c. 1550 to c. 1750 (versions December 2001)
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The Carrs of Langcliffe
Manor Farm House (Leonard and Isabella Carr 1678)
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The datestone is over a door which faces west over the valley, not eastwards looking towards the village green as might have been expected. |
The Carrs of Giggleswick
The Carrs of Stackhouse
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Plaque on the floor in Giggleswick Church to mark the vault of Carrs of Stackhouse "In a vault beside this pillar lie the mortal remains of many members of the Carr family, of Stackhouse in this parish of which family were James Carr, priest 1513, founder of the Grammar School in Giggleswick, and roode chantry in this church Richard Carr, M.A., Vicar of Hockley in Essex, 1616, a benefactor to the same school. John Carr, M.A., Head Master 1720-1741 and many others of the family who after worshipping God in this place, rest here awaiting a blessed resurrection. Ut posteris innotescat majorum pietas pio animo posuit WC "
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(N.B. Richard Carr the vicar of Hockley was in the Closehouse branch of the family)
The Carrs of Grainhouse
The Carrs of Closehouse
The Paleys
The Swainsons
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The Swainson house stone - 1660 L and M S (Lawrence and Mary Swainson) (house rebuilt) (opposite Cock House)
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'The Naked Lady' |
The Swainson family tree has been researched by Frances Healy Hope, BA.
"An historical narrative of a Swainson family from the West Yorkshire and Lancashire Counties of England 1513 to the 1880s"
1993 Library of Congress no. 93-71656 Amundsen Publishing Co., 108, Washington St., Decorah, Iowa, 52101 USA.
Copy in Yorkshire Archaeological Society, Leeds, Ref. 59 U 33
The Swainsons of Langcliffe include Lawrence mentioned in concern with the sale of the manor in 1591 onwards, and a later Lawrence and Thomas, his son, who was a mathematician and astronomer.
It is known that a Lawrence Swayneson had tenure of a messuage and land in Langcliffe in 1591 from Nicholas Darcy when the sale of the manor was taking place. In 1622 a deed (Northallerton Archives ZXC I 1/21/1) quotes a deed of 1593 of sale of Swainsons tenement or farm to Thomas Newhouse. This deed of 1622 concerns Thomas and Richard Lawson, his son, and the exchange with Th. Newhouse of Swainsons farm with Barrel Sykes and other land.
The Giggleswick Parish Registers give data which can be used to propose the following relationships.
Lawrence Swainson married Anna Iveson in 1567 - presumed to have tenure of a farm in Langcliffe at some stage.
They had children: Robert bp 1569/70; James bp 1572 died 1597; Elizabeth bp 1575/6 bd 1576; Thomas bp 1577; John bp 1584; John bp 1587; Isabella bp 1591
Robert married Alicia who died in 1599/1600 and they had children: Anna bp 1592; John bp 1594; Agnes bp 1597. Having lost his wife Alicia, Robert married Agnes Cookeson, a widow in 1605.
There is a family based in Stainforth which eventually produced Lawrence and Thomas living in Langcliffe. Unfortunately the family tree is confused since the PR data and the will of Roger in 1610 only make sense if Roger married twice and there was a second Roger who died in 1587 - perhaps his father.
Roger Swainsonne married Jeneta Palaie in 1560
They had children: George bp 1564/5; John bp 1567; Elizabeth bp 1571.
Jana Swainsonne was buried in 1570. (Is this the same person as Jeneta? There are no Janes as children or wives in the register).
Roger Swainsonne then married Isabella Wilsonne in 1573. His will states that Elizabeth (?bp 1571) was his daughter (FHH); she was perhaps the one who married Richard Foster of Stainforth in 1605/6 and had a child Anthony Foster bp 1609 who was active as a Parliamentarian in the Civil War.
Children of Roger with Isabella: Richard bp 1573/4; Katherine bp 1574/5; Thomas bp 1576/7; William bp 1578 bd 1598; ?Katherine bp 1588; ?Robert bp 1589. Roger Swainson de Stainforth bd 1610 (will FHH). Isabella relicta Roger Swainson de Stainforth bd 1624.
