Part 5 of 5

Friday, October 14, 1904.

PAST AND PRESENT

SOME FAMILY LINKS. – V.

There have been Edmondsons in Lancaster and  the neighbouring townships certainly since the reign of Edward the Fourth, and probably much earlier. Among the members of the Lancaster Corporation in 1489 was one Thomas Edmondson. A dozen years or so later there was an Edmondson possessed of a tenement and ten acres of land at Cartmel, who at the same time held the office of  “carter upon Kent Sandes”  (Kents Bank), as tenant right of the Prior of Cartmel. The tenement and lands were at that time known as “Carterhouse,” and some writers on the subject have assumed that it was so called on account of many members of a family named Carter having acted as official guides over  the sands. In the latter part of the fifteenth and during the first forty years of the six-teenth century, however, none of the guides bore the patronymic of Carter, and in a legal document dated 27 Henry VIII. (1535-36) the aforementioned premises  are referred to as the  “Kartehouse, otherwise called carter house.”  The premises were let by the aforementioned Edmondson to Roger Kellet, who “ died thereof possessed; ”  Roger’s  eldest son,  Thomas,  “entered into the said premises according to the custom of the county of Lancaster called tenant right:” and after Thomas Kellet’s death the said premises came to his son Thomas ,who in 1634 gave up all his title and tenant right therein  to  four of his kinsmen named Kellet, and they in turn granted all their right in the premises to Edward Barbour, servant of Richard Anson, “grome porter”  to  the  King.  Richard  Anson was a “stranger in the county.”  His right to enjoy the premises and the office of “carter” was disputed by Richard Preston, Prior of the monastery of Cartmel, but with what result does not appear.
     On the lower side of Morecambe Bay there were Edmondsons well established in the time of Queen Elizabeth – at Heysham, Middleton, Overton, and Heaton; and also in Lunesdale – at Caton, Melling, Wray, Tatham, Tunstall, Leek,  and elsewhere.  In the Middleton district an early home of the Edmondsons appears to have been at Trumley (or Trumley House), situated about a mile from Overton church, in the direction of Sunderland.  The Edmondsons of Trumley were ancestors of those who have been mentioned in preceding chapters.  Edward Edmondson of Trumley, bother of Thomas of Grassyard Hall, was the father-in-law of Thomas Welch, of Cabus, and of Thomas Paget the elder, of Lancaster and Forton. Both Mrs. Welch and Mrs. Paget were born at Trumley, and christened at Overton church.  It has been already men-tioned that one Thomas Edmondson, of Overton, son of Richard Edmondson, was admitted to St. John’s College, Cambridge, on June 27th. 1663, at which time he was seven-teen years old.  He went up to the University from Sedbergh Grammar School.  His father was a yeoman.  Thomas Edmondson’s admission is noted in the “Sedbergh Grammar School Register,” published about nine years ago, but his father’s status is not mentioned (though duly given in the college list) – a defect which characterises many other entries in the Sedbergh Register as printed.  Eighteenth century Edmondsons not named (and of whom I know nothing beyond what has been gleaned from the Overton register by the much-valued courtesy of the Vicar,  Rev. T. W. Greensall, M.A.) were Adam Edmondson, mariner, of Sunderland, and Thomas Edmondson of the same place.  Adam had a son, William, baptised at Overton church on July 8th, 1746 and another son, Edmund (who died in 1749), on July 10th, 1748. Jane, daughter of Thomas and Ann Edmondson, of Sunderland, was baptised at the same church on May 22nd, 1792; and they had another daughter, Ellen, baptised there on October 17th, 1793. One Margaret Edmondson was married at Overton church on February 10th, 1729, to Richard Gardner – possibly a brother of Thomas Gardner, whose wife Ellen died on July 1st, 1767, aged 67, and was buried in Overton churchyard, where also was interred their son Thomas, who died on December 22nd, 1769, aged 29. And in passing, it may be noted that, notwithstanding the several centuries’ existence of Overton church, there is not a gravestone in the burial ground bearing date earlier than the eighteenth century – the oldest now to be seen being one to the memory of “Thomas, son of Thomas and Theodora Corwen, who departed this life the 30th day of March, 1731, and in the ninth year of his age.” Another noteworthy fact is the existence within this ancient little church of only one mural tablet, recording that “Near this place lies the body of Abr. Gravener, excise tide surveyor at Lancaster, who departed this life 20th June, 1785, aged 53 years.”
     Time was when a good deal of the land in Middleton, Overton, and Sunderland belonged to members of the Edmondson and Satter-thwaite families.  The  most  spacious  vaults in Overton churchyard belong to those families, which were allied by marriage seventy-eight years ago.  Thomas Edmondson, of Grassyard Hall, (son of John and Margaret Edmondson of Middleton), who was baptised at Overton Church on April 11, 1756, had a daughter who married John Hughes, of Chester, probably a member of the firm of John Hughes and son, merchants, who were described a hundred years ago as of Crane-Street, Chester.  Of this marriage there was issue a daughter,  Mary Ann Hughes,  who was  married at St. Paul’s church, Caton, (Brookhouse), on February 16, 1826, to James Cornelius Satterthwaite, of Lancaster.  The bridegroom was probably married from the residence of his widowed mother, Mrs. John Satterthwaite (Mary, daughter of Steadman Rawlins),  Castle Park,  Lancaster,  and the bride from the residence of grandfather, Thomas Edmondson, then of Grassyard Hall, where he had settled in succession to the Rawlinsons over twenty years previously.  The bridegroom’s father , John Satterthwaite, merchant,  died at his residence in Lancaster on December 26th 1807; his wife survived, and died on February 5th 1837. They had two sons besides James Cornelius, and also two daughters, one of the latter marrying John Bolden, of Hyning, whose son (one of seven) William Bolden Bolden, of Hyning, will be remembered by the older generations of Lancastrians. James Cornelius Satterthwaite was well known in the mercantile and public life of the district. Among his duties were those of a J.P. and Quay Commissioner.  He had several children, including Edward of Castle Park (deceased);  Thomas Edmondson Stedman (deceased);  Joseph Henry. Lieutenant-Colonel, Royal engineers;  Benjamin A., Colonel commanding 47th Regimental District, Preston ;  and Charles James,  M.A., Vicar of Disley, Cheshire, and Hon. Canon of Chester Cathedral, whose wife is sister of Major Edmund Geoffrey Stanley Hornby, Dalton Hall. Four of these sons married, so that there are a number of grandchildren – also great-grandchildren – of James C. Satterthwaite.  Taking present local representatives, mention may be made of the children of his son Thomas E. S. Satterthwaite (by his marriage with Rachel, daughter of Richard Hinde, J.P., Mayor of Lancaster in 1856), namely, Thomas, of Castle Park; Benjamin; Josephine, wife of John Tunstall Sanderson, son of John Sanderson, bank manager; Violet, wife of Ernest Wingate-Saul, son of Dr. Wingate-Saul ; and Marguerite, wife of E. E. Eccles, son of the late Major-General Eccles.

