Themes in the Historical Research

An index of the context pages which provide greater depth to the Farndale story

Home Page Return to the Home Page of the Farndale Family Website

The Farndale Story The story of one family’s journey through two thousand years of British History

The Farndale Lineages The 83 family lines into which the family is divided. Meet the whole family and how the wider family is related

The Farndale Directory Members of the historical family ordered by date of birth

Themes Links to other pages with historical research and related material

Related Family Stories The story of the Bakers of Highfields, the Chapmans, and other related families

The Time Traveller’s Journey through North Yorkshire The History of the North York Moors, Ryedale, York, Cleveland and beyond

The main source for the narrative of Farndale family history is the Farndale Story. There are a lot of supporting pages providing context for the family story. This page provides direct access to the wider historical pages of the website.

The History of Britain, and England, with a focus on Yorkshire.

The website now provides a series of detailed chronology which provide access to the national story of England, focused on the perspective of Yorkshire.

The Geology of Farndale Understanding the landscape	The context of the Palaeolithic Period or the Old Stone Age A global context to the prehistory of Yorkshire Before about 10,000 BCE	The vicinity of Farndale in the Mesolithic Period The age of hunting folk in tune with the land 10,000 BCE to 3,000 BCE	The vicinity of Farndale in the Neolithic Period, the New Stone Age The age of early farmers who brought early settlement, religious beliefs and new structures to Ryedale 3,000 BCE to 1,800 BCE	The vicinity of Farndale in the Bronze Age The Beaker Folk who introduced metal working 1,800 BCE to 700 BCE	The vicinity of Farndale in the Iron Age The Celtic Brigantes folk who formed proto kingdoms 700 BCE to 70 CE	Roman Yorkshire (70 to 400 CE) A chronology of the Roman association with Yorkshire
The Anglo Saxon Period 400 to 866 CE The Beowulf kings of Deira, Bernicia and Northumbria	Northumbria’s Golden Age Sixth and Seventh Centuries CE When Northern England was the European centre of knowledge and learning	The Anglo-Saxon-Scandinavian Period 866 CE to 1042 The Scandinavian influence on Yorkshire after the Viking raids from 793 CE and the assault of the Great Heathen Army	Anglo Saxon Kings immediately before the Norman Conquest 1042 to 1066 The eventful years immediately preceding the Norman Conquest
The Normans 1066 to 1154 The English story after its domination from northern France Norman Domination Regime Change	The Plantagenets 1154 to 1399 England in the Middle Ages	The Houses of Lancaster and York 1399 to 1485 The Lancastrian coup and the Wars of the Roses Richard of Gloucester’s Northern Interests The future Richard III’s interests in Yorkshire and northern Britain	The Tudors 1485 to 1603 Sixteenth century England	The Stuarts 1603 to 1714 Seventeenth century England	The period of the House of Hanover 1714 to 1901 Eighteenth and Nineteenth century Britain	The modern period of the House of Saxe Coburg Gotha and the House of Windsor From 1901 Britain in the modern age

Historical themes

Other pages provide context on general themes.

Culture and writing	The Church and religion	Trade and commerce	Agriculture Medieval Farming Rural lifestyles from the Norman Conquest	Law and administration		Home Life.
The Yeoman	The feudal system	Towns	The Sea	Industrial Revolution		Women.
Victorian Education The education of our forebears Education.	Children. Children The life of children in seventeenth century to Victorian Yorkshire	Agricultural change How agricultural practices changed over time	Poverty Our family history includes experiences of high infant mortality in Victorian times, often extreme poverty, and struggle Poverty.	Health The evolution of medical care Health.	Ambition A story of aspiration and achievement	Service Opportunities for work as servants in households Service.
Alum The alum trade in Cleveland	Mining Ironstone Mining The engine of Cleveland’s Victorian development was its mineral supply, particularly its ironstone. Individuals in the Farndale Story worked in an extensive network of mines throughout the area Kilton Mine The ruined site of the Kilton mine	Cooper	Corf Rods	Pioneers The pioneering spirit that dominated the family’s story from the mid nineteenth century	Religion and ideas Exploring the role of religions of various denominations and the evolution of intellectual ideas on the Farndale Story Religion
Family self sufficiency	Recalling the past		Language and Yorkshire places

Research Methods

Other pages focus on research and methodology.

