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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.
THE GLEDHILLS
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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
h YiiM tl -b
• Pc-i ,rt'virj.!'ii,'
PEDIGREE OF
gh, yarbrougi
kelsnthorpe, in T
)F YORK; AND d
RBURGH, lord of the manor of Yarbo
RT DE YaRBURGH, 5 HcD. I. =. . . ,
I
DE Yarburgh, 2 King Stephen =
I
Yarburgh, Knt., 9 Edw. 11. = Ursi
lrburgh, living temp. King Stephen
Robert de Yarburgh = . . ., dau
William Yarbur
ho flourished in the reign of Richarc
ghter of Sir John Ewerby, Knt., by
William Yarburgh = . . ., daugl
I
ors of Yarburgh = Joan, daughter
I in the femal
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
