23 January 2012
PAST AND PRESENT - SOME FAMILY LINKS - VI (continued)
The Thomas Paget, of Forton Lodge, who died in 1843, had also three daughters, all of whom are now dead. The first of the three to pass away was the youngest, Letitia Paget, at the age of forty-two. Like her young nephew Thomas, of Lancaster, she met with a tragic death. On September 24th, 1857, she started out from Forton Lodge, accompanied by a Lancaster relative, on a journey to London. From Manchester they travelled by a Great Northern express train. A little south of Tuxford station the train ran off the rails on the viaduct which crosses the Newark and Tuxford road, and the carriages were completely wrecked. Five of the passengers were killed, among them Miss Paget and her companion, Mrs Mary Heaton, of 18, Queen-square, Lancaster.Mrs Heaton was Miss L. Paget's cousin, and a widow. Her husband, John Heaton, died at his residence in Queen-square, about the end of 1828; he was a member of the firm of Heaton and Whewell, ironmongers, Market-street, and served as a member of the Town Council. His partner was a kinsman of the famous Dr. William Whewell. Thomas Paget's second daughter, Mary, was the wife of John Herdman Sherson. She was married at Cockerham Church on June 1st, 1847. Her husband was elected Mayor of Lancaster in 1851, being the aforenamed John Hall's immediate predecessor in that office. John Herdman Sherson died at Greenfield on February 29th, 1864, aged sixty-two, and was interred in Lancaster cemetery. The remains of his parents rest in the St. Nicholas-street burial ground. He was a descendant of an old Ellel family. One of his ancestors, Thomas Sherson, a barrister, who resided at Ellel Crag, and died in 1725, was thrice Mayor of Lancaster, and Thomas' son, Alexander, was a solicitor and Town Clerk. Either Thomas or Alexander Sherson held the office of Constable of the Castle. Thomas Sherson's father, Richard, died at Barrow about 1680, and his great-grandfather, John, a yeoman, died at Ellel about 1621. Of the marriage of John Herdman Sherson and Mary Paget there was issue two daughters, the Misses Sherson, one of whom once reminded me that she had been greatly interested in a "mothers' meeting" of which my own mother "was for many years the senior, and very much respected, member." Leaving Greenfield, these estimable ladies lived for a while at Morecambe Lodge, Yealand Conyers, and from there they removed to the Lake District. Thomas Paget's eldest daughter, Elizabeth, left Forton Lodge after the sad death of her sister Letitia, and settled in Lancaster - at Greenfield - and here she died in 1893, aged ninety. She was buried at Shireshead Church, by the side of her sister she had mourned so long.
01 January 2012
PAST AND PRESENT - SOME FAMILY LINKS - VI (continued)
Edward Edmondson, of Middleton, had a son Henry - born on the Trumley homestead, and baptised at Overton Church on January 5th, 1788 - who settled at Rossall. He was skilled in agricultural pursuits, and his services as an adjudicator were requisitioned at various shows. On several occasions he acted as a judge of horses, &c., at the annual shows of the Lancaster Agricultural Society. His sister Jenny, or Jane, who was baptised at Overton Church on March 31st, 1782, married a Mr. Davis, of Cockerham, and they had a daughter who married a Mr. Banks, solicitor, of Preston. Another sister, Isabel, baptised at Overton on March 9th, 1794, married Edward Atkinson, who went to reside at Morecambe. The other children of Edward Edmondson have already been referred to.
There is a genealogical link between the Pagets and a brilliant "old boy" of Lancaster Grammar School - Dr. John Edward Marr, University Lecturer in Geology at Cambridge, who was born three months before the railway disaster in which Miss Letitia Paget lost her life. The learned professor's ancestors were settled at Oversands, in the parishes of Cartmel, Aldingham and Ulverston, several centuries ago. There are testamentary records of some who would be living at Scales, in the parish of Aldingham, at the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's reign. Captain Robert Marr, son of John and Elizabeth Marr, was born at Aldingham in 1756, and settled in Lancaster residing on Castle-hill. In 1800 I find him described as a merchant here. In 1791 he married Elizabeth, the third child of Peter Paget, father of the aforementioned Thomas Paget, of Forton. Peter Paget had an older daughter, Mary, born on November 19th, 1762, who was the wife of W. Hardyman, but of this marriage there was no issue. Of the marriage of Robert Marr and Elizabeth Paget there was born Mary - on of the victims of the Great Northern Railway disaster in 1857 - who married John Heaton, of this town; Thomas and Elizabeth, who died unmarried; and John Marr, born at Lancaster in 1800, who in 1837 married Mary, daughter of Francis and Elizabeth Simpson, of Lancaster. The Cambridge professor, Dr. J. E. Marr, is the son of John and Mary Marr. In February, 1829, John Marr was elected a member of Lancaster Town Council in the room of his brother-in-law, John Heaton, then recently deceased. After his marriage, John Marr lived successively at Wray (where he took a prominent part in the founding of Holy Trinity Church, of which he was an original trustee), at Poulton-le-Sands, and at Carnarvon. He died at Carnarvon in February, 1875, and was buried in Lancaster cemetery. Dr. Marr's maternal grandfather, Francis Simpson, gentleman, died on December 10th, 1816, aged 57, and his wife on May 15th, 1828. There is a tablet to their memory in High-street chapel, of which chapel Francis Simpson was appointed a trustee in August, 1814. In passing, it may be noted that Dr. Marr, the author of several important works, has contributed a valuable geological chapter - described by one of the leading reviewers as "very thorough" - to the Rev. Joseph Whiteside's newly-issued book on "Shappe in By-gone Days."
