to Cariisle. But the Deputy Warden of the Western Marches was a cautious man, and being of the Protestant persuasion probably doubted Northumberland's intentions. He refused to accept the earl's warrant in nomine regincB as authentic, and positively refused to give up the Scots queen without a direct command from Elizabeth or her secretary.
Such a rebuff enraged Northumberland to the utmost. He stormed at Lowther as a Hotspur might have done, and expressed his amazement that a mere country gentleman should presume to play gaoler to a queen. But notwith- standing his furious words and undisguised contempt, he failed to move Lowther, who would only allow him to visit Mary accompanied by one page, as though he meditated carrying her off.
Lowther thus describes the attack made upon him {Lowther to Scrope : State Paper) :
' The Earl used some rough words towards me, adding too that I was too mean a man to have such a charge, and that he marvelled how I could take it in hand. Afterwards he sent for me to his lodging, and growing into some heat and anger, gave me great threatening, with many evil words, and a like language, calling me a varlet, and such others, as I had neither deserved at his hands, neither at any man's for the servyce of the Prynce.'
Sir Hugh Lowther (the father of Sir Richard Lowther), who although he had made a brilliant alliance by marrying Dorothy Clifford, appears, in some way which is entirely
92 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
unknown, to have become entirely alienated from his father Sir John Lowther, and we find a record of the unhappy dissension in the will of the latter, dated 3rd February 1552, in which he is disinherited in the following words : ' I wych that all my lands shall dyscend to Richard Lowther accord- ing to a fine levied at London paying to his father (Sir Hugh) four score markes yerelye. Also I wych yt Jarrard Lowther shall have Scrubbe and Settbarre during his lyffe natural and after his decease to return to the right heirs of me, the said Sir John Lowther ' ; and further on, as if Richard were not altogether in his good graces, he says : * Also I wyll Henrye Lowther and Rychard Lowther shall have nothing to do with any goods of myn.'
Sir Hugh Lowther by his marriage with Dorothy Clifford had issue : —
1. Richard Lowther, who married Frances Middleton.
2. Gerard Lowther, who married Lucy Dudley, of the family of the Dudleys, Earls of Warwick and Dukes of Northumberland.
i. Ann Lowther, married Thomas Wybergh. ii. Margaret Lowther, married John Richmond (our ancestor) .
iii. Frances Lowther, married Henry Goodyer. iv. Barbara Lowther, married Thomas Carleton.
If any members of the family are interested in their descent from the Lowther family, if they happen to be in Penrith, it would be well worth their while to visit Gerard Lowther's house, now known as * The Two Lions Hotel,'
THE LOWTHERS OF LOWTHER 93
and have a look at the arms given on the ceilings in different parts of the house.
All with the exception of the Featherstonhaugh coat are found on the ceiling of the room now used as a billiard-room, together with the date 1585. On the lintel of the fireplace in the hall are three shields of arms, the central one being Lowther impaling Clifford ; the one on the right, Lowther impahng Middleton ; and that on the left, Lowther impaling Dudley with an annulet. On the ceiling of the hall are several arrangements of shields. In one part a shield bearing Lowther impaling Clifford forms a centre, round which in a circle are shields bearing Lowther combined with Middleton, Dudley, Richmond, Wybergh, Goodyer and Carleton : on another part a shield bearing Lowther impaling Dudley, with an annulet and the letters G.L. : and in a third part of the same apartment the arms of Featherstonhaugh. On the ceilings of a room over the billiard-room are the arms of
C T
Lowther impaling Dudley with a crescent, the letters '
for Gerard and Lucy Lowther, and the date 1586, all within a circle. The same arms have been repeated over and over again, for many loose shields are preserved in the house which owes its name of * The Two Lions ' to two shields, bearing the Dudley arms, which once existed on the outside of the building.
The marriage between Margaret Lowther and John Richmond terminates our connection with the Lowther family.
We have now to pass on to the Richmond family of Highhead Castle, about whom I shall have a good deal to
94 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
say, and the main part of the information which I possess on the subject is derived from a paper which was read on the Richmonds of Highhead Castle, by the late WilHam Jackson, F.S.A., and was printed in the Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archceological Society (vol. ii. p. io8).
THE RICHMONDS OF HIGHHEAD CASTLE
F RICHMOr
JHMOND. =
Frances Richmond, bapt. at Dalston, 27 Dec. 1577-
I III. Francis Richmond.
Margaret Lowther, daughter of Sir Hugh Lowther of Lowther, most probably d. be- fore her husband.
Margaret Orfeure, daughter of Orfeure, of High Close, Plumbland, survived her hus- band.
■ (2) J^^LA Chaytor, daughter
^aughony Chaytor of Croft
FletcL^l^gljij.g_ mar. at Croft
tire Hj5j2 ; mar. settlement
S Mar. 1612; bur. at
20 July 1630 (?).
John Richmond, Francis Richmond, MabEj..j.j, Richmond, = Richa
bur. at Dalston, bur. at Dalston 15 ter . oii
' Infans ' 20 June June 1618. Joh 1620.
terL
Mary Lawson, daughter i= of Sir Wilfred Lawson of Isell, bur. at Newton 5 Aug. 1672 (as p. both register and monu- ment).
(2)VLCii(~j. Richmond, Isabei bapt. at at Newton bur.
Wm d^y 1655. 6ja
proved 1 1693.
1 I Christopher Richmond,
bapt. at Newton 23 Nov.
1671. Mabel Richmond, bapt.
and bur. at Newtin Jan.
1667.
Jane Richmond, b. c. 1668, mar. at Newton 14 Mar. 1696, William Stephen- son, of Plumpton, bur. at Newton 5 May 1731.
Mai^j,
• kwood.
(i) Sarah Rich bapt. at New Jan. i68i,d.
THE RICHMONDS OF HIGHHEAD CASTLE
(Information derived from 'The Richmonds of Highhead Castle,' by William Jackson, F.S.A., in Transactions of Cumberland and West- morland Antiquarian Society, vol. ii. p. io8.)
The family of Richmond was of great local importance in the West Riding of Yorkshire from a very early period, in virtue of their hereditary Constableship of Richmond Castle, a position, in the absence of the great feudal lords of that fee, scarcely less important than that of absolute ownership. The original name of the family was Musard ; but the official finally supplanted the family name. Ronald de Richmond became possessed of the Manor of Corby and certain lands in, if not of, the Manor of Torcrossock, through his marriage with Isabella, the daughter and heiress of Robert de Corby, The prominent position in the kingdom occupied by their son and heir, Thomas de Richmond, is evidenced by his being named, and his valour especially signalised, in the ancient poem, written in Anglo-Norman, on the siege of Carlaverock, which occurred in the year 1300. In this record we are told :
' Thomas de Richmond comes once more. One gallant charge he led before : Vermilion clad ; on vermeil field Gold chief with twice twin bars, his shield. G
98 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Brave lances he again has brought, And madly they the bridge have sought, Thundering for entry ; on each head Stones and cornues are fiercely shed. But recklessly De Richmond's band Drive back the stones with furious hand, While those within as madly pour On head and neck the ceaseless shower.'
He was rewarded for his exploits at this siege by a grant of the Castle and Honour of Cockermouth for life. He had two sons, Thomas and John ; the former is said to have died without issue, but I doubt the statement. Elizabeth, the heiress of the latter, married Sir Nicholas de Stapleton. In the year 1323, Richard and Rowland Richmond combined to alienate Corby to the unfortunate Sir Andrew de Harcla, who, it is especially worthy of notice in connection with our subject, was also Lord of Highhead at the time of his seizure. After this alienation a night of two centuries closes over the name so far as regards Cumberland.
The surname of Richmond meets us in the earliest pages of the parish register of St. Bees (a.d. 1543), and I believe that families of that name, still flourishing at Cross Canonby, were seated there as early, perhaps much earlier, than the commencement of the sixteenth century, and that their kin extended thence up the valley of the Ellen to Oughterside and Brayton ; for numerous wills belonging to individuals of that name resident in this district occur in the registry of Carlisle, from the earliest period those records have been preserved ; whether they were connected with, or descended from, the Corby Richmonds, I cannot say, and it is equally
THE RICHMONDS OF HIGHHEAD CASTLE 99
uncertain from what source the John Richmond sprang, who, about the year 1550, purchased from WiUiam Restwold the Castle of Highhead, which had remained in his family from about the year 1375. We must be content also to remain in ignorance of how John, or his father, perhaps, amassed the money which enabled the former to purchase this ancient castle and manor. The licence to crenellate ' manerium suum de Heyvehead,' which Parker, in the list of licences given in his work on Domestic Architecture, very strangely and erroneously places in Essex, had been granted two hundred years before, in 1343, to ' Willielmus Lengleys dilectus valletus noster,' as he is called in the instrument of Edward iii., but it had, no doubt, been fortified long previously, and perhaps dismantled after the Harcla rebellion and forfeiture. He may have been, and most probably was, a descendant of the old constables of Richmond, for he bore the arms of that ancient family ; but then he may have assumed them without due warrant, as we learn from Dugdale it was by no means unusual to do even at that early period, though the assumption was scarcely so common as it is in our day. Perhaps he may have made his fortune in trade, just as the Fletchers were doing at this very time, and who were as rapidly received into the ranks of the gentry as numerous other industrious and successful men. Be that as it may, he married the daughter of Hugh Lowther, whose wife, Dorothy, was a daughter of Henry Clifford, the ' Shepherd lord ' ; another sister married Thomas Wybergh, and a third, Thomas Carleton of Carleton. Their brother, Richard Lowther, is well known as the first custodian of Queen Mary when she landed in Cumberland.
100 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Either John died young, or he was advanced in years when he married, for he was buried at Dalston, i8th January 1574, his brother-in-law, Richard Lowther, surviving him thirty-three years ; and as he makes no mention of his wife in his will, I presume that she predeceased him. His will is in the registry at Carlisle, and is a good specimen of one of that time, and enables us to extend a little the genealogy of the family. Though it does not give the names of the daughters, it corroborates the statements of the Braddyll and Martin pedigrees that he had daughters, and there has, therefore, been no difficulty in copying the names of them- selves and their husbands, especially as the sources seem independent of and consistent with each other.
The son and successor of this founder or refounder of the line, another John, married (Burn and Nicolson say), ' a daughter of Dacre, younger brother of the Lord Dacre, by whom he had no issue.' The Dalston register confirms this statement so far as the name is concerned, for it records that ' December 13, 1576, John Richmond and Magdalen Dacre were married ' ; but I confess that after some research I am unable to fix her paternity, about which I am curious ; for the Dacres were in great trouble at this period, and the bride coming to her husband to be married, as she did, is noteworthy. The statement of Burn and Nicolson that she had no issue is not literally true, as a reference to the Chart Pedigree will show, but probably Frances the daughter died young. When Magdalen died, and when John Richmond married his second wife, Mary, daughter of Tho?nas Dalston of Uldale, we are uninformed ; but, in the face of all the published pedigrees, I am bound to enter her as Mary, and
THE RICHMONDS OF HIGHHEAD CASTLE loi
not Margaret, for so she is called in the register of Dalston. True, this Mary might be a third wife, but there is no record of a third marriage, and genealogists know well that, so far from mistakes in female names being uncommon, it is almost exceptional to find them correctly given at this remote period, and this pedigree will furnish other instances of the frequency of this kind of error. John Richmond was himself buried at Dalston, 29th October 1597.
The will of Christopher Richmond, his brother, of Feddon Well, in the parish of Castle Sowerby, informs us of the existence of a connection with the Orfeures of High Close, in the parish of Plumbland, and also supplies other genea- logical information. Feddon Well, where he lived and died, is not to be found even on the Ordnance maps ; but I am informed that there is a place called * The Well ' near the parish church, which most likely marks the site of Christopher's dwelling. There is no inventory existing to this will.
The marriage of Francis Richmond, the eldest son of John, who probably succeeded his father, but who left no family, furnishes a wonderful conflict of evidence, which, as a specimen of the difficulties with which the genealogist has to contend, are stated in detail. Burn and Nicolson give Francis as the third son, and say that he married a daughter of Launcelot Fletcher of Tallentire. The Martin pedigree gives him his proper position as eldest son, but agrees with Burn and Nicolson with regard to his marriage. The Braddyl pedi- gree styles her ' Bridget, the daughter of Launcelot. ' Jefferson states that Thomas Patrickson of Carswell How married Jane, widow of Francis Richmond, and daughter of Launcelot
102 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Fletcher. Whitaker, in his edition of Thoresby's Ducatus Leodiensis, asserts that Jane, daughter of George Fletcher of Tallentire, was thrice married, but gives only one marriage ; that with Henry Featherstonhaugh, to whom she bore Timothy, the great loyalist. Finally, in Betham's Baronetage, a very reliable work, it is stated in the pedigree of the Fletchers of Clea Hall, that Jane, a daughter of George Fletcher, sister of Launcelot, and widow of Thomas Fletcher, married Francis Richmond.
In connection with this marriage, with the fact that Sir Richard Fletcher, the first of his name of Hutton, married Mary, the sister of Francis Richmond, and that the Sandys family had more than one alliance with the Fletchers also, the following entry in the St. Bees register, already alluded to, may not be deemed altogether irrelevant :
' 1543, 23 August, Will'm Richmond et filia Rogeri Sands, nupt. fuer.'
Upon the decease of Francis Richmond, about whose burial the Dalston register does not supply any information, Christopher, his younger brother, became lord of Highhead. He was the first of four of that name in lineal descent, and this fact has caused great confusion in the pedigree, the marriage of one having been attributed to another, Hutchinson's History of Cumberland, or the compilation bearing that name, getting into a maze of confusion on that as well as other points in the pedigree.
The married life of this Christopher with Anne Mayplett, his first wife, was very brief. The marriage was on the 4th July 161 1 ; she was buried on the 20th of the following May, and her son John on the 20th of June 1620.
THE RICHMONDS OF HIGHHEAD CASTLE 103
As great a discrepancy of evidence can be shown with regard to the Christian name of Christopher's second wife, the mother of his heir and several other children, but Mr. Jackson adopts the name under which she was buried at Dalston ; not that of Elizabeth, nor yet that of Margaret, but Isabella. All agree that she was the daughter of Anthony Chaytor, of Croft Hall, Yorkshire ; and yet even Mr. Foster, whose general accuracy is so very remarkably manifested in that wonderful monument of genealogical industry. The Pedigrees of Yorkshire, sub voce Chaytor, buries poor Isabella sine prole 1613. She certainly lived till July 1632, on the 20th of which month she was buried at Dalston, leaving several children. Her son, Christopher, when making additions to and repairing the old fabric of Catterlen Hall, put up a chimney-piece in the room which Machell calls a dining-room, and Dr. Taylor a bedroom (as it now is), forming part of the erection of 1574 by Rowland Vaux. Machell, it is surprising to note, failed to recognise the arms on the impalement, which are, first and fourth party per bend indented, three cinquefoils two and one, counter-changed, being the arms of Christopher's mother, Isabella Chaytor, quartering second and third her grand- mother's arms, the heiress of Clervaux of Croft Hall. It is curious to note that the colours, if ever blazoned (as they almost certainly would be, if only because they are so care- fully and vividly displayed on the contemporary chimney- pieces to which reference is made hereafter), had disappeared as far back as Machell's time, as is shown by the extract Dr. Taylor gives in his paper on Catterlen Hall. One must dismiss as altogether unreliable, where there can be any
104 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
room for doubt, various coats of arms painted on wood existing at Highhead Castle, amongst which there is one coat not quite identical with the above, but perhaps meant to be so. It is doubtful whether they are as old as the re- edification of Henry Richmond Brougham's time.
The date of his marriage with Eleanor Bewley, or of her death, cannot be supplied, though she probably survived her husband, who was buried at Dalston, 15th February 1643, leaving, as the Chart Pedigree shows, three children by his third marriage.
Christopher, the second of the name, added wealth and lustre to his family by his marriage with Mabel, co-heiress of John Vaux of Catterlen Hall. It is pleasant to think that this was not a marriage of interest only, but of real affection. Many additions were made to Catterlen Hall during the lifetime of this happy pair, but your special attention is invited to the two chimney-pieces in the portion added during their lives. The one on the right on entering bears an oval- shaped wreath enclosing a red rose side by side with a white one, whilst underneath, but separated by a slip, perhaps of myrtle, perhaps of rosemary, perhaps of southernwood, is a heart. Surely we have here the elements of a romance, as well as the allusion to a fact.
Perhaps in the old times of the Red and White Roses the Richmonds and Vauxes espoused hostile sides, and now, in 1657, they had but one heart. The other chimney-piece, to the left on entering, has similar significance. The wreath
here encloses ^^-^ in letters of gold, united by a true lover's
THE RICHMONDS OF HIGHHEAD CASTLE 105
knot of red silken cord, curiously intertwisted through every letter, and ending in tassels. Both chimney-pieces bear the date 1657, each figure forming, as it were, the corner of a square outside the wreath.
As we are descended from this marriage I give some particulars about the Vauxes of Catterlen.
In the Sandford MS., written about 1675, I have found the following : —
' And so to Highgate Castle a pretty little Tower house : the owner Sqr Christopher Richmond, a very ancient gentill family : and his father Mr. Crister Richmond married the sister of Sir William Chater of Croft, Yorkshire, and this sqr now living marries Mr. Vaux his daughter : an ancient Sqr familie and branch of the Lord Vaux of Gilsland married the coheir of Caterlen Hall a faire Tower house and tenents.'
' Richmond living there married the daughter
of Sir Wilfred Lawson.'
In Denton's ' Accompt of the most considerable Estates and Families in the co. of Cumberland from the Conquest to the Beginning of the Reign of King James I.' we find, under the barony of Gilsland, that ' Hubert de Vallibus had two brethren, Robert de Dalston and Reginald de Sowerby : to this Reginald he gave Catterlen in Gilsland and Huberthy beside Curbell which gift Randolph Mischiens confirmed.'
I. John de Vaux, knight of Catterlen, is the first of whom we find mention, and probably the original grantee, for Catterlen, or Kaderleng, as it is then called, was con- firmed to Hubert de Vaux in the charter of Henry 11., which
io6 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
must have been made between 1154 and 1167, and Sir John was of this Manor, 16 Henry 11. (1170). He was succeeded by his son,
II. John de Vaux, knight of Catterlen, 32 Henry 11. (1186). His successor was his son,
III. William de Vaux, of whom no special mention is made.
IV. William de Vaux living here in the reign of Henry III., and who had issue two sons :
1. William, his successor.
2. John, from whom descended the Vauxes of Odiham,
Hampshire.
V. William de Vaux, married the daughter and heiress of a collateral branch of the Vauxes of Tryermaine, by whom he left—
1. William, his successor.
2. Rowland, who had issue Ralph, who had Robert.
3. James.
4. John.
VI. William de Vaux, who was seated here 24 Edward III. (135 1). He married a daughter of Richard de Salkeld of Korkely, and left a son,
VII. John de Vaux, of whom mention is made 48 Edward III. (1375). He had issue three sons :
1. John, who succeeded his father.
2. William.
3. Robert.
THE RICHMONDS OF HIGHHEAD CASTLE 107
VIII. John de Vaux, who was living at Catterlen 20 Richard 11. (1397). This may be that John de Vaux who in the Brougham pedigree is set down as having married a daughter of John de Brougham, who is there stated to have been Sheriff of Cumberland in 1383, but the name of that family does not occur in the lists as either sheriff or knight of the shire until 6 William and Mary, when Henry Brougham of Scales filled the former office.
IX. John de Vaux, who is mentioned 4 Henry iv. (1403). He left four sons :
1. William, his successor.
2. John.
3. Thomas.
4. Henry.
X. William de Vaux, who married a daughter of Brougham, and was residing at Catterlen 8 Henry v. (1421).
XI. William de Vaux, living 20 Edward iv. (1481), married a daughter of Dalamere, by whom he had,
XII. John de Vaux, who married a daughter of Crackenthorpe. He was living during the reign of Richard III., and by her left issue a son,
William.
By a second marriage with Mary, daughter of Skelton, he had,
John, from whom descended a numerous progeny.
XIII. William de Vaux, seated at Catterlen during the reigns of Henry vii. and vili. He is mentioned in the list of those liable to border service given in Sir Thomas
io8 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Wharton's letter, dated 34 Henry viii. (1543), whence it appears he was liable to send four horse and six footmen towards the defence of the Border. He married a daughter of Leybourne, and had issue four sons and two
daughters :
1. Robert, died without issue.
2. John.
3. Rowland.
4. Gilbert.
i. Mary, married Thomas Salkeld of Whitehall,
Cumberland, ii. Dorothy, married Senhouse of Seascale
Hall, Cumberland.
XIV. John Vaux, who it seems held Catterlen 35 Henry viii. (1544), by the service of paying to the king 22d. yearly.
XV. Roland Vaux, particular notice of whom will be found under the description of the Hall, married Ann, daughter of Salkeld, and by her had a large family :
1. William, his successor.
2. Thomas, by his wife or wives had a very numerous
family.
3. Humphrey.
4. Richard.
5. John.
i. Jane, married to Sir William Hutton, by whom she had a family.
THE RICHMONDS OF HIGHHEAD CASTLE 109
ii. Isabel, married to John Simpson, by whom she had
children, iii. Phillas, died young.
XVI. William Vaux, married Jane , and by her had a son, his successor, and five daughters :
I. John.
i. Ann,
ii. Jane. iii. Mary. iv. Dorothy.
V. Barbara.
XVII. John Vaux, married Mabel Musgrave, by whom he had —
1. Madaleine, died young.
2. Mabel, married to Christopher Richmond of High-
head (from whom we are descended).
3. Mary, married to William Graham of Nunnery. Arms. — Or a fess chequy, gules, and of the field, between
three garbs of the second, banded of the first ; in chief, a label of three points.
The mansion-house of Catterlen Hall, situated on a hill, at the base of which flows the Petteril, is a good specimen of the Border peel castle, with later erections, indicating the additional security which advancing civilisation afforded. The old house probably dates back as far as the Wars of the Roses, but we possess no information as to the builder. The first enlargement was made by that Rowland Vaux who died in 1586, as appears from a carving in stone over the
no SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
door, having first and fourth the arms of Vaux ; second and third a cross moHne within a roundel, with the inscription,
* Let mercy and faith never go from thee ' ; and underneath,
* At this time is Rowland Vaux lord of this place and builded this house in the year of God 1577.' The letters * R.V.'
* A.V.,' his own and his wife's initials, being at the four corners. The second addition to the Hall was made during the Richmond period, and consists of a court-house and retiring- room, reached by a lofty flight of steps from the courtyard, with inferior rooms below.
Above the grand door on ascending the steps is perceived the arms of Vaux quartering those of Richmond (two bars gemells), with the motto ' Deo vivente juvante.' Over the chimney-piece in the hall, and in the centre, with the date 1657, is a wreath enclosing a heart and two roses. In a similar position in the retiring-room is the same date with
ID
the letters enclosed in a wreath. Another chimney-piece
in the Middle Age part of the Hall is said to display the coat of Richmond, impaling quarterly first and fourth per bend indented three roses or, second and third a saltire.
We now come back to this second Christopher's second marriage, with Magdalen Huddleston, which took place at Greystoke, 9th October 1662. There were four children of this union, and a singular point arises in connection with the two eldest. Dorothy was baptized at Dalston, 27th January 1663-4, and the baptism of Dorothy is recorded at Newton, 1st February 1663-4. Margery's baptism is recorded at Dalston, 2nd February 1664, and blank day and month at
THE RICHMONDS OF HIGHHEAD CASTLE in
Newton 1665. One could understand these entries if they had been recorded at the two places with the same or con- siderably different dates, but as they stand they are puzzling.
Christopher, the third, married Mary, the daughter of Sir Wilfrid Lawson of Isell, and she bore at least four children, of whom one was a son Christopher, baptized 23rd November 1 67 1, and another a daughter Jane, who married William Stephenson, who, according to the monument in Newton Church, died nth May 1732, and his wife, 1st March 1739-40. The register states that he was buried 5th May 1731, and she 13th April 1739. Their surviving daughter Mary, became the wife of George Simpson of Thackwood hereafter named.
The third Christopher did not marry Isabella Towerson until the 1 8th of June 1678, as the Dalston register informs us, whilst a Christopher was born at Catterlen Hall 14th of November 1675.
Of Isabella Towerson my knowledge is briefly summed up in the statement that she was a widow when Christopher Richmond met her at Carlisle, that her maiden name was Reynolds, and that it is asserted that her father was an Irish Dean. Probably the Richmonds were not without striking features of character before the connection with her, but it is quite certain that she was a remarkable woman, and transmitted great energy of character to her descendants, who, as the Chart Pedigree shows, were very numerous.
As regards the Towerson family, it is interesting to record that a member of that family made a noise in the world in the days of Queen Elizabeth ; one who was altogether worthy to be named with the Raleighs and Drakes of the time, whose
112 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
fights with the Portuguese, the French and the Spaniards, as recorded in the pages of Hakluyt, are quite as fascinating, and as much filled with ' deeds of derring-do ' as Sir Richard Grenville's fight of the Revenge related by Sir Walter Raleigh, the prose of whose narrative even the poetry of the laureate has failed to excel. This man was William Towerson.
It is recorded in the great Percy survey of 1578 that at that time William Towerson held under the Earl of North- umberland a property at Bransby of the yearly rent of twenty shillings, which his ancestors had held from an early period. That William Towerson, the nautical hero and hero of the African voyages of 1555, 1556 and .1576, was a member of the family may be considered certain from the following facts. Mr. Jackson owned a manuscript copy of Flower's Visitation of Cumberland, written in a seventeenth-century hand. Mr. R. S. Ferguson detected appended to the Visitation and in the same handwriting a grant by Flower of an augmentation to the family, dated 28th January 1581, to ' William Towerson, citizen and merchant of London, and a younger brother of the family of the Towerson of Coupland, in the county of Cumberland,' on account of the doughty deeds which are related in the simplest language by the navigator himself in the pages of Hakluyt. Towerson prob- ably first looked on the sea from the heights of Bransby.
There is a good deal of interesting information regarding this third Christopher in his will, from which we learn that he died before the 19th December 1693, on which day it was proved at Carlisle.
Christopher, the fourth in lineal descent, was married in
THE RICHMONDS OF HIGHHEAD CASTLE 113
East Allendale Church, in June 1696, to Elizabeth Watson, daughter of Hugh Watson of Holmes, in that parish. He had a son of his own name born at Catterlen Hall and baptized at Newton, 15th September 1697, but as no further mention of him is made he probably predeceased his father. A daughter named Elizabeth was born at Catterlen Hall, and was baptized at Newton, 2nd April 1699. She died un- married 1 8th September 1768, and was interred in St. Margaret's Church, St. Oswald's parish, Durham. She and her sister Isabella, baptized at Allendale 8th June 1701, became upon the death of their father in May 1702 the oldest representatives of the family, and the heirship-general now exists in Martin, Esq., a descendant of the
aforesaid Isabella, through her marriage with John Hutchinson of Frawell Gate, Durham.
It is unnecessary to continue this branch of the pedigree further, for there is nothing new to add to the Martin pedigree, which is given very fully in the first edition of Burke's Commoners.
Upon the death of the last adult Christopher at the early age of twenty-six years, Henry, who was then only twelve years old, succeeded to the inheritance of Highhead Castle and Catterlen Hall, and until he attained his majority he was under the guardianship of his mother, to whom he was most tenderly attached, for in his will, bearing date the 1st September 17 16, he bequeathed all his earthly possessions to her in the most absolute and affectionate terms. He died on the nth, and was buried at Newton on the 14th of the same month. He was the last male of the Richmond family.
114 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Isabella Miller (formerly Isabella Reynolds, Towerson and Richmond) had by her marriage with Matthias Miller, merchant, of Whitehaven, become entitled to his name, was now the lady of Highhead and Catterlen. Her third husband, at any rate, knew the value of learning, for his name occurs several times as a donor of books to the library of St. Bees School. He was now probably dead.
She ruled (judging from her will she was an imperious dame) and enjoyed her wealth and dignities till the month of June 1739, on the 14th of which she was buried at Newton beside her son : being sixty-one years subsequent to her marriage with his father, her second husband, Christopher Richmond. Her elaborate but lucid will must have cost her a world of thought, and by its aid we are enabled to clear up many obscurities in the pedigree which have hitherto baffled genealogists, though there still remain a few points to clear up. Her main object was to make her grandson, Henry Richmond Brougham, the head and patriarch of a new Highhead line : and in this ambition she had an enthus- iastic coadjutor in his uncle by the father's side, John, commonly called Commissioner Brougham, the proprietor of the neighbouring estate of Scales Hall, the owner of Moresby and of Distington and the purchaser of Brougham Hall. He very probably assisted with Susanna Richmond, who took an interest in her estate for life, in the rebuilding of Highhead Castle on a scale of magnificence, regarding the expenditure on which, and the foreign artificers employed, much traditional gossip may still be heard in the neighbour- hood. He was anxious that his nephew and intended heir should bear and support with splendour the office of sheriff
THE RICHMONDS OF HIGHHEAD CASTLE 115
of the county, and that he might do so made over to him four copyhold estates, which, owing to his unexpected death in 1749, the year of his Shrievalty, stood in his name at his decease.
Upon the death of Henry Richmond Brougham the works at the castle were at once discontinued, and have never been resumed.
Under the will of Isabella Miller, Susannah Richmond became owner of the castle and estate for life, and as she had already exercised the right of pre-emption she enjoyed, under the same will, with regard to Catterlen Hall and Manor, the ancient glories of these ancestral homes were for a brief period restored before the impending alienation of both. Many stories of her bountiful housekeeping are still current in the neighbourhood. Mr. Jackson says that some ale of her special brewing still remains at Greystoke Castle, pre- sented by her to Charles, Duke of Norfolk, and that not long ago he conversed with a gentleman who had possessed some, and in attempting a description was puzzled to say whether it was most like ale or spirit ; and he had heard also a curious anecdote about her first acquaintance with tea. She must have been a brave housewife and truly one of the olden time. In her will we have another example of her devoted affection which united several members of this family : and when we read ' Inter my body in the parish church of Newton, as near as may be to my lately dearly beloved mother ' (who had been buried there thirty-five years), we are powerfully reminded of the words of Scripture, * Bury me in the sepulchre of my fathers, lay my bones beside their bones,' and that this was done the parish register
ii6 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
proves : * 1774, January 9th, Mrs. Susannah Richmond of Highhead Castle was buried, aged 87.'
Upon the decease of Susannah, the Catterlen estate passed under her will to Isabella, the wife of Henry Curwen, Esq., of Workington Hall [this Isabella was the daughter of William Gale of Whitehaven (see Bradyll pedigree), who had married Margaret Richmond i6th April 1727, who was the younger sister of Susannah Richmond], and was sold by John Christian Curwen (who married their only daughter) to Charles, Duke of Norfolk, and is now, under his will, the property of Henry Howard of Greystoke, Esquire.
The Highhead estate had to be dealt with under the provisions of Isabella Miller s will, and therefore it is necessary to give some account of her numerous family. We ourselves are descended from the eldest daughter Isabel who married Colonel Samuel Gledhill, who was stationed with his regiment at Carlisle, respecting whose electioneering dis- putes, in connection with the representation of that city, Mr. R. S. Ferguson gives so excellent an account in his admirable work on the Lord-Lieutenants and M.P.'s of Cumberland. He was the son of Robert Gledhill of Haigh Hall, Yorkshire, one of Cromwell's Ironsides, of which Thoresby relates an interesting episode, taken from his own lips in 1699, when he was a very old man. This episode will be found in the Memoir of Colonel Gledhill's life. Some trace of the Puritan leaven no doubt remained in the man who called a daughter Bathsheba — her second name was Placentia, that of another daughter Grace America, and a third, Margaret Carolina. These indicate that the Isabella Richmond (our ancestress) , who was born at
THE RICHMONDS OF HIGHHEAD CASTLE 117
Catterlen Hall in May 1679, led the wandering life of a soldier's wife.
This Colonel Gledhill, who was Lieutenant-Governor of Placentia, and Commander-in-Chief of Newfoundland from 1 719 to 1727, left a diary which was in the possession of our distant cousin, Miss Catherine Blamire, until her death, which occurred at Rome in 1898, and was given by the kindness of her residuary legatees to our aunt Mrs. Chippindall, and was by her passed on to our cousin Colonel Harold Chippindall, R.E., who in 1910 pubHshed these most interesting memoirs. (They can be obtained from Titus Wilson, Publisher, Kendal.) Mr. Jackson gives a special table of the descents from this union down to our own day ; it is far from perfect, but it completes the accounts of the descendants of Colonel Gledhill and Isabella Richmond. Two- fourths of the Highhead estates became vested in the Gledhill family and their descendants, and were sold to Lord Brougham about the year 1820. {N.B. Colonel Chippindall says only one-fourth.)
In Henry Richmond Brougham died the last survivor of the children of Elizabeth, the second daughter, and her husband Peter Brougham.
Sarah, the third daughter, left a son George and a daughter Isabella, by her first marriage with George Simpson.
The son, it has been stated, married his cousin Mary Stephenson, but died childless. The daughter married William Blamire and became the mother of a family of whom Susanna, the 'muse of Cumberland,' was one. She was also
ii8 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
the grandmother of William Blamire, the tithe commissioner. It may safely be stated that the fame of both, though estabHshed on foundations so different, is lasting. But for Dr. Lonsdale much that is of interest in connection with this remarkable family would have been forgotten, and in his able notices of different members he has given us pleasant pictures of life about Highhead from the middle of last century down to our own day.
The issue of Sarah by her second marriage with John Barker were excluded from any share of the property. There remains at least one descendant. I shall have more to say about our kinsfolk, the Blamire family, later on, but I might remark here that our great-uncle, Robert Baynes Armstrong, K.C., sometime Member for Lancaster, who left the bulk of his property to Robert Armstrong Yerburgh, my brother, married Frances Blamire, daughter of Richmond Blamire, whose brother William inherited the Qaks and Thackwood estates and married Jane, third daughter of John Christian (by Jane his wife, daughter of Edward Curwen of Workington), and had issue amongst others Jane Christian Blamire, who was therefore first cousin of Mr. Robert Baynes Armstrong. Mabel, the next married daughter, bore at least four children to her husband, Henry Brisco. The eldest, Richmond, died young. Henry, on whom his grandmother based much hope, died unmarried, as also did Elizabeth. Isabella, by her marriage with Thomas Moyses, fell into disgrace with her grandmother, as appears from the codicil to her will : and the descendants of this marriage, if there were any, fell into obscurity.
It would be superfluous to give any tabular descent of
THE RICHMONDS OF HIGHHEAD CASTLE 119
the issue of Margaret Richmond's marriage with William Gale. That of their son John may be found in the elaborate pedigree of the Bradylls given in Corry's Lancashire, supplemented by the one given of the Gales of Bardsea Hall in Foster's Lancashire Pedigrees. The other two-fourths of the Highhead Castle estate became vested in this family, and were purchased by Lord Brougham a few years ago, not until, however, some curious incidents had occurred which place the matters amongst our * causes celebres.'
Isabella, the daughter of William Gale, married Henry Curwen, Esq., of Workington Hall, and there is even less occasion to give their descent than the Braddyl one, for no history of Cumberland is, or ever will be, complete without a pedigree of that family.
EXTRACTS FROM PARISH REGISTERS RELATING TO THE RICHMOND FAMILY
Dalston Register
Baptisms.
1577. December 27. Frances Richmond filia Jo. generosi baptized.
1582, November 18. Maria Richmond et Margrett gem filiae Jo.
generosi baptized. 1641. August 12. Christopher Richmond filius Christopheri was
baptized. 1649. February 28. John Richmond filius Christopher Richmond
Esqr. was baptized. 1651. December 28. Magdalen filia Christopher Richmond was
baptized. 1663. January 27. Dorothy filia Christopher Richmond was
baptized.
120 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Baptisms.
1664. February 2. Margery filia Christopher Richmond was baptized.
1666. May 3. Joseph filius Christopher Richmond was borne the
the 2nd and bap. 3rd.
1667. July 4. Andreas fiHus Christopheri Richmond armigeri natus
vicessimo primo die mensis Junii et baptizatus 4th die
Julii. 1714. April 3. Richmond Briscoe son of Mr. Henry Briscoe was
born the 2nd, and bapt. the 3rd at Ivegill. 1740. December 10. William son of Wilham Blamire of Cardew
Hall baptized. 1742. May 12. Richmond son of William Blamire of Cardew Hall
baptized.
1744. June 13. Isabella of William Blamire of Cardew Hall,
baptized.
1745. December 28. Mary daughter of Wilham Blamire of Cardew
Hall baptized. 1746-7. February 11. Susanna of Wilham Blamire of Cardew Hall
baptized. Marriages.
1576. December 13. John Richmond and Magdalen Dacre married. 1661. January 2. William Richmond and Elizabeth Barker married. 1678. June 18. Christopherus Richmond armiger et Isabella
Towerson nupt. Burials. 1574 1589 1597 1612, 1618 1620 1630 1635
January 18. Mr. John Richmond buried.
Aprilis 16. Mary Richmond uxor Jo. generosi buried.
October 29. Mr, John Richmond buried.
May 26. Anna Richmond uxor Mr. Christopheri buried.
June 15. Francis Richmond fitz Christopher buried.
June 20. Jhon Richmond infans lil Christ, arm buried.
July 20. Isabella uxor Christopheri Richmond ar buried,
January 11. John the son of Mr. Christopher Richmond Esq. buried. 1639. January 6. Dorithie the daughter of Mr. Christopher Rich- mond buried.
THE RICHMONDS OF HIGHHEAD CASTLE 121
Burials.
1643. February 15. Christopher Richmond armiger sepultu. 1669. May 14. Henricus Christopheri Richmond sepultus. 1672. November 29. Isabel fiha Christopheri Richmond sepulta. 1697. February 9. Rebecka Richmond of Buckabank buried.
Newton Reigny Register Baptisms. 1633. Dorothy douter to Mr. Christ. Richmonde was baptized the
day of Feb. 1667. Mabel daughter to Christafer Richmond was baptized the
Januari. 1671. Chris, son of Christ. Richmond was baptized the 23rd day
of November. 1675. Christopr. Richmond Junior borne the 14th day of November and was baptized the 24th day of the same Anno Dom.
1655-
1679. Isabell daughter of Chris. Richmond of Catterlen Hall was
baptized the 15th day of May 1679.
1680. Elizabeth daughter to Christopr. Richmond of Catterlen
Hall Esq. was baptized the 25th day of August 1680.
1681. Sarah the daughter of Christopher Richmond of Catterlen
Hall was baptized the 19th day of January Anno Di. 1681.
1682. Ann the daughter of Christopr. Richmond of Catterlen Hall
Esq. was baptized the nth day of March 1682. 1684. Erasmus son to Christopher Richmond of Catt Hall Esq. was baptized 12th Feb. 1684.
1686. Mabel daughter of Mr. Christopr. Richmond of Catterlen Hall
was baptized the 7th day of Aprill Anno Dom. 1686.
