The Atkinsons of Scaling Dam in the 17th & 18th centuries

This is the sort of thing that one always hopes for – in 2013 I posted the Whaling Journal 1774 of Thomas Atkinson of Kirkleatham and articles about the Atkinson family of Scaling Dam.  And recently I was contacted by Stella Richmond Sterry, a descendant of Thomas's sister Jane Galilee (as I am myself) – but she has the family Bible!

And so, armed with all that lovely information, I've been able to do more research on the family.  I hope it's (a) of interest and (b) of use to people who are trying to disentangle their own Cleveland Atkinsons.  

An extra bonus for me is that I get to go back again to the Civil Wars, which I left reluctantly after finishing work on Alice Wandesford in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms 

………

The young Thomas Atkinson who took the whaling voyage in 1774 (you can find it here) was the eldest son of Thomas Atkinson (1722-92), Master of Sir William Turner's Hospital at Kirkleatham.

In 1788, towards the end of his life, Thomas Atkinson senior repaired his father's family Bible, which had been damaged after his father's death in 1755.  And in it, very wisely, he left a written record which he entitled "From Oral Tradition".  He began with the story of his great-grandfather Atkinson, who was a soldier in the Parliamentarian Army during the Civil Wars – the Wars of the Three Kingdoms – and who lived afterwards at Scaling Dam.

Scaling Dam was (and is) a hamlet more or less half way along the moors road between Guisborough and Whitby.  Then, the North Riding of Yorkshire was thinly populated and the moors were wide and empty.  The antiquarian Ralph Thoresby, F.R.S., (1658-1725) took the moors road in November 1682 and didn't like it at all, recording in his diary that he travelled "over the rotten Moors for many miles without anything observable."

O.S. map 1888-1913

CC-BY-NC-SA National Library of Scotland

The hamlet's name doesn't come from the reservoir which was built there in the 1950s – it appears, for example, as Skallingdam in the 1675 map of John Ogilby.  I suspect the hamlet was given its name to show it was a sort of outpost of the village of Scaling but near the dam – the Dam Bridge can be seen on the map above.  It was, of course, a very practical place for a settlement, being on the moors road at the junction with the road to Staithes.  It isn't surprising to see that the 1888-1913 map shows both a pub and a smithy, both of which must have been there for very many years.  Both Scaling and Scaling Dam were in the parish of Easington in Cleveland.

Atkinson the Parliamentarian Soldier

The family didn't remember the Soldier's Christian name, but knew that he had been at the battles of Marston Moor (1644), Naseby (1645), Preston (1648) and Dunbar (1650).  The fact that Marston Moor seems to be his first major battle suggests the Soldier was a Northerner, and the fact that he spent the rest of his life in Scaling Dam seems to me to show that he was almost certainly an East Cleveland man.  It's hard to think an outsider would find his way to Scaling Dam in the middle of the 17th century.

The Soldier used to talk of the battle of Dunbar, Oliver Cromwell's miracle victory.  The histories say that when the right wing of Scottish cavalry broke under the English attack, Oliver Cromwell and General Lambert didn't allow the English troopers to go in pursuit and, as the troopers regrouped, they sang the 117th Psalm

O praise the Lord, all ye nations:
praise him, all ye people.
For his merciful kindness is great toward us:
and the truth of the Lord endureth for ever.

When the Soldier looked back on the battle, Thomas wrote, he used to say of the singing

their Notes were more pleasing to Him who is the Giver of all Victory than the Clashing of Swords and roaring of Canon.  

The Soldier was very probably a member of one of Cleveland’s Trained Bands, the local militias made up of householders and their sons, who were obliged to turn out when summoned for training and action.  The ability to read and write was spreading fast among the common people at this time, but the sort of family that was liable for Trained Band service would certainly produce a literate man like the Soldier, whose constant reading of Scripture led him to have, as Thomas wrote, "the Bible and Testament almost by Heart".

Soldier Atkinson was in the minority in the North Riding of Yorkshire, which was almost entirely Royalist in sympathy – though many, if not most, people didn't want to choose a side at all and simply wanted to be left in peace.  The North Riding gentlemen who supported Parliament had a difficult time raising troops and the troops, when assembled, weren't keen.  Sir Henry Foulis reported that a Cleveland foot regiment that had mustered 500 men at Yarm had rapidly dwindled to 80 at the approach of the enemy.  (see War in Yorkshire: 1642-1643)

Parliamentarian gentry included the Foulis brothers, whose father Sir David Foulis had been put in the Fleet Prison for several years because he opposed the King’s man, Sir Thomas Wentworth (the story can be found here) but their family estates were at Ingleby on the western escarpment of the moors.

A Parliamentarian gentleman from the close neighbourhood of Scaling Dam was Nicholas Conyers.  In fact he came from the parish of Easington itself, being the son of Nicholas Conyers of Boulby, and, like Soldier Atkinson, he was at Marston Moor.  Two of his brothers died fighting for the King.

Nicholas Conyers was in the Scarborough garrison under Sir Hugh Cholmley of Whitby when Cholmley changed sides and took the town over to the Royalists in 1643.

Cholmley first made sure that anybody wanting to leave Scarborough before it became Royalist had left the town.  Many did, including Nicholas Conyers.  If Soldier Atkinson was there with Sir Hugh's forces, he too will have left for the Parliamentarian garrison at Hull.