There is a genealogical link between the Pagets and a brilliant "old boy" of Lancaster Grammar School - Dr. John Edward Marr, University Lecturer in Geology at Cambridge, who was born three months before the railway disaster in which Miss Letitia Paget lost her life. The learned professor's ancestors were settled at Oversands, in the parishes of Cartmel, Aldingham and Ulverston, several centuries ago. There are testamentary records of some who would be living at Scales, in the parish of Aldingham, at the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's reign. Captain Robert Marr, son of John and Elizabeth Marr, was born at Aldingham in 1756, and settled in Lancaster residing on Castle-hill. In 1800 I find him described as a merchant here. In 1791 he married Elizabeth, the third child of Peter Paget, father of the aforementioned Thomas Paget, of Forton. Peter Paget had an older daughter, Mary, born on November 19th, 1762, who was the wife of W. Hardyman, but of this marriage there was no issue. Of the marriage of Robert Marr and Elizabeth Paget there was born Mary - on of the victims of the Great Northern Railway disaster in 1857 - who married John Heaton, of this town; Thomas and Elizabeth, who died unmarried; and John Marr, born at Lancaster in 1800, who in 1837 married Mary, daughter of Francis and Elizabeth Simpson, of Lancaster. The Cambridge professor, Dr. J. E. Marr, is the son of John and Mary Marr. In February, 1829, John Marr was elected a member of Lancaster Town Council in the room of his brother-in-law, John Heaton, then recently deceased. After his marriage, John Marr lived successively at Wray (where he took a prominent part in the founding of Holy Trinity Church, of which he was an original trustee), at Poulton-le-Sands, and at Carnarvon. He died at Carnarvon in February, 1875, and was buried in Lancaster cemetery. Dr. Marr's maternal grandfather, Francis Simpson, gentleman, died on December 10th, 1816, aged 57, and his wife on May 15th, 1828. There is a tablet to their memory in High-street chapel, of which chapel Francis Simpson was appointed a trustee in August, 1814. In passing, it may be noted that Dr. Marr, the author of several important works, has contributed a valuable geological chapter - described by one of the leading reviewers as "very thorough" - to the Rev. Joseph Whiteside's newly-issued book on "Shappe in By-gone Days."
17 December 2011
PAST AND PRESENT - SOME FAMILY LINKS - VI
Several of the children of Edward Edmondson, of Trumley, Middleton (brother of Thomas, of Grassyard Hall) have been dealt with in the preceding chapters. Reference may now be made to Edward's daughter Margaret, who was baptised at Overton Church, on July 10, 1775. This Margaret Edmondson married John Paget, woollen or worsted merchant, of Lancaster and Forton, who, at the beginning of the last century, had become a partner in the firm of Thomas Edmondson and Co. worsted spinners, Mytholmroyd, near Halifax. A list of "Seats of the nobility and gentry in the county Palatine of Lancaster," published in 1825, shows that Thomas Paget then resided at Forton lodge - built nearly a hunderd years ago by William Brade, a Liverpool merchant, of the same stock, I believe, as the Forton yeoman, William Brade, whose sister Jennet married Timothy Welch, of Ellel (1714-1791). Thomas Paget died at Forton Lodge on December 18, 1843. He was born on November 12, 1764, so that he attained a ripe age. He was the son of Peter Paget by his wife Elizabeth Hankinson, who were married in 1761, the former, probably, belonging to a Scotforth and the latter to a Fylde family. Mrs. Peter Paget had a brother, Thomas Hankinson, who married Peter Paget's sister Mary, and of tis marriage there was issue the Rev. Robert Hankinson, rector of Walpole St. Andrew, near Wisbech, who died in 1862 at the great age of 92. Another brother of Mrs. Paget, John Hankinson, practised as an attorney at Lancaster, and died here about the beginning of last century. There was also a kinswoman, Ann Hankinson, who carried on business in this town as a milliner, and died in 1779. In February, 1776, John Hankinson was nominated by Lord Ducie as Deputy-Clerk of the Crown in the County Palatine.