1687. Susan daughter of Chris. Richmond of Cattlen Hall was
baptized the 9th day of February Anno Dom. 1687-8.
1689. Margrett daughter to Christopr. Richmond of Cattlen
Hall was baptized the thirtieth day of May Anno Dom. 1689.
1690. Henry son to Christo Richmond of Cattlen Hall Esq. was
baptized the 25th day of March Anno Dom. 1690-1.
122 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Baptisms.
1692. Martha daughter to Christpr. Richmond of Cattrlen Hall
was baptized the thrid day of July Anno. Dom. 1692.
1693. WiUiam son to Christopher Richmonde of Cattrlen Hall Esq.
was baptized the 24th day of September Anno Dom.
1693. 1697. Christopr. son of Christopr. Richmond of Cattrlen Hall,
Esqr. was baptized the 15th day of September 1697. 1699. Elizabeth daughter to Christopr. Richmonde of Cattrlen
Hall Esqr. was baptized the 2nd day of Aprile Anno
Dom. 1699.
Marriage.
1696-7. WilUam Stephenson of Plumbton and Jane Richmond of Cattrlen Hall was married the 14th day of March.
Burials.
1655. George Richmond sonne to Mr. Christofer Richmond Catterlen
Hall was buried the 7th day of July 1655.
1656. Isabel Richmonde daughter of Christopher Richmonde of
Catterlaine Hall Esqr. was buried the 6th day of January 1656. „ Thomas Richmonde sone of Christopher Richmonde of
Catterlaine Hall Esqr. was buried the 27th day of January 1656.
1657. Mabel daughter to Christ. Richmond was buried the
1672. Mary the wife of Christopher Richmond Esqr, of Catterlen Hall was buryed the 5th day of August.
1710. Samuell son to Cornell Gledhill of CarHsle was buried the 30th day of July in woolen according to an Act of Parlia- ment A.D. 1710.
1714. Richmond Brisco was buried December 10, 1714.
1716. Henery Richmond Esqr. was buried September 14, 1716.
1739- June 4th, Mrs. Isabell Millnor was buried.
1774. Mrs. Susanna Richmond of Highhead Castle was buried January 9th, aged 87.
THE RICHMONDS OF HIGHHEAD CASTLE 123
Greystoke Register
Marriages.
1600-1. Ffebruarie. Tewsday the xvijth day was married Rychard fletcher of Cockermouth and Mrs. Margaret Rychmond and they were married by Mr. P.son himself by Lycence from my Lo. byshope of CarHel. The banns not asked.
1662. October 9th. Married Christopher Richmond of Catterlen in the p'ish of Newton Esqr. and Mrs. Magdalen Hudle- stone of Hutton John in this parish haveinge a Lycence directed unto Will. Morland Rector of this place.
IvEGiLL Register
Baptisms.
1719. June II. Henry Richmond son of Peter Brougham Esq.
baptized. 1740. Ap. 21. Richard Richmond son of Mr. Robert Baynes
baptized.
Addingham Register
Marriage.
1611. July 4. The Wedding of Christopher Rychmond of heighett Castell gentleman and Anne Mayplett of this prishe gentlewoman the iiijth day of Juhe 1611.
St. Bees Register Marriages. 1700. December 26. Wilfrid Huddlestone and Joyce Curwen
married. 1706. April 15. Mr. Joshua Burrow, Rector of Hutton and Kath.
Robertson of Wthaven married by License.
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THE GLEDHILLS
We now pass on to consider Samuel Gledhill, and I have copied, with permission, almost verbatim Colonel Chippindall's account of his Life (see Memoirs of Lieut. -Col. Samuel Gledhill, by Colonel W. H. Chippindall).
Samuel Gledhill' s parents belonged to that sober class which has formed the backbone of English society ever since the Tudor days, viz., the manufacturing class. His father was Robert Gledhill of Haigh Hall, near Wakefield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire : his mother, whose name was Isabella Atkinson, came from Westmorland. Robert Gledhill seems to have enlisted early in life in the Puritan Army, as his son speaks of him in his Memoirs as having had his share of honour in the three great battles : Marston Moor, Dunbar, and Worcester. His marriage would probably occur after the latter event.
Be that as it may, Samuel was born on the 7th April 1677, at Horbury, a small village two miles from Wakefield, and was the youngest of thirteen children who grew up, one of whom was a daughter named Bathshua, or Bathsheba, who subsequently married the Rev. John Barker, the Presbyterian minister at Mare Street Chapel, Hackney, London. Of theother eleven sons Colonel Gledhill only speaks of one, viz., Joseph Gledhill, who at first was a Turkey merchant in the Levant, but subsequently became a West India merchant. Robert
128 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Gledhill,^ the father, is mentioned by Thoresby as narrating in the year 1699 an anecdote of how he saw 30,000 men of the parhamentary army flee from the field of Marston Moor in headlong rout, before the squadrons of Lucas, how he had thoughts of running also until restrained by Thoresby's father, who was an older and cooler man. The diary of the Rev. Oliver Heywood, the celebrated Nonconformist divine, also affords some glimpses of this Robert Gledhill, and from it we are able to gather that his wife Isabella died in childbed in May 1680, leaving Samuel a child only three years of age. During the next few years his mother's sister, Sarah Atkinson, took charge of her brother-in-law's house and tended the child ; but on the 29th June 1683, Robert Gledhill married once more, taking as his second wife Mistress Marsden.
Samuel was sent to school in due course, first to the Wakefield Grammar School, and afterwards to a school near Halifax kept by the Rev. Mr. Priestley.
His home life was evidently unhappy, for though he always speaks of his father as a kind and indulgent parent, he states that he was unable to endure his stepmother. Hence one fine day he quitted his home, taking with him one of his father's best horses, and he ' listed ' as a private in the troop of Captain H. Cromwell (about the time, he says, of the Revolution when the Prince of Orange landed). He claims to have associated with Sir Richard Steele who was also a private in that regiment, viz. the Life Guards. He was at first rejected on account of his extreme youth (under twelve years), but was finally taken on account of the good- ness of the horse which he had brought. This episode gives one a strange insight into the recruiting regulations of those
THE GLEDHILLS 129
days, showing the complete absence of rules and of control by higher authority.
His father soon reclaimed him and, it is to be presumed, punished him soundly for his escapade, as he speaks of ' severe punishment ' being undergone. He makes no further mention of his boyhood, but states that ultimately his father sent him to London and placed him as a factor in Blackwater Hall, which was the Cloth Exchange in London.
Not caring for this career, he again absconded early in 1698, and entered as a private sailor on H.M.S. Boyne, com- manded by Sir Hovenden Walker. He was now about twenty-one years of age, and he states that he attracted the notice of his captain, who soon took him as his secretary, and caused him to be instructed in Mathematics, Italian and Spanish.
Being left in Spain by his patron for the purpose of learning the language, he was kidnapped and put on a ship as a slave for the West Indies, but appealing to the captain was released and transferred to another ship which landed him at Cadiz. From thence he passed to Leghorn, intending to go to his brother, Joseph Gledhill, who was a merchant in Turkey. They, however, met by chance at Leghorn, from which place they wrote to their father. Samuel then returned to Spain. Whilst in Spain he states ' the old king died, and a war broke out,' hence it must have been after 1st November 1700, on which date Charles 11. of Spain died. He states that he was imprisoned in a convent of St. Francis and kept a close prisoner for a long time, that attempts were made by the fathers of the convent to make him become a Roman Catholic, of which he says he wrote a ' large
I
130 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
account.' Escaping ' upon the breach of that War,' he resumed his attempt to push his fortune by the sword — from which description it is to be presumed that he enUsted or volunteered in some English regiment. At any rate he recounts the fact that he was given ' a pair of colours ' in Lord Lucas' regiment in 1701, and was sent to the garrison of Carlisle.
At Carlisle he made the acquaintance of the family of the Riclimonds of Highhead Castle, and on the 7th April 1702 he ran away with and married Isabella, the eldest daughter of Mrs. Richmond. The day after his wedding he was given his company in a regiment lying at Jamaica * by the un- deserved friendship of the Honble Colonel John Blathwaite.' (Colonel Chippindall is unable to identify him.)
Captain Samuel Gledhill (as he now was) had to raise his company ; he speaks of doing so at Bedford during a time of raging fever or ' as some tho't plague ' ; he contracted the fever and nearly destroyed himself by trying to leap out of the window of his bedroom into the river below, but was withheld by his wife and sister.
About this period, in the year 1703, his father, Robert Gledhill, died, and was buried at Tingley on 21st July.
Captain Gledhill and his wife then led the usual wandering life connected with a soldier's career, and he speaks of him- self being quartered at Nuneaton, Darlington, Hull, where he fought two duels with the major of the garrison, at Ports- mouth, where he again fought two duels, and at Colchester, at which place his eldest daughter Isabella died in 1706.
In a petition to King George i. he states that he bought
THE GLEDHILLS 131
the lieutenant-colonelcy of General Macartney's regiment after the battle of Almanza. As this battle was fought on 25th April 1707, we get an approximate date for his pro- motion to this rank. He was ordered to raise his regiment at Newcastle under the command of the Right Honourable Archibald, Earl of Islay. During this period Colonel Gledhill appears to have secured the permanent friendship of the earl, who on several occasions stood his friend.
From Newcastle, accompanied by his wife, he paid a visit to Highhead Castle in April, May and June of 1708, as is also to be gathered from Bishop Nicholson's diary, and in this year his daughter Elizabeth (from whom we are de- scended) was born, who became the wife of Robert Baynes, solicitor, of Cockermouth. Here we meet with one of those difficulties which so often perplex the genealogist : Colonel Gledhill distinctly states that his wife on this visit was * with child of her daughter Betty,' yet the inscription on her tomb (kindly supplied by the courtesy of the Vicar of Cockermouth) reads : * Robert Baynes, Esq., died August 2 1st, 1789, aged 72 years ; Elizabeth his wife, died February 3rd, 1763, aged 52 years.' From which it would appear that Elizabeth was born in 1710-11 ; but as ladies have often the weakness of trying to conceal their real age, I consider Colonel Gledhill's statement the more reliable of the two.
Whilst at Newcastle the colonel seems to have given an ensign's commission in his own regiment to his eldest son, Samuel, who was but a child of six years of age, a proceeding which roused the ire of Brigadier-General Franques, who had him tried, he says, twice by court-martial at the Horse Guards, once for his conduct and once for his life, but the
132 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
court found that he ' had done nothing unbecoming a soldier ' — a somewhat curious verdict.
In the summer of 1708 his regiment moved to Portsmouth, prior to taking part in the expedition to Ostend. This expedition was to assist in Marlborough's attack on the great fortress of Lisle ; but for Colonel Gledhill it was a succession of disasters. At the landing of Ostend he nearly lost his life, as owing to there being a storm at the time, the boat he was in was swamped. Then his regiment formed part of a garrison under Colonel Caulfield put into a place, on the line of communications, called Leffingham, which was under constant attack by the French. Lisle surrendered on the 22nd October, and on the night of the 25th-26th, the garrison of Leffingham made great rejoicings and got very drunk ; the French surprised them that night and the whole garrison became prisoners of war. But it is an ill wind which blows no one any good, and in this case Colonel Gledhill through the interest of the Earl of Islay was made paymaster to * the troops there prisoners,' which gave him, so he states, an opportunity ' of visiting all the French forts in Picardie and Pais-Bas and a tour to Paris.' To modern ears this sounds strange, as troops made prisoners are not paid nowadays until they return to duty.
During their imprisonment at Amiens, Colonel Laroque, a Dutch officer, also taken prisoner at the surrender of Leffingham, took occasion one day in public to speak dis- respectfully of Colonel Caulfield's surrender, so Colonel Gledhill, who appears to have been something of a fire-eater, challenged him, and they fought a duel in which Colonel Laroque was beaten and compelled to acknowledge himself
THE GLEDHILLS 133
in the wrong. Colonel Caulfield was so grateful to him for the support which our hero had afforded him that next day he wrote out a resignation of his regiment in Colonel Gledhill's favour for the sum of ;^3000. Considering that our hero had no private fortune, we must come to the con- clusion that the military service in those days afforded considerable opportunities for making money, as, firstly, he had bought his lieutenant-colonelcy, and now he is ready to put down ;^3000 in cash !
After being exchanged in due course, it was found that this agreement could not be ratified by the commander-in- chief, as the latter stated that he must give the regiment to a member of Parliament who voted for the Government. Colonel Gledhill, seeing how members of Parliament were favoured, now resolved to endeavour to become a member himself when opportunity served.
His next active service appears to have been at the siege of Douay, which commenced on the 19th April 1710. On the 7th May a sortie from Douay cut nearly all Sutton's regiment to pieces, took Lieutenant-Colonel Gledhill prisoner, and left the major and seventeen officers dead on the spot. Colonel Gledhill's own account of this is that his regiment was cut to pieces, fourteen officers killed (one being his only son, Ensign Samuel Gledhill), and only one hundred and twenty privates left. He himself was severely wounded and taken prisoner, having been found by the Duke of Mortemar, stripped in a heap of slain, and was generously nursed by his finder.
Colonel Gledhill was subsequently exchanged for the French Colonel St. Mark.
134 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
This appears to be the last active service in which Colonel Gledhill was engaged, and, doubtless owing to his severe wounds, coupled with the annihilation of his regiment, he would be sent home to recruit.
Returning to England, the colonel brought his son's body with him, and the child (for such he was) was interred in Newton Reigny Church on the 30th July 17 10.
Doubtless Colonel Gledhill would be put on half-pay, but he states that he again tried to obtain the colonelcy of a regiment, and that it was again given away over his head to another member of Parliament, with whom he promptly fought a duel, and whom he describes as ' a man of quality and a general officer of long stand.'
Having seen what he considered the rightful reward of his labour and valour given away to men whose only recom- mendation in his eyes was that they voted with the ministers of the day, he determined to make an effort to enter Parlia- ment, and, with that object in view, stood for the city of Carlisle at the election of 17 10 in opposition to James Montagu ; but, being unsuccessful, petitioned against the latter's return on account of the interference in the election of the Bishop of Carlisle (Bishop Nicolson).
During the next two years Colonel Gledhill was endea- vouring to get his petition heard by Parliament, and was ultimately the cause of the parliamentary rule that no member of the Upper House may interfere in elections for the House of Commons.
Much animosity is shown by Bishop Nicolson against Colonel Gledhill — no doubt due to the violence of politics at that time, when Whig and Tory were striving to secure the
THE GLEDHILLS 135
succession to the throne for their respective Hanoverian or Jacobite candidates. Under date 8th February 1710-11, the bishop in his diary mentions Colonel Gledhill's * senceless cause ' ; again on the 19th February he notes ' Col. Gledhill's impudent accusation of him (Sir Jas. Montague) and me in ye House of Commons.' On the 20th he notes, ' I went to ye House, and . . . had tacit leave to attend the H. of Commons ; where a chair set for me at ye lighting of candles. But Mr. Gledhill's friends moveing for an adjournmt of ye debate for 3 weeks carr>''d it (so as to save the Coll. from Bondage) by 154 agt. 151. Thus leave given for ye man's running away.' On February 26th the bishop has ' Lies from C. Gledhill abt. a Regiment promis'd, etc' Again under date 29th March 171 1- 12, the bishop solemnly notes that * Col. Benson (from Spain) gave me an acct. of . . . and C. Gledhill's sale of 's Commn. to defray a debt of 760 lb.' This last story was untrue, though, as will appear later, Colonel Gledhill did attempt some years after to sell his half-pay. From these extracts it would appear that the worthy bishop gave way to his temper somewhat.
In his Memoirs Colonel Gledhill refers to these two years of his * attendance on parliament,' saying he ' came lamely off with the loss of many friends besides the sum of near ;^2000,' and he notes that the only thing he considers worth remembering is that his daughter Ann was born at that time.
He now appears to have returned to Cumberland, prob- ably to Carlisle, but the political troubles he had caused seem to have estranged him from his mother-in-law, Mrs. Miller, though he still had a staunch friend in his brother-in-
136 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
law, Henry Richmond, of whom he always speaks in terms of deep affection.
Being a man who evidently could not bear to be idle, he seems to have tried to compose a lawsuit in Chancery, w^hich had been pending for some years between Mrs. Miller and the widow of her deceased stepson, whom he calls * your aunt Richmond of Durham ' ; he succeeded in putting an end to that suit and was in consequence suspected and blamed by both parties, as is commonly the case with those who interfere in other people's business. So greatly did these quarrels grow that he records that Mrs. Miller said of him that had he ' died in the action of Doway, it had pre- vented the increase and ruin of his family.'
In 17 1 5 the Scottish Rebellion caused new levies to be raised, and Colonel Gledhill applied for employment once more, but was left out. He, believing this to be the work of Brigadier-General Thomas Stanwix (one of his old parlia- mentary opponents), called him out, as the following quotation shows : ' An odium was cast upon him without the least ground or shadow thereof, about the time of the late rebellion, after his unhappy duel with B-r. General Stanwix, by whose weight and interest he conceived he was left out of the New Lays as a person suspected in some other interest.'
The final catastrophe, however, was the unexpected death of his brother-in-law, Henry Richmond, who died on the nth September 17 16, leaving his estate absolutely to his mother, Mrs. Miller. Colonel Gledhill, speaking of this event, says : * With him all the respect of the family ended towards me.' This death left a large estate in the hands of
THE GLEDHILLS 137
his mother-in-law, who had now only daughters and their children to whom it could be left. From odd expressions in the Memoirs it would appear that there was some rivalry as to who should be heir to the estate. It is just possible that Colonel Gledhill, having married the eldest daughter, may have imprudently assumed that his son, Joseph, should be such heir, and so have added a domestic trouble to the political one he was already suffering from — but this is pure conjecture.
Evidently the annoyance which he and his wife now suffered were so great that they fled with their children into Yorkshire. Of this flight he speaks with great feeling, and mentions that the only person who aided him was William Stephenson of Plumpton, who had married Jane Richmond, half-sister to Colonel Gledhill's wife. Amongst other details he mentions * paniers ' prepared for taking the children over * Stainmoor ' — a fact which reminds us that the turnpike roads we know were non-existent then, and that most burdens were carried on pack-horses.
From Yorkshire they proceeded to London and lived in a poor way in Lambeth, receiving assistance, gratefully acknowledged in the Memoirs, from Colonel Gledhill's brother-in-law, the Rev. John Barker, Presbyterian minister, of Hackney.
Living here in great want and trouble — three of his children suffering from the smallpox ; he mentions his son Joseph as his ' only son, a small sprig to erect his unhappy name upon ' — his enemies made an attempt to bring him and his wife into Chancery. This was a form of torture which readers of Dickens's story of Bleak House will realise
138 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
when recalling the suit of Jarndyce v. Jarndyce. Seeing the misery his family endured, the idea came into his mind to seek service with the Czar of Muscovy ; he therefore disposed of his half-pay * for an inconsiderable sum,' and embarked for Holland with £20 in pocket, leaving the rest with his wife.
This appears to have been the dark hour before the dawn of his brighter fortunes which were now being ushered in, for he notes that while at the Hague attending H.M. Ambassador, the Earl of Cadogan, news came that the king would not consent to the transfer of his half-pay, and a hint also came that he might get a government in America, as the Duke of Argyle was once more in favour. This decided him to return home, and he records that on the 7th April 17 19, ' by the aid of the Duke of Argyle, the Earl of Islay, and the assistance of J. M., J. B., etc., he kissed His Majesty's hand as Lieutenant-Governor of Placentia, with two companies of foot, and Commander-in-Chief of Newfoundland.'
His daughter Elizabeth and his son Joseph appear now to have been confided to the care of their aunt, Susannah Richmond, while he and his wife with three other children embarked for Newfoundland. This fact accounts for the expression ' your two mothers ' used subsequently in the Memoirs. Fate, as though not yet content with their discomfort, caused them to be shipwrecked off Feriland Head, on the coast of Newfoundland, on the 3rd September 17 19, though by the goodness of Providence all escaped with their lives.
Their stay in Newfoundland was on the whole a prosper- ous one, though the Colonel states that the malice of his
THE GLEDHILLS 139
political enemies pursued him even there, tried to damage his credit, and certainly reduced the number of his soldiers, and therefore the amount of his perquisites.
The following, taken from the Calendar of Treasury Papers of 1725 and 1727, will illustrate some of the annoyances he had to bear. Under date 2nd June 1725, is the report of a petition by William Toshack, merchant and inhabitant of Placentia, Newfoundland, who states that in 1720 his dwelling-house ' was taken up by Colonel Gledhill, the Lieutenant-Governor there,' whereby the petitioner lost ;^8o, the ground being used in the new fortifications. On the 3rd February 1727, a Colonel Moody claims ;^732, 3s. 4d., in addition to the above claim of Toshack, and a Mr. William Horneck, Engineer to the Board of Ordnance, reports on these claims as excessive and fraudulent, suggesting that these claimants should proceed by law if they really have lost anything of value.
Yet in spite of all worries he seems to have flourished and saved money, which he put into plantations, ships and trade, so that in 1727, when his Memoirs end, he shows himself as having a credit balance of ;£i 0,000 — a very pretty fortune at that period, and all gathered together within seven years.
While in Newfoundland three more daughters were born, whom he named Bathshua Plaisance (Bathsheba Placentia), Margaret Carolina, and Grace America.
In July 1726, he sent his wife and six children home, and they arrived safely in Cork in August. The final entry is the death of his wife (which took place at Whitehaven on the 1 6th February 1727), followed by a eulogy upon her which does credit to his heart.
140 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
On the date of his own death or of his place of burial Colonel Chippindall has as yet no knowledge, but suspects that it occurred at Whitehaven.
His only surviving son, Joseph, became a major in General Philip's regiment, and died unmarried in 1747, but all the daughters found husbands, and on the death of Miss Susannah Richmond in 1774 they inherited a share of the Highhead Castle estate.
Beyond the Memoirs, the only other relic Colonel Chippindall possesses connected with the old Colonel is a very handsome silver punch-bowl of Queen Anne's time, on which is engraved the Gledhill coat-of-arms and that of the Blamires ; family tradition asserts that it was presented to the Colonel by the great Duke of Marlborough, in recog- nition of his bravery at the siege of Douay, but beyond the tradition there is no proof of the statement. This bowl was named in the will of his son-in-law, Robert Baynes, in 1789, who bequeathed it to his daughter Frances, wife of Richmond Blamire, as * my silver fluted punch-bowl which was her grandfather Gledhill's.' Those were days of hard drinking, and a punch-bowl would be a very suitable present for a great man to make to one whom he desired to honour, so that the tradition does not appear an unlikely one.
W. H. Chippindall.
(My brother, Eustre Yerburgh, C.B., has inherited a portrait which tradition also asserts to be a portrait of Colonel Gledhill.— E.R.Y.)
The Chart Pedigree gives practically all the information
THE GLEDHILLS 141
which I possess about the children of Colonel Gledhill and Isabel his wife, and their descendants.
Grace America Gledhill married Francis William Drake, second son of Sir Francis Henry Drake, fourth Baronet, They had issue :
Francis Augusta Drake, born 1750, died young. Francis Thomas Drake, born 1753, died young. Francis Henry Drake, born 1756, died s.p., was sixth
Baronet. Francis Richmond Drake, born in 1757, died young.
The Drake baronetcy was conferred in 1622, and became extinct on the death of our kinsman. Sir Francis Henry Drake, sixth Baronet, sometime between 1820-30. He was certainly alive in 1822, as he is in the list of baronets for that year, and is described of Keysham Bank, Gloucestershire.
The Elliott-Drake baronetcy was only created in 1821, a Thomas Trayton Fuller being made a baronet and taking the name of Elliott-Drake in addition to Fuller, as he no doubt claimed to descend by the female side from Lord Heathfield (General Elliott who defended Gibraltar), and from Sir Francis Drake the circumnavigator.
THE BLAMIRES OF THE OAKS AND THACKWOOD
PEDIGREE OF THE BLA:
Arms. Argent, a lioa rampant within an
orle gules. Crest. A wolf sejant proper, chained or. Motto. Faire sans dire.
John Blaj
Sowerby ]
Bridget, widow of John Simpson, = \ Esq., of Sebergham Hall, co. | Cumberland.
Bridget Blamire, mar. to George Brown of New- castle-on-Tyne.
William Blamire, ^ Jane, 3rd daughter of John C
eldest son and heir, of the Oaks, bapt. at Dalston 10 Dec. 1740, d. 29 Jan. 1814.
William Blamire of Thackwood and the Oaks, J. P., High Sheriff in 1828, M.P. for Cumberland 1831-34, Chief Tithe Commissioner for 42 years, b. 13 Apr. 1790, mar. on 3 Apr. 1834 to his cousin Dora, d. s.p. at Thackwood Nook, on 12 Jan. 1862.
Esq., of Milntown, Isle of Me Unrigg Hall, co. Cumber! Jane, his wife, daughter o Curwen, Esq., M.P., of Wc Hall), mar. in Aug. 1785, d 1837, aged 87.
Dora, youngest daughter of John Taubman, Esq., of Nunnery, Isle of Man, and reUct of Colonel Mark Wilks, of Kirkby, in that island, and gover- nor of St. Helena. She d. in 1857.
I Charles Blamire, a lieuten colonel of the 90th Regin d. unmar. at Camp Solfe Natal, on 24 Nov. 1865, agec
Note. —
THE BLAMIRES OF THE OAKS AND THACKWOOD
Colonel Chippindall has kindly furnished me with a Chart Pedigree of the Blamire family, with whom we are so closely connected. The three most important members of this remarkable family were — Susanna Blamire of The Oaks and Thackwood, born 1747, and who died 1794, who was well known as ' the muse of Cumberland ' ; Jane Christian Blamire of The Oaks and Thackwood, born 1788, died 1857 ; and William Blamire of The Oaks and Thackwood, the Chief Tithe Commissioner for forty-two years, High Sheriff of Cumberland, 1825, M.P. for the county, 1831-4. I am able to give some particulars of their careers from the Dictionary of National Biography, and from the Worthies of Cumherlafid by Doctor Lonsdale.
The de Blamyrs or Blamires were a family of yeomen residing at Hawksdale, by the banks of the Cauda, not far distant from Rose Castle, in the days of Edward i. Coming down four centuries we find John Blamire, the representative Blamire, and the proprietor of a good estate called * The Hollen,' to-day known as 'The Oaks.' He married, in 1700, Jane, only child of John Ritson of Hawksdale, and had issue an only child, William, his heir. His second marriage, with Miss Annie Barker of Thethwaite, and the sons and daughters born of that marriage, do not concern this narrative. To make the alliances of the Blamires clearly
K
146 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
understood, it is needful to revert to the family of Simpson of Thackwood Nook, and that of the Richmonds of Highhead Castle (see Richmond Chapter), both places situated about four miles south of * The Hollen.*
The Simpsons for a long time had a footing in the parish of Castle-Sowerby ; in 1614 they came into possession of ' Thackwood Nook^ on the north-east boundary of the said parish. Their name held sway in this famed * Red Spear House ' till the death of Widow Mary Simpson in April 1755. The Simpsons found good alliances in East Cumberland : for instance, one of them married a daughter of Sir Timothy Featherstonhaugh of the College ; he who was executed at Chester Castle for his brave loyalty to Charles i.
The neighbouring manor to Thackwood Nook, and scarcely a mile distant, was Highhead Castle, which, as we have seen, after many changes in its proprietorship — Harclas, Dacres, and others— at length fell to the Richmonds in 1550 ; a family name that passed away like that of the Simpsons before the close of the last century.
The Richmonds and Simpsons were excellent neighbours, and to cement more closely the ties of goodwill, George Simpson of Thackwood Nook, towards the close of the seventeenth century, married Sarah, fifth daughter of Christopher Richmond of Highhead Castle. To this marriage were born a son George in 1703-4. and a daughter Isabella 30th March 1709, also Mary, if not others.
George, the heir, married Mary Stevenson of Dentons, in the parish of Hesket-in-the-Forest, and died without issue in March 1745. His sister, Isabella, in 1736, became the wife of William Blamire, already spoken of as the son and
BLAMIRES OF THE OAKS AND THACKWOOD 147
heir of John Blamire of The Hollen. During the Hfe of John Blamire, the father, and the proprietor of * The Hollen,* William Blamire and his wife Isabella tenanted Cardew Hall, and there their children, consisting of two sons and two daughters, were born : Sarah born in 1739 ; William, the heir, born in 1740 ; Richmond born in 1742 ; and Susanna, the poetess, born on 12th January 1747, or 2nd March 1748. There is an entry in the Court Rolls showing ' the admittance of William Blamire, eldest son of John Blamire, late of " The Hollen " who died seised and possessed of several messuages and tenements with the appurtenances at " The Hollen " aforesaid.' In June 1754, Mrs. Isabella Blamire died, her eldest son being then fourteen years of age, and her youngest daughter less than seven and a half years old. The widower, William Blamire, in August 1755 took for his second wife Bridget (Ritson), the widow of John Simpson of Lonning Head, Sebergham, and by her had one daughter, Bridget, who married George Baker of Newcastle-on-Tyne. In June 1758 William Blamire himself died, leaving ' The Hollen ' estate to his eldest son William, then eighteen years of age, under the trusteeship of Thomas Blamire of Hawksdale and Mary Simpson, widow, of Thackwood Nook.
Mary Simpson of Thackwood was a very remarkable woman, and proved herself a mother to the Blamire children. They owed more than can well be set down to the example of this aunt, who took such a lively interest in other people's welfare, and proved her goodwill in a way regardless of all cost. She was a rich woman, and was a just steward of the riches which had been entrusted to her. As Doctor Lonsdale says (and for my information about Susanna Blamire I am
148 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
almost entirely indebted to him), Susanna Blamire was * a poet born and not made,' the breathings of her muse happily came unsought, and as naturally found exercise amidst the humanities and topography of the district, apparently drawing but slender aid from classic or historic culture. Bucolic life afforded her many a theme illustrative of simple manners and rural felicity. (Her poetical works were collected by Henry Lonsdale, M.D. ; with a preface, memoir and notes by Patrick Maxwell. Published by Menzies, Edinburgh.)
In 1767 her sister, Sarah Blamire, was married to Colonel Graeme (or Graham), 42nd Highland Regiment, of Gart- more, situated in the mid-Highlands of Scotland. Susanna stayed much with them in Scotland, Ireland and London. Physically she was not strong, but was full of nervous energy. Her individuality was well defined, her eyes bright and penetrating, her nose pronounced, her upper lip short, and a beautiful mouth. At all exercises equestrian and pedestrian she excelled. While paying a visit to her aunt, Mrs. Fell, in Northumberland, she made great friends with the Earl of Tankerville's family at Chillingham Castle, and she stayed there for a long time. Unfortunately her stay at the castle ended by her falling in love with Lord Ossulton, and Lord Ossulton falling in love with her. Though the Chillingham family were enraptured with the * Cumberland Muse,' the love alliance did not comport with their views of family aspirations. The Blamires had a long and worthy pedigree, but it was not good enough for the Tankervilles. The eclair CIS sement led to the young lad's going abroad, while the love-sick Susanna found her way home, to brood over disappointed hopes.
BLAMIRES OF THE OAKS AND THACKWOOD 149
Though joyous by nature, and a central figure in every social circle, she was not altogether free from an alloy of reserve, if not occasional gloom. ' From grave to gay, from lively to severe ' — for if by nature gay, impaired health oft induced severer thoughts. She suffered much in advancing years from rheumatism and its allied troubles. She died in her forty-eighth year. She made her own will in 1786, and wrote : ' It is my earnest desire that I may be buried in the most private manner, having no bearers. Should my death happen at Carlisle, it is my wish to be buried at Raughton Head Chapel, and laid as near that best of women (my Aunt Simpson) as possible.' Thinking of the devoted affection of her sister, Mrs. Graeme, she expressed the hope * that she will not suffer her grief to become excessive for the loss of one whose every hour she was the means of rendering easy, happy and delightful.'
Her remains were placed at the south-eastern angle of the church, where also are the graves of good Aunt Simpson and of dear Mrs. Graeme. A tombstone is inscribed to the memory of the sisters :
' In remembrance of Sarah Blamire, wife of Lieutenant-Colonel Graeme, 42 Highland Regiment, born January 7, 1739, died May 1798: also of Susanna Blamire, born January 1747, died April 1794, daughter of William Blamire of The Oaks.'
Within the chapel is a tablet to Mary Simpson and also one to William Blamire and his wife.
The other descendants of the Blamire family and their descendants, the Youngs, are interred in the eastern side of the churchyard, and more hallowed dust can hardly be found in any burial ground in Cumberland. As regards her poetry,
150 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
that will certainly live in public estimation wherever a true lyric sentiment obtains a hearing, and as long as Cum- brians have souls to appreciate the choicest of Cumberland ballads.
Jane Christian Blamire, born 1788, died 1857, was the niece of the poetess, and sister of Tithe Commissioner Blamire (of whom hereafter), and second daughter of William Blamire of The Oaks and Jane Christian of Ewanrigg Hall, the sister of John Christian, better known as J. C, Curwen, Esq., M.P. She was born at The Oaks, 20th March 1788, and with the name inherited the sweet disposition of her mother, and much of the generosity of her father. She kept house at Thackwood for her brother William, and she became a noted agriculturist. She was a most charming hostess and possessed many personal attractions. She had an intellectual brow, dark hair, clear and animated eyes, delicate and symmetrical, and was full of refinement ; she was, however, joyously alert in every walk in life. Nature had endowed her slender form with great powers of endurance : she had the simple habits of the ladies of that time, and she had an inspiriting character which gave tone to every action, and made her set a pure and wholesome example.
With a good heart to direct her thoughts, and good health to aid her in carrying out works of charity and benevolence, she accomplished more than appears to be credible, but there was no advertising of herself, no putting on airs of superiority. Her manners were charming and natural. She was a good talker, and her words, wherever she went, always commanded attention on account of the
BLAMIRES OF THE OAKS AND THACKWOOD 151
applicability to current events, and she could always adapt herself to her audience. Her keen intelligence and tact enabled her to penetrate the denser and duller minds, and to lay them open for the reception of better ideas. She was a deeply religious woman, but had a broad and charitable mind. She was a true comforter to the sick and sorrowing at heart. Her veins flowed with the milk of human kindness, and there was no ebb tide in her distribution of charity, and it was done in a way which won all hearts.
Jane Christian Blamire, in the character of ' Lady Bountiful * over a wide district of country, served to point and adorn the tale of tenderness, compassion and large- heartedness.
The blue flag of Cumberland never waved over a more zealous supporter or more loyal friend than Jane Christian Blamire. When her brother came forward as a candidate for the Whig interests in Cumberland in 1831, along with Sir James Graham, her enthusiasm was intense : she walked and drove, directed and canvassed as nobody but her brother could do. Speaking politically, the springtime of 1 83 1 was the most memorable of the century to the men of Cumberland, who saw Sir James Graham and William Blamire opposed to the Lowthers. She never slackened in her efforts from the day of declaration to the hour of triumph at Cocker- mouth. It is said that she did more to win the election than any one else.
The death of her sister-in-law, wife of the Tithe Com- missioner, in January 1857, affected her much, and from that time she began to feel the increasing weakness of age, and on the morning of the 20th of September 1857 she quietly
152 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
passed away. Her remains were interred on the east side of Raughton Head Chapel-yard on the 28th September 1857.
William Blamire (1790- 1862), the Tithe Commissioner, was educated at Westminster School and afterwards at Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated in 18 11. To the disappointment of his father he refused to follow any of the learned professions, and preferred to settle in one of his father's farms at Thackwood Nook, about three miles distant from his home. On his mother's side, William Blamire was a nephew of John Christian Curwen of Workington Hall, who was the great promoter of agricultural improvements in Cumberland. William Blamire Imbibed his uncle's zeal for agricultural science, and made many experiments in breeding stock which cost him dear : but his experience was always at the service of his neighbours. He was well known at agricultural dinners, where his wise advice and personal geniality made him deservedly popular amongst the sturdy and independent yeomen of his county. When in 1828 he was nominated high sheriff of Cumberland, the yeomanry of the neighbourhood to the number of several hundred mounted their horses and escorted him to Carlisle, as a token of their desire to do him honour.
In politics William Blamire was a strong Whig, and had taken an active part in parliamentary elections on behalf of his uncle, John Christian Curwen, who In 1820 was elected both by the city of Carlisle and by the county of Cumberland. In the excitement about the Reform Bill, the Whigs in Cumberland resolved to run two candidates for the election of 1 83 1. The personal popularity of William Blamire
BLAMIRES OF THE OAKS AND THACKWOOD 153
marked him out as the colleague of Sir James Graham against Lord Lowther, who sat as a Conservative. The Cumberland election of 1831 is one of the most exciting in the annals of parliamentary contests. The polling place was at Cocker- mouth, at one corner of the county, in the neighbourhood where the Lowther interest was strongest. It needed the personal enthusiasm which Blamire inspired to induce voters to incur the expense of so long a journey. But his yeomen friends rode in such an imposing cavalcade towards Cocker- mouth that Lord Lowther felt it better to retire on the third day's polling than to be ignominiously defeated.
In 1834 William Blamire married his cousin, Dorothy Taubman.
In Parliament he showed great knowledge about land tenure, but his reputation was made by a speech on the Tithe Commutation Bill. His suggestions were adopted, and the Bill, as we have it, was the result of his practical experience.
When the Bill became law, Blamire was appointed the Chief Commissioner for carrying it into effect. He resigned his seat in Parliament and devoted himself exclusively to the adjustment of details which concerned every landowner and clergyman in England. He was interested in and a hard worker on all questions affecting land tenure, and he had much to do with the ' Copyhold Enfranchisement Act,* * The Commons Enclosure Act,' and was a commissioner for both Acts.
He was the true author of the ' Highway Act ' : he was a tremendous worker ; but in 1847 he was affected by paralysis of the right arm. He recovered and worked as hard as ever.
154 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
His wife died in 1857, and he returned to Cumberland after seventeen years' absence. In i860 his health broke down altogether, and he died at Thackwood Nook, 12th January 1862.
BLAMIRE INSCRIPTIONS In Kirkby Lonsdale Churchyard
Sacred to the memory of Isabella Blamire, eldest daughter of Richmond Blamire, Esq., who departed this life September 14th, 1845, whose whole life was characterised by Benevolence and every kind and affectionate feeling of the Heart, and who was a bright example of Patience, Resignation, and Piety. In Life how valued ! In Death — how tenderly lamented !
In the New Cemetery, Circular Road, Calcutta Sacred to the memory of Ensign Richmond Ba5mes Blamire, first European Light Infantry. Died 9th March 1845.
At Pietermaritzburg, Natal
Sacred
To
The Memory of
Charles Blamire,
Lieut. -Colonel 90th Regiment,
Who died at
Camp Solferino, Natal,
On the 24th Novr. 1865,
Aged 51 years.
He was nearly thirty years in the above Regiment, and
his Brother Officers have erected this Memorial
in token of regret for their loss.