Atkinson the Soldier was clearly one of the Godly – a Puritan – and committed to Parliament's cause.  This makes him an interesting figure in the overwhelmingly Royalist North Riding.  Perhaps there were many more like him among the ordinary men of Cleveland, but we only know about the gentry and we don't know how many of the Soldier's neighbours and relatives shared his views.  And we don't know what his views were – how ardent a Puritan he was, how radical a Parliamentarian.

Thomas describes the Soldier as a subaltern.  I've checked with Phil Philo (do not miss his new blog Of Things Trent-North) and this was not a term used at the time.  I think all we can say for definite is that his family remembered that he had men under him.  So he could have been a junior officer, or a sergeant or a corporal.  Nor do we know if he fought in the foot or the cavalry.

Pikemen.  Photo by John Beardsworth

In the same way, Thomas thought that he lived to a very great age "being near a hundred before he died".  This isn't any help in identifying him, as the Easington parish registers for the time are fragmentary and don't record the age anyway.  But we can certainly say that he was notable in the area, with his past history of bloody and brutal warfare, his command of the Bible and his great age.  

After the fighting stopped, everyone must have had to learn to live together and mend the divisions within families and neighbourhoods.  It can't have been easy after so many deaths and so much destruction. 

We don't know how the Soldier made his living before and after the wars, but we can guess that if his father was a farmer then he wasn't the eldest son, because then he would have been needed on the land.  So he would have had a trade.  At some point the Soldier married and had at least one son, whose name was John, who was "brought up to the business of a Tanner", so perhaps the Soldier was a tanner himself.  

Tanning was a vital industry at this time, with leather necessary for so many things, from boots, shoes and gloves to horse collars, and Scaling Dam was a good place for the tanning process, with water from the Dam Beck nearby.  Tanning was done in pits lined with timber.  The bark of young coppiced oaks was used, or lime, and the process took time, hard manual labour and skill.  Most villages had a leather worker and they were to be found in much larger numbers in towns.  Tanners often farmed on the side.

5. War in Yorkshire: 1642-1643

In Chester, the Wandesfords found a welcome and were treated with kindness and friendship by the gentry families.  Within the strong walls of a city well-stocked with muskets, garrisoned by Royalist troops and with armed watchmen night and day guarding the gates, Mrs Wandesford must have felt she had reached a safe haven for her family and especially for her convalescent daughter and troubled son Christopher.  Refugees like themselves from Ireland were coming into the city, and lawlessness in Cheshire was driving people there, but Sir Thomas Danby was able to relieve her of the care of her grandsons and her twenty-year-old son George was safely in France with his tutor.  

She had many anxieties to deal with.  Besides the health of Alice and Christopher, there were matters from her husband's estates in an increasingly chaotic Ireland to settle, and she was short of money because rents from Yorkshire weren't arriving.  She didn't like to accept the offers of help from friends in Chester, but she had the invaluable support of her brother Sir Edward Osborne.  

Sir Edward Osborne (1596-1647)

He, poor man, had never recovered from the death of his eldest boy Edward in 1638.  Sir Edward had taken the place of Strafford as President of the Council of the North and was living at York Manor in York, the official residence, at the time.  A violent storm brought down a chimneystack which crashed through the roof, killing 17 year old Edward and sparing 6 year old Thomas only because, when the disaster happened, he was looking under a table for his pet cat.  Now Sir Edward was busy as a Commissioner of Array for the King, charged with mustering troops.

York Manor (now King's Manor).  [Tim Green CC by 2.0]

Outside Chester the situation was bad.  

The Wandesfords knew that Scottish troops were no longer in easy reach of their Yorkshire estates – they had left England in August – but now dreadful news kept coming in from Ireland of cruelties and massacres.  Even more appalling versions of the same news, of much larger numbers of Protestants dead, of rapes and tortures and murdered babies, came from the London printers and propagandists.  Anglicans like the Wandesfords were shocked to hear of the desecration of the cathedrals of Winchester and Chichester by Parliamentary troops who smashed the stained glass and the memorials.  Alice shared the opinions of everyone she knew – the King's Scottish and English opponents were men who had wantonly tired of a lawful and peaceable government, the Irish nakedly thirsted after the blood and lives of the English, the religious grievances of the Calvinists and Catholics were nothing but pretence, and the Earl of Strafford was a martyr.  

Yorkshire and the Battle of Piercebridge: 1642

Beyond the walls of Chester – and even within the walls – conflicting loyalties were dividing families, towns and villages.  

London grew too dangerous for the King and he set up his Court in York on 19 March 1642.  The city found itself the capital of the kingdom for six months, housing foreign ambassadors, nobles, the important men of state and a committee sent by Parliament to keep an eye on the King.  

Rival Puritan and Royalist groups fought each other in the streets.  Terrifying stories of massacres in Ireland began to reach Yorkshire and wild fears of Catholic Irish invasion took root.  Having two Catholic priests executed – the head of Father Lockwood, aged nearly 90, was put on Bootham Bar, and the head of young Edmund Catterick of Carlton near Richmond, on Micklegate Bar – couldn't convince doubters that Protestantism was safe in the King's hands.  And it was no use the King decreeing that no Catholics could join his army – at the muster, anyone could see that nearly half the Royalist colonels were Catholic.  Recruitment for Parliament surged among the lower classes in the West Riding.  As time passed and the hope of finding an agreement between the two sides faded, the city authorities began to strengthen York's defences.  

On 22 August 1642, the King marched southward and raised his standard at Nottingham Castle.  He was now at war with Parliament.  