Robert of Stainforth married Alicia Bainbrigg in 1615
They had children: Elizabeth bp 1617; Roger bp 1619/20; Anna bp 1622; Lawrencebp 1625 (and (?) William bp 1637). Robert died 1639 (FHH) (will).
The son Lawrence Swainson of Fryer Stainforth (wollen webster) married Margaret Armitstead in 1655 (alive in 1699 (FHH)).
The children were: Thomas bp 1664; John bd 1663/4; Lawrence bp 1670; Ann bp 1673; Catherine bp 1677.
In 1652 Lawrence bought Sandyeholme in Stainforth for £12 from James Foster.
Langcliffe house date stone 1660. Hearth tax 1672 for 5 hearths in Langcliffe.
Merchant in London £13 rent pa for a haberdashery.
Deed of 1699/70 to son Thomas for £95 - title deeds of house (W.Yorks. Archives DW405). Promised his parents they could dwell in parlour and chamber above with access to half back turf house and half garden.
Lawrence died 1711 will probate 1712.
The son Thomas married Maria , child Maria bp 1704. Maria died in 1704.
Governor of Giggleswick School 1721 and 1730, mentioned in Parish Memoranda 1723.
Plaque in Giggleswick Church ".....knew arithmetic....see Isaac Newton story).
Thomas died in 1733.
Other Roger Swainson data from the Giggleswick Parish Register are difficult to place without further information.
Roger Swainson married Elizabeth Roome in 1593
Roger Swainson de Settle bd 1605
ux Roger Swainson de Settle bd 1609/10
The Somerscales
HENRY SOMMERSCALES of LANGCLIFFE
There is a large number of Sommerscales recorded in the Giggleswick Parish Registers but it is not possible to ascertain the various relationships using these data alone. As far as the name Henry Sommerscales is concerned there are two baptisms in the Parish Register
Henry (1) bp 27 February 1576/7 son of George Sommerscales (i.e February 1577 in current calendar)
Henry (2) bp 28 September 1584
and two deaths
Henry Sommerscales (1) bd 19 October 1578
Henry Sommerscales (3) of Langcliffe bd 24 September 1609
We also know from Parish Registers that there are 6 children of Henry Sommerscales (3) baptised between 1583 and 1596. This Henry(3) cannot be either of those baptised in 1576/7 or 1584 since he must have been born around 1560. So there must be three Henry's to consider. The death in 1578 presumably relates to Henry (1) since Henry (2) was not yet born.
Henry (3) was probably married about 1582 and born just before 1558 when the Parish Registers start. Henry (3) is likely to be the one who built Langcliffe Hall in 1602 with the initials SHI over the doorway. It is possible that his wife was Jeneta de Settle, widow buried 1609/10 (Henry being buried 1609). (J and I are interchangeable capital letters). Henry (3) was a Governor of Giggleswick School in 1599 and 1604. His brother Arthur had the living of Gargrave in 1600 (Brayshaw and Robinson). His will was proved in York in 1609. His name is not in the list of students at Giggleswick School.
Henry(2) bp 1584 is associated with Trondheim in Norway. He was apprenticed to John Toy(?) of Bassinghall in the Merchant Taylors in 1605 (Apprentice binding books, 1583-94, Guildhall Library). In 1609 there was a case before the High Court of Admiralty in which Henry Somerscales gave evidence. He was "of the city of London merchant taylor there for four years aged 22 years...." This suggests he was born in 1587 but it perhaps means that he was 22 years old when he became a Merchant Taylor in 1605. "He was born in a town called Settle in Yorkshire and is a merchant...." (Henry’s signature is appended). A further case before the Court in 1612 shows that Henry was "of the city of London merchant aged 25 years." These dates are not completely reconcilable. There were other Somerscales in London at this time so some confusion is possible.
In 1613 toll records in Trondheim show the name of Hendrick Sommersskeils of London and in 1614 the name Hendrich Sommerschales of London although the signature style is not the same as in the court proceedings.
See "Slekten Sommerschild - Sommerschield " by Henrik Sommerschild published Oslo (Mittet ?) 1951
available in various Norwegian libraries (NBO, UBIT/GUN (Trondheim)) (see internet BIBSYS)
The Lawsons
Richard Lawson's house (Richard and Margaret) 1681
Author Author Michael Slater
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