     Over the Edmondson vault in Overton Churchyard are the following inscriptions :-
     In memory of Anne Hughes, daughter of Thomas Edmondson, of Grassyard Hall, who departed this life January 12th, 1819, aged 33 years.  Also Mary Jane, daughter of John and Margaret Elizabeth Edmondson, of Grassyard Hall, who died March 6th, 1842, aged 11 years, and Gertrude Emily, her sister, who died March 13th, 1842, aged 3 years.  “Suffer little children to come unto me;” Luke xviii., 16.
     Sacred to the memory of Mary, wife of Thomas Edmondson, of Grassyard Hall, who departed this life the 6th March, 1834, aged 78 years. Also of Thomas Edmondson, of Grass-yard Hall, husband of the above, who departed this life the 11th day of February, 1835, aged 78 years.  Here also the body of Jane Edmondson, daughter of Thomas and Mary Edmondson, born March 23rd, 1791, died at Lancaster, February 2nd, 1865.  Blanche Caroline, fifth daughter of John and M. E. Edmondson, wife of Major-General W. Denis de Vitre, R.H.A., born 10th November, 1836, died at Pau, France, 15th March, 1898, and was there buried.
    Beneath this stone is laid the mortal body of Margaret Elizabeth Edmondson, daughter of John Dodson, of Lancaster, and wife of John Edmondson, of Grassyard Hall, in this county. Born January 23rd,1805; died November 1st, 1859.  “Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her;” Prov. xxxi., 28. Here also lies the body of her husband, John Edmondson, of Grassyard Hall. He was born July 9th, 1799, and died August 5th, 1868. “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” Ps. Xxvii., 1. Also of Thomas Grassyard Edmondson, only son of John and Margaret Elizabeth Edmondson.  Born 5th September, 1835; died at Altnacealgach, Scotland, 7th June, 1900. "He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more;" Job vii, 10.