On 23 September, the Wandesfords will have seen the King being enthusiastically welcomed into Chester with great civic ceremony.  He was there because it was an important strategic stronghold, the main port for Ireland and the gateway to Royalist North Wales and he spent a few nights in the city, reviewing the troops of his supporters, before moving on to Wrexham.  A month later, his forces and the Parliamentarians met in battle for the first time.  It was at Edgehill, a dozen miles south-east of Stratford-upon-Avon, and both sides claimed victory.

And what about Yorkshire, where Alice's sister Catherine must now have been in great anxiety for her husband, who had gone to join the King's army?

Hull was held for Parliament by Sir John Hotham and Scarborough by the Whitby landowner Sir Hugh Cholmley, and the independently-minded weavers and small farmers of the West Riding were mostly Puritans, but the North Riding was for the King and the few Parliamentarians there had a poor time of it.  They included men like the Earl of Mulgrave, the three sons of Sir David Foulis of Ingleby – their father had spent seven years in prison because of Strafford – and their cousins Thomas and James Chaloner of Guisborough.  The Robinsons of Rokeby near Greta Bridge were ardent Parliamentarians.  John Dodsworth of Thornton Watlass, a kinsman of the Wandesfords, was raising a company of dragoons for Parliament.

Parliamentarian captains met at Bedale in October 1642.  They tried to organise the Trained Bands and they held a public meeting in Richmond to raise funds.  But the fund-raising wasn't very successful and the Trained Bands weren't at all keen.  Very many people wanted to keep out of this argument and in some places communities made neutrality pacts with each other.  Before long, force and threats were being used to get recruits.  Hugh Cholmley of Tunstall near Catterick first tricked his neighbours into mustering for his son's troop of Royalist horse and then forced them to stay in the troop, threatening he would have them hanged and their houses burned if they didn't.

Both King and Parliament needed control of the crossing places on the River Tees.  The Royalists were bringing in supplies of arms from the Continent into the River Tyne.  They were needed for York, which was threatened from the west and from the Parliamentarian ports of Hull and Scarborough to the east.

William Cavendish, Marquess of Newcastle, was the Royalist commander-in-chief in the North East.  His army of about 2,000 horse and dragoons, together with 4,000 foot soldiers and ten pieces of cannonry reached the narrow mediaeval bridge at Piercebridge on 1 December 1642.  On the other bank of the Tees was Captain John Hotham with about 120 horse, 400 foot and two small cannons.  

William Cavendish, Marquess of Newcastle

An advance guard of Royalist dragoons and foot under 36 year old Colonel Sir Thomas Howard forced its way onto the bridge and fierce fighting followed.  Finally unable to hold the bridge, Hotham withdrew his men towards Knaresborough with, he said, only three wounded.  The attackers will have suffered more in their onslaught on the bridge and their leader Sir Thomas Howard was killed.  He was buried the next day at High Coniscliffe while the Marquess of Newcastle and his forces marched on to York.   

Battles at Guisborough and Yarm: 1643

The loss of Piercebridge and the arrival in York of the supplies was an enormous blow to the Parliamentarian gentry of the North Riding.  Their goods and estates were confiscated and they couldn't help their friends in the West Riding because the men of the Trained Bands, who had turned up so reluctantly, simply melted away.  Sir Henry Foulis of Ingleby reported that a Cleveland foot regiment that had mustered 500 men at Yarm had rapidly dwindled to 80 at the approach of the enemy.  

Meanwhile, someone the Wandesfords had known in Dublin had returned home to his estates at Hemlington, just south of the Tees.  This was 32 year old Guilford Slingsby, who had been Strafford's loyal secretary to the end and who had since been secretary to the young Prince of Wales in Holland.  

Slingsby had no military experience himself, so he had brought back with him a few mercenaries to train the troops he intended to raise for the King.  They were needed to protect the arms convoys crossing the Tees and to threaten the Parliamentarians in Scarborough.

Sir Hugh Cholmley in Scarborough learned that his distant kinsman Slingsby had orders from the Marquess of Newcastle to occupy Whitby – which was his own territory, where he had his great house beside the ruins of the ancient Abbey.  Picking up two troops of dragoons in Malton, he took his men on the hard, wintry march across the moors towards Guisborough.  He had with him 80 horse, 170 dragoons and 130 foot – some 380 men in all.

On 16 January 1643, Cholmley's men came down from the moors.  Slingsby's forces – some 100 horse and 400 foot, mostly raw recruits – were so confident that they came about a mile out of Guisborough to meet the Parliamentary troops and they placed their musketeers under the hedges in positions of advantage.  They were able to hold their ground for a couple of hours but they were gradually forced back and defeated.  Slingsby, badly wounded by artillery fire, was taken prisoner.  The surgeons tried to save him, amputating both his legs above the knee, but he died three days later.  He was buried in York Minster.  

When Sir Hugh Cholmley, who had moderate religious views and was becoming ever more unhappy with his choice of allegiance, reported the battle to Parliament, he wrote

I am forced to draw my sword not only against my countrymen but many near friends and allies some of which I know both to be well affected in religion and lovers of their liberties.

He withdrew his men to Scarborough, and he ordered 400 foot, 150 horse and two cannons to Yarm to hold the narrow bridge over the Tees.  

A few weeks later, a very large convoy of 120 wagons and 140 packhorses, guarded by perhaps 2,000 men, was on its way south to the Marquess of Newcastle.  The Parliamentary forces at the bridge had no chance.  On 1 February 1643 the Royalists fell on them and in a very brief time most of them were taken.  The Battle of Yarm was soon over.  The prisoners were taken to Durham Castle, where they were badly treated.  The Royalist convoy left engineers at Yarm to stop future Parliamentarian attempts on the bridge – they broke down its northern arch and put a wooden drawbridge in its place.  