Thomas Paget left a widow, one son, and three daughters. The son, also named Thomas, married Anne, the youngest daughter of Henry Smith, gentleman, Hole of Ellel, by his wife Ellen, daughter of George Yeats, to which families further reference will be made in the next article. Thomas Paget the younger went to reside at Ratcliffe Cottage, Forton, he being connected with John Welch, then of Cabus and afterwards of Burrow House, Scotforth, in carrying on an extensive business at Ratcliffe Wharf. The partners were cousins, their fathers having married two sisters. The business at Ratcliffe Wharf was previously carried on by John Welch's father, Thomas. Eight months after Thomas Paget's death, one of his sons met with his death under very sad circumstances. This son was likewise named Thomas, and it was intended that he should adopt the legal profession. He was articled to a Lancaster solicitor, John Herdman Sherson, and at the time of his death was only 17 years old, being then described as of Castle Hill. On Wednesday afternoon, July 20th, 1853, young Paget was drowned while bathing in the Lune between the Pothouses and the New Quay. A gallant attempt was made to save him by another bather, Robert Hall - son of the then Mayor, John Hall, solicitor, Saleyard-street - who still survives, residing at Slyne Lodge, Slyne. Thomas Paget (who died on November 21st, 1852) had another son, William Smith Paget, born in 1848. This son is Dr. Paget-Tomlinson, of The Biggins, near Kirkby Lonsdale. Thirty years ago he married the second daughter of John L. Price, of Standish, near Wigan. In 1889 he succeeded his relative, Miss E. Tomlinson, in The Biggins estate, and took the name by which he is now known. Dr. Paget-Tomlinson is J.P. and D.L. for Westmorland, and was High Sheriff of that county in 1897.
A sister of Mrs. Thomas (Margaret) Paget, Hannah Edmondson, who was baptised at Overton Church on March 26th 1780, married a Mr. Caton, who lived sometime at Bolton-le-Sands, and also at Fenton-Cawthorne House, Market-street, Lancaster. A story is told that while residing at the latter place he was so much displeased about a certain marriage engagement that he had the blinds of all his windows put down during the time the bridal party were going to and from the Old Church. Elizabeth, daughter of Mr. Caton, then described as of Lancaster, was married at Cockerham Church in 1830 to Charles Bower, gentleman, of Bolton-le-Sands. They were living at Sunderand in the middle of last century. At Bolton-le-Sands they ranked among the landowners. Charles Bower built the house across the railway, opposite the station. Land belonging to the family was ultimately purchased on behalf of the Roman Catholics, for the erection of a new church, &c. A son (Thomas) of Mr. Caton, who removed to London, was a legatee of his cousins, William Bradshaw, Queen-square, Lancaster (Mayor in 1870), and Miss Betsy Jane Bradshaw. There was some relationship between the Bradshaws and the Welch and Paget families. William Bradshaw's father - Bartholomew Bradshaw, woollen draper or mercer, Market-street, Lancaster, who died at Burrow House, Scotforth (afterwards the residence of John Welch from Cabus), on January 6th, 1857 - was an executor under the will of Thomas Paget who died at Forton Lodge in 1843. And there was also a relationship with the Bradshaws of Burton. Bartholomew Bradshaw the elder was brother-in-law of John Cumpsty, mercer, of Lancaster and Lune Villa, Skerton, who died in 1815.