Genealogy Some notes on the sources and methods used to compile and bring alive the lineage of a family A reflection of the importance of records of births, deaths and marriages, and census records, but some ideas about how to build on that framework to create stories and pathways through regional and national history	Medieval Genealogy A recognition of some restrictions to genealogical research before 1500, but some ideas to help overcome the constraints Medieval Sources	Genealogy and History Some thoughts on the relationship between genealogical methods with historical research, to uncover the full picture	Time Travel Some reflections on new approaches to genealogy and historical research to allow families to come into contact with their deep ancestral history	Telling the story of Our Female Ancestors The historical record is not properly representative of our female ancestors. As a historian it is important to found our narrative on the evidence which exists. However by reflecting on the existing evidence, and applying a fresh analysis, we can recover the story of the Farndale women, even though the underlying evidence has not recorded everything they did	The Story of the Farndale Story Building the story over two generations
The Known Unknowns The family history is remarkably complete. We explore here where it has been necessary to rely on the most probable narrative where certainty has been impossible	Research notes. This needs a bit more descriptive work and in time should be helpful to others conducting genealogical research, particularly for Yorkshire families.	Surnames and how they assist in research.			Perspective Laying our Ancestors Back into the sun The genealogist’s ambition	Perspective Exploring the Cave Peering through chambers to our ghostly beginnings

Historical Figures of Yorkshire

Other pages focus on individuals relating to Yorkshire’s history.

Cedd The Lindisfarne monk and East Saxon Bishop who founded Lastingham	The Venerable Bede This life of Bede and the history of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow, providing context for the founding of Lastingham and Kirkdale, and the work of Alcuin and the York scholars	Alcuin of York The world of Ecgberht and Aethelbert, successors to Bede, and their pupil Alcuin, who took York’s powerhouse of knowledge to the court of Charlemagne to pioneer the European educational system	Earl Siward of Northumberland	Orm Gamalson The powerful figure at the heart of the aristocracy, who rebuilt Kirkdale and put our ancestral lands firmly onto the national political stage
Beowulf The Anglo-Saxon saga that transports us to the lives of the post Roman folk of England	Robin Hood. Robin Hood The legend of Robin Hood explored for its Yorkshire roots, and the Farndale connection with the legends, first as the class of poachers who gave rise to the inspiration, and later their fifteenth century descendants who lived in the place where the stories emerged	Joan the Fair Maid of Kent en son temps la plus belle de tout la roiaulme d'Engleterre et la plus amoureuse The most glamorous owner of Farndale		James Cook. James Cook 1728 to 1779 The association of James Cook with Cleveland, Whitby, Great Ayton, the Farndale ancestral lands, and individuals of the Farndale Story

Family Trees

Other pages are the family trees of royal and noble families for further context.