Within weeks, Sir Hugh Cholmley had changed sides.  The King now held Scarborough.  On 30 June, the Marquess of Newcastle won a victory at the Battle of Adwalton Moor, five miles from Bradford.  The North was now almost completely Royalist.

6. Chester: smallpox, siege and travelling home: 1643 

Celebrations of the tenantry in Ingleby Greenhow, 23 April 1850

York Herald, 27 April 1850

REJOICINGS AT INGLEBY GREENHOW

It was a day of gaiety and festivity long to be remembered at Ingleby Manor, on Tuesday last, the 23rd inst., in celebration of the marriage of Miss Foulis, of Ingleby Manor, to the Hon. Mr Phillip Sidney, only son of Lord de Lisle, of Penshurst, in Kent, which took place in London on that day.  

At two o'clock in the afternoon, in a commodious rustic tent, beautifully fitted up and festooned with evergreens and bloom [sic], about seventy gentlemen, including the tenant farmers on the estates, sat down to a substantial dinner with fine brown October and punch, served up in first-rate style by Widow Hunt, of the Village Inn.  John Peirson, Esq., of Thornton Fields, presided, supported on the left by John H Handyside, Esq., of Stokesley, on the right, by Thomas Garbutt, Esq., of Yarm; the vice-chair being occupied by Mr Henry Chapman of Hutton Rudby.  

Tea was provided at the Village Inn, for the wives and daughters of the tenantry, which was most tastefully set out, and the room chastely ornamented with wreaths of evergreens flowers, and orange blossom, a huge bride's cake taking command in the centre of the table.  Afterwards a ball took place, which was kept up with great spirit.  

It must not be omitted that a fatted ox was slaughtered, and an ample supply of beef given to every poor family in the villages of Ingleby and Battersby so that the aged and infirm, as well as the young and healthy, might each and all rejoice on this auspicious event.

Widow Hunt of the Village Inn was Mrs Mary Hunt, then aged 52.  In the census of 1851 she stated that she was born in Hutton, and I think this means Hutton Rudby.  She will have been assisted by her daughter Mary, aged 22.  She also had a 15 year old son, John.

John Peirson was a land agent; Thornton Fields farm is off the Redcar Road, near Guisborough.  

John Hepburn Handyside was a surgeon in Stokesley; he married Hannah Coates, daughter of the solicitor James Coates in Stokesley in 1845.

Thomas Garbutt was a Yarm solicitor.

Mr Henry Chapman of Hutton Rudby was a farmer and land agent.  The family farmed in Enterpen for many years.

Hutton Rudby had a couple of other links with this story besides Henry Chapman.  

Firstly, the Foulis family owned land in the Sexhow area and, secondly, Lucius Cary of the Falkland family, owners for a time of the Rudby and Skutterskelfe estates, was buried at the groom's family estate of Penshurst in 1871.  Lucius was the only child of Lucius Cary and Amelia Fitzclarence, daughter of William IV.  Amelia is commemorated by a tablet in Hutton Rudby church, (for details, see The People behind the Plaques.)

The Yarm Minstrel Troupe performs at Hutton Rudby, 1894

This seems a very male entertainment and I harbour dark suspicions of the piece entitled Woman's Rights:

Darlington & Stockton Times, Ripon & Richmond Chronicle, 3 February 1894

HUTTON RUDBY 

On Friday night the members of the Yarm Minstrel Troupe gave a highly successful entertainment in the Board Schoolroom, Hutton Rudby, under the distinguished patronage of Messrs G. Y. Blair, J.P., A. Bowes Wilson, J.P., P.A. Blair, and other gentlemen.  

The room was crowded by a large and appreciative audience.  The first part of the programme consisted of a comic operata, The Two Frauds, performed by Messrs R.L. Wilford and H. Wright.  A most laughable sketch, entitled Woman's Rights, was given by Mr Rhodes Eliff, in full costume, for which he was loudly applauded.  

In the second part songs, &c., were rendered by the troupe, and Mr W. Raper sang, in a most exquisite manner, Maggie May, while Mr R Gamble played a cornet solo in capital style.  Mr J.H. Watson was accompanist, and Mr C. Fergyson was managing director.  

At the conclusion of the entertainment, Mr A. Bowes Wilson, J.P. in a few well-chosen remarks, complimented the performers on the efficient and entertaining style in which they had performed their parts.

G.Y. Blair was George Young Blair (1826-94) of Drumrauch Hall (see here).  Only weeks after this entertainment, Mr Blair suffered an attack of his heart condition and his doctors advised him to spend five weeks convalescing in Bournemouth.  He went back to work on his return, suffered a relapse and died on 22 September.  P.A. Blair was his son-in-law, Percy Alexander Field Sadler (1866-1906) of Linden Grange, who took the surname Blair.

A. Bowes Wilson was Allan Bowes Wilson (c1839-1932) of the Cleveland Sailcloth Mill - for more on him and his family see here.

Financial disaster comes to Michael Hughes of Yarm, June 1743

This is a glimpse of the life of Michael Hughes of Yarm.  He had extensive premises in Yarm and had bought land, farms and houses from Bedale to Hurworth.  Did he expand too quickly?  Was it a mistake to build the malt-kiln and the granaries and the warehouses?  Was his mercery business over-stocked with expensive luxuries?  It all came to disaster in the end, but it gives us so much interesting information on the way.