THE BAYNES OF COCKERMOUTH
THE BAYNES OF COCKERMOUTH, CO. CUMBERLAND
This family was probably an offshoot from one of the West- morland Baynes families ; but from which particular one is still in doubt. In that county there were two main Baynes settlements, viz. : Appleby in the north-east, and Kirkby Lonsdale in the south-west (with Sellett Hall as chief residence, two and a half furlongs on the south side of the Lancashire- Westmorland boundary). Of the latter family Lucas, the historian of Wharton, speaks, calling them a long descended race of moyen gentry. The former were sub- stantial citizens of Appleby, of considerable standing, furnishing mayors to that borough in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In 1692 a Richard Baynes gave a small seal, with the borough arms, to that town ; it bears the inscription : * Ex dono Rich : Baynes in usum Maior Burgii de Appleby.' This seal is still handed to each succeeding mayor for private use during the term of his office.
Family tradition asserts that Richard Baynes, the first of that family at Cockermouth, was a lawyer, and came from Appleby as business agent for the Earl of Egremont and the Duke of Wharton. Be that as it may, this Richard Baynes was evidently a man holding a good position, as he was able to marry into a good local family at Cockermouth,
158 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
as he married Anne Langton, sister to Isaac Langton of Cockermouth ; another brother it is said was that John Langton, who was High Sheriff for Cumberland in the first year of George iii. (1761). These Langtons bore arms : Party per pale argent and or, 3 chevrons gules ; which point to a descent from the Langtons, Barons of Walton in Lancashire.
The fruit of this marriage was three children who attained maturity, viz. :
1. Richard Baynes born circa 17 13.
2. Deborah Baynes ,, ,, 1714-
3. Robert Baynes „ „ 1717-
Richard and Robert succeeded to their father's business as solicitors ; of the former little is known beyond the facts that he never married, and died 3rd September 1779, aged sixty-five. By his will he left £100 in trust that the interest might be given to the poor in penny loaves every Sunday — which bequest is still carried out at All Saints' Church, Cockermouth.
Deborah Baynes married the Rev. Joseph Ritson, rector of Egremont from 1738-58. She had no issue, and survived as a widow till the 14th June 1800, when she died aged eighty- six, and by her will left £100 for poor widows of the town of Cockermouth.
Robert Baynes married, about the year 1739, Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Gledhill (by his wife Isabella, eldest daughter of Christopher Richmond of Highhead Castle, co. Cumberland). This lady brought considerable wealth into the family, as owing to the deaths
THE BAYNES OF COCKERMOUTH 159
of two Brougham cousins without issue, the Highhead Castle property, on the death of Miss Susannah Richmond in 1774, became divisible into four parts, whereof EHzabeth Baynes' husband received one part. This inheritance gave rise to long-continued litigation between Robert Baynes and the Gale family ; a litigation pursued with violent animosity on both sides, which ended, as most suits do, in a compromise. It was told the writer, by his great-uncle, Richard Baynes Armstrong, that the Mansion of Highhead Castle and the drive up were equally divided by a wooden partition, so that one party took one side and the other party the other side ; then to crown the absurdity of the proceeding, one of them unroofed his share of the house, so as to make the share of the other uninhabitable. Be that as it may be, the house certainly fell into disrepair, a sad commentary on the folly of domestic strife.
All this happened after the death of Elizabeth, which occurred, according to her tombstone, on 3rd February 1763, at the age of fifty-two, which age is scarcely correct, as her father in his Memoirs says she was born in 1708, which would make her fifty-four years old. She was buried in All Saints' Churchyard, Cockermouth. Her husband survived her twenty-six years, going finally to rest on 21st August 1789, aged seventy- two. His will is dated 1783, with a codicil added in 1784, and was proved in London in 1789 ; by it he speaks of himself as Lord of the Manor of Highhead, and directs a fine to be levied. He only names daughters in his will, so that his sons had evidently died before him, though one son, Robert Baynes, is mentioned as late as 1773 in the will of the son's great-aunt, Miss Susannah Richmond.
i6o SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Robert Baynes' executors sold his share of the Manor and Castle of Highhead to Lord Brougham, who afterwards bought the rest from the other families concerned, and so became the owner of the whole ; but by purchase only, not by inheritance, as is so often wrongly asserted.
The above Robert Baynes, by his wife, Elizabeth Gledhill, had issue as follows : —
1. Richard Richmond Baynes, baptized at Ivegill,
2 1st April 1740, who died an infant.
2. Robert Baynes, who was living in 1773, named in
his great-aunt's, Susannah Richmond, will ; but he apparently died before his father's will was made in 1783, as he is not named therein.
3. Frances Baynes, who married her second cousin,
Richmond Blamire. She died 6th April 1813, aged sixty-nine, and left issue : vide Blamire of The Oaks pedigree.
4. Susannah Baynes, who died unmarried at Cocker-
mouth on 20th August 1808, aged sixty- two years, and was buried at All Saints' Church there.
5. Isabella Baynes, who married, subsequently to
1773, the Rev. Robert Stubbs (named in his father- in-law's will), and left issue a son and a daughter.
6. Deborah Ann Baynes, married to John Arm-
strong of Lancaster, merchant, and had issue : vide pedigree of Armstrong of Lancaster later on.
7. Elizabeth Baynes, married to Thomas Benson of
Cockermouth, lawyer, as his first wife ; she died 15th June 1780, aged thirty, leaving issue which
THE BAYNES OF COCKERMOUTH i6i
is wrongly named both in Mr. William Jackson's paper on the Richmonds of Highhead Castle, and in Colonel Chippindall's Memoirs of Lt.-Col. Samuel Gledhill. 8. Beersheba Baynes, who died unmarried on 5th September 1773.
Thus the male stock of Baynes of Cockermouth died out, leaving only descendants through the female line in the families of Blamire, Stubbs, Armstrong and Benson.
W. H. Chippindall.
THE ARMSTRONGS OF LANCASTER
THE ARMSTRONGS OF LANCASTER
This family is reputed to be an offshoot of an Irish family of that name, and a romantic account was current amongst its members as to its settlement in England ; an account which the writer gives for what it is worth, as he personally places little faith in it, knowing too well how people embroider family history with a view to giving it and them- selves a spurious distinction.
The tale is, that when King James ii. was endeavouring to hold Ireland against William of Orange, a family of Armstrongs was murdered by the Irish, who set on all Protestants at that time {vide Macaulay's History, vol. iii. pp. 266 and 267). Of this family one male child was rescued by an old servant, who fled with him, and taking ship arrived at Whitehaven. This child grew up, and was the father of the first of the Lancaster Armstrongs of whom we have real touch. As the great troubles in Ireland in 169 1 were in the centre part of the country. King's County would be within the area, and it is some slight corroboration of the above story that, many years ago, between 1860-67, when the writer's father and mother were living in Germany, they made the acquaintance of some Armstrongs from King's County, who were much struck by the likeness of the writer's mother to their family portraits, and inquired whether she was Irish. Un- luckily the address of these people was not noted at the time.
i66 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
This rather mythical Armstrong is said to have married and had at least two children : (i) James Armstrong, born circa 17 14-5 ; and (2) a daughter who married a Mr. Gawthorp of Kendal, by whom she had one son, Robert Gawthorp, and two daughters who married and lived in Kendal. The above Robert Gawthorp, in his old age, married Catherine, widow of Adam Thornborough, a daughter of Abraham Crompton of Lune Villa, but formerly of Chorley Hall, Lancashire. He had no issue by this marriage, and his death and burial are recorded on a tablet on the north wall of St. Nicholas Street Chapel in Lancaster as follows : —
' In memory of Robert Gawthorp, Esquire, born at Kendal the ist of February 1754, died at Lune Villa near Lancaster, the 22nd of August 1844, in the 91st year of his age. The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness, — Prov. xvi. 31.'
By his will he left ;^iooo to the Unitarian Chapel of Lancaster. His wife died 26th February 1852, aged sixty-one, and was interred with her husband.
I. James Armstrong, above named, became a Baltic merchant in Lancaster, importing hides, tallow, pitch, timber, etc., and exporting West India produce in exchange, for at that time Lancaster was a very important West Indian produce emporium : he also traded to the Western High- lands of Scotland, purchasing kelp for use in glass-making — a very profitable business at one time, as shown by his son's diary, now in the writer's possession. He married, about the year 1748, Elizabeth, the daughter of the Rev. John Atkinson, Congregational (? Presbyterian) minister of Cockermouth. This Rev. John Atkinson was a person of
THE ARMSTRONGS OF LANCASTER 167
some note. His name is met with in the Rev. Oliver Heywood's Diary, vol. iv. p. 319 (as edited by J. Horsfall Turner), from which it appears that he had been a pupil of Mr. Frankland in Westmorland, being admitted on 3rd April 1697 ; Mr. Frankland dying, John Atkinson went to Mr. John Chorlton's in Manchester on 26th June 1699 to complete his education for the ministry. After labouring at Crook in Westmorland, he ultimately received a call to Cockermouth, and in the records of the Congregational Church there (kindly supplied to the writer by the pastor, the Rev. D. S. Johns) is the following regarding him : —
' The Revd. Mr. Jno. Atkinson who was educated for the work of the ministry by the Revd. Mr. Frankland, and had served at Crook, etc., where he was well approved of : yet want of health and not so well able to serve there : that people gave him dismission as appeared unto us under their hands, dated Oct. 5th, 1701. Then at a solemn church meeting, 17th Oct. 1701, he was received a member : and his call being readily signed by our church, delivered the same to him, which call to the pastoral office he accepted off.
' In this year 1701 a dwelling-house for the use of the minister was built. In 17 19 (as appears from a stone over the public entrance) the meeting-house was rebuilt and enlarged. The Revd. John Atkinson appears to have laboured with considerable success, and very great numbers were added to the church. His services on earth were finished about 1732 or 3.'
This John Atkinson was the author of a book entitled A Discourse of Election, with Letters on the Quakers' Delusion. i2mo, 1708.
i68 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Such was the father of the lady who became wife to James Armstrong. But sorrow dogs the steps of all the human race, and Elizabeth Armstrong died in giving birth to her first and only child, John Armstrong, who was born the loth October 1749, she dying on the 21st of the same month, and being buried in St. Nicholas Street Presbyterian (now Unitarian) Chapel-yard at Lancaster. Her husband, James Armstrong, survived until the 12th July 1783, dying at the age of sixty-eight, and was buried with his wife. Their joint tombstone, still visible and legible, reads as follows : —
' Here lieth the body of Elizabeth, the wife of James Armstrong, who died Octbr. the 21st, 1749, aged 34 years. And here also lieth the body of the said James Armstrong, who died the 12th July 1783, aged 68 years.'
II. John Armstrong succeeded to his father's business, which he carried on successfully. Being a Presbyterian in religion he was precluded from taking any part in public affairs, but he was an enterprising citizen, useful in his generation. He was one of the original promoters of the Preston-Lancaster and Kendal Canal, a trustee for the Presbyterian Chapel in St. Nicholas Street, and in May 1797 became a lieutenant in the Loyal Lancaster Volunteers.
Sometime in February 1781 he married Deborah Anne, fourth daughter of Robert Baynes, solicitor, of Cockermouth (see Baynes pedigree supra), by whom he had nine children, the last one costing the mother her life, as she died in child- bed on the 5th May 1792, aged forty- two (as by the family Bible). Her tombstone in the Unitarian (? Presbyterian) Chapel-yard says aged forty-four, and the writer believes that
THE ARMSTRONGS OF LANCASTER 169
forty-four is the correct age, judging by the ages of her sisters. Her husband survived her until the 13th April 1829, when he died in his eightieth year. The writer has portraits of this couple. Their tombstone in the Unitarian Chapel- yard reads : —
' In memory of John Armstrong, Esquire, of Lancaster, who died the 13th April 1829, in the 80th year of his age. And of Deborah Anne, his wife, who died the 5th May, a.d. 1792, aged 44 years. And of three of their children — two who died very young being buried here, and the third, Samuel, a captain in the 5th Regiment of Foot, who died in the West Indies, the 20th of October, a.d. 1821, aged 31 years.'
Inside the chapel on the south wall there is a tablet which will be given lower down, being a general family tablet.
The children of this couple were all born at Lancaster, and were as follows : —
{a) Robert Baynes Armstrong, born 7th April 1784, of whom later.
(b) James Armstrong, born 6th October 1785, died
13th October 1798.
(c) John Armstrong, born 9th August 1786, of whom
later.
(d) Richard Baynes Armstrong, born 2nd March
1789, of whom later.
(e) Samuel Armstrong, born 17th October 1790, of
whom later.
(f) Joseph Armstrong, born 2nd May 1792, died 15th
May 1792.
(g) Elizabeth Armstrong, born 21st February 1782,
of whom later.
lyo SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
{h) Deborah Anne Armstrong, born i6th February 1783, died unmarried at Lancaster 21st June 1 86 1, buried in the Lancaster cemetery.
(i) Susannah Armstrong, born 13th October 1787, of whom later.
III. Robert Baynes Armstrong, the eldest son, was educated at Clitheroe Grammar School and afterwards at Sedbergh School, where he made the acquaintance of his life-long friend, Henry Aglionby Aglionby of Nunnery, Carlisle. From there he proceeded to St. John's College, Cambridge, in 1803 ; became B.A. in 1807 ; elected a Fellow of the College on the Lupton Foundation in 1809 ; was called to the Bar of the Inner Temple, and followed the profession of a barrister with considerable success. In 1836 he became Recorder of Hull, in 1837 Recorder of Leeds, and in 1848 Recorder of Manchester and Bolton. He was a Bencher of the Inner Temple and a Queen's Counsel. In March 1848 he became the Liberal candidate for Parliament at a bye- election for the borough of Lancaster, and was returned by 636 votes to 620 polled by his opponent, the Honourable E. H. Stanley (afterwards Earl of Derby). On 23rd March Mr. Stanley petitioned against Mr. Armstrong's return, but after a scrutiny the election was declared valid. At the General Election in July 1852 he was again returned, and again petitioned against, and this time successfully.
He married his cousin Frances, daughter of Richmond Blamire, a niece to Susannah Blamire, the poetess, called 'the Muse of Cumberland' {vide Blamire pedigree). This lady had no issue, and died 19th March 1862, aged seventy-
THE ARMSTRONGS OF LANCASTER 171
seven ; she was buried at KIrkby Lonsdale. Her husband survived her seven years, Hving in Chester Square, London, and looked after by his late wife's niece, Miss Catherine Blamire, until the 15th January 1869 when he died, and was also buried at Kirkby Lonsdale. The reason for selecting Kirkby Lonsdale as a place of sepulchre was the fact that he had inherited a farm * Nether Hall ' in the old parish of Kirkby Lonsdale, and so no doubt felt drawn to the place, but he had sold the place some time before to Mr. Wilson of Rigmaden. The inscription on the tomb next to the one which contains Mrs. Armstrong's sister, is as follows : —
' Here rests in God, by the side of her loved and long mourned sister, Frances wife of Robert Baynes Armstrong, Esquire, Queen's Counsel, of the Inner Temple, London, died 19th March 1862, aged 77. Psalm Ixxiii. ver. 26, " My flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."
'Also by her so tenderly in life, and mourned in death, Robert Baines Armstrong, Q.C., bencher of the Inner Temple, who died January 15th, 1869, aged 84.'
It will be at once noticed that in this last epitaph there are two errors, viz. : a word left out and the name Baynes spelt wrongly. The omitted word is probably ' loved ' and the sentence would then read : 'Also by her so tenderly loved in life, and mourned in death,' etc.
IV. John Armstrong, of Acrelands, Skerton, near Lancaster, J. P. and D.L, for co. Lancaster, brother to the above, was in early life in the Honourable East India Company's Military Service, but his health not standing the Indian climate, he quitted that service, and returning to Lancaster joined Messrs. William Thompson and Sons in
172 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
their silk mill at Galgate, near Lancaster, his father and brother-in-law (Richard Thompson of Nateby) being already sleeping partners in the firm. When Thomas Thompson (the last of that family in the business) died, John Armstrong became the sole owner.
John Armstrong was a Liberal in politics and entered fully into the municipal affairs of Lancaster town, becoming, in 1838-9, Mayor of that ancient borough. On 7th March 1839 he, as Mayor, accompanied by Thomas Housman Higgin (see Higgin pedigree), attended a great meeting in Manchester for the repeal of the Corn Laws. In July 1841 he stood as Liberal candidate for the parliamentary seat of Lancaster, but was defeated. It is said that at this election ' bribery was unknown.' In recognition of his honesty in this matter he was presented with a medal and address on the 9th October 1841. He was also an ardent teetotaller.
Having become the owner of the silk mill at Galgate, he went to great expense in rebuilding and rearranging the mill, he building the great red brick mill now used. These expenses hampered him greatly, and, when he died suddenly on 1 6th October 1858, his affairs were deeply involved and were only brought to a satisfactory state by his brother Richard taking his estate over, and carrying it on on his own responsibility (see below, Richard B. Armstrong).
John Armstrong had married, about the year 1828, Hannah, third daughter of Abraham Crompton, of Chorley Hall, and afterwards of Lune Villa, near Lancaster ; by her he had an only child Hannah, who died on 28th March 1837 in her ninth year. Her tombstone in the St. Nicholas Street Chapel-yard has the simple inscription : * Our beloved
THE ARMSTRONGS OF LANCASTER 173
child, Hannah Armstrong, rests here, 1837.' Within the chapel on the north wall is the following on a tablet : * Hannah, daughter of John and Hannah Armstrong, of Acrelands, departed this life, March 28th, 1837, in the ninth year of her age. " If ye love me, keep my command- ments."— John, 14th chap. 15th verse.'
John Armstrong's widow resided at Acrelands until her death, which occurred on the 14th August 1878, at the age of eighty-six. She was buried with her husband in the Lancaster cemetery.
V. Richard Baynes Armstrong, the next brother, was educated at Clitheroe Grammar School and trained as a solicitor, which profession he followed in London, having chambers in Staple Inn, Holborn, where he laboured for fifty years ; he never married, but when his brother John died in 1858, leaving his affairs much involved, Richard wound up his own business in London and returned to the family house in King Street, Lancaster, to live with his sister Anne, and take over the responsibility for his brother's affairs, so as to endeavour to bring them round again. It was a brave act in a man close on seventy years of age. To assist him he associated with himself Mr. William Satterthwaite of Lancaster, and between them they not only discharged all the liabilities of John Armstrong, but were able to settle ;^400 a year on Mrs. John Armstrong for her life, and make her a present of the contents of the Acrelands house. The business of the silk mill did well and became a thriving concern by the time of the death of this Richard Armstrong, which occurred on the i8th February 1867, at the age of
174 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
seventy-seven. He was a J. P. for the county of Lancaster, a director of the Lancaster Bank, and a member of the Lancaster Burial Board. In politics, a Liberal, like the rest of his family. He was buried in the Lancaster cemetery alongside of his brother John.
VI. Samuel Armstrong was originally intended by his father to have succeeded to the family interest in the Galgate silk mill, and for that purpose was sent to work in the mill and learn the methods of manufacture. But owing to certain circumstances his father thought it advisable that he should abandon this career and make a fresh start in life, so he purchased for him a commission in the 5th Regiment of Foot and sent him off to his regiment, where he rose to be a captain, and died of yellow fever in the West Indies on the 20th October 1821, aged thirty-one years. His widow resided in Lancaster, but there was no issue to the marriage.
VII. Elizabeth Armstrong, eldest sister to the above, married Richard Thompson, J. P. and D.L., of Nateby Hall, CO. Lancaster (brother to the William Thompson who founded the Galgate silk mill). He died in Lancaster on 29th November 1827, aged fifty-nine. She died at Morecambe on 1 8th November 1859. There is a tablet in St. Mary's Church, Lancaster, to their memory which is inscribed as follows : —
' Sacred to the memory of Richard Thompson, Esq., of Lancaster and of Nateby Hall ; a magistrate and Deputy-Lieutenant for the County ; died November 29th, 1827, aged 59 years. And of Elizabeth his wife, daughter of John Armstrong, Esq., of Lancaster ; died the i8th November 1859, aged "]"] years. " Having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better." — Phil. i. v. 23.'
THE ARMSTRONGS OF LANCASTER 175
This couple left an only daughter, Elizabeth Thompson, who married John Stewart (a collateral of the Earl of Galloway's family). She died in Edinburgh 20th June 1877, leaving an only son, John Leveson Douglas Stewart of Glenogil, Forfarshire, who had issue.
VIII. Susannah Armstrong, youngest sister, was married, on the 24th June 1814, to John Higgin, junior, of Lancaster, a solicitor, and sometime Town Clerk of Lancaster (see Higgin pedigree infra). She died 13th March 1852, leaving issue.
Thus the family of Armstrong of Lancaster died out in the male line, and is now only represented through the families of Thompson and Higgin.
On the south wall inside the Chapel in St. Nicholas Street, Lancaster, there is a general family tablet which bears the following inscription, viz. : —
'To the memory of John Armstrong, Esq., only child of James Armstrong, Esq., and Elizabeth his wife, born loth October 1749, and died 13th April 1829. And also in memory of Deborah Anne Arm- strong, the dear and beloved daughter of the said John Armstrong and Deborah Anne his wife, fourth daughter of Robert Baynes, Esq., of Cockermouth, born i6th February 1783 and died 21st June 1861. Also in memory of Richard Baynes Armstrong, fourth son of the above John Armstrong, born March 2nd, 1789, died February i8th, 1867.'
W. H. Chippindall.
Elizabeth Thompson, the only child of Richard Thompson of Nateby, and Elizabeth Armstrong, his wife, was born 3rd December 18 19, and died at Edinburgh 20th
176 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
June 1877. She married, 9th of March 1841, John Stewart (who was the son of Leveson Douglas Stewart, who married, i6th October 1808, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Dalrymple-Hay, Bart. Leveson Douglas was the grandson of the sixth Earl of Galloway) . They had issue :
John Leveson Douglas Stewart of Glenogil, Forfar- shire, who died in London 27th June 1877, and who married Margaret Ann Gibson-Thomson, who is still alive, and by her left issue : —
1. John Stewart of Glenogil, born in 1869, married
Valentia, daughter of William Worship.
2. Grace Hamilton Stewart, married, in 1894,
Edwin Arthur Russell Benham, of Colombo, Ceylon.
3. Elizabeth Stewart, died unmarried in 1887.
E. R. Y.
THE HIGGINS OF ETHERSALL, MARSDEN, AND LANCASTER
.?£8i bac J .'.
IN OF ETHERSALI
Thomas Hegyn, circa 1375-1435-
Thomas Hegyi tenant or fret
heir, living ia 1558, when = Townley and Helen his 5 Phnip and Mary.)
John I
25 N;
xxui, in.ciiii;ucsici, Oil /
Sept. 1887, John Richard, 2nd son of John Rhodes of Cheetham, Manchester.
t^
d. 31 May 1876.
b. 28 Nov. 1858, d. 1889, leaving issu James Sanders, 20 Ji|)'eT of of hts-
Walter Winfield Higg b. 18 Dec. i88q.
THE HIGGINS OF ETHERSALL, MARSDEN, AND LANCASTER
This family is of ancient yeoman stock in Lancashire, being found with many branches about Colne early in the fifteenth century. An attempt was made by the late George Higgin, C.E., to connect it with the Hugons or Higgins of Boycote, co. Salop, but so far the present writer sees no authority for such derivation, and a perusal of the Court Rolls of the Honour of Clitheroe points, in his opinion, unmistakably to the fact that this family had its origin in Lancashire around Colne.
The first mention in the above-named rolls of the name is at a Halmote of the Manor of Colne, held there on Tuesday, 26th July 1425, when John, son of Thomas Hegyn, was amerced in twopence for not appearing to answer Thomas Wilkynson of Thorneton. Considering this entry we see that John, the son, was of full age (say twenty-five) and his father, Thomas, is still alive : if John was the eldest son, and was born circa 1400, the father, Thomas, supposing he was twenty-five when he married, would have been born circa 1375 ; which carries the date of this family in Lancashire a hundred years earlier than the date assigned for their settlement there by George Higgin.
The next entry is under date a.d. 1443, being a list of
i8o SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
tenants and freeholders of the Honour of Clitheroe, where, under the heading of Little Marsden, appear the names of Richard and Thomas Hegyn. What the relationship was between this Richard and Thomas and the previous John and Thomas, it is now probably impossible to say, but there can be no doubt that they were of the same family.
Then at an interval of fifty-seven years, on the i6th August 1500, we come across a John Hychyn or Hegyn, curate of Colne (in subsequent entries called a chantry priest), who was a witness in a suit brought in the Court of the Commissary of Whalley against Nichole Hartley. This John appears at intervals down to 154 1, generally as a trustee. In Baines' History of Lancashire (edition of 1888) he is called ' Vicar of Colne,' but wrongly, as he is distinctly called a ' chantry priest ' in the rolls.
At the Halmote of the Manor of Colne on Tuesday, 24th October 1508, Christopher Diconson surrenders a Garden, called Malkenyard, with appurtenances, in Colne to the use of John Hegyn, chantry priest. (Evidently a marriage settlement, see nth October 1530 below.)
On the 28th May 15 10, Henry Hygyn is elected Constable of Colne. In 15 18 Lawrence Hygyn was rated at 3s. 5d for tythe corn in Marsden (vide L. and C. R. S., vol. xxxv
p. 38).
At the Halmote of Colne on Tuesday, nth October 1530 John Heyggyn, chantry priest, surrendered one cottage and one garden, in the tenure of John West, with the appurten ances in Colne, to the use of Henry, son of Lawrence Heygyn Admittance granted, fine iiij d.
At the same court next year, viz. on 13th June 1531
HIGGINS OF ETHERSALL, MARSDEN, ETC. i8i
Nicholas Dayll, for making a fray upon John Heygyn, chantry priest, and for drawing his blood, having no means, was punished bodily.
On the 6th April 1540, John Hegyn of Marsden, mentioned as feofee.
In Court Roll No. 22 of 1 540-1, on Tuesday, 26th May, John Ellott surrenders to John Heigyn, chantry priest, and Robert Heigyn and Henry, son of Lawrence Heigyn, and John, son of John Heigyn, feofees, two houses and one garden in Colne, for the use of Sir John Heigyn {i.e. the chantry priest) for life, and after his death to Robert Heigyn, and after them to Richard, son of Robert Heigyn, and his heirs.
On the same date, Robert Heigyn of Colne and Henry Heigyn of Moosehowse were elected constables of Colne.
At the Halmote of Colne on i8th October 1541, Christopher Heigyn is a witness.
On the 25th April 1542, the jury present Robert Hegyn for not exercising his ofhce as constable by punishing vaga- bonds : he is amerced xij d.
On 26th October 1543, William Heygn is elected a constable of Colne.
On 20th October 1545, Robert Hegyn (with others) is fined for trespass xij d.
On 2nd October 1556 William Hygyne, deceased, is mentioned.
On 29th April 1558, Henry Hygyn of Great Marsden surrendered one messuage, one barn, one garden and appurten- ance in Colne to use of Thomas Banester in fee.
On 30th May 1564 William Emotte surrendered one messuage and six acres of land in Colne to feofees to the use
i82 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
of John Highyn of Colne and his assigns for twenty years at a yearly rent of 50s.
Also at same time, John Kelpas, Richard Mychill, John Highyn of Little Marsden, and Henry Highyn surrendered one messuage, one barn, and one garden with appurtenances in Colne, now in holding of John Ellotte alias Duke, to the use of John Highyn of Colne and his heirs. Admittance granted, fine 2d.
On nth June 1566 James Higgin and Jennet, his wife, are interested in land in Colne.
On 23rd May 1567 the jury present John Higgin and Nicholas Higgyn, with others, for breaking the Queen's soil upon Sheffield and trespassing. John fined iiij d., Nicholas ij d.
We thus see that there were old established families of Higgen at Colne, Great Marsden and Little Marsden, and as George Higgin went very carefully over the Higgin wills at Chester, and as his dates all tally with the entries in the published Church Registers of Colne, Burnley and Whalley, the writer is of opinion that the pedigree he compiled is quite reliable from the Richard Higgen who, according to him, settled in Marsden in 1470, but who was really born and bred there ; and, if we assume (for there is no proof at present) that he is identical with the Richard Higgin named in the List of Tenants and Freeholders in 1443, we arrive at the descent shown on the accompanying chart.
[I have thought it as well to insert a short narrative pedigree of the Higgin family from the time of Richard Higgin of Ethersall circa 1443, as this is in accordance with the scheme of the rest of the book.
HIGGINS OF ETHERSALL, MARSDEN, ETC. 183
1. Richard Hegyn named in lists of 1443 as a tenant
freeholder in Little Marsden, living in 1470. He married and left issue :
(a) Richard Higgen of Bradley, eldest son ; he was disin-
herited by his father.
(b) Henry Higgens (our ancestor).
2. Henry Higgens of Ethersall, son and heir, living in
1558, when he purchased land from Lawrence Towneley and Helen, his wife. (See Final Con- cords 4 and 5 Philip and Mary.) He married and left issue,
3. John Higgens of Ethersall, admitted as heir 25th
November 1547, buried at Burnley nth May 1578. He married and left issue :
John Higgin (our ancestor). Lawrence Higgin, who married and left issue. Henry Higgin, died unmarried.
Anna Higgin, married at Whalley, 4th July 1577, to John Talbot of Whalley.
4. John Higgin of Ethersall (son and heir of No. 3) ;
buried at Colne 30th August 1601. Married Isabella, daughter of John Swayne of Southfield, at Burnley, 9th October 1572 (buried at Colne i6th April 1616), and left issue :
Isabella Higgin, married at Colne on 20th May 1602 to
George Hoghton of Pendleton. John Higgin (our ancestor).
5. John Higgin of Ethersall (son and heir of No. 4) ;
will dated 25th March 1617, proved at Chester;
84 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
buried at Colne 29th March 16 17. Married Mary, daughter of Laurence Towneley of Barnside, second son of Laurence Towneley of Barnside by Helen, daughter of Thomas Hesketh of Rufford, fourth in descent from John Towneley of Towneley and Isabel, daughter of Richard Sherburne of Stonyhurst, and left issue :
John Higgin, who married and left issue (see Higgin
Chart Pedigree). Mary Higgin, baptized at Colne loth Feb. 1605, married
George Banister. Isabella Higgin, baptized at Colne 7th Feb. 1601, buried
there 6th May 1602. Anna Higgin, baptized at Colne 20th March 1607. Henry Higgin (our ancestor). James Higgin of Marsden (see Higgin Chart Pedigree).
6. Henry Higgin of Marsden (son of No. 5), baptized
at Colne 8th July 1610 ; buried at Colne 14th February 1644. Married at Burnley, loth June 1629, Jenet, daughter of Edmond Spencer of Hurstwood, who was baptized at Burnley loth April 1603, buried at Colne 13th October 1635. He left issue :
Henry Higgin, baptized at Colne 23rd Dec. 1632. John Higgin (our ancestor).
7. John Higgin of Wiswall, baptized at Colne 20th
September 1635, and died there about 1690. Married Mary, who was buried at Whalley 2nd April 1692, and left issue :
HIGGINS OF ETHERSALL, MARSDEN, ETC. 185
Edmond Higgin, baptized 3rd Nov. 1659, died s.p.
22nd Sept. 1738. Robert Higgin (our ancestor) . Anna Higgin, died unmarried in 1730. Elizabeth Higgin, died unmarried in 1736. John Higgin of Wiswall (see Higgin Chart Pedigree).
8. Robert Higgin of Whalley (son of No. 7),
baptized 20th April 1668 ; buried at Whalley 27th October 1729. Married Janet, who died 26th December 1724, and by her had issue :
James Higgin (our ancestor).
John Higgin (see Higgin Chart Pedigree).
Thomas Higgin, baptized 7th January 1702.
9. James Higgin of Tottington (son of No. 8),
baptized 17th of August 1707. Married at Bury on 4th March 1734, Letitia, daughter of George Waddington of Woodhay, near Bury, and had issue an only son,
John Higgin of Woodhay, born 31st March 1735, admitted heir 2nd November 1764, married Mary, daughter of Wilham Home (a cousin of George Home, D.D., Bishop of Norwich). She was born 7th January 1735, and died in August 1786.
Here Colonel Chippindall commences the narrative pedigree. E. R. Y.]
This family does not appear to have produced any men of more than ordinary character, nor to have occupied any public office until the eighteenth century, when we find John Higgin (1735-83) holding the office of governor and keeper of Lancaster Castle. It is said that this John (the
i86 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
first of three successive men of that name in Lancaster) in early life followed the sea as a profession, that he built himself a ship in America, and lading it with produce, sailed in to Lancaster, where he disposed of ship and cargo. At that time the previous governor of the castle had died, and John Higgin obtained the appointment, most probably by purchase, as all these public appointments were at that time bought and sold in the most barefaced manner {vide Howard's State of Public Prisons) .
He only held office a short time, as he, in common with many others attending the Assizes, was attacked by an outbreak of jail-fever, to which he succumbed on 24th December 1783.
The magistrates, feeling that he had not enjoyed his office for long, nominated his only son, John Higgin, the second, to the vacant governorship, which he held for close on fifty years. He appears to have been a man of some benevolence, taking an interest in the welfare of the prisoners in the castle, and it is on record that on March 20th, 1802, the thanks of the Grand Jury were given to Mr. Higgin, governor of the gaol, for his pamphlet : 'Advice to prisoners committed for trial.' He also assisted a young Frenchman, from Alsace, who had been imprisoned by his Manchester employer for disclosing trade secrets, ultimately obtaining his liberation, in return for which the Frenchman sent him, from Strassburg, a most grateful letter with two bronze medals, which are kept in a box in the castle, and handed on from governor to governor.
In 1812 reports arose that he was harsh, and a petition was presented to Parliament against him, but the magistrates
HIGGINS OF ETHERSALL, MARSDEN, ETC. 187
of the county in Quarter Sessions at Preston, on 25th June 1 8 12, supported him, and passed a resolution which states that * we feel it due to his character and station to bear this public testimony to his merits, and to repress, as far as in us lies, that mischievous spirit of insubordination, which leads to the dissolution of all wholesome and necessary restraint, and by its daring calumnies inflicts a severe wound on the feelings of a most meritorious public servant, of whom we think it more than ever necessary to declare that he possesses our entire and unqualified esteem and confidence.'
In 1818, on 2ist September, Mrs. Fry, the prison phil- anthropist, visited the castle, and expressed much satisfaction with its plan and the cleanliness, order and industry on the men's side of the prison, observing that she had seen nothing like it in other places, and expressing the hope that the women would be equally well employed and regulated when the new buildings were ready for their reception.
This John Higgin also took an interest in the municipal life of the town of Lancaster, becoming a member of the Corporation, and was elected an Alderman of the town on 2ist August 1813.
There being no house for the governor in the castle at that time, he resided at Greenfield, near to where St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church now stands ; here he had a small observatory, in which he made astronomical observations ; a taste which he probably got from his seafaring father.
On the loth May 1784, he married Mary, daughter of Robert Housman, of Lune Bank, Skerton, of a very old- established yeoman family there. (The earliest notice which
i88 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
the writer possesses of them is an undated complaint, some time between 1503-23, of Thomas and John Houseman, tenants of the Manor of Skerton, against Alexander, Abbott of Furness, regarding his fishery in the river Lune.) Of this marriage there was a family of nine children, as shown on the chart. As most of them left descendants they will be taken by families numbered with Roman numerals.
I. The eldest son, John Higgin, the third, was brought up to the law and became an attorney (as solicitors were then called). His most celebrated case was the long contested suit, Tatham v. Wright, for the ownership of Hornby Castle ; a case which turned on the capacity of Mr. John Marsden of Hornby Castle to make a will. There were seven or eight trials, and at last. Admiral Tatham, who was heir at law to Mr. Marsden, won his case, through (as he said) the dogged- ness of Mr. John Higgin. John Higgin was at one time Town Clerk of Lancaster, but after the reform of the municipal borough, his place was given to another lawyer. He married Susannah, daughter of John Armstrong of Lancaster, merchant, and had a family of one son and three daughters. He died in 1847, the same year as that in which his father died, the latter dying in the spring and he in the autumn.
I. His only son, William Housman Higgin, became a barrister of the Middle Temple on 28th January 1848, and joined the Northern Circuit. He soon established his reputation. In 1868 he became a Queen's Counsel and Bencher of his Inn, and was largely employed in arbitration cases in Manchester.
HIGGINS OF ETHERSALL, MARSDEN, ETC. 189
Soon after he was appointed chairman of the Quarter Sessions for the Salford Hundred. In 1879 he was invited by the magistrates of the Preston Sessions to act as chairman of the Preston Court of Quarter Sessions, and he discharged the duties of that office for several years without receiving any remuneration, but later on an Act of Parliament was passed empowering the magistrates to give him a salary of ;^8oo a year ; the same amount as he received from Salford. In 1890 he was appointed Recorder of Preston, an office he held till his death on 30th January 1893. He married, on 20th August 1840, Mary, eldest daughter -of James Calah of Holm Hall, Lincolnshire, but had no issue. In his private capacity he was a warm-hearted, generous man, and the writer of this article can recall many a pleasure given to him both as boy and man by this most generous of uncles.
[I should like to endorse what Colonel Chippindall has said about our uncle. To the Yerburghs he was always the kindliest and most affectionate of uncles, the most open- handed and generous of men, and if his health had only been equal to his ability, there can be no doubt but that he would have been made a Judge of the High Court : but unfortun- ately nearly all his life he was a martyr to gout, and at times suffered excruciating agony. This malady undoubtedly seriously retarded him in his professional advancement, and it was really surprising how he could preserve such an
190 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
unruffled sweetness of temper in the most trying circumstances and whilst labouring under this great affliction.
He was an enthusiastic yachtsman and a perfect sailor. Many a cruise I have had with him on board his yacht the John o' Gaunt, a fine vessel of about 150 tons.
As a chairman of the magistrates at their quarterly meetings, when conducting business which has now been taken over by the County Councils, he was at his best. To a quick grasp of principles he joined a singular tenacity of purpose, so that when once he had taken up a position it was difficult to shake him. His strength of will seemed to impress itself upon his colleagues. He was one of the finest types I have ever known of the ' real old English Gentleman.' Generous, genial, sympathetic and honest in every sense of the word, in social life he won affection and popularity. He was one of the men who do not make enemies, but find friendship stronger as years pass by and intimacy becomes closer. His knowledge, love of justice, and impartiality gained for him the confidence of those who met him in a business or official capacity : and as a legal adviser, advocate or arbitrator, he acted so conscientiously and with such scrupulous fairness that the faintest shadow of mistrust was never cast upon him. His strong common- sense and more than usual gift of expression gave a tone to every public meeting in which he took part. E. R. Y.]
2. The eldest daughter, Ann Higgin, married Murdo Robertson, Writer to the Signet, of Edinburgh, and had issue twins, namely a son James, and a daughter Anne, born loth November 1850. Ann
HIGGINS OF ETHERSALL, MARSDEN, ETC. 191
died in giving birth to these children, of whom only James survived. He became heir to his uncle, Captain Robertson-Walker, R.N., of Gil- garran, co. Cumberland, assuming the additional name of Walker on succeeding to the estate. (See Robertson-Walker of Gilgarran.)