House Mowbray The descendants of Nigel D’Aubigny to whom our ancestors owed their allegiance in the twelfth century The Genealogy of House Mowbray The Mowbray Family Tree	House Stuteville The narrative History of the Stutevilles The descendants of Robert de Stuteville to whom our ancestors owed their allegiance in the eleventh and then from the late twelfth century The Genealogy of House Stuteville  A Family Tree of the De Stuteville Family in Yorkshire	House Brus The baronial Yorkshire family from whom later Scottish Kings would derive and who dominated the early history of our later Cleveland home The Genealogy of House Brus A family tree of the House Brus, the Lords of Skelton and Annandale, and the family relationship to the Kings and Queens of England and Scotland	House Neville This history of the family who influenced the Wars of the Roses in whose seat our ancestors lived The Genealogy of House Neville The Family tree of the House Neville and its relationship to the King Makers and royal dynasties of the later Middle Ages	The Duchy of Lancaster and the Honour and Forest of Pickering The surprising association of our early family history with the House of Lancaster The Family Tree of the House Lancaster The genealogy of the Lancastrian estate The Great Cowcher of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Royal Line and the Noble Houses The relationship between the Royal Dynasties of England and the Noble Houses who directly influenced our family history	Joan of Kent’s Family Tree The immediate ancestors and descendants of Joan of Kent	The Scottish Royal Family Tree The relationships that bound Scotland and England and the Brus family	The Deira The people who dominated our ancestral lands	Family tree of the Kings of Northumbria The family tree showing the succession of the Kings and Earls of Deira, Bernicia Northumbria
The Genealogy of the House Wessex The family tree of the Kings of Wessex, the Anglo-Saxons, and the English	The Genealogy of Sweyn Forkbeard and Cnut The family tree showing the relationship of Sweyn Forkbeard and Cnut to the Godwinsons and Edward the Confessor	The Rise of the Godwin Family The family tree of Earl Godwin and his sons	The English and British Royal Family Tree from the Normans The family tree of the lines of royal succession from 1066 to the present	The Hollow Crown A Family tree to explain the Lancastrian usurpation and the Wars of the Roses Plantagenet rivalry The dynastic struggles of the Plantagenets, leading to the Wars of the Roses, the events of which our ancestors were direct witnesses

Places

Other pages focus on places.