In 1743 he had property in Hutton Rudby, Thornton in Cleveland, Maltby in Cleveland, Appleton Wiske, Great Smeaton, Hurworth, Catterick, Richmond, Bedale, Brompton, Osmotherley, as well as his properties in Yarm itself, including the newly-built Malt Kiln with land going to the Tees where he had a wharf for shipping his goods.  Everything was to be sold to satisfy his creditors in auctions that took place in Hutton Rudby, Yarm, Darlington, Richmond and Northallerton. 

It must have created a sensation at the time.

Newcastle Courant, 11 June 1743

To be Sold respectively to the Highest Bidder,

At the following Times and Places,

By the Assignees of a Commission of Bankrupt lately awarded against MICHAEL HUGHES, of Yarm, Merchant,

The several LANDS and TENEMENTS herein after mention'd, late the Estate of the said Bankrupt, viz. 

On the 28th of June inst. between the Hours of Two and Five in the Afternoon, at the Dwelling House of George Whorlton in Hutton near Rudby, three new built Dwelling Houses, with the Garths and Appurtenances thereunto belonging, situate in Hutton aforesaid, now tenanted by William Peacock and others, at the yearly Rent of 5 l. or thereabouts. 

On the 29th, between the Hours of Ten and Twelve, at the House of Widow Barley, Innholder, in Yarm, several Dwelling Houses, with a Blacksmith's Shop, Stable, Garth or Orchard, and near an Acre of Meadow Ground thereto belonging, situate in Thornton, in Cleveland, now lett to George Tunstal and others, at the yearly Rent in the whole of 8 l. 13s.  And between the Hours of One and Four of the same Day, and at the same Place, an improveable Freehold Estate, with a good Farm House, and all other convenient Housing thereon, situate at Maltby, in Cleveland, of the yearly Rent of 36 l. 

On the 30th, between the Hours of Ten and Twelve, at the said Widow Barley's, a Farm in the Township of Appleton upon Wiske, of the yearly Value of 13 l. held by Lease for a Term of 2000 Years under the reserved annual Rent of 3s.  And between the Hours of One and Four of the same Day, and at the same Place, An improveable Freehold Farm, lying at Entercommon, near Great Smeaton, of the yearly Value of 20 l. and upwards; on which two last mention'd Farms are also good Farm Houses, and all other Conveniences for Tenants, in Good Repair. 

On the 4th of July next, between the Hours of One and Four, at the House of Mr John Yorke, Innholder, in Darlington, An improveable Freehold Farm, lying in the Township of Hurworth, with a good Farm House, and other Conveniences thereon for a Tenant, in good Repair, of the yearly Value of 24 l. and upwards. 

On the 5th, between the Hours of Ten and Twelve, at the House of Mr Ralph Hawxwell in Catterick near Richmond, The said Bankrupt's Life Estate in some Lands lying in Richmond Town Fields, of the yearly Value of 6 l. 10s. or thereabouts.  Also at the last mention'd Day and Place, between the Hours of One and Four, A well built Freehold Dwelling House, with the Appurtenances, situate in Catterick aforesaid, in the Possession of Mr James Mewburn, or his Assigns under the clear annual Rent of 10 l. 

On the 6th, between the Hours of Ten and Twelve, at the House of Mr Careless, in Northallerton, A Freehold Close in Bedale, of the yearly Value of 3 l. 10s. or thereabouts; the same Day and Place, between the Hours of One and Four, Some Copyhold Houses, with the Appurtenances, in Brompton near Northallerton, of the yearly Value of 5 l. or thereabouts; and on the same Day, and at the same Place, between the Hours of Four and Five, A Copyhold House, with the Garth and Appurtenances thereunto belonging, situate in Osmotherley, in the Possession of Robert Fryar, at the yearly Rent Forty and Two Shillings, or thereabouts.  And 

On the 7th, between the Hours of Ten and Twelve, at the said Widow Barley's House in Yarm, A Freehold Close in the Parish of Yarm aforesaid, of the yearly Value of 5 l. or thereabouts; between the Hours of One and Four, the same Day and Place, The Freehold Dwelling House, Shop, Ale-houses, and Granaries, on the East Row or Side of the Town of Yarm aforesaid, late in the said Bankrupt's own Occupation; and between the Hours of Four and Seven of the same Day, and at the same Place, Another Freehold Dwelling House, with the Shop and Appurtenances thereto belonging, and also several Stables, Granaries, Ware-houses, and a Malt Kiln, all new built, on the Backside of the last mention'd Dwelling House, and extending to the River Tease [Tees], with a convenient Key [Quay] or Wharf for the shipping or unlading of Goods.  The said last mention'd Dwelling Houses adjoin upon each other, fronting the Market-place; and the same, with the Granaries, &c. are every way commodiously situate for Trade.  For further Particulars enquire of Mr David Burton, Attorney, in Yarm aforesaid. 

Likewise to be sold, at the said Bankrupt's Shop and Ware-houses in Yarm, all his Stock in Trade, consisting of Grocery, Mercery, Haberdashery, Distillery, Linen and Woollen Drapery Wares, with a large Quantity of Men and Womens Hats, Black Velvet Caps, and several other Goods and Merchandises.  The Sale will begin on Tuesday the 14th inst. and Attendance will be given there every Thursday and Tuesday following, till the whole be sold.  Such Tradesmen as are inclined to buy any of the Goods by Wholesale, are desired to attend the four first Days of Sale

Evidently there were too few customers for all the Hats and Caps and so forth, because soon this advertisement appeared:

Newcastle Courant, 18 June 1743

Whereas it hath been formerly advertised, that all the Stock in Trade, late of Michael Hughes, a Bankrupt, was to be sold at his Shop and Ware-houses in Yarm, and that such Tradesmen as were inclined to buy any of the said Goods by Wholesale, were desired to attend the first four Days of Sale, which said four Days being now past, and a considerable Quantity of the said Goods, particularly Broad Cloths, Dyers Goods, Leaf and Cut Tobacco, Distilled Liquors of all Sorts, Apothecarys Drugs, and Linen Cloth, are remaining yet undisposed of.  Notice is hereby given, that such Persons as are inclined to buy all or any of the said Goods now remaining in the Wholesale Way, may attend at the said Bankrupts Shop in Yarm aforesaid, the 28th and 30th Inst. and on the 5th and 7th of July next, when the said Goods will be sold by Wholesale, at reasonable Rates.