3. The second daughter, Elizabeth Agnes Higgin,
married her cousin Thomas, eldest son of John Chippindall, J. P., D.L., of Lancaster, and had issue. (See Chippindall pedigree infra.)
4. The third daughter, Susannah Higgin, married the
Rev. Richard Yerburgh, B.A., Vicar of Sleaford, and had issue. (See Yerburgh pedigree.)
n. The second son of the second John Higgin, namely Thomas Housman Higgin (i 788-1 861), became a partner in a cotton-mill with his brother-in-law, George Burrow (Burrow and Higgin), but relinquishing that, he acted as deputy governor of Lancaster Castle during the latter part of his father's lifetime. During this period he took part in the municipal life of the town, and was Mayor in 1836-7, but on the death of his father in 1847 he moved to Belfast, where he became manager of the County Down Railway. On the 13th July 18 16 he married Sarah, third daughter of the Rev. James Winfield, M.A., of Chester, by whom he had a family of ten children. He died in London 27th March 1 86 1, and was buried in Lancaster churchyard.
I. His eldest son, Winfield Higgin, born 6th April 1817, married Sarah, daughter of Thomas Mason, by
192 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
whom he had three daughters. The whole family emigrated to New Zealand. He died about the year 1884, and his wife died at Nelson, N. Z., 8th October 1881.
2. Edward Higgin, second son, born 3rd June 1819,
married Elizabeth, second daughter of John Hind, of The Lodge, Belfast, merchant, on 28th December 1848 : they had two children who died young. His wife died at Trostan, Bury St. Edmunds, on i8th January 1880. He died at Bromley, Kent, on 24th April 1885, and was buried with his wife at Troston, Bury St. Edmunds.
3. James Higgin, born ist January 1824, became a
manufacturing chemist in Manchester ; married Mary Anne Glyn. He died in Manchester 27th June 1885, leaving a family which with their mother emigrated to Adelaide, South Australia, where the mother died i6th October 1906, aged seventy-two. James Higgin's family was : —
{a) Alfred James Higgin, Professor of Chemistry in 1911 at Adelaide University, S. Australia.
{b) Sarah Winfield Higgin, married at St. Luke's Church, Cheetham Hill, Manchester, on 7th Sept. 1887, to John Richard, second son of John Rhodes of Cheetham Hill, Manchester, and has issue.
(c) Florence Mabel Higgin, married to George Silvan.
[d) Geneta Spencer Higgin. {e) May Higgin.
4. Thomas Higgin, born 29th January 1827, salt
HIGGINS OF ETHERSALL, MARSDEN, ETC. 193
merchant of Liverpool and J. P. ; married, on 8th June 1853, Rachel Marsden, daughter of John Hind of the Lodge, Belfast. He died 27th November 1891. His wife died 13th May 1891, having had the following family : —
{a) John Edward Higgin, born 3rd September 1854, cotton broker, of Liverpool and St. Louis, U.S.A., married Lilias Mary, daughter of Charles B. Bean, merchant, of Liverpool, at St. Bartholomew's Church, Roby, Lancashire, on 14th August 1878; she died at Lancaster on 8th September 1906, aged 50, and was buried at Field Broughton, near Cartmel. He died at Grange-over-Sands i6th December 1908, and was buried with his wife. They had issue :
(i) Charles Edmund Higgin, born 21st May 1879. (ii) Elsie Marsden Higgin, born 8th May 1885, married at Carmel, 13th June 1906, to Henry Sandys Barker, Barrister-at-Law, youngest son of Frederick Barker of Longlands, Grange-over-Sands, Lanes., and has issue. (&) William Sinclair Higgin, born 23rd March 1856, cotton broker, of Liverpool, married, 6th February 1889, at the Episcopal Church, Annan, Jane, daughter of James Saunders, gentleman, of Seaforth, Annan, N.B., and has issue : (i) Walter Winfield Higgin, born i8th December
1889. (ii) Isabel Marsden Higgin, born 24th March 1891. (iii) Helen Sinclair Higgin, born 14th June 1892. (c) Bessie Higgin, born 30th June 1857, married, 19th July
1882, Charles A. Earle, and has issue. {d) Amy Josephine Higgin, born 28th November 1858, married, on 20th June 1883, James Saunders, and had issue. She died 15th December 1889. N
194 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
{e) Rachel Evelyn Higgin, born 31st July i860, married on 26th August 1885 Henry S. Roughton, and had issue. She died 19th February 1904. (/) Thomas Housman Higgin, born 30th November 1862, salt merchant, of Liverpool, married on 2nd October 1888 Marion S., daughter of Peter Hannay, at Sefton Park Church, Liverpool. He died ist November 1907, leaving issue :
(i) Harold Sinclair Higgin, born 2nd July 1889. (ii) Rachel Madge Higgin, born loth April 1891. (g) Charles Earmot Higgin, salt merchant, born 20th December 1864, married, at Tarporley Parish Church on 30th Nov. 1895, Nellie Hayes. He died 2nd October 1909, leaving issue : (i) Norah Higgin, born 15th March 1898. {h) Edmund Spencer Higgin, born 9th May 1866, died 31st May 1876.
5. John Higgin, born 4th May 1829, married
Margaret Grant Campbell. Died in Memphis, U.S.A., 5th October 1880. His widow died 12th August 1899. They left issue two daughters, viz.:
{a) Ethel Margaret Higgin, married to the Rev. Arthur Lea-Wilson, Vicar of Learesden, and has one son, Basil Lea-Wilson, house-surgeon of the West London Hospital in 1911.
(6) Agnes Higgin.
6. George Higgin, born i6th January 1833, a civil
engineer, married Elena Bertodano, daughter of the Marques de Moral, Spain. He died 8th November 1892 at Maidenhead s.p. ; widow living in 1911. This George Higgin compiled the first Higgin pedigree, and is the person referred to in the introduction.
HIGGINS OF ETHERSALL, MARSDEN, ETC. 195
7. Mary Higgin, born 3rd April 18 18, married, at
Belfast, 4th July 1849, the Rev. David Stevenson, Vicar of Wendy, Cambridgeshire. She died at Bromley, Kent, 5.^., on loth February 1891, and was buried there.
8. Martha Higgin, born 2nd October 1821, died
unmarried, nth July 1899, at Bromley, Kent, and was buried there.
9. Sarah Anne Higgin, born 26th December 1826,
died unmarried, 12th December 1891 ; buried at Bromley, Kent.
10. Letitia Higgin, born 20th November 1837; living
at Maidenhead unmarried in 191 1.
HI. The third son of the second John Higgin of Lancaster was Robert Higgin, born loth January 1792, who entered the army and served in the 12th Regiment of Infantry. He retired as a half-pay captain, having married Anna Maria, daughter of Patrick Bellew, of Mount Bellew, co. Galway, Ireland. He died 24th June 1853, leaving issue one son :
I. John Chippindall Higgin, clerk in Holy Orders, who assumed the name of Montesquieu Bellew : he was a chaplain in the Bengal Establishment at Calcutta, where he met and married his first
wife, Eva, daughter of Money, whom he
afterwards divorced. Returning to England he became incumbent of St. Mark's, Hamilton Terrace, London. Here he married his second wife, the relict of a Mr. Wilkinson, by whom he had no children. Becoming a Roman Catholic,
196 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
he gave up his orders and travelled about, lectur- ing and reading, having a genius for the latter. He died in 1875, leaving issue by his first wife : —
{a) Evelyn Bellew, who married but left no issue.
(6) Harold Kyrle Bellew, born 28th March 1855, was brought up in the mercantile marine, but became an actor in Buckstone's Company in 1876. In 1888 he was acting with Mrs. Brown Potter, and travelled a great deal. He died at Salt Lake City on ist November 1911. He married but left no issue.
(c) Sybil Bellew, married a Mr. Whaite, a civil engineer in
Bombay, on whose death she returned to England, and having no issue, became a nun in the convent of Poor Clares in Cornwall Road, London, being ah ve in 191 1.
(d) Claire Bellew, married Major Joseph Boulderson, but
died early, leaving issue.
IV. The fourth son of the second John Higgin of Lancaster was the Right Rev. William HiGGiN, D.D., Bishop of Derry and Raphoe, born 27th September 1793 ; educated at Lancaster Grammar School and at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. and thirteenth Wrangler in 1817, but took the degrees of M.A. and D.D. at Trinity College, Dublin. Became Rector of Roscrea in 1828, Vicar-General of Killaloe in 1834, Dean of Limerick in 1844, and Bishop of Limerick in 1849 : translated to Derry in 1853, which diocese he ruled until his death on 12th July 1867, leaving a name in Derry as a charitable, broad-minded man, beloved by Roman Catholics as well as Protestants. He was buried in Londonderry Cathedral. There is a stained-glass window to his memory in Lancaster Parish Church. On the 6th March 1820 he married Mary,
HIGGINS OF ETHERSALL, MARSDEN, ETC. 197
daughter of Thomas Chippindall of Blackburn, by whom he had issue : —
I. William Higgin, of Rosgarna, Kilroot, co. Antrim, a distiller in Belfast, born nth February 1824, married Frances, daughter of John Hind of the Lodge, Belfast, on i6th May 1855. He died 15th October 1900 and was buried at Ballycarry. He left issue : —
{a) William Higgin of Malone House, Belfast, distiller, born loth Jan. i860 ; married at Holy Trinity Church, Nice, France, on 7th April 1897, Elizabeth Philadelphia Lochart, daughter of Rev. J. P. Macmorland, D.D., M.A. He died s.p. 3rd July 1905, and was buried at Ballycarry.
{b) Lucy Chippindall Higgin, born 7th March 1856.
(c) Wilhelmina Higgin, born 3rd January 1858, was engaged in philanthropic work for many years, and died at Tonbridge, Kent, i8th September 1911.
{d) Elizabeth Frances Higgin, born 21st September 1861. Qualified as a hospital nurse, and going out to Hong Kong, worked as a nurse in the Plague Hospital ; catching that disease, she died there 29th April 1898.
{e) Gertrude Mary Higgin, born 6th February 1865.
(/) Violette Higgin, born 3rd September 1867.
[g) Margaret Higgin, born nth December 1870.
(A) Norah Constance Higgin, born 23rd November 1872,
married on 14th November 1900 Arthur Corrie Lewin,
D.S.O. (late Captain 19th Hussars), of Cloghans,
CO. Mayo, second son of T. F. Lewin, D.L., and has
issue : —
(i) Patrick William Lewin, born 31st December 1903.
(ii) Thomas Chippindall Colquitt Lewin, born 13th
August 1907.
198 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
2. Thomas Chippindall Higgin, was in business in
the United States of America, and afterwards lived at Killiney Castle, Dublin, after which he moved to London, where he died i6th July 1906.
He married Amanda Alida and had
issue an only son : —
{a) Chippindall Holmes Higgin, born 13th October 1872, was an officer in the 6th Dragoons, from which regiment he was posted to the Lancaster Militia as a Major. He married Helena Mabel, youngest daughter of Charles John Galloway of Thorney Holme, Knuts- ford, CO. Chester.
3. Walter Higgin, an officer in the army, served in
the New Zealand war. Died in America s.p.
4. Sarah Jane Higgin, married the Rev. Thomas
Walker and left issue.
5. Isabella Higgin, married the Rev. Arthur Edwards
and left issue.
6. Mary Higgin, married the Rev. Mandeville Rodwell,
Rector of High Laver, co. Essex, and left issue.
7. Annabella Higgin, married the Rev. William
Edwards, and left issue.
V. The fifth son was James Higgin, born 9th September 1796 ; he entered the Royal Navy, but on the close of the Napoleonic wars, left the service and sailed as master from the port of Lancaster in a ship belonging to his brother-in- law, George Burrow. He died, unmarried, of yellow fever as St. Croix in the West Indies, 7th April 1831.
VI. The sixth son was Edward Higgin, born 4th May
HIGGINS OF ETHERSALL, MARSDEN, ETC. 199
1800, who was drowned whilst skating on the Lune, 7th January 18 14.
VII. The eldest daughter, Mary Higgin, born 2nd June 1790, married at Lancaster Parish Church, to John Chippindall, J. P., D.L., eldest son of Thomas Chippindall of Blackburn, and had issue (see Chippindall pedigree infra). There is a stained glass window to the memory of this lady in Lancaster Parish Church, erected by her son, Lieutenant- General Edward Chippindall, C.B.
VIII. Letitia Higgin, born nth May 1795, married George Burrow of Lancaster, merchant. She died 5th April 1864 s.p.
IX. Sarah Higgin, born 7th February 1799, married Joseph Pope of Manchester, cotton manufacturer, and left issue.
Lancaster Parish Church contains several Memorials to members of this family, viz. :
(a) A stained glass window to the memory of Bishop Higgin, the subject being 'The miraculous draught of fishes,' with this inscription : ' In memory of the Right Reverend WilHam Higgin, Dean of Limerick 1844, and Bishop of Limerick 1849, translated to Derry and Raphoe 1853, died July 12th, 1867, in his 74th year.' Erected by his widow and children.
{b) A stained glass window to Mary Chippindall {nee Higgin), the subject being ' The Resurrection.' Erected by her son, Lieutenant-General Edward Chippindall, C.B.
200 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
(c) Two neat clerestory windows given by William Housman Higgin, Q.C.
(d) A large brass giving the genealogy of the family, which reads as below, but this was removed when the new side chapel was built :
' Sacred to the memory of John Higgin of Wood Hey, near Bury, gentleman, only son of James Higgin of Tottington, and great-grand- son of John Higgin, last of that name of Ethersall House, Marsden, Lancashire, 4 years Governor of Lancaster Castle, who died December 24th, ryS^, aged 48 years, and of Mary his wife, daughter of the Rev. Samuel Home, who died August loth, 1786, aged 51 years. Also of John Higgin of Greenfield, gentleman, only son of the above, 50 years Governor of Lancaster Castle, Captain and Adjutant of the Lancaster Volunteer Militia in 1798, who died January 12th, 1847, aged 85 years.'
CHIPPINDALL FAMILY OF BLACKBURN AND LANCASTER
As the Higgin and Chippindall families appear rather inter- mingled, from the fact that a brother and sister married sister and brother, it will be as well to give the descent of these Chippindalls.
The Chippindall family is an old yeoman family of Lancashire ; the first mention which the writer has found of it is in 1246, when, at the Assizes, one Dyke de Chippindale is surety for the appearance of the defendant. Numerous scattered notices of the name appear at intervals down the centuries, showing them to have been rooted in the soil as yeomen cultivators, and the particular family we have to
HIGGINS OF ETHERSALL, MARSDEN, ETC. 201
do with here is the one settled at Waddington, near Clitheroe, technically in Yorkshire, but geographically part of Lancashire. A younger son of this family migrated to Blackburn— Robert Chippindall— and marrying there Maria Brown, became the father of that Thomas Chippindall, his eldest son, frequently mentioned above. This Thomas Chippindall, born at Blackburn, and baptized there on 23rd November 1753, married Sarah, daughter of Thomas Glover of Fallhead, Silkestone, co. York, and had by her a family of one son and four daughters, who all grew up ; but we are only concerned with the eldest son, John, and his sister Mary.
I. John Chippindall, J. P., D.L., of Manchester and afterwards of Lancaster, a calico printer, whose works were at Primrose, near Clitheroe ; born 22nd February 1784 ; lived at Elm Bank, Cheetham Hill, Manchester, from whence he moved to Lancaster about 1840. On 28th October 1813, he married at Lancaster Parish Church, Mary, the daughter of John Higgin, Governor of Lancaster Castle. She died 8th May 1854. He died 27th November 1872, and was buried with his wife at Skerton. They left issue : —
{a) Thomas Chippindall, born 12th October 1815, of whom later,
{b) John Chippindall, clerk in Holy Orders, M.A. of Worcester College, Oxford ; Vicar of Rochester, co. Staffs, 1851, Vicar of Warslow, 1855-63, Rector of St. Luke's, Cheetham Hill, Manchester; born 19th December 1825 ; died i6th October 1901 ; married,
202 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
ist May 1849 at Bishops Itchington, co. Warwick,
Eliza, second daughter of Rev. Edward Cokayne Frith,
M.A. of St. John's College, Oxford, and had issue :
(i) Rev. John Theodore Chippindall, M.A. of
University College, Oxford, Rector of St.
Stephen's, Salford, 1883-7; Vicar of Tut-
bury. Staffs, 1887-97 '> Vicar of St. Peter's,
Coventry, 1897-1906 ; Vicar of Holy Trinity,
Bromley Common, Kent, 1906-7 ; now living
in Bedford ; born 23rd March 1850 ; married
Laura Marion, daughter of John William
Joseph Vecqueray, at Rugby, on 12th August
1884, and has issue :
(a) Harold Theodore Chippindall, born at
Tutbury, 26th January 1892. {P) Dorothy Lily Marion Chippindall, born at Manchester, 17th August 1885. (ii) Edward Cokayne Chippindall, born at Rochester, 2nd September 1853. Was in the Royal Navy, but retired, and died unmarried at Roebuck Bay, Austraha, on 22nd May 1886. (c) Edward Chippindall, C.B., a Lieutenant-General and Colonel of the Yorkshire Regiment ; born 4th October 1827 ; died, unmarried, 13th September 1902 ; buried at Barrow-on-Soar, co. Leicester. {d) Rev. William Chippindall, M.A. of Trinity College, Cambridge, Vicar of Tilton, Leicestershire; born 2nd November 1829 ; married Constance Cecilia Mary, daughter of Charles Thorold, Esq. (see Thorold, Barts. of Lincolnshire), and rehct of Charles Crom- well Hockley. They had issue :
(i) Bertram Thorold Chippindall, a tea-planter in
Ceylon ; born 2nd June 1877. (ii) Rev. William Sidney Chippindall, born ist June 1880 ; a curate at St. Phihp's, Bristol, (iii) Mary Isabel Chippindall, born 12th May 1886.
HIGGINS OF ETHERSALL, MARSDEN, ETC. 203
(e) Robert James Chippindall, born 15th March 1832 ;
living at Bedford. (/) Mary Jane Chippindall, born 8th August 1814 ; married on 25th April 1845 (as his second wife) George Gibson, a merchant of Leeds, and has issue.
{g) Sarah Chippindall, born gth September 1816 ■ married on gth December 1841 the Rev. Thomas Burrow, Vicar of Pinner, and had issue.
(A) Fanny Chippindall, born 19th April 1818 ; died, un- married, at Lancaster, 23rd January 1902.
{i) Agnes Chippindall, born 20th September 1819 ; died, unmarried, 19th December 1836.
(;) Lucy Chippindall, born 29th March 1821 ; died, un- married, 5th February 1903.
2. Mary Chippindall, born 12th December 1792, married, on 6th March 1820, the Rev. William Higgin, D.D., Bishop of Derry and Raphoe
{vide supra) .
Returning now to Thomas Chippindall, the eldest son of John Chippindall and the grandson of Thomas Chippindall of Blackburn, who was born 12th October 18 15. He married his cousin Elizabeth Agnes, second daughter of John Higgin of Lancaster, Attorney-at-Law, and by her had the following issue : —
(a) John Chippindall, born 26th December 1841 ; in the mercantile marine ; died at Callao, Peru,
18th October 1874. He married Margaret,
widow of Thomas, and had issue :
(i) John Higgin Chippindall of Everton, Liverpool, born
8th November 1872. (ii) Harold Ernest Chippindall of Everton aforesaid, born
in November 1874.
204 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
(b) Edward Chippindall Chippindall, born i8th
August 1848 ; emigrated to South Africa, and died at Grahamstown, unmarried, on 9th May 1907.
(c) William Harold Chippindall, born 20th March
1850 ; a Colonel of Royal Engineers ; married at Holy Trinity, Selhurst, on 20th April 188 1, Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Captain Thomas Arthur John Harrison of the Royal Artillery, and has issue :
(i) Arthur Frazer Chippindall, born at Lancaster, 15th
February 1882 ; died in India on i6th May 1882. (ii) Harold George Chippindall, born at Barrackpore, Bengal, 24th December 1884; a Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers ; accidentally killed on the railway at Gondal, Kathiawar, on loth September 1911. (iii) John Eric Chippindall, born at Glasgow, 17th Novem- ber 1887 ; is a Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers. (iv) Ruth Chippindall, born at Barrackpore, Bengal, 9th September 1883; married at St. Peter's, Bedford, on 14th March 1906, to Alexander Edmond Knight, M.B., of Donaghadee, co. Down, Ireland, and has issue :
(a) Alexander Edmond Knight, born 6th December
1906. {(i) William Harold Knight, born 25th April 1908. (y) Eric Michael Bradshaw Knight, born 24th November 1909. (v) Dorothy Chippindall, born at New Brompton, Kent, on 9th October 1890.
{d) Charles Ernest Chippindall, born i8th Sep- tember 1883, died at Ingleton, co. York, 1st
HIGGINS OF ETHERSALL, MARSDEN, ETC. 205
January 1903 ; married at Lancaster in March 1886, Sophia Frances, only child of Captain Holt of the 2nd West Indian Regiment ; she died at Ingleton 7th July 1887, s.p.
{e) George Herbert Chippindall, a retired Colonel of Infantry (The Buffs), now of Morland, co. Westmorland, J. P. ; born at Bolton-le-Sands, near Lancaster, 26th January 1855, baptized at St. Anne's, Lancaster; living in 191 1.
(/) Susan Agnes Chippindall, born 19th July 1840 ; died I2th April 1892 ; buried at Ingleton cemetery.
{g) Mary Elizabeth Chippindall, born i6th March 1845, married at Lancaster Parish Church, nth May 1877, Robert Palmer of Kirkby Lonsdale, banker, and has issue :
(i) Herbert Richmond Palmer, born at Lancaster, 20th April 1877 ; M.A. and LL.B. of Trinity Hall, Cam- bridge ; a resident in Northern Nigeria ; Barrister- at-Law of the Middle Temple, (ii) Edward Cliippindall Palmer, born ist July 1878. (iii) Susan Mary Palmer, born 13th October 1869, married, at Kirkby Lonsdale, 26th April 1905, Frank, eldest son of Francis Fenwick Pearson of Storrs Hall, co. Lancaster, and has issue :
Violet Susan Pearson, born 21st March 1906. Mary Louisa Pearson, born 29th March 1907.
THE YERBURGHS OF COCKERINGTON,
FRAMPTON, WYBERTON, AND
SLEAFORD
PEDIGREE OI-VS, COVENI
William George Elm- hirst, captain R.N., b. 1867.
Harry Lancelot, major Light Oxfordshire In- fantry, b. May 1868.
Bart, of Trelavvne, CO. Cornwall, and has issue.
Son and daughter.
Marryat
Engineers,
Canada
Richard Eustre MarryaP RANcis Richard Bonsey, Yerburgh, b. 12 Jan. 1908. b. 27 Aug. 1901.
). Lincoln (near ;ton St. Mary's. 45, at Lincoln.
iforesaid, Dec. 35 In.
Jannett, bur. 3 Cockerington £
Yerburgh, b. 10
Nov. 1900. Mary Yerburgh, b. 24 Nov. 1893.
Coll., Iband, b. cureb. 1895. KiddeuA Yer- Ralph Ih Love- Yerband, b. 5 Mi«Jov. 1887.
THE YERBURGHS OF COCKERINGTON, FRAMP- TON, WYBERTON, AND SLEAFORD
The Yerhurgh, Yarhiirgh and Yarborough family, as it is spelt in the various Heralds' Visitations, is of great antiquity, and can trace, according to the Heralds' College, an authenti- cated male succession from the Norman Conquest. At that time Eustachius de Yarburgh was Lord of Yarburgh, in the county of Lincoln, which manor, together with the patronage of the living, still remains vested in his representa- tive in the female line, the present Lord Deramore. For many centuries various branches of the family of Yarburgh have been settled in various parts of Lincolnshire.
The Rev. G. Streatfield, in his account of the Danes in Lincolnshire, gives an interesting account of the name. He says : ' Yarborough camp in Croxton, from the fact of Roman coins having been found upon the spot, is beheved to have been the work of the Imperial legions : like most of the fortified hills in the county, it was doubtless occupied by successive races and commanders. Its present name, however, appears to have been given or at least modified by the Danes, who may have been the last to hold this strong position, which commands not only an extensive inland tract, but also in some measure the waters of the Humber. This camp, which gives a name to a county division and a title to
o
210 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
a peer of the realm, is mentioned in the Hundred Rolls as " Jerdeburg" and " Jertheburg." These more ancient forms of the name do not indeed prove its derivation from the old Norse "jord" to the exclusion of the Anglo-Saxon "eorde," but the present pronunciation was clearly established by the Danes, for in compound words " jorde " becomes " jardar " or " jard " and our Yarborough is almost identical with the old Norse " jardborg " an earthwork.
* It is safe to assume the same origin for Yarborough near Louth, which though it occurs in Domesday Book *' Gereburg," is found in other early documents as " Yerde- bergh " and " Jerdeburgh."
* Thus then the very names which are most familiar have enshrined the romance of local tradition and have handed it on to posterity, somewhat in danger of sacrificing the poetry of life to material progress. The plough has not yet destroyed all these relics of a bygone age : let us be thankful that when agriculture has done its worst, the names will still survive to tell us something of the past.
'Such spots, and the names that cling to them, may possess charms for few, but for the few the charm is very strong.'
I conjecture that the founder of the family, if the account given in the Heralds' College is correct, was a certain Norman Eustachius or Eustar who settled at Yarburgh about the time of the Conquest, and was known as Eustachius or Eustar de Yarburgh. There are a good many pedigrees of the Yerburgh family in existence inter alias :
Harl. MSS. 1400, fol. 60, begins with Eustachius de Yerborough.
Harl. MSS. 5874, fol. 37, begins with Euster de Yarborough
THE YERBURGHS OF COCKERINGTON, ETC. 211
(altered by some one to Eustachius de Yarburgh).
It is from this pedigree which has been much altered
that the pedigree of the Bateson-de Yarburghs
(Lord Deramore) has been compiled. Harl. MSS. 1550, fol. 23, begins with Etister Yerborough
A.D. 1066. Harl. MSS. 1484, fol. 35, 13, 39, begins with Eicstre
Yerbrough. Harl. MSS. 1190, fol. 15, begins with Eustachius de
Yarborough, 1066. Harl. MSS. 1555, fol. 90, begins with Eustar Yerburgh, 1066.
In considering the position of the Yerburgh family in Tudor times, we must bear in mind that Lincolnshire was not prosperous. Trade was steadily leaving the county, the towns were constantly proclaiming themselves ' decayed ' : many families were in straitened circumstances, and at that time the wage-earning class suffered severely. On the other hand villeinage was becoming extinct, and yeomen families were increasing their wealth, and even rising to the position of gentry.
The Wars of the Roses had little effect upon the social life of the people. Some great lords were slain and beheaded, and their estates forfeited, but for the most part these were recovered by their heirs. Far different was it with the effect of the economic changes of the period upon the fortunes of the county families. Of these hardly a family maintained its position in the county beyond the middle of the seventeenth century, unless it had by marriage or trade added to its income. As we look through seventeenth-century wills, we
212 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
find that the county gentlemen though they may possess several manors have very little personal property to deal with. John Langton of Langton has in 1533 to be content to leave 100 marks or 10 marks a year at his sons' option to his daughter. John Littlebury of Hagworthingham leaves such a sum as ids. a year to his brother for life. Charles Yarborough of Yarburgh leaves to three sons ^'j each. Then a small manor court was hardly worth holding ; the rents of free tenants did not increase ; the villeins, becoming free copyholders, are able to renounce service that used to be profitable ; and if rents anywhere were higher, landlords with encumbered estates could not always take advantage of opportunities in the matter of letting or purchasing lands or in other ways.
At the same time expenses and demands largely increased. The extravagance of Henry viii.'s court is well known. Hitherto the gentry had been content with a rough plenty, now new men with money obtained by trade (like the Welbys, Custs, Trollopes) brought in a more expensive style of living, and were able to indulge in luxuries that before were unknown. The cost of living was doubled, and impoverished gentry with their demesnes leased had to mortgage or sell their estates. How very small were the incomes even of gentry of family and position may be seen from examples. For instance, Sir William Skipwith's net rental in 1579 from six manors, including over ;^50 in land in Yorkshire, was only ;^2i5, OS. 3d., and yet he had been M.P. for the county and High Sheriff twice.
The decadence of old families is evident, as Canon Maddison has pointed out from a comparison of the 1634
THE YERBURGHS OF COCKERINGTON, ETC. 213
Visitation Pedigrees with those of 1562. (Vide Victoria County History, Lincolnshire, vol. ii. p. 321.)
If you digest these facts, it will enable you to grasp the position of our branch of the family at the time from which Sir A. S. Scott-Gatty commenced his researches.
Sir Alfred S. Scott-Gatty, Garter King of Arms, has estab- lished our pedigree back to a certain Richard Yarhurgh (see Chart pedigree of our branch of the family) of Over Tynton, co. Lincoln, who made his will 26th May 1545, which was proved at Lincoln, 19th June 1545. He leaves amongst other lands his house at Over Tynton, which he purchased of Thomas, son and heir of Simon Eve, to his son Robert. Among the Fines occurs one dated 15th November 38 Henry VIII. (1547), which sets forth that Richard Yarborough purchased from Thomas Eve one messuage, two gardens, thirty acres of land, twenty acres of pasture in Tynton, co. Lincoln, for £80. He also leaves by his will to his daughter Christian * a house edyfyed or be'alded within ye town of Cockerington for life — with remainder to my son Robert.'
He says : ' I cannot find among the Fines or any of the Rolls the purchase by the said Richard of lands in Cockering- ton S. Mary, and so I take it he inherited the same : with this view I tried to find out who possessed the Court Rolls of the Manor of Cockerington, but was told there was no manor.
' The said Richard appoints his brother, Thomas Yarburgh, overseer of his will.
*As to Robert Yarburgh, son of the above Richard, we have him making his will as of Cockerington St. Marie, 9th
214 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
September 1557 (proved 26th October following at Lincoln). In it he mentions his sons George and John, both under age, his daughters Margaret and Alison, and his wife Dorothy.
' I take it that George came of age about 1573, for in the Fines occurs an entry, dated 15th March 1573, showing that one, Phenias Neife, sold to Robert Yarburgh and George, his son and heir, sixteen acres of land, one garden, and twenty acres of pasture in Over Tynton, co. Lincoln.
' George Yarburgh, the son of the above Robert, made his will as of Covenham St. Bartholomew on 12th of March 1609, which was proved at Lincoln, 3rd July 1610. He mentions therein lands he holds in Covenham aforesaid, Skedbrooke, Somercotes, and Cockerington St. Marie. In the Fine Rolls above mentioned I have :
* 1597-9 George Y arbor ough and Richard Brown buy from Henry Burgh and Alice, his wife, one messuage, one garden, nine acres of land and one acre of pasture in Skedbrook and South Somercotes for ;^8o.
'Again in 1583-5 Henry Edwards and Janetta, his wife, sell to George Yarburgh six acres of pasture in Skedbrooke for £^0.
'In his will he mentions his wife, Anne, and his sons, George and Robert, and daughters (all married but the last named) Margaret, Helen, Anne, Janett and Bridgett. His inquisition post mortem is dated at Lincoln, 17th August 8 Jac. I. (1610), on which it is set forth that he died on the 13th June 16 10, and held lands in Skedbrooke and Cocker- ington, also that his son and heir George was aged eleven in 1610.
*I baptize this son George, i8th November 1598, at
THE YERBURGHS OF COCKERINGTON, ETC. 215
Cockerington and his younger son Robert [our immediate ancestor], 27th February 1602-3 at the same place.
* I have set forth this pedigree thus far to show how com- plete the chain of evidence is that your ancestor, Robert Yarburgh of Boston, co. Lincoln, who died 1678, was the undoubted descendant of Richard Yarburgh of Over Tynton, who died 1545 (see Chart pedigree).
' All the evidences proving this I possess and feel confident that none could gainsay them.
* A. S. Scott-Gatty, ' York Herald. ' College of Arms, 1891.'
Our descent thus being proved back to Richard Yarburgh of Over Tynton, co. Lincoln, who died in 1545, the crucial point arises as to who this Richard Yarburgh was, and was he a descendant of the old stock of Yarburgh of Yarburgh ?
A communication from Sir Alfred S. Scott-Gatty clears up the point that Richard Yerburgh of Over Tynton was an undoubted descendant of the old stock, but from whom he was descended is not equally clear.
' College of Arms, ' London, E., 4 Oct. 1897.
* I have up to date succeeded in tracing your pedigree back to one Richard Yerburgh of Over Tynton, co. Lincoln, who had a brother, Thomas Yerburgh of Alvingham. The descent of the family of this Thomas is as below : —
216 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
I I
Thomas Yerbukgh of Alving- = Richard Yerburgh of Over
ham. Will dated 5 Nov. I Tynton, co. Lincoln, ob. 1545.
6 Eliz. , proved 5 April 1565 at | Your ancestor. Lincoln. I
William Yerburgh of Alvingham. = Ellen, sister of Abbott, m.
Will dated 15 April 1597, proved 7 Feb. following at Lincoln, buried at .Alvingham 1597.
8 June 1563 at Alvingham, buried 15 Nov. 1613.
Thomas Yarborough of Salsby, = Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas CO. Lincoln. I Dawson of Maren Chappell, co.
Lincoln.
John Yarborough of Panton, co. = Mary, daughter of Edmund Jackson Lincoln, gentleman, j^tat 65 anno I of Panton. 1666.
I Mary = John Fenn
I I
Anne. Mary.
'In the visitation of co. Lincoln anno 1666 (D. 23 : 2 S* Heralds' Coll.) the foregoing pedigree is set forth as far back as William Yerburgh of Alvingham, and by wills, etc., I have proved the generations above. In the same entry the Yarboroughs of Panton are allowed the old Arms differenced by an annulet ( @ which is the sign of the fifth House) and the crest of the Hawk preying upon the Duck. Now all that we get from this is that this branch of the family descended from the main stock through a fifth son, but whom or at what date the records do not show, and I have not yet succeeded in filling up the generations back to the junction, etc.
' A. S. Scott-Gatty, ' York Herald.'
THE YERBURGHS OF COCKERINGTON, ETC. 217
The visitation of Lincoln 1532-4 shows as many as fourteen generations of the Yerburgh family where only the eldest son or one son is mentioned. It is fair to presume that some of these fourteen had more than one son, and their other sons married and left families, and probably we descend from one of them in the fifteenth or early part of the sixteenth centuries. The parishes of Alvingham, Cocker- ington St. Mary, Cockerington St. Bartholomew, are practi- cally adjoining to the parish of Yarburgh.
I now quote two wills from Mr. Maddison's book of Lincolnshire Wills, 1500- 1600, which I think conclusively establish the relationship and prove up to the hilt that we are cadets of the main stock. The first will that I quote is that of William Yarburgh of Alvingham (see Sir A. S. Scott- Gatty's pedigree of the Yarburghs of Panton). This William Yarburgh was the son of Thomas Yarburgh of Alvingham, who was the brother of Richard Yarburgh of Over Tynton, who was our ancestor.
' The Will of William Yarburgh, yeoman of Alvingham, 18 April 1597. To be buried in the Church. To the Church at Alvingham vs. To the Church of Cockerington S. Mary, 2S. 6d. To the Church of Yarburgh, 2S. My lands in Alvingham to my wife for life, then to my eldest son John Yarburgh for life, then to his eldest son Edward Yarburgh, with remainder to his younger son \\' illiam Yarburgh. My said son John's daughters, Mary and Ellen Yarburgh my lands in Brackenborough, my younger sons Richard, Wilham, and Charles Yarburgh, my daughter Margaret Rockcliffe, my son-in-law John Yarburgh, my daughter Ann Yarburgh, my brother-in-law Mr. Thomas Abbott, and my sister his wife ; Elizabeth wife of my son John Yarburgh, Elizabeth wife of my son Thomas Yarburgh, Margaret wife of my son Charles Yarburgh, my cousin John Yarburgh. I make my
2i8 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
wife Ellen executrix, and William Radley Gent of Yarburgh super- visor. I leave my lands in Saltfleetby to my son Thomas Yarburgh.
'Prov. 7 Sept. 1597.' (In a note Mr. Maddison says, ' There is little doubt the testator was an offshoot of the Yarburghs of Yarburgh and Kelstern though in the ranks of the Yeomanry.')
Now I wish to draw particular attention to the fact that this William Yarburgh appointed William Radley of Yarburgh the supervisor of his will.
Who was William Radley ? This question I am able to answer. He was the son of Tho7?ias Radley by Bridget, daughter of Charles Yarborough of Yarborough. He married Anne, daughter of William Syoncotes of Louth. His son was knighted at Newmarket 1616, and compounded for his estate, paying to the Parliament ;Ci8o. The Radleys dis- appear after the Commonwealth. Mr. Maddison quotes his will, which is very interesting, at full length. He probably purchased the Yarburgh property at Yarburgh, which, as I shall show hereafter, was re-purchased, circa 1640, by Sir Nicholas Yarburgh, the head of the Yorkshire branch of the family.
' The 16th Jany. 48 Jac. i. I, William Radley of Yarburgh in the Countie of Lincoln, Esquire, etc. My bodie to be buried in the South Quiere of the Church of Yarburgh. To the Church of Yarburgh x s. to the repairing thereof. To the Church of Yarborough xx s. To the Church of Alvingham x s. To Olive Yarborough my god-daughter v marks when married. To my cosen John Yarburgh, my servant, xl s. a year for life out of the prebend or parsonage of Caister. To Elizabeth daughter of John Yarborough v marks when married. To Stephen Yarburgh, my godson, v ms, to put him out an apprentice.
THE YERBURGHS OF COCKERINGTON, ETC. 219
and another v ms. to Charles Yarburgh, son of my cosen John Yarburgh, to put him out an apprentice. And I give to cosen John Newcominge in remembrance of my love to him and olde Angell, and to Charles Yarburgh of Louth and olde Angell.'
The ' cosen ' John Yarburgh was probably the eldest son of William Yarburgh of Alvingham.
Before passing on to consider our direct ancestor Robert Yerburgh, I here interpolate a further report of Sir A. S. Scott-Gatty on our family history. He says : —
' Since my last report the following sources have been examined and extracts made :
Wills.— Wills P.C.C. 1383-1558 of all Lincolnshire families.
Kirkstead. — Chartulary of the Abbey of Kirks tead.
Exchequer. — Exchequer Special Commissions.
De Banco. — De Banco Rolls Henry vii. to Edward vi.
Pipe Rolls.— Early Pipe Rolls.
Domesday. — Domesday, co. Lincoln.
Oblatio et jinibus. — Rot de oblatio et finibus.
Pleas Rolls. — Placitorum Abreveciat.
Hundred Rolls. — Hundred Rolls.