Star Carr The richest Mesolithic suite in Britain, a few miles south of Scarborough, on the edge of the ancient Lake Pickering, only 30 km from Farndale	The Ryedale Windy Pits Underground caves, only 15 km from Farndale, which were the home of the Bronze Age Beaker Folk	Roulston Scar A massive Iron Age promontory Hill Fort only 20 km from Farndale	Isurium Brigantum (Aldborough) The Roman Regional Capital of the lands around Kirkdale	Hovingham A Roman Villa on palatial scale just south of Kirkdale	Beadlam A Roman Villa only 2km from Kirkdale in the heart of our ancestral lands	The ancient routes across the moors Exploring the ancient tracks and roads across the moors around Farndale
Ad Gefrin at Yeavering The sixth century royal tribute centre of the Bernician Kings
Kirkbymoorside	Pickering Pickering Parish Church Glance up at a remarkable medieval mural, which includes archers who might remind us of our poacher ancestors Pickering Castle The sombre Norman castle of Pickering, where you will be taken to the law court where our ancestors were fined, imprisoned, outlawed and excommunicated	Lastingham. Lastingham 653 CE The founding of a Celtic Christian monastery by Cedd, 2 km from the entrance to Farndale	Helmsley A History of Helmsley to about 1500	Keldholme	Egton	Danby Danby at the turn of the fourteenth century
Introduction to Kirkdale and its Minster For those particularly interested in Kirkdale, this introductory page is the place to start	Anglo Saxon Kirkdale Kirkdale from its founding in about 685 CE to the beginning of the Scandinavian period in about 800 CE The Kirkdale Saxon Artefacts Ornate sarcophagus lids and Saxon artefacts to be found in Kirkdale Minster and embedded into its walls which will transport you to the Eighth century CE	Anglo-Saxon-Scandinavian Kirkdale Kirkdale in the Anglo-Saxon-Scandinavian period from about 800 CE to 1066, with a brief summary of its history through to 1500 The Kirkdale Sundial A unique treasure whose secrets transport us into the world of the eleventh century upon which you can stare today, imagining direct ancestors who did the same a thousand years ago			Cornu Vallis	Rievaulx Rievaulx Abbey The breathtaking abbey ruins that must have been held in astonished awe by our forebears when the abbey broke through the soil of Ryedale, adjacent to Farndale, in only a couple of decades before it started to take control of swathes of those lands
York	Eboracum (York) The Roman Capital of northern England where Constantine was proclaimed Emperor	Eoforwic (York) Deirian and Northumbrian York, a political, cultural and educational Hub on the European stage	Jorvik (York) The Scandinavian centre of northern England	York 1066 to 1500 A History of York after the Norman Conquest The Shambles The street of the Medieval Butchers
Doncaster The History of Doncaster to 1500 The History of pre industrial Doncaster from its Roman inception as Danum to the end of the sixteenth century Doncaster Parish Church Medieval Doncaster and its minster The Victorian Parish church (later Minster) of Doncaster rebuilt in 1853, but on the site of the earlier Parish church of which William Farndale was chaplain and later vicar in the years after the Black Death	Campsall St Mary Magdalene Church, Campsall The church in Barnsdale forest of which the literary character of the Middle Ages, Robin Hood, wrote I made a chapel in Bernysdale, That seemly is to se, It is of Mary Magdaleyne, And therto would I be. Nearby sites associated with Robin Hood including Robin Hood’s Well at the side of the A1 Campsall and Barnsdale Forest The history of the village of Campsall north of Doncaster, where we find our ancestors in the sixteenth century	Loversall Loversall The history of a small village and church just south of Doncaster, where William Farndale held land	Kirkleatham Kirkleatham A history of Kirkleatham and Wilton, the place where our family first settled in Cleveland	Durham	Sheriff Hutton The History of Sheriff Hutton to 1500 A history of Sheriff Hutton which will take you to the lands of the Nevilles and Richard III during the Wars of the Roses Sheriff Hutton Church The Church of St Helen and the Holy Cross and the Chapel of St Nicholas, the heart of the Neville lands, and place of the alabaster effigy of the young son of Richard III	Middleham
Cleveland	Skelton Skelton A history of Skelton and its old church. The Farndales arrived in Moorsholm in the Parish of Skelton in about 1588 and lived there through the tumultuous years of the Civil War	Guisborough	Brotton Brotton Old Graveyard Three generations of Kilton Farndales in one place. A side trip to nearby Boosbeck and Skelton take you to the gravestones two later generations. Take in Wensley and you’ll find two more recent generations. Seven generations of the family in one short drive	Kilton Kilton, the Lost Village The story of the lost village of Kilton and its sylvan landscape Kilton A journey around modern Kilton, of farms, a ruined castle and a small village of Kilton Thorpe to capture the essence of the two century home of Farndales Kilton Mine The ruined site of the Kilton mine	Loftus	Moorsholm
Coatham	Redcar	Saltburn by the Sea The Smugglers of Old Saltburn Stories of smugglers, led by my great x3 grandfather known as the King of the Smugglers, and the undoubted involvement of our forebears Cats Nab, Old Saltburn Have fish and chips in the Ship Inn, and you will be in the home of John Andrew’s smuggling trade, once connected by an underground passage to the white house on the hill where my great x3 grandfather lived Saltburn by the Sea, Victorian new town John Farndale focused much of his writing on the new seaside town of Saltburn by the Sea, built beside the Old Saltburn of smuggling repute. It was a place of Victorian optimism and inspiration, driven by the arrival of the railways and the richness of Cleveland’s ironstone deposits Huntcliff, Saltburn by the Sea Find a vantage point on the towering Hunt Cliffs to look down over Saltburn and Cat Nab, and the alum mines. It was here, John tells us, that when a French Napoleonic ship threatened out to sea, a band of local women dressed in red along the cliffs to make the French believe that an army of redcoats was ready to welcome any attack	Liverton	Charlton	Carlin How Carlin How and Saxon Witches The burial ground of a Saxon princess who lay for thirteenth centuries overlooking the Hill of Witches where the Craggs line of Farndales would later make their home	Freeborough Hill
Middlesbrough	Hartlepool		Whitby The History of Whitby to 1850 A history of Whitby at the height of its maritime power in the eighteenth and nineteenth century, home to several large Farndale families. A look back to the Anglo Saxon history of Whitby in the time of Celtic and Roman Christianity A Perspective of Whitby The place of Dracula inspiration where many Farndales have been buried, provides a vantage point over Whitby, and its maritime activity	Lythe	Scarborough	Yearsley The home from the early eighteenth century of a large section of our family
Ampleforth	Huttons Ambo	Northallerton	Bedale	Darlington	Cockermouth	Carlisle
Bradford	Leeds	Stockton	Newcastle	Great Ayton Great Ayton A visit to Great Ayton where many members of the family lived, and a side trip to the James Cook Monument	Stokesley	Tidkinhow Tidkinhow The moorland farm where a family of twelve grew up
Wakefield
Richmond A History of Richmond and West Gilling		Wensleydale	Gale Bank Farm		West Sussex	Portsmouth and Gosport
New Zealand	Birregurra	Geelong	Melbourne
California	Chicago	Texas	Hoover Dam The Hoover Dam The story of the Hoover Dam, with which Jim Farndale was associated	Las Vegas	New York
Huxley	Trochu	Three Hills	Atlantic crossings at the time of Titanic The story of five brothers and two sisters who crossed the Atlantic in the age of Titanic to emigrate to Canada	Newfoundland	Ontario Oshawa	Geographical context. Follow links to locations associated with our family, to find more information about each location and our ancestors associated with each location.

