People of Hutton Rudby in the C18/19: Ableson to Ayresome

from my working notes ... accuracy not guaranteed, and for explanatory notes see my earlier post ...

Ableson

Thomas Ableson was the first schoolmaster of the Bathurst school, died in 1750 and was succeeded by his son William [Hastings]

William Ableson d 1782 a 63, Master of Rudby School, d of asthma [PRs]

10 Oct 1789 William Ableson admitted and licensed to teach a Petty or English School in Hutton Rudby [Borthwick faculties etc 1768-1793]

Yorkshire Poll Book 1807:  Hutton Rudby:  William Ableson schoolmaster

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 adjoinging & 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”

People of Hutton Rudby in the C18/19 - explanatory note

As I work through my archives, I thought I would post some more information from my working notes ...

While I was working on Remarkable, but still True I amassed a great deal of information about inhabitants of Hutton Rudby in the C18 and C19.

I can't guarantee accuracy, but I know from experience that people researching their family history have found these notes useful, so I will reproduce them on this blog.

There is a certain fascination in browsing through them, as they include information from a variety of sources and build up a unique picture of village life in the past, but they are really intended for reference.  They consist mostly of surnames but also include general categories such as Skutterskelfe workers, blacksmiths and parish clerks.

They may appear slightly cryptic - they were only intended for my use.

Christopher Rowntree of Middleton-on-Leven

My post of 8 February mentions Christopher Rowntree, who went to court to prove he was a gentleman.

The story is told in The Church & Parish of Rudby-in-Cleveland by the Rev Arthur Eddowes (1924):

The following account of a Middleton "worthy" is copied from one of the many interesting "sporting" articles contributed by Mr Fairfax Blakeborough in the Darlington and Stockton Times:–

Mr Rowntree, – a famous Cleveland fox-hunter and racing man, – is perhaps the only man in England who had a trial at law to prove that he was a gentleman.  He won a gentleman's race at Stokesley and the prize was withheld on an objection being raised that he was not eligible for the race, not being, – it was argued, – a gentleman according to the general acceptance of the term and meant to be implied in the conditions of the race.  The trial took place before Mr Baron Thompson at York in 1803 and the following is an account of it written at the time:–

“At an Assize trial held at York to decide whether one Christopher Rowntree, of Middleton-on-Leven, the celebrated fox-hunter, was a “gentleman," the only evidence against him was that he was blind of one eye, wore leather breeches, and when he came to Stokesley market dined at an ordinary with the farmers at one shilling or eighteen-pence a head, – the best joints of meat there never being sold by butchers at more than fourpence a pound, and eggs being retailed in our market at twopence a dozen during the season. 

As to his worldly wealth, and unblemished character, these were fully admitted by his opponent (though they doubted whether he could be said to keep a pack of foxhounds, as each of his tenants fed a few, and the horn was blown to gather them together when they had to assemble for a hunt). 

The counsel on behalf of Christophr. Rowntree declared that a gentleman remained such wherever he dined.  Those wishing to hold from him that title to which his client possessed every just claim ought to prove, – not where he dined and paid, but whether he dined and left without paying, then, – guilty of such an act as that, – he would have lost all right to have been considered a gentleman.  They, – his opponents, – should have proved not that he went about in leather breeches, but without any at all, then that truly would have stamped his client as no gentleman.”

"Hooivver did oor farms get t'neeams ther've got?"

My last post about Middleton-on-Leven, with its mention of Goslingmire farm, reminded me of some verses from Bill Cowley's delightful book Cleveland Calendar: Seasons of the Year in North-East England.  

 It is illustrated with evocative line drawings by Bernard Fearnley; it can be bought second-hand.

Here are the lines:

Hooivver did oor farms get t'neeams ther've got?
High Paradise, Holme, Slapewath, Seldom Seen,
Steeanstoup an' Goslingmire – a canny spot –
Spyknave, Stank, Hesketh, Raikes – an Gowton Green.

St Cuthbert's church, Middleton-on-Leven

On 22 & 23 June 2002, a Flower Festival was held in St Cuthbert’s church at Middleton-on-Leven.

Refreshments & light lunches were on offer, and the weekend finished with a Thanksgiving Service at 5 o’clock followed by a barbecue.

The flower displays and information boards on show around the building reflected aspects of the church’s history and current life in the community; proceeds were to the church fabric and the new carpet.

The explanatory leaflet included a brief history of the village and church.  I feel sure it was written by the vicar, Canon David Lickess (now retired), and hope he will not mind me reproducing it here, as there is so little information on Middleton available online.

The 'Skirt Dance' of the two Savile Clarke girls

When I finished work on the articles on the Savile Clarkes, I contacted Leeds Art Gallery, who own J-E Blanche's painting of Maggie and Kitty.

I wasn't sure how much information the Art Gallery had on the sitters, as both the Public Catalogue Foundation's book and the BBC Your Paintings website record the title simply as The Savile Clarke girls.  The curator tells me that they did indeed know of the painting as The 'Skirt Dance' of the two Savile Clarke girls, but my additional information will be added to the files (as it's interesting and useful – what more could I ask?!)

If you have a longing to see the beautiful sisters, they are currently on show at Lotherton Hall.


Update 4 July 2014: for information on Jacques-Emile Blanche, see Artist in Focus (July 2014) on the Public Catalogue Foundation website

Update 26 November 2019: the Public Catalogue Foundation and BBC Your Paintings website is now Art UK, and the Savile Clarke girls can be found here

Helen Savile Clarke and her daughters

Continuing the story of Henry Savile Clarke and his family ...

When Henry Savile Clarke died in 1893, his wife Helen Weatherill was 53 years old.  During the 1880s, she had developed an artistic career of her own.

By 1880, when Helen reached the age of forty, her family had become sadly diminished.

Helen Savile Clarke with one of her daughters

Her brother William had died at school in London when she was eleven.  Her younger sister Clara (after whom she named her eldest daughter) had been fatally injured in a fire caused by a candle igniting her clothing in the year before Helen married.

Her eldest brother George Jackson Weatherill had died in 1872, the year of her daughter Kitty’s birth; his conduct had brought his married life to an end when his wife divorced him and he seems to have died in Australia.  Her father died the following year, and her mother in late May 1880.

It seems that her younger sister Emma, who had never married, then came to London – she died at Helen’s house on 26 September, aged 38.  Her elder sister Anne Louise, whose first marriage had been to Henry Savile Clarke’s father, was to die in Guisborough in 1882. 

There was a younger brother, John Charles Weatherill, of whom little is remembered or known.  He seems to have encountered difficulties, as their mother had left to Helen the “Prize books” given to him by the Corporation of Plymouth and £5 to be given to him at Helen’s discretion.  Anne Louise’s Will, made in 1881, left £1,000 in trust for John Charles “for his personal enjoyment and not to become the property of his alienees or creditors”, so possibly he was a bankrupt. 

Three of Helen’s four close cousins in Guisborough (their mothers being sisters, and their fathers brothers) had died, and her cousin Kate was to die leaving three small children in 1884.  Only Helen’s eldest sister Margaret Elizabeth survived into the 20th century.

It must have seemed to Helen all the more important to follow and develop her own talents as an artist while she could.  Perhaps she took advice on her plans from her relatives, the artists Mary and Sarah Ellen Weatherill [cf blog post of 29 November 2012].  They were five or so years older than she, and they both studied in London.