Exchequer Deps. — Exchequer Depositions. Temp. Elizabeth.
Common Rolls. — Common Rolls. Temp. Elizabeth.
Common Pleas. — Common Pleas Henry viii. to Elizabeth.
'The result or outcome of these researches varies very much, but from the Kirkstead Chartulary we get a very full and perfect pedigree of the early descents of this family, from one Gerundus, who must have been anterior to the Norman Conquest {vide Appendix A.).
220 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
'Appendix A. — This pedigree is very interesting, setting forth a very different descent from the recorded pedigree in the College. It ends, as most Chartularies do end, about the year 1275.
'Appendix B. — In this one gets at a glance when the branching off from the main stock of Yarburgh of Yarborough commenced. Your particular line commenced with one Richard Yerburgh of Over Tynton and Cockerington, who died 1545. He purchased his lands in Over Tynton in 1541 of one Thomas Eve, and is no doubt identical with Richard Yerburgh, who appears as holding lands in Cockerington ann. 1530. Query. Is he also identical with Richard who held lands in Edlington 1490 ? If so he was probably son of Thomas of Edlington and Cockerington and Whitcall 1455-90, who was probably son of William of Yarborough.
' Mr. Bird who is acting as my agent at the Record Office proposes :
1. To clear up the early descent from 1275 downwards.
2. To try and affiliate the various outlying men, 1435-
1530.
'As to heading 1. We have found that the original Chartulary is in the Bodleian Library at Oxford.
' Alvingham Priory Chartulary. — I have an epitome of the lands held by this priory, and they seem to comprehend exactly the places we are most interested in, viz. : Alving- ham, Cockerington, Grimolby, Saltfleetly, Summercotes, Yarborough, Wythcall.
' Then again with a view of carrying on the descent, 1275,
THE YERBURGHS OF COCKERINGTON, ETC. 221
to Eustace, the first man on record in the college, we propose searching : the Assize Rolls for Lincoln, the Assize Rolls for various counties. Coram Rege Rolls, Conventual Leases.
' By carrying on these sources sufficiently late we hope to be able to clear up the whole descent.
* I may add that many of these rolls have only lately come to light, otherwise no doubt Mr. Hardy would have searched them years ago.
' A. S. Scott-Gatty, ' York Herald. ' College of Arms, ' 17 May 1898.'
APPENDIX A
Authorities : Chartulary of Kirkstead Abbey, co. Lincoln, de Banco Rolls. Temp. 48 Edward iii. (M. 305).
1. Gerundus.
I.
2. Alvericus.
3. Kettelcroc.
4. Osbert.
5. The eldest son of Osbert was Hamelinus de Yerdeburgh, Clericus de Yardeburgh, Decanus of same living 1160 and 1 20 1 -2. Probably identical with Hamelinus Croc or Croch, living 1 148. 1 158 he married Mabel, daughter of the Mayor of Beverley, co. York, and had issue, of whom hereafter.
The second son of Osbert was
222 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
The third son of Oshert was Richard Hameline de Covenham, who married Hadwysia, and had issue.
1. AcEUS DE Yardburgh married Nicolaa.
2. Henry Beck, living 12 17, married Hawisca, and
had issue.
3. Nicolaa.
6. The eldest son of Hamelinus {Brian de Yardehurgh) married Constance, and had issue.
1. Brian de Yedburgh of whom hereafter.
2. Robert, Chaplain of Yerdburgh.
3. OSBERT.
4. John.
5. Geoffrey, married, and had issue John Gee.
6. Arnold, married, and had issue Hugh.
7. Matilda.
8. Helena.
7. Brian de Yedburgh had issue two sons, John de Yerdburgh and Gilbert de Yerburgh.
8. John de Yerdburgh, living 1240, married, and had issue.
9. Richard de Yerdburgh, who married, and had
issue. 10. Robert de Yerdburgh, living 1241, who married, and had issue. II. John de Yerdburgh, living unto 1275.
8. Gilbert de Yerburgh (the second son of Brian de Yedburgh), married, and had issue.
THE YERBURGHS OF COCKERINGTON, ETC. 223
9. Simon de Yerburgh, living temp. Edward i., who married Isabella, daughter of William Frekenach, and had issue.
10. William de Yerburgh, son and heir, who married and had issue. II. John de Yerburgh, son and heir, oh. s.p. Isabella. Alice. Eleanor. Joan. Matilda. Elizabeth.
As Sir A. S. Scott-Gatty points out this is a very different descent to the Yarburgh pedigree recorded in the Heralds' College. That pedigree has always appeared to me to be too perfect a piece of work. The use of the name de Yarburgh as a family name from the time of the Conquest is most suspicious, and it would be interesting to know what Mr. J. Horace Round would have to say about this pedigree if it was submitted to him.
I consider the discovery of the pedigree in the Chartulary of Kirkstead Abbey to be the most valuable discovery about the origin of the Yarburgh family which has yet been made, and in my opinion it absolutely accounts for their early connection down to the year 1245 with the parish of Yarburgh, and we may consider that the early descents recorded in the Heralds' College from Eustachius de Yarburgh, Lord of Yarburgh, are altogether apochryphal.
We must bear in mind that the new system of genealogy
224 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
is of comparatively recent growth, and has done much to stimulate the movement for honesty and truth in family history, and is no longer open to the taunt that genealogy consisted either in inventing pedigrees or in repeating without question the unsupported statements of Heralds.
The joyous age of the old genealogy ranged from the days of Henry viii. to those of Charles i., and of the pedigrees which many families accept as authentic, many were con- cocted at that period and duly certified as true by officers of the Heralds' College. Burke is the worst offender.
Mr. Horace Round in his Peerage and Pedigree, vol. ii. p. 5, says : —
' If genealogists are thus impressed by the long association between a family and its lands, " the man in the street " on the other hand will be most impressed, not by the fact that the tenure is so old, but by the news that surnames are not of older origin. Many absurdities and much fiction would be swept out of family history if only two elementary facts were clearly and firmly grasped. The one is that hereditary surnames were not introduced in this country till after the Norman Conquest, and in most cases long after it : the other is that owners of estates derived their surnames from them, and did not, as sometimes seems to be imagined, give to a locality their own name.'
THE YERBURGHS OF COCKERINGTON, ETC. 225
APPENDIX B Chronological and Topographical Chart
|
Dates. |
Yarborough. Cockerington. |
Edlington. |
Wythcall. |
|
|
I34S-6 |
Robert Yerburgh. |
Robert de Yerde- BURGH had a grant of one-fourth of the manor of Cockering- ton from Thomas Wake, Lord of Lydell. (See Appen- dix A.) |
||
|
1383 circa. |
William Yerburgh. |
William Yerburgh. |
||
|
I43S circa. |
Richard Yerburgh. |
Richard Yerburgh. |
John Yerburgh. |
|
|
1455 circa. |
William Yerburgh. |
Roger Yerburgh. Robert Yerburgh. Thomas Yerburgh. |
John Yerburgh. Thomas Yerburgh. |
John Yerburgh. Thomas Yerburgh. |
|
1490 circa. |
Richard Yerburgh. |
John Yerburgh. Roger Yerburgh. William Yerburgh. Robert Yerburgh. Richard Yerburgh. Thomas Yerburgh. |
||
|
1530 circa. |
Charles Yerburgh. |
Charles Yerburgh. Thomas Yerburgh. John Yerburgh. Richard Yerburgh. [N.B. Also of Over Tynton.) Roger Yerburgh. |
■ |
' N.B. — It is evident from the above chart that the Yarboroughs got possessions in Cockerington, 1345-6, and
p
226 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
the family began to spread out circa 1435, when John Yerburgh appears in Wythcall (probably a younger son of WilHam Yerburgh of Cockerington and Yarborough) : then in 1445 we have a more decisive spread of the family. I take it that Thomas of Cockerington, Ediington and Wythcall was probably son of John Yerburgh of Wythcall and Ediington (1435-55). Roger and Robert of Cocker- ington might be sons of Richard of Yarburgh.
' A. S. Scott-Gatty, ' York Herald.'
We now come to a period when our branch of the Yerburgh family appears to have migrated from the neighbourhood of Louth, Cockerington, Covenham, etc., and to have settled at Boston, Frampton and Wyberton.
I now proceed to give a narrative pedigree of our branch of the family, commencing with Richard Yerburgh of Cockerington St. Mary, circa 1500-41.
Pedigree of the Yerburghs of Cockerington St. Mary, Covenham, Grimolby, Boston, Wyberton, Framp- ton and Sleaford, all in the county of Lincoln.
I. Richard Yarburgh of Cockerington St. Mary (a cadet of the house of Yarburgh) purchased in the year 1541 lands at Over Tynton (near Horncastle) : will dated 26th May : proved 19th June 1545 at Lincoln : and by Margaret, his wife, who was living in 1545 he left issue.
(The brother of this Richard Yarburgh was Thomas Yarburgh of Alvingham, who was living in 1545.) {See Scott-Gatty's pedigree of Yarburgh of Panton.)
THE YERBURGHS OF COCKERINGTON, ETC. 227
2. Robert Yarburgh of Cockerington St. Mary afore- said (son of Richard Yarburgh), was buried there the 13th of December 1593 : will dated nth December 35 Elizabeth : proved 22nd March 1593-4 at Lincoln : married Jannett, who was buried 30th July 1587 at Cockerington St. Mary, and by her left issue.
(This Robert Yarburgh had a brother, Christian, living in I545-)
3. George Yarburgh of Covenham St. Bartholomew, CO. Lincoln (eldest son of Robert Yarburgh), held lands in Skedbrooke and Cockerington, and was buried at Covenham 15th July 1610, having died on the 13th : his will was dated I2th March 1609-10 : proved 3rd July 1610 at Lincoln — Inq. Post Mortem 17th August 8 James i., taken at Lincoln. Married Anne Gentle 15th August 1596 at Cockerington St. Leonards, co. Lincoln : she married, secondly, Thomas Hardy of Fulstow, co. Lincoln, on nth December 1610, at Covenham St. Bartholomew : he left issue, of whom here- after.
John Yarburgh of Cockerington St. Mary (brother of George Yarburgh), married Frances Willerton, 19th July 1609, at Cockerington St. Mary : will dated 6th September 1643, proved 29th June 1644 at Lincoln, and left issue :
George Yarburgh of Cockerington St. Mary was born 1 2th February 1622 : will dated 29th April : proved 7th May 1663 at Lincoln. Buried 2nd May 1663 at Cockerington St. Mary : married Eleanore, by whom he had issue : —
228 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Robert Yarhurgh of Cockerington St. Mary, aforesaid, buried there 29th June 1693. Will dated 21st June, proved nth August 1693 at Lincoln. Married Mary by whom he had issue two daughters : —
Anne, baptized nth September 1690 at Cockering- ton St. Mary. Eleanor e, baptized 21st February 1641-2 at Cocker- ington, St. Mary.
Margaret Yarburgh (sister of George Yarburgh,
the elder). Alison Yarburgh (sister of George Yarburgh, the
elder) .
4. George Yarburgh of Grimolby, near Louth (eldest son of George Yarburgh No. 3), was aged eleven at the time of his father's death anno 16 10, baptized i8th November 1595 at Cockerington St. Leonards, was of Saltfleetby anno 1620, and then aged twenty-two. Will dated 20th March 1631-2 : proved i6th May 1632 at Lincoln. He married Prudence, daughter of Richard Browne of Saltfleetby afore- said. Marriage licence dated 5th August 1620, then aged twenty-two. He left issue : —
1. George Yarburgh, eldest son, was under age anno
1 63 1. Under his father's will inherited lands in Skedbrooke and South Somercotes.
2. Thomas Yarburgh of Wibberton, co. Lincoln,
inherited under his father's will lands in Scup- holme. South Somercotes and Cockerington St. Leonards. He left his lands in Skedbrooke and South Somercotes to his brother Robert. Will
THE YERBURGHS OF COCKERINGTON, ETC. 229
dated nth June 1678 : proved i6th January 1685 at Lincoln. Buried 17th November 1686 at Wibberton aforesaid. Married Hannah, buried 29th June 1696 at Wibberton aforesaid : will dated 24th January 1695-6 : proved 21st August 1696 at Lincoln.
Hannah Yarburgh, daughter and co-heiress, bap- tized 27 October 1664, at Wibberton ; married (i) Barton, (2) Newton.
Lydia Yarburgh, daughter and co-heiress, baptized 5 July 1666 at Wibberton aforesaid.
3. Robert Yarburgh of Wibberton aforesaid, was
under age anno 1631 : buried 5th April 1690 at Wibberton aforesaid : will dated 22nd April 1690 : proved at Lincoln. He married Harriott Turner 1 8th June 1665 at Wibberton aforesaid. He died s.p. She married, secondly, John Lincoln on 14th September 1690 at Wibberton.
4. Martyn Yarburgh went to sea. Will dated nth
May 1657 : proved i8th May 1658 in the Prerogation Court of Canterbury. He died s.p.
5. Mary Yarburgh, wife of Mottram.
6. Anne Yarburgh, wife of James Johnson.
7. Elizabeth Yarburgh was living a?ino 163 1.
4. Robert Yarburgh of Boston (our ancestor, brother of George Yarburgh of Grimolby, and son of George Yarburgh of Covenham St. Bartholomew) is described as of Boston, CO. Lincoln, had lands left to him under his father's will at Cockerington St. Mary. He was baptized the 27th of
230 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
February 1602 at Covenham St. Bartholomew : will dated the 1 6th of July 1678, proved the 8th of November following. He was buried the 24th October 1678 at Boston, and by Jane his wife (who was buried 24th July 1677 at Boston) he left issue two sons, Thomas Yarburgh of Boston, Surgeon, and Robert Yarburgh (from whom we are descended) .
As regards this Robert Yarburgh of Boston, I think it is almost certain that he was the Robert Yarburgh of Boston who was one of the Parliamentary Commissioners for Lincolnshire in 1650. In 1644 he had been appointed one of the commissioners for the demolition of Tattershall Castle, and in 1654 he was one of the commissioners on an Act for the Assessment of the county at the rate of £120,000 for six months for the maintenance of the Army and Navy. He held a Commission in the Parliamentary Army, and took an active part on behalf of the Commonwealth against the king. There are several interesting entries in the Calendars of State Papers about this man.
CALENDAR OF STATE PAPERS : DOMESTIC SERIES
1649-54
29 Sept. 1649. Council of State.— Day's proceedings {inter alia).— The Governor of Boston and Captain Bryan, formerly appointed to see to the demolishing of Tattershall Castle, authorised to summon the county to see it being done within a month, Robert Yarborongh of Boston to be added to them.
It is evident that there was some delay in carrying out the instructions that had been given in 1644. state Papers Couucil of State.— Day's proceedings.— Captain Yerburgh and
for 1650, Caotain Stow added to the Militia Commissioners for the County
p. 392, 18 Oct. ^ .
1650. of Lmcoln.
THE YERBURGHS OF COCKERINGTON, ETC. 231
(Militia Commissions granted by Council of State) November 1650. p. 512. Lincoln H. Troop. Captain of Troop : Captain Robert Yerburgh Ref. 44.
Warrant by the Council of State for payment of money. From state Papery, Major-General Harrison. Treasurer at War to Gilbert Talbot ^riA\^\J^- ^^li Captain Robert Yarbtirgh, for freight for one Serjeant and thirty soldiers of Colonel Wharton's regiment from Boston to Leith, sum £8.
Council to Humphrey Walcot, Samuel and Richard Cust, and ^^J^//^'^^^^^^ Robert Yarborough, Justices of the Peace for the county of Lincoln, p. 395.'nov.' We are informed (by the petition of W. Kefftn and two others) that ^^i^i'e^^^n. Robert Massy and Thomas and Isroel Case, being desired by some members of a Church to meet them at a religious exercise at Gedney in Holland, co. Lincoln, on ist October, while going through to Holbeach, on the way thither were apprehended by the Constable, and brought before justice Hobson. That he tried to engage them to leave their meetings, offering them release, but on their refusal issued a warrant, of very unusual form, to commit them to Lincoln Gaol. These proceedings seem very strange if the said persons were con- ducting themselves inoffensively: we desire you to examine the truth of the matter, and to make order for their release, if it may be done according to law and report.
Council— Day's proceedings. Order on several examinations by Extracts from Samuel Cust, Richard Cust and Robert Yarborotigh, concernmg the sta^e Papers imprisonment of Robert Massy and Robert and Isroel Case by Warrant [f/^f^[''^l from John Hobson, Justice of the Peace for the county of Lincoln, being apprehended on their way to a ReHgious Exercise at Gedney Dyke— to advise that Hobson be summoned to answer the objection made against them by those he imprisoned.
Complaints by John Pemlowe, Clerk of Holbeach, Lincoln, to Council p- 398, Oct. 26. against John Hobson :
1. For frequenting alehouses and getting people drunk.
2. Setting up alehouses by his own authority, without any other justices of peace, and licensing persons of ill fame.
3. Enriching himself by taking fines that should go to the poor of the parish.
232 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
4. Binding persons to good behaviour, and not returning the recognizances at the Sessions ; taking great sums himself.
5. Taking unwarrantable Sums on Marriage.
Reference thereon in Council to Captain Fras, Clinton alias Fiennes, Captain W. Thompson Hump. Walcott and Samuel Cust and Richard Cust and Robert Yarborough.
Domestic Couucil— Day's Report.— Thomas Rand, W. Palmer, Robert Yar-
^''^jln 28^^' borrow, W. Harvey, William Welby, and the Mayor of Lincoln added p. 371. ' for the time being to the Commissioners on the Act for the assess- ment at the rate of £120,000 by the month for six months, from 25th December 1653 to 24th June 1654 towards the maintenance of the Army and Navy pubhshed by order 24th November 1653, as if they had been named in the aforesaid Act,
No doubt since I made the search amongst the State Papers more of them have been published, and some light might be thrown on his subsequent career.
We have seen that Robert Yarburgh had two sons, Thomas Yarburgh of Boston, surgeon, and Robert Yarburgh (our ancestor). I am unable to state when he was born, but he was buried the 2nd of October 17 17, and by his wife Mary had the following children : —
1. Thomas Yerburgh, baptized loth March 1670-1 at
Boston.
2. Robert Yerburgh, buried 4th April 1742 at Boston.
3. George Yerburgh (our ancestor of whom hereafter) .
4. John Yerburgh, buried loth December at Boston.
5. Mary, baptized 24th December at Frampton, co.
Lincoln, and buried there the same year.
6. Mary, baptized loth of August 1673, and buried
the 2nd of December following at Boston.
THE YERBURGHS OF COCKERINGTON, ETC. 233
7. Anne, baptized 29th June 1675 at Boston.
8. Thomas, baptized 15th January 1653 at Boston.
We now pass on to our ancestor George Yerburgh, who was the third son of Robert Yerburgh of Boston. He was baptized the 24th of September 1674 at Boston, and was buried at Frampton 24th March 1734, aged fifty-four MT., will dated 1733, married Alice, daughter of John Gainsborough of Frampton, co. Lincoln, who was baptized there loth of August 1680, and married there the 8th of June 1699. Married, secondly, Thomas Ponsonby. She died at Frampton 1 76 1, (bL eighty-two, and by her first husband had issue, of whom hereafter.
In Frampton Church there is a tomb : * In memory of George Yerburgh Gent., interred March 1734, aged 59 years.' Also one ' In memory of Alice Ponsonby, interred February I2th, 1761.'
It is obvious that when our branch of the family separated from the parent stock they did not keep up their original position, but became identified for a very considerable period with the * yeoman class.' Colonel Moore, F.S.A., in some interesting notes on our family history says that the ' Gainsborough ' were an old and respected family * in Frampton.'
Now we pass on to the children of George Yerburgh and Alice, his wife : they had a large family, many of whom died in infancy.
I. Sarah, baptized at Frampton 26th March 1700, and buried there 15th February 1707, est. seven years.
234 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
2. Mary, baptized at Frampton 5th July 1702, and
buried there 1st August 1766, (Et. sixty-four years, described as spinster of Boston.
3. Jane, baptized at Frampton 22nd February 1704,
buried there 31st August 1704, Inft.
4. Thomas, baptized at Frampton 7th November 1705,
and buried there 25th November 1705.
5. John, of whom hereafter.
6. George, baptized at Frampton 20th December 1708,
and buried there 2nd February 1755, a bachelor. In his will 1751 he mentions his brothers, John, Robert, Thomas ; sisters, Mary and Elizabeth Crowder ; aunt Frances, his mother, Alice Ponsonby, and the children of his cousins Robert and Saxton Yerburgh.
7. Sarah, baptized at Frampton 20th December 1709,
and buried there 25th April 17 10. Infant.
8. Robert, baptized at Frampton 15th February 171 1,
buried there 8th October 1782, (Bt. seventy-four, a bachelor; his will 1782 mentions his brother Thomas, sister Elizabeth Crowder, widow, Mary Crowder, spinster, and his niece Sarah Storr and Elizabeth Laurence, his nephew Richard Yerburgh, also John and Elizabeth Norre.
9. Alice, baptized at Frampton 1712, buried there
1714.
10. Jane, baptized at Frampton 17 13, buried there
1713.
11. Saxton, baptized at Frampton 1715, buried there
1717.
THE YERBURGHS OF COCKERINGTON, ETC. 235
12. Thomas, baptized at Frampton 17 17, buried there
1719.
13. Elizabeth, baptized at Frampton 9th May 17 18,
married at Boston, 9th April 1741, Mr. Thomas Crowder, left issue : —
Thomas. Elizabeth. Mary. Sarah.
14. Thomas, baptized at Frampton 14th September
1721, buried at Boston i8th September 1782, cet. sixty-two, s.p.\ his will 1781 mentions his wife Elizabeth, Thomas Crowder, Mary Crowder, Elizabeth Laurence, Sarah Storr, Robert and Richard Yerburgh, John and Elizabeth Moore and Mr. Thomas Wright.
We now come to John Yerburgh (who was the eldest surviving son and heir of George Yerburgh). He was of Frampton, co. Lincoln, Gent., J. P. Was baptized at Frampton 6th January 1707, and was buried there 7th of May 1780, cBt. seventy-four years. By will dated February 1780, he mentions his present wife Elizabeth, a son Richard, a daughter Mary and Elizabeth Moore, his brothers Robert and Thomas, a sister Elizabeth Crowder, grandchildren John and Elizabeth Moore, and his cousins Robert and Saxton Yerburgh. He married Mary Coddington, daughter of the Rev. Sa?miel Coddington, vicar of Boston. He was married at Boston 21st April 1730, and she was buried at Frampton 17th June 1767, cBi. sixty-five years. He married
236 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
as his second wife, Elizabeth Cawdron, and by her left no issue. She was buried at Holbeach.
Mr. Maddison says : ' The Cawdrons first appear as gentry in 1634, though they have a very decent pedigree back to William Cawdron of Heckington who died in 1544, and whose daughter married " old Robert Carre " of Sleaford, who so enormously developed the wealth of his family and who died in 1590, perhaps one of the richest commoners in England. No doubt this alliance helped the Cawdrons. They intermarried with the Kings of Ashby de-la-Launde, and took the side of the Parliament. Robert Cawdron, Esq., of Great Hale was indicted for high treason in 1643, for having joined with the Parliament against Charles I. Coming down to the eighteenth century we find them intermarrying with the Dymokes of Scrivelsby in 17 14. Robert Cawdron of Great Hale married Jane, daughter and eventual co-heir of Sir Charles Dymoke, knight, and his son was Dymoke Cawdron, the first husband of Elizabeth Yerburgh.
This Elizabeth Yerburgh was the second wife of John Yerburgh of Frampton, and her maiden name was Pulvertoft.
In the churchyard at Frampton there is this memorial : —
' In memory of Mrs. Mary Yerburgh, wife of Mr. John Yerburgh, who died 15th June 1767, aged 65.
' Also of John Yerburgh, Gent., who died May 5, 1780, in the 75th year of his age.
' Also of Mrs. Mary Wells, wife of Mr. Thos. Wells, and daughter of John Yerburgh, Gent., who died July 25th, 1795, in the 63rd year of her age.'
(This is a stone tomb and has a marble slab on the top.) In Holbeach Church there is a stone on the floor of the
THE YERBURGHS OF COCKERINGTON, ETC. 237
north aisle with this inscription : * Sacred to the memory of Mrs. Elizabeth Yerburgh Rehct of the late Richard Yerburgh, Esq. (of Frampton), and formerly of Dymoke Cawdron of this place, who died March 30th, 1900, in the 80th year of her age.'
John Yerburgh left issue by Mary his first wife : —
1. John, baptized at Frampton 8th June 1732, and
buried there i6th July 1732.
2. Samuel, baptized at Frampton 13th June 1733, and
buried there 2nd July 1733.
3. Mary, baptized at Frampton 30th May 1734, and
buried there 1796, cet. 63, s.p. She had been twice married, first to Barley of Kirton in Holland, and next to Thomas Wells of Boston, who survived her.
4. Elizabeth, baptized at Frampton 6th January 1738,
buried there 3rd February 1781, cbL forty- two. She married at Frampton, 4th July 1766, Robert Moore of Frampton, and left issue John Yerburgh Moore and Elizabeth Moore.
5. Richard Yerburgh, of whom hereafter.
Richard Yerburgh, J. P., D.L., only surviving son and heir of John Yerburgh of Frampton, was baptized at Frampton loth April 1742, and was buried there in 1806, (bL sixty- four- In his will he mentions his wife Bridget, sons and daughters Bridget and Mary, Arnall ; a nephew, John Yerburgh Moore ; a niece, Elizabeth, wife of Mr. Robert Swift. He married Bridget Arnall, daughter of Thomas Arnall of
238 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Heckington, co. Lincoln, gentleman, and Bridget, his wife. She was baptized at Heckington, and buried at Frampton 6th February 1823, CBt. seventy-four. She was married at Heckington about 1767, and in her will, dated 22nd October 1 817, she mentions sons John and Richard Yerburgh, daughter Bridget Yerburgh and Mary Arnall Sheath, and a grand-daughter Elizabeth Yerburgh. The Arnalls were a well-known family at Heckington.
On a marble tablet on the north wall in the inside of the church at Frampton with the Yerburgh arms thereon : —
' In memory of Richard Yerburgh, Esq., who departed this life 28th June 1806, aged 64 years.
' Also of Mrs. Bridget Yerburgh, his widow, who died January 29th, 1823, aged 75 years.'
Also on another tablet :
' Sacred to the memory of Bridget Yerburgh, the eldest daughter of Richard and Bridget Yerburgh, who departed this life deeply lamented, 22nd May 1831.'
Richard Yerburgh, left issue :
1. Bridget, baptized at Frampton 27th March 1768,
and buried there 31st May 1831, cet. sixty-three. A spinster. No will.
2. Mary Arnall, baptized at Frampton 1769, married
at St. James Church, London, 29th May 1813, to the Rev. Marlyn Sheath, rector of Wyberton.
3. John Yerburgh, of whom hereafter.
4. Richard Yerburgh, of whom hereafter.
John Yerburgh, J. P., D.L., the eldest son and heir of Richard Yerburgh of Frampton, co. Lincoln, was baptized
THE YERBURGHS OF COCKERINGTON, ETC. 239
at Frampton i6th May 1773, and was there buried 22nd May 1829, (Bt. fifty-six. He left no will. He married Elizabeth Belts, daughter of John Belts of Boston. They were married at Boston. She married a second time in 1831 a Mr. John Brooks.
In the inside of Crampton Church there is a mural tablet, bearing the inscription : —
' Sacred to the memory of John Yerburgh, Esq., who departed this hfe 15 May 1829.
The sweet remembrance of the just Shall flourish when they sleep in dust,
' Also of Elizabeth his wife who died 24th Oct. 1836.'
John Yerburgh left issue two daughters, of whom here- after.
I. Elizabeth, baptized at Frampton, married at Sleaford, 3rd September 1829, to William Elmhirsf of West Ashby, co. Lincoln, and died 30th April 1859 : and had issue : —
William Augustus, Captain 9th Foot, died unmarried 1892.
John Yerburgh, died abroad.
Harry, late a Major in the 53rd Regiment.
Elizabeth Jane, married, in 1864, Edmund Ruck-Keene of Swyncombe House, co. Oxford, J. P., D.L., Major 2nd Dragoon Guards, and Colonel Oxfordshire Hussars. She died December 1875, leaving issue :
1. Charles Edmund, now of Swyncombe.
2. William George Elmhirst, Captain in the R.N.
3. Harry Lancelot, Major Light Oxfordshire
Infantry.
240 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Charlotte Mary married, 1869, Gustavus Lamhart Basset, J. P., D.L., of Tehidy, co, Cornwall (last male repre- sentative of the Baronial House of Basset). She died 1898, leaving issue an only son : — Arthur Francis, J. P., D.L., now of Tehidy, married Rebecca Harriet Buller, daughter of Sir S. Trelawney, Bart., of Trewlane, co. Cornwall, and has issue a son and a daughter.
2. Charlotte Mary, baptized at Frampton 1705, married there, loth October 1826, to Henry Alington of Louth, born 1800, who had assumed, in compliance with the will of his kinsman Mrs. Sarah Rowe (the descendant of Hugh Alington of Swinhope), the name of Pye : she died in 1847, leaving issue an only daughter. He married, secondly, in 1854, Lady Albinia Frances Hobart, eldest daughter of Augustus Edward, 6th Earl of Buckingham, and by his first wife he left issue :
Charlotte Alington (better known by her nom de plume of Claribel), who married the Rev. Charles Cary Barnard, Rector of Brockelsby. She died without issue in 1869. (He was a first cousin of the Earl of Yarborough.)
These two daughters Elizabeth and Charlotte Mary suc- ceeded to the Frampton property as co-heiresses, and it was sold.
Richard Yerburgh (the second son of John Yerburgh) was baptized at Frampton 7th December 1774 ; was of Pembroke College, Cambridge ; M.A. 1800, D.D. 1815 ; was for forty years Vicar of Sleaford and Rector of Tothill,
THE YERBURGHS OF COCKERINGTON, ETC. 241
both in the county of Lincoln : married Elizabeth, daughter of Eardley Norton of Little Stanmore, 9th October 181 1. (There are some very interesting memorials to the Norton family in Whitchurch, which is the parish church of Little Stanmore.) He died, and was buried near the altar in Slea- ford Church in 1851, cBt. seventy-seven years. He was a good antiquary and the author of the History of Sleaford, and a man of mark in the district. There is a window erected to his memory in Sleaford Church ; the tiling of the sanctuary was also laid in his memory. The Yerburgh arms appear in Sleaford Church. After his death his wife came to reside at Southwold, Suffolk, and died there, and was buried in the churchyard anno 1865.
I am not able to give any full or detailed account of the Norton family. I have a childhood's recollection of our grandmother when she lived at Southwold, and she always appeared to me to be a most sweet, amiable, and highly accomplished old lady. She was one of four children. Her eldest brother was
Sir John Norton, who was Chief-Justice of Madras, and married a daughter of General Bruce : by her left issue : —
The Rev. Eardley Norton, Vicar of Walberswick and Blythburgh, co. Suffolk, and at the Manor House, Southwold, and married, 14th December 1815, Frances Mary, eldest daughter of Sir Charles Blois, Bart., of Cockfield Hall, Suffolk, and had issue :
Maria Norton, married Colonel Rochfort of the loth Hussars (who was a member of the Belvedere family) , They resided for many years at Nuneham and afterwards at
Q
242 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Windsor. She survived her husband many years and left no issue.
Richard Yerburgh left issue : —
Richard, of whom hereafter.
Mary, baptized at Little Stanmore 8th May 1818. She lived at South wold for many years, and died, and was buried there in 1890.
Elizabeth, baptized at Little Stanmore 25th April 1 82 1. She married, in 1866, Thomas Dolby Steel of Lincoln : he died at Vevey in Switzerland, in 1888, leaving no issue.
Isabel Arnall, baptized at Little Stanmore i8th January 1824. Buried at Sleaford, on the north side of the altar, 3rd June 1824. There is a memorial to her in the church.
Lucy Coddington, baptized at Little Stanmore, Middlesex, 14th March 1825, married, in 1847, at Sleaford to the Rev. Henry Ashington, Rector of South Kyme and Brauncewell, leaving issue an only daughter,
Lucy Yerburgh Ashington.
Richard Yerburgh (only son of Richard Yerburgh above named) was baptized at Little Stanmore 5th May 1817 ; was educated at Harrow and Christ's College, Cambridge ; B.A. 1840 ; was clerk in Holy Orders, and was for many years Vicar of Sleaford, and was for four years Rector of High Bickington, North Devon. He married in 1846 Susan,
THE YERBURGHS OF COCKERINGTON, ETC. 243
youngest daughter of John Higgin of Greenfield and Wen- ning Cottage. She died 4th January 1861, and was buried in the cemetery at Sleaford : he died at High Bickington 29th August 1836, aged sixty-nine. There are several memorials in different places.
In High Bickington churchyard there is a large granite cross, bearing the inscription, * In loving memory of Richard Yerburgh, Rector of this Parish, died Aug. 29, 1886, aged 69 years. " Waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." '
There is a stained-glass window in High Bickington Church, erected by his daughters by his second marriage : Mabel Stanley and Annie Constance Yerburgh.
There is a beautiful stained-glass window erected by his son Oswald Pryor Wardell-Yerburgh in the chapel of the Bede House of Carr's Hospital, to his memory. This window contains the arms of the Yerburghs. There is also a very large and magnificent window in the North Transept of Sleaford Church, erected by Robert Armstrong Yerburgh in memory of his father and grandfather.
I have asked our sister Edith if she would give me a few of her childhood's recollections of our dear mother. She says : * She was very beautiful, tall, fair, and very distinguished looking, but her chief charm was her sweetness and gentleness. She was so loving and sympathetic, she was a very strong character, was a true friend to all with whom she was brought in contact, whether they were rich or poor. She had a great sense of humour, and was most generous and unselfish. She was a devoted wife and mother, and this
244 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
devotion cost her her Hfe. She nursed Rachel and Robert in diphtheria : Rachel died, and this I think really killed our mother, for she never recovered the shock, and died from the results of the dreadful disease after three weeks' illness. When she was dying she sent for me to say good-bye to her, and said, " Edie, take care of your dear father for me, and be a mother to your little brothers and sisters." Her last words were " Jesus is precious." Our dear mother was truly a ." saint of God." As children she taught us to read our Bibles, and every night she used to come and talk to me about the Bible and the love of God, and she taught me to go and read to the poor in their homes.
' I can remember her going into her dressing-room every day to pray, and quietly saying to me as she shut the door, ** Edie, I must be alone."
* Our dear mother had a wonderfully beautiful and sympathetic voice.
* It was very remarkable the way in which people of all classes came to her when they were in any trouble or grief : no doubt the explanation was that she was full of love and sympathy and lived so close to God.'
The grief amongst all classes in Sleaford when she died was very great.
The following are some extracts from a funeral sermon, which was preached in Sleaford Church on the occasion of her death, by Canon Horatio Spurrier of Oriel College, Oxford, and then curate of Sleaford :
' " Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth." O my dear brethren, with what thrilling emotion am I led to apply the words of my text to her whom death has just snatched abruptly
THE YERBURGHS OF COCKERINGTON, ETC. 245
away from us. With what bitter grief do I contemplate our heavy loss. For remember how we all esteemed her. How endearing was her gentle presence ! How amiable and delicate her behaviour amongst us ! But oh that word " departed " ! Gone ! Alas she is now with us no more ! Yet how can we realise that sad and awful event which stole her from our grasp ? Our circle is broken, our hearts are rent with sorrow, for she whom we loved has taken her last farewell ! Behold her place in the house of God : you shall look in vain for her there ! No more shall her prayers ascend with your prayers to the throne of the Saviour whom she loved ! No more shall the " cup of blessing which we bless " be given to her, for she is gone to drink it new in her Father's kingdom. Shall that sweet presence, then, be seen no more in our streets ? Shall her desolate home know her not again for ever ? Is she utterly gone, and will she never return to live and move and sympathise with us again ? Oh, no, as the fresh rose of summer shrivelled before the scorching blast, she is cut down in the very midst of her days of sweetness. Friends and acquaintances : rich and poor, one with another : all have wept because of her, for a pure, a sincere, a faithful friend has received the final call from heaven, and we are left to mourn.
' But " blessed are the dead which die in the Lord," blessed is she for whom we now make lamentation. And how did it come to pass, that in death she was accounted blessed ? Let us inquire, for one good example is better than a thousand excellent precepts. As a loving devoted wife, a tender and indulgent mother, an affectionate and sympathising friend, she enjoyed the love and esteem of all who knew her. But there was one great moving principle in her soul, and that was also the most graceful ornament of her life. She had by God's mercy and goodness been called at a very early age to be a humble and devout follower of her Saviour, and accordingly her natural sweetness and amiability of character were adorned with every Christian grace and virtue. One might well understand how unselfish- ness and universal love should be the predominant virtues of one who had drunk deeply of the Fountain of Eternal Love. In these most significant but simple words she described her first recollections of the working of the Divine power in her soul. " I was a believer by God's
246 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
love, not by His threatening. I love Him because He first loved me," and she said : " Master, I will follow whithersoever thou goest." It was love which made her a believer, love which kept her a believer,and love by which she glorified God most. The principle was a divine and a living working principle within her : it grew and increased through life, and in death it appeared pure and untarnished, Hke the great Fountain whence it originally sprung. And as she loved her Saviour, she was a diligent reader of that Book, every page of which proclaims Him first. Him last, Him chief. She loved His Book : she loved his ordinances: she loved his Name and House. And thus by tracing her spiritual hfe we are now enabled to understand God's dealings with her during the last six months. We can see in the loss of one child, and the protracted and dangerous illness of another, the com- pelling, guiding discipline, which brought about that calm resignation, patient hope, and firm, unwavering trust in Christ her Saviour that marked the close of her earthly pilgrimage.
' When the symptoms of that mysterious disease which robbed us of her precious life grew more and more alarming, the patient sufferer, whose soul was ever " panting after God," desired to receive for the last time on earth the Sacrament of the " Body and Blood of Christ." It was a holy and solemn sight. Never will they who witnessed it forget the sweet countenance of that afflicted one, as it then appeared beaming with holy love, and most serene and heavenly composure. She could with difficulty speak in a whisper, and how holy were her words, ' ' J esus alone : J esus is precious. ' ' Had an unbeliever witnessed that scene, he would by God's grace have turned away a believer. Truly there is a reahty in religion, which nothing else on earth can boast.