Historical events which impacted on Yorkshire’s history

Other pages focus on historical events.

		Synod of Whitby 664 CE The momentous agreement at Whitby, 30 km northeast of Farndale, which resolved incompatibilities between Roman and Celtic Christian traditions, and placed Britain onto the European stage			The Harrying of the North	Domesday Book
Poachers of Pickering Forest Poaching in Pickering Forest A study of the nature of poaching in Pickering Forest The 1334 to 1339 Eyre of Pickering Forest The itinerant court which picked up about 40 years of prior business.	The Black Death.		The Start of the Hundred Years War Tumultuous times in England.	Risings of the North		The Jarrow March 1936 The story of the Jarrow March of 1936, of which Johnny Farndale, was the youngest member
The Crimean War The Crimean War through the perspective of John Farndale, who took part in the long campaign	The First World War The context of the First World War to the Farndale Story	The Second World War Soldiers The context of the Second World War

Wider Context

Other pages provide wider context.

Scotland.

Language and place names.

Themes relating to the Farndale family

There are also themes which relate specifically to the Farndale family.

Farmers	Pioneers Pioneers The pioneering spirit that dominated the family’s story from the mid nineteenth century	Soldiers		Medieval soldier candidates
The Military Farndales. Our military ancestors. Farndales in World War 1	Farndale Pioneers. Our ancestors who emigrated out of Farndale and ultimately across the globe.	Farndales and agriculture. Our farming ancestors.	Farndales and mining. Our mining ancestors.	Farndales and the sea. Farndale Sailors.	Farndale geography. A geographical perspective of the Farndales.	The law makers v the law breakers. From policemen to poachers.
The Ontario Farndales The second Branch of the Ontario Farndales	The Newfoundland Farndales	The Alberta Farndales	The Farndales of Tidkinhow	The Australian Farndales	The Farndales of New Zealand	The American Farndales

Miscellaneous

There are some miscellaneous pages.

HMS Farndale, a Type II, Hunt-class Escort Destroyer in World War II For more information on this website about HMS Farndale, click here

The Farndale Cocktail. The Farndale Cocktail An explosive blend of Farndale firepower

The Farndale Hearse.

The Farndale Hob .

John Farndale. A pseudonym author.

The Tale of Sarkless Kitty

Older pages

There are also some older pages which are now generally superseded by the evolution of the wider website, but still available. These pages are not being maintained or updated.

Headlines of the history of the Farndale family

A shorter narrative history of the family

Timeline 1 covers the period 1000 CE to 1600. Timeline 2 covers the period 1600 to date.

The earlier history and pre-history of the region. A history of Yorkshire in the eleventh century. Farndales and World War 1.

Martin Farndale started to wrote some historical notes which are still available but are now largely superseded by the website: The Farndale History Part 1 – The Beginnings – The Middle Ages – 1154 to 1400. The Farndale History Part 2 – The fifteenth and sixteen centuries – 1400-1600.

An index of the English and Social History Pages.

History of Yorkshire in the eleventh century