Thomas Paget left a widow, one son, and three daughters. The son, also named Thomas, married Anne, the youngest daughter of Henry Smith, gentleman, Hole of Ellel, by his wife Ellen, daughter of George Yeats, to which families further reference will be made in the next article. Thomas Paget the younger went to reside at Ratcliffe Cottage, Forton, he being connected with John Welch, then of Cabus and afterwards of Burrow House, Scotforth, in carrying on an extensive business at Ratcliffe Wharf. The partners were cousins, their fathers having married two sisters. The business at Ratcliffe Wharf was previously carried on by John Welch's father, Thomas. Eight months after Thomas Paget's death, one of his sons met with his death under very sad circumstances. This son was likewise named Thomas, and it was intended that he should adopt the legal profession. He was articled to a Lancaster solicitor, John Herdman Sherson, and at the time of his death was only 17 years old, being then described as of Castle Hill. On Wednesday afternoon, July 20th, 1853, young Paget was drowned while bathing in the Lune between the Pothouses and the New Quay. A gallant attempt was made to save him by another bather, Robert Hall - son of the then Mayor, John Hall, solicitor, Saleyard-street - who still survives, residing at Slyne Lodge, Slyne. Thomas Paget (who died on November 21st, 1852) had another son, William Smith Paget, born in 1848. This son is Dr. Paget-Tomlinson, of The Biggins, near Kirkby Lonsdale. Thirty years ago he married the second daughter of John L. Price, of Standish, near Wigan. In 1889 he succeeded his relative, Miss E. Tomlinson, in The Biggins estate, and took the name by which he is now known. Dr. Paget-Tomlinson is J.P. and D.L. for Westmorland, and was High Sheriff of that county in 1897.
A sister of Mrs. Thomas (Margaret) Paget, Hannah Edmondson, who was baptised at Overton Church on March 26th 1780, married a Mr. Caton, who lived sometime at Bolton-le-Sands, and also at Fenton-Cawthorne House, Market-street, Lancaster. A story is told that while residing at the latter place he was so much displeased about a certain marriage engagement that he had the blinds of all his windows put down during the time the bridal party were going to and from the Old Church. Elizabeth, daughter of Mr. Caton, then described as of Lancaster, was married at Cockerham Church in 1830 to Charles Bower, gentleman, of Bolton-le-Sands. They were living at Sunderand in the middle of last century. At Bolton-le-Sands they ranked among the landowners. Charles Bower built the house across the railway, opposite the station. Land belonging to the family was ultimately purchased on behalf of the Roman Catholics, for the erection of a new church, &c. A son (Thomas) of Mr. Caton, who removed to London, was a legatee of his cousins, William Bradshaw, Queen-square, Lancaster (Mayor in 1870), and Miss Betsy Jane Bradshaw. There was some relationship between the Bradshaws and the Welch and Paget families. William Bradshaw's father - Bartholomew Bradshaw, woollen draper or mercer, Market-street, Lancaster, who died at Burrow House, Scotforth (afterwards the residence of John Welch from Cabus), on January 6th, 1857 - was an executor under the will of Thomas Paget who died at Forton Lodge in 1843. And there was also a relationship with the Bradshaws of Burton. Bartholomew Bradshaw the elder was brother-in-law of John Cumpsty, mercer, of Lancaster and Lune Villa, Skerton, who died in 1815.
06 December 2011
Thomas Carlyle and Jane Welsh (part 3)
The hardship of their case consisted in nothing but this: each was now possessed of a formed and fixed character, and that now had to adapt itself to a new set of conditions, requiring compromise and “give and take.” What wonder the experience was neither pleasant nor merry! Is the common lot so different?...
The wife who had so hesitatingly flung in her lot with his proved the truest and staunchest of allies. She too had all to lose. Carlyle was her all in all. His defeat meant proof of her own folly in uniting her fortunes to his, and that was too bitter a pill to swallow. One must confess it was well the case was so, for the coming conflict was to be very bitter and very prolonged.
Ten years after marriage Carlyle had his foot firmly on the ladder, but not sooner, although he had then already written and published the very cream of his intellect, works of genius as original, as brilliant, massy essays of solid gold, and had already expounded almost to its last detail his own peculiar message and creed.
Twenty years later he stands at the head of British literature, unequalled, almost unchallenged, admitted into any and every society, the valued friend and guest of peers, the acknowledged master of many of the finest spirits of the time. “My ambition has been gratified,” wrote Mrs Carlyle to John Forster, “beyond my wildest dreams, and I am miserable." Miss Welsh little knew the greatness of the man she married when she married him. That she did love him with more than usual intensity is made evident by a hundred letters. Carlyle loved her very tenderly and very deeply. Her death broke his power at one blow, and the man lingered pitifully, a lonely, sorrowful old man, whose triumph, like Johnson's had come too late. What was amiss? “No talent for the market, thought I – none; the reverse rather.” So Carlyle sorrowfully noted in his journal at this time. The entry may explain why he has always been the god of the literary young man's idolatry. Carlyle tried so hard to swim with the times consistently with his conscience, and failed so lamentably. He would have liked so well to have pleased editors, but could not. So he defied them. With a wife to support he was prepared to stretch conscience as far as ever it could honourably be stretched. There can be little doubt of that. We do not need to accept Carlyle as a fanatic on the matter of the rights of contributors. He was ready enough to please, but he could, and would, write to no man's order. Too great and original himself to be an editor, far less could he trim his sails to suit editors, study the journalistic signs of the times, and satisfy “public requirements.” He tried and failed, and young men are consoled when they learn that Carlyle suffered as they suffer, was told “his style was at fault,” and his matter literally of no importance and unadulterated rubbish! Carlyle's style was not at fault. It was a very good style, but not nearly so brilliant and picturesque as it became later. Still less was there any lack of quality in the matter.