' For two days and three nights after this did the terrible struggle continue, but far on in the last night was the journey from death unto life completed, and it was said " She rests from her labours." O ye who fear death . . . draw near and behold this last scene of that faithful Christian's conflict and learn, learn to die. Though long and painful had been the suffering, no murmur escaped her lips. She had the same unruffled composure, a more intense enjoyment of God's Word, and a heavenly bliss and rapture at the near prospect of the Eternal World. O death, where was thy sting, when our beloved
THE YERBURGHS OF COCKERINGTON, ETC. 247
sister's soul was on the point of departing ? Where was thy power when Jesus opened the windows of heaven, and said, " Come, thou blessed one, come " ? Where was thy last grasp of torture, when angels crowded round the bed of suffering and whispered " Sister spirit, come away." So gently, so calmly, so triumphantly passed away to glory, and " pleasures for evermore," the soul of one whom we could least spare, but whom God saw ripest for His adorable Presence. She rests from her labours. Yes, beloved ; the toils and cares, the hopes and fears, the joys and sorrows of earth to her are all ended. The deadly struggle against sin, the constantly recurring self-reproach at each successive fall, the prayerful resolution to amend : the temptation, failure, remorse and renewed conflict, are over now ; and in heaven hard by the throne of God and of the Lamb she is presenting her blissful worship, and is united for evermore to her two cherished Httle ones, who indeed were not " lost but gone before," and her works do follow her. Yes, brethren, " the righteous live for evermore " ; the first death cannot destroy them, and the second death hath no dominion over them, as they lave their peaceful souls in the great calm of eternal and satisfying bhss of their Redeemer's presence. And their memory never dies on earth : children's children bless their good name, and their prayers are answered even to the years of many generations. And not to children and friends alone does this blessing descend. Like the city set upon a hill, the good example is seen from afar. " It is a living epistle known and read of all men." '
Richard Yerburgh left issue by his first wife :
I. Richard Eustre Yerburgh, born 25th February 1847. Commander of the Bath (Civil) ; late Principal Clerk Exchequer and Audit Depart- ment. He married, 20th April 1876, Emma, elder daughter of Naunton H. Vertue of Richmond, and by her had issue : — {a) Richard Eustre Vertue Yerburgh, born 8th December 1879. He is now residing near Calgary in Canada.
248 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
He married, the ist December 1906, Gladys Aileen, fourth daughter of Colonel E. L. Marryat, late Royal Engineers, of Alberta, Canada, and by her has issue :
Richard Eustre Marryat Yerburgh, born 12th January 1908. She died January 1912. {b) Ethel Lennox Vertue Yerburgh, born 22nd March 1877, married, ist November 1898, Frederick Thwaites Lund, late Lieutenant-Colonel 9th Lancers, and has issue :
Esther Florence Ethel Lund, born 5th August 1899.
2. John Eardley Yerburgh, born 8th of January
1850, of Wavendon Lodge, Wavendon, Bucks,
Civil Engineer : married at Roby, near Liverpool,
8th August 1878, Annie, only daughter of Joseph
Royden of High Carrs, brother of Sir Thomas
Royden, Bart., for many years one of the Members
of Parliament for Liverpool : and by his wife,
Annie, has issue four daughters :
{a) Annie Royden Yerburgh, born 2nd July 1879, married
at St. Paul's Knightsbridge, 27th of April 1905,
Granville, eldest son of Frederick Lincoln Bevan of
Chipstead Place, Kent, and has issue :
Frederick Eardley Yerburgh Bevan, born 2nd March 1907. (6) Ethel Mary Yerburgh, born loth of November 1880, married, nth June 1907, Alexander John Lainson, D.S.O., Captain in the 6oth Rifles, only son of Arthur Lainson of Horringer House, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk.
(c) Dorothea Gertrude Yerburgh, born 23rd August 1882.
[d) Olive Shirley, born 29th October 1884, married 14th
July 1908, Edward Manuel, second son of Richard Blarney Magor of Ingatestone, Essex, and has issue.
THE YERBURGHS OF COCKERINGTON, ETC. 249
3. Robert Armstrong Yerburgh, born 17th January
1853, M.P., of University College, Oxford, J. P. and D.L. for Lancashire, J. P. for Kirkcudbright : was M.P. for Chester 1886-1906 and again 191 1. Is of Woodfold Park, Lancashire, and of Bar- whillanty, Kirkcudbright, and Freeby, Leicester- shire : married, the 8th May 1888, Elma Amy, only child of Robert Daniel Thwaites, J. P., D.L., and sometime M.P. for Blackburn, and by her has issue :
(a) Robert Daniel Thwaites Yerburgh, born loth December 1889 : now of University College, Oxford.
{b) Richard Guy Cecil Yerburgh, born 5th November 1892, now of Magdalene College, Cambridge.
4. Edmund Rochfort Yerburgh, born 27th of March
1854 : died 14th of July 1854 : buried at Sleaford.
5. Edmund Rochfort Yerburgh, B.A. of Magdalene
College, Cambridge, Clerk in Holy Orders, for ten years Rector of High Bickington, North Devon, and now Rector of Wrentham, Suffolk. Born 20th June 1855. Married the 17th of Janu- ary 1890, Constance, second daughter of John Thwaites, J.P., D.L., of Troy Witton, Lancashire, and by her has issue : —
(fl) Richard Edmund Rochfort Yerburgh, born 4th September 1891, now of Magdalene College, Cambridge.
{b) Oswald Rochfort Yerburgh, born loth November 1900.
(c) Mary Yerburgh, born 24th November 1893.
6. Harry Beauchamp Yerburgh, born 25th October
1856, married, in 1880, Sophie, daughter of
250 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
William Sewell of The Warren, Loughton, Essex, died in November 1897, and by her had issue :
{a) William Higgin Beauchamp Yerburgh, born 1882, Clerk in Holy Orders, M.P. of New College, Oxford : curate of Kidderminster.
(6) Ralph Richmond Yerburgh, a civil engineer, born 5th March 1886.
(c) Madeline Edith Yerburgh, born 27th January 1883.
{d) Osyth Mary Yerburgh, born 12th August 1884.
He married, secondly, in 1899, at St. Peter's, Eaton Square, A7ny Beatrice, only daughter of the late Lieutenant-General Archibald Harenc, late colonel commanding 52nd Regiment, and had issue :
Vere Archibald Harenc Yerburgh, born 24th February 1890, died 8th August 1901.
7. Oswald Pryor Yerburgh, M.A. of Trinity College, Dublin, Clerk in Holy Orders, assumed by Royal Licence in 1889 the additional name of Wardell : is Vicar of Tewkesbury Abbey, Hon. Canon of Gloucester. Born 23rd February 1858 : married Edith Wardell-Potts, only surviving child and sole heir of Arthur Potts, J. P., of Hoole Hall, Chester : he was married at St. Peter's, Eaton Square, 21st January 1889, and has issue :
(fl) Arthur Wardell-Yerburgh, born 13th July 1891.
Lieutenant in Royal Navy. (6) Geoffrey Basset Wardell-Yerburgh, born 28th September
1893. (c) Hilda Wardell-Yerburgh, born 5th December 1890.
THE YERBURGHS OF COCKERINGTON, ETC. 251
8. Susan Edith Yerburgh, born 27th October 1848 : married in 1872 the Rev. William Bonsey, M.A., of St. John's College, Cambridge, Vicar of Lancaster, Hon. Canon of Manchester and Arch- deacon of Lancaster. He died 13th January 1909, and was buried at Lancaster. There is a mural tablet in Lancaster to his memory. And has issue : —
{a) William Henry Bonsey, Clerk in Holy Orders, M.A. of St. John's College, Cambridge, Rector of More- cambe. Married, in 1909, Ernine, daughter of Sidney Learmouth Gilchrist of Princes Gardens, London, S.W., and has issue : A daughter. {b) Richard Yerburgh Bonsey, Clerk in Holy Orders, M.A. St. John's College, Cambridge, rowed for Cambridge in the Boat at Putney, Vicar of Trull, Somerset. Born 15th March 1874, married 7th of June 1899, Gertrude Mary, daughter of Thomas Waller Burrell of Elmhurst, Fareham, Hants, and has issue : — (j) Francis Richard Bonsey, born 27th August 1901. (ii) Harold Thomas Yerburgh Bonsey, born 17th
January 1906. (iii) Mary Ruth Bonsey, born 17th April 1904. (iv) Constance Violet Mary Bonsey, born 25th March 1908. (c) Arthur Edmund Bonsey, late a Lieutenant in the Light Border Horse in South Africa : born 30th August 1876, married, 8th October 1903, Katherine, daughter of Lionel Powell of Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, and has issue : (i) Nigel Arthur Philip Bonsey, born 17th April 1905. (ii) A son.
252 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
(d) Harold Robert Yerburgh Bonsey, Barrister-at-Law, born 27th November 1877, married, 29th June 1904, Henrietta Mary, only daughter of H. Hobson Finch of Goffs Hill, Crawley, Sussex, and has issue :
1. Robert Harold Bonsey, born 9th May 1908.
2. Edith Mary Bonsey, born 31st August 1906.
{e) Edward Bruce Bonsey, born 30th September 1881,
died 2nd December 1908, and was buried in Lancaster
cemetery. (/) Francis Rochfort Yerburgh, Clerk in Holy Orders, curate
of Northaw, Herts, B.A. Hertford College, Oxford,
born 27th May 1883. (g) Hugh Richmond Bonsey, B.A. of University College,
Oxford, born 21st August 1885. [h) Mary Grace Bonsey, born 21st March 1879.
9. Rachel Elizabeth Yerburgh, born 27th March
1852, died 9th October 1859, and was buried at South wold.
10. Mary Florence Yerburgh, born 27th March
1854, died 9th October 1859, and was buried at South wold.
11. Lucy Isabel Yerburgh (twin with Oswald Pryor
Yerburgh), born 23rd February 1858 : married, 2nd July 1885, Walter Loveband, Clerk in Holy Orders, M.A. of Caius College, Cambridge. Vicar of Ifield, Sussex, and a Rural Dean : has issue :
{a) Walter Beauchamp Loveband, Caius College, Cambridge, Clerk in Holy Orders, born 5th November 1886.
(&) Francis Yerburgh Loveband, B.A. Caius College, Cam- bridge, born i6th January 1889.
THE YERBURGHS OF COCKERINGTON, ETC. 253
(c) Rochfori Yerburgh Lovehand, Lieutenant in the Royal
Navy, born 15th June 1890.
(d) Guy Yerburgh Lovehand, undergraduate of Jesus
College, Cambridge.
(e) John Gerald Yerburgh Loveband, midshipman in the
Royal Navy, born 27th February 1895. (/) Elma Yerburgh Loveband, born 21st November 1887.
12. Charlotte Elizabeth Yerburgh, born 19th of July 1859, died 22nd December i860, and was buried in Sleaford cemetery.
Richard Yerburgh, married, secondly, 19th May 1863, Anne, daughter of the late Charles Kirk of Sleaford, who died in 1880, and was buried at Sleaford, and by her had issue :
(a) Annie Constance, born in 1864. She died unmarried at
Hampstead, March 1907. {b) Mabel Stanley, born 1866. She married at St. Paul's
Knightsbridge, Edward James Morton, J. P., D.L.,
of Wolverley, Worcestershire. (High Sheriff for the
county, 1906.)
Richard Yerburgh married, thirdly, in 1882, Ellen, daughter of Charles Rogers of Sleaford, and by her who survived him left no issue : she died in 1892, and was buried at High Bickington, North Devon.
There is an interesting note about the name of Thwaites in Denton's Account of the Most Considerable Families and Estates in the County of Cumberland, circa 1602 :
' Thence along down the river of Dudden stands the Manor of Thwaites, between the River and the Mountains, now the ancient seat of Joseph Thwaites of Ulnerigg, Esq., and the place being a stony,
254 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
mountainous country is not everywhere altogether fit for tillage, meadow and pasture. But in several parts and places as they are marked by nature differing in form and quality of soil or otherwise by the inhabitants inclosed from the barren wastes of the fells, such pieces of land are now and were of old called Thwaites in most places of the shire, some with addition of their quality as Brackenthwaite of fearns, Sivithwaite of rushes, Stonythwaite of stones, Brenthwaite of its steepness, Brunthwaite of burning with the sun, Redthwaite of the colour of the soil, Overthwaite of higher lying, Moorthwaite of the heath, Sourthwaite of the wet soil, Langthwaite of the form of lying, Micklethwaite of the quantity, and diverse others.
' This manor being an antient fee holden of the Lord of Milium for a dowry by Ellen, the wife of John Boyvill and Michael de Corney passed by fine levied 35 Henry iii. of lands in Thwaites and John Huddleston impleaded William, the son of John Thwaites, for 200 acres of pasture there An. Edw. ist.
' The gentlemen of this family do bear for their arms a cross argent fretty in gules on a field . . , which seems to be derived from the Huddleston coat, of whom they hold the Manor of Thwaites.'
I know the Lancashire family of Thwaites originally came from Cumberland, but I do not think they make any claim to be descended from the ancient family of Thwaites of Thwaites.
Various Inscriptions to members of the Yerburgh family at Frampton, Sleaford, Wyberton, High Bickington, Southwold, and elsewhere.
Frampton On a marble tablet on the north wall inside the church with the Yerburgh arms thereon :—
' In memory of Richard Yerburgh, Esq., who departed this life
THE YERBURGHS OF COCKERINGTON, ETC. 255
June 28th, 1806, aged 64 years. Also of Mrs. Bridget Yerburgh, his widow, who died January 29th, 1823, aged 75 years.'
On a marble tablet on north wall inside church :
' Sacred to the memory of Bridget Yerburgh, the eldest daughter of Richard and Bridget Yerburgh, who departed this Ufe deeply lamented 22nd May 1831.'
On a marble tablet on north wall inside church : ' Sacred to the memory of John Yerburgh, Esq., who departed this hfe 15th May 1829.
" The sweet remembrance of the just Shall flourish when they sleep in dust."
' Also of EHzabeth, his wife, who died 24th October 1836.'
In the churchyard on a stone tomb with a marble slab on the top :
' In memory of Mrs. Mary Yerburgh, wife of John Yerburgh, Esq., who died 15th June 1767, aged 65.
' Also of John Yerburgh, Gent., who died May 5th, 1780, in the 75th year of his age.
' Also of Mrs. Mary Wells, wife of Mr. Thomas Wells, and daughter of John Yerburgh, Gent., who died July 25th, 1795, in the 63rd year of her age.'
* Close by the aforesaid tombstones are six rather hand- some old gravestones, evidently of near relatives of the above persons : they are all as well as the tombs nearly obliterated by time, and want the names and dates recutting. This might be done at a trifling cost, as they stand, without removing them for recutting. There are some verses on some of the gravestones, but as they are almost illegible, I have not copied them as they are unimportant.'
256 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Inscriptions on gravestones (taken in regular order) as far as legible :
' In memory of John Gainsbergh who was interred Aug. 22 a.d. 1699 in 63 year of his age.'
' Here lyeth the body of Sarah, the wife of John Gainsbergh, who departed this Hfe January 29th, a.d. 1706, in the 56th year of her age.'
' In memory of Ahce Ponsonby interred February 12th, 1761, aged 82.'
' In memory of George Yerburgh, Gent., interred March 24th, 1734, aged 59 years.'
' In memory of George Yerburgh who died January 30th, 1755, aged 47 years.'
' In memory of Mary Yerburgh interred August i, 1766, aged 66 years.'
[For the above information I am indebted to Colonel Moore, F.S.A., of Frampton Hall.]
In Holbeach Church there is a stone in the floor of the north aisle with this Inscription :
' Sacred to the memory of Mrs. Elizabeth Yarburgh, Relict of the late Richard Yarburgh, Esq., of Frampton, and formerly rehct of Dymoke Cawdron of this place, who died March 30th, 1800, in the 8oth year of her age.
' Also Sarah, the wife of John Phipps, Esq., daughter of the above Mrs. Yarburgh, who died May i6th, 1802, aged 56 years.'
In Wyberton Church on the south wall of the Sanctuary :
' Sacred to the memory of Abraham Sheath, Esq., who died April 14th, A.D. 1816, aged 75 years : also Mrs. Martha Sheath, his relict, who departed this life March 29th, a.d. 1824, aged 71. Both of them deeply lamented by affectionate relatives.'
On south wall of the Sanctuary :
' Sacred to the memory of the Rev. Martin Sheath, M.A., late rector of this parish, died April 4, 1859, in the 85th year of his age.'
THE YERBURGHS OF COCKERINGTON, ETC. 257
On the north wall opposite :
' Sacred to the memory of Catherine, wife of the Rev. Martin Sheath, minister of this Parish, daughter of Cranmer Kenrick, late of Boston, Esquire, who departed this hfe March the loth, a.d. 1810, aged 75, Also two of their children who died in their infancy. Also to the memory of Mary Arnall, wife of the above, daughter of Richard Yerburgh, late of Frampton, Esquire, who departed this life January 9th, 1836, in the 65th year of her age.'
Brass <0 shaped plates record exact spot in the floor of the church.
In Sleaford Church there are the following memorials : — East window — stained glass.
' In memory of Richard Yerburgh, D.D., forty-one years Vicar of this parish.'
On the Minton tiled pavement, near the altar, there is the following inscription : —
' Beneath rest the earthly remains of Richard Yerburgh, 41 years Vicar of this parish, departed this life 22nd February 1851, aged 77.'
Inscription in stone on wall near the altar.
' Isabel Arnall Yerburgh obiit 28th Maii 1824. Infans.'
The south window nearest to the altar has three lights, and is filled with stained glass.
1. ' In memory of Lucy, wife of the Rev. N, Ashington, and daughter of Rev. Richard Yerburgh, D.D., 1849, cBt. 24.
The offering of Maria Rochfort.'
2. ' In memory of Robert Baynes Armstrong, Queen's Counsel, Recorder of Manchester and Bolton, ob. 1869.
The offering of Robert Armstrong Yerburgh.'
3. ' In memory of Susan, wife of the Rev. Richard Yerburgh, and daughter of John Higgin, Esq., of Greenfield, Lancaster, obiit 21st January i860, cet. 37.'
258 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
The window of the north transept, which is one of the four largest and finest windows in England, is filled with stained glass by Ward and Hughes, and bears the following inscription :
' To the Honour and Glory of God and in memory of Richard Yerburgh, D.D., and Richard Yerburgh, B.A., father of Robert Armstrong Yerburgh, M.P., this window is placed by him a.d. 1893, to commemorate their service as successive vicars of this church during a period of 72 years.'
On a small headstone close to the old Vicarage, there is a child's tombstone cut with the initials ' E. R. Y.' (Edmund Rochfort Yerburgh) who died an infant.
At the east end of the Bedes Chapel in Carre's Hospital there is a stained-glass window with this inscription :
' This window is placed to the Glory of God and in memory of the Revd. Doctor Yerburgh and the Revd. Richard Yerburgh, Chaplains of this Hospital from 1845 to 1882, by the Rev. O. P. Wardell-Yerburgh.'
In Sleaford cemetery there is a large granite monument with the following inscription :
' Here rests in God, Susan, wife of Richard Yerburgh, Vicar of this Parish, January 21st, i860.
Psalm Lxxii. 26.
' Here also sleeps Charlotte, their youngest child. Also Anne, his second wife.
Proverbs xxxi. 28.
•Also of Richard Yerburgh, husband of the above, who died August 29, 1886, aged 69 years . . . and was buried at High Bicking- ton, North Devon.
They sleep in Jesus.'
THE YERBURGHS OF COCKERINGTON, ETC. 259
The west doors of the cemetery were a gift from the Revd. Richard Yerburgh, and bear the following inscription on a brass plate :
' The gift of Richard Yerburgh in loving memory of his wife Anne.'
In High Bickington churchyard, North Devon, there is a large granite cross bearing this inscription :
' In loving memory of Richard Yerburgh, Rector of this Parish, died August 29th, 1886, aged 69 years.
" Waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." *
There is also in High Bickington Church a fine stained- glass window at the east end by Ward and Hughes, erected by his daughters, Annie Constance Yerburgh and Mabel Stanley Yerburgh, to the memory of the Rev. Richard Yerburgh. The subject of the windows is the Ascension.
In Southwold churchyard are three memorials :
' Elizabeth, wife of the Rev. Doctor Yerburgh, Vicar of Sleaford, in the county of Lincoln : she passed from death unto hfe February 4th 1865.
' Mary, daughter of the above, entered into rest through the merits of Jesus Christ our Saviour, Oct. 24, 1890.
" Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord " Rev. xiv. 13.'
' Rachel Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. Richard Yerburgh, Vicar of Sleaford, and Susan, his wife, died October 9th, i860, aged 8 years.
' Here rests in God, Mary Florence, second surviving daughter of the Rev. R. Yerburgh, Vicar of Sleaford.
Born March 27, 1854. Died Feb. 18, 1877.'
26o SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
' In loving memory of Sophie, the dearly beloved wife of H. Beauchamp Yerburgh.
Born September ist, 1855. Died November 13th, 1877. " So God loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to the end that all that believe on Him should not perish, but have everlasting hfe." '
Elmhirst Memorials : West Ashby, Lincolnshire
Tablet on east wall of north aisle, inscribed :
* In memory of Richard Elmhirst, Esqre., who died the 12th of December 1847, aged 76 : for many years a Deputy Lieutenant and an active Magistrate for the County. Also of Jane Dorothea, his wife, who died at West Ashby Grove, the nth of August 1861. Aged 81.'
Tablet on north wall of north aisle, inscribed :
' In memory of Sarah Elmhirst, who died the 4th of February 1848. and whose remains are interred in the vault adjoining. She was the last remaining daughter of Wilham Elmhirst, Esqre., late of Enderby.'
Memorial cross in north-west of churchyard, inscribed :
' In affectionate remembrance of Moses Elmhirst, Esq. Born December 31st, 1806. Died June 4th, 1880.'
Tablet on wall of north aisle, inscribed :
' In memory of Elizabeth, the beloved wife of William Elmhirst, Esqre., who died at the Manor House, West Ashby, April 30th, 1859, aged 57 years.
' Also of William Elmhirst, Esqre., husband of the above, who died at Tenby, South Wales, 6th April i860, aged 57 years. This memorial was erected by their sorrowing children. " Thy Will be done." '
THE YERBURGHS OF COCKERINGTON, ETC. 261
Stained-glass window at east end of north aisle, with brass below inscribed :
' To the Glory of God and in loving and faithful memory of Elizabeth Jane Ruck-Keene, daughter of William and Elizabeth Elmhirst. Born 15th July 1834; died 9th December 1875. This window was given by her sister 1885.'
Stained-glass window at west end of north aisle, with brass below, inscribed :
' In humble reverence to the Glory of God, and to the beloved memory of William Augustus Elmhirst, this window was erected, 1835-1890.'
Tablet on north side of tower arch with brass inscribed :
' This tower was restored in loving remembrance of Charlotte Alington Barnard. Born xxiii. December mdcccxxx. Died xxx. January mdccclix.'
Brass inserted beneath the above tablet, inscribed :
' This Clock was put up by Arthur Francis Basset to the glory of God, and in loving memory of his mother, Charlotte Mary Basset, the restorer of this Tower.'
THE YARBURGHS OF SNAITH AND HESLINGTON
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THE YARBURGHS OF SNAITH AND HESLINGTON
I HAD not intended when I started these notes on the Yerburgh family to say much about the early generations or anything about that branch of the Yarburghs of Yarburgh, who migrated to Yorkshire {circa 1590- 1600). The particular cadet of the original stock who migrated was Edmund Yarburgh, who was the second son of Francis Yarburgh of Northorp, by his second marriage with Frances, daughter of Leonard Wray. Francis Yarburgh was the eldest son of Edmund Yarburgh of Lincoln, by his wife Margaret Grantham, daughter of Sir Vincent Grantham, knight : Edmund Yarburgh was the third son of Charles Yarburgh of Yarburgh, by his second wife Elizabeth, daughter of Martyn Newcomen (whose will is quoted hereafter).
This branch of the family, whom we will call for the sake of distinction ' the Yorkshire Yarburghs,' married a succes- sion of heiresses, and soon acquired large estates in the south of Yorkshire, chiefly about Snaith and Cowick. Sir Nicholas Yarburgh of Snaith, who was born 16 12 and died 1635, apparently bought back the lands of his ancestors at Yarburgh, co. Lincoln, but whether he bought them from the then head of his family or from strangers, I am unable to state. He probably bought them from his kinsmen, the Radleys. As is well known, the male line of the Yorkshire Yarburghs became extinct in the year 1852, when the last
266 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
male representative of the family, Nicholas Edmund Yarburgh, died unmarried. The representation of the family then went to his sister, who married John Greame, Esq., of Sewerby House, co. York, and left issue Yarburgh Greame of Sewerby House, who assumed the name of Yarburgh, and died without issue in 1856, when the repre- sentation went to his sister Alicia Maria, who married George Lloyd, Esq., of Stockton Hall, whose family appears to have been for a long time settled in Manchester and the district, and to have been successfully engaged in trade, and who bought considerable estates in Yorkshire : on her death the representation went to her eldest son, George John Lloyd, who assumed the name of Yarburgh. He was born in 181 1 and died in 1868, leaving two daughters, the eldest of whom, Mary Elizabeth Yarburgh, married, in 1862, George William Bateson, who (on the death of his brother, the first Lord Deramore) became the second Lord Deramore. Mrs. Bateson de Yarburgh died in 1884, and the representation of the Yorkshire Yarburghs devolved upon her eldest son, Robert Wilfrid de Bateson Yarburgh, the present Lord Deramore.
We now come to the Cooke- Yarboroughs of Campsall ; they have not a drop of Yarburgh blood in their veins, and they are really members of the ancient and honourable family of Cooke of Stretthorpe.
Thomas Yarborough of Campsmount married, in 17 18, Joanna, daughter of Tobias Harvey of Wormesley, and had with other issue, who all died before their father, two daughters who survived him :
Anne and Elizabeth, co-heiresses of Campsmount. These
YARBURGHS OF SNAITH AND HESLINGTON 267
two ladies having become the only descendants of Thomas Yarborough, first of Campsall, selected for their heir their first cousin (on the maternal side), George Cooke of Stret- thorpe (who was the grandson of Sir George Cooke, third Bart, of Wheatley), whose mother was another of the daughters of Tobias Harvey. They enjoined him to take the name of Yarborough and to bear the arms, for which he obtained the royal permission 15th July 1802. Miss Elizabeth Yarborough died 23rd November 1801, and the present representative of this family is that well-known and highly respected Yorkshireman, George Bryan Cooke Yarborough of Campsmount,
Now as regards our own branch of the family, who as far as I have been able to discover are the only representatives in the male line of the original stock of Yarburgh of Yarburgh, the name having apparently died out, so much so that on looking through the London Directory I have been unable to discover the name of Yarburgh, Yarborough, or Yerburgh, except in connection with Lord Deramore's family, the Cooke Yarboroughs, and our own branch of the family. I know that a branch of the family exists at the present time in Virginia. This branch probably emigrated from Boston, but it is not known from whom they are descended, as Hunter says in his South Yorkshire, ' when the simple pos- session of the name may be received as a proof almost complete of descent from the main stock.' Sir Alfred S. Scott-Gatty considers that it is probable that our ancestor, Richard Yerburgh of Over Tynton, was identical with Richard Yerburgh who held lands in Cockerington anno 1530 : if
268 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
so, he is probably also identical with Richard who held lands in Edlington 1490 — and was probably the son of Thomas of Edlington and Cockerington and Withcall — 1455-90, the son of William Yarborough of Yarborough, who on the visitation of 1562 for Lincolnshire is described as William Yarborough (son of John, son of William, son of Richard) who married Isabel, daughter and heir of Sir John Billing, knight. Their pedigree is well worth studying, as it proves conclusively that the Yorkshire Yarburghs are only, like ourselves, cadets of the main stock.
I now pass on to give a very full account of the family, which practically exhausts all the branches of the family which at the present time are known to exist.
I have already pointed out that in Tudor times, the gentry of Lincolnshire were for the most part in very poor circumstances and were hardly pressed to keep up their position ; and I have shown that Charles Yarburgh of Yarburgh was no exception to the rule. In order that you may be able to grasp the rise and progress of this branch of the family it will be necessary for you to refer to the Chart Pedigree, and I shall commence with the early descendants of that family, about whom I shall not have much to say till I come to Charles Yarburgh of Yarburgh.
Yarborough. Visitation 1562, and other Sources
Arms : Quarterly of 6 : 1st, Gules a chevron between
three chaplets parties per pale azure and argent ; 2nd,
argent five cross crosslets fetche gules on fess a Rose of the
second (Billing) ; 3rd, Scolle a chevron between three cross
YARBURGHS OF SNAITH AND HESLINGTON 269
crosslets argent (Jeyes) ; 4th, argent a chevron engrailed azure between three birds gules (Atwell) ; 5th, sable two lions gemels erased is saltire argent (Legborne) ; 6th, gules a fess argent in chief griffins heads erased or (Adripan) .
Crest : A falcon close belled or preying on a mallard proper.
EusTACHius DE Yarborough, Lord of the Manor of Yarborough, co. Lincoln, married, and had issue.
Robert de Yarborough, anno 5 Henry i. Married daughter of Sir Lambert Mumby, knight, and had issue.
Lambert de Yarborough, knight, 9 Edward 11. Married Ursula, daughter of Arthur Ormesby, and had issue.
Sir John de Yarburgh, knight, married Ursula, daughter of Sir Ralph Humberston, and had issue.
Ralph Yarburgh married Ann, daughter of Sir William Staine, knight, and had issue.
Robert de Yarburgh married daughter of Sir John Bussam, knight, and had issue :
1. Sir John Yarburgh.
2. William Yarburgh, of whom hereafter.
William Yarburgh married Beatrix, daughter of Sir Geoffrey Auke, knight, and had issue.
Richard Yarburgh, who flourished in the reign of Richard II., and married Cassandra, daughter of Sir John Maple- thorpe, and had issue.
Robert Yarburgh married Isabel, daughter of Sir John
270 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Euerby, by Catharine his wife, daughter and co-heiress of Bernard Mussenden, Esq., and had issue.
William Yarburgh who married daughter of Thomas Anguine, Esq., and by her had issue.
Richard Yarburgh, Lord of the Manors of Yarburgh and Kelstern, co. Lincoln, married Joan, daughter and heiress of John Atwell of Legbourne, Esq., descended in the female line from Philip, Baron Kyme, and by her had issue :
1. Robert Yarborough, who died without issue.
2. William Yarburgh.
William Yarburgh, Lord of Yarburgh, married Isabel, daughter and heiress of Sir John Billing, knight, who was grandson and heir of Sir John BilHng, by Margaret his wife, daughter and heiress of Sir John Teyes, and by her had issue :
1. William Yarburgh.
2. Richard Yarburgh.
Richard Yarburgh of Yarburgh, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Moyne, Esq., and by her had issue :
1. Charles Yarburgh, of whom hereafter.
2. Margaret, wife of Thomas Barde of North Kelsey.
We now pass on to Charles Yarborough of Yarborough, and I have found it quite impossible to reconcile the con- flicting statements in the Visitation of 1562-4 with that contained in the published pedigrees. The discrepancies, however, are not of any great importance, and I have not thought it necessary to dwell upon them.
Charles Yarburgh of Yarburgh was Lord of the manors
YARBURGHS OF SNAITH AND HESLINGTON 271
of Yarburgh, Kelstern, and Legbourne. Married twice : his first wife was Agnes, daughter of Sir John Skipwith, knight, and by her had issue :
Richard Yarburgh of Yarburgh, co. Lincoln, who married Margaret, daughter of Thomas Port- lington, Esq., and by her had issue :
Charles Yarburgh of Yarburgh and Kelstern 1562, married Elizabeth, daughter of Humfrey Littlebury of Hagworthingham, co. Lincoln, and by her had issue : WilHam, of whom hereafter. Thomas, who died without issue. John "I There is no record of the death or Charles marriage of any of these children : Edward it is possible they may all have died in George \ infancy : on the other hand, it is quite Frances possible that some of them grew up and Faith married, and sank to the position of Anne j yeomen. At least one thing is certain : if they did grow up they were not people of any position in the county. William Yarburgh of Yarburgh, co. Lincoln, the heir of Charles Yarburgh, married Eleanor, daughter of Thomas Clifford, Esq., of Bracken- bury, CO. Lincoln, and by her had issue :
Henry Yarburgh, born 1591, had a son William,
who died v.p. Peter Yarburgh, born 1592. William Yarburgh of Appleton, co. York, aged sixty-three, 13th September 1665, admon. granted, married Margaret, daughter of Robert Jephson of Killinghey, co. York, Gent., and had issue :
Nicholas Yarburgh, cat. three, 1665. Elizabeth Mary.
272 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
This descent accounts for all the children and the recorded descendants of Charles Yarburgh of Yarburgh by his first marriage with Agnes, daughter of Sir John Skipwith. You will notice that William Yarburgh of Yarburgh, the grandson of Charles Yarburgh, appears to have been the last Yarburgh of Yarburgh for many generations, and this appears to establish the statement of my grandfather (the Rev. R. Yerburgh, D.D., of Sleaford) that the main branch of the Yarburgh family fell on hard times, and that the family property at Yarburgh was alienated, and that it was not for many generations afterwards that the Yorkshire Yarburghs, having accumulated wealth by fortunate marriages and other means, re-acquired by purchase the lordship of the Manor of Yarburgh and the lands which have been for so many years in the possession of their ancestors : it is con- ceivable that they may have repurchased the lands at Yarburgh from members of the Yarburgh family, but it is much more likely that the lands were alienated altogether, and then at some date which I cannot mention were repurchased from strangers by the Yorkshire Yarburghs.
It is, however, certain Sir Nicholas Yarburgh, who was born in 1612 and died in 1655, by his will, dated 30th June 1655, gave to ' Richard, my third son, ;^6o per annum out of these lands I have purchased in Yarburgh in the county of Lincolne.'
We now come to Charles Yarburgh of Yarburgh's second marriage with Elizabeth, daughter of Martyn Newcomen, Esq., by his wife, daughter of Sir Bryan Sandford, knight, and it is from this marriage that the Yorkshire Yarburghs sprung. By his second wife he had issue :
YARBURGHS OF SNAITH AND HESLINGTON 273
Christopher Yarburgh married the daughter and heiress of John Mitchell alias Copeland, and by her had issue :
John Yarburgh (of whom there exists no record),
Anne, wife of John Brough.
Elizabeth.
Edmund Yarburgh (the ancestor of the Yorkshire
Yarburghs of whom hereafter),
Bryan Yarburgh, married Gilby, and had issue :
Adam (of whom there is no record). Ursula Yarburgh, married first to Thomas Wall, and
secondly to Thomas Hall of Yarburgh. Margaret Yarburgh, married John Dyon, Esq. Bridget Yarburgh, married to Thomas Radley, Esq, Barbara Yarburgh, married to William Darby. Jane Yarburgh, married to Nicholas Thornock, Esq,
The Will of Charles Yarborough, Esq., of Kelstern, 15TH March 1544
To be buried in the church. To my daughter Jane c. marks on her marriage, and the same to my daughter Barbara. To Anne Yarbrough, daughter of my deceased son Richard, 40 1. To my son Christopher Yarbrough vii 1. To my son Edmund Yarbrough vii 1. when he is 21. To my son Bryan Yarbrough vii 1. To my wife, Elizabeth, my lands in Yarbrough for her life, and after her to Charles Yarbrough, son and heir of my deceased son Richard, faihng his heirs to my son Christopher Yarbrough : failing his heirs to my son Bryan Yarbrough. I leave my manor and lands in Kelstern and Theddlethorpe to my wife, EHzabeth (with entail as before), my lands in North and South Somercotes to my sons Christopher, Edmund and Bryan. My wife Exr. and Bryan Newcomen Supervisor, Prov. 27th Sept. 1544,
S
274 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
I now give the will of Elizabeth Yarbrough (who was the second wife and widow of Charles Yarbrough of Kelstern, and daughter of Martin and Mary Newcomen).
The Will of Elizabeth Yarbrough of Kelstern, i2th April 1556
To be buried in the Church. To Thomas, Ehzabeth, and Ann Yarburgh, children of Christopher Yarburgh, v lb. apiece. To my son Christopher Yarburgh my best goblet of silver and gilt with the covering. To George and Elizabeth Yarburgh, children of Bryan Yarburgh, v lb. apiece. To Bridget, daughter of Bryan Yarburgh, iiij lb. vi s. viii d. To my son Bryan Yarburgh a goblet of silver gilt with the covering of the ' hold fashion ' and vi silver spoons, one of them a ' gret shorn.' To my god-daughter, Elizabeth Dyon, 40/. To my god-daughter, Margaret Dyon, iii lb. vi s. viii d. To Wilham and Frances Radley, children of Thomas Radley, ii lb. vis. viii d. apiece. To my daughter Bridget Radley 14 lb. and ii silver spoons. To Margaret, daughter of William Darby, ii lb. vi s. viii d. To my daughter Barbara Darby ' my flat piece of silver.' To my sister, Margaret Newcome, 40s. To my sister, Elizabeth Burgh, 40s. towards bringing up her children Ehzabeth Crathorne, daughter of Thomas Crathorne. To Richard Blisby and John Grantham x s. apiece. Charles Yarburgh, the heir, to have the heirlooms of his grandfather's bequest. Residue to son-in-law, William Darby, and my son Bryan Yarburgh, whom I make exrs. and John Dyon, Esq., Supervisor. Proved 11 September 1556.
We now come to Edmund Yarburgh who settled at Lincoln, and appears to have been the founder of the fortunes of the Yorkshire Yarburghs. I conjecture that he was the first of the family who devoted his talents to any other object than the land : what his occupation was I cannot state, but I should not be surprised if it was the law. He died
YARBURGHS OF SNAITH AND HESLINGTON 275
20th of February 1590, aged eighty-one years, and was buried in the cathedral of that city, and a monument was erected to his memory. He married Margaret, daughter of Sir Vincent Grantham, knight, by Bridget Hamond.
In Gervase Holies, Lincolnshire Church Notes, 1634 to 1642, there is this entry, under the head of Lincoln Cathedral :
' Edmundus Yerburgh armig : duxit Margaret Filiam Vincentii Grantham armig : obiit 25 die Feb. ano Dni 1590.'
r Party per pale ... a chevron between 3 chaplets Empaled. \ all countercharged.
I Ermine, a griphon segreant.
G. Edmund Yarburgh had issue : Francis Yarburgh of whom hereafter. Charles Yarburgh of Willoughby Notts (which was probably acquired by purchase) married Barbara, daughter of William Whalley of Newark, and by her had issue :
Herscy Yarburgh, aged twenty-five in 15 14. He married, and left issue : Three daughters, one of whom married Sir Thomas Clarges. Faith Yarburgh. Mary Yarburgh.
Anne Yarburgh married Henry.
Barbara Yarburgh married William Leek of Normanton. Frances Yarburgh married to Thomas Winsley. Winifred Yarburgh married to George Fox.
Francis Yarburgh of Northorpe, co. Lincoln (of whom I shall have a good deal to say) , probably acquired Northorpe by purchase : married first Elizabeth, daughter of Robert or John Farmour, Esq., and by her had issue :
276 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Robert Yarburgh, married a daughter of Sir Gervase Elwes, and by her had issue :
Mary Yarburgh, married to Saville, Esq., and
died s.p.
Francis Yarburgh married, secondly, Frances, daughter of Leonard Wray of Cusworth, younger brother of Sir Christopher Wray, Lord Chief-Justice of the Queen's Bench : and had issue :
Edmund Yarburgh, of whom hereafter.