     John Edmondson, who succeeded to Grassyard Hall on the death of his father (Thomas) in 1835, married the daughter of an opulent Lancaster merchant and county magistrate, John Dodson, who resided for many years in St. Leonardsgate, and died at Poulton-le-Sands in 1842. Mrs John (Margaret Elizabeth) Edmondson  was the sister of the Rev John Dodson, who early in his clerical life, was incumbent of Overton, and married a cousin, whose family lived  for some time at the neighbouring Middleton Tower. Two of his infant children were buried at Overton. He was afterwards vicar of Cockerham, which living he resigned, retiring to Littledale, and spending the remainder of his life there. Major-General William Denis de Vitre, of the H.E.I. Company's Artillery, mentioned on the memorial stone at Overton as husband of John Edmondson's fifth daughter, will be, I assume, a nephew of the late Dr. Edward Denis de Vitre, J.P., who was mayor of Lancaster in 1843 and 1855, and died at The Elms, Bare, on October 4th, 1878.

     There are two Satterthwaite vaults in Overton Churchyard. One is inscribed as hereunder:-
          In memory of James Cornelius Satterthwaite, of Brazil and Lancaster, J.P. and D.L. for Lancashire. son of John Satterthwaite, of Lancaster and Rigmaden, Westmorland; born September 2nd, 1798, died November 16th, 1857. Also Mary Ann, his wife, daughter of John Hughes, of Chester; born January 28th, 1806, died December 5th, 1866. Also Mary Ann, their daughter; born June 7th, 1836, died July 8th, 1847. Also of John, their son; born November 29th, 1826, died January 11th, 1856. Also Frances Jane, their daughter, born August 30th, 1842, died May 19th, 1864. Also Edward Hughes, their son, J.P. and D.L. for Lancashire; born 25th January1828, died May 9th, 1883.

     On the other vault is this inscription:-
          In loving memory of Thomas Edmondson Stedman Satterthwaite, son of James Cornelius Satterthwaite, of Lancaster and Brazil; born May 18th, 1832, died January 21st, 1891.

     John Satterthwaite, the father of James Cornelius Satterthwaite, was a first-cousin of John Stout, J.P. merchant, who died at his residence in Queen-square, Lancaster, on April 11th, 1846, aged 82, and whose father, Alderman John Stout, was twice mayor of this borough. John Stout was an executor under his cousin's will, and 63 years ago he published "A Vindication" in relation to his executorship. The printer of the "Vindication," a native of Skerton, was then in his 28th year, and he is still living and in good health. He was an admirable typographer, and even now, in his 90s, he writes with quite artistic finish. Not long ago my venerable friend - Mr. Leonard Whaley Willan - sent me from his Californian home a copy of the "Vindication" with regard to which he says: "Mr. Stout was then [1841] near 80 and almost blind, and his 'Vindication' - a most a strange and interesting narrative - was printed not for sale, but only for presentation to his friends. The copies were all bound in morocco, gilt edges, and I think we printed 150, but have forgot the exact number. The manuscript was by young [Robert Cartmel] Rawlinson, who had great ability, and who was in Mr. Stout's employ as secretary and business factotum, culling newspapers and magazines and reading them to him, &c. Mr. Stout was at that time entirely dependent on Rawlinson in literary and business matters. For the 'Vindication' I got the best printing paper I could get in the London market, and it has kept its colour wonderfully."