Carlyle failed because he could not persuade editors to accept the articles he wrote. The editors were good judges, so good that they probably interpreted the time correctly in fearing it could not appreciate Carlyle. Carlyle was original, but he was consumately great; so great that these editors could not recognise he was a greater man than themselves.
17 November 2011
Thomas Carlyle and Jane Welsh (part 2)
Very evidently from the first there was friction and disagreement which required length of time to disappear. There need be little doubt that this important little matter of the wife's signature was easily the most objectionable feature from Carlyle's point of view, and on every ground is indefensible. Froude apparently drew his own conclusions, but however honestly and firmly believed by himself, these can scarcely be accepted. It would be grossly unfair to Carlyle to admit them. One is bound to say this strange action of Mrs Carlyle is better explained by the overweening “social mesalliance” theory, which she stoutly believed. Had Froude's deduction been the correct one, there would surely have been at least more or less public knowledge of it at the time, and apparently there was no such thing.
The point is of importance if only as proof that from the first Mrs Carlyle possessed little consideration for anyone's feelings, and literally none for those of the man she had married. Whatever excuses were available for her act, she had none for thus inviting the attention of her correspondents to the fact that she had passed with marriage under no husband domination, and had forfeited no whit of status. She, at least, was no Carlyle, marriage or no.
But if Jane Welsh had been reluctant to engage in the matrimonial adventure, she was ready and eager to do her part in the struggle. Home was made attractive for Carlyle. Circumstances soon revealed to the newly-made wife - not to her liking either – what life with a literary man was to mean. Her husband required solitude, as do all highly-strung individuals who have never passed under the stern discipline of necessity. In his mother's house solitude was not an easy thing to obtain, but everyone had been eager to assist him to attain it. His wife recognised a certain necessity, but had not bargained for Carlyle withdrawing himself from her society for the entire day, or well into the evening. She, too, for the first time, was passing under discipline – she who had been encouraged in every childish whim. Both husband and and wife had been in abnormal situations all their lives, subject to no wholesome, imperative control, acknowledging none as master or employer, or even as guardian.
(To be continued)
(To be continued)
05 November 2011
On Thomas Carlyle and Jane Welsh
Considering its sub-title “An Experiment in Biographical Explication,” Mr R S Craig's “The Making of Carlyle” (Eveleigh Nash, 10s 6d net) demanded a preface. However, the main title is clear enough. Mr Craig has brought much research and intelligence to bear on the Scottish upbringing, early friendships, courtship, and marriage of Carlyle. In a word, this book is a study of Carlyle's environment in his formative years, and it is of fascinating interest. I quote this week some detached passages on Carlyle's first years of married life, in which Mr Craig's independent views are exhibited.
The honeymoon began with an instantaneous flight to their own house in Comely Bank, Edinburgh. They were married probably quite early in the morning, to admit of the long day journey by coach thither. Wedding-feast there was none, since no attempt was ever made by either party to “put a face” on things. Appearances deceived, and the Carlyles avoided whatever might deceive! In Scots law marriage is a contract. Carlyle believed the ceremony could represent nothing else, and it did represent nothing else. Yet his marriage was a true marriage from the highest as from the lowest point of view, as lofty, as spiritual, and eternal as ever human marriage was, in whatever form or by whatever ceremony celebrated...
From a passage in the “Reminiscences of Jane Welsh Carlyle,” it would appear that for some years after her marriage Mrs Carlyle persisted in signing herself by her maiden name. The passage in question may be found on page 128 of Froude's edition, and is as follows: “From her my Jeannie was called 'Jane Baillie Welsh' at the time of our marriage, but after a good few years, 'when she took to singing 'Jane Welsh Carlyle,' in which I never hindered her, she dropped the 'Baillie,' I suppose as too long.”
(To be continued)
(To be continued)
21 October 2011
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."
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."
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