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

The Nunthorpe W.I. Drama Group in action

Here they are performing Paolo & Francesca in 1939:

I wonder if they were performing the 1902 play by Stephen Phillips.

Nunthorpe Women's Institute Drama Group 1952

A jolly crowd!

Nunthorpe WI Drama Group 1952

Nunthorpe Mothers' Union 1957

I hadn't realised we had this photograph - it goes rather nicely with previous posts about Nunthorpe Women's Institute, I think.

Nunthorpe Mothers' Union 1957

Francis Stainthorp, weaver of Hutton Rudby

Do have a look at this post on Paul Stainthorp's blog about his ancestor Francis Stainthorp (1765-1822) - I have to say I was particularly taken with the photo of Francis's great-great-great-great-great-great grandchildren at his tombstone!

Women's Institute Drama Festival held at the Middlesbrough Little Theatre, 5 May 1956

Bolton-on-Swale
In Merry Wives of Windsor

F Crankshaw
J Gibson
R Heylings
R Hills
E Shield
K Barber
H Gibson
J Nelson
K Chapman
N Mason
J Hills
W K Gibson

Melsonby
In Mary Frobisher by F Sladen-Smith

K Dunn
N Hawitt
M Gregory
I Elliott
G Milner
G Simpson
M Dodsworth
J Morton

Guisborough
In Closed Windows by Nora Ratcliff

E Taylor
E Payne
M Pilkington
C Oliver
A Armin
K Jackson

Well & Snape
In Two of Us by Elma Verity and Jack Last

F Bell
G Sampson
F Nelson
M Craddock
J Dawson
D H Owen

Hutton Rudby
In Mad Hatters in Mayfair by Barbara Van Campen

I Shore
C Honeyman
A Atkinson
J Hardcastle
H Carpenter
R Swales
P Deacon
M C Reauley

Nunthorpe
In Staff Room by Albert Claydon

B Colwell
R Masters
J C Marr
M Stubbs
M Ballingall
P Bilton
K Marr
E Winney

North Cowton
In Women within Walls by A J Bradbury

G Stevenson
C Bainbridge
J Murray
M Marley
D Allison
A M Boddye

Hutton Bonville
In One Crowded Hour by Conrad Carter

K Donald
M Duffield
R Donald
M Andrews
M Bosomworth
D Bell
M Foster
D Porritt

Nunthorpe W.I. Drama Society, 30 May 1952

Appearing in Time out of Joint by Gerard McLarnon, The Bakehouse by J O Francis, and Tony by Kenneth Galloway:

Aline Baker
Muriel Ballingall
Kathleen Belas
Alf Blake
Beryl Colwell
Freda Cooke
Mahoney Crosthwaite
Gillian Doel
Jeff Flower
Helen Hastings
Monica Jackson
Donald Lowery
Olga Matthams
Betty Pearce
Tommy Pearce
Lesley Pearson
Molly Stubbs
Angela Winney
Elaine Winney
Sandra Winney