Elizabeth Yarburgh, wife of Martin Glydon. By his will, dated the 13th July, proved 29th October 1595, he gave the parsonage of Northroph (held under the bishop at a yearly rent of £2>y 6s. 8d. and valued at £250) to Robert Mounson, Gent., on condition that he paid £100 to his sister Mary Mounson, and ;^I50 to his brother George Mounson. To his daughter, Elizabeth Martin Glydon, he gave £10 (it is probable that she had made a very poor marriage). To his son and heir, Robert, half the plate, a dozen Apostle spoons, the child-bed stuff that was his mother's, and all the goods at Lincoln house as given by his grandfather, John Farmerye, gentleman, and £400 when twenty-one. To his son Edmund he gave a pair of borders, the best bed at Northroph, with the silk coverings, the wrought pillow beares, and the needlework stools and embroidered chairs, being all his mother's provision, half the plate and ;^400 when twenty-one : also a ring with a death's head, given by Sir Christopher Wray, late Lord Chief- Justice of England, his late uncle. He mentions his brother Lindley, his brothers Christopher Wray, and Leonard Wray, Henry
YARBURGHS OF SNAITH AND HESLINGTON 277
Jenkinson (perhaps husband of his sister Faith), and Charles Yarburgh of VVillowby, and WilHam Adams, his brother-in- law, whom he made guardian of his son Edmund : his kinsmen Evers, William Wray, Esq., Edward Ascough, Esq., Sir George St. Paul, knight, Thomas Grantham, Esq., and Nicholas Saunderson, Esq., ' a lyke stone with my coat engraven in brasse, with both my wyves in brasse, as also their cotes and protreyture shall be fixed and layd doune in Northroppe Churche, where my said wyves and my mother is buried with dyvers of my children, the charge also to be such as my fathers is at Lincolne.' It cost £2, 6s. 8d. (It is still in Northorpe Church, and at one time I had a rub- bing of it.) The inscription to his father, who died 20th of February 1 590-1, will be found on p. 306 of Peck's Desiderata Curiosa. His inventory was taken nth August 1595, was exhibited 3rd July 1598, and finally passed the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 21st June 1602. It specifies the best chamber, inner chamber, yellow chamber, chamber over the pantrie, chamber over the kitchen hall, dining parlour, little parlour, inner chamber, buttery, milk house and kitchen. He had 310 ounces of silver plate : forty-five score of sheep : books worth £3 : money owing ;^8oo : sum total of his effects ;^i868, i8s. 4d.
This Francis Yarburgh was a serjeant-at-law, and no doubt his connection with the Wray family was a great assistance to him. There is a good portrait of him at Heslington.
Leonard Wray (Francis Yarburgh's father-in-law) gave to his grandchildren, Edmund Yarburgh ;^5, 13s. 4d., and Elizabeth Yarburgh ;^3, 6s. 8d., and to the heir of Ardwick le
278 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY Street, where he was living in 1569, los. per annum for
We now come to the first of the Yarburgh family who appears to have obtained a footing in Yorkshire, and this was Edmund Yarburgh (the son of Francis Yarburgh by his second marriage with Frances Wray), and the infusion of the legal and successful blood of the Wrays into the somewhat worn-out blood of the Yarburghs appears to have been most fortunate, for apparently Edmund Yarburgh when he set foot in Yorkshire did not own an acre of land in the county, in which his descendants now own more than ten thousand acres, and have also been able to buy back the old property of the family in Lincolnshire. From the time that Edmund Yarburgh, with his somewhat slender inheritance set foot in the county of York, the progress of the family has been almost continual. This Edmund Yarburgh was Capital Seneschal of the Manor of Snaith and Cowick nth August 1622, and treasurer for lame soldiers 2 Charles 1626. In the year 1628 it is noted that ' there was a good summe to be disbursed to the maintenance of lame shouldiers and the prysoners in ye gaole.' He died 6th May 1631 and was buried in the church of Snaith the day following. There is a list of bonds for money due to him still extant and the sum amounts to £6,359. From this it will be seen that he had soon developed into a typical Yorkshireman, and had materially increased his patrimony. He married a very considerable heiress, Sarah, daughter of Thomas Wormsley, Esq., of Cusworth and Hatfield, co. York, by Tomasina his wife, daughter and co- heiress of Nicholas Waller of Sikehouse. She was baptized
YARBURGHS OF SNAITH AND HESLINGTON 279
at Thorne, nth July 1589, married at Hatfield 28th May 161 1. Will dated 8th January 1658 and proved 23rd August 1622. She died at Campsall and was buried there 17th August 1662.
In her will she calls herself of the city of York,and desires to be buried near her son John if she died in that city, but she died at Campsall and was buried there. To her grandson, Sir John Reresby, she gave twenty shillings to buy him a ring ; to the Lady Reresby, her daughter, wife of James Moyser, Esq., of Beverley, a great silver pottinger, and twelve silver spoons. She made her sons Thomas and Edmund Yarburgh executors, and gave to each of her grandchildren, Nicholas, Richard, John, Edmund, Christopher, and Elizabeth Yarburgh : her grandchildren Edmund Moyser, Gervas, and Edmund Reresby. To the Lady Hoyle, her cousin, she gave her hoope ring which was her mother's wedding ring. ' To the poore ;^30, at the discretion of my Executors, as that they distribute the most of it to the poore where my estate lyeth that God hath blessed me with.' All the legacies were charged upon ' my moiety of West Hall, or Wormley Hall, and my mannor called Storkshold : and lands in Hatfield, Fishlake, Hatfield Woodhouse, Thane, Sikehouse, Stain- forth, Dowsthorpe and Bramwith lately purchased of Thomas Bosvile, Esq., and Thomas Vincent, Esq., and Susan, his wife and my sister, and other lands in Hatfield purchased of Lord Carlingford and Sir Robert Anstrother, knight.' {South Yorkshire, vol. i. pp. 55, 205.) These lands dame Sarah Yarburgh entailed upon her grandson Nicholas, with remainder to her son Thomas Yarburgh of Campsall.
Mrs. Sarah Yarburgh appears to have been a good mother.
28o SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
and excellent woman of business, and a very considerable heiress. She left issue :
1. Nicholas Yarburgh of whom hereafter.
2. Thomas Yarburgh, baptized at Snaith 22nd July
1623, was of Campsall, and died 30th November 1697, aged seventy-four. {South Yorkshire, vol. ii. pp. 466, 469.) He was a serjeant-at-law : married, firstly, Ann, daughter of Thomas Ellis, Esq., of Nott Hill, son of Sir Thomas Ellis, co. Lincoln. She died s.p. and was buried loth July 1682. He married, secondly, Mary, only daughter and heiress of Edmund Watson, Esq., of East Hague, CO. York, and sole heiress to her mother Alice, daughter and co-heiress of Nathaniel Birkhead of East Hague, Esq. She married, secondly, Henry Auser of Kildwick, and was buried at Campsall 27th November 1730. His great-grandfather gave him lands in Usfleet, lately purchased of John Dunn. His will dated 6th December 1694, with codicils of 31st May 1695 and 20th November 1696, was proved 14th March 1697. He entailed Braton-Hall in Campsall on his sons, charging all his lands with ;^500, each to his younger children, excepting his wife's jointure and ' that fourth part of Hatfield entailed to me by my mother which is intended to my son Edmund.' He desired his son Thomas might have ;^70 a year at the University and ;^ioo a year at the Inns of Court. His inventory specifies the hall, the great parlour, the little
YARBURGHS OF SNAITH AND HESLINGTON 281
parlour, the best chamber over the great parlour, the little chamber adjoining the hall chamber, the red chamber, nursery kitchen chamber, maids' chamber, passage, stove chamber, buttery chamber, servants chamber, wool chamber, store chamber next the garrets, buttery, cellar, kitchen, back kitchen, pastry, dairy, beef house, brew house, brew house chamber, work house, corn chamber, and kilne house. The personality amounted to ;^2,i50 17s. He had issue :
Edmund Yarhurgh, barrister-at-law and bencher of Gray's Inn : died unmarried 25th February 1674, aged seventy-six ; buried at St. George's, Queen Square. Henry Yarhurgh, LL.D., Rector of Tewin, Herts, prebendary of York, died unmarried 28th November 1774, aged eighty-three, buried at Campsall. Nicholas Yarhurgh, died unmarried, buried at Campsall
27th November 1731. Francis Yarhurgh, D.D., Principal of Brasenose College, Oxford, and Rector of Aynho, died unmarried at Bath 25th April 1770, buried at Campsall. Thomas Yarhurgh of Campsall, baptized 23rd May 1687, died ist September 1772, aged eighty-five, buried at Campsall ; married an heiress, Joanna Harvey, 8th February 1718, died 3rd March. She had issue : Mary Yarhurgh fhW died unmarried, and were Johanna Yarhurgh J buried at Campsall, the two Ann Yarhurgh 1 latter who succeeded their Elizaheth Yarhurgh \sisters, devised their property to their cousin, George Cooke, Esq., of Stret- thorpe, second son of Sir George Cooke, Bart., from whom descends the present owner of Campsall, George Bryan Cooke- Yarborough,
282 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Edmund Yarburgh of Doncaster, M.D., in 1695 : baptized at Snaith 7th June 1625 : was of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and B.A. January 1644-5 - removed to Jesus College, and was M.A. 1648 and Fellow of the College. He was expelled by the Solemn League and Covenant, ' being a man most devoted to his Church and King.' {South Yorkshire, vol. i. pp. 43, 359.) He was of the city of York in 1656 : in 1665 he took the degree of M.D., and was living at Doncaster, where he practised many years with great success. He died there and was buried in the parish church. He married Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Thomas Stanhope, Esq., of Stotfold and of Hampull, co. York, third son of Sir John Stanhope of Melwood Park, co. Lincoln, married ist June 1664, and died 1683. She had issue :
Thomas Yarburgh, baptized 18th May 16655 buried 7th February 1669.
Edmund Yarburgh, baptized May 1667 ; buried 23rd April 1668.
Nicholas Yarburgh, baptized 25th September 1671 j buried 15th May 1674.
William Yarburgh, baptized 23rd January 1676 ; buried 17th April 1677.
Stanhope Yarburgh, baptized 14th July 1674, living in August 1691.
Gerard Yarburgh, his youngest son, baptized 9th July 1678 ; married at Arksey, i6th July 1695-6, Ann Ealy, and erected a monument in the church of Hutton Pagnell to the memory of his grandfather, Thomas Stanhope, Esq., of Stotfold, who died 26th
YARBURGHS OF SNAITH AND HESLINGTON 283
August 1691, and by will dated 13th August left him half his lands in Hutton Pagnel. (Miller's Doncaster, p. 284.) Henry Yarhnrgh, baptized 19th August 1675 ; married at Barnby Don, i8th December 1701, Elizabeth, widow of Anthony Gregory, and daughter of Thomas Farmer, Esq., and by her left issue : John Yarburgh, baptized at Barnby Don 13th
October 1702. Thomas Yarburgh, baptized 30th October 1711. Edmund Yarburgh, baptized 4th May 1704, and was buried at Barnby Don, 23rd April 1705.
John Yarburgh, baptized at Snaith, 21 April 1629, the youngest son, not named in Sir William Dugdale's Pedigree : was buried at St. Michael-a-Belfry, York, 3rd February 1653-4, aged twenty-four years. (See his M. I., Drakes's Eboracum, p. 340.)
Frances Yarburgh, married at Snaith, 21st May 1633, to Sir John Reresby of Thibergh, Bart. {South Yorkshire, vol. ii. pp. 39-44), by whom she had nine children. She married, secondly, James Moyser of Beverley (Dugdale's Visitation, p. 212), by whom she had four sons and one daughter, and died 7th Sep- tember 1688. (There is a good deal of information about the Yarburgh family contained in the Memoirs of Sir John Reresby 1634-1689, edited by J. J. Cart- wright, and published by Longmans, 1875.)
Sir Nicholas Yarburgh, knight (eldest son and heir of Edmund Yarburgh, and also heir to his mother Dame Sarah Yarburgh), was of Snaith Hall, co. York. ' He was a Justice of the Peace and Administrator of his Majesty's
284 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
service on the late war.' In 1640, October ist, he is styled Esquire, and 1642, March 28th, Knight : and he seems to have removed from Balne Hall to Snaith Hall between May 1647 and July 1649. He was baptized 12th February 1612-13 at Hatfield. By will dated 30th June 1655 he desires to be buried in Snaith Church near his father, and he was buried there the 22nd August 1655, no doubt in the chancel, which, as impropriators, his family continue to repair. His affection for his mother is shown in the following letter. It was written from Cambridge, 13th April 1629. He never took a degree.
' Dear Mother, — My humble duty remembered, not oblivious of your tender affection towards me, for the which I praise God, that he hath created me sonne to such a mother, whose vigilant care for my good is extraordinary. Now seeing nothing can be more acceptable to you from me than my happy successe and proceedinges in piety, I hope these my weake endeavours shall not altogether suffer a repulse, though I confess but small : even as here and there one eare of come plucked out of a plentifull harvest. Nevertheless hoping you will accept the will for the deed, I am encouraged to send them, heartily beseeching God to work the holy operation on you by them : so that God may be glorified, yourselfe edified and I encouraged to all good actions. Thus with my humble duty remembered I take leave, — Your dutifull and obedient sonne, Nicholas Yerburgh.'
(As regards the spelling of our name. Colonel Moore, F.S.A., of Frampton Hall, wrote to me some years ago : ' The change in spelling is nothing. Registers were written either by the parson, or a paid registrar who wrote names phonetically, or as he heard them pronounced, and about the time Yarboroughs became Yarburgh, most family names are spelt in various ways. I have a Deed which spells the same person's name in three different ways : " More, Moor, Moore," and
YARBURGHS OF SNAITH AND HESLINGTON 285
" Tonnard " became " Tunnard " about that time. In this family the above remark is clearly exemplified, e.g. 1700 : " Sarah, dau. of Geo. and Alice Yarborough." 1702 : " Mary, dau. of Geo. and Alice Yarburg." 1704 : " Jane, dau. of Geo. and Alice Yarbrough." 1705 : " Thos. son of Geo. and Alice Yerburgh." In five years we have the same name spelt five times differently.')
He married at St. Saviour's, York, 26th May 1635, Mrs. Faith Dawnay of York, daughter of John Dawnay, Esq., of Wormesley, who died 13th March and was buried at Snaith, 15th March 1629-30, aged thirty-six, among his ancestors, in the lifetime of his father. Sir Thomas Dawnay of Cowick, knight. Her mother was Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Richard Hutton of Goldsborough and Hutton Pagnell, knight, and justice of King's Bench {South Yorkshire, vol. ii. p. 143), who died 26th February 1638, aged seventy-seven, and lies buried in the church of St. Dunstan in the West, Fleet Street, London, where his monument yet remains.
Dame Faith Yarburgh's will is dated 30th July 1656, the preamble being exactly copied from her husband's and the supervisors being the same, viz. : John Dawnay of Cowick, Esq. (first Lord Downe), Thomas Yarburgh of Campsall with the addition of Edmund Yarburgh of the city of York, Esquire. Her burial at Snaith 24th September 1657 is thus recorded : * The Lady Faith Yarburgh of Snaith Hall that good lady, one of a thousand.' Her inventory was taken 15th January 1657-8, but is imperfect. The books in the library were valued at £10. A clock in the hall £2 : all the plate, being 16 lbs. troy weight, ;^6i, 17s. One
286 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
black bed with furniture ;^20. (Whitaker's Richmondshire, vol. ii. p. 334 ; Whalley, p. 292). They had issue :
Thomas Yarburgh, son and heir.
Nicholas Yarburgh, baptized nth October 1638. ' I give to my second son Nicholas Yarburgh all that moietie or half part of Wormley Hall in Hatfield, and lands which my mother, Mrs. Sarah Yarburgh, gave unto me in reversion, the party whereof, viz. that was copyhold, I hope she will give him when he comes of age, and I chardge this my said son that he does not aliene or sell the same, since it hath anciently belonged to his grandmother's familie at Hatfield.' (Extract from Will of Sir Nicholas Yarburgh.)
His mother gave him ;^200 and commended him to the care of his grandmother, who entailed her lands upon his heirs male, down to the twelfth son, and failing such issue upon his female heirs. He died within three years, certainly before 15th September 1655. The freehold portions of the Hatfield estate went to his uncle, the copyhold to his brother Sir Thomas, at whose death the Yarburgh interest on the Wormley Hall estate ceased. It was mort- gaged for ;^I200, and he desired it might be sold. With the exception of this every part of the estate bequeathed by Sir Nicholas has remained in the family up to the present time.
Richard Yarburgh, baptized ist October 1640, entered at Snaith and St. Saviour's, York. ' To
YARBURGHS OF SNAITH AND HESLINGTON 287
Richard, my third son, ;^6o per annum out of those lands I purchased in Yarburgh in the county of Lincolne : and those lands I purchased of my brother Thomas Yarburgh of Campsall in the coy. of York lying in Marshland in the parish of Whitgift.* (Extract from Will of Sir Nicholas Yarburgh.) His mother mentions that her son Richard has entered to be an apprentice to a merchant in London. His grandmother gave him ;^50, and he was living in 1666.
John Yarburgh, baptized 25th March 1642, buried in March 1645 at Snaith.
John Yarburgh, baptized ist May 1645. ' To John, my fourth son, ;^6o per annum which fell to me at the decease of my brother, John Yarburgh, Gent.' (Extract of Will of Sir Nicholas Yarburgh.) His mother left him ;^ioo and his grandmother £50. He was B.A. of St. John's College, Cambridge.
Edmund Yarburgh, baptized i6th September 165 1.
* To my fifth son £60 per annum and the tythes of Cowick.' (Extract of Will of Sir Nicholas Yarburgh.) His mother gave him £100 and his grandmother ;^50. He was buried at Holy Trinity Church, York, 8th October 1694.
Christopher Yarburgh, baptized 9th May 1654.
• To Christopher, my sixth son, ;^6o per annum out of my lands whatsoere and tythes on Balne and Blanecroft.' (Extract of Will of Sir Nicholas Yar- burgh.) His mother gave him ;^ioo and his grand- mother ;^50.
Elizabeth Yarburgh was baptized at Snaith 25th
288 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
May 1647 : married there, 12th January 1669-70, Henry Laton, Esq., of Rawden, who died 18th October 1705, aged eighty- three. She died without issue in 1702, aged fifty-five. {Thoreshys Leeds, ed. Whitaker, p. 260.) Faith Yarburgh was baptized at Snaith, 12th July 1649, and married Marmaduke Constable, Esq., of Wassand, who was baptized at Sigglesthorpe 25th July 1642, and buried at Goxhill July 1690. They had issue :
Martha, baptized 12th December 1667 at St. Mary's Beverley.
Also Katherine, Mary, Marmaduke, Nicholas, Thomas, Faith, and Henrietta Maria.
Yarburgh Constable (sole surviving son), baptized at Segglesthorpe 28th September 1676 ■ married Rosamond, daughter and heiress of John Eastoft, Esq., of Eastoft, and died 4th June 1731. [Scaims BeverlcB, vol. ii. p. 702.)
There is a portrait of Mrs. Constable at Wassand. Her brother. Sir Thomas Yarburgh, left her £10 in token of his affection, and her nephew, Blagge Yarburgh, three guineas. She was buried 20th October 1721 at St. Mary's Beverley.
Mrs. Laton and Mrs. Constable are thus mentioned by their father. Sir Nicholas Yarburgh, in his will : * I bequeath to either of my daughters, viz. Elizabeth and Faith Yarburgh a thousand marks a piece to be paid out of all the lands my father or I purchased in Balne, PoUington, Snaith or Campsall, and
YARBURGHS OF SNAITH AND HESLINGTON 289
Askerne : and if my eldest son, Thomas Yarburgh, Esq., shall deny, refuse, or abstract the payment, the lands to go to my younger children, and their heirs, my two daughters first receiving five hundred marks apiece.' And by their mother thus : * To my two daughters, Elizabeth and Faith Yerburgh, if they will be advised on their marriage by their guardians and uncles ;£i50 each : their grandmother, Mrs. Sarah Yarburgh, to be their guardian.' Their grandmother gave each of them ;C200 by her last will.
Sir Thomas Yarburgh was born at Snaith Hall 19th of August and baptized 29th August 1637. He was High Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1673 and Member for Pontefract in 1685 and 1688. In conjunction with his uncle John, first Viscount Downe, he was instrumental in defeating a Bill introduced into the House, to place the Levels of Hatfield on the footing contemplated by Sir Cornelius Vermuyden. (Hunter's South Yorkshire, vol. i. p. 167.) There is a portrait of him at Heslington. Affidavit was made before Sir Thomas Yarburgh at Snaith, born November 1688, and he was living there 29th June 1700, when he gave a bond to Catherine, Queen Dowager, as receiver of her revenues in the honours of Knaresborough, Pickering, Pontefract and Tickhill. This post he held in 1690. His will is dated 29th August 1709, and was proved at York 12th April 17 16. He is described as of the parish of St. James, Middlesex : and in that parish he died. He gave ;^50 to the poor of Snaith and Cowick. In his will he says : * I desire to die, as I have endeavoured to live, in the communion of the Church of England : which
T
290 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
since the Reformation I believe to be a true branch of the Catholic Church.'
An inventory of his goods at Snaith Hall was taken on the 5th of April 1716. Most of the rooms were empty ; but two bedrooms appear to have been fully furnished. In the white bedroom was a bedstead with blue mohair curtains : in the room called the alcove, a bedstead with silk damask curtains. It specifies also the hall, parlour, drawing-room, the great room above stairs, the passage, the kitchen, another little room, the nursery, Mr. Dobson's room, Mrs. Margaret Yarburgh's room, green room, Indian room, and men servants' chamber. Mr. Bywater, steward to Sir Thomas, stated that the arrears of rent were ;^39i, 5s. Exactly the same number of rooms is mentioned in Dame Faith Yarburgh's inventory in 1658.
He married not later than March 1622-8 Henrietta Maria, eldest daughter and co-heir of Colonel Thomas Blagge, governor of Wallingford, and groom of the bed- chamber to King Charles i. At the Restoration he was made Governor of Portsmouth and Landguard Fort, but died 14th November 1660, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. (Evelyn's Life of Mrs. Godolphin, pp. 254-5.) Her mother was Mary, daughter of Sir Roger North, knight, of Milden- hall, and a person, if we may believe Evelyn, of great piety and excellence. (Evelyn's Godolphin, p. 6.) Lady Yarburgh's character has been unjustly aspersed by Anthony Hamilton in his Memoirs of Grammont. The worst that he says of her amounts to this : that her eyes were small, her eyelashes long and white, and her complexion sallow : that she did not understand French, and was coquettish and
YARBURGHS OF SNAITH AND HESLINGTON 291
ridiculous. (Grammont's Memoirs, Strawberry Hill edition, 1772, pp. 95, 97, 189, 195.) Yet Hamilton declares that the Duchess of York, to whom she was maid-of-honour till her marriage, ' had so just a discernment of merit, that who- ever of either sex were possessed of it, were sure to be dis- tinguished by her.' Had there been misconduct on the part of the eldest sister, it is incredible that this virtuous Princess should have demanded her younger sisters, Margaret (the wife of Sydney Godolphin) and Mary (who held that post so late as 1669, and was living unmarried in 1678) as her maids-of-honour. Nor could the Duke of York with any decency have stood godfather to her first child. Her husband, at whom Hamilton sneers, simply because he had flaxen hair, made her sole executrix of his will. And it is interesting to know that a quarto book of ninety-five pages is preserved at Heslington entitled * My Lady Yarburgh's Book of Meditations made by herself when she lived at Snaith Hall.' There are passages from Herbert, Bishop Gunning and other writers, transcribed at great length : one passage is almost prophetic : * My best actions and endeavours have had no other effect than to make me ill thought of, even by those I most designed to oblige.'
Lady Yarburgh was living at Snaith Hall, so late as 2 1st October 1693 : and with her husband in the parish of St. James, Middlesex, when he made his will. She died before her husband. There are portraits of Lady Yarburgh and of Mrs. Godolphin by Sir Peter Lely at Heslington. She had sixteen children, of whom all except four were baptized at Snaith, where six of them, who died infants, were buried :
292 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
James Yarburgh of whom hereafter.
Thomas Yarburgh, baptized 26th February 1665-6, is noticed in Dugdale's Visitations. His father left him an estate at Winthorpe in the county of Lincoln, which in consequence of his decease before 1724 unmarried went to his brother James and still forms part of the Yarburgh estate.
Blagge Yarburgh, the date of whose baptism is unknown, was the third surviving son. He had ;^200 from his father and an annuity of ;£ioo a year. In 1 7 16 he is described as of the city of York, and was trustee to the will of his brother James, to whose younger children he acted as guardian. He made his will 30th April 1721, and divers codicils lOth April, loth June, 21st September 1738, and it was proved 19th March 1739-40. To his nephew Henry, he gave his silver-hilted sword, his gold-handled cane, and his case of pistols. He made his sister Faith executrix, and adds : ' I would have no minster Bell towle for me.' He was buried at St. Saviour's 13th March 1739-40, unmarried.
Richard Yarburgh, baptized ist November 1680, was living unmarried in 1707. His father had advanced ;^iooo to buy him a partnership with Mr. Mollineux, woollen draper, in St. Paul's Churchyard.
Charles Yarburgh, baptized 17th July 1682, went to sea, and returned home to die (I suppose in London) before the date of his father's will.
Nicholas Yarburgh, baptized 22nd November 1666, buried 26th October 1670.
YARBURGHS OF SNAITH AND HESLINGTON 293
George Yarburgh, baptized 25th March, buried nth October 1671.
Nicholas Yarburgh, baptized 5th March 1673, buried 14th December 1674.
Elizabeth Yarburgh, baptized 30th September 1672, buried 29th January 1673.
Ann Yarburgh, baptized 15th November 1677, buried 15th February 1678.
Rosamond Yarburgh, baptized 13th August 1687, was in 1707 the wife of Nicholas Polexfen, Esq., who was appointed 20th May 17 10 one of the Com- missioners of Excise in England at a salary of ;£8oo a year. Her father gave her ;£3000 as her portion, and ;^20 as a mark of his afTection.
Faith Yarburgh, baptized 6th December 1683, never married. Her father left her ;^I400 : and she was executrix to the will of her brother Blagge Yarburgh. She made her will 25th May 1758, giving ;^5 to the poor of Snaith, and ;^5 to the poor of St. Saviour's, York, ' and to ye old mades of Bowdam Barr Hospitale, ten genneys : to my cosen Mrs. Best ten genneys and my smolest diamond ring : and to her daughter Rose thirty genneys, and my watch with ye pickture in ye middle, and my earings with ye green drops to them. To Mrs. Smith's daughters a pare of sillver candlesticks and caudle cup and gold watch that their Aunt Dawney gave to me. To ye Infirmary in this toune ;^50, to ye two Charity Schools for girls and boys ;^20.' She was buried at St. Saviour's Church 8th June 1760, and her will was proved the following day.
294 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Margaret Yarburgh, whose baptism cannot be found, was the second daughter, and in 1707 wife of Giles Cutting, Esq. Her marriage portion was ;^2000.
Henrietta Maria Yarburgh, baptized 8th October 1667, was maid-of-honour to Queen Catherine and afterwards to Queen Mary. Her father gave her a portion of ;^6ooo and she married at Snaith, 29th March 1688, Sir Marmaduke Wyvill, Bart., who died in 1722. (VVhitaker Richmondshire, vol. ii. p. 322.) Of her eight children, Anne was maid-of-honour to Queen Anne, and Henrietta Maud was living, unmarried, in 1756. Lady Wyvill died 15th August 1 738. aged sixty-nine, and was buried on the 17th August, in the chancel of St. Laurence, York.
James Yarburgh, Esquire (eldest son of Sir Thomas Yarburgh), was godson of King James 11., and one of the royal pages, and was aged eighteen months, 14th September 1665. He became lieutenant-colonel of horse, and aide-de- camp to the great Duke of Marlborough. On the 31st October 1692 he had licence to marry Ann, elder daughter and co-heir of Thomas Hesketh, Esq., of Heslington, by Margaret, daughter of John Calverley, Esq., of Eryholme, county Yorks and of Littleburne, County Palatine of Durham : eventually sole heir to his brother Sir Henry Calverley, knight. The younger daughter, Mary, baptized 8th October 1678 : married, 12th September 1693, Fairfax Norcliffe, Esq., Colonel of Horse, High Sheriff of Yorkshire in the years 1700 and 1715, and was buried in Ripon Minster 17th November 1739- (Burke's Commoners, vol. ii. p. 631.)
YARBURGHS OF SNAITH AND HESLINGTON 295
After this marriage the Hall at Snaith was deserted, as Balne Hall had been previously ; and Colonel Yarburgh, on the death of their father, 8th January 1707-8, went to live at Heslington, but these ladies continued as joint tenants of the manor and main estate ; and it was not till the year 1793, that a partition was made, when Henry Yarburgh, Esq., purchased some considerable portion of the share which fell to him from his cousin, Thomas Norcliffe, Esq., captain in the army and lieutenant-colonel-commandant of the York volunteers.
Sir Thomas Yarburgh assigned lands in Balne, Wormsley, and divers townships adjoining for his son's immediate maintenance to the value of ;^400 a year, and gave him /J600 a year in reversion. He appears as Lord of the Manor of Snaith and Cowick by lease from the Crown at the court holden 5th February 1730-1. Mrs. Yarburgh was born 2nd of April and baptized 8th April 1676, died the 19th May 17 18, and was buried next day at St. Laurence, York, a week after her confinement. She is described on her gravestone as * a woman excellent in all the dutyes of life, whether we regard her as a Christian, a wife, a parent, or a friend. Of whom the world was not worthy.' Her husband, by will 15th March 1523-4, desired to be buried with her, and no inscription to be placed on his stone : and was buried there 9th March 1 730-1. He gave his daughter Ann his white japanned cabinet ; his son Henry the chest of drawers in his bedchamber ; his son James his ' scrutere ' ; his son Hesketh the ' scrutere ' in his closet ; to his son Charles the ' burroy ' in his closet ; and desired that the cabinet in the great dining-room (which had probably been a present
296 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
from the Duchess of York to his mother on her marriage) to remain in the house as an heirloom for ever. There are two portraits of Colonel Yarburgh at Heslington. He had twelve children :
Thomas Yarburgh, of whom hereafter.
Henry Yarburgh, of whom hereafter.
Hesketh Yarburgh, of whom hereafter.
Charles Yarburgh, of whom hereafter.
James Yarburgh, born 22nd October, and baptized 7th November 1698, and was buried 3rd November 1699 at St. Laurence.
Edward Yarburgh, baptized 13th February 1699 at Holy Trinity, Goodramgate, was buried 20th March following at St. Laurence.
James Yarburgh, baptized 27th October 1702 at Holy Trinity, Goodramgate, died unmarried 3rd April, and was buried 5th April 1740 at St. Laurence. His will is dated 28th February 1739-40 at St. Laurence, and was proved 15th September 1740.
Nicholas Yarburgh, baptized at St. Michael le Belfry 23rd June 1704, died 6th September, buried at St. Laurence 28th September 1716, aged 12. M. I.
Henrietta Maria, first child, was born and baptized (at St. Laurence, York) 13th October 1693, and married there, 14th January 171 8-9, John Vanburgh of Castle Howard, Esq., celebrated as a dramatist and architect, who was afterwards made a knight, Clarencieux king of arms, and comptroller of his Majesty's works. Blenheim and Castle Howard
YARBURGHS OF SNAITH AND HESLINGTON 297
are his best known works, and from his design were built Duncombe Park and Robin Hood's Well, near Doncaster. {South Yorkshire, vol. ii. p. 488- See Lives of Eminent Englishmen, p. 382 ; Queens of Society, pp. 40, 41.) They had only one son Charles, an ensign in the army, who died in 1745 from wounds received at the battle of Tournay.
Lady Vanburgh, who was left a widow 25th March 1726, appears to have been joint Lady of the Manor of Snaith i6th April 1731, and died 22nd April 1767, aged eighty-six. Her will bears date 15th June 1769.
Ann Margaret Yarburgh, baptized at St. Michael le Belfry, 5th December 1705, buried at St. Laurence, 20th December 1715.
Rosamond Yarburgh, born 7th January 1707, and died the 15th August, and was buried at St. Laurence 17th August 1722, aged 14. M. L
Ann Yarburgh, ^orn 13th May 1718, being Easter Day, and baptized loth May following, was living i6th April 1731, as Lady of the Manor of Snaith, which came to her by her father's will. She had also lands called Swailes between Balne and Pollington, formerly a rabbit warren, and lands in Balne and Heslington. She died unmarried at Whitehall in March 1738.
Thomas Yarburgh (son and heir of James Yarburgh) succeeded to estates settled on him. His father cut him off with a shilling, ' he having very unhandsomely disposed of himself in marriage without consulting me.' He was born
298 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
1st of February and baptized i6th February 1696-7, is described as of Sandhutton 15th November 1722, made his will 6th March 1740-1, and was buried loth December 1741 at Laurence. His wife Ann was the daughter of the Rev. Thomas Thwaites. She was buried at St. Laurence 27th March 1753, aged sixty-one. Her will bears date 29th December 1752.
(The union of the family of Yerburgh with that of Thwaites has certainly had a very different effect at the end of the nineteenth century.)
Henry Yarburgh (succeeded his brother Thomas Yarburgh). He was born on St. Bartholomew's Day, 24th August, and baptized at Holy Trinity, Goodramgate, 4th September 1707. His father gave him half VVinthorpe and Yarburgh in the county of Lincoln ; and he appears as Lord of the Manor of Snaith and Cowick, 4th May 1732. His will is dated 12th January 1746-7, and he was buried at St. Laurence the i6th of January following, unmarried : he was succeeded by his brother,
Hesketh Yarburgh, born 26th May, baptized 8th of June 1 7 14. He had a house and garth at Hay ton, by the will of his grandfather's cousin-german Mary Hesketh of York, spinster, dated 25th September 17 15, was buried 15th May 1754 at St. Laurence, unmarried. Administration was granted 25th February 1758. He was succeeded by his brother,
Charles Yarburgh, eleventh child, but sole surviving son. He was born loth May 17 16, and baptized the same day at
YARBURGHS OF SNAITH AND HESLINGTON 299
St. Michael-le-Belfry. He was scholar of University College, Oxford, of which his cousin Francis Yarburgh of Campsall was then Fellow : he took his degree of M.A. in 174 1. He died 6th August, and was buried loth of August 1789 at St. Laurence. (I do not propose to give such full details of the subsequent descents as they can be found in any peerage under the head of Deramore.) He married, first, Mary, daughter of Sylvanus Grififin of Worksworth, co. Derby. She died 26th November 1757, aged forty. M. I., St. Laurence, York. She had issue :
Henry Yarburgh, of whom hereafter.
James Yarburgh, baptized nth September 1754, buried i6th October 1757.
Mary Yarburgh, baptized 22nd June 1751, married, 22nd August 1782, to the Rev. William Coates, M.A., died s.p. 29th April 1835, aged eighty-four.
Faith Yarburgh.
Anne Yarburgh.
Charles Yarburgh married, secondly, Sarah, daughter of Sylvanus Griffin of Worksworth, and died 6th August 1789, aged seventy-three, and having had issue by her :
Charles Yarburgh, baptized 15th October 1762, entered the Navy 1779, on board the Britannia, and afterwards served in the Nero which sailed for the East Indies, where he died in 1781.
Nicholas Edmund Yarburgh, of whom hereafter.
Judith Yarburgh 1,. , • 1
•^ Mied unmarried.
Rosamond YarburghJ
300 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Faith Yarburgh died 30th December 1782, un- married. M. I.
Henrietta Maria Yarburgh, died nth July 1788, unmarried.
Sarah Yarburgh, of whom hereafter.
Henry Yarburgh (eldest son of Charles Yarburgh by his first marriage) was of Heslington, formerly Captain of the 20th Light Dragoons, baptized 29th March 1748, married Anne, daughter of Henry Agar of Canterbury : he died 28th of October 1825, aged seventy-six. She died s.p. 14th February 1817. He was succeeded by his half brother,
Nicholas Edmund Yarburgh of Heslington, born February 1771, D.L. for that riding and Major 3rd Provisional Militia, succeeded his brother 28th October 1825, High Sherifif, county York, in 1836, died 6th August 1852. He was a well-known sportsman, and owner of many good racehorses, of whom the best was Charles xii. who ran in dead heat with Euclid for the St. Leger. He was the last male repre- sentative of the line of Yarburghs who came to Yorkshire, circa 1600. Edmund Yarburgh of Balne Hall, who died 1 63 1, being the first of the Lincolnshire Yarburghs who settled in Yorkshire : he was a younger son of a younger son, and his grandfather was also a younger son of Charles Yarburgh of Yarburgh. On his death the representation of this branch of the family devolved on his sister,
Sarah Yarburgh, married ist August 1782, John Greame, Esq., of Sewerby House, East Riding, co. York, and died 2ist October 1785, leaving issue :
YARBURGHS OF SNAITH AND HESLINGTON 301
Yarburgh Greame (heir to his uncle, Nicholas Edmund Yarburgh) .
Alicia Greame, who married, 17th May 1810, George Lloyd of Stockton Hall, co. York, of whom here- after.
Yarburgh Greame of Sewerby House, East Riding, Yorkshire, who assumed the surname and arms of Yarburgh, High Sheriff of Yorkshire 1848, died 26th January 1856, aged seventy, s.p. He was succeeded by his sister,
Alicia Maria (daughter of Sarah Yarburgh by John Greame). She died 3rd January 1867, aged eighty-three, having married George Lloyd of Stockton Hall, near York, eldest son of George Lloyd of Manchester, barrister-at-law, who was born 21st May 1787, and married 17th May 18 10, and died 12th March 1863. By him she had issue, with other children (for particulars of whom see Burke's Landed Gentry, Lloyd of Stockton Hall) .
George John (Lloyd) Yarburgh, of whom hereafter. Yarburgh Gamaliel Lloyd Greame of Sewerby
House. Henry Lloyd in Holy Orders. Edward Lloyd of Lingcroft, near York.
George John Lloyd Yarburgh of Heslington, co. York, J. P., born 28th July 181 1, married, 23rd July 1840, Mary Antonia, third daughter of Samuel Chetham Hilton of Pennington Hall, county Lancaster, by Martha his wife, daughter of Samuel Clowes, Esq., of Broughton Hall, and had issue :
302 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Mary Elizabeth Bateson de Yarburgh of Hesllngton, married, 1862, George William Bateson, afterwards second Lord Deramore : she died October 1884, and had issue :
Robert Wilfred Bateson de Yarburgh, of whom hereafter. George Nicholas Bateson de Yarburgh, born 25th
November 1870. Mary Lilia. Katharine Hilda.