And finally Michael Hughes' Commissioners in Bankruptcy were ready to make payments to his creditors:

Newcastle Courant, 3 March 1744

The Commissioners in a Commission of Bankrupt, awarded and issued against Michael Hughes, late of Yarm, in the County of York, Merchant, intend to meet on the Twenty-eight Day of March instant, at Eleven in the Forenoon, at the House of Mrs Margaret Ellis, Innholder, at the Sign of the Anchor and Crown, in Yarm aforesaid, in order to make a Dividend of the said Bankrupt's Estate, when and where the Creditors, who have not already proved their Debts, are to come prepared to do the same, or they will be excluded the Benefit of the said Dividend

The Teesside Archives catalogue shows that it holds deeds from the 1720s relating to purchases of property by Michael and his wife Mary.

What happened to the Hutton Rudby Paper Mill?

At last!  A chance discovery tells us more about the Hutton Rudby Paper Mill - production moved to Yarm in about 1829:-

Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail, 23 August 1886 

The Tees Mills, Yarm 

The following article appears in this week's British and Colonial Stationer:

Whilst in Yorkshire a few days ago, we visited Yarm and called at the Tees Paper Mills, which are carried on under the style of C T Bainbridge and Sons.  The mill was originally a flour mill, but in the early days of the Fourdrinier paper machine Mr C T Bainbridge, a paper-maker and proprietor of a small vat mill at Hutton Rudby, about six miles from Yarm, not content with the slow process of making browns and purples by the vat, removed part of the plant, etc., from Hutton Rudby, to the then Tees Flour Mill 57 years ago, and put down one of the first Fourdrinier paper machines in Yorkshire. 

The old wooden screw press, which was worked by hand at the Hutton Rudby vat mill, was used for some time at the new mill, and the manufacture was confined to browns, purples, and grocery papers. 

In 1867, however, the mill was reconstructed, and the original Fourdrinier was abandoned for a new 62-inch paper machine, by James Bertram and Son, which is still working, and has five cylinders, and bears the date of 1868. 

In conversation with one of the finishers, who has served for nearly half-a-century, we learned that great changes had occurred in the proprietorship at this time, when, through the ill-health of the founder, Mr C T Bainbridge, the loss of his son, and soon after of his nephews, the mill was bought by Mr Wm Henry Benington, who was subsequently joined in partnership by his son, and the firm at present consists of Wm H Benington and Son. 

The management is entrusted to Mr Wm Brougham Benington, a son of the principal.  The trading name, C T Bainbridge and Son remains unchanged. 

Recently some additions and improvements have been made.  Bag machines have been introduced, and a small printing plant and cylinder printing machine are on the premises for printing names and trade marks on the bags if required by the wholesale buyer.  The bag machines have been manufactured by Mr Burnsted, of Hadnesford, one of them being the new Burnsted Patent Machine; and another of a quite new construction, and the first of its kind made by this manufacturer and patented.  The machines are kept running on bags from a 1lb.lump sugar bag up to a 4lb. moist sugar, and the large machine from 4lb. up to a half-stone flour bag.  And bags of a larger size are also made at this mill. 

The firm manufacture browns, purples, and grocery papers, and they have taken up the manufacture of grocery bags at the request of their customers, and are able to supply about eight tons of paper, and bags per week. 

The mill is close to the Yarm station, and is completely surrounded by river, road, and rail, so that there is no outlay on cartage of raw material, or on the manufactured article.  The firm deal with the wholesale, and local trade, and have confidence in both the price, and quality of their productions, and take a pride in the reputation of their old established mill.

A video of a Fourdrinier mill at the Frogmore Paper Mill can be seen here on youtube; its website is here/

Extracts from the York Herald, 12 January 1850

Local news and local names - I thought this sort of thing might be useful or interesting to readers:-

Yarm

Seasonable Benevolence

During the past week, Marshall Fowler, Esq., of Preston Hall, one of the executors under the will of the late Benjamin Flounders, Esq., deceased, has caused to be distributed the sum of £20 in blankets and coals, among the poor people in this town; 75 families received half a ton of coals each, and 25 families one blanket each.  This sum is an annuity of £20 bequeathed by the late Mr Flounders, to be distributed annually at Christmas, among the poor of Yarm.

Inquest. - Verdict of Manslaughter. - An inquest was held on Friday, the 4th inst., before J P Sowerby, Esq., coroner, on the body of John Mudd.  It appears that the deceased and a youth of the name of George Crabtree, had, on the previous Monday, a few angry words together, when the latter kicked the former in the lower part of his body, and thereby injured him so seriously that he died on the following Thursday.  After a lengthened inquiry, the jury returned a verdict of "manslaughter."  The prisoner was committed to York Castle, to take his trial at the spring assizes.  He is 17 years of age, and the deceased was 19 years of age.

