Thomas Graham of Ayton Hall

Ayton Hall stands near the River Leven in the large picturesque village of Great Ayton.  At the end of the 18th century it was the home of the Wilson family; Captain James Cook and his wife stayed there as the guests of Commodore William Wilson in 1771.

Some decades later, the occupants were Thomas Graham and his family.  He was living in Great Ayton by 1811 and was at the Hall for the censuses of 1840, 1850 and 1860.

Thomas was born in Cumberland in about 1777.  He was the son of Thomas and Ann Graham of Knockupworth House near Carlisle (which I assume is the building now called Knockupworth Hall)

In 1805, Thomas's elder brother Monkhouse Graham died, some weeks after making his Will.  He was probably in his late thirties and left neither wife nor child.  His beneficiaries were his mother Ann and his siblings Thomas, Letitia, Mary and Margaret.  They shared the money he had made as a merchant in Liverpool and the property he had bought in Tarraby in the parish of Stanwix, just north of Carlisle.

First page of copy Will of Monkhouse Graham

Last page of copy Will of Monkhouse Graham

Summary of the terms of Monkhouse Graham's Will, made 7 June 1805

Legacies:
to Mrs Mary Hayes, wife of Mr Thomas Hayes of Liverpool, merchant – £21 for a mourning ring
to Miss Margaret Momsey [Mounsey?] of Carlisle – £10.0s. for a mourning ring
to Mrs Newton, wife of Mr Samuel Newton of Liverpool, merchant, and to her sister Miss Ann Roper – £10.10s apiece for mourning rings
to Miss Grace Carruthers of Carlisle – £50
to Mrs Claxton of Burton in the County of Westmoreland – £50
to Mrs Sarah Whittle of Liverpool, widow – £100
to Mary Hayes, Ann Hayes and Thomas Hayes [children of Thomas and Mary Hayes of Liverpool] – £100 apiece
to my servant William Criddle – £30
to the Treasurer & Trustees of the Blue Coat Hospital in Liverpool – £200
to the Treasurer of the Infirmary in Liverpool – £50
to the Treasurer of the Society who call themselves the Trustees of the School of Industry for the Indigent – £50
to the Rector of Stanwix in the County of Cumberland and his successors – £100 in trust that on every 24 December he lay out the interest to purchase Bread to distribute "amongst such sober honest and industrious poor housekeepers or labouring individuals without distinction of Communion" residing in the parish

All my freehold estate in Tarraby in the County of Cumberland to my mother Ann Graham for life – and then to my sister Margaret for life – and then to my brother Thomas Graham his heirs & assigns for ever

That part of a messuage or dwellinghouse & premises belonging to me in Bickergate in Carlisle now used as three dwellinghouses to my mother for life & then to my brother Thomas Graham his heirs & assigns for ever

Executors – Thomas Hayes the father, Samuel Newton and my uncle Robert Bell of Carlisle grocer – to hold £8,000 on the following trusts:

As to £3,000: to pay the yearly interest to my mother for her life.  After her death the interest on £2,000 of the amount to be paid to my sister Margaret for her life.
After Margaret's death, the £2,000 to be shared by any lawful issue she may leave, and failing such issue to my brother Thomas.
After my mother's death, the remaining £1,000 to be paid to my nephew Monkhouse Graham Taylor, the son of my sister Letitia if he reaches the age of 24.  If he dies without issue before that age, to my brother Thomas.

As to £2,000: to pay the yearly interest to my sister Letitia, wife of Joseph Taylor of Newcastle upon Tyne for her life and "it is my will and mind and I do hereby direct that the said Joseph Taylor shall not intermeddle with the said yearly interest" which is to be "paid into her own Proper hands and shall be for her own sole and separate use and benefit and shall not be liable or subject to the debts management control or engagements of the said Joseph Taylor".
After her death, the sum is to be paid "as my said sister Letitia by her self alone and notwithstanding her coverture" shall by her Will or any writing in the nature of a Will shall appoint.  In the absence of such direction, then amongst her surviving issue.

As to £2,000: to pay the yearly interest to my sister Mary, wife of John Spotswood for her life (on the same terms as the legacy to Letitia).

As to £1,000: to pay the yearly interest to my uncle Robert Bell, and after his death the sum to be paid to my brother Thomas.

As to £1,000: to my brother Thomas

The executors to hold £320 "which sum is now owing to me from the said Robert Bell and is secured to me by a mortgage of premises in Tarraby from him to me" upon trust to pay to my mother the interest for life, and after her death to pay the £320 to my brother Thomas.

As to all the rest residue and remainder of my estate whether real or personal to my brother Thomas Graham.

Witnesses: Thomas Avison, attorney, Liverpool; John Harrison and William Tate, his clerks

Monkhouse Graham died in August:

Lancaster Gazette: 17 August 1805: Deaths
On Monday last, Mr Monkhouse Graham, of Liverpool, merchant

The beneficiaries of the Will

His sister Mary Spotswood died at the age of 58 in 1828: 

Newcastle Courant: 30 August 1828: Deaths
On the 21st inst at Swinburne-Place, near this town, Mrs Spotswood, aged 58, daughter of the late Thos. Graham, Esq. Knockupworth House, Cumberland

She had married John Spotswood on 22 August 1793 at St Andrew's, Newcastle.  Her son Monkhouse Graham Spotswood married Sarah Ann Tunstall of Leeds in 1831.  He was a mercer and draper, at one time in business in Darlington, but unfortunately went bankrupt only three years after his marriage.