Susan Anne Yarburgh, 25th January 1865, married Charles, eldest son of Rev. Thomas Lethbridge of Combe Flory Somerset, and had issue (see Leth- bridge, Bart.).
Sir Robert Wilfrid de Yarburgh Bateson, third Lord Deramore of Belvoir Park Down — a baronet, D.L., Captain of the Yorkshire Hussars, born 1865, succeeded his father as third baron 1893, married, 15th July 1897, Lucy, daughter of W. K. Fife of Lee Hall, Northumberland.
APPENDICES
APPENDIX A
CALENDAR OF THE PATENT ROLLS 19 Edward hi. — Part IIL Membranes is and 14 Exemplification at the request of the abbot of Louth Park, inquisi- 1345-
, ■ r 11 Nov. 20,
tion as foUowS : Westminster.
Examination of John de Brynkhill, Ralph de Riddeford, Robert de Yerdeburgh the younger, Constance, late the wife of Henry le \^avasour, Alice de Stircheslay, Adam Trewe of Alvyngham, William Dase of Louth, William Punchard of Louth, Ingelram de Tathewell of Louth, the abbot of Louth Park, and brothers John de Hotoft and Richard de Yerdeburgh, his fellow-monks, made at York by Hugh de Hastynges, Richard de Aldeburgh, John de Styrcheslay and William Basset, justices appointed for this, associated with Roger de Baukwell, on Wednesday after St. Matthias, in the nineteenth year of the king, to this effect : the king by letters patent, dated 20th January, in his eighteenth year, showed to the justices aforesaid that it had lately been agreed between Henry le Vavasour, ' chivaler,' since deceased, and the abbot that the latter should increase the number of his convent by ten monks to celebrate divine service in the abbey for ever for the soul of the said Henry, and that Henry, while sound of mind, by his deed granted in fee to John de Brynkhull, Ralph de Riddeford, Robert de Yerburgh the younger, Adam Trewe of Alvyngham, the abbot and his fellow- monks John de Hotoft and Richard de Yerdeburgh, Constance, the grantor's wife, Alice de Styrcheslay, William Dase of Louth, William Punchard of Louth, and Ingelram de Tathewell of Louth, then present, the manor of Cokeryngton, co. Lincoln, and made the same John de Brynkhull, Ralph, Robert and Adam swear on the Holy Gospels that
U
306 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
when they should be in seisin of the manor and had obtained the necessary Hcences from the king and others of whom the manor was held, they would assign the manor as above, but that some persons now assert that the abbot and others forged the deed after the death of Henry and sealed it fraudulently by setting the dead man's hand to the same ; and appointed them to find the truth herein. Also he commanded the sheriff of the said county, and the sheriffs of the counties of York and Nottingham to warn the same persons to attend before them when summoned. The justices thereupon commanded the sheriff of York to have the parties before them at Pontefract on 20th February last, and they came not ; and the sheriff returns that he summoned them by Thomas de Egburgh, bailiff of the liberty of Osgodcrosse, who answers that Constance made mainprise by John le Serjaunt and Henry Belle, and Alice mainprise by John Fox and Adam Sompter, therefore these are in mercy ; and of the said John de Brynkhull and the others the sheriff returned that they have nothing in his bailiwick whereby they can be attached, but that they have in the county of Lincoln. Therefore he is commanded to dis- train Constance and Alice by their lands and goods and have their bodies before the justice at Burghbrigg, on Thursday, the feast of St. Matthias. Likewise the sheriff of Lincoln is commanded to have the others before them on that day. At which day Constance and the others came not. And the sheriff returns that he commanded Thomas de Egburgh, etc., who answers that Constance is distrained by chattels worth 20s. and the mainprise of John Pye, Adam Fox, William Snell and Henry Stor.
Therefore these are in mercy. The sheriff returns also that Constance has nothing elsewhere in his bailwick and Alice has nothing there whereby she can be distrained.
And the sheriff of Lincoln did nothing nor did he return the writ. Wherefore an alias writ is sent to him to have the said John and the others before the justices at York on the Wednesday after St. Matthias. And an alias writ is sent to the sheriff of York to distrain Constance and Ahce and to have their bodies before them at the same day and place. At which day the said John and others come, and are sworn on the Holy Gospels and examined.
John de Brynkhill sworn and examined says that Henry le Vavasour,
APPENDIX A 307
' chivaler,' of his own accord caused himself to be taken from his manor of Cokeryngton to the Abbey of Louth Park in a covered cart and sent for him, who came to him at the Abbey on Saturday, the feast of St. Andrew, 16 Edward in., about the ninth hour and found him in a chamber sitting in bed clothed in a dark tunic {nigri tannei colons) ; and Henry said to him, ' You are welcome, John,' and called his chamberlain and made him bring a deed written but not yet sealed ; and Henry made the said John sit down before his bed in a chair and had the deed read to him, wherein it was contained that the said Henry granted the manor of Cokeryngton to him and those named above and many others, and Henry had the deed sealed before him by the said Robert de Yerdeburgh, then his steward of the manor, Constance bringing for this a girdle with his seal. And Henry made William Dase of Louth, William Punchard and Ingelram de Tathewell his attorneys by his writing, which he caused to be sealed there by the said Robert, to make hvery of seisin of the manor ; and he made the said John, and Robert and Adam swear on the Holy Gospels that they would enfeoff the said abbot and his successors of the manor to find ten more monks to celebrate divine service for ever in the abbey for the souls of him and his ancestors and his wife, and charged his said attorneys to go quickly to dehver seisin, being of good and sound memory and speaking to them clearly : and he charged the same John to proceed quickly to fulfil the business, who went out immediately with the others, and came to the manor and with Robert and Adam received seisin thereof from the said attorneys on the same day immediately after noon, and afterward they disposed the reeve and the other ministers whom they found there and hired the ' hyne ' anew : the same John, Robert and Adam staj^ng the night at the manor : and in the morning before the first hour they took the attornment of the free tenants, to wit thirty-seven, and John went back to the abbey before the ninth hour on the Sunday, and asked several persons how Henry was, and was told that he was already dead as between the third and ninth hour, and this was commonly said, and is the truth as he beheves.
Ralph de Riddeford sworn and examined says that on Friday, the vigil of St. Andrew, 16 Edward iii., he came to the chamber of the said Henry in the abbey and found him sitting in his bed, being of
308 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
good and sound memoiy, who told the said Ralph that he would in a short time make him a rich man, for he would enfeoff him with John de Brynkhill, Robert de Yerdeburgh, and Adam Trewe of his manor of Cokeryngton, and he asked him to enfeoff the abbot of Louth Park and his successors for ever of the manor for the augmentation of divine worship in the abbey, but he asking leave of Henry went away immediately and was not present at the sealing of the deed of feoffment, but he came on the Sunday, in the morning, to the manor when several tenants freely attorned to him and the other feoffees, and he says again that Henry was of good memory up to the point of his death, which took place on that Sunday as between the third and sixth hour.
Robert de Yerdeburgh the younger, sworn and examined, says that on Thursday before St. Andrew, i6 Edward iii., he went to the abbey of Louth Park to have speech with Henry le Vavasour, whose steward at Cokeryngton he was, who was lying there sick, and with Constance, wife of the said Henry, whom he had met on the way, came to the chamber of Henry who said to him, ' Welcome, Robert,' and after speech between them he went away and came back on Friday in the morning, and Henry said to him, ' I have now disposed to enfeoff you, John de Brynkhill, Ralph de Riddeford and Adam Trewe of Alvyngham of my manor of Cokeryngton that you may enfeoff the abbot of Louth Park thereof, for the augmentation of the abbey by ten monks to celebrate divine service there for the souls of me and my wife and my ancestors and successors for ever. I will, however, that you grant to me and Constance, my wife, and Roger, our son, a rent of loo marks yearly for hfe, provided that after my death and the death of my wife, the said Roger shall have 20 marks yearly only for his Hfe, and in case of any of my heirs presume to dispute this my ordinance, I will make a quit-claim to John de Rithre, knight, and his heirs of all the lands which he holds of me for life, which you can sell to maintain a plea, and so my heirs shall lose both one and the other. And I will that the abbot make me an obhgation of £1000 to be paid if he do not fulfil this my will within two years. Wherefore I will that you go and order these things with the counsel of the abbot.' And Robert withdrew and did so. And afterwards, on St. Andrew, Henry, about the ninth hour, sitting in bed, caused to
APPENDIX A 309
be called before him the said John, Adam Trewe and Robert himself, \\dth several others, he being of good and sound memory, and caused the said deed to be read and a letter of attorney made to William Punchard, Wilham Dase and Ingelram de Tathewell for delivery of seisin of the manor in form aforesaid, and made him seal the deed and letter, the said Constance bringing a girdle with the seal of the said Henry, and the abbot sealed the obhgation of £1000 and Constance took it. And Henry made him, John de Brynkhill, and Adam swear to fulfil the promises faithfully, and charged them to be quick about it, Constance also asking the same, who going away took seisin of the manor by hvery of the attorneys long before sunset, and staying the night there, in the morning took the attornment of all the free tenants then appearing. And Robert returning to the abbey the same Sunday, at the sixth hour, found Henry dead, he having then died within the space of one hour {leiice) as Constance asserted.
Constance, late wife of Henry le \^avasour, sworn and examined, says that the doctor of the said Henry, Master Robert by name, coun- selled him to go to the abbey of Louth Park, because he would recover more quickly, and so freely on Wednesday before St. Andrew, 16 Edward iii., he had himself taken there in a covered iron cart ; but from the Thursday to the time of his death he was not in his right mind. She says also that she did not know that any deeds or charter had been made or sealed, except only that on the Saturday imme- diately after dinner in the presence of the said Henry as he sat in bed saying nothing but absolutely silent, some deeds were sealed with his seal ; what they were she knew not but she believed they were deeds made for her advantage, to wit that she should be enfeoffed of a moiety of the manor of Cokeryngton.
Asked whether she had any obligation of £1000 sealed by the abbot, she says she does not know. She says, however, that Henry died about sunrise on the Sunday.
Alice de Styrcheslay, sworn and examined, says that she was servant to Henry le Vavasour in his chamber, and when she was standing before the fireplace in the chamber of the abbey, sad on account of the sickness of her master, on Saturday, the feast of St. Andrew, 16 Edward iii., as the said Henry sat in his bed, clothed in a tunic, some deeds were written and read through before him, the abbot, several
310 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
of his monks, John de Brynkhill, Robert de Yerdeburgh the younger, the said Henry's steward in those parts, and several others standing by, brother Richard de Yerdeburgh heating at the fire by her the wax with which they sealed the deeds mth the seal of the said Henry, and Constance, his wife, supplying the girdle with the said seal to Robert de Yerdeburgh and understanding all that was being done if she would, but she herself did not hear Henry say anything, although he quite understood what was being done and could have spoken to them if he would. But Alice herself was not entirely attending to them and did not know what was in the deeds ; and about midnight she sought of Henry whether he would have the sacrament of extreme unction, and he besought Constance to ask the abbot for that and she did so. And Alice says that she sat by him from that time until he died, having her cheek against his cheek, and she says that he died on the Sunday following about sunrise, and that he was always of good memory and speaking plainly up to the point of death.
Adam Trewe of Alvyngham, sworn and examined, says that the abbot of Louth Park sent for him and he came to the abbey on the said Saturday, the feast of St. Andrew, about the ninth hour, and came into the chamber of Henry le Vavasour and talked with him, there being present John de Brynkhill, Robert de Yerdeburgh and several others, and Henry set before them his wish to augment divine service in the abbey (as above), and the said Henry made him swear to enfeoff the abbot of the said manor, sitting in his bed in some black clothes, and caused a charter to be read through before him and sealed, which testifies to the same, and he understood that charter, Constance, his wife, being then present. And he heard the said Henry charge William Dase, William Punchard, and Ingelram de Tathewell, whom he had appointed as his attorneys to deliver seisin, to be quick about the business, but to see that they did not deliver to the feoffees seisin of the mill, which he recovered from the prior of Alvyngham or lands arising by escheat, and Adam did not beheve that he was dying of that sickness. And Constance inquired of him his name, and when he said, ' Adam Trewe,' she added, ' May God will that you be according to the signification of your name,' and so he went away with the others, and came to Cokeryngton, and took seisin of the manor with the other feoffees before sunset, passing the night there, and he believes that
APPENDIX A 311
Henry lived until between the third and sixth hour of the Sunday following.
William Dase of Louth, sworn and examined, says that Henry le Vavasour had himself taken to the abbey, and that he came to the abbey on the said day of St. Andrew, and that the abbot showed him that the said Henry wished to augment the abbey by ten monks, of his liberality and for their support ordained to give them the manor of Cokeryngton ; that the same day before noon he came into the chamber of the said Henry, while the abbot and several of his monks were standing round his bed, and likewise Alice de Styrcheslay and two daughters of the said Henry, John de Brynkhill and Robert de Yerdeburgh standing there, and bending on his knee saluted him, who bade him rise or otherwise he would not talk with him, the said Henry sitting there clothed and of good memory, and instantly requiring him to go with William Punchard and Ingelram de Tathewell to Cokeryng- ton and deliver in his behalf seisin of the manor to John de Brynkhill, Ralph de Riddeford, Robert de Yerdeburgh and Adam Trewe ; and he asked of him where the deed and letter of attorney were, and Robert de Yerdeburgh took these out of a box and read them before the said Henry, and this done he on the verbal order of Henry went imme- diately to the manor and the same day delivered seisin thereof to John de Brynkhill, Robert de Yerdeburgh and Adam Trewe before sunset, and returned to the abbey still in daylight ; and he says that Henry lived until the third hour of the Sunday.
WilUam Punchard, sworn and examined, says that he came to the abbey on St. Andrew, 16 Edward iii., and dined there and imme- diately after dinner he and William Dase went into the chamber of the said Henry and saw him sitting in bed, clothed, and with William Dase, he bent his knee before him : the said Henry told him to rise, the abbot of Louth Park, Constance, wife of the said Henry, and John de Brynkhill standing by, and upon this came Robert de Yerdeburgh and took three deeds from a box and read them before Henry, then being of good and sound memory, and rendered thanks to him for having been his surety at Lincoln, and asked him to go with the others to Cockeryngton for hvery of seisin of the manor, etc. (as above). He says that he knows not at what time Henry died.
312 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Ingelram de Tathewell, sworn and examined, says that ' le Pledur- man ' came to him at his house, and told him to come and speak to the abbot of Louth Park, and he went to the abbey on the said day of St. Andrew, and so soon as he had dined Henry le Vavasour sent for him, and coming to his chamber he found there several standing round the bed, Henry sitting thereon, clothed, the latter required him to go at once with the others to make livery of seisin of the manor of Cokeryngton according to the form of the letters of attorney, and the said letters and deed of feoffment the said Robert read through there, Constance, the wife of Henry, hearing the same in English words, and Henry being of good memory, and both Constance and Henry often required them to fulfil the business quickly, and so he went and delivered seisin and returned to the abbey in clear daylight. And he says that he believes that Henry died about the third hour on the Sunday.
The abbot of Louth Park, sworn and examined, says that he being at the entry of the Bishop of Lincoln and returning to his abbey Henry le Vavasour sent for him, and he went to him at his manor of Cokeryng- ton, and he said to the abbot that he wished to show him his life. And when he had done this, he laid before the abbot that on account of the great affection which he had for the abbey, for the safety of his soul, he wished to increase the divine cult in the abbey by ten monks to celebrate divine service for the souls of him, his ancestors and successors, and his wife, and for the sustenance of the monks he ordained that two men on his part and two men on the abbot's part should be enfeoffed thereof, and should grant to him and Constance, his wife, who heard all this, and Roger, their son, loo marks yearly for life, and after their death the same Roger should have 20 marks yearly for life, and that afterwards the said men should enfeoff the abbot of the manor with the licence of the king and other chief lords. And he told the abbot that he wished to come to the abbey. And the abbot with- drew and sent a covered cart for him on Wednesday, before the said feast of St. Andrew : and when he got to the abbey Henry descending from the cart walked upon his feet to his chamber ; and the abbot withdrawing said that he would come at another time, and when Henry heard this he sent to him the said Constance, who told him to come back again that Henry might not be angered, and Henry Ukewise told
APPENDIX A 313
him to come because perhaps never would he take such a fish in his net ; and the abbot by command of the said Henry sent for his counsel, and between them they ordered a deed of feoffment and a letter of attorney and a writing obligatory of 100 marks. And the abbot made to Henry a bond of £1000, which the latter asked for as security that he would prosecute the ordinance aforesaid ; and on the Saturday directly after dinner, in the chamber of the said Henry, in the presence of the said Constance, Alice de Styrcheslay, John de Bryng- hill, Robert de Yerdeburgh, Adam Trewe, who with Ralph de Riddeford were to enfeoff him of the manor, and William Dase, Wilham Punchard and Ingelram de Tathewell, who were the attorneys to deliver seisin thereof, the deeds were read through and sealed, the said Constance bringing the seal of her husband for this, and he sitting in bed clothes and in good memory, and he required those named above to be quick about the business, and on their withdrawal Constance took the writing obligatory to herself ; and after midnight Alice came and knocked at the abbot's window, asking him to come and give Henry extreme unction, and he came and Henry received him reverently, talking with him in good memory, and when one of the monks gave him the said sacrament Henry gave Alice a colt in allow- ance of her promotion, and afterwards asked him whether John de Brynkhill and the others had taken seisin of the manor, and he said ' yes,' and Henry said to him, ' O abbot, now you have found me faithful according to my promises made to you and your abbey, for which I render thanks to God ' ; and he earnestly asked the abbot to pray for him, and so the abbot went away and returned in the morning about the first hour, and found Henry sitting in a chair between the curtain and the bed {in occuUis suis), the said Constance showing this to the abbot, and so the abbot withdrew and returned at the dinner hour to make Constance take dinner, who showed him that Henry was now dead.
John de Hotoft, fellow-monk of the abbot, sworn and examined, says that on the said day of St. Andrew, directly after dinner, he was present with the abbot in the chamber of Henry le Vavasour, and saw Henry sitting in bed, and heard him asking the bystanders that the deed of feoffment of the manor of Cokeryngton should be sealed, being John de Brynkhill and several others present: Richard de
314 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Yerdeburgh, one of the monks, heating the wax for sealing the deed at the fire, the said Henry being of good memory and talking rationally to those standing by, and Constance bringing the seal of the said Henry : and he says that he believes that Henry lived until the sixth hour of the Sunday following.
Richard de Yerdeburgh, fellow-monk of the abbot, sworn and examined, says that on the said Saturday, the feast of St. Andrew, directly after dinner he came with the abbot to the chamber of Henry le Vavasour, and saw him sitting in bed, clothed, and telhng Robert de Yerdeburgh to seal the deed of feoffment of the manor of Cokeryng- ton and the letter of attorney, with John de Brynkhill and several others standing by, and Constance, wife of the said Henry, holding out the seal for the purpose, and Henry required William Dase and his other attorneys to go at once and dehver seisin of the manor after the form of the deed read there, Constance hearing all this, and he says it was commonly reported in the abbey that Henry lived, always of sound mind, until the third hour of the Sunday following, when he died.
And to these full examinations the said Hugh de Hastynges and Richard de Aldeburgh have set to their seals.
APPENDIX B
(I) Writ to the Sheriff of ' Lyndessey ' to summon the knights of that county to the Great Council to be held at Westminster on the Wednesday next after the feast of the Ascension of the Lord, etc., etc. Tested by the king himself at Westminster 9th May, anno regni 17 (A.D. 1324).
The list (of about forty) contains the following names : Thomas de Wylughby, knight. Roger de Tyringham, knight. Richard Byron, knight. John de Yerdeburgh, knight.
(Bib. Cott. Claud C. 2, p. 45.)
APPENDIX B 315
(2) Ed. Rex, etc., etc., to the Sheriff of Lincolnshire.
Order to cause two knights of the county, two citizens of each city, and two burgesses of each borough, to be elected to attend our ParHa- ment to be held at Westminster, in the Octave of St. Martin's next ensuing.
Tested by the king himself at Westminster loth Oct. anno regni 19 (A.D. 1325). (C'rig- 19 Ed. II.)
(In dorso.) Responsum Reginald! de Donyngton. V.C. Lincoln. ' Manucaptores ' (Mainpernors) of Thomas de Wylughby, one of the knights elected for the county of Lincoki. John Pacok. Richard Walsh. ' Manucaptores ' of John de Yerdeburgh, the other knight elected for the county of Lincoln.
Robert de Maundeville (vile). Alan de Maundevile. ' Manucaptores ' of Alan de Hodelston, one of the citizens, elected for the city of Lincoln.
Robert de Hodelston of Lincoln. Adam de Kent of the same. ' Manucaptores ' of Andrew de Norton, the other citizen elected for the city of Lincoln.
(The rest of the Schedule unfortunately lost.)
(Orig. 19 Ed. II.)
(3) E. R. to the Sheriff of Lincolnshire.
Mandate to cause ' our beloved Thomas de Wylughby and John de Yerdeburgh, knights,' each of them to have for his expenses in coming to our said Parhament at Westminster, staying there, and returning thence ' ad propria,' four pounds for twenty days, to wit- to each four shilhngs per diem.
Tested by the king at Westminster, 5th Dec. 19, Edward 11.
(Close Rolls, 19 Ed. 11., m 19 d.) Said to have had his Writ ' de expensis.'
316 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
(4)
Johannes de Yerdeburgh, Member of Parliament for Grimsby Borough, 12 and 13 Edward iii. 1338-9.
WiLLiELMUS Yerdburgh, Member of Parliament for Grimsby Borough, 29 Henry vi. 1450.
Sir Thomas Yarburgh, Member of Parhament for Pontefract Borough, I James 11. and 1688.
Robert Armstrong Yerburgh, Member of Parliament for Chester, 1886-1906 and 1910 to the present day.
APPENDIX C
Amongst the names of the Chancellors of the Duchy and County Palatine of Lancaster from the first creation of the dukedom in 1351, which is given in Baines's History of Lancashire, I find the name of Sir John de Yerborough, knight, who was Chancellor i Richard 11. This John de Yerborough can hardly be the same man who is mentioned in Appendix B.
APPENDIX D
Sir Alfred S. Scott-Gatty, Garter King of Arms, writing to my brother, Mr. Robert Yerburgh, on the 29th February 1912, says :
' I enclose herewith a copy of a piece of evidence recently dis- covered. It is interesting inasmuch as it shows that Thomas Yerburgh of Alvingham, brother of your ancestor Richard, was chosen as feofee by John Whalley who married Ursula, daughter of Charles Yerburgh of Kelstern. Moreover, it seems to be in favour of my theory that Thomas Yerburgh and Ursula were first cousins, while John Yerburgh of Alvingham, nephew of the above Thomas, was a legatee under the will of Ursula Hall, the widow of John Whalley.'
APPENDIX D 317
ESCHEATORS ENROLLED ACCOUNTS. ROLL 83
33-4 Henry vin. New Escheats. The lands and tents of John Whalley.
[Latin.] One messe with buildings, 60 acres of land, 7 acres of meadow, 10 acres of pasture with appurts late in the tenure of Robert Whitt lying in the town and fields of Yerburgh afsd., also 4 tents, 4 cottages, 100 acres of arable land, 30 acres of meadow, and 20 acres of pasture with the appurts in Marne Willesby and Wodendby co. afsd., and I croft or close called Thorneclose with the appurts lying in Yarburgh afsd. of which sometime before the death of John Whalley, a certain WilHam Cawood of Louth, and Richard Whalley of Yarburgh were seised in their demesne as of fee to the use of sd. John Whalley and his heirs, and being so seised by their charter, dated 4 Nov. 25 Hen. vin. [1533], at the request of sd. John Whalley surrendered, dehvered and confirmed all sd. premises to Richard Yerburgh, son and heir apparent of Charles Yarburgh, Esq., Charles Yarburgh, son of sd. Richard Christofer Yarburgh, Edward Meers, John Newcomen, gent., John Cawood, and Wilham Whalley, son of sd. Richard Whalley to the use of sd. John Whalley and a certain Ursula Yerburgh, daughter of the sd. Charles Yerburgh, Esq., whom sd. John Whalley intended to marry (duceret in uxem) and the heirs of their bodies lawfully pro- created and for want of issue to remain to the right heirs of sd. John Whalley for ever. And being so seised sd. Richard Yerburgh died and sd. Charles Yerburgh, Edward Meers, John Newcomen, John Cawood, and William Whalley survived him and were seised of sd. premises as afsd. (etc.). And sd. land and tents and premises in Yarburgh above specified, were held of Charles, Duke of Suffolk, as of his soke of Gayton by fealty and suit of court twice a year and rent of 30S., and that the 4 tents, 4 cottages, 100 acres of land, 30 acres of meadow, 20 acres of pasture with appurts in Marne Willesby and Wodendesby were held of sd. Duke of Suffolk as of his manor of Marom by fealty and rent of 6s. per annum, also suit of court twice yearly as is contained in a certain inquisition held by virtue of a writ of the king, dated 31st Aug., 34 Hen. vin. (etc.), and sd. John Whaulley died 28th Jan., 33 Hen. viii. [1542], and Isabella Whalley is his daughter and next heir and aged at the time of the taking of sd. inquisition 5
3i8 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
years 6 months. Also of one messe lOO acres of arable land, 20 acres of meadow, 30 acres of pasture with appurts called le Strawngegarthez lying in the townes and fields of Yarburgh and Alvynham co. afsd. of which John Whalley some time before his death was seised in his demesne as of fee, and being so seised for certain good considerations, he by name of John Whalley, gent., gave, granted, and confirmed to Robert Wayde, clerk. Rector of Yarburgh, Thomas Yarburgh of Aldynham and John Hawkys of same the messe (and land) afsd. in tenure of Robert Skynn(er) situate in Yarburgh and Aldyngham afsd. to have and hold to the use of sd. Robert Thomas and John, that they should before the feast of Corpus Christi next, after the date of sd. charter, by their charter sufficient in the law, give and grant sd. messes and land to sd. John Whalley and Ursula, his wife, and the heirs of their bodies lawfully procreated and for default to the right heirs of sd. John Whalley for ever (etc.), and granted same by their charter dated 13th July, 33 Hen. viii. [1541] (etc.). Sd. premises in Yarburgh were held of sd. Dyke of Suffolk as afsd., and sd. messe and premises in Aldyngham were held of the king as of his manor of Aldyngham parcel of the lands and tents of the late monastery of Aldyngham by soccage, viz., by fealty and rent of 6/8 etc. And of one cottage, one garden, 6 acres of pasture with appurts lying in the towns and fields of Skitbroke and Marschapell, co. Lincoln, of which sd. John Whalley (for a certain sum of money paid by Ktopher Yarburgh) by name John Whalley of Yerburgh, co. Lincoln, gent., by his charts, dated 20th Sept., 30 Hen. viii., granted and confirmed to sd. Christopher Yerburgh sd. (premises) in Skitbroke and Marshechapel for the term of the life of sd. Christopher with remainder after his death to the right heirs of sd. John Whalley, and 6 acres of pasture in Skitbroke are held of the president or custodian of the College of St. Mary Magdalen, Oxford, as of his manor of Saltfietby by fealty rent 6d. and suit of court of the manor and sd. cottage and garden with the appurts in Marshchapell of Martin Hylyard, Esq.. as of his manor of Fulstow by fealty and suit of court of the manor twice a year (etc.).
(Other messes and lands mentioned but no further reference to the Yarburgh family.)
APPENDIX E 319
APPENDIX E
Will of John Whaulley of Yerburgh, Co. Lincoln, dated iith july 154i
[Partly modernised.] My body to be buried in the parish church of St. Peter of Yarbryghe before the chauncell door. To Sir Robert Waid parson of Yerburghe for tithes forgotten. To our mother church of Lincohi for repair of same 2od. To repair of the church of St. Peter in Yerburgh 6s. 8d., and of St. Nicholas of Dryby 4od., etc., to ringers, etc., godchildren and servants, etc. To the poor of Alvingham 3s. 4d. and of Althorpe 2od, and of Covenham 20s. To my brother Willm Whalley 2od., etc., the harness over and besides £5 bequeathed to me by my father of the £20 that Walter Fyshewyke, his master, had with him for his apprenticeship. To my cousyn Waulley of Louth 13s. 4d. To my cousyn Richarde Whaulley of Yerburghe 3s. 4d. To Charles Whalley of London 3s. 4d. To the sons and daughters of Robert Whalley and Willm Cawode, Richard Whalley of Yarburghe, Thomas Wlialley, Agnes Fyshewyke and M(ar)garete Mathewe each a yowe sheep or in money 2od. To Thomas Gray the boy I brought up for godsake one quye. I will that Izabell Whalley, my daughter, shal have my best fetherbedd, etc., and to remain in the hands of my brother, John Dyon, for use of sd. Izabell, my daughter, until her marriage. Residue of my goods to my wiie [not named] and after her decease to Izabell, my daughter. My wyffs brethen and sisters 3s. 4d. My exors. to buy a marble stone to lye upon my body and to cause the image of me, my wife, and our children to be graven and sett in wth a sup(er)scriptyon to pray for our souls. One payre of organs to the church of Yerbrughe, etc. Ursula, my wyffe, shall have all lands and tents in Marny Yerbrughe and Alvingham during her natural life, etc. Sir Edmund Tate to celebrate divine service in the parish church of Yarbrughe, etc., remainder to Izabell, my daughter, and heirs of her body, for default to Willm Whalley, my brother, and heirs of his body, for default then all my lands and tents in Assby next Spillesby to remain to John Whalley, son of Thomas Walley and heirs of his body and residue of my lands and tents to remain to John Dyon and Xpofor Yarbrughe, my brethen in lawe, and their heirs for ever to the
320 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
accomplishment of this my will, and if sd. John Whalley, son of Thomas Whalley, died without issue, then all my lands and tents afsd. in Asby shall remain to Robert Whalley of Louthe and his heirs for ever and make Ursula, my wife, Willm Whalley, my brother, and Robert Whalley of Louthe my exors. and my father-in-law, Charles Yarbrughe, and John Dyon, my sd. brother-in-law, supervisors.
Witnesses : John Dyon, Xpofer Yarbrughe, Sir Edmund Tate, IzabeU Toly, Margaret Dixson.
Proved 17th May 1542 at Lincoln by Ursula, the relict and exix power reserved to the two other exors. 1541-3 — 137-
Will of Ursula Hall of Yarburgh, Co. Lincoln, Widow, dated qth January 1574
]\Iy body to be buried in the church of Yarburgh beside my husband, Whawley. To George Yarburgh, son of Charles Yarburgh, one cople of steres. To Suzan Yarburgh, daughter of Brian, 20s. and a cow at her years of discretion. To every one of the sons and daughters of sd. Charles los. To Thomas Yarburgh, son of Crofer, 20s. To Elizabeth, daughter of Brian, a shepe. To Willm Darbie, Robert and Anne Darby every of them 20s. at the day of marriage or yeres of discretion. To Anne, wife of John Burghe the elder, 20s., and Ehzabeth, her sister, wife to David Masco, los. To Mrs. Burgh, my aunt, los. To Hagatha, daughter of sd. Mris Burgh, 20s. To Northes, wife of Louthe, another of her daughters, los. To Robt. Burges a quie of 2 years, etc. To Ursula Tall a quie. To Thomas Graie, my man, a stere. To Alice Swane a shepe. To Ursula Greisby, her daughter, a shepe. To Ursula Dame, my goddaughter, a yowe lamb. To John Yarburgh, son of Willm Yarburgh of Alvingham, a shepe. To her godson, Francys Johnson of Yarburghe, a shepe. To Elizabeth and Helene, daughters of Thomas Graie, each a shepe. To WiUm Frind, my godson, a shepe. To Elizabeth, wife of Crofer Mudde, a quie. To John Beswicke, servant to Robt. Ellis, 6s. 8d. when of age. To AHce, servant to Thomas Leacheman of Louthe, a yowe and lamb. To old Beswicke, wife of Louthe, widowe, a shepe. To the mother church of Lincoln I2d. To repair the church of Yarburgh I2d. To the pson there for tithes forgotten los. To the
APPENDIX E 321
poor of Yarburgh, and Alvingham bothe Cockerington, Cawthorpe and Cona [? Covenham] 20s. To every pore howshold in Yarburgh a peck of barley, etc. To my nephue Charles Yarburghes wife my best gowne. To my sister Dyon my best damaske kirtle. Residue of my goods to Willm Radley whom I make sole exor. I make John Dyon, Esq., and my nevy, Charles Yarburghe, supervisors and give to each 20s.
Witnesses : Charles Yarburgh, Thomas Radlaie, EHzabeth Yarburghe, Bridget Radley, Cicelie Coope, Margaret Rygald, John Jonson pson of Yarburgh, John Fotherbie, Thomas Hill, scriptor.
Proved at Lincoln 5th April 1575 by the exors. 1575 — i — 276.
Will of Willm Radley of Yarburgh, Co. Lincoln, Esqr., DATED 16 Jan., 12 Jas. i (1614-15)
My body to be buried in the south quiere of the church of Yarburgh. To Lincoln minister i2d. To the church of Yarburgh los. To the poor of Yarburgh 20s. and of Alvingham los. To Anne Radley, my wife, £200. To my daughter, Anne Radley, £500 to be paid her on the day of her marriage or one month after she attains the age of 18 years, etc., and if she dies before, then £200 thereof to my daughter Mussendine, to use of her children, viz. £100 to the use of her daughter, Anne Mussendine and £100 to the use of her two younger sons, William Mussendine and Edward Mussendine and another £200 to my daughter Elhs, to the use of her two daughters Jane and Anne Ellis, viz. to each £100. The other £100 to the first child of my son Henry Radley. To Anne Radley, my wife, for term of her Hfe all my lands and tents, meadows, etc., in Yarburgh and Alvingham afsd. not formerly assured to my son Henry or his wife with my dwelling-house and all manner of houses and edifices thereto appertaining and after her death to Henry Radley and his heirs for ever, etc. To my daughter Ehzabeth Mussendine £10 for a piece of plate, and to my daughter, Francis Ellis, £10 for a piece of plate. To Anne Mussendine, my grandchild, £100 at 18. To Willm Mussendine, my grandchild and godson, £100 to be paid into the hands of Wilhn Mussendine, his father, to be put forth for his use until he be 20 years of age. To Wilhn Ellis, my grandchild and godson, £100 at 18. To Francis Mussendine, my
X
322 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
grandchild, ;^io a year during his Hfe to be paid him yearly out of my lease and prebend of Caistor. To William Simcote, my godson, during his hfe £4 a year out of sd. prebend of Caistor if Henry Radley, Anne Radley, and Willm Mussendine so long hve. To Edward, Debora, and Richard Mussendine, my grandchildren, £40 apiece at age of 20 years. To Jane and Anne Ellis, my grandchildren, £50 apiece at 18. To my brother Simcotes an amblinge graye geldinge bred of a mare of Mr. Johnsons, parson of Yarbrough, or £10. To my brother Hayward a brace of old angells. To Sir Robert Paine my brother-in-law a double duckett and another to my Lady his wife. To my sister Hay- ward a brace of angells and my cosen Willm Wesselhead a brace of angells. To my brother Richard Smith a brace of angels if he overhve me and my nephew Robert Smith an angell. To Robert Bennet pson of Yarbrough a brace of angells. To Olive Yarburgh my god- daughter 5 marks. To my cosen John Yarburgh my servant during his hfe 40s. a year to be paid out of the prebend or psonage of Castor. To Elizabeth Yarburgh, daughter of John Yarburgh, 5 markes at day of her marriage. To Stephen Yarburgh my godson £5 to put him out an apprentice, and another £5 to Charles Yarburgh, son of John Yarburgh my cosen, to put him out an apprentice. To my daughter Mary Radley my silver tankerd. To my wife Anne Radley my lesser guilt salte and the mylne which her mother gave, etc., and the one half of all my household goods in my dweUing-houses, saving the brewing vessells and the lead which I give to my wife Anne Radley to use during her life and leave them ever hereafter for heir looms, etc. To my cosen John Newcominge an old angel. To my cosen Willm Yarburgh an old angel and to Charles Yarburgh of Louth an old angel. To every one of my servants 6s. 8d. Rest of my goods to my son Henry Radley, whom I make sole exor. Supervisors my son Willm Mussendine and my son George Elhs and to each £10.
Witnesses: Robt Bennett, Jhon Yarburge, Robert Thomson, Wilhn PannelL Proved at Lincoln 31st October 1615 by exor.
1615—275.
APPENDIX F 323
APPENDIX F
A GOOD many deeds relating to Alvingham and Cockerington were recently in the market. My brother, Mr. Robert Yerburgh, tried to purchase them, but the ' Rylands Library ' at Manchester had already purchased them. These deeds have been abstracted, and the follow- ing letter from Sir A. S. Scott-Gatty has been received : —
College of Arms, E.G., May i^th, 1912.
Yerburgh Pedigree
My dear Yerburgh,— I have at last received abstracts of the Alvingham deeds at Manchester, and am sending you the copy herewith.
You will notice that Thomas Yerburgh of Alvingham occurs repeatedly from 1530, when he is a co-trustee with Richard, son of Charles Yerburgh of Yerburgh, concerning lands in Alvingham, In the deed of 1546 he is described as gentleman, and in 1559 he is acquiring land from Ursula Hall, while in 1561 we find him pur- chasing land from Dorothy, wife of John Croftes of Cockerington, who was a sister and co-heir of Elizabeth Yarburgh and Ollive Horsarde, This is the most interesting deed of the batch, as there was probably a connection between Horsarde and Yarburgh, for we find Thomas Yarburgh acting as supervisor to the will of Richard Horsard of Alvingham, 1557, and William Yarburgh acted in a similar capacity for another Richard Horsard, also of Alvingham, 1582, while Richard Horsard was witness to the wills of Thomas Yarburgh and William Yarburgh his brother, 1557, which William was father of John Yerburgh of Alvingham in 1576, and was called cousin by Ursula Hall, the daughter of Charles Yarburgh, in 1575. Now the mother of Charles and wife of Richard Yarburgh was Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Moyne, and it is quite possible that this Elizabeth had two sisters, Olive Horsarde and Dorothy Croftes, and that they held land in their own right under their father's will, or a lease for lives.
324 SOME NOTES ON OUR FAMILY HISTORY
Should this be correct, it will account for many things, and among them for the cadency mark on the arms in the ^visitation, viz. : an annulet for the fifth son, which may come in this order : i. Charles; 2. Richard (your ancestor), named after the father; 3. William, after the grandfather ; 4. John ; 5. Thomas, possibly after Thomas Moyne, the maternal grandfather. In the light of this, the entries concerning William Yarburgh of Cockerington, 1490-7, probably refer to William Yarburgh of Yarburgh, the grandfather of Charles, and the sale of land there in 1535 was doubtless by William Yarburgh of Alvingham. I am now hoping to obtain further indirect details which will establish this theory, as it is just where we have expected the connection to come in. — Yours sincerely,
A. S. Scott-Gatty, Garter.
Printed by T. and A. Constable, Printers to His Majesty at the Edinburgh University Press
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