Marske

Odd Fellowship. - On the 28th ult., the members of the Zetland Lodge held their anniversary at the house of Mr Wm Bulmer, Marske, Mr Thos Shaw in the chair, when the company partook of an excellent supper.  After the usual loyal and other toasts had been given, the chairman said at a previous meeting it was unanimously agreed that a token of respect should be presented to Brother John Green, D.G.M., of the Zetland Lodge, in the Stokesley district, for his valuable services to the lodge.  He (the chairman) thereofre, in behalf of the members of the lodge, presented Brother John Green, D.G.M., with the emblems of the order, and also that of the widows and orphans.  Brother Green then rose and returned thanks in an able speech.  (Loud cheering).  The toasts and speeches were enlivened by a few friends with popular songs, after which the company separated, highly gratified with the evening's entertainment.

5. A Boroughbridge Boyhood in the 1850s: Holidays

If the working day in the 1850s was a great deal less frenetic than today, holidays were fewer.  John’s parents would generally go to a seaside resort, often Redcar, for a week or two.  They went in a large party of family and friends to stay in lodging houses – in 1856 they went twice, in July and in October.  John went on Saturday 18th October to meet them there:

Saturday October 18th 1856
Went to Office.   At Noon about home   At Night I went to Redcar   left at ¼ past six   got there ½ past nine   Mr Clark of Ellinthorp went at Noon   Father & Mother  Aunt & Uncle Redmayne  Sarah Sedgwick & Miss Cunnyngham were there   Mr Clark & I slept and had breakfast on Sunday & Monday   he pd my exps at the Inn

Heaton Clark of Ellenthorpe Hall married Miss Jane Hewit Cunynghame in November 1857 – the groom was sixty seven years old and the bride aged thirty seven.  Sarah Sedgwick married John’s brother Joe in 1857.

Sunday October 19th 1856
Clark & I went on the Sands before breakfast   Uncle R & I went to Redcar Church   the rest went to Coatham  Had a walk in the afternoon   Sarah  Aunt & I went to Coatham at night

Monday October 20th 1856
Got up had breakfast at the Inn   Saw Clark off by the 7.50 train to Yarm Fair  Saw Uncle R & Aunt & Miss Cunnyngham off by 11 train   Had a bathe in the Sea   Father & I walked to Coatham  had some porter at the Lobster   Walked about all day   Set off for home at 5.20.   Had a very jolly visit

People of Hutton Rudby in the C18/19: Selby to Sidgwick/Sedgwick

... from my working notes ... accuracy not guaranteed ... for explanatory note, see post of 14 Feb 2013


Selby

Oddfellows Board:  Bro:  James Selby, Sum. Houses, 5 Dec 1875, a27


Sextons

8 Jan 1722:  William, son of William Rain sexton and Elizabeth Outon/ ?Orton b/bap

13 May 1784:  burial of William Stockdale, sexton of Rudby Church
19 Feb 1790:  burial of Thomas Seamore, a 74, Sexton of Rudby Church

Sarah Hebron was elected Sexton on 2 July 1833 “to have £2/12 per year for doing the duty of a Sexton to attend to the fires and keep the church clean.  The Churchwardens to see about getting the stove in repair”.
The sexton has the care of the fabric of the church and is responsible for digging the graves and ringing the bells.  It is not clear from the churchwardens’ accounts who was the previous sexton;  it may have been Nathaniel Smithson.  The records do not show who the vestry appointed to take care of the bells and, particularly, the gravedigging.


Seymour/Seamer

“Seymour for well 2s 6d” appears in William Sayers Calculations 1815 in the Middleton Book

7 Aug 1822:  B D Suggitt left £20 a year to his servant Mary Seymour, if still residing with him at the time of his death

1823 Baines:  Hutton:  William Seamer, linen manufacturer

FQ 434:  14 & 15 Apr 1829:  John Seamour occupied land belonging to Elizabeth Sleigh

T Seymour was in A List of Boys – Middleton Book

GG 130:  31 Oct 1835:  Thomas Spence of Hutton weaver & Dorothy his wife (1) Henry Collins of Stokesley gent (2):  2 houses now used as one, the weaver’s shop adjoining & the garden or orchard of 1r behind, occ by Thomas Spence; the butcher’s shop adjoining the weaver’s shop occ by William Sherwood:  bounded by Lord Falkland to E, street to W, Mrs Kingston to N, Edmund Taylor to S; also Gowdie/Gowlay Hill Garth 1a with cowhouse occ by Thomas Richardson:  bounded by John Charlton to E, by Francis Stainthorpe to W, by street to N, by Jane Willans & Edward Meynell to S; also house with garden & garth behind 2r, occ by William Merrington:  bounded by street to E, William Wood to W, John Seamer to N, John Rymers & Francis Stainthorpe to S; also 3 closes formerly 2 closes called the Cottager 7a, previously occ by William Braithwaite as tenant to William Spence decd:  bounded by Robert Halliday Dobson to E, George Hunter & William Ableson to W, by Rounton road to N, by Richard Johnson to S; “& all other the messuages lands tenements and hereditaments formerly belonging to Thomas Smith late of Hutton yeoman decd and comprised in his Will”

Tithe Map from Elizabeth Sleigh:  John Seamer occ 137, 138, 141, 142

John Seamer was a subscribers to the Wesleyan Youth’s Instructor in 1840

1841 Census:  John Seymour 40 linen weaver, William 30 linen weaver and John 25 linen weaver, North End.  Next door, in household of Thomas Biggins, Mary Seymour 12.
1841 Census:  Thomas Seymour 40 linen weaver and family, North End