Letitia Taylor's son Monkhouse Graham Taylor, who was to receive £1,000 after his grandmother's death, became an army officer and died in 1860. 

A few months after her brother's death Margaret Graham married James Maguire on 17 Dec 1805 at Stanwix.  Her daughter Mary Ann Maguire was baptised at Stanwix on 24 March 1811 and her son John Monkhouse Maguire on 5 December 1815 [familysearch.org].

By this time Thomas Graham must have been settled in Cleveland, as his son Bradshaw Brougham Graham was baptised in Great Ayton on 8 October 1811. 

Bradshaw remained in Cleveland, first as a farmer and then (according to the 1871 and 1881 censuses) as a solicitor.  The 1851 census shows that one of his daughters was born in Upper Canada, while her younger brother, two years her junior, was born in Hemlington.  Bradshaw was not Thomas's only child: the 1851 census shows his son James Clark Graham, unmarried at the age of 44, was also at the Hall, and the newspapers record the marriages of two other children:

Yorkshire Gazette: 26 September 1835
On Monday, the 21st inst., at Ayton church, Rivers Maingay, Esq., First Royal Lancashire Militia, youngest son of the late Colonel Maingay, Guernsey Militia, formerly of the 62d Regiment, to Emma Louisa, daughter of Thomas Graham, Esq., of Ayton Hall, in this county

(A son and heir was born to Rivers and Emma at Ayton Hall the following year.)

and

Leeds Intelligencer: 25 November 1837 Marriages
Nov 18 at St Mary the Less, Durham, by the Rev J Raine, Rector, Monkhouse Graham, Esq., of Ayton Hall, Cleveland, to Anne, fourth daughter of the late Geo Cuff, Esq., of Middleton Hall, in this county

Thomas married twice.  After the death of his wife Eliza between the censuses of 1851 and 1861, he married Mary, who was born in Carlisle and was 47 years his junior.

Margaret Graham, her "wild" son John Maguire & her daughter Mary Ann

Monkhouse Graham's sister Mrs Margaret Maguire was buried on 13 June 1850 at Stanwix.  The money she had inherited from her brother was now to be divided amongst her children.  Her daughter Mary Ann wrote to her uncle Thomas in Great Ayton:

Tarraby
November 5th 1850
Dear Uncle,
You may perhaps have received information before now who are the two gentlemen that I have chose to be trustees if not I now inform you it is George Saul Esq of Brunstock Hall and Herbert Nanson Esq of Carlisle banker –
With regard to my unworthy brother you perhaps not credit me but I can hardly give you his address as I never corresponded with him after his wild conduct until after my mothers death when I had to apply to the master gunner at the castle who corresponds occasionally with him but as near as I can recollect it is Sergeant John Maguire, Royal Artillery, Kingston, North America.
I have now given you all the information about him that I am possessed of –
my love to my Aunt who I hope is quite well and best wishes for you both in which my husband unites
I am yours truly
M A Forster

We don't know whether Thomas Graham was able to make contact with his "unworthy" nephew John, nor whether John had put his "wild conduct" behind him!

George Saul was a solicitor in Carlisle. [Cumbria Record Office: " The Brunstock House estate was created by George Saul, solicitor, of Carlisle in the late 1820s, when he built his mansion and laid out his park."]

 

Tarraby

Augst 20th 1851
Dear Uncle
I have defered writing in hopes that I should have been able to say that all was settled however that is not the case yet –
It is five weeks this day since the administration took place and I have heard nothing more than that they had received them in London –
I called upon Mr Saul who informed me that he would make a settlement and also give Mr Nanson notice respecting the release but I think they seem very slow in their proceedings
Will you please be so kind as write to Mr Nanson about the business –
I have endeavoured as much as possible to keep myself easy and to profit by the good advice you were so kind as to give me but still things being in a precarious situation it very often frets me into a state of nervous excitement
Please let me know if you have had any communication from Mr Nanson –
I am truly sorry to hear of my Aunts illness but hope in a little time to have the pleasure of knowing that she is better –
with my love to my Aunt and best wishes for the health and happiness of both of you
I remain your affectionate Niece
M A Forster

Tarraby
Aug 22nd 1851
Dear Uncle
I must beg to apologise for what might seem negligence in not mentioning that the repairs are completed except a little of the painting which could not be done on account of the damp weather –
With regard to Mr Head the architect I have never heard anything from him which I thought I should have done ere now – but as soon as I know what his charge is he will be paid – I hope you will never find me act contrary to my words as I dislike duplicity in every shape –
I am much obliged by your goodness in writing to Mr Nanson as they seem so very slow in their business
I am sorry to give you so much trouble but you kindly gave me the liberty of writing to you when ever I was in any difficulty and which I consider a very great privilege – you are the only friend in whom I can place any confidence and in fact the only one possessed of influence to assist me in my present state
my love to my Aunt hoping she is better and with best wishes for the health and happiness of you both
I am your affectionate Niece
M A Forster

Thomas Graham seems to have taken the appropriate action:

London
10 October 1851
Thomas Graham Esq
Sir
We are favoured with your letter of yesterday – of the £1052.1.0. 3 ½ % stock, the £51.1.0. alone stands in your name; the original £1000 stock standing in the name of the late Mr Samuel Newton as well as your own, as owing to his death, the addition could not be made to the old accounts.
Two powers of attorney will therefore be necessary to carry out your instructions.  These are now enclosed and when you return them we shall affect the transfer and sale as you desire.
We are Sir
Your obedient Servants
James Capel Newbury Trotter

For more on Ayton Hall, see here.