John Seymour, weaver, is listed as one of the Trustees of Hutton Rudby Wesleyan chapel – date not given, possibly mid 1850s

1851 Census:  North End:  John Seymour widower 55 hand loom weaver linen
1851 Census:  North End:   John Seymour widower 37 hand loom weaver, and children Mary 5 and Elizabeth 10 mths
1851 Census:  North End:  William Seymour 41 handloom weaver linen b Hutton and Mary 32 also handloom weaver linen b Dodsworth, Yks
1851 Census:  North End:  Thomas Seymour 49 handloom weaver linen and Ann 49, with children Mary 18, Dorothy 11 and Elizabeth 8;  and lodger Richard Richardson single 26 handloom weaver linen;  all b Hutton

Oddfellows Board:  Bro:  Thomas Seymour, Middlesbrough, 25 Sep 1875, a53

1887:  memorial stones at the new Primitive Methodist chapel were laid by K Rickatson, W Seymour (Spout Bank), Mrs Honeyman, Mrs Eden, Mrs Hall and Mr E Bainbridge; and on behalf of Viscount Falkland, G Y Blair, and Rev Oliver Jackson, a Primitive Methodist minister born in Hutton Rudby [G Milburn’s notes]

Local solicitors in 1886

from Waterlow Bros & Layton’s Legal Diary and Almanac for 1886

Extracted from:

List of Country Solicitors
Corrected by comparison with the Roll of the Incorporated Law Society; the list of Commissioners to administer oaths, and list of Perpetual Commissioners, and from direct correspondence

Perpetual commissioners were those appointed to take acknowledgments of deeds made by married women.  This finally became unnecessary after the Married Women's Property Act 1882.

The year stated against each entry is the date of admission to the Roll.  

The name in brackets is that of the firm, but it is not always stated.  

The name in italics is that of the firm of solicitors that acted as the solicitor’s London agents.

Coatham, near Redcar (Yorks.)

Meek, J M (M.A.) – 1872, p. com. and at Middlesborough ..... Adam Burn

Spry, S – 1876, com. oaths, and at Middlesbrough and South Bank ..... Williamson, Hill & Co

Wethey, R E – 1884, 5, Albert-road, and at Middlesboro' ..... Smiles & Co


Guisborough (Yorksh.)

Buchannan, A – 1870, com. oaths, clerk to lieutenancy of North Riding, coroner for Langbaurgh East district, clerk to guardians and rural sanitary authority, clk. to Guisbro’ local and burial bd., Guisbro’ school bd., Skelton local bd. and burial bd., and Brotton local bd., hon. sec. South Durham and North Yorkshire law soc., solr. to Guisbro’ and dis. bldg. soc ..... Pitman & Son

Carrick, W L – 1880 ..... Gray & Mounsey

Ord, C O – 1840, p. com., com. oaths ..... R M & F Lowe

Richardson, W – 1882 ..... Pitman & Son

Trevor, W C – 1866, p. com., com. oaths, deputy clk. of the peace for North Riding, clk. to mags. for div. of Langbaurgh East, and at Northallerton ..... R M & F Lowe


Hutton Rudby (Yorks.)

Kindler, A W – 1882, and at Stockton-on-Tees ..... H F Wood

Mrs Lydia Metcalfe of Yarm, in 1784

Yarm Town Hall, built 1710

A Deed donated to the Hutton Rudby History Society may be of interest to people looking for ancestors in Yarm and to members of the Metcalfe family.

The Deed, dated 10 July 1784, records the repayment of mortgages by Mrs Lydia Metcalfe of Yarm.


The main points are as follows:

In 1745 Lydia Smith owned property in Yarm.  On 7 December 1745, shortly before her marriage to Henry Loughhead, she settled her property on trustees to hold it on her behalf, free from the control of her husband.  (It was not until the Married Women's Property Act 1882 that married women could hold property in their own right.)

Her trustees were Jonathan Hedley and Benjamin Flounders.

Tom Brown of Kirkleatham & Yarm, hero of Dettingen

William Hutton, in his A Trip to Coatham, gives a wonderfully vivid account of the story of Tom Brown, the hero of the battle of Dettingen 1743. 

While he was at Kirkleatham in 1809, Hutton went to find the site of Tom Brown’s birthplace and to visit the hero’s nephew (see p 166 of the scanned book):

It never occurred to my thoughts, when Tom’s exploit blazed over the world, that, sixty-six years after, I should see his portrait, handle his sword and record the fact.

Tom Brown was born in Kirkleatham, apprenticed to a shoemaker at Yarm, and enlisted in the Inniskillen Dragoons. 

He was five feet eleven, and well made, rather bony.  At the battle he was twenty-eight years old.

He served with outstanding valour at the Battle of Dettingen in 1743 in the War of the Austrian Succession - the last battle when British forces were led into action by their King.

Tom was terribly wounded – as can be seen from his portrait (to be found in this full account of the battle)

As William Hutton observed, the portrait

exhibits two wounds in the face; one is a cut, seemingly with the point of a sword from the top of the forehead to the corner of the left eye.  The other, across the upper part of the nose, which obliged him to wear a plate of silver; now lost.

He retired to Yarm with a pension of £30 a year from the King, and died there in 1746.

His grave is marked by a memorial erected by the Queen's Own Hussars in 1968. 

Do see Bob Scotney’s account, with details of the painted sign that used to be attached to Tom Brown’s house in Yarm – and a transciption of the Song of the Silver Nose.